So what got you hooked on WDW?

[Masonmj84]

For us, it was staying on-site during a free dining promotion.

Growing up, I went to WDW twice (once on a HS band trip and another time with my family) and thought it was good but not great. Both times, we stayed off-site.

Then, about 3-4 years before finally taking my own family to WDW, my parents took an adults only trip and stayed on-site. They raved about how worthwhile it was to stay on-site, which surprised me because my father tends to be very thrifty, especially when it comes to paying for hotels.

Based on their recommendation, we decided to stay on-site and when free dining came out for our dates, it sealed the deal. We chose to stay at CSR and upgraded to deluxe dining, making ADRs at several signature restaurants in deluxe resorts. The vacation absolutely blew me away, with my favorite part being the signature dining (not just the eating part but also visiting all of the different deluxe resorts - so much fun!).

Now we split our vacations at different deluxe resorts (while still doing a lot of signature dining - but with room discounts & TIW instead of free dining).

I have to hand it to the conspiring minds of Disney marketing because, next to Magical Express, free dining may just be the most deviously ingenious ploy to get people to drop money at WDW. In our case, it managed to hook us not only on booking return trips on property but also staying at deluxe resorts and doing lots of signature dining.

 

[SaraJR]

So I actually havent been to WDW yet but i'v dreaming of it since i was 4.
I have always loved fairytales and grew up with all the classic disney films. When I was about 4 i had a fraqmed picture of all the characters at disney world it must have been from a travel mag Idk how i got it anyways, I remember always begging my parents to take me and my dad would say 'if i win the lottery' which as a kid seemed like real hope lol I wished on every star, danelion,candle , eyelash etc. It really seemed out of reach but i kept hoping.
I am finally going this year for the first time at 24!!

 

[BlueStarryHat]

When I was a child, we were pretty poor. I remember watching programs about Walt Disney World on TV, and I fell in love from afar I guess you could say. My parents also bought me a set of large Disney books one Christmas. I remember there were four of them and one of the books was devoted to Disneyland and the still-fairly-new WDW. This was the mid 70s. I read that book until it fell apart, and always said to myself, 'someday.'

We just never got the money to go and I put it out of my mind when I got to be a teenager. I grew up (as you inevitably do), and finally in 1992 I had the opportunity to make my first trip with my mother, my sister's mother-in-law, and two of her daughters. The first thing I remember about being on property was walking into the Great Ceremonial House at the Polynesian, where we were staying. I could hardly believe it, that I was *really* going to be seeing all the wonderful things I'd looked at in those books so long ago. We took the bus over to the Magic Kingdom, and as we were passing the Contemporary, my Mom poked me and said, "there it is!" Sure enough, it was Cinderella Castle. I only saw a little bit of it and only for a minute because the bus took us out of sight, but I sat right there on the bus and cried. I felt like a child again, free of worry and stress and the recent death of my Dad, and I have never lost that sensation in all my trips since.

What hooked me for forever was the feeling of being looked after by the cast members and treated like I was special (even though they're just doing their jobs as trained). I'm not one of the ones who think that Disney's customer service has gone down the hill, and I enjoy the feeling of being pampered a little. Now I try and get there every two years or so, and recently my trips have been with my sister, who is as much of a fanatic as I am. We always have a complete blast.

 

[Shadowcat70]

After coming back from a trip to Disneyland, we compared the costs of what we just paid for our trip, to a vacation to WDW w/free dining. We realized we'd get a longer vacation (a whole week at WDW vs 3 days at DL) for roughly the same amount of money. So we saved up for a year and took our first WDW vacation in 2011. Had MUCH more fun than we ever had at DL, and it actually felt like we were on vacation.

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Commercials and free dining got us to Disney ...
watching my kids grow up into teenagers and remain 'child like' only while at Disney, keeps me going back. Pretty special

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

It's in my blood. I've never known a life without it.

I had a Disney obsessed Father and we went once or twice a year when I was growing up and into high school. Had a separate Disney only Christmas tree every year. I loved the princesses when I was little. Disneyland for my sweet 16. Had a Disney World honeymoon. Now, I have Disney themed rooms in my own house and go as much as I can now that I live close! I couldn't imagine not being surrounded by Disney!

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

The Magic!!! I grew up going with my family as a kid... and have never looked back. Recently my DH and I got engaged and married/honeymooned at Disney... That took it to a new level of magic for me.

 

[Xennia]

My grandma and pa took me when I was 7 years old. I lived 2 hours away and never knew Disney existed. I've been hooked ever since. I got lucky that hubby was a fan from day one.

 

[Delirium]

I went when multiple times when I was a kid, had fun, but was not hooked.

Went with my fiance at the time (now wife), had fun, but was not hooked.

I got hooked when we took our kids for the first time and saw Disney from their eyes.

 

[MmmSuite]

I've only been once and it took me 30 years to go. I have been dying to go all my life. The moment that made it for me is running around MK my first night there and right before the 1:00 EMH ended I went to Ariel's grotto and the CM said "She's in there." That moment was everything! I had run by on my way to 7DMT and expressed my excitement about meeting Ariel, but the wait was too long at 7DMT and I came back.

When I went inside and was waiting my turn I just started to bawl. Full on tears. I told Ariel I had wanted to meet her since I was 4. She was soooo sweet to me. She was trying to give my kids attention but she really focused on me. The photopass photographer captured everything. I knew I wanted to be there always.

I'm really trying to move to FL now. I feel like my kids need to grow up in that magic. All kids deserve it.

