When did you fall in love with Disney?

[sashiroo]

I was 3 years old the first trip my family went on. I was hooked! The Magic Kingdom was the only park back then. It's still my favorite. I took my boys (5 & 21/2) in April & I had tears in my eyes during the night parade, remembering when I was a kid & my Dad would hold me on his shoulders so I could see and now I'm doing it with my kids. It makes me tear up even thinking about it. It truly is a Magic Kingdom. I can't wait for our next trip in September!!

[Mickey91]

I had just turned 2 on my first trip. I have loved Disney ever since!:mickey:

[ISLE39]

I was 11 in 1988 dec 27 to be exact when i finally took my first trip with my parents. it was only epcot and mk then and i was mesmerized. it was mickeys 60th birthday and i still have some napkins and such. after that i went back in 1994 with a school choir trip with 400 kids and just had fun but in 1996 was when my real obsession began. from 1996 til now 2007 i have taken 1-3 trips per year there with the exception of one year 1998. People always ask how i dont get bored and the truth is that there is alwasy something new and no matter what to me although i am a go go go type of person its the most relaxing form of stress relief i can get

[GrmGrninGost]

I fell in love with Disney before I ever went. I remember watching Walt on TV and seeing Disneyland and knowing it had to be the best place ever! Then when WDW opened I was still only 8, but I knew I had to go! I waited until I was 12 before I got the opportunity. It was well worth the wait! Of course at that time, it was only MK, but it was wonderful!!! We try to go at least once a year and it never grows old!

[Jared]

I really became a Disney fan after my 2000 trip, but the obsession did not begin until after I discovered this Web site. Upon returning home, I began searching the Internet for pictures, video and information. I stumbled here and have been hooked since.

[LoriMistress]

I was interested in Disney when I saw Snow White and the Seven Drarves in the movie theatre when I was two years old. Plus, I use to go to DLR as a child religiously when I was little.

[playdead88]

1975 - i was almost 2 - my 1st and only trip with my parents until 2005 - i can remember looking at pictures and thinking that i couldn't wait to take my kids - when we went in 2005 it was everything i thought it would be and we have been back every year since!

[TheRustyScupper]

When did you fall in love with Disney?

When I watched Annette Funicello on the MMC, and then Fess Parker on Davy Crockett.

[merlinmagic4]

For me it was after our son's trip courtesy of the Make a Wish Foundation. We had been in 1998 but only went to Epcot and Sea World. I didn't really know much about it. During our MAW trip, the CM's were so unbelievably spectacular that I knew we had to go back! I couldn't afford DVC but I spent a year searching for a timeshare in the area. We bought one in 2005 and will be back every year now! I have to agree that this site has really fueled my obsession!!!!!!!!

[countrycharmer]

Always fond of it, but fell in LOVE with it in 2000 when at MK for parade (on Main Street) and as floats stopped, Cinderella & Prince Charming came off float walked up to my daughter and then the three of them danced all around the float and they took her on it with them after a CM came and asked permission!!!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

I was always a fan of WDW but, It really became our favorite place to vacation on our honeymoon. We had such a great time.

I fell in love with it the first time we went with our son. It is such a special thing to see everything there through your child's eyes. :cloud9:

[Ms.Disney]

I was 3 on the first trip I can remember, since then I have been hooked. My grandpa passed away when I was 5 so I dont have many memories of him but I do remember being 5 years old and being on dumbo with him. I grew up watching Disney movies (ALL OF THEM). I love it for the magic, my friends think I'm crazy when I tell them it's really a magical place. I have always loved Disney but I would say my obsession started in 2003 when I turned 18 and could afford take trips with DF. :mickey:

[SBETigg]

1981, my first trip. I was twelve. The Magic Kingdom was the only park. I was hooked on the drive in, then my first glimpse of the castle sealed it. I never wanted to leave, and I knew I would want to go back again and again.

[ibrowse17]

In 1975. I was 7, and we took our first family trip to WDW. It was on that trip that I grew to love Disney, and Ft. Wilderness as well:thumbsup:

[Crow]

early 70s....we drove from PA..i was a kid. hurricane Agnes? i remember the rain.
MK the only park. the next trip was the yr i graduated college. then it was awhile. ive been there w wives, friends, solo
when my mother says why i am going again, i can blame her and my father for starting it!

