So exactly when was it that you realized you were "hooked on Disney"?

[Yardbird]

I lived in Florida most of my life, and though I visited WDW many times over the years, it wasn't until I saw it through my three year-old grandson's eyes that I was hooked! He is now six, and this June we will be taking his 2 1/2 year old brother for the first time too. I can't wait!

 

[Aidensmom]

I was there the year it opened, when I was 3 years old, and I have been hooked since. But I definately experience even more magic now that I have a child of my own who is hooked too!

 

[cvemom]

Always and forever...I think I was born that way.

No, really it was the moment I first saw Cincerella's Castle rising in the distance as we approuched from Ticket and Transportation.

 

[Tinkim]

I went to see my sister in California when I was 15 in 1987. I had been watching the Wonderful World of Disney on TV for as long as I could remember and I always loved Mickey. She took me to Disneyland and that was it. I was like a little kid watching the parade that day. My other sister was going to WDW the following year when I was 16 and I begged her to let me come too. After that I really couldn't afford to go for quite a while. I still had my Disney tee shirts and bought the kids all the Disney movies and books but I really wanted to go back and just stand on Main Street and see the castle again through the kids eyes. We had the three kids and we talked about how we wanted to take them to Disney World (I think he thought it would only be once). We made it there in 1999 and I watched my boys hold hands and dance in the street when they got chosen for the parade and I was hooked all over again. We went again in 2004 and 2005. My dream is to go once a year, every other year with DH and just me and the kids in the off year. My boys really enjoy WDW and I think my DD is going to be as obsessed as me. There is just something about being there that I can't explain. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. I wear Disney clothes, drink my coffee from a Disney mug, decorate around my house with Disney items, write with Disney pencils, wear Mickey sunglasses, buy the kids Disney clothes, dogs have Disney collars, and the next magical trip is in a constant state of planning. Guess I'm hooked like the rest of you!

 

[polly p]

Got the Disney magic? Can't explain it others? Spend all your time thinking about Disney related things? Always saving for your next trip? Always planning what resort should we do next? Dream about the Castle?

This is me!!!
I got hooked as an adult. My very first trip to WDW. I haven't stopped thinking of my next trip which will be trip #4. Sometimes I think "What is wrong with me." Then I talk to my kids and they feel the same way. It is truly something very hard to describe to anyone who hasn't been there.

 

[Angie_Ohio]

At 20 my husband and I honeymooned at Disney. I had always watched the WWoD on Sunday nights with my family but I was hooked when I rode the ferry over and saw the castle in the distance.
I have been a fan ever since. I am the mom of 5 sons so no princess stuff here. I have been lucky enough to return 5 times since the honeymoon. I never tire of Disney info. I am always looking forward to the next trip. Now that we have a bit more money my dream of a cruise will come true 6/06. I'm even looking forward to taking my grandkids (more excuses to go) even though I don't have any and my own youngest is 6.
Angie_OH

 

[minmate]

When I realized I could sit on the disboards all day reading about disney stuff and it felt like 15 minutes! lol... j/k

I can't remember Disney NOT being a part of my life... lived in CA, went to WDW as a kid, got married at DL, have decorated guest room in Disney, collect Disney stuff, etc... but my love for it ebbs and flows... we're flowing right now -- as our kids have fallen in love with Disney since their first trip to WDW last year... it's easier to get caught up in the "magic" even more intensely.

 

[HappyLawyer]

To be honest, it was the day i found these boards,

 

[Amy&Dan]

I remember as a kid watching the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. Tinkerbelle would make the fireworks start (at least thats the way I remember it!). I would sit there in my pajamas and think, "someday, I'll go there". We went once when I was 12 to Disneyland but it was a grad night and they didn't have those cool fireworks! It took me until age 39 to finally see the fireworks by the way! But when I really KNEW I was hooked was our first time taking the kids. It was DH's and mine's second trip (he had been there as a teenager on a band trip) and we walked into Disneyland and there was Minnie. She came up and gave the kids' big hugs. I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz when she walks out of her house into a technicolor world! I knew right then we were on to something. Now we have been on a dozen Disney trips to WDW and DL and it never loses its magic. I hope it never does. Most people think we're crazy but we know we aren't! Everytime I enter MK or Disneyland I feel a big sense of joy and contentment. Also, this has been a wonderful thing for our family. Something we can share and plan together. My mother has cancer and dementia and Disney gets me through the hard times. DH and I often say, what if we had never gone, we wouldn't know how great it is (shudder)!

