I Was There
Published October 07, 2005
Guest columnist Dean Scungio seems to have struck a cord with our readers
with his September 13 column The
Happiest Hobby on Earth. Dean now holds the record for the most
reader mail received for a single story. A fact that isn't sitting that
well with our Mr. Oberleitner…and we couldn't be happier about
that. Here's what some of you had to say about Dean's o-meon.com
debut.
The story that Dean wrote was excellent. It brought back lots of memories.
I am very much like Dean in that I became a collector and "Disnoid"
about 15 years ago when I was living in Florida. I happen to be a little
older than Dean, but we won't go into age <G>!!! My first Disney
experience was at Disneyland as a preteen with my parents. Unlike Dean,
I have been to Disneyland many times though as I lived in Southern CA
for several years. At one time I even had annual passes to both WDW
in Florida and Disneyland in California.
About 1 1/2 years ago I moved from San Diego, CA (and Disneyland)
to Orlando, FL (and WDW). Late last spring, I decided I wanted
to go back to California for a vacation. And what better time to
do it than Disneyland's 50th birthday party. I decided I wanted to be
there on THE DAY…
I have to say the first time I walked back thru the gates at Disneyland were
pretty special. Seeing the castle with the golden spires and the lamps
with stars and golden Tinkerbells were also pretty neat. I just stopped
and took a deep breath and turned around in a circle. My friends, who
had all been to the park recently, just let me be for a few minutes…
Unlike Dean, my friends and I went for the merchandise. So that was
one more line that we had to stand in. There was a special pin -- limited
edition of 5000 -- that says "I was there July 17, 2005"…
Anyway, my friends and I closed the park down and walked back across
the esplanade just after 1am -- almost 24 hours after we had entered
it.... And what a wonderful birthday it was!!!
DaisyRDuck
Reader Frank T. had this to say about Dean's article:
Just a note to say I enjoyed Dean's article. I basically paralleled
his trip, in that, I too, attended the NFFC convention and then attended
the July 17th Anniversary. I got my son up at 1:00 am to be in line
early and assure ourselves admission on the special day. We were fortunate
to get one of the 5,000 "I Was There" pins commemorating the
day. Our names appeared in the Orange County Register the next day.
We were interviewed while in line to get the pins.
I appreciated getting the special mouse ears with the date embroidered.
A very nice touch was the employees lining Main St. as we entered the
park. The said "welcome" and "thanks for coming back
to Disneyland for the Anniversary". Many people commented on what
a nice gesture that was.
I saw Dean at several of the NFFC convention events and, in fact, we
stood together to watch the wonderful fireworks show on the NFFC night
in the park. I recall that he took many photos of the fireworks and
was hoping they would turn out despite the low light levels.
Like Dean, I couldn't miss the July 17th Anniversary. You see, I was
born in 1955, so its my 50th Anniversary as well! I started planning
to be there 5 years ago. Everything worked out as planned. I enjoyed
meeting many of the Disney Legends and Mouseketeers.
It was a great week and if I am lucky, one I can repeat when Disneyland
and I turn 75 and 100!
Regards,
Frank T.
And Amy B. from El Paso had the following to say:
I enjoyed reading the article on Disneyland's Anniversary on July 17th!
I too, traveled alone for the event, met many people, never felt alone,
camped out on the 16th, and had a great day! I was there also
for may 5th,but I especially enjoyed the 17th! (I too took a picture
with Matt and loved the early morning greetings by the Cast Members
as we entered!
The people I met was a family for 5 adults, mother father and 3 grown
daughters. A LAPD and a college student from Colorado and myself
made up our group. We took care of one and another during the
night, exchanged Disney trivia and stories. One of the best things
we did was we painted out nails-gold of course! It was bonding
experience! We met on and off all day. Another great event
was meeting up to see the Walt Disney film as a group and talking to
(I forgot his name) the Cast Member who was featured in the Disney
News several years ago who was working at the Disney
moments on Main Street.
I was also thrilled to be apart of the Happiest Faces on Earth!
Amy B.
El Paso, TX
reader mail
put directory title here
|
