WDW-when were you hooked?

[Mousemates]

A post to a thread about visiting WDW with a "skeptic" got me to thinking about what it must have been like to visit WDW with me (a borderline disney "hater") before I became a hardcore fan of All Things Mouse.

My transformation occurred about five years ago when we were planning our big summer trip and my wife and I had very different ideas about where we should go...Florida or California. I thought I knew what my kids would choose so i put it to a family vote.

Well, my kids, much to my chagrin, voted with my wife to drive to Fla and spend a week at WDW as opposed to flying to California (they at that point had never flown) and going to the beach, Yosemite, etc. That's when i realized how much my family loved the place that I only loved to hate. I had to kind of reconsider things and made a conscious decision to try to be more open to doing what the rest of my crew enjoyed, as opposed to trying to convince them to go where I wanted each trip.

The week we spent there did the rest...staying solely on property, at the AKL, with a last minute (at check-in) upgrade to a savannah view room did the rest. The room was great, access to the parks was so much easier, the EMH really worked well for us, and best of all I only had to drive our car one time that week.

And it was during that return trip to the resort...when I truly came around...for when we got back to the resort and security guard told me "welcome home sir" I was truly hooked...and we've been back at least once a year since.

Just wondering if anyone else had a special moment like that when you became committed to making a visit to the parks of WDW a regular stop on your vacations calendar?

[Tinkerfreak]

For us it was the first day of our very first trip. The minute we entered the AKL lobby we knew we were going to love it. The moment we knew we had to come back the next year was in the MK. We had just entered the park and as we walked under the train station we spotted Chip and Dale who are my DD's favorite characters. They were just coming out so we approached them and they both hugged my daughter and posed for a picture. My little girl said to me "Look Mommy I'm in a Chip and Dale Sandwich". She was so excited to see them it made me cry. We only planned 4 nights for our first trip and we knew before the trip was over that we were definately returning the next year for a longer trip.

[CaptainSad]

Mine was the very first day I stepped foot in the Magic Kingdom in February of 1983. Since then I have driven or flown from Massachusetts 25 times over the years. I am going again this year on December 4th-12th. Just can't get enough....

[coneygoil]

I really don't have a story of being hooked. My folks have been taking me since I was a year old, so I've been hooked since I was a toddler!

[Emme&TeddysMommy]

I was hooked from the very first moment I saw the Magic Kingdom. I was 9 and I remember like it was yesterday and now 23 years later I am still hooked. I even smile as I write this post remembering that very first moment I experienced "Disney Magic"

[d_m_n_n]

Like Coneygoil, my parents started taking our family when I was four months old (02/72). So I blame some of my addiction on them!! But it wasn't until 2000 that I truly started to see the magic when we took DS (then 3) and saw it through his eyes.

I'm still working on DH, but I think he is finally starting to come around a little. In 2007 he told me we weren't returning until we had grandchildren...but after our trip in December I actually heard a "Next time..." come from his mouth!!!

[mrmcgiv]

The first day of our first trip in 2007 when my kids were 2 and 5 did not get me hooked, in fact I think I uttered the words "I will never come back here again". Don't get too upset, that changes during the trip. Our first day was a Sat, we went to MK at 2:00 and tried to see the parade, it was early May, but unseasonably hot and humid that day. A little too much all at once! We stayed for the Spectro-magic parade that night, and I remember liking it a bit better by then, but not hooked.

However, by the end of the trip, we were somehow hooked. All of us! We had hoppers that trip, and I needed to take each park in a small does to figure out the layout and then return for a longer stay at the park. Once I went back the second time, it was not so overwhelming, I figured my way around (somewhat) and it turned out to be a great trip.

Funny how what started as I will never return again ended with I can't wait to get back here!

My husband and I had never been there as kids so it was a first for all of us and I do not think i can ever recreate the magic of that first trip, but it had me hooked.

One of the best moments was at Chef Mickeys when my 2YO said to Donald "I want to tell you one thing Donald, I love you" and Akershus dinner was great too.

