Forever Magical
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Through the years, our family has found that our greatest Disneyland joy is to tour around someone who has never been there before. Disneyland's wonderful magic beckons visitors from all around the world. People from every nation visit the park every day. Not only are these visitors seeing the Park for the first time but they also view it through the eyes of a different culture. Visiting the park with someone who's never been there has always opened my eyes to many interesting aspects that I had overlooked. It's also easy to forget the absolute awe and wonder those unfamiliar with the theme park experience bring to their first trip to Disneyland.

Just the fact that there are Disneyland programs available in several languages brings a smile to the face of an international visitor. For example, some international guests that I have been with have paid the money for a one-day ticket, then upon entering asked where you get tickets for the rides. Many little details such as messages in different languages sprinkled throughout the park are also noticed as well. The visual humor in the park's attractions is universally understood. One doesn't need to understand English to immediately recognize the Star Tours pre-boarding video as a parody of airline videos. The famous "lost safari" on the Jungle Cruise is also a great visual joke. Theming is also very universal, because the visitor is immersed in a recognizable environment. One doesn't need to know English to see that Adventureland is a jungle, Frontierland is the old west and Mickey's Toontown is a cartoon city.

Sometimes attractions that you think the guest will really like, turns out to not be as popular. And there are also times that you think the visitor will really hate something, when it becomes their favorite attraction for the whole day.

First time visitors comment about how much more exists beyond the entrances of various attractions then meets the eye. Mickey's House and Indiana Jones are the most obvious examples. This fact lead to some funny situations. One time I was leading some people through Indiana Jones, pointing out interesting aspects of the line. What I didn't know was that they did not know the word line, so they thought that the queue was the whole attraction. We were almost about to board when they asked if it was almost over, because they didn't think it was that interesting. Needless to say, they understood everything when they saw people getting on the jeeps. First-time guests also aren't expecting the first drop on Pirates of the Caribbean, so if you're lucky to have a quiet group or an empty boat ahead of you, it comes as quite a surprise.

When I was touring around a group a few weeks ago, I asked them if they wanted to go on it's a Small World. They weren't interested, until the Christmas lights came on. Needless to say, they immediately walked towards what they called "this beautiful...thing." In the line for Space Mountain, I had a hard time explaining that it was a roller coaster, since the guests did not know the word "roller coaster." After about 15 minutes of moving my hands around they understood.

If you ever the chance to tour around the Park with a first time guest, especially someone visiting from outside America, I would highly recommend it. You’ll probably notice things you hadn’t seen before and see some very familiar sights in a completely different way.

-- Daniel Kaplan - Rebekah Moseley's teenage brother (January 28, 2000)