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~ "The first time I drove
past Disneyland in Anaheim, California, I was terribly disappointed. There was
the Matterhorn Mountain, right smack off the freeway exit, trying its best to rise
majestically and icily up in between the clutter of cheap hotels and
billboards… looking to me much more like a cheap miniature golf prop than what
I had come to expect from the “Magic Kingdom.”
As a child I had made frequent visits to
Disneyworld. This was many years before Universal and other attractions filled
in the vast acres of surrounding real estate. The entrance was a long, winding
road through grassy fields and orange groves and thanks to board-flat, central
Florida topography… completely cut off from any visible civilization. When the pastel,
tall, enchanted spires of Cinderella’s Castle first appeared, it really, truly did
make you feel like you had traveled to another world…as promised to an eight
-year-old…a magical world.
In the olden days…Disney did not have “passes.”
Admittance in the gate was free and then once inside there were ticket books to
buy for the rides, “A” tickets, “B” tickets, “C”…and so on. “E” tickets were
rare and most prized. They granted access to the premium attractions; “Haunted
Mansion,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” etcetera. “C” tickets were for the medium fun rides such
as, “Dumbo Flying Elephants,” and “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.”
“A” tickets were for the horse cars, fire
engine and what I thought was the very best ride of all, the King Arthur
Carousel in Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. “A” tickets were very easy to come by.
Everyone in Orlando had a junk drawer full of partially used ticket books…no
“D’s” or “E’s” left, but plenty of “A’s.”
At that time my Dad worked for a wholesale florist, and
drove a company van with a large flower logo on the side. On the occasional Saturday
afternoon, we would all pile in the van and my brothers, sister and I would crawl
inside the gigantic, coffin-like, cardboard flower boxes. Dad would blithely pull
into the commercial gate and tell the guard he had a floral delivery. So with
free parking and handfuls of cast off “A” tickets, we would roam around the
park, enjoying the characters and parades, highlighted by a carousel ride.
At that time there were 72 hand-carved white horses, all
in varied positions with differently painted and decorated bridles and saddles,
each was special and unique. I always ran for my favorite first…Romance, a true
beauty befitting her name, had a silver flower carved onto the side of her
saddle, trimmed in dozens of jewels and lavender, pink and sky blue ribbons. If
she was taken, my second favorite was Sapphire, dressed in bright greens and
blues, he had a beautiful, sparkling, sapphire gemstone set in the middle of
his chest. My two least favorites were Red Devil and Thistle. They were
beautifully decorated, but their tongues are hanging out of the side of their
mouths which bothered me because it made them look exhausted and a little bit
crazy."
From "Salty Kisses: Love and Deliciousness Inspired by Sun, Sand and Orange Blossoms," by Mango Dragonfly. Available on Amazon.com
www.mangodragonfly.com