CBR had a great fun theme as well and we loved it!

[wmdaddy]

I'd say it was my 2nd trip. I was 13. I remember being depressed for a long time after getting back. I'd look at the Disney Pictorial book over and over, keep thinking "I was at the MK last week at this time", etc. Anyways, next time I was able to go was when I was 20. It was literally a last minute thing. Since then, 14 years ago, with the exception of 4 years when I didn't have the money, I've gone at least twice a year.

[c&d]

When DH and I went down in Dec. 98. We did the 3 day/4 night Disney cruise in December and DH and we had just such a great time that we went back for a week 6 months later with my MIL and SIL. We loved seeing all the decorations and were sooo impressed with the CM's and how friendly and helpful they were. The parks and resorts were spotless, you never saw any trash on the ground. The food was good and the choices of different foods in the restaurants were excellent.

[Dragongirlx]

It was my second trip that really hooked me. It was the first time we had stayed in a Disney resort and just the whole feel of being there and being immersed swung it for me

[DonaldsBFF]

I was hooked when we went in 2005 for our homeymoon. I had been before but not as an adult. This truly was the best vacation I had ever done. From the moment we checked our luggage for our departing flight to Orlando there were no more worries. We love that you get off the plane, hop aboard the ME without having to get your luggage and are dropped off at the entrance of your "home". There were no worries for transportation to and from the parks as that was provided, we didn't have to figure out where to eat every day as we had the dining plan and that was all taken care of before the trip. It is the most relaxing vacation I have ever been on and is always tops on my list.

We have done the cruise thing and beach thing and they are very nice but I would always choose WDW anytime.

[Imagineer1981]

I have been going ever since I was a child and for as long as I can remember Disney has been part of my life. My DW and I tookd our DS2 last summer and it was amazing passing along that tradition to him

[cantgetenoughdisney]

I have to say the first time I went was when I got hooked. That's when I was 35 years old and I took my kids who were 3 and 5 at the time. I have to say though, that the first time I REALLY fell in love was when we went one September and there were no lines. We have been back every September since. I love it when you can actually enjoy the parks without bumping into people. We have gone 13 times now, and will definitely be back in September, although, this year I am adding a 50th birthday trip, given to me by my sisters, in April! 49 days to Disney World!!!!

[TikiLounger]

I was hooked on the first day of our first trip with our children. My son was in second grade and my daughter was in kindergarten. We flew down a day later than the family members we were travelling with, so my brother in law picked us up at the airport drove us to the Shades of Green. The moment we started to see signs of "The World" on the highway and I looked over to see the looks of awe and anticipation on my kid's faces? That's when it all started for my family.

[PlutoPlanet]

One day we were plucked off of Main Street USA to be the Grand Marshalls of the 3 o'clock parade. That hooked us!

[crltkcagle]

My baby nursery was decorated with a huge mural of mickey mouse and friends. When I was a kid my parents brought us to Disney World. We also did the mousercise when I was younger. Disney has always and will always be a part of me!

[MMFreak]

For me it was 1972 I was 9 years old and fell in love with all things Mouse and to this day I still want to go back again and again and again. I cannot ever see having my fill. I am so thankful that I passed this down to my kids. They can't wait to go back every year too.

[Ms. Mode]

I was hooked after our first family vacation in 2004, however our next trip in 2006 was not as good. We went again in 2008, even though it was a heat wave summer..we loved it...and my family was finally as hook as I am.

[#1donaldfan]

...way back in '04, with our first family trip, 3 kids, with the youngest being 5. I think we were hooked when we got to our resort....that place just welcomed us in like no other "hotel", beach, resort could ever do....from that moment on we were hooked.....been going back ever since.....why go to the beach, fight with traffic, parking, crowded sand, nasty tempers....etc.....

[bruin1344]

i cant remember if i was hooked when i first went in 1990 at 5 yrs old but i remember being fascinated with world showcase and illuminations in 1992 so Im guessing thats when I was hooked. Illuminations on that trip got me over my irrational fear of fireworks.