ANAHEIM, Calif. – As we walked across the broad, brick-paved plaza, a burst of music swelled, the strings rising to cinematic heights amid a pounding of kettle drums. A man in a crisp white shirt waved and beamed. Perfectly manicured flowers swayed in the breeze.

It felt, for a moment, that we had accomplished something greater than simply walking out the gates at Disneyland in Southern California.

But that is the trick of Disneyland, I learned after a recent trip to the “Happiest Place on Earth” with my family – to make even the mundane seem worthy of a personal parade.