Favorite Memories

[makeyourself5007]

I'm sure this topic has been done before but since I am new here I thought I would try it out.

Everyone knows that a main part of the reason we keep going back to Disney World is because of the memories we make that will never be forgotten. Below are some of mine. Please share some of yours.

- Saw Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonila walking around MK with their families. I was a huge baseball fan as a kid so this was very memorable.

- Saw Joe Perry (lead Aerosmith guitarist) walking around DTD

- Got to be extras in the filming of the ABC Christmas parade. This was the year that Wayne Brady hosted and they had a red carpet in front of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We got to meet Wayne Brady and have our 1 or 2 seconds of fame on national TV. The best part was that we got to stay after the park closed to film another segment. The segment didn't end up airing but I'll never forget being in the MK at 2AM with the place deserted.

[jmj18]

My 30th Birthday...I got to be in the parade!

My kids 1st time at Disney...nothing like seeing it thru their eyes!

[TheVBs]

My oldest DD going on Splash Mtn. for the first time. And, watching my youngest DD walk up to Peter Pan and say, "I have a story to tell you about Hook!" He sat down on the ground and said very seriously, "Tell me about it!"

[IloveDisney71]

• Going to the Magic Kingdom as a child so many times I lost count. I got to go with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.
• My dad got cancer and we were asked to participate in a program that was filming a show on dying/hospice. The show took us to Disney and filmed our family enjoying a day at Disney. It was a sad time in my life but Disney had always played such a big part in our family's lives that it was the perfect place for them to film us.It was the last time I got to go to Disney with my dad before he passed away. I was 11 years old. I remember one of the camera men was so nice. I had never ridden Space Mt. and he offered to ride it with me.
• Going to WDW with my DH for the first time. I had been 20+ times but he had only been once as a child so it was fun to experience it with him. He even played with Chip during our dinner at The Liberty Tree Tavern. It was fun seeing him act like a kid!
• Taking my two DD's to WDW for the first time when they were 2 and 3 years old.and seeing their reactions to everything. They loved the parade the most and getting to see all of the characters go by on the floats. We've been to Disney many times since then and created many more memories but I'll never forget that first trip with them.

[andywicks]

On my daughter's 4th Birthday ALL of the cast members at MK treated her so well.

She was dressed as Snow White and she met Snow White and got her autograph which was very special for her!

Better still: the barber shop quartet and band on Main Street played and sang Happy Birthday to her - superbe! I have this on video - one for the family archives!

(This was when you had to ask at Guest services for a birthday pin and before anyone and everyone could grab one from the basket - what a shame!)

[wdwfamilyof4]

During the year of a million dreams campaign we were at AK @ WDW and DS, age 5 yrs. wanted to go on Kilamonjaro Safari again. We'd been at the park all day and were tired. DH & I wanted to go back to the hotel and hit the pool. We decided to check the wait time and it was over 1 hr. DS was in teh process of saying PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!! and we started to explain no not again. A cast member in a special shirt came up and asked DS if he'd be willing to "fill in" and help drive the jeeps because they were low on drivers . We got to walk up to the first jeep DS wore the uniform and got a pair of binoculars that he could keep. His name was announced by the "other" driver. To top it all off we all got ice cream at the end of the ride. YUMMMM!

When we went this year DD was 9 yrs. old. She's always been terrified to conquer roller coasters. DH decided that the way to break her in was the to do the biggest and fastest, RNRC, first. I thought different but gave in. It was a disaster! She screamed and cried the whole time. It was awful. THe only good thing was that they play the music so loud that no one could hear her but me sitting right next to her. After that she swore never again. That was on a Monday. But by Thursday she tried Space mountain and loved it. We left on Sat and had to drag her out of MK because she was so in love with Splash Mtn., Big thunder mtn. and space mnt.

[DisneyaHolic]

My very favorite memory was riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad when my darling daughter was working there. It was such a treat seeing her high-five all the passengers on the train in her cute vest and hat!

Here's a great review of my favorite ride:
http://www.TheNewAdventurersClub.com...3F3X2245548FC4

[Lightning McQueen]

Hard to top being on the hot seat at who wants to be a millionaire. On the same trip I got on the hot seat twice and both my brothers also got on. None of is made it very far but it was such a cool experience.

Also riding splash mountain over and over again on e ticket nights as kids.

[JabberJaws]

I think the #1 memory for me is, of course, getting engaged to my wife at WDW. I proposed to her during a carriage ride at the POFQ, then we had a surprise dinner (with fireworks window seating) at Calif. Grill.

Other good memories...

• Riding HM at midnight on Halloween (and being the last guests allowed on) when I was 10.
• First time I ever road Splash Mt. as a kid. I was amazed!
• Getting to meet Tia Carerra (I was on my CP at WDW at the time, but still counts!)

[KeriWDE]

-- Taking our Daughter (then 4) to WDW for the first time, waiting for the monorail at Epcot to go to MK for breakfast at CRT. We had her Cinderella dress in the backpack and she refused to put it on. It wasn't a fight, it was just amusing and so VERY MUCH HER to suddenly change her mind.

-- Same trip, the 4 y-o is marching around the dining room with Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore and Piglet at CP. Her dad and I are waving at her and taking pictures and videoing. She gives us the hand, because she's too cool for us.

-- All the pictures I've taken of my husband giving our daughter or son the best ride at WDW - his shoulders.

-- Waiting for Fantasmic! in 2009 and seeing the space shuttle launch in the distance. Cool!

-- My son, then 2, giving a kiss to Little Einstein's June at DHS Playhouse Disney breakfast. Then puking as an ear infection screws up his equilibrium.

