Brian Ingebretsen
4/1/14
ENGL 1A
Frozen Majesty
Over Winter
Break, I was offered the greatest pleasure that any child or adult would revel
in; a trip to the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland. This, however, was no ordinary
Disney trip; instead I was treated to the magnificence of the happiest place on
Earth blanketed in snow and glad tidings and, being it the first time being to
Disneyland during winter, I fell in love with the warmth that the frosted-over
park exuded. Usually when I take the yearly trip to the Magic Kingdom it’s in
the summer where the sun is high and there is an omnipresence of shorts and
tank tops. Since I am used to the warm weather and abundance of ice cream,
traversing the park in the highest point of winter really seemed like a culture
shock, not just weather-wise but experience-wise too. I gaped in awe as the
Disneyland I was used to transformed into a literal winter wonderland with
fantastic scenery and beautiful decorations, I knew I was in a magic kingdom.
Sleeping Beauty’s castle was draped in beautiful white powder and covered from
top to bottom with lights that pierced through the winter chill and left a warm
feeling. A giant Christmas tree overlooked the park in all of its glory and
even the Disney characters, who roamed around, got into the holiday spirit, I
still regret not taking a picture with Donald Duck in a sweater. The
demographics included humans of all ages, races and sexes and it really brought
me joy to see all of these diverse people getting along in harmony, kind of
like a small bubble of frozen paradise. This is one of the main reasons why I
love going to Disneyland, the kingdom is always joyful and is never plagued
with such social problems that the real world faces. Everyone can enjoy all the
rides, all the food, and all of the landmarks that have been made famous by the
previous Disney films. During my trip I journeyed through the park locating all
of the subtle differences between the winter and summer versions and I wasn’t disappointed.
The differences ranged from subtle to extravagant, subtle coming in the form of
differently costumed characters and extravagant being an understatement for
attractions like the Haunted Mansion Christmas. The Haunted Mansion is
transformed into the movie ride for Nightmare before Christmas and it is all
the more wonderful, I almost wish they kept it up for the entire year but that
would ruin the magic I presume. Disneyland during the winter is truly a
treasure to behold but if I were given a ticket to anywhere in the world I
would pick Italy for a number of cheesy romantic reasons. First off, I have
never been to Europe so it would be an appropriate time to visit one of the
most romantic cities in the Union where you can travel by water and gawk at all
the wonderful areas around. I would also like to explore the natural meadows of
the Italian landscape and look at the history as well as the old fashioned. I
would love to hear the language of love being spoken, falling smoothly out of
the mouths of the native speakers. I would want to sit at a café and watch as
time slows and becomes a part of the rippling of the calm water. Going to Italy
has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid because I always had a
likeness for natural age and history. I love Venice and I would love to ride
down in a boat with someone truly special while looking up into the clear sky.
I would love to see the history and majesty of Rome, all of the statues and dilapidated
buildings just oozing with history. I would love to take a few weeks and just
explore the grand country with as much depth as I could possibly see. That
being said, though, Disneyland has always been my favorite place of all time
and seeing it for the first time in December cemented that fact. There will
never be a place as magical as the Magic Kingdom.
