Disneyland Short Stories

Main Street

Here you leave today and enter a world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy. 

I had only dreamed of seeing that placard until today. Today, I was standing right underneath it, looking up at it with misty eyes. I couldn't believe I was actually here! After many years of saving money and hoping and wishing for a free date to go to Disneyland, I was finally here! It was too good to be true, and yet it was. 

My sister fished around her bag for her park map and started rambling about all the things she had planned for every second of the day. It involved a lot of rides, a few character meet and greets, and a lot of food. As for me? I was more than happy to just be walking down Main Street soon. Unfortunately, that happened to be my adventurous sister's least favorite part of the park. 

I didn't understand how people could just zoom down Main Street without stopping to admire the animated Disney figure setups in the windows, the vintage cameras and clothing, and the tributes to many great Disneyland Imagineers and animators. The feel of walking down Main Street with that cheery Disney music playing and seeing the castle in the background and being surrounded by twinkly lights put me in the best mood. Why would anyone want to rush right through all that? 

I guess I could ask my sister, because she was already making a bee-line for the Indiana Jones ride to go get a fastpass for it. I tried to keep up with her, but it was impossible to. My fastpass-happy sister disappeared in the crowd of other Disney fans, and I couldn't spot her anymore. "Emilia!" I cried into the crowd. Nothing. "Emilia!" I cried, a bit louder. Still nothing. 

I said. Yep, I had officially lost my sister not even being two seconds into the happiest place on earth. Great. 

I crossed my arms and started scanning the crowd for her, but soon realized I was in the way of the flow of traffic. I kept getting side-checked my rogue backpacks, elbows, and in some cases shoulders. I tried to scoot aside and stand by one of the beautiful windows that had an Imagineer's name etched into it, when I tripped on someone's shoe and started falling backwards. 

I let out a yelp, squeezed my eyes shut, and braced myself for impact with the ground (even though it was Disneyland, pain still existed here!) when I was caught by someone. I opened my eyes to see that two manly arms had been wrapped around mine, supporting my weight. I craned my head around and saw a man around my age looking back at me with concern. "Are you alright?" He asked. 

He was wearing a bright red Mickey Mouse shirt, a black hat with a simple Disneyland logo on it, and a regular pair of blue jeans and white sneakers. He looked like he could've been a professional Disney model. He did have the looks for it, especially with his baby blue eyes. I broke out of my daze and nodded, steadying myself so as not to fall further into him. He still hadn't let go of my arms. 

"Oh yes, I'm alright. Thank you so much, I'm so sorry I practically knocked you over!" I apologized, my cheeks red. He chuckled a bit. "It's no problem." He looked and saw that his hands were still wrapped around my arms, so he promptly removed them. "Oh, sorry about that." He apologized. I waved my hands. "No no, it's okay! If it wasn't for you, I totally would've eaten Disneyland concrete." He nodded. "Even Main Street concrete is still concrete!" 

We both laughed together, totally understanding one another's similar sense of humor. He stuck out his hand towards me. "My name is Luca." I smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Stefania. Nice to meet you, my hero Luca!" Hero Luca? I can't believe I said that out loud, I must've sounded so dorky. But to my surprise, he just laughed and smiled. "Wow, I can't believe I'm a hero! I would've thought that I would be a prince." 

I smiled. "Well, you can be both a hero AND a prince!" I suggested, going along with the joke. He smiled. "From now on, I shall call myself Prince Luca - hero of saving people from eating it on the concrete on Disneyland's Main Street." We both laughed again, feeling really comfortable with each other even though we were both virtually strangers.

We stopped and looked at each other again, and then Luca fixed his attention on a Disneyland doll display. He turned around to better see it, and I followed in suit. "Wow, look at how Peter Pan just flies!" He smiled, like a little kid. I smiled along with him. "It really is impressive! I love how the scenes change from the kids' bedroom in London to Peter Pan fighting Captain Hook in Neverland." I mused. 

Luca turned around to view Main Street in all its glory. He sighed. "You know, this is my favorite place in all of the park." I raised an eyebrow, surprised someone felt just like me. "It is? Why is that?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I know that it doesn't have any rides or attractions and it's basically just a gateway to the park, but I really love it. This is, I feel, what sets up the mood of the entire park. The music that follows you through the street, the horse and carriage, and the perfect view of the Sleeping Beauty Castle. I just love it all!"

I felt so amazed to find someone who loved Main Street for basically the same reasons I did. "I agree completely!" Luca whipped his head around to face me, visibly surprised. "Wait, what? Usually I'm the only one that likes Main Street the best." I shook my head with a smile. "Not anymore. I love Main Street for all the reasons you said and more." I sighed with happiness. "I love how many little hidden details there are right in front of you, like the Imagineer's names etched onto the windows, and the vintage items in the window shops. I even saw a picture of Walt Disney in one of them! It captures the whole feel and spirit of Disney in just one street." 

Luca smiled. "Wow, you're a rarity, Stefania." I looked back at him. "What, because I like Main Street?" "No, because you appreciate the little things. It's not just about the big rides and food for you. You appreciate all the things that Walt appreciated. That makes you special." 

That compliment really stuck with me and made my already bright day at Disneyland even brighter. "That's so sweet of you to say! I think the same about you. You appreciate all this too, and you're the only person I know besides myself that does. I'm sure you have a bit of Walt in you too." 

Luca looked just as touched by my compliment as I did with his. "Thanks, Stefania." We had a lovely moment together with the Dapper Dans across the street serenading us with different Disney tunes (when they sang a romantic song, I swear I could see Luca looking at me from my peripheral vision.)

Before I knew it, the performance ended and I heard my name being shouted from deep in the crowd. My sister speed-walked through the crowd (as no running is allowed in Disneyland) and appeared in front of me with two fastpass tickets that read Indiana Jones on them.       

"Stefania, come on, we're going to be late for our Indiana Jones fastpass! I managed to snag them for an early time, so let's go!" Emilia yelled, a huge smile plastered on her face. I smiled seeing her so happy to have these fastpasses. "Alright, let's go!" 

I walked towards her but stopped, remembering Luca. I looked back at him and smiled. He smiled back at me, but I could tell he was sad for us to part ways. I didn't want to either. I thought for a moment, and decided to make a compromise. 

"We're going to stop for lunch at New Orleans square and then ride Pirates. If you get a fastpass now, you can join us! Both for lunch and for the ride." I offered. His expression brightened. "That sounds like a deal, Stefania." His baby blue eyes were filling me with so many emotions that I didn't think I could possibly have for someone I just met. I guess Disneyland really was the land of magic!

"Stefania, come on!" My sister whined, linking arms with me and pulling me along. I waved at Luca. "Until Pirates!" I yelped before I was dragged through the crowds and towards Indiana Jones. Luca waved back and I swear I saw him mouth, "Until Pirates," back. 

I smiled as I continued to admire the beauty of Main Street along the way, with Luca popping into my thoughts.

Magic really did happen on Main Street.