[Stan]

Great thread :thumbsup:

I grew up watching Disney every Sunday night on TV before Bonanza (I know that dates me).

I didn't get to WDW until I moved to Tampa and had some TX college buddies visit for a day trip to MK in Dec '77. What a blast. Since then I've kind of never wanted to be anywhere else.

[mttafire]

While i went to Disney with my parents 4 times during my childhood of the 70's...It wasnt 'till 1990 while i was in the Air Force that i went to Disneyland. I was 20 and since then i have LOVED Disney. WDW is our favorite Disney vacation destination. So, I guess ive been hooked for 17 years now.

[pixidust1976]

Disney lover since I was inside the womb!!!!

My mom went to Disney World in 1975 while pregnant with me (unknown to her) and I was born in 1976.

I was in the MK as a fetus.... and that started it.

My dad always told me growing up that we would go... but money was tight and times were rough.

I made it there in 1999 for my first trip.... and have been MADLY in love ever since.

I took out a Disney Visa the day after I returned and had my first child in 2000. (Are you seeing a trend here... Disney one year... baby next year... for two generations now!!!)

I will be taking that child... and his little sister for their first trip.... and most definately the most amazing time of my life.... in September of this year.

Disney World is magic...... pure and simple magic.

I can't wait to share it with my children!!!

[Disney_or_bust]

I also loved Disney before I even went. I would see pictures and movies with WDW in them and would just dream of what it would be like to be there. I went for the first time last year. I was so pumped to visit the MK. We stepped into Main Street and just looking up to see the castle. I couldn't help but smile, it was everything I had imagined.

[Fantasmic]

I can't remember ever not being a big Disney fan, I first went to Disney when I was 5, but I was watching Disney Movies before then!

[raingrass]

I can't remember ....Maybe I'm was 4 or 5 .
I only can remember ... It's the first cartoon which I watch.

[offero]

I was three or four at Disneyland and I saw the small world clock ring for the very first time.

[darthmacho]

I fell in love while looking at the brochure for the various resorts while planning our honeymoon. I fell particularly in love with the Wilderness Lodge. :mickey:

[Lehman Family]

It was the first trip I had ever taken in 1997. I had liked the Disney movies and all. I didn't think I'd like Disney because I was 19 and single and didn't think there was much there that I would like. Boy was I wrong! I've loved it ever since and try to get down at least every other year if we can afford it.

[dumbo ears]

when I went for my first time in april of 2004. I was on a feild trip and we were in orlando for 2 days. we stayed offfsited because the first day we went to seaworld, which personally I think is not that great, then the second day we went to the magic kingdom. I was hooked when I say alll the signs on the way into the park. I remember tellin myself as we were leavin on our bus I wish I could wake up from this dream. I loved WDW and from that day forward I have gone 3 more times. Its hard for me to go since Im only 16 and my parents are the ones who decide when we go. also I play football and other sports so the whole fall and winter I cant go anywhere. I also have my mind set on that I want to work at WDW. be an imagineer or architect or something. I have pretty good grades and I plan on doing the college program. wow I was just raambling on in that message. one more thing disney world has inspired me to want to make a theme park one day and hope for it to be a great as WDW.

[dteed]

When i was a kid, my parents took us once a year ending in the 80's. But I wasen't nuts about it until I took my kids for the first time. The look on their faces, the time we spent together without the phone ringing, homework, laundry, the usual daily activities. That was when I fell in love with WDW. We now have the means to make multiple trips per year and we do it because we all love it.

[tony2979]

when I went for my first time in april of 2004. I was on a feild trip and we were in orlando for 2 days. we stayed offfsited because the first day we went to seaworld, which personally I think is not that great, then the second day we went to the magic kingdom. I was hooked when I say alll the signs on the way into the park. I remember tellin myself as we were leavin on our bus I wish I could wake up from this dream. I loved WDW and from that day forward I have gone 3 more times. Its hard for me to go since Im only 16 and my parents are the ones who decide when we go. also I play football and other sports so the whole fall and winter I cant go anywhere. I also have my mind set on that I want to work at WDW. be an imagineer or architect or something. I have pretty good grades and I plan on doing the college program. wow I was just raambling on in that message. one more thing disney world has inspired me to want to make a theme park one day and hope for it to be a great as WDW.

