I’ve tried to write this post a few times this morning, and didn’t know where to start. I have never been one of those Disneyland fans to get overly emotional about changes to the resort, but this morning I must admit that my heart is a little heavy thinking about the permanent closures in Frontierland that went into effect this morning at the Disneyland Resort. My heart is sad to say good-bye to Big Thunder Ranch, Big Thunder Barbecue and the goats, not just because they are fun places to visit, but because I will no longer be able to catch a real-life glimpse of the places where I’ve had so many extraordinary and beautifully simple moments.

Looking Toward the Future of Frontierland With a Heavy Heart for the Past

There is something very comforting about being able to return to the scene of a cherished memory. We’ve all done it before: you walk by a place where a special memory took place and instantly you are transported back to a different place in time. For me, it’s reliving my boys crawling and toddling through the Big Thunder Ranch cabin, hanging out with my friends who worked at the Hunchback Festival of Fools back in the ’90s, or remembering the time I took the cast of Boy Meets World on a tour of Disneyland and the meal with shared at the Barbecue before heading off for a night of dancing at Tomorrowland Terrace. My memories in this location run the gambit from decorating cookies to taking pictures with Jessie to sharing a meal with the wonderful women on the Babes In Disneyland team. Big Thunder Ranch was a place where “life happened” in a beautifully organic and simple way.

I know that Walt Disney said that as long as their is imagination left in the world, Disneyland will never be complete, but I still not-so-secretly crave for things to stay the same. So much of my life has been spent at Disneyland, and I have had so many special moments there, it is really tough to see places I cherish–that I have come to consider pieces of my heart–change or completely go away. And while I am looking forward to the new 14-acre Star Wars land and the memories I will make with my children once it opens, I have to wonder if they will be as gentle and as sweet as our quiet moments with the goats or times toddling in the cabin. I have to wonder if it will compare with the look of excitement and wonder of petting horse or getting a pirate makeover at Halloween or watching Billy Hill and the Hill Billies sing during their last season, because for this family of city slickers, the Ranch and all it entailed was also another world–a fantasy away from our hustle, bustle lives.

My middle son toddling into the cabin to take a photo with Santa. It’s moments like this that I will forever cherish.

Today the Disneyland Resort, released its first piece of concept art for what the Rivers of America will look like when it reopens in 2017(ish). Frontierland will have a beautiful new waterfront with a stunning new riverbank, complete with an elevated trestle over which the iconic Disneyland Railroad will travel. The Mark Twain Riverboat and Sailing Ship Columbia will still operate along the Rivers of America, and Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island will be surrounded by the river.

Although my heart is heavy today, I am hopeful that the new Frontierland will incorporate some of the simple charms of the big-gone time that Big Thunder Ranch brought guests. I am hopeful that we will create many new memories in the redesigned space and that the Imagineers not forget that flashy and exciting isn’t the only fantasy cherished by Disneyland families.