Let me just put this out there and let everyone know once and for all that I am a total Disneyland nut.  And while I am not ashamed of this fact, I will also be one of the first to say that I know the reasoning behind this is deeply psychological.  Disneyland holds a great amount of nostalgia for me (as I think it does for many people).  Trips to Disneyland were associated with memories of my family — and somehow those memories are always stronger when they are from a vacation.

I think that anyone would agree that the real draw behind Disneyland is storytelling.  Walt was a master storyteller and it really shows in his park.  I have taken trips to other theme parks (Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, Chessington World of Adventures) and while each had thrilling rides (Chessington, not so much) anyone would agree that their storytelling is sub-par.  Before my most recent trip, I read David Koenig’s Mouse Tales.  Probably the thing that I got most out of that book is the fact that good storytelling takes effort and preparation.  Disneyland is willing to pay the big bucks because it know that money is necessary to fill in the holes in the walls of storytelling.  In the same way that extraneous details can ruin a story (think about your aunt going on and on about something), Disney knew that he must keep those details hidden.  Nothing should be extraneous.  Everything should support the plot.

Anyway, here is my most recent video from a trip that my entire family took to Disneyland, and while I may not have captured the stories of Disneyland, I hopefully captured the story of my family and our experience with that place.