Starting over

After having been to each and every other theme park in California, I thought Magic Mountain was the period to the loop, but it isn’t, for the recent visit to Disney and our neighbor, Universal Studios, brought us back right where we started. It made me conclude that living in the US, particularly in Southern California ---enough is never enough---for theme parks will be part of your life for as long as you can walk or make it in wheelchair, as in the case of the 80ish looking lady who took the high speed “Mummy Ride” with us.

There are a handful reasons why people go back to theme parks over and over ---it could be the new rides, new shows, bonding with families, or touring relatives and guests from out of state or out of the country. From my many visits, I observed, theme parks, though built with different themes, were alike in many ways, each makes visitors feel you are in a magical world escaping the bustles of the real world even for just a few hours. I observed too that time don’t change what goes on in theme parks, those parents indulging their kids with toys and souvenir items that will gather dust as they reach home are still there, the unhealthy pricey menus don’t change, the long lines are still there, even longer---it changes one ride’s name to “Indiana Jones and the Temple of 3 Hours Wait.” Theme parks, even if they add, delete, or modify shows, rides, and attractions will be the same – it’s very good at ripping-off our wallets :-)

The experience of theme parks used to be the same for me, but not recently- things were the same, but inside me was different. Where has the gut to try the daring rides come from? Why am I suddenly not afraid anymore? I took the fast rides, the high vertical drops, with my two boys and sometimes would even initiate it. What is going on? I am passing a different cycle of my life and it required revisiting theme parks all over again for me to realize that I’ve changed, that I have grown, that living in the US made me a stronger person, maybe not that strong compared to others, but strong enough to conquer pre-conceived fears.

A different person now…hmmm…the magic of theme parks.