Moments that make your heart melt...

[lettripp]

I love the threads about the "freakiest," "most out of place," "strangest" things you've seen at Walt Disney World, but for me, the most memorable moments are usually the sappiest. I'm just wondering: what is the sweetest/sappiest/most heart warming thing you've seen, heard or experienced in a Disney park? :cloud9:

[Wall-e]

My favorite moment at a disney park happened during a Christmas visit to Disneyland. I still get goose bumps when I think about it. We were sitting front row for the afternoon parade. My son, Colton, was proudly wearing his santa mickey hat that we had spent a couple of hours the day before trying to find a shop that could embroider his name into the fur on the front of the hat. Santa Clause was at the end of the parade and you could hear him over the park speakers giving Christmas greetings to all. Right when he got in front of us he said "Merry Christmas Colton!" I will never forget the look on my sons face! It was such a simple jesture, but it truely was the best memory of our trip. My son never put two and two together that Santa read his name off of his hat....and I will never tell him.:secret:

[SassyMadhatter]

Everytime, my daughter hugs a character melts my heart...I wish we had discovered Disney a long time ago! It was never in our means to afford family vacations before now, and I only wish we could have done this when she was little too...but even at 13, she is a big child as we all are when it comes to Disneyworld!:mickey:

[brownie]

Everytime, my daughter hugs a character melts my heart...I wish we had discovered Disney a long time ago! It was never in our means to afford family vacations before now, and I only wish we could have done this when she was little too...but even at 13, she is a big child as we all are when it comes to Disneyworld!:mickey:

:welcome:
Welcome to INTERCOT!

[whitney37354]

Watching DD dance with Prince Charming & seeing him twirl her around at dinner at 1900 PF. She was wearing her Cinderella dress at the time...

[Momto3littlemice]

Watching my kids see Wishes for the first time on this past trip. They had heard the music so many times -- to finally be able to put it all together. They were mesmerized... as was I:mickey:

[AnnaMom]

We were in Epcot and my DD was 6 at the time, she was wearing a heart shaped necklace with her name "Anna" on it, she walked up to Slepping Beauty to get her autograph and Slepping Beauty said "Well hello Anna" my daughter almost fainted that a Princess knew who she was - Priceless!!

[wilcat]

Mine would be the year I surprised my DN Maria at WDW. Her parents took her down for her birthday and I flew down a couple of days before them. I was sitting under a tree at MK when they walked in. My niece screamed and ran into my arms. She was so speechless she just kept saying "your really here", "your really here" then she started to cry which got me started the everyone in the group started crying and finally I said enough of that we have memories to make, lets go!

[BraddyB]

Mine would be the year I surprised my DN Maria at WDW. Her parents took her down for her birthday and I flew down a couple of days before them. I was sitting under a tree at MK when they walked in. My niece screamed and ran into my arms. She was so speechless she just kept saying "your really here", "your really here" then she started to cry which got me started the everyone in the group started crying and finally I said enough of that we have memories to make, lets go!

Love this, we actually are doing that for my wife's niece and nephews on our trip in 2012. We are going to fly down the day before and be at the park when they get there. I hope it goes over as good as yours did !!

[BandMan]

I've mentioned this before in a thread a while back. We have 4 kids - DD18, DS16, DS14, DD9. Both our boys have autism. On our first trip with the family, about 5 years ago, my wife and I were scared to death we were going to get seperated from the boys and lose them in the crowds. Well, after several days, we all started to relax and just enjoy a slower pace. At one point we were in Tomorrowland and we let the boys - then 11 and 9 - just walk ahead on their own for a bit. They were great - just looking around and enjoying the atmosphere. For one, brief moment they were just my boys, not my disabled boys. It's hard to describe the feeling to someone else, but I'm tearing up as I'm typing this. I've often told people that I had a tiny glimpse of heaven that day.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

So many...when my son was younger, he loved hugging the characters we have several pics...one of the dancing pigs in the MK Christmas parade left the parade and came over and kissed my son, Tigger at Crystal Palace last year saw us waiting outside last trip and opened the back door to shake my sons hand...just so many special things to think about.....I love people watching...little kids on their first trip are just so precious

[Ryan Towle]

When the main fanfare melody kicks in during Spectromagic.

