Family trips to Disneyland are some of the best memories I have. I want to relive them. But life changes, sometimes better, sometimes not. I don't go to Disneyland much anymore, but I want too. I can imagine what it would be like. In time.
I find myself going to the fansites to see pics of the new construction in the parks, reading blog posts by those who have connections in the Disney know and also wondering why DisneySea isn't coming to America. When will I go to Disneyland next? I don't know. But when I'm ready, my faith is that Disney will be there to entertain me. I will shrink to four foot tall again as I walk down Main Street and get lost in time and space as I consider all the different things I can see and do. There is no doubt this will happen.
I suppose that some natural disaster could set me back from seeing the park I love for a short time, or someone with bad intent might find a way to scar my favorite place. But wounds heal and sometimes scars add character, so no worries there, I will still love you. I can even find beauty in our capitalistic structure these days for the longevity of my park. As much as I should be hugely disappointed in the neglects, greed and manipulation of our economic system it will protect my lil' paradise. Ceo's, board members, stock holders, bloggers and the attending public will notice if someone isn't there to pick the trash up on Main Street or the Matterhorn bobsleds need new paint. We all know that we need to be clean and shiny for the guests or we will get upset and complain (isn't the internet wonderful! Thank you Al Gore!) Sure a detail might get missed here and there, a piece of trash might be on the sidewalk two minutes longer they we think it should, but that is to be expected, its part of life. Perfection is a wonderful concept but it doesn't exist. Things can always be better, but there is nothing wrong with chasing it and wanting more. Like Winnie with honey, never enough.
With the good part of our little capitalistic system, there are other companies that see the dollar signs the mouse house generate. "Hmm", they say, "lets see if we can get some of that". Now, this is one of the areas I keep my eyes glued too. I don't want anyone to out do my team, so I route against the competition. Don't get me wrong, sometimes its good to stake out the competition to see what they are doing and even enjoy some of their players. I wish my team had signed Harry Potter. He is going to hit many home runs for that Universal team. He's a great player and I'm looking forward to seeing him play in person someday but I will always tell my friends, "I wish my team got him". But I don't worry, because it's like the Yankee's playing the Royals, the Patriots playing the Bills, the Lakers playing the Warriors, not a lot of comparison even though the other team will squeak out a win here and there.
I do have to encourage my team to keep an eye on the future and sign the players that show potential like Avatar. What will that new land in Disney World's Animal Kingdoms be like??? Some day I shall see. And the farm system is great: Cars, Nemo, Beauty and the Beast to name a few. And our players are so good, that sometimes a player like Pirates of the Caribbean can get called up and bring a huge crowd. And everyone is happy that they went to see! (Haunted Mansion should have worked out a little more like P o C) .... still glad he's part of the team!
So it's all in my teams hands, it's theirs to lose and I don't see it happening.
Now since life has changed and I can't afford to go see my team as much as I want, I find other ways to keep entertained. I love a good movie or television series, I love keeping up on technology and it's interesting to see what is going on in the world. Will the Red Elephants pull a rabbit out of the hat against the Blue Donkeys??? Probably not.
But most of all I have found Massive Multiplayer Online worlds (MMO's), a digital place I can immerse myself in and get lost doing all sorts of things. It's digital Disneyland! Like theme parks, there's many to choose form and like theme parks, one stands out above the rest: Blizzard's World of Warcraft. I was blown away the first time I played it 5 years ago and I return regularly. At fifteen dollars a month, its the best entertainment value I've ever found. For the price of going to a movie and getting a popcorn (2 hours entertainment) I can get 100 hours of fun for the same price. It's the Facebook of people who like these types of worlds and yes, you can chat with each other too!
And like Disneyland, Blizzard has got such a huge head start with their game, they will have to make some very poor decisions not to retain the attendance to their park (12 to 1 ratio of visitors to the nearest competitor). I've been paying a little bit more attention to this team of mine, because they even though they are on their way to Disney like status, they don't have the dominance yet in the way Disney has over its competitors. We shall see what happens, but you know whom I'm routing for, and I believe its theirs to lose!
Toddofcruz ~ future rants and raves to come!
