Stephenson Family Ties The Barn Burnt Down
And Now I See The Moon

Reposting....from 2007

You'd Never Know!!

Mickey Mouse is 79 years old today!!
I wonder what I'll look like when I'm 79?
One thing's for sure, I WON'T look like that gawky teenage girl in an ugly, fuzzy coat,ever, ever again! Thank heavens! (Holy Toledo, its tough being a teenage girl!)













Anyway, there I am enjoying a very rare trip to an 'amusement park,' with my family. I believe this may have been the beginning of a beautiful love affair with Disneyland! Though an early seed was surely planted by the trip I took with my cousin and grandmother. Somehow there must have been a crack in my fathers resolve to never go to a theme park. I'm sure that he was less than enthusiastic about being there and having to stand in long lines. It was a rare occasion indeed to be partaking of an experience in Disneyland.
I'm sure that Mickey was there- of course- but at that point, I was smitten by Winnie the Pooh.










I had read the book and had the calenders, and of course a stuffed Pooh of my own. Mickey was only in the periphery of my sights.

I believe my best recollection of Mickey Mouse would have to be the spectacle of the Disney movie-Fantasia! I remember sitting in a dark theater,as a young girl, and becoming completely enraptured with the visual and musical feast of dancing brooms and pails, demons in the fire, and dancing elephants with painted toenails! And Mickey was in charge, or at the very least the center of attention! This will go down as my all time favorite Mickey moment.




Of course later on in life there were youth trips on buses to So. California and Disneyland. (mostly what I remember about those trips were the miserable 10 hour drives home on a bus packed full of tired, ornery kids.)
Then,after being married and having children of our own, we have formed some good memories with Mickey and his establishment. Who hasn't taken their kids to Disneyland and coerced them onto the Thunder Mountain Roller Coaster- and then proceeded to watch them scream in terror through the whole ride?! "Oh, they must have been too young for that one!"- duh. So then, to help make us feel better, we rush them over to the land of the beautiful costumed children, who sing to us, about how small the world is! We have all floated through the saccrin-like wonderland, and felt like sticking our fingers in our ears to try and drown out the 'noise.' (ah, the sweet memories)
But by far the best time I've ever had at the home of Mickey Mouse was the day I spent there with Bob. Thats right- just Bob and myself!! He had business in So. Cal. and I tagged along. We bought tickets to spend a whole day in the park. Just the two of us. What a gas! It happened to be the day before Halloween, and it felt like we were the only ones in the place. The only attraction closed that day was the Haunted House. (no great loss) We did all that WE wanted to do, as MANY times as we wanted. Space Mountain is my favorite.There was no whining, no tugging us this way and that. It was a perfect day! I guess I'll thank Mickey for that!
Happy Birthday Mickey!! Life does seem to get better the older you get!! (1928)

2 comments:

Judy said...

Ah Disneyland! Our families favorite place to go. Can't wait to take the Grandbaby!
And don't wait too long to go back yourself - Space Mountain has been upgraded (you thought it was fun before) and there is a silly little "ride" - can't remember the name - but it's theme is from Toy Story and you sit in your car and "shoot" at targets. Then you get to see your score at the end. We all LOVED it and went on it 3 times!!
(And don't tell anyone - but I sing outloud if the ride isn't full on It's a Small World!)

Sharon Mae said...

Very fun! I hope you're printing up the parts that can be part of your life history. Really nice. Have you walked mom through how to get on? I'll be she'd really love it. Love you, Sharon