Disneyland is only as good as the people you go with. [Op-Ed]

As Editor-in-chief, I have the privilege of helping find topics for our team to write and share with you. Living the Disney life for all these years has presented a lot of interesting topics and news stories and I and the rest of the DisneyExaminer team hope that you have benefited from them…but there’s so much more to the Disney life than what’s new…

…there’s also a part of the Disney life that’s old, that has been around and we figured that we’d tell those stories as well because they really are newsworthy! This post marks the beginning of a new opinion-editorial column that will be written by yours truly and will look at the many other Disney things that aren’t so mainstream, but should be because they impact us – those who live the Disney life.

Do you remember the first time you walked into a wonderland? Through an Old West town? Through a spaceport? Down Main Street USA? I’m sure you do. You remember the sights of spinning tea cups or the flashing lights of old town America and that’s absolutely something that Disney Parks have to offer. I, myself, recall my first visits to Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

Walt’s original (and my favorite) Disney Park in Anaheim has stood the test of time. It’s about to approach its 60th birthday and millions of people have walked through turnstiles and have found all the things that reality couldn’t give them. But you must remember that not all of reality has ceased as you walk into Disneyland. For me, that reality was my parents. They were the ones who bought my first ticket and pushed me around in the stroller so I could get some camera time with the Mouse or see the rest of my “little” friends at ‘its a small world.’ Looking back at those years, I couldn’t forget that my parents were the only piece of reality that came with me into the dream that was Disneyland.

All these years later and now that I’m all grown up, we aren’t really going to Disneyland together anymore. But that doesn’t keep them away. If they don’t have me to go with, they have each other. I have my good friends and extended family that I go with too. DisneyExaminer keeps me coming here with a team most of the time! And that’s what Disneyland is all about, folks.

Walt Disney created Disneyland so that “the parents and the children could have fun together.” Sure, Walt meant immediate families, but I’m sure he wouldn’t have mind if we expanded that intention “so that the parents [and the parents] and the children [and the children] could have fun together.” If you look at who goes to Disneyland today, it just isn’t about families anymore! You see a lot of those children and their friends go together (like me and my friends) and parents and maybe their friends too go to together (like my parents). Bottom line – Disneyland was made by and for the people to be together.

In other words for me, Disneyland is only as good as the people you go with. Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Main Street USA make up Disneyland and what makes up those places are the people. The attractions, food, and shows are indeed part of what makes the place magical in our real world, but those things just aren’t as magical if you’re experiencing them by yourself.

Think about it.

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Well, then there’s my point and I’ll simply leave it here. Disneyland is only as good as the people you go with and whether that be your parents, friends, extend family, you know that you had a swell time because they were there with you. And that’s a reality that we all can agree on.

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I really believe that Disneyland (or any Disney Park) is meant to be experienced with someone and I know that a lot of my friends (and perhaps you included) may find yourself going to a Disneyland by yourself sometime soon, so we’ve created a tool that we hope makes finding someone to go with a lot easier.

Click HERE to join our DE Single Riders Facebook Group so that you never have to ruin the magic for yourself and experience Disneyland alone again!