[Jeff]

When I was 13 my family went to Disneyland. While we were watching the Main Street Electrical Parade I looked over at my mother, who was filming the parade on a "Super 8" film camera, and she was crying. I remember asking her "Mom, whats wrong"? And she said, "It's just so beautiful". Being a stupid 13 year old I didn't get it at the time!!!!

Years later, we took my daughter to WDW for the first time when she was 7. While at the MK my wife daughter and I were watching the Main Street Electric Parade and I started to cry like a baby remembering my mom. My mother had died from breast cancer when I was 30 and missed ever knowing my daughter by 5 months. My daughter looked at her tough guy dad and said, "Daddy, what's wrong"? All I could say was, "Honey, your Grandmother loved this parade". And so it goes, from one generation to the next!

[disneygal1210]

I went with my mom, sister, and nephew to Disney World last October. My nephew is in love with Buzz Lightyear! We did the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and my nephew and I wore costumes. He was buzz lightyear and when we stood in line we made him look the other way until he was the next one to see buzz lightyear and when we turned him around I thought my nephew was going to have a heartattack at 4! I started to cry and when buzz lightyear was jealous of his goggles, that made it even better for him. Another moment is when my nephew decided to trust his aunt and rode splash mountain and thunder mountain and loved it! Now that is all he talks about :) :cloud9:

[TheVBs]

BandMan & Jeff, you're stories got me all teary. Beautiful!

I can think of a couple... the first time our oldest saw Stitch, she was only 2 years old. When I pointed at him and asked her, "Who's that?" she replied in this awed whisper "Titch" (she used to drop the first S). The look on her face was unbelievable and she hugged him for so long. It was great!

The second one is when our youngest met Minnie, her favorite. She had such a look of love on her face.

[dbright]

As I wipe the tears from my eyes after reading all these great moments...I have a few to share...

The 1st visit with my 3 granddaughters...7 year old twins and their 3 year old baby sister.

When Maddie, the 3 year old, saw the castle from the monorail, she all by hyperventilated...she grabbed her dad's face between her hands, turning his head..." the castle, the castle...." The next day my daughter and I took the 3 girls dressed in their finest princess dresses for breakfast with the princesses in the castle...all 3 of them were mesmerized by the princesses. The twins LOVED getting their autographs. After breakfast, I sat with the twins to watch the show at outside the castle...they were oooin and ahing and I was crying watching them.
Ok, one more...we went to the Hoop-de-doo Review, Brianna (one of the twins) was SOOO taken with the female star of the show....almost like she was star struck. She kept saying she was so pretty. She wanted her autograph badly, but my daughter and she couldn't catch her to get it and Bri was heartbroken ...so, we did what we had to do...my daughter brought her back on the table, then said, "oh, I see her...Brianna, I'll be right back and ran...of course, she went out Bri's line of sight...signed the book and brought it back...oh, my gosh, baby, whew, I caught her...Bri's face lite up and she all but hugged her autograph book to her heart the rest of the evening. We're going back in Jan 2011 and Brianna, who will be 14 when we return, has requested we go back to the Hoop-dee-doo. Since then she's become quite the little musician herself...sings and plays guitar wonderfully. Still makes me tear up remembering that trip...I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
This trip will be their 6 year old brother's 1st time. He's SO excited about Jedi Training Academy...can't wait to see the World throw his eyes this go round!

[nfrustaci]

crying and booger filled..... have to gather my thoughts.... you all have such wonderful memories.

lets see my favorite memory is not remembering a thing the day i met cindarella for the 1st time. we were at the castle for breakfast and out comes cindarella and over to our table. i was sobbing so hard, i stood up and could barely move and then there she was hugging me and telling me not to cry, i said i have waited my whole life to meet you and with that she hugged me and thats all i can remember.... by the way did i mention i was 26 years old and on vacation with my new husbands family ?? oh and my niece who at the time was 5 still says remember when you were crying so much at the castle Aunt Nichole. she is now 17.
and just last year we went to 1900 park fare for the cindarella dinner and once again i was crying and so very excited to see her again.
we now have a 2 year old son and i just can't pick 1 special memory, they are all so wonderful. maybe i will have one that really stands out this year.

[nfrustaci]

Everytime, my daughter hugs a character melts my heart...I wish we had discovered Disney a long time ago! It was never in our means to afford family vacations before now, and I only wish we could have done this when she was little too...but even at 13, she is a big child as we all are when it comes to Disneyworld!:mickey:

hey there sassy............. and it was wonderful being a part of your very 1st time and the 2nd and now the 3rd !!! xoxo

[PrettyMinnie]

Watching DD dance with Prince Charming & seeing him twirl her around at dinner at 1900 PF. She was wearing her Cinderella dress at the time...

