Small, Small World

Never mind the stupefyingly large crowds. Forget the sensory overload that comes with dueling strains of piped-in music battling for the attention of your ear. Pay no mind to the menu offerings masquerading as a proper lunch or dinner. Miraculously, none of this matters when you are under the spell of Disneyland. Somehow it mattered even less in Tokyo Disneyland, and who could emerge without some magical memories from two days in that fantasy land with a four- and six-year-old who had never been?

Only through the generosity of a Corvallis friend
(and former Disney employee) did Evelyn acquire this heavenly dress.

Though the park is a mere 20 km from our home, Japan's Magic Kingdom has seemed a bit out of my grasp up to this point - the logistics and timing were always a bit tricky. But Chris gets the credit for helping me pull the trigger late one evening during our recent spring holiday, and how fun was it to wake the kids the next morning with a Who wants to go to Disneyland? (Having never been and with no point of reference, their tentative reaction was priceless: Sure, we'll try it.) Backpacks on our backs, we caught the first of four trains and headed for the bay.

School girls always take a special interest in the kids.
This trio literally screamed in unison when I consented
to their request for a photo.

While I'm not going to lie and tell you Disney is my thing (the crowds! the sensory overload! the food!) the kids' enjoyment was so worth it. Patrick literally danced his way into the park and stifled tears on the way out.  (I'm going to miss this special place!) Evelyn was absolutely spellbound by the Electric Light Parade and I can still see her little face bathed in its light, her small hand shyly waving at each dazzling character rolling by. I practically had to cover her ears when Snow White twirled our way..."Some day my prince will come and all my dreams will come true."  What?! Is she still saying that after all these years?! Luckily, the bilingual format of the parade saved us from other fairytale gaffes, because if anyone else was yearning for a prince to make her dreams come true, we couldn't understand the expression of her wishes. 

Oh, but my words seem so harsh and cynical, don't they?  Exactly the reason that sometimes you just need to drop everything and simply be a kid again, if only for two magical days! And come to think of it...I've got a pretty good prince myself.  :-)

Photo Disclaimer - I take full responsibility for the unfortunate quality of these pictures, which is what I deserve for the foolish notion that an iPhone would suffice for all my photo-taking needs! If only my Prince had been along to capture the magic!