How/When Did Your Disney Obsession Begin?

[RebeccaB]

I honestly don't recall what made me finally book a Disney vacation, but it was back in 2006, and our dd was 5.5...I almost believe it was that "we need to do this before she starts kindergarten" frame of mind. Back then, I think I booked the vaca about a month and a half before we went, and I based the dates of our stay on the cheapest airfare dates . I had read the Fodor's Disney World book, but otherwise we were woefully unprepared. However, I think that was our favorite trip. We didn't do as many rides, met more characters, did more peoplewatching. We also said it would be our "once in a lifetime Disney trip"...ha,ha we see where that got us

So! How/when did your Disney obession begin?

 

[Goofyluver]

Pre-DIS, I booked a mother/son trip for a Christmas present for my then 9 year old son. We left right after Christmas. It was supposed to be a one time thing, and I did very little research before we left.

When I walked into MK with him, it was all downhill from there!

I found the DIS before we went on our next trip and we've been back several times.

Disney has brought me some of the best times and memories in my life. Heck, I'm even marrying someone who loves Disney...it wasn't a prerequisite, but it sure was a bonus!

 

[rachel09985]

I went two times when I was younger (9 and maybe 13). Then I went again in 2006 and then two years later persuaded my boyfriend to go for Spring Break in 2008. I have gone every year since then, next trip in June and hopefully every year from on out! I love it so much mor as an adult than as a child.

 

[gray2402]

I never went as a kid ... my first trip I was around 26! I went to Florida with a co-worker for Spring Break and we went to a couple of the parks ... (My hubby was deployed at the time).

When he came home from Kuwait, I dragged him down there ... we had been to IOA/US before but he had not been to Disney. We had a blast! Our daughter was born the following summer and the next year when she turned one, we took her

We are going again this July and this will be her 7th Disney trip (one of them was to Disney Paris)... and she is turning 7 this year It will be my son's 3rd time to WDW and 4th Disney trip. We almost did not go this year but, geesh, I just could not imagine a year without a trip! We hope to do a cruise in 2012!

I am trying to condition them to want Disney weddings ... ahh that would be amazing

 

[cbg1027]

I blame my mother. She started taking my sister and I about once a year starting when I was 4 years old.

We stopped going so often when I was in my early teens, but once I hit 21/22, the interest came back again. I just love Disney, and I think a lot of that is for nostalgic reasons.

I'm 26 and will be taking my 13th and possibly 14th trips later this year.

 

[POOHsie]

I didn't get to go with my family as a teen. I was already moved on. Finally got a chance to go with a friend. Just off my first monorail trip and a few steps up Main Street, it was like, "Oh my!" "OMG!" "I can't believe this place exists!" Disney was not like some cheap put-up carnival. It was really about soul-satisfying magical experiences. By the end of Main Street, I was a Disney addict for life. DD, now grown, has gained my addiction, and her BF seems to be leaning that way.

 

[GovieMom]

DH and I had gone in 1986 and again in 1987, when there were only MK and Epcot. After our second time, I said I had seen enough to last me a good ten years before going back. Well it was actually 12 years later when we went back in '99 with our then 7 and 9-year olds. I don't know if it was the fact that two more parks had been added since then, or that we had our children with us (probably that!); but we were just wowed by the whole experience. Unfortunately we had only allotted four days for that trip, so naturally we had to return the following year to finish up. lol We're going back next month for our seventh trip since that time, and staying at the beautiful Polynesian with our 19 and 21-year old college students. Can't wait!

 

[Boardwalker]

The WDW obsession began back long long ago when there was only the MK.
I was a young teenager then, rather awkward, tagging along on my older sister's family vacation (I was brought to babysit my nephew so they could go out to dinner).
We had just walked through the castle, all in awe of the place and standing around while BIL took pictures, when Captain Hook snuck up behind me and tried to steal my hat.
I was so amazed at having an actual interaction with one of the characters, I just couldn't believe it. That just wasn't done in those days anywhere else.
It made me feel so special.
I am also pretty sure that was when I developed a thing for bad boys too.

