do you have a family tradition at wdw?

[lynetteSC]

We will be at WDW for the first time as a "family" vs just the two of us. Just wondering what kind of traditions you have at wdw. For instance, is there anything (collectible or otherwise) you buy everytime you go as a family, or for each child?

 

[Tinkerbelle99]

This will our 2nd trip for DD and myself and we hope to make some traditions this time around. It may not be as much fun, as DH wont be joining us this time, but DSis, DNephew and cousins will make it memorable I am sure. Anyway, back to the topic...

Ghirardelli's at DTD - My two dear friends and I have this 'thing' where whenever on of us in in vacation in WDW we also call the other while we are enjoying a sundae at Ghirardelli's. Cant wait to make my phone call next week!! Tip - go to ghirardelli.com and register for their email updates and mark that you live withint 50 miles of their store and they wills end you a BOGO coupon.

Legacy Tile, EPCOT - we had this as part of our package last year and left a tile with a nice pic of DH & DD, so we will stop by and visit it this time around.

Pins - Last year being our first ever trip we got DD the 'My first WDW trip'; will probably pick up a couple more pins, including one that says 2005 to commemorate this trip.

Pictures - try to take some shots again this year that we took last year...

Whenver we take trips i try to pick up a bell from that particular city/resort. Last year I got a silver bell with Tinkerbell.

 

[Madi100]

I don't think we ever buy anything in particular, but we always take pictures at the same spot. The bronze Goofy is one of them. Those are good because you can see how they are growing.

 

[henrylovespooh]

I like the idea of the picture in the same place every time. I'm going to get another one in front of the castle this trip and try to find another place to start a new tradition.

 

[LMC]

This last trip I decided to get DD and I a charm bracelet and we will add a charm each time we visit. We will go 4 times this year and usually go at least once per year so we'll fill them up in no time.

For my DS's we got them a monorail system and will add a piece each time we go.

 

[Bonnie40]

Last year we picked up a Christmas ornament at the Christmas Store and will do so again this year. Kick myself that we didn't start that tradition way back when...

 

[Ibelieveinfairies]

Last year we picked up a Christmas ornament at the Christmas Store and will do so again this year. Kick myself that we didn't start that tradition way back when...

We do this, too! It makes decorating the tree sooo much fun...we remember our trips and wish we were at WDW!

 

[Madi100]

We do the ornaments, too. I'm hoping they have something new this time. They always seem to have the same Minnie Mouse ones, and that is what we get.

 

[kelscross]

We get ornaments also! This Sept. I got a big red Mickey shaped one with "Our Disney Vacation 2004" hand painted on it. We also found ornaments for the Poly 2004. We'll be looking for GF 2005 this year and probably another Mickey Ornament.

We started pins this year also.

But our family tradition is Chef Mickey's and we buy the pictures.

 

[MelodyMack]

I am SOOOOOO looking forward to our Disney trip coming up, and am also looking forward to adding to a tradition I have started for my munchkin who is now FOUR (goes by oh soooooo fast).

When I first found out I was pregnant with her I was surprised, so surprised, that when I went to fling my arms around my husband I broke the chain I was wearing that had a pearl pendant on it. Anyway...I had the pearl taken out of the setting, and whenever I am someplace neat or something really significant happens, I go out and buy another pearl. Someday I will have all of them strung and give them to my munchkin.

I am looking forward to letting her pick an oyster at Epot and will add her pearl to my collection for her....

 

[Briarprincess]

My family takes a picture every year of my sister and I in front of the Muppet Fountain. We have one from every time we've gone (about 17-18 pictures). We even have one that is in front of plywood walls when they were doing rehab on it. I'm just a die hard muppet fan

-We also always buy a photo album with the year on it.
-A new tradition (like 3 years old actually) is buying an icee from the candy store in MGM next to Villians in Vogue (great store by the way). Take a picture before and after of my tongue turning bright blue.
-We always visit the "Singin' in the Rain" umbrella in MGM
-Searching for fellow Disney crazed Firemen/families
-Other random things like visiting the talking water fountain, searching for the "perfect Disney bag," and getting popcorn from a stand on the way out of MK at night.
-AND the best one, searching for hidden mickeys

 

[MickeyMonstersMom]

We collect - ummm - Disney washcloths! You know, those ones that get folded into really tiny packages? I'm not sure how it all began, except that one caught DD's eye at AK on our first trip, and we ended up coming home with one for each of us that reflected our personalities or favorite character in some way. Now it seems that we have to restock every trip.

