Saturday, December 11, 2004
 
Disneyland Senior Trip
True Story.

When I went on my senior trip, we went to Disneyland. Now, this is not the uber-cool DisneyWorld on the East coast. This is the smaller, paler, cramped version that you find in California. Almost every ride that was in DisneyWorld was mirrored in a smaller, dirtier version in DisneyLand.

I had already been to DisneyWorld, so I'd seen the good stuff already. We had rented rooms at a hotel just a block or so from DisneyLand, so when I got bored, I just decided to walk back to the hotel.

Now, there's an interesting phenomenon about DisneyLand and the world around it. In DisneyWorld, they own all the land around the park, so they can maintain the same level of cleanliness, and make it look like the park is the only thing in the world. However, in DisneyLand, there is a sudden division between the park and the world around it. When you step just outside of the park, you are suddenly surrounded by gas stations, sex shops, newsstands, and general urban development. It's actually a very weird feeling, and I looked back a couple of times to relish in the contrast.

I was about half a block away from the park when a prostitute walked up to me. I guessed she was a pro based on her outfit, and the fact that she was approaching a total stranger. But what really convinced me was when she said, "Hey, you want to sleep with me for fifty bucks?"

Now, you have to understand that I was just a seventeen-year old virgin, a nerd in the classic sense of the word, from the big thick glasses to the acne riddled face. I had absolutely no experience with women, so I had no idea how to respond.

I went with the first thing that popped into my head, "Well, I'd have to see the money first."

Before she could figure that one out, I continued walking back to the hotel.

Comments:
How cool would a photo of that contrast have been? Nice and neat Disneyland on one side and urban sprawl on the other.

Alistair
http://www.0gravity.co.uk/
 
Yeah. I see it as a Ansel Adams-esqe panoramic image.

Another one that sounds cool would be an image of the entryway to DisneyLand superimposed on an image of the entrance to DisneyWorld. So that you can see the similarities, and at the same time, tell that something is fundamentally wrong.
 
interesting.. i remember being told about this 'bad' disneyland long ago.. but its interesting to see the difference in any entertainment park and the surroundings. i think only disneyworld does not suffer from odious comparisions..

SEV
 
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