 

[Goofy_Girl]

My Disney obsession began long before ever going to the parks. I remember being very young and loving everything Disney. Seeing all the movies and the cartoons, rejoicing when my parents got cable and added the Disney Channel and obsessively collecting anything and everything Disney. My parents never had the money or the luck to be able to take me to WDW(something always seemed to happen) while I was young so I didn't get there until I was 30 when my DBF bless his heart took me and my daughter. It was a first trip for all of us. The first year we were dating I told him it was one of my dreams to go and he promised he would get me there. Needless to say 3 trips later and a 4th planned he created a monster! He accepts my obsession, doesn't fully understand it but accepts it. He enjoys the food part of it and says as long as he gets fed he's fine with going when he can (he just joined the Navy)

 

[Ariel8676]

I started going once or twice a year starting when i was 2 until i was about 10 (with my Grandparents)...we then went once a year (and went on the Big Red boat a.k.a disney cruise) when i was around 12 until about 17. I didn't go back until i was with my husband (we were dating for about 2 months and decided a Disney trip would be great) and have been back 1-2 times a year since....now with our 4 children we go as much as we can and have been DVC members since 2005! So i thank my Grandparents (a.k.a. Nanny and Poppy) for allowing me to become as obsessed with WDW as they were..lol

 

[PrincessTaylorsMom]

Mine began watching The Wonderful World of Disney on tv on Sunday nights when I was a kid. I remember thinking that the opening credits with the castle was the coolest thing ever. I still get that feeling every time I get to MK and walk down main street.

 

[disneygeeks]

Our obsession started about 4 years ago but we had been to disneyland before that but when we went to WDW it all changed. Our first step into MK and seeing that beautiful castle my wife just fell in love with it and calls it her castle and for me it was just so many things. All the detail and all the characters and of course all the great rides. We have been 3 times now and everytime we go it's always MK first and peco's bills for lunch or dinner.

 

[cbate717]

I was 9 years old, my brother was 6. My dad planned the whole trip and told us for months it would be "once in a lifetime" and we had to make the best of it because we would probably never be able to go back.

I'll never forget walking down mainstreet for the first time, seeing the castle and hearing my mom say to my dad "oh we are definitely coming back here. We have to"

We have gone back almost every other year since and fell more and more in love with it every time. Even now that I am in my twenties, we still go as a family of four and relive the magic like it was 1995.

I will be going for the first time without my family this september, but will hopefully be starting my own tradition.

 

[MonorailDriver]

I wish I knew...we just always went when I was a kid, and we kept going when I got older and we still take family vacations every year at Thanksgiving. Even the extended family comes along from time to time.

 

[Micca]

Growing up in the midwest, Disneyland (WDW hadn't been built) was a once in a lifetime trip. When we got married, DW and I went to DLR on our first vacation, but it was still pretty much a one-time deal. In the late 70s we moved to Miami so WDW was do-able as a weekend getaway. That was when the bug bit HARD. We lived in Florida for just a short time, but we've been to WDW 40-50 times. Our children grew up going to WDW regularly with one daughter becoming a CM.

 

[FamO'5disnuts]

We also booked a "once in a life time" trip, there was my family, me, hubby and three kids, my brother and his wife and their three kids, my mom and my inlaws. 13 in all. I had never been before and I had planned the trip so I had no idea what we were in for. We had booked only 2 meals (and 13 is not easy to fit in most resturants) but despite the craziness I fell in love and we have returned every year since. Every year I ask the kids do you want to do a beach vacation of go to Disney and so far so good they always say Disney. Now all my family and friends consult me about disney and I must admit most of what I know I learned from the DIS, too bad I didn't know about the DIS for our first trip.

 

[weheartdisney]

I went several times as a kid and young adult with my family and friends. I truly *fell in love* in 2006 when we took our oldest son (our only at the time. He was 3) and saw the world thru his eyes. I always liked it before...now I LOVE it and can't imagaine a year going by without going.

 

[arthur06]

Mine started as a child. Probably 10 years before I ever went... Growing up my parents didnt have the means to take us. When we would return to school in the fall there always seemed to be 1 or 2 kids that made the WDW trip suring the summer. It always seemed like my dream vacation.

When I was about 21, I just finally decided to do it! I booked a trip (stayed off-site) and had an AMAZING time! I think within a month of returning home, I made a reservation at Caribbean Beach for a return trip! Been going back ever since!

 

[Robin K]

My mom and I have taken mother/daughter trips every year since I was in high school. I always begged her let's go to Disney. She always had an excuse: it's expensive, we don't know how to get around, we never flew before etc etc. In 2006, my grandfather died (mom's dad), and my mom finally said life's too short lets go!
What started out as a sad situation (death) proved to be the start of a great obsession
This Sept will mark our 5th anniversary trip! I'm so excited!

 

[TB'sWidow]

Ours began in 1996 I was 33 at the time Dh 38 and Dd 12 & Ds 7. We had kept it a secret from kids for 6months. We stayed at Dixie Landings.We also thought this was a once in a lifetime trip so we made the most of it and on our last night there DD & I kept looking back at the castle and just sobbing figuring we would not ever be able to come back. Well for myself,I am planning trip #12 in 2012 as a surprise to my little surprise Dd who will be turning 12 that year. My older Dd & I have totally made DsonL a Disney fanatic along with my grandchildren. Unfortunately my beloved Dh has gone to heaven in 2002 so we keep the magic going in his memory. Mary