/weirdness

We tend to have more traditions around dining. Our very first meal of our first trip was dinner at 'Ohana, and we love starting our vacations there every time - just the perfect way to dive into the magic. We tried Boma for the last meal on our most recent trip, and now the kids want to finish up with it every time as well. Hehe, pretty soon they'll have a favorite dinner for every night, and we'll have to increase the length of our stays to incorporate all of them as well as try new ones! (Works for me!)

 

[alicenwonder99]

We always take a picture of the children wearing a viking helmet while they are standing next to that large troll in Norway's shop.

Also, we always make MK our last night and we stop in the candy store on Main Street on our way out and buy lots of candy & fudge.

Mary

 

[Bellefan66]

We do the picture taking things,and always on our last night at MK,when we leave,we head over to the Contemporary,for a nice quiet,yummy,treat,and just people watch.Take one last monorail ride around the resorts,and then we leave.....

 

[missminniemouse]

We have a lot of "traditions." Our first stop is always EPCOT and Spaceship Earth (DD's favorite attraction.)

As for things we "collect", we bring back a figurine from each trip. We've got 2 shelves full now, but each holds memories from those trips.

Pictures, pictures and more pictures. We take lots of them. This past December's pictures filled a whole album by themself, not counting the ones taken by DD which are in her album and the slides taken by DH.

We try to take ice cream breaks several times during the trip. We all love ice cream and find it a real treat, even on a cool day.

Whenever we do Buzz Lightyear, my husband writes down everyones scores and we see who has the most "wins" over the course of the trip.

Walks through the rose gardens in MK and EPCOT are always in the plans when we are in those parks.

DH and I always see the Impressions de France at EPCOT. We have a tradition of sneaking a kiss during the scene at the top of the Eiffel Tower. This dates back to when we actually visited France a number of years ago. It's fun to relive the "magic" in a different sort of way.

In planning our trip, each person gets to pick one restaurant they want to eat at. The remainder of the restaurants are agreed on as a family. We always have 1 nice PS meal each day. We also attempt to try at least 1 new restaurant each trip. Visiting the various resorts is something else we enjoy, so we always have several resort meals planned into the schedule.

I'm sure there are a lot of other things we do out of "habit", but these are the ones that stick out the most in my mind.

 

[mrsminniemouse]

We always have the Dole whip pineapple ice cream from Aloha Isle in Adventureland at MK. This began when I first visited with my parents in 1989 when I was 16.

DH and I have visited 11 times since then. On 2 of those occasions my parents were with us. (Once for our wedding when we had many friends and family with us) We have to have the pineapple ice cream even if we just ate lunch or whatever, it is a ritual. Once the place was shut (we waited until end of the day) and I was so upset. Sitting on the benches, in the sunshine eating Dole Whip....a simple pleasure but it is a precious memory.

We married at Disneys Wedding Pavilion so it is special for us to ride by on the monorail. We now tell DD that is where we married. She was only 16 months last trip and had no idea what we mean but she will understand one day.

We also buy a Christmas ornament and a photo album with the year on it.

Mandy

 

[WDWorBUST]

We took our first trip with DD in December when she was 13 months old. We got the usual photos at the park entrances but probably the things I'm most excited about doing over the years is we got a picture of her in one of the rocking chairs at WL that will show how she grows and I bought her a charm bracelet to put a charm on for each trip (of course it's too big for her right now). Here's the picture of her at WL -


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid154/pd124e8809ea74e8ddb452197f7e49d5c/f57940a3.jpg

 

[dcgrumpy]

We always eat at Chef Mickey's the first night. We always buy the pictures, we have all of the magnets on our fridge.

 

[Carol Ann]

My family tradition was inherited from my DH. Every Disney trip that he has taken since age 5 is marked in the family photo album with a picture in front of one of the waterfalls in the Polynesian hotel -- we plan on making a stop at the Poly after dinner at Chef Mickey's to take the first picture of him with our DD2 in that spot!

 

[lynetteSC]

Thanks everyone for GREAT ideas!
wdworbust- i LOVE that picture of your daughter at WL! Too precious!
I think we will def. do a Cristmas ornament and find a neat spot to take a photo on every visit!