Discovering Neverland - Part 1

People always find it hard to believe when I say that I became a fan in 2003 (when I was 18 years old) and have been one for only 7 years. I was never exposed to Michael as a child and didn’t know much about him until the Living With MJ documentary. I know it was a bad documentary that portrayed him in a very bad light but during one March afternoon with nothing else to watch on TV, I tuned in and became instantly hooked. Something about him during that interview really enticed me and I had never seen a more interesting person in my life. Where was this magical place he lived in? Was it possible to meet him? Did he have many fans left? I needed to know more about him and in that week I joined various MJ forums, found fan websites and participated in MJ fan chatrooms. I bought all of his music and while he quickly became my favorite musical artist, I did and always will love him more as a person…as simply just Michael.

Over the summer I looked up the address to Neverland and made several visits outside the gates to just hang out. I had heard of magical stories of Michael letting fans into Neverland and dreamed that someday it would be me. I felt that as long as I tried and put my mind to it, it would eventually happen. This was the advantage of living in Los Angeles…that we could drive to Los Olivos on weekends and make nice trips out of it. Nothing happened all summer long and I missed out on all the days (i.e. his birthday) that he let fans inside the gates. I was disappointed.

On September 9, 2003, I read a post at the old MJJFORUM (now MJJC) saying that they were giving away free tickets at 102.7 KIIS FM to go to Neverland for a charity after-party on September 13, 2003.  I immediately got a hold of all the phones I could find in my house and began dialing. After trying for about an hour, I finally got through.  When I got through they told me that they already had a winner. I told them that it was my dream to visit Neverland and started talking about what Michael meant to me and I believe the operator truly heard the sincerity in my voice and put me on hold.  I was put on hold for about a half hour and was told that I might soon be getting some good news.  The next thing I knew I was on air being granted 4 free tickets to Neverland. In my mind, I thought this day was the luckiest day of my life.  Little did I know that the luckiest day was yet to come…

September 13 came and we were told to meet at the KIIS FM studios in Burbank and we were driven to Los Olivos in a huge bus. When we got there, we had to sign several contracts, and then we were finally let into those big, beautiful, golden, stunning gates of Neverland that I had only dreamt of seeing. We then sat in the little train, grabbed some ice cream and were on our way to the amusement park. On our way there, we encountered some beautiful scenery. There was a huge lake in the middle of everything, with fields of large trees and vibrant flowers at every angle. There were little sculptures of children...and even classic Disney theme songs playing in the background of every corner.  It was like I entered a sweet fairytale.

Photos: Jim Wilson/The New York Times

We then arrived to the amusement park area and realized everything was free. Popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, soda and drinks, snow cones, cookies and baked desserts, candy and chocolate, games and prizes to win, caricature drawings and rides.  I was in awe and couldn’t believe I was actually there.  We walked over to the movie theatre and found ourselves in front of a concession stand filled with every type of candy and popcorn.  Inside were beautiful red velvet seats and a good sized movie screen. We stayed for just a few minutes and left to explore more of Neverland.

Photos: Jim Wilson/The New York Times

We made our way to the dance club tent and just as we got there the host announced that Michael would shortly be coming out. The tent seemed to be filled with obnoxious drunk people and definitely not fans of Michael (there were very few real fans that day) so we easily worked our way up to the front row of the mini stage. He finally came out and he had never looked so good.  He was wearing a black button down shirt and black sparkly pants. He made a very brief speech in which he said:

"Thank you all for coming tonight. For in my opinion, in my opinion, this is a very special cause and the cause is our future and the future is our children. I will continue to fight for them for the rest of my life.”

Since his birthday was two weeks ago, they bought out a cake and we sung Happy Birthday to him. A few celebrities jumped up on the stage and had a little cake fight with Michael. It was adorable but before we knew it he got off stage and was escorted to his black Bentley. I managed to slip a little letter I had prepared inside his window before they drove off. I didn’t go to Neverland expecting to see Michael but seeing him and knowing he was there made me want to get closer. As I stood there watching the Bentley speed down the dirt road I wondered what we should do next...

Part 2 coming soon.

XoXo,
- Arus