Disneyland: It's magic for any age

Disneyland. Photo / Scott Brinegar/Disneyland Resort

Disneyland is a sensory overload. At every hour the park is open, there are thousands of people milling about, a dazzling array of Disney characters to capture your attention and entire new worlds at every turn.

For first-timers like myself it's a somewhat jarring experience, but also one that offers countless moments of beauty. Everywhere you turn at Disneyland or the neighbouring Disney California Adventure Park, there are dreams coming true and kids making memories they'll treasure forever.

There are attractions for all ages — from tame meet-the-characters encounters for the young ones, adrenaline rushes for those slightly older, and even gentler rides for anyone with an aversion to being thrown about on a theme-park ride. Each offers a unique side of Disney magic.

When we walked through the "Meet Disney Princesses at Royal Hall" experience, which, it was safe to say, I was not quite in the target age group, just ahead of us was a young girl with her mum. As the characters of Ariel, Snow White and Cinderella greeted her, her face widened with joy, and her mother looked on with a touching fondness, as the princesses whispered empowering words of confidence to the young girl. It was a touching moment, even for anyone not familiar with the characters themselves. This young girl was being shown just how transcendent and powerful storytelling can be.

As for the rides — oh, wow, the rides. They're out of this world. Not just because of the adrenaline hits — although, rest assured, there are plenty of those — but also because of the incredible works of art and feats of engineering that go into them. There's nothing quite like walking towards Cars Land, in Disney California Adventure Park, and seeing the Cadillac Mountain Range tower above you (this attraction reportedly cost US$200 million — the most expensive in the resort), or wandering into Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout and feeling like you've stepped on a real-life Alien spaceship.

The former ride is a joyous thrill in which you're placed in small cars and whipped around the desert set in a race with your fellow guests. There are just enough hair-raising bends and dips to keep the tension up and really lend the ride a sense of speed. As for the Guardians ride, that's something else entirely. Not only is it a colossal vertical drop, but the ride sends you in both directions — throwing you sky high, offering a light glimpse of your altitude above the park, before you're overcome by a stomach-churning sensation of weightlessness and suddenly you're falling again. Don't eat anything too heavy before you go on this ride, and make sure you find somewhere to rest your quaky knees afterwards.

The older, more classic rides over in Disneyland Resort still offer their own bursts of fun. The Indiana Jones Adventure is exactly what I had expected it to be, with enough near-misses with approaching boulders or tomb-raiding foes to last me a lifetime. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride is a swashbuckling adventure that offers a unique insight into what inspired the film franchise.

Another thing you're reminded of in both parks is just how many different franchises come under Disney; I had almost forgotten they're in charge of Star Wars until we went on both Space Mountain and Star Tours — The Adventures Continue. The former is an almost pitch-black roller coaster, which, in its sensory deprivation, offers an extra level of thrill to its twists and turns, and the latter is a 3D cinematic adventure through the beloved stories.

For those who are completely put off by the idea of being thrown around by giant hunks of metal, there's always the gloriously tranquil Soarin' Around the World over in Disney California Adventure Park. This ride involves simply sitting in a chairlift which hangs you in a sort of inversely concave screen, projecting stunning drone footage of locations across the planet. The experience is wonderful — particularly as certain smells, sounds and sensations are gently thrown at you to match each location.

After a day of adventuring, I was shown — in the most Kiwi way possible — how Disney truly brings people together. Through Instagram, I discovered in the early afternoon that a friend I hadn't seen since high school back in Orewa was also at Disneyland that same day. Two hours later, we met under the famed Sleeping Beauty castle and took a photo together. Just as Disneyland was beginning to overwhelm me, I found a little slice
of home.

FACT BOX

GETTING THERE
Air New Zealand flies from Auckland to LA, with one-way Economy Class fares from $939.

DETAILS
disneyland.disney.go.com