So what makes you happy at WDW that probably makes no one else happy???

[YawningDodo]

That first morning in WDW when I'm too jazzed to stay asleep and wake up waaaay earlier than needed or wanted. Solution? Sneak out of the room while my loved ones are still sleeping and walk around the resort at dawn, taking in all the scenery while it's quiet.

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

The "las puertas" part of the Spanish monorail spiel because I remember my grandmother repeating those two words after it in a certain way every time we rode the monorail (staying at the Polynesian) one trip - and both my grandparents are gone now, so it is a happy memory of precious loved ones.

Riding the monorail around the Epcot loop.

Living with the Land. Something about it is just peaceful and interesting.

The big sign for WDW when you first enter the property - that's how I know for sure I am there!

All the details Disney puts into everything - just downright amazing that they seem to think of it all!

Mickey pretzels.

Sitting on a bench and people watching.

 

[PirateD]

Great thread!

I love:
*Looking up at the dirty pirate feet as we go under the bridge on POTC.
*Laughing at the corny jokes on Jungle Cruise.
*"Exit to your left please..."
*Tired feet.
*Taking a break and chilling with a treat or drink and planning out the next part of the day
*IASW-especially the finale and reading all of the goodbye signs in the languages of the world
*When my niece used to push Japanese for the SSE narration

I feel like I could go on and on because there's so much to love!

 

[Asc341]

I also love hearing what I call the "Haunted Mansion Howl" - or that warbled dog howling noise that plays on loop near HM. It wouldn't be a proper trip without it!

 

[Dr Gunnie]

I love the first day when you walk up to the park and the CM's check your bag. They always have a smile on their face and you have a nice, brief conversation with them... its pretty much the exact opposite experience that I just had going through the airport to get to Orlando. This is when I know the next few days are going to be so much better than anywhere else on earth.

I also get excited when I touch my magic band to the mickey ears and they light up for the first time. I really want one of those magic band readers for my home.

 

[NuJoy]

The exhilaration my feet feel when Soarin lifts them off the floor, especially if barefoot.

The hazy veil that is lifted off the sun when entering Florida.

Feeling like this is where I belong when I enter Boardwalk resort.

 

[ThumpersMommy]

This is one of the happiest threads I have seen. Thank you to the OP for starting-
I too love the various ride and shop smells at WDW.
Epcot entrance music and illuminations (when they "blow" out the huge torches lit around the lake as it begins and the music that is played after it ends as everyone is making their way to exit the park).
The boat ride to/from the TTC/MK.

 

[PoohsFan1]

For me it is just being in the Disney bubble. It starts when we are landing, when I can see the runway because I know we are finally there. Then when we get on the monorail at the airport (this is the best and worst ride in Florida), then as we are walking towards ME and seeing the CMs with their big Mickey hands waving and going outside towards the ME buses (again this is the best and worst ride in Disney). Then of course the first time we step foot in the lobby of our resort always puts a huge smile on my face .

 

[Karin1984]

The weather in Florida. DLP is my home park and I tend to travel in low season, which usually means cold/chilly weather. I am used to pack coats, sweaters, trousers, hats, gloves, scarfs etc for a trip to Disney. For WDW it'll be shorts and shirts and summer dresses

I also love that all the characters and CMs speak English! I love being in Haunted Mansion and actually understand what is being said (I do speak French, but not that well).

Just staying in the Disney bubble is such a plus at WDW, you are in an almost perfect world, where it's all sunshine and laughter, where good always wins.

And the moment just before the first drop in the tower of Terror.

Oh and I love that the 'what bothers me'-thread is moved to the Community board as it doesn't help with trip planning, but this positive thread is allowed. (I actually disagree, I think reading what other people are bothered by can help you, as you sometimes not realize that it is annoying to walk with 20 people in the middle of Main Street, or keep tables at CS's. It could help with planning how to move through the park.)

 

[WillowWisp]

I love this thread! There are so many things I have read and thought, me too.

My list would have to be;

• Coming in for a landing and seeing the palm trees.
• Getting on the ME to bring us to WDW.
• Walking into your resort for the first time and seeing all the smiling faces.
• Our first ride on SSE (has to be the first ride since our 1st trip) and the smelling of Rome burning.
• The smells on all the indoor water rides.
• The early morning air at the resort as we walk to get breakfast. Still cool and you just know it will be warming up soon.
• The monorail ride with the "Please stand clear of the doors..." We say this all the time.
• The first Mickey waffle you have.
• When I happen to see a little one meeting a character, they are simply adorable.
• Love the music played throughout all the parks.
• But most of all the warm greeting of,"Welcome home".

 

[IrishNYC]

I'm not a huge fan of IASW, but I am with you on Peter Pan's flight. This is almost always the first ride of the trip for me. I know a lot of people don't get what the big deal is about Peter Pan, but that is the ride I remember the most from when I went as a kid. I ride it as much as I can on our trips - I cannot wait to see the new queue!

We just came back from WDW. It was both me and DH's first trip back since 1981, when we were both 10 years old, and he'd forgotten most of it. Our first day this trip we had breakfast at CRT before RD, then went over to Peter Pan when we left, and there was something about walking through that new queue, and then getting on our ship and hearing Peter say, "And away we gooooooo!" for our first ride of the day and of the trip. DD5 was blown away. It was just so magical and perfect.

