Inspired by the Intro show

[BriarRosie]

Most people will take one look at us and say, "You all drank the Kool-Aid."

 

[tiggerplus5]

I just finished the intro podcast show. I loved all of the stories from the podcasters. My favorite, I have to say, is Kevin's story. It was similar to my own. Our family watched the wonderful world of disney regularly. Tinkerbell flying in was my thrill of the week. My dad was really excited about WDW being built. I turned 7 in 1972 and our family drove to disney. We had a big station wagon and at that time, there was only MK. We stayed in a campground that was right at the entrance to WDW. It doesn't exist anymore. We didn't have a lot of money but we still had fun. My aunt lives in Florida so whenever we visited wdw we also took a trip to West Palm Beach and stayed a few days with my cousins. Back then Florida's big tourist draws were Lion Country Safari, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and Cypress Gardens. We also spent a lot of time in Daytona, St. Augustine and Busch Gardens. I tramped around the state in my childhood. I tried to wear my parents down and get them to move to Florida. It was too hot and they were having nothing of it. Back then, AC wasn't so widespread.

I loved Kevin's story because I used to do the same thing when we left MK, plot to return as soon as we were leaving. I would drive my parents crazy. As a teenager, I remember crying and throwing a hissy fit cause I didn't want to leave. How embarassing to admit it now! I was obsessed and I still am.

My dad was the disneyphile and the reason we kept coming back. Mom wasn't the theme park type but she loved visiting her sister. We couldn't go every year because money was tight. My dad would spend a lot of his time in the parks just visiting with castmembers. He was so impressed with the happy, friendly, and clean atmosphere he relished in it. He wasn't a big ride person but I think that's why he loved disney. There were family rides and he loved to live through his children's (and later-his grandchildren's) eyes.

I got married, had children, and my parents started paying for the trips for the grandchildren. I spend hours reading disney planning books and obsessed over our trips. When the internet really hit, I spent a lot of time lurking on RADP and learning from Deb. My dad has passed away and mom still doesn't like the heat. So we go with the children and all their friends.

We started renting out vacation homes a few years back and just love them! It makes me feel like I live there. And just like Kevin I want to live down there and own my own vacation home or management company. I'm a property manager in real life in MA for 140 units now. I'm just waiting for my youngest to graduate high school and then DH and I want to move to FL. <chants> ONE MORE YEAR, ONE MORE YEAR!

I've been on the disboards and others for many years. I'm a super lurker. I know many of you by your screen names. I know I'm kind of invisible but I take in all the info and all the advice. I just love it here! My family pretends that I'm the only obsessive disney fan but every time I start planning another trip everyone's on board!

I started listening to the podcast when I got my ipod for xmas in 2007. Soon after that Bawb passed away. I was so amazed at the outpouring of love on the boards. You could tell how painful his leaving was on all of the regulars.

Whew! I think that was the longest post I ever wrote here.

 

[PolynesianLily]

This probably will come off as me being dramatic, but considering the age that I was introduced to WDW, it wasn't something that happened on my own.

The way I came to love Walt Disney World occurred in two different ways but im only going to cover one. The first way would be with my grandpa introducing my family to Walt Disney World in 2000. I was 8 years old and never had really been to a theme park that I had really enjoyed. My grandpa and grandma paid for our first trip, and as we drove under the gates to WDW, I immediately fell in love. What makes Disney special to me number one is that my grandpa was the one who introduced us. He passed away the day after my birthday in 2009, and this will be our first trip back since his passing. I couldn’t help but to look at a picture of us all standing outside the Caribbean Beach and smile. Little did I know then, that I would have fallen in love with WDW. If it hadn’t had been for my grandpa, I wouldn’t have known WDW even existed. Of course Disney was special to me before, but after my grandpa passed away, it truly became even more special to me.

I am 18 years old, and many of friends think that I’m weird for loving Disney, but they just don’t understand. I know it’s not perfect, but it feels like home for me. I’m sorry if sounds too dramatic because that’s the last thing I want to be labeled as, but this is honestly how I came to love Disney. The DISBoards make smile and help the time pass until our next trip. It's so amazing to know that there is a group of people who share the same love for Disney as me.

