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A trip to Disneylandby Philip Greenspun |
Here I am riding the aerial tram over the lovely "wimp" rides.
About to punch through the Matterhorn, it is worth recalling that a
woman was allegedly decapitated on this ride a few years ago. She was
not properly seat belted in, rode up a bit in her seat and her head
landed in the lap of the person behind her. My cousin Douglas, a Disney
animator, told me this story just as we were getting on the ride.
Apparently Disney's influence sufficed to keep the newspapers from going
crazy over this one, although it was mentioned in the LA Times.
I was pregnant with my camera vest; Douglas and I were sitting on top of
each other. The seat belts were like what we had in our 1970 Chevelle
station wagon and not on a retractor.
The ride attendants weren't too
concerned about getting us strapped in and, in fact, started our car
moving before I'd managed to clip the belt closed. I managed to get the
belt connected just as the overhangs were zooming a few inches over my
head. I screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed.
But I'll take that up with my therapist... Anyway, the tram punches right through the Matterhorn ....
then it goes over a submarine ride...
Then I got off and watched the famous Disney parade
before sitting down for a snack
and catching a few Z's
in preparation for the ultimate photographic challenge
Top photo: from the Disney corporate headquarters in Burbank. That's where Michael Eisner worked and earned $200 million/year. The average American worker would have to labor continuously through the year 10,266 A.D. to earn this much. Of course, Eisner is a pauper compared to Bill Gates.