However we were not big travelers, and though I couldn’t fathom the heat in southern California at that lifetime of year (no one in their right minds needed plus size leather jackets!), when my fiancé asked me where we should go on a short, inexpensive honeymoon, I suggested a Disneyland vacation. So what that we were grown adults. So what that neither of us cared for intense rides that make you throw up or standing in lines that seemed to threaten hours of misery. We created plans for our Disneyland vacation, foregoing the Disneyland hotel (in favor of cheaper digs, as we might only be in the room to shower and sleep), and deciding to drive (as we were only a few hundred miles away). It wasn’t as drawn out a decision as when I chose on a career in personal training, it was more of a snap thing.

I love amusement park environments: I love the individuals, who have let their hair down and let go of formalities, temporarily; I love the scenes to observe and enjoy; and I love the country fair snacks that one typically indulges in only once or twice a year—the fudge, the hot fudge sundaes in enormous waffle cones, the cotton candy…. When I got to the gates, to start my two-day Disneyland vacation, though, I belief I might change my mind. There were 100s of individuals, not so much crowded and ready to burst through the entrance in excited, frenzied television commercial joy, but though, in remarkable suffocating numbers. But, my apprehension was assuaged when the gates did open and the individuals disbursed, walking with plenty of space between us into the park, at once going into the closest food or rest stop building or walking into the building where Abe Lincoln gives the Gettysburg Address. (If you have created a lengthy drive right before beginning your Disneyland vacation and are parched, tired, and of course gullible, the wax figures become so alive for you it is startling…. A remarkable way to start your Disneyland vacation experience, that is surreal at most times, nevertheless!)

My fresh partner loved Michael Jackson at that lifetime. He imitated Michael, performed singing and dancing to his albums, and was immensely excited to see the “fresh” three-D movie with Michael and his troupe performing “Thriller”. I dreaded the lines, but was soon surprised and corrected: not only was the wait tolerable, but the entry after the wait was manageable: those staffed at Disneyland’s theatre instructed (and, where necessary, insisted) each person entering move all the way to the far side of the theatre, sitting in the next available seat, orderly and successively…not just running to any old seat, shifting your mind, switching, stumbling, bumping, and holding up the procedure. It was an organizational experience I have referred to for countless years after, remarkably when trying to figure out how to get rid of credit card debt.

The Disneyland vacation, besides including all of the foods at the park I craved, had, in those early eighties, tolerable thrill-seeker rides, beautifully inventive rides, and nostalgia shops (for individuals like me, who had watched Annette and the other mousketeers, had faithfully watched The Fantastic Planet of Disney each weekend, but had not ever had any Mickey Mouse ears or had not ever laid eyes on the real castle or other characters). And most impressive of all, besides the organization, were the spaciousness and the cleanliness of the park. What an altogether superb Disneyland vacation. I am these days forty-something, but I wanna go back!!!!