What age were you when Disneyland Park was perfect?

[swampymarsh]

Percepetion changes over time as we age. Experience and knowlege change our views. If you think rationally, what age were you when Disneyland Park was at its best?

I was probably 6 or 7. A Princess lived in the Castle. I traveled deep into a jungle. I had pirates battle with cannon balls shooting over my head. Ghosts scared me while they sang joyous songs. I rode a runaway train though hills rich with gold in a place that was more west than my house near the Pacific. I was eating food that I could never get at home. I took a rocketship deep into space. I wore a hat the tv stars in my club did. I met my friend an adventurous mouse and his friends. I left today and went to a world of Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Fantasy.

[G24T]

In 1989 I was 10 years old. I would spend my time in the parks riding Mission to Mars with my grandfather who was a retired aerospace engineer. He'd always point out to me the inaccuracies of the mission control room but we'd both chuckle a bit when the bird trips the intrusion alarm. I'd go on the peoplemover at least twice a visit and would often go for a drive at the Autopia although it was always a tough choice whether to board on the Tomorrowland track or the Fantasyland one and when the lines were too long I'd pilot a motorboat instead. Space Mountain was a fun attraction but my favorite was always Big Thunder Mountain Railroad so the family and I would pile up into a gondola and ride the skyway to get there quickly. One of my favorite things about the skyway was going through the Matterhorn and looking down at all the bobsleds whizzing by.

It's kinda sad but as an adult I rarely spend any time on the east side of the park except to ride Star Tours or Space Mountain.

[Stormy]

I really couldn't choose one age at first. Disneyland has 3 ages of 'perfection' for me. When I was 6-7, when it was all real to me. When I was 16-18 when it was my friends' and my summer playground (and still cheap enough that we could scrape pennies & beg a few bucks from our folks to get in), ride the rides & dance at Tomorrowland Terrace. Then Disneyland was again perfect when my own boys were young children and I could see that perfection again through their eyes. But, I chose the age when my sons were young, since that's the age that sort of combines all my 'ages of Disney perfection'.

Actually, Disneyland is still 'practically perfect in every way' to me.

[DrFink]

Disneyland has never really stopped being good for me, but I think in terms of pure imagination and "magic" probably when I was between the ages of 8-10.

[wiigirl]

Disneyland has never really stopped being good for me, but I think in terms of pure imagination and "magic" probably when I was between the ages of 8-10.

Same here 8-10...when my parents first took me...

[Druggas]

First time you ever went.

[bee1000]

I'm 38 now and first went to Disneyland when I was five or so, and I think it's as close to perfect now as ever. I wouldn't trade the current Disneyland that includes Splash Mountain, Star Tours, Indy, Roger Rabbit, Fantasmic, Fastpass and incredible fireworks for an earlier version that didn't have those things.

I would love to get through a day at Disneyland without my back hurting, to have someone else pay for everything, and to get to sleep in the "way back" on the drive home, though!

[Son Gohan]

Mine would be my teenage years, from 14 through 17, and also the summer I was 25. When I was 14, I was living with my dad, and my mom got me and my sister annual passes(back in 1984, when you could probably count the AP'ers in the park at any given time on one hand). This was back when they still had Mission to Mars, and Adventures thru Inner Space, and Michael Eisner still hadn't taken over at that time. At that time, I still only went to the park on weekends, usually only twice a month, so going was pretty much a big deal. I also say the summer of 1995, when I was 25. That summer was the park's 40th anniversary(the first time I can remember going on July 17, for the park's birthday), and PeopleMover and Rocket Jets(which I absolutely hated riding on top of the PeopleMover platform, something to do with a fear of heights) were still running, which gave Tommorrowland a sort of kinetic energy, sort of the last vestiges of "a future on the move". It was the combination of having an annual pass and a car, meaning I could go whenever I wanted, along with the hype for the 40th, as well as the fact that Indiana Jones was brand new, along with that being the year I rode the Lilly Belle, which made that summer so perfect.

[HiddenMickeyBook]

Back in 1962, our family visited for the first time. Love at first sight for my dad and me. We would visit probably once a year, a tradition I kept and expanded as I became older and on my own.

As you said, perception changes as we age. I can't point to one moment or year and say, 'That is perfect.' Every visit has great moments. Every new year brings something new. I have special memories through all my decades, tiny moments of perfection!

[mratigan]

12 for me
when my interest in disney and theme parks began

[the mermaid]

15, aka a few months ago. I had just come out of continuous hospital stays for months and Disneyland was like an escape from all my depression. I obviously knew that the magic wasn't real, but still, it was just so perfect.

[frollofan]

10-11

[rokketride]

Any year up to age 11 for me.

Tomorrowland was the place to be. Inner Space, Mission to Mars, SkyWay, Peoplemover, Rocket Jets, Blair Murals, Submarine Voyage, Circlevision theater were all still there. The Starcade had the latest greatest games and the entrance had beautiful flower beds instead of horrible looking fiberglass "rocks".

[sleepyjeff]

1979....I was 12.

[PiecesOfEight]

It was never perfect.

Even when I visited as a kid I thought that:

Adventure Thru Inner Space was corny
America Sings wasn't futuristic
Autopia was boring, noisy, and smelly
Fanatasyland was not my cup of tea (so to speak)

I probably loved it more then (early 80s), just because I was a kid...but it wasn't perfect.

Disneyland is, and I believe always will be, an amazingly magical place. It will change, some things for the better and some things for the worse, but I refuse to complain endlessly. That's a surefire way to end the enjoyment I have (and a spiral that I'm afraid some have already gone down).