When you grow up with Disneyland as your personal backyard theme park, you simply have a different approach to the park. You take it for granted. You shrug off the lines. You're not shocked by the prices.
As it turns out, people who grow up around Disneyland are also observably different. Local that I am, I spent a fair amount of time the past couple of days just people-watching. (No, I didn't spend *all* my down time posting on Facebook!) And I discovered just how easy it is to tell a Disneyland native from a Magic Kingdom tourist.
Here are some simple clues:
Shopping on the way in to the park (and carrying the bags around all day)? Tourist.
Shopping? Why would anyone shop at Disneyland? Local.
Pushing a Disneyland rental stroller? Tourist.
Pushing a fold-up umbrella stroller? Local.
Pushing a stroller even though the youngest kid is 5, but it means you have somewhere to stow all the stuff and the kid is eventually going to wear out enough to climb into the stroller despite the embarrassment factor? Really smart local.
A whole bunch of kids wearing matching-color t-shirts so the day camp leaders can keep track of them? Local.
A whole bunch of kids wearing matching Mickey/Minnie/Incredibles t-shirts that also match their parents' t-shirts? Tourist.
A big "Happy Birthday" pin with your name on it? Local.
A big "Just Married" pin with your name on it? Tourist.
Everyone in line for the Dole Pineapple Whip outside the Tiki Room? Local.
Everyone who gets in line by mistake thinking they're going to the Tiki Room? Tourist.
Looking up and around all the pictures as the entry room to the Haunted Mansion "stretches"? Tourist.
Quoting the narration as the entry room stretches ("This room has no windows... and No Doors!")? Local.
Speaking German? Tourist.
Speaking Spanish? Local.
Carrying a map? Tourist.
Knows that if you cut through that one restaurant from Adventureland to Frontierland, you can avoid the crush around Pirates? Local.
Rides the Trolley Car on Main Street into the park? Tourist.
Rides the Trolley Car on Main Street out of the park? Local with sore feet.
Upset that there was no dragon in this summer's Fantasmic? Local.
Unaware that there was supposed to be a dragon? Tourist.
Brought a picnic blanket to stake out your spot for Fantasmic starting at 5 pm? Local who needs a life.
Watching the parade? Tourist.
Avoiding the parade to go on rides? Local.
Wearing a rain poncho on Splash Mountain? Tourist.
Wearing a bikini top on Splash Mountain? Local.
Lifting up your bikini top when the camera flashes on Splash Mountain? Slut.
Goes on Tarzan's Treehouse? Tourist.
Can't help but comment how much better it was when it was the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse? Local.
Doesn't smoke, or at the very least, sneaks off to the designated smoking areas and knows where they all are? Local.
Smokes on the Disneyland railroad in front of the No Smoking sign? Rude European tourist.
Sees the 50 minute wait time at Indiana Jones and gets in line anyway? Tourist.
Sees the 50 minute wait time at Indiana Jones and doesn't care because you rode Indiana Jones and Space Mountain twice each within your first hour in the park when no one else was there? Local.
Goes to the Haunted Mansion because it's in between Pirates and Splash Mountain? Tourist.
Goes to the Haunted Mansion because the air conditioning is really, really good, and besides, how *do* they do that thing where the cut-out statue busts follow you with their eyes, anyway? Local.
Goes to the Haunted Mansion to make out? Teenager.
Goes on It's a Small World when it's all dressed up for Christmas? Local.
Goes on It's a Small World any other time? Tourist.
Carries a big backpack with everything one might need throughout the park? Tourist.
Carries nothing, but has cash, park ticket and a chapstick in one's pockets? Local.
Woman wears full-makeup, heels, and a long skirt? Tourist.
Woman wears a tank top, sunscreen and running shoes? Local.
Takes a picture of the castle? Tourist.
Takes a picture at every designated Kodak Photo Spot? Asian tourist.
Takes a picture of one's friends making silly faces, ignoring the background? Local.
Takes a picture of the inside of Club 33 every time the door actually opens? Jealous local.
Spends $3.75 on a bottle of Vitamin Water when it's the hottest time of the day? Tourist.
Goes in to the overly air-conditioned Innoventions to play video games when it's the hottest time of the day? Local.
Thinks a Park Hopper ticket is normal? Tourist.
Remembers not only what an E-ticket is, but can point out which attractions were E-tickets (the Bobsleds! Pirates!), D-tickets (Tom Sawyer's Island! The Skyway! What, no Skyway? Well, they can show you where it used to run through the Matterhorn), and even A-tickets (the antique cars on Main Street)? Local.
Rolls their eyes because they can't get their parents to stop talking about these stupid E-ticket thingies. Preteen local child of local parent.
....And that was our trip to Disneyland....
10 comments:
A perfect guide! Thank you, Janet.
Fantastic!! I love the Splash Mountain ref, hey is that Toni Colette?
Never go to Haunted Mansion after Oct 1. They turn Haunted Mansion into Nightmare Before Christmas and it's lame. Everything's covered over with a Tim Burton gift box. pfffff (raspberry)
Good grief. Tiki room is an E Ticket? Last time I went, the guides were telling us how to exit early...
That was great. Loved it!
Another "local" spot is the special Baby Care Center at the end of Main Street on the right. They have kid-sized toilets, nice, clean changing tables, high chairs and small tables for feeding little ones, free cups of cold water, and even a separate area for private breastfeeding (not to mention the sweet old lady attendant dressed like a nanny right out of a 1950's Disney movie).
But you wouldn't have needed any of that on this trip! :)
--Kelly P.
Now I'm even more local than I was before!!
Here's my submission:
Stands outside the restaurants (like Blue Lagoon) looking frustrated that they can't find a table? Tourist. Walks right in because they made their lunch reservations as soon as they got there in the morning? Local.
There was nothing better than going to Disneyland with a new boy who you really liked and riding the Matterhorn. To sit in those cramped "sleds" and lean back on his teenage chest was such a thrill! And if things were going really well, you just might have your first kiss on the Skyway or the Monsanto ride!
Growing up near Disneyland was the best!
The Monsanto ride! I'd forgotten all about that! Yes, an excellent place to sneak a kiss!
Well, I'm hardly local, as I grew up in Kansas and was in my 30s the first time we went in 1986. But we've been so often since 1996 - at least once a year - that I'm more local than tourist. There are still some things that I do that are like the tourists, but I know my way around pretty well. And I know where every restroom is and the shortest way to get there.
It's always been a family joke that I stop at every rest room, so when Sarah and I went in 1999 to celebrate our milestone birthdays (my 50th and her 21st), we made a point of looking for all of them and taking photos of each one. So, that's not really a tourist thing, but it's not local either. Guess that just makes me a bit odd, no? LOL
Pat --
Here's a website for you:
http://www.mouseplanet.com/potties/
"The Happiest Potties on Earth"....
Enjoy!
I used the expression, "That was a real E-ticket experience!" the other day.
No one knew what I meant.
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