At what point did you discover.... About This Page:

[Joanne929]

This is a difficult question to answer, but I guess I'll say I've always been hooked on WDW (I should thank my parents in part for that for taking so many awesome pictures when we went in 1975 and only the MK was around (we went to SeaWorld too!) [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] I don't think I realized I was so 'into' Disney until I had kids and I've been waiting for them to be "old" enough to enjoy/appreciate the whole Disney thing.

At some point a few years ago, my now 6yoDS asked me if we could go to WDW when he was 6 - well, he's going to be 7 by the time we actually go, that was the best I could do. My friend Jo-Ann(who I went to WDW with in 1991) loves Disney and I think when we took our trip together (and had such an awesome time) that made me realize that it was a place I HAD to visit more often. My DH thinks I'm a little nuts, and has more than once said my friend and I should go with the kids - we'd have more fun (although I remind him he has to come as someone has to watch the kids so we can go on ALL the rides!)

I know I'm probably going to be a big loser and cry [img]graemlins/cry2.gif[/img] the first time we walk into the park (MK) and see Cinderella's castle.

[Miffy2003]

On my way home from my first visit, in 1993. Though I have to say that since having children the thought of going is even more (if possible!) all consuming!

Karen

[chezp]

I think I knew after my second trip in 1987 at the tender age of 14. I remember leaving Epcot on the monorail and thinking "I could come back here every holiday and never get bored and next time I'll stay on Disney" (you see, expensive tastes at an early age!) I knew that was practical and possible when I discovered on our honeymoon in November 1999 that DH loved WDW as much as me and was happy with regular trips, so that's when I went into planning overload! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Cheryl

[A. Monster]

Wow, I don't feel so bad about my double post - check out katerkat! Major technical issues going on here!

[buzzNwoodyfan]

In June of 2001, when my DBF [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] and I planned a surprise DW trip for my (our!) awesome Mom. That summer, with nothing to do but wax my car and plan the Disney trip, I found PassPorter and was hooked, line and sinker!!!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] My mom had taken us over the New Years 1999, and we had fun but we were just trying to get over a rough spot, so we now we go and try to infuse every ounce of our being with Disney magic to last us until our next trip "home." [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[TiggGrrrl]

It was December of 1993, during my first trip to the World which unfortunately was on my honeymoon with my first husband, miserable and useless was he [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] We had started the trip off in an awful way - I was miserable and sick at our wedding (knowing in my heart I was making a mistake of GARGANTUAN proportions), when my Dad dropped us off at the airport I was hysterical. We got to Cocoa Beach and had a decent night, boarded the Big Red Boat and no sooner were we settled on the ship, my ex says to me "I have to tell you something...I've been lying to you for quite a while now..." [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] I won't go into the details, but lets just leave it as that's not the way you want to start a vacation, let alone a honeymoon.

Fast forward 4 days when we're back on dry land and headed to WDW. I vowed to enjoy the next 6 days regardless of the circumstances, I was in Disney World for pete's sake! We checked into the Contemporary and immediately high tailed it up to the monorail to head over to MK. As we pulled into the MK station, I got butterflies in my stomach. When we hit Main Street and I got my first view of the Magic Kingdom all dressed up for Christmas and Cinderella Castle shimmering in the December sun, I started to cry - happy tears [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] It was at that moment that I realized I was in love and hooked [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] Three years later, Joseph and I got engaged then married and honeymooned in my beloved WDW. And this time, it was all goooooooooood [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

[DisneyNutMary]

Mine was sort of a growing love. My DH took me there for our first vacation together when we were dating, I had been there many years earlier, but I guess the blush of being in love made it a special place and time for us.
Fast forward a bit til my older son was 18 months, we went down with my sister and her kids...followed by another trip 18 months later, and 18 months later again, and so on.
I became obsessed in Sept of 2001, I guess because it was our safe harbor from a cruel world at that time (we went 6 day after 9/11) We bought our DVC then, and I have become a Disney monster. All I ever do now is talk about it, plan it, and want to go there.

[Irenaroo]

July of 2000 for me. I had been as a teenager and then once with our children "off site", but that first time you stay on property is so magical. I was hooked after our trip in 2000, and we stayed at POFQ. I guess that's why that resort has a special place in my heart.

[Teresa]

Late Oct. 1994. My first visit. DD#1 was 10 and had been a quadraplegic for 3.5 yrs. DD#2 was 18 months.
We had just settled DD's lawsuit, and to celebrate headed to Old Key West, 2 bdr. suite. Everyone there was wonderful. All of the CMs everywhere were great.
When I realized that finally, here was a place that DD could be "normal" and just be a kid and not a handicapped kid, I was hooked.
We are on our 8th trip as a family!

