When is it real?

[selina4disney]

Passing under the WDW entrance arch on the highway gets me every time!

ME TOO! And I HATE seeing the backside of it on the way home. Especially if I don't already have another trip booked. If I do, it's a little easier to leave.

 

[MickeyNicki]

The minute DH says "book it" then it is real...the rest is just waiting and waiting

 

[lshaw]

when you get the bill

Too funny!!!

 

[C U AT DISNEY]

When I on the tram at the airport, just standing there knowing that in about 1/2 hr I will be getting my rent a car and heading of to disney... But it doesn't really hit me until we get on Disney property, when the landscape changes and everything just looks perfect....

James

 

[disneybridetobe]

When I get on the magical express and that movie starts playing....that's when I get the disney butterflies!

Me too!!

 

[Welsh]

I've bought my tickets, made my reservations and I don't think it will hit me until the night before our plane takes off. Maybe a few days before, during which I will NOT be able to concentrate at work.

 

[WL Fan]

For me, it's when I've finally gotten the "go ahead" from DH, we've nailed down our dates, and I get on the phone to make the room ressies! Talk about butterflies in my stomach! Everyone always tip-toes around while I'm on the phone, trying to listen to what's going on. After that, we make our countdown calendar, and the fun begins!

 

[zuly]

I had three, first when we pay for flight ,second when we hop at the MCO tram and three when I hit Main Street for the first time

 

[Courtney88]

For me it's when we drag the suitcases in from the garage and I actually start putting things into them about 2 days before the trip.

AUGUST HURRY UP AND GET HERE!!!!

We drive to WDW, and it is around a 15 hour drive, so it's real for me when we get into the car for that drive. Every minute is well worth it. It's not so bad if you drive at night!!

Both of these for me... plus, we drive down there from Michigan, so when I spot the first palm tree!

 

[janiejake]

Everything prior is 'anticipation'(the planning, the ressies, adrs, packing, paying that bill...etc) Gets more real for me as we are flying south and the color of the 'ground' below changes. First it's white...and pretty dull. Then it's brown, and still dull, and THEN we start seeing 'green' (which we have not seen for far too many months, ). And then, once we are taxiing to the gate, and I see those palm trees. Then I KNOW I'm very close to my happy place.

 

[jodzilla]

When you step on the monorail and can see the castle in the distance than it hits me that it's real. You see the look on the kids faces and I tear up every time!

 

[torsie24]

I've not been to WDW since I was very little, so my trip that I booked and paid for last week isn't real yet.

I don't know when it'll seem real, maybe when we check into POFQ, or when we hit Main Street.

For me at Disneyland Paris its get s bit real when I get onto the Eurostar, and then a bit more real when I get off at the Disney Station and can here the music, and then a bit more real when I check in to my hotel and then when I can see the castle I get a big wash of magic and sigh a big happy sigh and thats the best bit!

 

[pebs34]

For me it is when i walk out of the airport, feel the sun on my skin and the lovely heat.

 

[TheMorgans]

It happens in stages for me.

1. It starts to build when I book the trip and then start planning --- I LOVE to plan

2. When we leave home for the airport I feel the excitment level rise.

3. The pilot gives the weather report for Orlando -- Sunny and Warm and I am on

4. I step off the plane and feel the warm sunshing and smell the Florida air

5. Driving under the sign I am almost over the edge. I am like a 5 year old on a 3 day sugar high. I can't sit still. I am talking wayyyyy toooo fast.

6. Hearing the CM at my resort say, "Welcome Home" Puts me over the edge.

7. I relax and enjoy!!! There is no place like it on Earth.

 

[Tomh]

Much like the PP, it comes in stages for me. It starts when I am on the Disney website, getting the prices. It ratchets up a notch when I actually make the reservation. There is a bit more excitement when the invoice comes in the mail. Making our ADR's brings it home a bit more, then, when I make the last payment, and it is paid for it seems a bit more real.

The next tick in the excitement comes when we get the package in the mail with the vouchers, and luggage tags in it. It becomes a bit more real when my name goes up on the calendar at work for the time off. Packing up for the trip is almost unbearable, it's so close, yet we still have to wait, and it isn't quite a reality yet.

The 20 hour drive from New York to Disney World is fueled 100% by excitement. Driving under that Welcome sign is huge, but I think that the biggest "It's Real" moment is hearing the CM at the hotel say "Welcome Home."

 

[UpNorthG'ma]

For me it's real when I get my luggage out and start packing.

 

[Mickeygolf]

It's a three step process for me. First when we're at the airport and I'm video taping the kids at 5:30 in the morning and they're already excited because we'll be on the plane soon. Then when we get to MCO ride the tram over and when you walk outside to that wonderful Florida air (the smell is different than any other place I've ever been) and the palm trees. And finally when we check in at Old Key West and I know what building and room we'll be in and my DW is already heading to the locker rooms to get the kids in swim suits and it's time to play. Man, November seems so far away right now!!!

That's when it's finally and truly real

 

[John Paul]

When we get to our off property Hotel...the night before our DIS package starts and I see Stacy on the TV.

 

[Tinkerbell2B]

I thought I would feel like it was really happening when I received my documents from Disney, but that didn't do it. I don't think that packing the suitcase will do it either. I think that it is going to take driving underneath the big Walt Disney World sign before I really believe I am there. Next, it will be that breath taking moment when I first see Cinderella's Castle again!! Then I will know I am there!

 

[EastonCat]

Passing on to property on my way from MCO. I travel regularly for work, so this is the point where a Disney trip becomes real to me.