That sounds too cute! I want to take a twirl with Prince Charming!! :cloud9:

[EJS-Houston]

I've mentioned this before in a thread a while back. We have 4 kids - DD18, DS16, DS14, DD9. Both our boys have autism. On our first trip with the family, about 5 years ago, my wife and I were scared to death we were going to get seperated from the boys and lose them in the crowds. Well, after several days, we all started to relax and just enjoy a slower pace. At one point we were in Tomorrowland and we let the boys - then 11 and 9 - just walk ahead on their own for a bit. They were great - just looking around and enjoying the atmosphere. For one, brief moment they were just my boys, not my disabled boys. It's hard to describe the feeling to someone else, but I'm tearing up as I'm typing this. I've often told people that I had a tiny glimpse of heaven that day.

You made me tear up just reading that. You described it beautifully.

[ransam]

Last christmas my sister, friend, and i were at wdw, and were attending MIckey Mouse Christmas party. we had gotten our place to watch the parade and fireworks. some guy was walking around w/ his daughter, and there wasn't room for them, so we all just kind of made ourselves smaller so the girl and her father could squeze in with us. as we sat there he kept talking about how much he loved Disney, and what an amazing time they were having. as he talked he kind of told us his story. He lived about an hour away from WDW with his wife and little girl. they use to come up to disney all the time. about 2 years ago his wife came down w/ cancer, and had passed away about a year earlier. he just couldnt' bring himself to return, it brought back too much bad memories, and he didn't have much money due to all the doctor bills. he said how much he had changed. that he use to be al about work, and getting ahead, but in the last year he had dedicated himself to his daughter, but it was so hard to get through to her. a couple weeks ago he had won free tickets, so he decided to take his daughter back to disney. unfortuanetly he got to the park at 3pm, and realized it closed early due to teh party. They were just gonna go out to dinner, and return home, and do disney another time. but he decided he would just buy tickets to the Party. he kept telling us over and over how much fun he and his daughter were having, and how much happiness it had brought them. said it was the first time they had laughed in a long time. he kept repeating over and over how much in wonder he was, and how nice we were for letting him squeeze in and this whole day had been so awesome, and on and on... it was so obvious how much he adored his daughter as he was dotting on her.....as the parade started we were all laughing and taking pictures, and his daughter was in his lap and i heard her say "i bet mom is very happy we came"....i'm a 47 year old man, and i'm not ashamed to say i was almost in tears. It just reinforced to me how magical disney can be.

[TheVBs]

Oh man, you guys are killing me. I'm all choked up again. This is what makes Disney so special, these moments.

[IloveDisney71]

Some of my most special memories are of just spending time with my two DD's when they were teenagers at WDW. You know how teenagers are just "too cool" to act a certain way with their parents when they are home but there is just something about that Disney magic that lets them drop their guard and experience that magic when they are at WDW. Just simple things like goofing off in line together, searching for hidden Mickey's, hunting for everyone's favorite Disney snacks, seeing who can beat who on Buzz Lightyear's ride, etc. Those are some of my best memories.:mickey:

[BAMABOY]

Mine in kinda sappy for several reasons. When I met my wife, she and I were both divorced and she had 2 sons, the oldest was 6 and the younger was 5. We had decided to take the boys on their first trip to WDW before we got married since they were not going on our honeymoon. We had all ridden ToT and loved it but Tyler(my 5 year old) scared to go on it again. later in the day we decided to try and talk him into it and he said "NO!" we casually strolled into the line and I explained to him this was the Haunted Mansion, not the Tower of Terror. We made it through the preshow and got into the elevator and he looked at me and said "this isn't the haunted mansion, it's that terrible tower!!" I tried not to laugh when he said it and after the initial shock he actually was laughing but was still wrapped around my arm. After the ride, he was so mad at me and said "you lied to me and buddies don't lie!" His favorite character is Thumper, so we walked straight to the nearest gift shop and there it was, a Thumper. As bad as I felt it did not matter what the cost was, he got his Thumper and still has it 4 years later. Best of all, we are still best buddies! (and ToT is his favorite ride now!)