You GO Taylor!!! The quote in your signature "If you can dream it, you can do it" is absolutley right. I hope to see your theme park one day!!

I fell in love with WDW only 10 short months ago. I had been twice before and liked it, but nothing compared to taking my 10 and 7 year old boys last September. I understood what Disney Magic was when I saw their eyes when we made the turn to go up Main St. and they saw the Castle in the distance. From that very second, I was hooked!

[lindique]

At the 1964 World's Fair in New York. As many of you know, Walt designed 4 attractions for the Fair - Carousel of Progress, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (which became the Hall of Presidents), it's a small world (original is still in DL), and the Ford Ride (I don't remember the name, but some of the dinosaurs from it are still in the train ride in DL). This was, as far as I know, the first use of audio-animatronics - and I got hooked! :mickey:

[KatGat]

Nov. 2000. We scrimped & saved & sacrificed for a year to afford to take our 3 kids (ages 7, 15, & 17). The moment the Welcome to Disney World arch came into view, and especially as we drove under it, we were so excited we could hardly speak. Then, when we first walked onto Main Street of MK, it was a little overwhelming. We stood there, just taking it all in and a new love was born. We've been back every year since and we are still in awe.

[c&d]

In 1973 when I was 21. I was in Florida visiting my college friends and we drove up for the day. I still remember the first time we went on HM. It only took me 25 years to get back but now it's a real addiction. :D

[Dakota Rose]

I first remember going to DLR when I was 2. (I'd been as an infant) I remember sitting on the curb of Main St watching the parade, then getting up and joining the parade. I remember a costumed CM escorting me back to my parents. I was hooked. Then when I was 8 or 9, I saw Cinderella while at the sitter's house. There was no turning back after that.

[joanna71985]

I can't remember when I first fell in love with Disney (I have been going since 1986, when I was one). But my family has gone to Disney a lot since then. And maybe that is why I've done 3 CPs.

[IloveDisney71]

I don't remember the fisrt time I went (around age 1), so I'd have to say my first memory of Disney was when I was about 3 years old, in 1974. That would be when my love affair with Disney began. However, I didn't become a Disney addict until Feb. 2001. That was my first trip, as an adult, with my own kids.

[princessjojo]

My first few trips were nothing more than visits and I didn't quite get it. First few trips was with my dad and step-monster. It was only MK then and the last of them was a "token" trip during a custody battle. Next few trips was with DBF and neither of us really knew how to save $$$. We just sorta ran through while in Cocoa Beach. It was MK and EPCOT at that time. I didn't go back or really have the urge to until we had both of the boys. It was a spur of the moment decision to go and then it happened. There is nothing more lifting than walking into MK and seeing the castle at the hub below main street. To see something that you've seen in books and movies ie princesses and characters, come to life and emerce yourself in all that is that of a child's innocence is nothing more than magic. I have never seen my boys have a better time on a vacation than at Disney. Sure it may cost more than some vacations for us, but it's worth every penny. I can't wait to take my nephew next spring and see the look on his fae when he enters the park, watches the parades, or had his first character meal. Nothing else in the world matters at that point.

[Soul_Power]

Like many of you, my early exposure to Disney had me hooked. In the pictures from my first trip to Disneyland (I'm a California native, of course Disneyland was my first park!), I just started walking. Look at me 21 years later - still love it! It's that Disney magic!! :mickey:

[Tink#64]

I was in love with the idea of taking my DS's to WDW after my 2nd DS was born. I planned, saved every magazine, newspaper articles, etc. about WDW. (This was before I found the Tour Books:blush:) We waited until youngest DS was 4, we felt old enough to enjoy and hopefully remember some! I couldn't believe we were finally going! I'd waited years for this trip!We fell in love as soon as we drove under the welcome sign!.:cloud9:

But - we talked to many people on that first trip & couldn't believe how many of them make the pilgrimage every year! Then came the final day of our trip & we were so sad to leave, and came home absolutely hooked! Now if we take a year off to do something different, we suffer serious WDW withdrawal! As much as I LOVE WDW, I can't fully explain it to other people who haven't been or just don't get it!

It's such a wonderful experience for our family and we always come home with so many new and wonderful memories. I hope my DS's will keep their memories of these trips always & their love of WDW as well. :mickey: