Thoughts on "How to get excited" - A FEEL GOOD THREAD

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Oh wait oh wait I have one more... sorry I have to!
My DD 3.... shes a riot! When we met Ariel my DD full on grabbed her "sea shells" and asked "are these real" oh my that was funny... but poor Ariel

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

My DD12 asked me to share her favorite magical moment from our trip Nov 2007.
She had a week filled with princess lunches, meets, but was missing one, Minnie.
We were watching the second parade at MVMCP, long tiring day, on our way out watching the floats, and my DD was standing, kinda by herself off to the side of us, hugging her Minnie dressed in Christmas attire, when low and behold here comes Minnie on a float. My tired DD kinda held up her doll as she waved, and Minnie pointed to her and blew her a kiss. My daughter instantly woke up and left with a grin ear to ear. All these years later and she still talks about it.

 

[flicx]

My favorite is when my son was 3 years old 1992. He sat on my shoulders most of the day pointing at all the sights and enjoying himself. I can still here him saying let's go over there daddy. I wanna see this or I wanna see that. Disney through the eyes of a 3 year old, very enjoyable and something you only get to experience for a short time!

 

[KrazeeK120]

I love this thread!!

I have 2...

When I went to Disney with my family when I was 12, we never did make it to fireworks because we were so tired! On DH and I's honeymoon, I came down with an awful cold and didn't make it then, either. On my 3rd trip (DH's 2nd), we ate at 'Ohana on our arrival night. We were seated by the window and could see Wishes from our table. I didn't even realize you could see Wishes from that restaurant and I was so overjoyed to finally get to see them! I did see them in the park later that trip.

And just last week, I was at Disney. I'd booked a standard room at Boardwalk Inn. We were upgraded to a cottage suite!! It was the best room ever. All of my trips have been wonderful (even the one when I was sick), but that amazing room upgrade really tipped the scales in favor of our trip last week.

I hope and pray that last week's trip was our last trip without a little one, and I anticipate many more amazing memories to be made in the future!

 

[SKTiger]

My grandparents took me on my first trip to WDW when I was 7 back in '92. My grandfather and I took a long-forgotten about photo in front of the fountain in Mexico. When I had a chance to go back with them in 2010, we took the same photo (total coincidence) and found the original shortly after coming back home.

When I was in middle school, my favorite aunt and her family lived in Orlando and I had the chance to visit them for the entire summer every year which meant many trips to Disney. They moved to Las Vegas while I was in high school and I didn't get to see them as much. When they moved back home after I was already out of college, they invited me to go to Disney with them for a week. We had an amazing trip and two of my favorite memories are my cousins (17 and 14 at the time) and myself all cramming in the front row of Splash Mountain because no one wanted to sit by themselves and after riding Tower of Terror (it stopped several times) we had to sit in the dark for awhile before being allowed to exit. My 17 year old cousin tapped me on the shoulder and said there's someone over there looking at us. I looked where she was pointing and the lights came on at the same time to reveal the ventriloquist doll, causing me to scream louder than anyone riding and to burst into laughter immediately after.

Love this thread!

 

[Susiequsie60]

I hope and pray that last week's trip was our last trip without a little one, and I anticipate many more amazing memories to be made in the future!

I'll hope and pray for you too! While I'm soooooo looking forward to our first adults-only trip IN 3 DAYS, there's nothing like being at Disney with your little one(s).

 

[Glendamax]

I've been going to Disney World since 1983. Over the years, I've come to realize that my main excitement about the trip is right before I go...the anticipation. Right now, I'm at work, knowing that when I leave here, I'm going to the airport! I AM SOOOO EXCITED! I am "toddler who had waaaay too much candy" excited!

 

[rapunzelmom]

The look of utter amazement on the face of my then 5y old DD when she first saw the castle, she grabbed me and said "you the best mom ever!"

 

[estherhead]

Full disclosure: I've been somewhat guilty of spending time on these boards reading all the crazy stuff about FP+ and Magic Bands. I've definitely spent way more time during the planning of this trip worrying about how my vacation is going to turn out because of this. I definitely have concerns.

So, there were 2 posts that I noticed that really struck me. One was about people's favorite "thing" about their WDW vacation (I'm obviously paraphrasing.) The other was about how the poster could get or stay excited when there is all of this negative stuff on these boards these days.

Do you know what would really make me happy (and probably help a lot of other folks in the same situation?)

How about if anyone who so desires comes here to this thread and just posts their ONE absolute favorite memory, experience, event, or anything about being at WDW? I know that it really truly helps me have a place that I can check to just see "happy thoughts." What do you say?

I'll go first:

I just love the fact that being at WDW can always make me tear up - various locations, events and reasons. But regardless, the place touches me in a way that really gets to me. I can't wait to have that feeling again next week. No matter how many rides I get on or lines I stand in.