[Ksmith75]

One of my favorite disney memories - my DH and mine first trip to WDW 5 years ago - we pulled in the parking lot of the POR, my hubby gets out of the car and had the biggest smile on his face and said "this place is nice!" It was so cute and heart melting. Also, when we enter the parks at opening, he hi-fives any of the cast members he can, all with a big smile. I love that! He always does everything he can to make the trip magical for me. We have been there 5 times in 5 years...and are going next month - that is twice already this year!!!

[Mysttree]

OK you guys are killing me! I'm crying & laughing as I read your stories. To me that sappiness is really part of WDW.
My favorite 'memory' of WDW is actually a picture that was taken with my father. I'm approximately 8 y/o & my father & 2 younger sisters are on a park bench in MK. Remember when they had those rolling carts full of flowers at the front of MK?
My father died when I was 13- that picture of us together at my happy place in WDW is something I treasure!
The funny thing is I don't remember exactly when the picture was taken. But when we went for a family reunion a few years ago- one of my sisters gave each of us a copy of it.
I cried when I saw it b/c I instantly ID'd it as WDW.
Now I love walking down Main St. USA with my hubby!!!

[lettripp]

I'm welling up reading all of your stories! One of my favorite sappy Disney memories was when my fiance and I went to HS with our "Just Engaged" buttons. We wanted a picture in front of the ears and walked up to an older photographer and asked him to take our pictures. He noticed our buttons and started talking about how he has been married to his wife for nearly 50 years and that so long as we support and love each other, we are going to have a long and happy marriage. We stood there laughing with him about his happy memories as he offered us advice about how to be as happy as he and his wife are still today... Looking back on that moment, I can't help but smile!!

[blondeinbrandon]

14 years ago I was lucky enough to get married at the Wedding Pavillion and we had the reception at the Grand Floridian. My brand new husband and I walked up the steps to the hotel and little girl ask her mom "Is she a princess?" Well that is all any bride needs to hear on her wedding day!:mickey:

[jokat]

Wow, let's see if I can type this through the tears...these posts before mine are priceless!

We took our DD for her first trip when she had her third bday. The morning we went to DS, we had an early breakfast ressie so when we got done it was just before opening. My DD and I were hanging out around the big Sorcerer Mickey hat while DH ran to the restrooms nearby. There was hardly any one around but a few CMs. Suddenly, I see Goofy making his way under the hat and towards us. Not wanting to get in the way, I got DDs attention, pulled her close, and pointed toward Goofy so she could check him out. He walked right up, took DD by her little hand, and skipped with her all the way across to the other side of the area where Pluto was waiting. She got to be their first "customer", and both Goofy and Pluto played with her before posing for pictures. So simple, but so very special. I will never, ever forget that.

Best memory is a photo of our DD in her full Cinderella dress, shoes and crown walking past the Carousel in Fantasyland holding her daddy's hand. We had just left her birthday luncheon with the princesses at the castle. It had rained while we were inside, so the ground was fresh and glimmering. The picture is from their backside as they strolled away. A beautiful, frozen moment in time. I never had a daddy around, so this (and many other daddy moments) are too special for words. :cloud9:

Thanks for posting this thread. These memories, and the memories others have shared, are the epitome of the magic for me.

[Victor Kelly]

Seeing my wife's face when she saw the castle for the first time.

And seeing how kids react to the characters. We don't have children yet, but it is almost always the cutest thing you can watch.

[ransam]

Seeing my wife's face when she saw the castle for the first time.

And seeing how kids react to the characters. We don't have children yet, but it is almost always the cutest thing you can watch.

i would have to say that even as a 47 year old man, the first time i am walking down Mainstreet and see the castle i have a tear or two of happiness.... mainly knowing that i have the next few days to spend at WDW and it's just starting!

[tigmickey]

Thank you Intercot for letting us Disney Geeks share such wonderful stories.

Mine is simple. My DS5 leaning out of his stroller to share his Mickey Ice Cream Bar :bar:with his little sister, my DD3.

