Today my family decided to sleep in after waking up early in the morning every day of this week. We signed up to go on a three and a half hour guided tour called "A Walk i Walt's Footsteps" that would go around the park and talk about Walt Disney.
....I've been completely sidetracked by browsing mouseplanet.com for the past...um, long time. I was thinking that if I go to England this summer, I could go to Disneyland Paris. They're not exactly the same place, I know, but they're closer together than France and NJ. My geography is bad, but not that bad. ;) But I really don't know how long it takes to get to Paris from London. Eh, anyway! I also read the pages about Tokyo DisneySea and my god, it's absolutely amazing looking. It basically looks like Disney made by Japanese people. What does that mean? I don't even know. I didn't realize that the Tokyo parks aren't own by Disney, which, as sad as this may be, may explain why they seem so much better than the American parks. The last time I went to Tokyo Disneyland was in 1997, but I still remember that the park seemed nicer. There are probably a few reasons for that...can't think of them right now though. I could talk about this for ages.
But! Back to today. Man, I'm tired and I have to take a shower. I'm alone in the hotel right now because my mum and brother went back to the park, although not together. The park closes at midnight so I'd think they'll be coming back soon. Anyway! The tour. It was very nice and informative. I'd never be able to be a tour guide. Our guide was named Timmy and had to speak loudly and clearly to the 14 or so people in the group, which he'd have to do anyway, but considering we were walking among a Saturday afternoon crowd with loads of noise it was even more important that he do so. It must be weird to have to speak so slowly...when you speak slowly it sounds really slow in your head but doesn't sound as slowly to your listeners. I think. Also, he sounded...gay? I hope that doesn't sound too weird. How does one even sound gay? I'm not even sure what that means, but I've had friends that sounded gay and (as far as I know) were not. Now that I think about it, I really don't know what it means to sound gay...okay, my thoughts are sounding really stupid now.
We learned lots of things about Walt, although I can't recall a lot of it. That's because my memory is nonexistent. I remember that he died from lung cancer complications (he was a heavy smoker) and his wife died from breast cancer, although muuuuch later than him. And the Disney Gallery in New Orleans Square was originally going to be an apartment for him and his family. After learning more about Walt, I really am amazed by everything he has created. Disneyland is really unlike any other theme park. Each land is so well themed and completely separate from the others, and there are all these details that you may not notice when they're present, but if they were gone you'd feel like something is missing (I think I'm screwing up all my tenses, but you know...grammar sucks). Walt wanted to make a place where parents and children could have fun together and it really is like that in the park (although I wish that all strollers would burn in hell). That's a problem with California Adventure, I think; there aren't enough things for parents and children to do together. Then again, I don't have kids, so I shouldn't care that much. I'm not a big fan of California Adventure.
The Disney parks that I like the most are the ones that Walt was involved in. I didn't realize that he didn't do any planning for MGM Studios, and I can't say much about Animal Kingdom since I've only been there once for a short amount of time, but while both parks are still better than a typical theme park, there's something...missing? Epcot Center is my favorite park for some reason. It's not even all that tied in with Disney characters and such, but it's just so...Disney. At least now it is. I find it interesting how Disneyland can have rides that have nothing to do with Disney characters, like Big Thunder or Space Mountain, but are just so representative of Disney. Do you know what I mean? I might not be making any sense right now.
I would say more about the tour, but my brain is shutting down. At the end of the tour we all got dinner (mm, salad) and a souvenir pin and Mardi Gras beads). I asked one of the guides (there were two) about Space Mountain being closed, and I don't feel as bad about it anymore because the entire track has been dismantled. The moutain is...empty, pretty much? That must be a strange sight. It won't open again until spring of 2005. (sigh)
It's my last night here! Wah!