 

[Newsies]

My best friend died 2 years ago. She loved Walt Disney World and one of her profile pictures from when she went there for a band trip was her saluting with the green army men at DHS. I know they're often overlooked, but when I went to talk to them in my 2014 adventure, they were incredibly fun to talk to and I felt close to her for a moment. So, I guess "talking to the toy story army men" fits the bill for the question

 

[Goofey Drool]

- I love checking out the attractions while waiting in line... My favorites are the lobby etc. in the Hollywood hotel. The scenes while entering Everest. The smashed campsite, yeti prints, all the little details etc.

- The first night we go to the Garden Grill and slowly revolve while eating our meal. The scenery changes as you revolve.

- The corny street shows at Hollywood Studios that come out of nowhere and most people are in too big of a hurry to watch. Always makes me stop and chuckle.

- The trek to our room after we just checked in... We are on vacation!!

 

[ammag]

I love calling the phone number and hearing that music because it means I am going sometime in the next year! I also love going into the disney store at the mall...just gives me a little tickle now that I am in love with WDW.
In the parks....so hard to pick just a few thigns. Overall I get a huge thrill out of the theming. A little gem or paw print in the concrete, a poster that tells a story etc.

 

[rainboots]

Please post more!! I've just read all 8 pgs and don't want it to end!!!

One that I didn't read: crying at wishes our last night because it meant that our vacation had been so absolutely perfect, that I was happy it went so well and sad that it was over. I was so in the moment and so grateful that we were all together(my parents, my fam & sister's fam) and had such an incredible vacation (My dad had just been told he was cancer free & mom had had 2 stents placed in the previous year). An overwhelming dose of positive emotions. Thank you Walt & Mickey!

 

[Jennytoon]

Been through the whole thread and haven't seen this one yet ...

I love watching the details of the people engineering. I know people write all the time about the amount of detail in the theming, but the thing that gets me is the amount of detail that has gone into loading people off of and onto rides as fast as humanly possible, managing the queues, etc. I love watching every little detail of the workflow, the timing of how the doors open and the bars raise, whether the vehicles are doing simultaneous unload / reload or else have separate load and unload stations depending on the ride. I love seeing how certain queues are either all indoor, part in and part out, or entirely outdoor depending on the orientation and what ride they are leading to. I love noticing the increase in attention to environmental engineering that results in AK being a park with a tremendous amount of shade even though it is noted by many to feel the hottest because of all the vegetation.

I'm sure these things make everyone happy in their outcome, but it is the actual noticing and observing all of them that makes me so fascinated and happy.

 

[RedOnion]

What a fun thread! My thanks to the OP, added to others'.

• As a PP said: planning! I'm the designated planner in my family, and I start planning 1-2 years in advance. (Technically, today's review of the DIS boards is "planning" for our next trip in December '16.)
• Lining up at our local airport luggage check and seeing all the Magical Express luggage tags for other people going to WDW on the same flight, and seeing where they're staying.
• Those tiny chairs near a television playing Disney cartoons in most resort lobbies off the reception desk, presumably for children while they wait for their parents to finish checking in.
• When we arrive at WL, have completed check-in, and are waiting at the docks for the boat to MK (our first park always). All the travel and hard waiting is behind us ... but we haven't "officially" started having fun yet. It's like found time. (My DW calls it our "boat moment.")
• Bus fumes. We live in the suburbs; the only time we use buses is at WDW (Magical Express and WDW transit), so for us, that smell means only one thing.

 

[3CW]

I love so many things mentioned in this thread! Trying to keep mine to things that "probably make no one else happy"...

Making super goofy faces for the camera in Spaceship Earth, then cracking up the entire time we watch our "customized future" video during the descent!

I actually like the re-done Test Track. The queue "music" of the old one - all those factory banging and drilling noises - gave me an epic headache and honestly kept me from riding after my first time. No such problem after the update, and to me, the concept car idea just fits the Future World theme better.

The PotC queue music and the first mural to the right as you get on the ride with the ship dimly lit on the dark sea.

I thought this was only me! I *love* the ship mural, and the implication between that and the queue design, that you're leaving from the fort that you see in the first scene after the drop!

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

Great thread idea! I haven't read through it yet (going to go back and do that!) but had to post one of the first things that popped in my mind -

We don't go to Typhoon Lagoon every trip but when we do go we love the sound of the wave pool's big "whoosh" and the immediate sound of the swimmers' screams. We crack up every time. Of course, if we are in the wave pool we're one of the screamers!

 

[bellyrunnersix]

And my most favorite..the Resort TV. That music gets me every time.

Do you mean the elevator music that plays on the special bulletins channel with the giant gold Mickey coin that revolves but never fully flips?

That's the best!

• Taking a nap in the midday to the above mentioned elevator music renditions of classic Disney tunes is amazing
• The smell of Spaceship Earth and some of the water rides
• When it starts to storm in the Tiki Room
• Letting a cool fall/winter morning pass by in Epcot near the Joffrey's stand near the UoE pavilion while sipping coffee
• Riding Space Mountain in the morning in the last seat, reboarding, and riding in the front seat
• Riding BTMRR in the morning and then reriding late in the night when it appears to be must faster and wilder
• Walking through Mitsukoshi and trying some sake in the tucked away bar in the back is something I always do even if I don't like sake that much
• The Phoenician scene in SSE, it's so moody that I can't not love it

My favorite thing recently was standing inside Innoventions West behind the Starbucks and Character Spot and just soaking it in. Just imagining the dust from the passage of time in that building, the millions of people who have visited Epcot since it opened in 1982. It's such a nice place to just take a break from the hustle of it all.