 

[pal-mickey]

As alot of you have already stated, I grew up watching the Wonderful World of Disney. I remember always liking Mickey and Pooh. I have a musical Pooh from when I was a kid and I can remember having a set of books(kind of like encyclopedias) that had all the Disney characters and stories in them. My best friend growing up visited Florida and Disney offen because her Dad worked for Eastern Airlines.
My first trip was thanks to my brother..he went to college in Florida and my Mom couldn't let him go there until she had seen the college. My second trip was because my brother was graduating. During this trip there was a hurricane coming towards Orlando. I can remember being at the Magic Kingdom and being scared of getting caught in the storm. My Mom wanted to leave right away(we had driven down), but my Dad said it was better to wait for the morning. In the morning it was raining. As we drove north, we left the storm behind. But it took us 3 days to get home, so every morning we would wake up to heavy rain and wind.
I had a couple of other trips after that and before I had kids. When my kids were little I always wanted to go back to WDW with them and my parents. Then my Dad died suddenly in Feb 1994, so I was never able to go with him again.
Fast forward to Oct 1999, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was 35 and had 3 small kids(8,6 and 18 months) As I went through my chemo and then radiation treatments, I decided I wanted to go to WDW. We went in Nov 2000 so that we could see the Xmas decorations. We then went back every 2-3 years.
My love of Disney became an obsession after getting an i-pod and finding Disney podcasts. I started listening to inside the magic and lou mongello and then I found the dis-unplugged! I enjoyed the interaction of the Dis team, especially Bob. Funny thing was in the beginning, the way I had my settings on i-tunes, I didn't realize there were 2 shows each week because only the email show would download.
I don't post often, but I do like to check the boards every day to see what others have written. I also like to read the budget board. My husband and I attended Dis-a-palooza last year and had a great time. I wish we could go on the cruise.
And while I didn't get to go with my Dad and kids to WDW, this past Oct we surprised my daughter for her 16th b-day with a trip to the world and my Mom was able to go with us!!
Hope I didn't go over the 500 words..

 

[Mrs D]

Hope I didn't go over the 500 words..

LOL! I'm pretty sure I did!

We share something in common, my Dad died suddenly in Feb. 1994 also. Just three days after my 20th birthday; similar to PolynesianLily.

Glad to hear you fought breast cancer and won!

 

[HomerHog]

I have scattered memories of Disney movies as a young child. I remember seeing Pooh at our local Sears when I was about 3 and seeing the Fox and the Hound at the theater in the small town my grandparents live in. I had a set of Disney books on a shelf next to my bed that I read when I was supposed to be going to sleep every night. The yearbook from that set mentioned EPCOT. That was my first knowledge of Disney World. Throughout my school years, there were kids who went during the summer and I secretly wished that my family could go.

Fast forward through high school and working my way through college. I never really gave Disney World a thought. When we were planning for our wedding, DW wanted to go to WDW for our honeymoon. She had never been and always wanted to go. I wanted to go when I was a kid, but wasn't thrilled about going now. We ended up going to WDW. Her aunt booked everything for us.

We had little input on the booking and didn't do any planning. July 1, 2001 we arrived at Orlando International. We soon learned that our package didn't include transfers to WDW. We scurried to find a way to the Best Western Lake Buena Vista in Downtown Disney. Somehow, we managed to make it through one of the busiest weeks of the year and have a good time with me literally laying on the hotel bed sorting through brochures and maps to figure out what we would do the next day.

I distinctly remember a CM at Star Tours asking us what we were going to do for 4th of July. This was about 2 days ahead of time and we had no clue. He told us to go to EPCOT because it handled the crowds better, but more importantly his son was one of the technicians for the fireworks and it was going to be the best show on property. We took his advice and wished we could thank him later in the week. We enjoyed ourselves, but thought a lot of it was corny. I do think this trip really started my planning obsession, thinking about how much better prepared we should have been and how I would have booked things differently.

DS was born in August 2002. On July 4, 2003, we were celebrating the holiday getting ready to cook out, watch fireworks, etc. We decided to take DS to WDW the next summer. Over the following months, armed with our first visit experience and a Birnbaum's guide, we booked and planned his first visit. The drawback to this trip ended up being that the Razorbacks made the College World Series in a year they weren't supposed to and I missed the chance to go to Omaha. We watched the first game at the ESPN Club. After that, our focus shifted to experiencing as much as possible at WDW. This trip and seeing things through our son's eyes is what sealed it.

We took him back in 2005. I think planning for this trip is when I first became fully aware of the Disney web sites. Started with WDWMagic as they seemed to have the latest news and rumors. Later was drawn to the DIS. It seemed to be more guest and planning oriented rather than a few people trying to one up each other on scoops and speculation. Did a lot of reading, never considered posting for a long time. DD was born in summer 2006, so we didn't go. The Razorbacks playing in the Capital One Bowl gave us an excuse to go at New Year's 2007. Having just gone at New Year's and DD being so young, we didn't go that summer. However, we were fully hooked. We bought into DVC in the spring of 2007 and began planning a big trip for my entire family in summer 2008. We've been back 3 times since then and have our spring break 2011 trip already booked.

 

[vegetablegirl]

OK, so I'm new, I thought this might be a good idea for me to comment in this thread.

My Mom's side of the family decided to take a big family trip (with my grandparents, both of my uncles and their wives, and my family) to Walt Disney World in 1998.

They decided to surprise us, and waited until we had crossed the the Florida state line (we drove from our home outside of Birmingham, Alabama) to pull over, pull out the video camera, and announce the true nature of our trip. Unfortunately, for some reason, maybe the long car ride, maybe the heat, maybe the great deal we had been looking forward to going to the beach like we were originally told we were doing, but my sister and I got upset and CRIED! I'm pretty sure that was not the reaction my poor parents were expecting.

Anyway, after the trip, I have evidence in the form of a 4th grade writing assignment that WDW became my favorite place on earth. It's stayed that way ever since, and I can't imagine a place I'd rather spend time with the people I care about.

I beg my friends to go with me on a trip constantly, and I follow very closely every bit of news and every photograph from WDW I can. I'm really hoping to get to join the College Program in the Spring of 2011, so we'll see how that turns out. Hopefully, my Disney story will just keep getting bigger.

Also, I feel compelled to explain my username. For some reason, whenever I watch Toy Story 2 (which is quite a lot), I get a big kick out of the line "quick, help me prop up vegetable man or we're done for!" Unfortunately, I'm not a man, so the whole reference gets a little obscured....

 

[ShesAPirate]

Okay, here goes, in as few words as I can possibly use...

My intro to Disney came in a strange way. In January of 1986, my cousin Anthony died, succumbing to injuries sustained in a New Year's Eve car accident. He was 19. In an effort to console the remaining cousins/siblings, all of the aunts and uncles on that side of my family decided to take us to Disney World that summer.

There were 15 of us. We stayed at what I believe was the Vistana Villas -- I guess the same as the Sheraton Vistana now? Not 100% sure, but... anyway, we had an amazingly good time, especially considering the underlying 'why we're here' feeling.

I didn't grow up on Disney. Didn't watch Disney cartoons -- I was a Bugs Bunny kid -- so it was all pretty much brand new to me. Still, when watching a parade on Main Street, and Dopey came over and hugged me, I was ecstatic. Same thing happened with Pluto on a different day (which I have a picture of... me at 13 with my Cyndi Lauper haircut, gigantic smile on my face, getting a hug from Pluto).

I went again a year later, with my parents, but I don't remember much of that trip. The trip that *truly* got me to be an addict was in 1993. I was a nanny at the time, and had gone with the family on a trip to Jacksonville. They were planning to move there, and brought me along so I could watch the kids while they were looking at houses. I was to return to New York alone once that portion of the trip was done, and they were going on to Disney.

Lo and behold, the night before I was to leave, they surprised me and told me I was coming with them to Disney -- all expenses paid, at the Polynesian! AND on top of that, they loaded me up with Disney Dollars once we got there.

The podcast... well, I honestly don't remember how I came upon it. Just random Disney-obsessed surfing, I'm sure. But omg, from the first moment I heard the podcast, I was hooked. Being a bit of a ***-hag (I swear that's not hate speech ) my entire life (pretty much all of my best friends are gay men), I was instantly in love with Pete, John, and Kevin. PLUS I'm from NY and live in north Jersey, so I felt connected to Pete even more -- same sense of humor, same quickness, same sarcasm.. I couldn't believe how much I loved it. That was in 2007, and even though I'm not super-active on the boards, I listen alllllll the time (even in the gym! The looks I get when I'm cracking up at old podcasts while doing cardio are priceless.). I'm hoping to eventually get to one of the meets or <gasp> a Podcast cruise on these days!

I've gone on too long, I'm sure... and I'm not even sure I've stayed on topic, but... that's my story and I'm sticking to it

 

[Grumpy's Old Lady]

Went to Disneyland in 1977 with my girlfriend. Stopped on our way back from Hawaii to Chicago - where I lived at the time.

Fell in love with it and went to Disney World the next year in 1978 with my mom and sister. (sister loves Universal more)

Met my husband and when our first son was 5, went back to Disney World and have been going every couple years since then.

Found the podcast last January 2009 and fell in love with it. They seem like a great bunch of people and always keep it interesting. Listened to every show at work while I am working and I am caught up now. Better than the radio. Felt terrible about Bob even though I didn't know him personnally, it felt like I did by listening to the past shows.

Hope they never quit - addicted now!