That’s Not Disneyland!

That’s Not Disneyland!

What funny things did you believe as a kid?

I had a funny talk with some friends a couple of weeks ago that brought back some childhood memories. We were talking about where I grew up (Kingston, ON) and how there were an exceptional number of prisons in the area. Four being the number…which I feel like is quite a lot of major prisons, especially for a small city.

Collins Bay Institute in Kingston, ONWhen we first moved to the area, we passed by one of the prisons and to me, it looked like a castle (see image on the right). I was four years old and I don’t think my parents wanted to explain to me what prisons were. Subsequently, I went on to believe that this was, in fact, a castle. Specifically, I began associating it with Disneyland since it looked a little like the castle in the logo of the movies I frequently watched.

As a kid, of course I wanted to go to Disneyland! I couldn’t understand why it was so close and yet my parents never took me.

One day, my Oma and Opa were visiting us for the first time since we’d moved. As we drove around the city, we passed “Disneyland” and I excitedly told my grandparents about it and how someday I would go. Oma turned to me, confused, and just said, “Stephoooney, that is not Disneyland, and please do not end up there!” which thus shattered my illusions and forced my parents to have to explain prisons after all.

Like I asked at the top, what funny things did you believe as a kid? Let me know in the comments!