Thing 223 Disney Parade

I was in Disneyland once before, with the Tiny Fairy when we were all of eighteen years young, fado fado, when I was small and innocent and we didn't have television or something to that effect. In the time we were there we saw a few bits and pieces, but not a lot of the Disney characters. It's a sad thing for a twenty six year old man to admit, but I love those Disney chaps. I know that people say Walt Disney was a bit odd, but I grew up with Thorny Wire on a steady diet of Jungle Book, Alladdin and the highly underrated Robin Hood cartoon. Awesome.

It would also be extra sad for a twenty six year old man to admit to finding Disneyland "magical", and "amazing" and "breathtaking", so there's no way I'm going to do that. But when the Monsters Inc crew and Baloo the Bear are singing Christmas songs on a stage with Mickey Mouse and Woody from Toy Story, it's hard not to be blown away. I'm still not admitting to it. Thankfully The Thief was so excited she was like a six year old, which means she didn't notice me flipping out...

The Thief made us get up at eight in the morning. I hate eight in the morning. The one thing it did mean was a fun-filled day in Disneyland. One long ass fun filled day. We took in Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain Mission Two, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, the Tea Cups, and it on and on. I got my photo taken with Winnie the Pooh, and watched Mickey and Minnie Mouse walk off into their castle thing hand in hand. Sweet.
There's a thing about Disney. For the twenty somethings out there, Disney movies are instant transport back to your childhood. A blast from your past. It's memories of Saturdays spent sitting on the ass, rapt as King Louis did his thing and Baloo dressed as a lady monkey. These days I'd be looking at that and wondering about the merits of a cross dressing bear monkey, and whether or not it's appropriate for the King Louis to be clearly attracted to this odd animal. Sorry if I've ruined that for you... I'm a bit of an asshole from time to time.
After a long day of taking in the Disney phenomenon, it was nice to just stand back and be impressed by a massive display of lights and fantasy like you've never seen. It was also cool to see how amazed and impressed all the kids were. Tiny little faces completely blown away by the spectacle of it all. If you've got kids, and you can afford it, Disneyland is the place to be. Amazing!
By the way on a slight tangent here, there's a serious Goofy discrimination campaign currently going on in Disney. We could find giant stuffed toys of the most obscure Disney characters you can think of; the tiny aliens from Toy Story, the bit part monsters in Monsters Inc, a massive variety of Pluto the Dog toys wearing a bunch of different outfits and not a Goofy toy to be seen. Nowhere in the park could we find Goofy... if I wasn't lazy and apathetic I'd be all about a petition or something... But I am those things, so I'll give it a miss.

Seriously though, does anyone else miss Goofy?