Last weekend, I attended an awfully strange and unique event. It left me with a ton of intense nostalgic feelings that moved me in a sentimentally human way. It was a party and a movie and in the immortal words of Anthony Michael Hall in the 80's classic film, Weird Science. It was a "movie party". The place was Disneyland in Anaheim, California and the reason was the world premiere of the new Disney film, Pirates of the Caribbean. I was able to get an inside look at the almighty combination of the Disney film studio and theme park divisions. Disney goes beyond Hollywood. It 's an emotion that touches down somewhere between magic and childhood.

We arrived at the park close to 6:00pm to enjoy what we could of Disneyland itself. Being that the movie would be shown outdoors and would not start until after dark, we checked in early. Mainly, because I had never been to Disneyland and my lady hadn't been since childhood. Don't feel bad for me. I grew up on the east coast and we went to Disneyworld. Although, for all intents and purposes, it 's the same thing.

The Hollywoody part of the event welcomed us with total elitism and exclusivity. The park was closed earlier to, what we joked of as "regular people", so the party guests could saunter down an enormous red carpet that stretched from Main Street to Frontierland (pretty far). It was wonderful to be included in the upper eshicilon. We were some of the first people to be let into the park as party guests. After shaking hands with Mickey at the threshold of the Magic Kingdom, we made our way down the red carpet. A ton of "regular people" had stayed behind to witness the entrance of the stars as is customary at many Hollywood events. There were reporters shouting, cameras going off and little girls screaming, waving pens and papers, thinking they were getting a glimpse of some celebrity. That experience alone was intriguing and and disturbing at the same time. People who paid to get in the park for the day were lined up twenty or thirty deep for at least a few hours to stand and watch other regular people and a few stars file in. Powerful. I was shocked and blown away to the extent that people would stand around to get a glimpse of a celebrity.

As far as parties go, it was sick. We corralled into Frontierland which boasts Disneyland's best attractions. A buffet was served at our choice of four restaurants. Lines did not exist and everything was free. Drinks were everywhere. Soda coffee and water. Disney land does not sell booze. Actually, there's one restaurant, Club 33, that does serve booze. It overlooks the "Pirates" ride and was the location of a private party within the premiere for the cast and crew and executives. Anyway, their were the so many options that it was ridiculous. We got pirate tattoos and took pirate pictures. Got pirate eye patches and skull caps and all kinds of buried treasure. Costumed pirates and wenches were catcalling the crowd and acting scurvy. My whole body was swept up in the Disney fantasy and real life excitement of Hollywood and Disney. We went on all the famous rides like Splash Mountain, Haunted House, Thunder Mountain and Indiana Jones. I wielded a rifle at the infrared shooting gallery and bested five years old at as major celebrities waltzed by, themselves getting caught up in the moment. It is so lame to admit that I actually was having a blast. Then we settled into bleachers to watch the film. The screen was located on Tom Sawyer Island which was across the Rivers of America from the seats. A boat played music before the screening. Then another boat floated by with the stars and producers on board to introduce the film.

The movie is excellent. It fits perfectly into the message of a Disney movie. It is exciting, dangerous, cute, camp funny scary, and adventurous. I am not much of a reviewer. The movie made me feel like I wanted to be a pirate. I would call that a success. So let it be. But, I will say that I was moved by the way the movie fit into the evening. We watched in the cool Orange county night hovering over the river in Frontierland just behind the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The film had wonderful performances by Depp and Rush and supported by Bloom and Knightly. By the time it was over, this strange sadness came over me. I was upset to not be a child anymore. I miss my carefree days of youthful exuberance when I did not care about writing or money or anything. I just wanted to dream. Childhood is like this long wistful dream that just fades away someday and turrns into an expense account and Kenneth Cole shoes. But for me the night wasn't over and there was more time for me to be a kid.

As the night stretched on, I figured out what the catch was. Fear. All based on fear. The roller coaster had scary creatures after every twist. The Haunted House boasted fake ghosts. The forest people were scary and so were the characters of Indiana Jones. I felt the fear and was then relieved by the assurance of upbeat characters. The pretty designs and flowers and nice staffers were like a safety net to all that strange trauma. Even the "Pirates" ride which echoed the movie weaved in and out of Disney terror. But saved us in the end with humor, justice and sentimentalism.

I think I may have been fully brainwashed. But as I saw the pattern looking through my emotions, I started to see a wrinkle in the invisible curtain. The Disney representatives, asking if you needed anything or wondering how they can help you, turned into this really strange Disney SS. In cartoony security uniforms, they moved through the crowd with smiles, eerie smiles. I wonder if working there turns you into some fantasized anime or if you are just specifically told how to treat people and act in order to not bum out their trip. That place is a twenty four seven acid flashback with rules. My overly addictive personality came down hard from leaving. I wanted to be living in that childlike world but as an adult got a glimpse of the smoke and mirrors. A corny yet seductive feeling, the trickery. Excitingly enough, we walked away with all kinds of booty but I wanted to enjoy more time fearing the possible implications. We secured a treasure of a skull bank, a hat treasure chest, and plastic gems and coins. Also, the Xbox version of the video game, a nice touch. Fabulous. At the end of the day, there is nothing like no holds barred at an amusement park, having it totally shut down for you.

The only thing I can relate the feelings to was after the rave party, A Day in the Park, where the promoter lied to Six Flags and told them we were having a magazine release party and it turned out to be a rave. Tourists and drug addicts. A crazy combo of crazy thrill rides mixed with jungle, beakbeats and slamming house. Disneyland was much more sedate but left me with the same feeling of longing for my youth. For a day, I was magically swept away to the kingdom of Mickey after I shook his hand as I entered the park. I think he dosed me.