[DebiDebiDebi]

Well, I gotta change the question a bit...being from the West Coast, I experienced DL first. It was in 1972, I was twelve, and I walked into that park for the first time, and I literally, truely have never gotten over it! So, my love for WDW is a natural progression. I went to WDW for the first time in 1988, and I am currently planning our 5th trip there...I never got over it! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Suzie]

My falling in love with Disney started when my parents took me to Disneyland for my 20th birthday back in 1969. I thought I was much too old for an "amusement park" and was kind of unenthusiastic about the whole thing. When we walked into the park and came under the trainstation and I saw the (little) castle in front of me,well, I swear there was a rainbow and the angels sang. I didn't get back to DL for a long time, but I finally made it to WDW in 1983 with my DH, parents and DS#1. Never wanted to go anyplace else after that.
I mean, Europe is beautiful, New York is fun, Phoenix and Las Vegas are sunny and exciting, but Disneyworld is Magic. You can't find it anyplace else.

[DisneyDreams87]

The magic of Disney started invading my heart when I was five in 1973. It was my first trip there with my parents and they took my brother and I every year up until 1986. We were also fortunate enough to fly by ourselves and meet my grandparents down there during February vacation each year and I am soooooooo thankful for the memories I made with my Grandma especially, since she died 3 months before my wedding. One thing she always told me was that she would pay for my Disney honeymoon when I got married. Well, my grandpa followed through with her wishes and my husband and I had the best honeymoon ever! It was his first time flying and his first time to Disney so my love for Disney World was renewed through his excitement! Now it's been 15 years since we've been there and I absolutely can't wait! It's a place where you can totally forget about "real" life, act like a kid, and relax! Walt Disney was a brilliant man and so are all the cast members who keep his dream alive. I, for one, am VERY thankful!

[Love 2 Laugh]

I've had a warm spot in my heart for Disney for as long as I can remember but never got to go to WDW until I was in my early 30s. After my first trip in 1993 I was really disappointed and didn't ever want to go back! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] I knew I would have to as the kids got older but I would just grin and bear it. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Things really changed when my wife won a free trip to a convention in Anaheim in 2000, within walking distance to Disneyland. Airfare for the kids and me would be pretty cheap, too, so we decide the whole family should go. Well, seeing DL through the eyes of my kids really changed things for me and I fell under the magic spell of Disney.

The first ride we went on was Indy and that was the most amazing ride I had ever been on. That evening we saw "Believe ... There's Magic in the Stars" which has been the most amazing fireworks display I've ever seen. The music can still bring a tear to my eye. After that came Fantasmic!, which just blew me away. By that point I was hooked. [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

When I returned to WDW in 2002 I really wondered what was wrong with me back in 1993. But that's all in the past now. Now I'm hooked on the parks and the resorts. I've just got to figure out a way to get DW interested in DVC! [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

My how times have changed. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[dizzyintx]

It was my Mother's dream to take all of us to WDW. Every year she would plan it, but something would come up and they wouldn't have enough $$$. Then in 1998 my husband and I finally took her and the whole gang (12 in all). We all stood in front of the castle crying like fools. It was a moment I will never forget. So, I was hooked on disney genetically. I start planning the moment I leave. [img]graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img]

[dzlovesdisney]

Wow, this is a great question.

I think my love for WDW just grew and grew. My parents took us down there (my sisters and I, from NJ down) via car at least 5 times during my childhood. My cousins all lived down there and the whole clan would have the best time at WDW. I loved it then, and have incredible memories from those times. [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img]

Then when I met my DH-to-be, we went down together and stayed with my relatives, and I discovered that he loves WDW as much as me! He bought my first video (the fox and the hound) for me at WDW that year, and now we have a huge collection of them. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

So we got married, our love for WDW kept growing, I got my master's degree and we had an incredible trip to WDW, just the two of us. That was the first trip that I got to plan, and boy did I love planning it! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

Then we had two children, and I couldn't wait to take them down. We took them down (at ages 4 and 2) last October, and I planned since January for that. I cried so many times that trip from pure happiness in seeing WDW through my kids. They were ear-to-ear smiles that entire week, and my planning paid off big time and made the trip very smooth (which DH didn't think would happen). [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

So... I am more in love with WDW now than I have ever been. I can't wait to have another family trip down there. Early next year I'm going to start planning our October 2004 trip. It won't be quite as extravagant as October 2002, but who cares, we have to get back down there! I'm going through withdrawal! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

Sorry for rambling, I'm walking down memory lane here. [img]graemlins/puter.gif[/img] Thanks for sticking with me!