Why Disneyland is Great

When “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” gained popularity in the US, I was unimpressed. I admit it was good; probably as good as, if not better than, any movie that came out that year, but still I rooted against it when the Academy Awards rolled out. I didn’t hate the movie, I just knew there was better.

My family, my mom in particular, always watched those epic Chinese dramas when I was young and I would watch them with her. Of course, they were dubbed in Vietnamese (I often credit this to why, as a second generation American, I am still fluent in my native language). These series were just that: series. Unlike American TV shows, these series weren’t intended to air until the networks dropped them, nor were they short enough to warrant being labeled as a movie or mini-series. These epic dramas were often 40+/40-minute episodes with intentional beginning, middle and ending story lines.

I loved watching these. My favorite was The Condor Heroes. The martial arts, the drama, the political backdrop that I was too young to understand at the time. These were the characteristics that makes this series a classic. I loved it because I loved getting lost in a world the writers so craftily created.

I love being lost in stories.

This is why I enjoy watching movies, because for 2 hours at a time, I am transported to another world, enveloped in another’s story. But I love television shows even more because I can spend weeks, months, even years watching the story unfold.

Many of you can relate. Remember Cory Matthews from “Boy Meets World?” If you watched the series from the beginning, you began seeing the life of an elementary school boy, and watched him as he grew up through high school, college, even marriage. Your heart broke with his as he learns about friendship with his best friend, Shawn, or as he dates and fall in love with Topanga and all the emotions that a relationship evokes. We saw him grow up, not only with help from his friends, but also with guidance from his parents and beloved teacher, Mr. Feeny.

The boy met the world and we felt as if we were a part of it, too.

I recently re-watched all 7 seasons of “The West Wing,” an amazing series created by Aaron Sorkin, who also did “The Social Network,” about the presidency of fictional character, Jed Bartlet and his staff. Phenomenal writing aside, it was fun to be lost in this world of politics and a idealized representation of the White House. I was captivated.

My Netflix queue is 10 pages long. I’m 2 months behind on current TV shows I’ve Tivo’d and although I’ve already seen “The West Wing” twice, once I started, I couldn’t pull myself away. I was lost in that world and I loved it.

This is what makes Disneyland so great. There are plenty of amusement parks in the Southern California area, some of which you could argue have “better” rides because they’re more thrilling. But only at Disneyland are you really captured into another world of magic and wonder. Disney does the best job of creating worlds to lose yourself. Whether you’re in Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, or Main Street USA, Disneyland makes the experience real by making sure every detail is thematic.

If you’re going to Disneyland, be prepared to be taken into a whole new world, cheesy pun intended. Let yourself be carried away and when you’re done, come unwind with us