Fall Trip to CA: Los Angeles

Since our trip was a little on the lengthy side, I've broken it up into a series of posts; links to the additional posts can be found at the bottom of this one!

We spent part of Tuesday, October 6 finding a few places in and around LA that we wanted to visit.

Our first stop was Huntington Beach, where my family spent countless summer weeks visiting my grandpa.  I absolutely love Huntington Beach and have so many happy, happy, happy memories from this place – and even though my grandpa moved the east coast a couple of years ago, we still like to visit Huntington Beach whenever we are in California.  If we ever win the lottery, it is most decidedly on the list of places we'd love to live.  This beach is so beautiful!

We then found an ice cream place called Afters that we'd read about and it did not disappoint!  I had a "milky bun," which sounds strange, I know.  But it was delicious!  It was like a warm donut filled with ice cream.  I chose Cookie Monster ice cream and all I can say is YUM.  We ended up going back again later in the week because it was that good!  On our way there, we passed a sign for Balboa Island, and if you are a fellow Arrested Development fan, you will appreciate the giddiness I felt.

We then drove downtown because I wanted to find Alan Menken's star on the Walk of Fame and had learned it was located in front of the El Capitan Theater, which is very important in Disney history.  I written about my love for Alan Menken previously (here and here and here and here and here!), so I was over the moon to find his star!

Our final stop before returning to Disneyland was Griffith Park.  This was not our first visit by any means.  However, during all of our other visits there, I never knew that I was in close proximity to a significant piece of the Disney legend:  the merry-go-round where Walt would take his daughters.  As the story goes, it was here that his dream of Disneyland was born.

The merry-go-round is not only still there, but it still operates on the weekends!  Given that we went on a Tuesday, we missed out on a chance to ride, but the upside was that the area was devoid of other people, so we had it all to ourselves.  As we walked around and took photos, I was completely overwhelmed by the realization that Walt Disney himself had spent time in this very spot.  The man was a dreamer.  A visionary.  And a place I love was first imagined in this very spot.

The result of all of these thoughts and connections and realizations was me standing on a grassy hillside on a beautiful fall afternoon with tears pouring down my cheeks.  Utterly overcome with emotion.

where the dream was born

Next time, we will plan our visit for a weekend so that we can experience the merry-go-round first hand.  For now, the memory of just standing where Walt once stood is enough.  More than enough.

I feel this way when people ask me why I like Disneyland when it is "small and crowded" compared to WDW.  Because Walt was there.  He walked down Main Street, USA.  When I am walking down Main Street, USA, I always think to myself, "I'm walking where Walt once walked," and I can't say that when I'm in Florida.  There's something magical about Disneyland and I am always at a loss for words when I try to articulate exactly what makes it so special.  But it definitely has something to do with Walt's presence...his footprints - both literal and figurative - that exist in the park.

Visiting the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round was the same kind of experience for me.  It doesn’t matter if others don't get it or don't understand why we were so thrilled to visit an old merry-go-round.  Although I'm fairly certain that if you think of yourself as a "Disney person," you will probably appreciate what it meant to us.

That's it for this post!  Check out my other posts about our adventures on this trip...
~ Northern California
~ Disneyland Hotel
~ Disneyland
~ Disney California Adventure
~ Mickey's Halloween Party
~ Disneyland Tours

Happy Tails to you!