The "Happy" Mansion



Just a quick doodle of me in The "Happy Mansion"

 

My earliest memories of Disneyland are tied to my trips there with my mother. Mom was raised in southern California, and according to her; "There is no other Disney." and to this day she still has refused to set foot in the 'other park'. I was very lucky to have Grandparents who loved spoiling their grandchildren and no summer was complete until the trip to Disneyland.

Our day at Disney started (what seemed to a child) obscenely early. My older sister and I were dragged out of bed and shoved into my Grandparents station wagon before the sun was up. Let it be known that I am not, nor ever will be, a morning person. Even now it takes some effort to smile before ten in the morning. Mom's grand plan was to get to the park as early as possible so that we had to stand and wait for them to drop the velvet rope and the crowd would run into the park.

While I'll get into my Mother's OCD Disney routine later, very early in the morning we would end up in front of what my Mom would cheerfully call "The Happy Mansion". Being as oblivious as we were, my older sister and I would stand in the creepy, very un-happy line never questioning. By the time we were in the cobwebbed foyer it was too late to back out and I would spend the rest of the time with eyes screwed tightly shut. I can remember cowering in the doom buggy, clutching whichever adult happened to be close, occasionally mustering up enough courage to peek and see if the ride was almost over. The only part I actually liked was when the ghost sat in the ride with us, not because I thought it was fun, but because it meant I was almost done with this torture.

 

Repeat the same situation EVERY YEAR.

When my sister turned about seven (I would have been five at this point) we were on our trip to Disneyland and we arrived at the metal gates and my mother trilled that it was time for the "Happy Mansion". My sister scowled at the sign on the front of the attraction. She had learned to read pretty well by this point and she practically screamed; "THAT DOESN'T SAY HAPPY!" Panic ensued. I was a very willful child, and when combined with my sister we could dig in our heels pretty well.

Finally Mom put her foot down;

 "You have been on this every year with no problem, you are getting on."

The only thing that can trump combined sibling meltdown; Mom.

I decided right then that reading is very important. Thank you Disney.

Life Lesson:

Don't accept spoon fed answers or knowledge you haven't acquired on your own. Get educated and form your own informed opinions.