Anaheim

I grew up on Disney's movies and even now they always amuse me in the same way. Therefore, when I've got the opportunity to visit the first and the original Disneyland in the world, it was a chance that could not be missed. It was in 1991, at the end of student exchange visiting program, when we were going back home from San Francisco (divided in smaller groups), and we had only 2 days to visit LA. Since my friends (and me) were all above 21, one of them was strongly resisting, refusing to "waste time on childish business", but as he was outvoted, he had to come along, with lots of grumbling and wining, especially irritated with my enthusiasm and excitement.

It was easy to see that we were approaching the Disneyland area - all houses had lanyards decorated in Disney style, with bushes cut into forms of Disney characters, restaurants and shops named after cartoons with thematic interiors. The parking lot was very cute - parking spaces weren't marked with those annoying letter-number combinations, but they had combinations of Disney characters with colors, so that even a 3-year-old could tell you where you parked your car.

As it was late May and working day, there were no waiting lines in front of ticket selling boots. My friend was still murmuring in disapproving way, angry that he had to pay 30 Dollars for the "Magical Passport", but when we passed the main gate and saw the welcoming flower garden at the entrance, forming a head of Mickey Mouse, his face suddenly changed the expression and he was literally melted. From that point onwards, he was the first to run to the attractions, and he even wanted to see the attraction which was obviously intended for little ones (we indulged him on that one, so we all had to go into a boat to watch puppets singing "Small World").

The same second you enter the Main Street, you're completely captured in magic. Small buildings that you recognize from fairy tales are full of surprises. Inside of them you can find gift shops, restaurants and attractions like Main Street Cinema, where you can watch old Disney movies for 1 cent (I enjoyed "Steamboat Willie") - this is the only attraction where you have to pay additional fee (which is so symbolic, and is part of the authenticity). The first attraction that we have visited was "Snowhite's scary adventures", and it was really scary for the little lad sitting in front of me and hiding in his mom's arms, when evil witch appears. The next attraction was "Peter Pan's flight" which thrilled me very much (although it is mostly for smaller kids) since you get the feeling that you are actually flying over London and because I had a feeling that I am actually taking part in a cartoon (from which my parents choose a name for me).

Other attractions were more "adult suited"; in fact, what I wanted to say is that we weren't the only adults without kids enjoying them, but as we felt like small kids we didn't mind enjoying the attractions which were obviously for youngest children (wherever the "height meter" did not prevent us from entering).

In the Adventure Land, we took the Jungle Cruise, and we already lost the touch with reality so much that we actually fell on the obvious trick when our safari guide screamed: "Watch out! The hippo is going to splash us!" - we all bend and hid our heads so the guide couldn't stop laughing.

At time when we got to the Frontier Land, the waiting lines were so long, that we spent approximately 30 minutes waiting for each ride. In the Fantasy Land, although it was a working day, we waited 45 minutes for roller coaster at Matterhorn, which goes in and out the mountain replica, where you even have the close encounter with Bigfoot.

Splash Mountain ride looks very innocent amusement, with singing bears and squirrels, until you come to the end, when your "log" suddenly falls onto water through steep and high waterfall. Here you can really get splashed, so it is better to sit in the back seat.

My favorite adventure was the Pirates of the Caribbean, where we were attacked by pirates, and plunged down the waterfall. The Haunted Mansion is excellent, with 3D projections and some tricks which are sometimes very scary, but full of spirit

By the time we reached Tomorrowland, it was closing time unfortunately, so we could take only one ride in the submarine. I was truly amazed by the way they created the impression of submarine emerging the deep water, by raising the air pressure and forming bubbles in front of our windows, while the "submarine" remained just below the surface - when I look up through my window I accidentally saw a stomach of the duck that was swimming in the pool.

Outside the Summer season working hours are shorter and unfortunately we did not have enough time to visit all rides. We were very sad, realizing that we won't see everything, although we haven't even stop to eat all day (we simply forgot that we have to eat). We ran to gift shops which were crowded with people with same intentions and managed to buy only few things.

We left Disneyland sad that we couldn't see all attractions, but happy that we had a chance to take part in true magic and experience the sense of being child once again.