-- The daughter had picked out a build-a-tiara that just didn't work. She was disappointed but we quickly exchanged it for a pink sunvisor that worked just as well. Her frowns had just disappeared and were replaced with smiles as she checked her reflection in every shiny surface while we worked our way through the line for IASW. A CM came up and asked her if she would like to be the honorary cruise director for IASW. We were taken to the control booth, where she pushed a button and waved her hand wildly at the people boarding below and then taken to the front seat of a boat. When we were leaving the ride, the CM told us she had chosen my daughter BECAUSE she was the only kid smiling. It made her day, and she was The Stuff for weeks.

I'm sure if I were to sit here for a few more minutes, I could fill up the screen with more wonderful, poignant memories.

Thanks for the reminder of how much fun we have and how sweet our memories are...

[cuteduck223]

one memory? lets settle for one from each trip.

The last trip, DH and I took BIL and SIL for their very first trip. On the very first day, they didn't want to follow MY schedule, and they all overslept (EMH at AK we missed!) and so we jumped on a bus headed to MK early. Getting off of the bus, SIL fell off the bus and couldn't stand. We received a trip to celebration hospital, several bandages (she had severely sprained both ankles) and front of the line access at MK for the rest of the day. She was a trooper through it all, and we had a great trip, despite the wheelchair we had to shove her around in.

We were picked to be the people they dump water on during the back lot tour once. I'm pretty sure that on that trip i was the only one in our group that got soaked EVERY SINGLE DAY! Everyone else was narrowly escaping.

Went with my parents for their 25th wedding anniversary and our 1st anniversary--my DH helped me build my very first sand castle on the beach at Fort Wilderness waiting for the electric water pageant.

My senior year in HS, my parents took me to the comedy club (early show) at Pleasure Island. I felt so grown up!

In Jr High, we went with both of my grandma's and experienced Hoop De Doo for the first time.

My very first trip was for my 10th birthday, and we ate at CRT. That was back when WDW was only 2 parks big.

[DizNut42]

One that stands out for me, our second trip taking our DD's (4 of them). Driving all night and arriving at WDW just a bit after 8am. Driving up World drive approaching the entrance to MK (we were staying at FW). I thought everyone was still asleep. As the monorail to EPCOT went by, my youngest DD9 says from the back of the van, "OH COOL!" as she watched it go by.

[BandMan]

The first time we went DS1 was about 9. He is autistic and LOVES the Winnie the Pooh movie with the hephelumps (sp?) and woozles. Our first ever ride was on Pooh, and the ride stopped in the room with the hephelumps (sp?) and woozles. It was priceless. DW says that God was giving our little guy a special treat.

By the way, our "little" guy is now 16 yrs. old and 6 ft. tall - two inches taller than me. How time flies...

[Fastpasssteve]

My special memories have to do with watching the faces of my special friends when we're down in WDW...to see the light and joy in their faces. To be with them in the moment during 'Wishes' in front of the castle...to share a special meal at the California Grill...to experience some of the rides that take our breath away in so many ways, from Tower of Terror to the beauty of Peter Pan's Flight.

Sharing all these things that mean so much with those I love are wonderful memories, each one a pearl and we string them all together, one after another!

[darthmacho]

An excellent question, but soooooo, difficult to answer because there are so many. Here are a few from each trip...

1998:

• Seeing the Wilderness Lodge for the first time!
• Artist Point, our first WDW meal.
• Space Mountain, my first ride ever.

1999:

• Sunset/moonrise meal at Maya Grill.
• Getting to Epcot so early that we were just the third car to park in the lot, seeing Spaceship Earth, and thinking, "So glad to be back again!"
• The Main Street Electrical Parade.

2003:

• DD1's (2 1/2yo) first ride ever, Dumbo.
• Seeing Fantasmic for the first time.
• DD1's look of contentment while floating in ASMu pool.

2010:

• Checking into Port Orleans Riverside.
• DD2's (6yo) first ride ever, Dumbo.
• Our first trip as a family of four, not so much a moment, but a feeling of joy every time I think about it.

[johnO]

It was late February 1998, I was a young husband, about to take my Family on our first WDW trip. (I had gone a few times growing up) DW was at work. DS (6) and I packed up the car and drove to DW's workplace and picked her up at around 4pm. As we began our drive from Downtown Charleston, SC, it began to ran. Litterally, at the moment we began to leave her job it started pouring. We drove south on US17, hit I-95, crossed through Georgia, entered Florida, raining cats and dogs all the while.

As we neared Daytona Beach, the rain and winds picked up tremendously. At the entrance ramp to I-4 there were two tractor trailers overturned on the embankment. Trees were down on I-4 and for a good length of time, were were driving at about 25mph in a 70mph zone because the rain and wind were so bad.

Tornado warnings began to come across the FM radio and tornadoes were on the ground in the area in which we were driving. Many cars were on the side of the road. The skies were pitch black. Many travelers had sought shelter beneath overpasses along I-4. I had to make a descision...Do we do the same? Or do I get us "the hell outta Dodge!" and keep going?

I chose to get the hell outta Dodge. We pressed on with winds that were unblelievable. Litterally rocking the car left and right as we drove! The rain, never ceasing, worsened the entire drive.

At 1am, 9 hours after we began, what we thought was going to be a 6 hour drive, well pulled under the awning of the Holiday Inn Maingate. At this very moment, the rain stopped. As if a switch had been flipped.

On the news that night, the following morning, and days after, we learned that 36 people in the Orlando area were killed by tornadoes. Some of which had crossed over I-4.

That horrific drive has always stuck with me. The only good thing about it, is that we got through it.