Dispatch From Disneyland
Page 2 of 3

The girls wanted to visit the fun house first, of course. But between here and there were dozens of souvenir shops, candy stores, and huckster booths each filled to the brim with enticing knick-knacks and other treats. Walt was beginning to remember why he didn’t come to these areas that often.

Walt subtly positioned himself between his girls and the first candy store. But they saw around him and quickly made their way to that side of the street. Jawbreakers, licorice, taffy, and other teeth decaying sweets filled the shelves. The girls said please, like they were taught to, and smiled so nicely that Walt had to give in. A dollar’s worth of candy and postcards later they were back on the way to the fun house.

The fun house cost two-bits a visitor and consisted of four rooms. The first was a mirror maze that frankly made Walt claustrophobic. The second involved blowing hot air up from slots in the ground as one tried to make it down a hall with a spinning optical illusion effect at the end. Walt somehow survived without losing his breakfast and made it to the third room -- the clown room. Decorated in circus signs and colors the room hid various pop-up clown figures. The girls had the most fun here, if being scared out of their minds could be counted as fun. The last room was the traditional tilting barrel which both Walt and Lillian ended up crawling through just to get out of the darned thing.

Next was the house of horrors. This was a variation of the fun house, with the novelty that you got to ride through the rooms on a train like system instead of walking. Instead of clowns there were bloody bodies, ghosts, and skeletons popping out at you. However, the ride was over in a pounding heartbeat, and Walt wondered if that for a quarter each they shouldn’t be getting a little more entertainment.

Lillian wanted some less exciting fare and took the girls over to the carrousel. Walt found some popcorn and followed them to the ride. Sitting on a bench nearby he could admire the craftsmanship it took to build such a ride. Each horse was hand carved and painted with only a few chips of paint beginning to show the years. The calliope led mechanical band brought back memories of his days at other amusement parks.

As he watched his family enjoying themselves on the carrousel, Walt reached back and found that he had sat in the remains of some child’s cotton candy. Blue sugary stains covered the back of his new jacket. Even worse he found a wad of gum had fastened itself to the bottom of his shoe at some point during the afternoon. This was shaping up to be quite lovely.

Thankfully it was soon time for dinner. With the coastal curfew and blackout rules recently lifted they could dine under the lights at the end of the pier. By pushing his weight around just a little with the maitre de, Walt secured the best table. The elegant restaurant looked out over the edge of the pier and from the right tables it looked as if you were just floating out over the water.

Below them was the ballroom. The swinging sounds of the latest big band hits wafted through the air pleasantly accompanying the meal. Walt could hear the dancing of dozens of couples who had found their way to the beach to relieve a little of the war-time stress, maybe meet a few nice officers, or just have a good time.