A week ago today, Allegra and I celebrated our six year wedding anniversary at our favorite place, Disneyland. Being the huge Marvel fans that we are, it should come as no surprise that we’ve spent a lot of time at Avengers Campus, the newest land in Disney California Adventure. As the name suggests, this land is all things Marvel—from Spider-Man to Thor, Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Ant-Man, and even the Dora Milaje led by Okoye.
As someone who’s been to Disneyland countless times and has even visited Avengers Campus a handful of times by now, the park is less about going on rides and more being in the atmosphere. Allegra and I have literally spent hours just hanging out in various areas and immersing ourselves within that micro world. Avengers Campus takes this to the next level with a fantastic score that touches on every part of the MCU. At any given time, there’s a good chance that you’ll run into a few of your favorite heroes, and even better is how willing (and able) they are to interact with you—sometimes from afar and other times mere feet away.
But in this story, I’m merely the supporting actor. At my old age of 36, I feel more than comfortable striking leading conversations with the Avengers that tees them up with easy replies that’s not only fun to hear but gets the audience going as well. Though I’m not a cast member, I enjoy keeping the illusion going for everyone and I think they appreciate it too.
Enter a teenage girl (somewhere around 14 or 15?) and her family walking through the campus when her eyes locked onto Loki. Her expression and body language was priceless. From her reaction, you could not only see but feel how much this land and the characters that filled it meant to her. To her, the illusion was very much intact. To her, it was all real. To her, that wasn’t an actor. That WAS Loki.
While her family continued on towards the Guardians of the Galaxy ride, she decide to hang back and mostly pace back and forth with excitement. It was Loki! He was here and so was she. By now, having already been around for some time, I’d already exchanged some fun banter with Loki, like,
“So when are you running for president?”
though it should be noted that this version of Loki is from the original MCU timeline and not the variant Loki from the show that ran on Disney+. Much to the park’s credit, during the show’s run, it was in fact the variant Loki who appeared at Avengers Campus, changing weekly to reflect the show. Again, it’s all about the illusion.
But this girl, clearly beyond excited by the notion of running into the TRUE prince of Asgard, kept away. She’d pace back and forth between the crowds that were taking picture of Loki and in general having a ball, but never approached. Externally, she exuded excitement, it was clear that internally, she was struggling. She wanted to meet him. She wanted to talk and interact with him. And yet, she didn’t.
I’ve been there—to get so close to someone but not talk with them, only to regret it later on can be crushing. Maybe this was her first time at California Adventure and she wouldn’t get to come back for months or years. Would she always regret not having talked with Loki? Would she play through that scene in her mind over and over again? I know I have.
So, with wifey in tow, I walked beside her, looked at Loki, and said, “you know you can talk with him and he’ll talk back with you, right?” Her eyes lit up. Her body language shifted, even more excited than before, but I knew she needed a little extra push. I did in that instance the only sensible thing and turned to Loki and shouted,
“Hi Loki! We are not worthy!”
He waved with an arrogant shrug. Perfect, I had his attention.
I pointed to the gal next to me.
“Loki! She wants to talk with you but she’s too shy to say anything!”
Loki, with a smug look. “Step forth and speak.”
With my job done, Allegra and I faded into the background. I’d like to think we went on another epic quest to bring a little magic to someone’s day but the reality is that we likely danced our way to Pym Tasting Lab (tip, try Molecular Meltdown) for some delicious adult beverages.
If you’ve made it this far, you might be wondering what the point of this piece is and I suppose it’s this—as we grow older, we stop believing in the magic and wonder of the world and what a shame that is. At any age, magic is still all around us if we choose to believe in it. Magic is less of a “thing” and more a mindset. It’s the intersection of imagination and belief.
More than any place, Disneyland allows us to arrive at this destination, to put our walls down no matter our age, and tap into our sense of wonder. For Marvel fans, Avengers Campus is this but on a completely new level. An immersion like no other, but one that only works if you want it to.
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