 

[Planner13]

My first trip to WDW was in 2000 and it was less than Magical. I went with my brother who lived in Tampa at the time and we did MK, Epcot, and MGM all in one day. All I remember was the heat, the walking, and how miserable I was.

Fast forward to last fall. I was talking to my Mom about going on a trip with her and my dad around Oct. I just happened to come across an add for free dining at WDW. I thought I should give it another try so we booked and the planning of the trip is what hooked me, I had no idea everything that goes into it. Finding the boards here, looking for ADRs, booking FP+. I spent hours just reading and researching WDW. It was sooo much fun! Then when I arrived at SSR and saw the grounds and lobby the hook went deeper. What really snared me though was taking my 65 year old parents to meet Mickey for the first time. My Dad who had been so skeptical about the trip, saying it's for kids and what are we going to do all day, had the biggest grin on his face in the memory maker pic. My mom was laughing in the background. It's my favorite picture from the whole trip. This trip turned out to be the best vacation we had gone on in a very long time. We had so much fun that we started talking about our next trip on the long drive back to Ohio.

So, now we are heading back Dec 5-11 and I get the do my new very favorite thing...plan a trip to WDW. I know that I'm 226 days but I've plan and re-planned. Then I booked Disapalooza and had to start planning over again...and that's just great!

 

[MrKnight]

In my childhood I always embraced Disney and of course like most children, going to a Disney park meant the world to me, especially MK at the time. In my teen years I dreamed of one day being a WDW CM and had this naïve magical vision of how exciting it would be to work for at a Disney park or resort...

Eventually I went to college for hospitality to pursue my career interests in hotel management, this is when my early dream came true and I became a WDW CM and worked there for several years, I really enjoyed my time at WDW and learned so much about the company and both theme park and resort operations, being a WDW CM really exposes you to an entirely different behind-the-scenes world that the typical guest will never experience, I learned a lot about why Disney does things certain ways and as a CM there is a lot of focus on in-depth training about themes and back stories on every park, land, and resort.. Some former CMs may state that working at WDW "ruins" the Magic, while I can see why some would say this, I still love the Disney Magic even though I understand the reality that behind-the-scenes things are not always so magical and that at the end of the day Disney is a gigantic mega corporation that knows how to be an extremely successful business.

Fast forward to present day, even though I am no longer a WDW CM and have pursued a career with another company, my love for Disney has grown even stronger and I enjoy the parks even more as a guest than when I was a CM, I can appreciate the incredible experiences and themed environments that Disney strives to deliver each and every day, and I am excited to see everything that Disney Parks have to come in the future..

 

[NewmanFamily6]

I have been going since Epcot was being built. Growing up we never stayed on site. The first visit with my kids on site was all it took. We would never go any other way.

 

[pampam]

As a child we would see the ads for DL. We always wanted to go, but DF said it was a tourist trap, and never took us. When DD was 6 Sis and I decided to take the kids to DW. Mom tagged along too. We completely enjoyed it, but what hooked us was having breakfast at Crystal palace , seeing Goofy and Pluto walking outside, running outside to meet them (leaving breakfast behind), and the hugs and kisses from them which ensued. I truly thought I would never see them again. Now, 37 years and about 40 trips later the rest is history.

 

[nilla]

I said this same thing the last time someone posted this thread , but Splash Mountain did it for me. I was assuming you went up a big hill, then came down, with some theming. The enormity of the ride blew me away.

 

[Tomh]

SaraJR gosh, reading your post made me want to take you with us! I hope you have a WONDERFUL time!!!! Oh, and welcome to the DIS



Now then, what got me hooked? I blame it all on my Uncle lol. He took me to Disney a couple of times when I was just a youngster. Then again, when I was 14. I always looked up to him, and respected him, and it was evident that he really liked Disney World, and I got hooked. A senior class trip in high school kind of put the icing on the cake. Sadly, it was 20 years from that senior class trip until my next visit to the world. 2008 was my first visit as an adult with my own two children. We have returned every summer since, with this summer being our 8th visit in as many summers. I think I am beyond hope now lol.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

The Disney Magic and pixie Dust...................oppsss.................The Mickey Mouse club after school and Uncle Walt Sunday evenings!


AKK

 

[Fan of Figment]

Like someone else said, it's just in my blood! I was 4 the first time we went, and then went every year or every other since, except for one 7 year gap after getting married & having kids. I now continue the tradition with my kids and love seeing how much they love it, too!! Hurry up, September!

 

[LaurenT]

So I actually havent been to WDW yet but i'v dreaming of it since i was 4.
I have always loved fairytales and grew up with all the classic disney films. When I was about 4 i had a fraqmed picture of all the characters at disney world it must have been from a travel mag Idk how i got it anyways, I remember always begging my parents to take me and my dad would say 'if i win the lottery' which as a kid seemed like real hope lol I wished on every star, danelion,candle , eyelash etc. It really seemed out of reach but i kept hoping.
I am finally going this year for the first time at 24!!

Oh Sara - I love this! I wish I could show up two minutes ahead of you the whole time and tell every CM your story! I hope you have the most magical trip ever!

 

[Flamingeaux]

I loved riding the rides as a youth and I still do. I have done some traveling and am generally bored with most places. Disney is challenging to do at the same time can be relaxing. Another reason for my love is I have many friends at work that are Disney World junkies and we feed off each other's trips and love of Disney.

Another reason is due to the DIS. The love for Disney here is incredible. Yes I know there are a plenty of negatives things here but the positive things and the love drowns it out.

Almost quitting time. Have a great weekend everyone!!