Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

So, I was in Disneyland for Independence Day. It was soooooo crowded. Apparently, a whole ton of folks decided that a good way to celebrate our freedom was to willingly be imprisoned in horrific lines for hours and hours. And hours and hours. To be honest, I’m not big for standing in lines. My theory for a pleasant time in Disneyland is to only enter ride lines with VERY SHORT wait times.

So, we drove from Phoenix and went to the Magic Kingdom. We started on Pirates of the Caribbean (wait time only twenty minutes). It was a great start to the long weekend … it seemed our rides were going to be charmed. I read online today that the Pirates of the Caribbean ride debuted in 1967. That makes the ride about 41 years old. The “Pirates” films keep the interest high and, we noticed, there were several new scenes with Captain Jack Sparrow. They were quite amusing, tongue-in-cheek … just what you’d expect … Jack hiding in barrels, behind treasure chests, beside pretty girls. A clever fellow after my own heart.

Since it was July 4th, that evening we went to the fireworks display in the park. There were so many people, we actually got stopped in the middle of Main Street, unable to move in either direction. Disney “cast members” were jostling everyone about and shrieking for us to keep moving and keep the streets clear but there were just too many people. After being wedged between a baby carriage and a large, bald man for about twenty minutes, Joyce said, “If there is an emergency, we will be trampled to death.” Undoubtedly, I thought. The fireworks were fun and awesome … for a while. But, then, the fireworks were stopped mid-show. The announcement said the winds were too high to continue. A couple of days later, we heard they were stopped because the crowds were too dense and fire code violations too glaring. We walked back to the Disneyland Hotel shortly before closing time. Joyce danced around in the shadow of the Sorcerer’s hat. A ferocious cold was taking hold of me so I was much more sedate.