international flights

Riding the teacups - Disneyland Paris - 2003

When you grow up in Australia, at the bottom of the world, other countries seem a long, long way away. When I was a small child, a trip to Disneyland - something that many Americans take for granted - seemed an impossibility. Few people that I knew had ever been overseas. And yet we all knew all about Disneyland because of “The Wonderful World of Disney” that screened on TV every Saturday night. I remember sitting and watching the opening credits with their shots of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and many of the attractions. My favourite part was when they showed the spinning teacups. I don’t know what it was about that ride but I was enchanted by it.Then, in 1981, my father was posted to the UK for two years and so we all went with him. We returned to Australia in 1983 and my parents chose to come home via Los Angeles. My siblings and I were so excited because we were going to get to fulfill nearly every Aussie kid’s dream of going to Disneyland.

The only glitch to our plan was that we arrived in LA in the off season and to my dismay they had shut every ride in Fantasyland except for It’s a Small World. So I didn’t get to go on the Tea Cups after all - which was somewhat disappointing.

Fast forward to 1998 and my hubby and I were on the last leg of a round-the-world trip, stopping in LA before heading back to Sydney. We spent our last day at Disneyland and I finally got to go on the Tea Cups!

Then in 2003 I got to take my son Loll, who was four at the time, to Disneyland Paris (which I will write about in more depth soon) and show him my favourite ride. Here’s a pic of him (he wasn’t too sure about it at first but went back for another turn later!):

© 2008 Flying with Baby.