Grad Night '85: Remembering D-Land

Hi, it's Kelly again. I'm bound and determined to make you all bored with me, and begging for T's return.

Hope he's having a great time at D-Land. I've only been two or three times in my life.

Back in '85, there was Grad Nite. I don't know if they still do that, but back then, it was a yearly event that took place sometime during the last couple of weeks of school. High school seniors pile onto a bus and drive all night (in our case, about 8 hours, from Stockton, Calif.), arrive sometime around midnight, and have run of the park with other seniors from all over the West until the sun comes up.

I remember being drunk and slightly depressed. The girls all had to wear dresses, and the boys all had to wear at least "business casual." I don't even remember who all was in my little clique, but I remember hooking up with some random seniors from another school, and half-heartedly groping with one of them on the Space Mountain ride.

There were actually some pretty cool bands playing all over the park that night, and I think that's how my little group fell apart and went their separate ways until we met up again on the bus ride home. Half of us insisted on seeing the punk band X, but everyone else wanted to see DeBarge playing on the other side of the park. After X, we wandered over and watched Animotion play for a while, then I think we rode the Pirates ride about eight times in a row, same with the Haunted House.

I almost got in a fist-fight with some goober in a white prom-like tux. I don't quite remember how I was sustaining my slightly drunken stupor during this trip, someone must've had booze on them... but it aggravated my slightly depressed state, and at one point I angrily swept a cup cherry soda off of a table where we were sitting, and drenched the innocent bystander's white pant-leg with sugary redness. If I had been him, I would've bitch-slapped me, but cooler heads prevailed, and I got off with a profuse apology.

I also remember not sleeping on the bus ride home, because I have a tendency to snore a bit, and there's nothing more frightening to a high school girl than everyone finding out that you snore.

So that was my most memorable trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. A haze of teen angst and jadedness. I hope to return someday, to experience it "for reals," hopefully with my children in tow, and before they're old enough to cop that "too cool for school" attitude. I hear it's actually a pretty fun place.