magical memories - Happy Birthday, Disneyland

On Disneyland's 53rd birthday, I find myself thinking back to the events of three years ago with the gala celebration of Disneyland's golden anniversary. Disneyland hosted an event called Celebrating 50 Years of Magical Memories, and we were lucky enough to be able to attend. It's been the only time we've stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel, and we spent five days at the resort, the most consecutive days we've been there, and yes, we were dorks and made sure that we were scanned into Disneyland on each of those five days.




It was a very busy five days, and the three days of the event itself all started early and ended late. But we had a fabulous time, with so many highlights: cooking seminar with Napa Rose Executive Chef Andrew Sutton; A Taste of the Disneyland Resort dinner; the live auction which was so much fun to watch; the beautifully set-up and very relaxing Lillian's Lunch in the Garden; and the wonderful Orange Grove Party which included the absolutely amazing "Magical Memories" show that I still can't believe they went through all that preparation for just a one-night show.

Through pure chance and good fortune, we also became acquainted with an artist who creates artwork for Disney for events, and we've managed to keep in touch with him over the past three years and to see him when he's in town for Disney-related matters.

The most magical memory of all, though, occurred on the morning (the *very early* morning, I might add) of July 17, 2005. Event guests were let into the park extra early, and I remember riding on the monorail, looking at the throngs of people, most of whom had waited overnight to be sure to get into Disneyland. But the biggest thrill of all was being able to have breakfast on the Mark Twain as the Twain made its way around the Rivers of America.




Breakfast was quite delicious in and of itself, but to be able to enjoy it sitting on the bottom deck at the front of the Twain as the Side Street Strutters played for us is a moment I will never forget.





Another advantage of being in the park that early was that event attendees were the first group to be able to purchase merchandise released that day, so it took a relatively short time as opposed to the hours that many people spent in line. And then when we made our way to Main Street, we watched as guests came streaming into the park, past the line of Cast Members who had lined Main Street to greet the guests with such enthusiasm. What an amazing sight to see that generated smiles all around.





I look forward to being able to experience Disneyland's 75th and 100th birthdays as well, but the 50th will always have a special place in my magical memories.