[TiggerDeb]

Love all these posts... I think one of our fav memories is when we went to Disneyworld with our grandson for the first time. The look of awe and wonder on his face, to see the parks through his eyes was something I shall never forget. We have now been there with his younger brother and it is even more magical.
The last time we went, we did not tell them we were going, we left a day early and the next day my Son, his wife and the 2 grandsons flew in, my oldest grandson had asked before they got on the plane if his Mimi and Papa were going to be at Disneyworld and they said no. He was disappointed. But when they arrived at the resort we were waiting for them and the look on our grandsons faces were priceless, we surprised them and we had a magical trip.
136 days till we do it again.:mickey:

[steamboat willy]

Mine would be the year I surprised my DN Maria at WDW. Her parents took her down for her birthday and I flew down a couple of days before them. I was sitting under a tree at MK when they walked in. My niece screamed and ran into my arms. She was so speechless she just kept saying "your really here", "your really here" then she started to cry which got me started the everyone in the group started crying and finally I said enough of that we have memories to make, lets go!

Cool.........you put tears in this old mans eyes!:)

[waymickey]

One of my favorite memories was years back at EPCOT. We were walking tohrough oneof the buildings and found EEyore sitting down leaning up against a window all alone. He looked sad he is eeyore after all, and my then 4 year old DD sat down next him gave a hug and leaned her head on his belly. Eeyore put his arm around her and she closed her eyes like she was ready to take a nap. I got a picture of her looking like she was asleep with a giant eeyore,.. so sweet after so many naps with her little stuffed eeyore back home.

[tink'72]

My favorite moment at the parks that truly makes my heart melt each time of think it is the very very first time my dad was at the Magic Kingdom. He was 62 years old and as he rounded the corner of Main Street to see the castle in front him he was just speechless. To see the look on his face was amazing. Afterwards I asked him about it and he said for years growing up he would see a picture of the castle on TV at the beginning of movies and shows but see it right in front you is breathless.

It is a moment I will remember and cherish forever.

[mickkey]

I cry all the time at Wishes. The first time we seen the fireworks at MK our DS was 5. He was terrified of the witch and the loud noises and my DH has to hold him the whole time in his arms. Now when we go, my DS was is now 15 holds his mothers hand and stands very close to his dad (makes sure that we are all touching) and lets his mother cry everytime we watch wishes. :grouphug:

[Disney-4-Me]

Oh my gosh! After Jeff's mom and the 2 sons with autism, my eyes started leaking. Now 4 Kleenex later, it's my turn...

We have lots of precious memories of our boys at Disney World because we went almost every year. The one that makes my heart melt the most, though, happened when my older son Sam was in high school. He and I took a trip in October by ourselves. We decided to stay at the Contemporary for the first time in the tower. Our room was overlooking the Seven Seas Lagoon and the Magic Kingdom. I'm so glad I walked into the room before him because it gave me a perfect view of the look on his face. I saw PURE JOY on his face when he saw the view. And those of you who are parents know that that doesn't happen with teenagers ver often!

It was magical and I've never forgotten it!:mickey:

[minnie-mouse]

Stepping into MK for the first time as a parent with my own children. Had been there many times as a child myself and seeing it all thru the eyes of my girls was the most amazing feeling. I felt like I was a 6 year old girl again watching it all along side of them. Their faces, their smiles and laughter when they saw the parade coming down Main Street for the 1st time bought tears to my eyes. A moment I hope to never forget!

[Ramblingman]

Thank you all for sharing these memories, they are precious.

One of mine would be our honeymoon trip. Both my wife and I were on active duty and things happened, so we had to rearrange our wedding date and all our plans were changed. We wound up getting married in February (on Valentine's Day no less) in California instead of in June at her home in Alabama with all her family present. Then we were separated for 4 months.

So, here we were at WDW on our honeymoon, 4 months after we got married. I had to drive to New Orleans to pick her up at the airport, then we drove to Alabama, followed by driving to Tampa, Orlando and finally Jacksonville to meet my ship returning to port. I did everything possible to make it magical for her because this was our honeymoon, and this would be the place we would be bringing our children and grandchildren for years to come. I think we both recognized that and we made the effort to squeeze every moment of enjoyment out of the trip. We even discussed what would be our children's favorite rides and shows. Here we are 24 years later taking our grown children again.

Another great memory (please forgive the length, there is a reason I am known as ramblingman...LOL) came a few years later. This was the first time we brought both our children. We spent the night with my mother in Tampa and got up very early the next morning. We scooped our kids up and put them in the back seat. They never woke up.

When we parked in the lot at WDW, we turned around and began gently rubbing their arms, saying, "it's time to wake up." As they slowly opened their eyes and rubbed them, my son asked weakly, "where are we?" My wife replied, "we're at Disney World." You should have seen their eyes fly open wide, as they were immediately wide awake and full of wonder as they looked out the car window and squealed with delight. It was worth the looks we got as we stood next to the car, changing them from pajamas into their clothes. It was such a nice surprise we repeated it the next 3 trips, and it was equally wonderous each time.