I made this video in August. I love Disney because of the cast members. It's feel good for sure!

http://www.enchantingbeginnings.com/disney-love-video-love-disney-world/

 

[AlohaAnnie]

I made this video in August. I love Disney because of the cast members. It's feel good for sure! http://www.enchantingbeginnings.com/disney-love-video-love-disney-world/

Thank you

This is how we feel about Disney World, Always & Forever!!!




.

 

[estherhead]

Thank you

This is how we feel about Disney World, Always & Forever!!!




.

Disney Always and Forever

Technology comes and goes and changes, but people make Disney great.

 

[saroncar]

I am so happy I read this thread, I have been so afraid of our trip b/c of the problems with FP+!

I have 2,

2012, our first year as AP holders, so on our 2nd trip we didn't have to be careful of our ticket usage. We got to the resort about 8pm, dropped everything off and decided to get to MK as fast as we could. We got there just in time for Wishes to start and I'm pretty sure as we heard "starlight..." we all teared up.

The other is our first taste of Disney magic, we were at HS and the times for the Toy Story M&G on the sign didn't match the ones on the slip. When we got there to wait in line there was no cast member, nothing. So we left and got on TSM, as we came out (10 min later) the line had formed and was 30-45 min long. We simply asked the CM what happened and told him we had been there on time. He said "wait right here" and took us in the back entrance. It was hands down the coolest part of our trip. We felt so special and I was so happy I hadn't thrown a fit!

 

[skater]

I've been going to Disney World since 1983. Over the years, I've come to realize that my main excitement about the trip is right before I go...the anticipation. Right now, I'm at work, knowing that when I leave here, I'm going to the airport! I AM SOOOO EXCITED! I am "toddler who had waaaay too much candy" excited!

Hope you have a wonderful time, Glenda! I'm (almost) right behind you in 25 days .

 

[skater]

Some of my favorite memories.

1. My oldest was 3 her first trip - the year of the pink castle . I'll never forget her pointing and exclaiming at the castle from the boat. All the magic was so real to her.

2. Cruella duVille asking us if we had a dog and when my DD told her she was a black dog, Cruella said, "Ahhhh, evening wear!"

3. My kids hugging PUSH as if he were their best friend.

4. My middle child finding out from a Mom/Son trip that he did not make the travel soccer team, only to break his juggling record at Epcot with CM's urging him on a year later and eventually make the same team.

5. My youngest (adopted at age 5) on his first trip riding his first ride (Dumbo) with Stitch. I'll always remember that smile on a boy who had struggled for months with new foods, language, culture, etc.

6. Talking with a homesick CM at AKL. Encouraging her and somehow being uplifted by her wonderful stories.


My kids grew up at Disney World. Tried so many new foods with the free dining promotion that today, they are willing and able to try anything placed in front of them. They learned how to talk to CM's as well as people from all over the world. We bonded as a family formed from a little brokenness (like Stitch) and made so many memories together. I will always love Disney World. I may not always love the corporation or the decisions they make. I'm not a huge fan of FP+. But it is still a magical place that holds so many of our precious family moments. The place is bigger than the suits, and I will always count down the days until my next trip!

 

[Susiequsie60]

Some of my favorite memories.

1. My oldest was 3 her first trip - the year of the pink castle . I'll never forget her pointing and exclaiming at the castle from the boat. All the magic was so real to her.

2. Cruella duVille asking us if we had a dog and when my DD told her she was a black dog, Cruella said, "Ahhhh, evening wear!"

3. My kids hugging PUSH as if he were their best friend.

4. My middle child finding out from a Mom/Son trip that he did not make the travel soccer team, only to break his juggling record at Epcot with CM's urging him on a year later and eventually make the same team.

5. My youngest (adopted at age 5) on his first trip riding his first ride (Dumbo) with Stitch. I'll always remember that smile on a boy who had struggled for months with new foods, language, culture, etc.

6. Talking with a homesick CM at AKL. Encouraging her and somehow being uplifted by her wonderful stories.


My kids grew up at Disney World. Tried so many new foods with the free dining promotion that today, they are willing and able to try anything placed in front of them. They learned how to talk to CM's as well as people from all over the world. We bonded as a family formed from a little brokenness (like Stitch) and made so many memories together. I will always love Disney World. I may not always love the corporation or the decisions they make. I'm not a huge fan of FP+. But it is still a magical place that holds so many of our precious family moments. The place is bigger than the suits, and I will always count down the days until my next trip!

 

[enchantedmansion]

One of my best memories for interaction with a CM happened at AK a few years ago. I had just been on the safari and was walking down the path, when I saw a two CMs playing a game on a table. I stopped to watch. A CM from Africa asked if I would like to learn how to play Mancala, one of the oldest games in the world. I love games, so I was definitely interested! It was so much fun! Not only did she teach me how to play, but she told me a bit about her country. For me, that was a bit of Disney magic.

