Disneyland, Disneyworld and My Favorite Carousel Horse.

~ "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