[jimsgal05]

1996 was my 1st trip with my DD and now EXDH..well we were in epcot germany...she went right up to Doopy and said "I love YOU"....she wasn't even 2 and it was the 1st time she said I love you too ANYONE... oh ya there were tears...

the funny part is she had never seen SW movie... it was too cute..

now she is turning 16

[dizneydeb22]

I have so many, but these two really warm my heart. The first was on our last trip my son,9, and I were walking past the Country Bear Jamboree and he insisted on going in. When I asked him why, he said because I saw this with Grammy. He was three when he and my Mom went to see it while we all went on Splash Mountain. My Mom had been gone a little over a year. I could not believe he remembered that!
The second was on the same trip, we were waiting for the rope to drop at EPCOT. My son had a Donald Duck hat on, his absolute favorite, and when the characters came out, Donald spotted his hat. He came over and Jonathan gave him the biggest hug! I was able to take the greatest picture. He turned to me and said, "Mom, he loves me as much as I love him!"
:donald:

[TheVBs]

Just remembered another one. On our last trip Capt. Hook stole DD6's autograph book because it had Tinker Bell on it. DD10 rescued it for her. DD6 had to tell every character we met after that the whole story, and all the characters were awesome about listening, but two really stood out. When they met the fairies, she told Tinker Bell about it and they scored a fairy group hug - one of my favorite pictures! And on our last day they met Peter and Wendy. When DD6 saw Peter she said in the most serious voice, "I have a story to tell you about Capt. Hook." He looked back at her just as seriously, sat down, patted the ground in front of him and said, "Tell me!" Another favorite picture, those two nose to nose on the ground while she tells this story. And another picture of DD10 telling Wendy, they were both so animated and they were pointing over to the Hook meet and greet. :cloud9:

[scooterca42]

These are all excellent, and they remind me why we go back time after time! My memory is actually my husband's.

Big D grew up in a large family, and the father was absent. It was pretty hardscrabble for them, but they had a black and white TV and the Wonderful World of Disney was on every Sunday at 6 - and every Sunday at 6 the whole family was settled in front of it to see what was happening this time. He remembers seeing about building DisneyLand, and by the time he was old enough to be working and helping to support the family they could afford a second hand colour TV and remembers the first time he saw the show in colour - the beauty of the castle - and about Disney World and Epcot construction and all... so our honeymoon, almost 25 years ago, was in California, LA and Disney Land. And the expression on his face when he saw in real life something he'd convinced himself as a youngster he'd never see in reality - it was as amazing as any childs' face, and it's a memory I treasure. He thanked me for that. And every trip to the Land or the World, he thanks me.

[jodijo]

Oh, all of these are wonderful. We leave in 34 days for our next trip to WDW and these stories are getting me ready to make new memories with my kids.

However, I do have one (well many but I will start with one) to share. A few months before we left for our 1st ever WDW trip, my grandmother passed away. She watched my kids everyday of their lives before they started school and they were close. Anyways, they were very young and had a hard time dealing with her death. So, I told them she was in heaven looking after them. I told them that if they missed her they could look in the night sky, find the brightest star, and that was her watching them.

Well, after we made it to WDW, we were sitting waiting for the fireworks when my son looks up in the sky and says, "Look Mom, grandma is with us at WDW." When I looked up, the sky was cloudy and there was 1 star shinning. Only 1 star in the entire sky. I cried and cried. I really felt like she was with us.

[Lightning McQueen]

I've mentioned this before in a thread a while back. We have 4 kids - DD18, DS16, DS14, DD9. Both our boys have autism. On our first trip with the family, about 5 years ago, my wife and I were scared to death we were going to get seperated from the boys and lose them in the crowds. Well, after several days, we all started to relax and just enjoy a slower pace. At one point we were in Tomorrowland and we let the boys - then 11 and 9 - just walk ahead on their own for a bit. They were great - just looking around and enjoying the atmosphere. For one, brief moment they were just my boys, not my disabled boys. It's hard to describe the feeling to someone else, but I'm tearing up as I'm typing this. I've often told people that I had a tiny glimpse of heaven that day.

Thank you SO much for sharing that. I teared up. God bless you and your family.