 

[quiltymom]

Although my DS is only 6, I think that for him it was this: Last summer we were in the terminal waiting for our flight to LA. We happened to sit next to a group of men in the boarding area who ended up being Disneyland musicians. One asked if we were going to DL, and we said yes. Then he told my DS that he worked with Buzz Lightyear (DS's favorite!) at DL, and then showed him his Disneyland ID. You should have seen DS's face! It was all he talked about on the flight - that he met someone who works with Buzz! He couldn't believe it.

 

[maureen4200040]

Hi all,

I was hooked on Disney from our first trip in 2001. My moment came when we entered the magic kingdom, and I saw the Castle for the first time. I did'nt expect my emotions to get the better of me that day.

As soon as we came home, I dropped my bags off at home and went straight down to the travel agents and booked my return trip 6 mths later.

The funny thing is I had never been out of the U.K or on a plane before I came to Disney. Any opportunity I get to go back I take it .

 

[gullyf]

.. as a member of the 1000+/- piece opening day band. The participation certificate is yellowed, the complementary tickets long gone, and other joys and accomplishments have certainly eclipsed it. Yet the memory of being a 14 year old clarinetist standing amidst all those instruments in front of Cinderella's Castle, playing "When you Wish Upon a Star" while thousands of ballons floated through the wonderfully blue Florida sky, remains perhaps the most "magical".

Amazingly, every time I return to Disney World and stand looking down Main Street at that Castle, I see it through the eyes and hear it through the ears of that enchanted 14 year old. It is fascinating and exhilarating to re-experience it, and I get to do so again with my 2 year old twin daughters this May !

So if you are there in May, and you see someone standing by the Partners, eyes following imaginary balloons as they float slowly past the spires of Cinderella's Castle, you can rest assured that there was still sufficient magic in this world to transform a 47 year old into a 14 year old yet again...

 

[Excited2Go2Disney]

I realized I was hooked a few years ago when a friend was telling me their plans for vacation. She said, "We could have went to Disney, but we decided to go somewhere else." GASP!! The thoughts that went through my head- I definately knew I was a biased Disney fan!

 

[Rachie0507]

I can't pinpoint a date but I was young, sometime in the 80's. I loved to watch videos of our first trip, read books, and just pretend to be there. I loved Disney movies, Disney music, Disney everything. I'm a little obsessed, but I know I'm not the only one

 

[disneydancer11]

the first time i realized i was hooked on disney was prob. when i went down their with my whole family of like 20-25 ppl..we had a great time and nothing could get any of us upset...we are your normal, italian, loud family...and we fight...ALOT...but this trip was different...it made it seem like nothing bad could ever happen....i guess its the atmosphere around disney world that changed my family--but i will never forget that trip down to disney.... i never could have been happier... since my mom has 6 brothers and sisters and alot of them have kids who have kids..it was a great trip...after that trip down to disney...my family has never fought as much as we did before that trip..it brought us closer together and i cant wait to do it again ! im only 14 years old and i have the biggest passion for disney world !

later skater <3 xox

 

[Tinkerbellmom33]

I always loved Disney movies. I remember the first time I saw Cinderella, Bambi, Rescuers etc. I didn't get to go to Disney until I was 30 and I loved it!! Iwas hooked after my first vacation. I think I became obssessed after our last trip. I love planning, packing, and shopping for Disney items. My kids love it too.

 

[OCDdisneynut]

I think it was a rainy day while visiting my in-laws in Ocala. I suggested we take the kids to the disney store just for someting to do. We sat down in the little theater they had to watch the promo for Disney when my husband asked, "How come we're not going there?" We has ressies at Universal. I came back to the in-laws, cancelled the Days Inn and booked at the ASMo. Since then, I've discovered the disboards, mostly as a voyer and stayed at the AKL, Swan and recently the POR (did a 4 night Wonder cruise too). There is nothing like the Magic of Disney. And just a side note, the hubby and I spent the weekend recently sans kids. I had more fun without the pressure of commando touring. The Keys to the Kingdom Tour just added to my Magic! It' so nice to be understood!

 

[DAWGPOUNDAJ]

I'm one of those spoiled souls who was at Disney every other year as a kid. So I sort of grew up just LOVING Disney at naturally the second the reigns were handed over to me to actually PLAN the trips I took them full force. I think the first time my husband (at the time my boyfriend) said, "Honey you just plan it." to me was when I realized I was hooked!

 

[mistaroo]

I got hooked in 1996, the first time I stayed on Disney property (POFQ to be exact). Although I'd been to WDW many times from 1982-1996, I had never stayed on site and that made all the difference. DH was hooked from that trip on as well.