Disney, in nearly every one of its many forms, is magic. As kids on Sunday night, we would watch Wild Kingdom and then WW of Disney. I had a mad crush on both Kurt Russell (who played in nearly every Disney feature) and Johnny Whitaker (who played in everything Kurt didn't!)
I was born and raised about 25 minutes from
Disneyland. My father loved DL, and we would go about 3 or 4 times a year (for the day) and we would have to look pretty spiffed up. People spiffed up in those days. I have some great pictures of my mom looking just like Mary Tyler Moore in front of the old shooting gallery arcades in Adventureland. Great memories. I even worked there (now the posting name makes sense, eh?) in the Pieces of Eight shop which sold pirate accessories of all kinds outside POTC. Great memories. I digress.
When WDW opened in the 70s, I was still young and had no real clue just how far FLorida was. I assumed my Disney-loving dad would take us the very first chance he got. This was not to be. I grossly over-estimated his love of Disney in relation to his love of thrift. Instead, we spent a couple of weeks a year at the Greenhorn Creek Dude Ranch, just outside of Quincy, Nevada. (No, I'm not kidding, who could possibly make that up?) Again, I digress.
WDW is something I have wanted to experience since it opened. For various reasons I've never been. Too busy and too poor in college. Too poor as a newlywed. Too far away when stationed in Hawaii. Too pregnant when we lived in California. Too poor when I got divorced. You might begin to see a pattern here. I have nearly EVERY Unofficial Guide version to WDW that's ever been published. I bring a copy with me when I travel for work and read it on the plane. I read it while waiting for my kids to finish their various swimming or tennis lessons. I read it everywhere.
Finally, I bit the bullet and said, "You know what, little darlings? This is the year we go! I'm going to go online and buy plane tickets right now!" (this is a good time to warn against the inherent dangers of drinking and computing)
I bought the tickets last November. I told my office the next day I would be taking the first week of October 2005 off. I made my first (of MANY MANY MANY) hotel reservation choices. In February I found DIS, and my trip came together. 6 more weeks to go, and it will be like I am 10 again, and just heard that WDW was open!
It's not just magic, it's timeless.
