Life goes on.

This may come as a shock to some folks, but life goes on outside of Orange County. Both in Anaheim and Orlando.

Yes, people still come to visit the theme parks, stay in hotels, shop for souvenirs and enjoy meals and beverages at the many themed locations. The surprise, however, may be that there are plenty of other places where the same also happens.

In the days when Walt Disney first wanted his little park surrounded by a train, I doubt he could have imagined that such an enterprise would have inspired millions of guests to visit similar parks around the world. The tale is told that after Disneyland opened, he was asked by one of the high level management where they should put the next Disneyland. His response was that this would be the only Disneyland. Even with all of the parks that make up the Walt Disney World resort, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai, there still is only one Disneyland that Walt brought to life, in Anaheim.

From what folks in the know have said, Walt liked to be out and about Disneyland seeing guests enjoy it all. As well, I am sure he enjoyed the fact that another of his ideas had become a proven success, too. Even though no one says so, one has to believe that Walt enjoyed it being profitable too. Those profits allowed the completion of more attractions and more additions to the Park.

For many people, a visit to a Disney theme park may be truly a once in a lifetime experience. First, it is not inexpensive nor was it, even back in 1955. Plenty of those mythical families of 2 parents and 3.4 children made the pilgrimage from all around the world. They still do today. Maybe they stay with family or friends somewhere in the LA Basin or further afield. Maybe they stay a few nights in one of the motels or hotels anywhere from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Travel by air or rail or even still by automobile for many miles there and back again.

Those of us Disney fans lucky enough to enjoy the Annual Pass in some form see the Park differently than that mythical family. We get to visit more often than once in a lifetime. Some folks go as often as possible, making Anaheim a second home. Like the family that used to head off for weekends at the lake, enjoying cabin life. No, these pass holders congregate and take in the Disney life as their own on a frequent basis. I won’t dive deep into the psychological as to why, but it could make for a fascinating doctoral thesis, on the subject of why the pass holders are so dedicated a bunch.

Off and on over the years since Disneyland first offered the Annual Pass, I have enjoyed my share of them. Currently not, I once visited Disneyland (before California Adventure) 31 times in a year. That was during a promotion where they offered prizes at the main gate and I think there were more than a few times when a visit was a few minutes. I know one was all of 30 seconds in and out.

Don’t get me wrong. I still enjoy visiting the Park. A lot of great memories with family and friends come along on each visit. Especially with some folks who are no longer with us. But the real story here? Even with all of the new Star Wars land waiting to be explored, if I never visited Disneyland again, ti would not be the end of the world. Life would still go on.

Sure, there is something about that moment when I enter through the turnstile at the Main Gate, with the Main Street Station sitting above the Mickey floral display, as a steam locomotive brings it’s train to a stop. It’s good show and I get sentimental watching it unfold again and again.

Yet I get a similar feeling stepping out of a BART station onto Market Street in San Francisco. The sounds of the City all play their part in grabbing my emotions. Everything from the slap of the cable in the slot as cable cars climb the hills at all of 9 miles per hour, the honk of auto horns, the hum of electric motors as streetcars head outbound for the Castro. The hustle and bustle of life in the City.

Or how about coming out onto a porch on a fall morning as the wind rustles through the pines, the smell of evergreens in the morning dew as life on Lake Tahoe begins another day. That’s magical indeed.

The moral of these ramblings? If you need one, I guess it all comes down to what you make of what you have. Something as simple as a good cup of coffee can be worth the moment you find your self in.

Yes, sir… life goes on. Get out there and live it.