 

[katt789]

Favorite memory: DD3 surprising me in a Tower of Terror junior bellhop uniform shouting "Welcome back!" as the elevator doors open at the end of my first terrifying ToT ride.

Oh my goodness that story is just priceless and wonderful!! So awesome!!

Probably my favorite memory......... our first visit to CRT, with my own little princess decked out in her very first Cinderella costume. This was back in the day when they only did one character meal a day and you had to synchronize your watch with the clock at the naval observatory to call in at just the right moment or be shut out. When we finally got there, and sat down to breakfast anticipating the day before us..... it was pure awesomeness.

Took the pictures out just to make the post smaller!! BUT, wow is it so cute to see Katie so little compared to the recent trip reports I've been reading, so awesome that you guys have been able to get to Disney so often!

Lurking for over a decade and rarely post, but this thread is worth a post. Three thoughts leaning more to the most "magical" moments as these are what get me excited.

1. 4 years ago, standing in a quiet area in AK between Asia and Africa that overlooks the Tree of Life, we got the call that confirmed that my athlete husband, had a rare and progressive form of MS. Each year my husband, daughter, son and myself, return to that spot to have a moment to look at the Tree and focus on our blessings. In March we will return again, this time with my husband in a scooter but we look forward to once again taking a moment to thank God for the blessings in our life while looking at the beautiful Tree of Life.

2. For the last three years, Disney World (specifically the first time we enter Fantasyland), is the only place my daughter, who struggles with depression, will turn to me and say, "Mom, I am so happy!" I look forward to hearing that again in March.

3. Wishes . . . I cry through the whole thing with a smile that makes my face ache by the end.

Thanks for a wonderful thread!

Your second story really got to me, I've also been suffering from depression, and honestly the happiest, best and most "at home" and "right" I feel is in Disney, and with those Disney friends that "get" it, it's my happy place and so magical that everything sort of feels like it "goes away" when I'm there!!

I'll post some stories in a second!!

 

[katt789]

Most of my favorite and fantastic memories from Disney involve me sharing the magic with someone else. As fantastic and amazing as it is to be travelling solo, or to have magic moments myself, I feel the impact of them a lot when it concerns the people I'm travelling with. Guess it helps that I'm the planner of the trip so when they happen, it's a solid "I did it right" kinda thing.

I got the experience of taking my 64 year old mother for her first wdw trip ever in Sept 2012, and from the moment we walked into AKL, I knew that she was head over heels for it, and that it was going to be an amazing week. A few days later we're at MK during the Move It Shake it dance party & she goes off to attempt to dance with Baloo, who naturally, gets swarmed with kids. She turned around defeated, only to be grabbed by Timon and pulled back into the dance party!! Timon kept dancing with her and only her for the entire dance party, and made sure that she got more than her share of fun, hugs, and magic, and neither of us will ever forget that moment.





We got a mild reprise of that this year when we returned with a friend of hers, who was turning 80 years young on the last day of the trip, and we had just had some amazing character interactions. Peter Pan found out that Mom was dressing up as him for MNSSHP, and promptly made sure that she knew how to crow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCNNpnMAOhE

It was a moment that she talked about all week!
For her friend, we had some major pixie dust the moment that we walked into the MK gates on our first park day. She had her birthday button on and the cast member who scanned us into the park had a special surprise for her:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njUif6TVlho

Those are the ones that stand out majorly and recently in my mind. I've had so many magical experiences through the last few years since discovering Disney, it really is an incredible and magical place, I've made so many friends, shed so many years, had more than a barrel full of laughs, and it will never stop being magical and fantastic. I appreciate every single one of the cast members that works there, from entertainment to custodial, most of them you run into do their jobs with so much enthusiasm it's just fantastic. It's my happy place and I truly do hope that one day it really is home!

 

[estherhead]

I had to come and share another. We were staying at Ft. Wilderness (we'll be back there in March) and went early to the campfire. Chip and Dale were all alone playing hopscotch nearby. Our family played games with them for about an hour. Then at the singalong Dale came and sat and danced with my nephew who has Aspergers for about another hour. It was so touching and a magical night.

 

[mom2rtk]

Took the pictures out just to make the post smaller!! BUT, wow is it so cute to see Katie so little compared to the recent trip reports I've been reading, so awesome that you guys have been able to get to Disney so often!

Thanks so much Katt. When the thread was posted I had to think back through the years to decide on my favorite. We've had some great magical moments through the years, but honestly, it would be hard to get much better than sitting there that morning anticipating our day in the MK. I still remember just how excited I was to even GET the reservation!

And I loved the photos and videos you posted! I love that your mom was willing to get in there and have some fun! The Timon photos are priceless.