As an Air Force brat, my family frequently found itself in Los Angeles as we shipped off to or returned from overseas homes in locations like the Philippines and Hawai’i. Those L.A. stopovers always included a visit to Disneyland, and those trips to the park remain fond family memories. So when I had kids of my own, Disneyland was on that parenting bucket list.
My eldest son Evan’s first trip to Disneyland, however, was memorable for an entirely different (and sad) reason. In November 2006, my parents were in town and Evan was about to turn 3 — the perfect time to take him to the theme park for the first time. And since it was his inaugural visit, we wanted to give him the full experience — starting with the Disneyland Railroad. (Also, he was very much in the peak “choo-choo train” demographic at that moment.)
I grabbed Evan, my wife Maria, my parents and some friends (who brought along their daughter, same age as our son), and just as the park opened, we headed straight to the train. It was a hit (well, except maybe for the dinosaur section — kinda scary for a preschooler, we found out). Then, as we left the Main Street train station to really get the day going, Maria noticed something: The diamond in her wedding ring had fallen out.
Panic. We raced back to the train, which hadn’t left yet, and searched the car. We looked at the grounds around the station. Combed through morsels of sand in that area. Nothing. Engagement ring diamonds may be expensive, but they’re still small — so it could have been anywhere.
I filed a report with Disneyland’s lost and found, knowing that locating the diamond would be virtually impossible. This is also when I called my insurance agency and realized “losing a diamond at Disneyland” was not covered by my policy. I had proposed to Maria with that ring in November 2001; in my head, I tried to find solace in doing the math, amortizing the five years we at least got out of that expense before losing the jewel.
Maria didn’t love my quip, “Does this mean we’re not married anymore?” After an hour of our failed search — and with two kids in tow, desperate to see Mickey and Goofy — we had to cut our losses. Were we going to be miserable all day, or would we put on some mouse ears and watch our son have a blast at Disneyland? We sucked it up, and I’m still amazed at how much we’re smiling in our photos from that day — even though that was definitely the costliest trip we ever took to Disneyland. And I still wonder if someone else is telling the story of the lucky day they found a diamond on the ground. At least for them, that would absolutely make it the Happiest Place on Earth.
Favorite ride: Space Mountain. Not Hyperspace Mountain, I love it when Space Mountain is in all of its 1970s glory, complete with loud jazz fusion soundtrack. It’s what we thought space travel would be like circa 1977, and I still wish it was that way.
Disney tip: The beignets at New Orleans Square always include a seasonal variety — pumpkin spice in October, peppermint in December, etc. Get it. My favorite treat in all the Disneyland park.
Read about other Variety staffers' Disneyland memories here.
