What is one really extra special Disneyland experience you have had?

[Melpuff]

I know for me it was getting to ride the Lilly Belle! I was trying to get reservations at Club 33 for my mom and I (I haven't gotten to do this yet but I'm confident it will work out eventually!) and though we couldn't get them, we managed a ride on the Lilly Belle instead!

 

[Monkey Monkey]

I went to DLR the day after Mothers' Day in 2008, all by myself. It was so exciting after having been there so many times with my son. But the best part was getting a Dream FastPass after my second ride in the morning! It was raining a bit and the parks were fairly empty, but it was such a nice treat to have been "dreamed"!

 

[Melpuff]

I went to DLR the day after Mothers' Day in 2008, all by myself. It was so exciting after having been there so many times with my son. But the best part was getting a Dream FastPass after my second ride in the morning! It was raining a bit and the parks were fairly empty, but it was such a nice treat to have been "dreamed"!

Aww that's so sweet! I had a similar experience in 2007. I count that day trip to Disneyland as my first real "Disney park experience" since I was 6 when I went to WDW. My best friend and I were given dream fast passes very near the end of the day and it was the only reason we were able to get on the Matterhorn!

My other favorite memory is definitely meeting the Mad Hatter on an early November morning and having him chase me down later that afternoon, calling my name and asking me how my tour was. He was fantastic I loved making a new character friend (Alice also happens to be one of my favorite stories so I love the Mad Hatter!).

 

[chickyann]

We got Dream Ears 2 days in a row during our first ever trip to Disneyland

 

[rentayenta]

Was in WDW during the YOAMD and was blessed with so many Dreams and magical moments.


As far as Disneyland, it was during the holidays in 2005, standing on Main St, after the fireworks, watching the *snow* fall, with the four people I love most in this world.

 

[fronkfam]

We had a great experience during our trip in August. My ds10 has disabilities and doesn't speak. He was very irritated with waiting in line to see Mickey. We didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes (we were meeting him in front of his house just when Toontown opened), but it was hot and humid that day. He was hitting his head on the armrest of the wheelchair and letting us know that he was upset. I was rubbing his arm and head trying to calm him down. Then it was our turn to meet Mickey.

Mickey had obviously noticed DS's distress and my calming actions. Mickey knelt down to the level of the wheelchair, rubbed DS's arm and head. And just paid attention to him for a minute or so....it was SO special. I cried the rest of the way through Mickey's house.

 

[DizMe]

I was talking to my friend about my upcoming trip to DL. He was staying with his parents and helping with their caregiving. His dad is Disney Legend Wally Boag (Golden Horseshoe Revue star for 27 years; Jose the parrot in Tiki Room etc). We planned to get together for dinner and he suddenly said, "Hey, why don't you plan to stay here?" So I got a trip to DL AND a chance to stay in the home of a Disney Legend, chat with him and his wife and see all of his super cool stuff!! He had loads and loads of old memorabilia, awards, costumes, you name it. Wally even sponsored a book signing for some fellow DISers and me (he wrote an autobiography that was published recently). When I went up to my room, his original window from Main St. was just sitting on the floor outside my room! His current window is above Blue Ribbon Bakery.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We've had 2 "Disney" experiences on 2 different trips:

In 2005, after a week long vacation....we realized our 4 yr old son had not seen Woody (expect in the Block Party Bash parade). We looked at the daily schedule & saw he had one last meet-n-greet in Frontierland. My hubby ran my son over & were waiting around when a CM came by & started talking with them. My hubby explained that our soon to be adopted son really loved Woody & wanted to see him. She told us that Jessie & Woody wouldn't be able to do the meet-n-greet because they needed to get over to DCA for the parade. She could tell he was disappointed....she went thru a CM door & came back with Jessie. Jessie autographed his book, but she too could tell he was very disappointed. Woody went walking by & Jessie grabbed my son's hand & chased after Woody. The escorts cleared everyone & they posed for a picture with my son & then went on their way.....leaving everyone else behind. It was the topper to a fantastic trip!!

In 2008, our 3 yr old daughter had seen so many characters, but had yet to get up to see Minnie. We were standing by the flag pole & a "Suit" came up & asked how our trip was going. We mentioned that every time we got in line to see Minnie, she would need to leave before making it up to her. He said, follow me....."Minnie is a good friend of mine & I would love to introduce you to her." We followed & he took our daughter right up to Minnie. As you can see in the picture.......it was a very special moment for her & us!!!

 

[DisSarahK]

My children (ages 4.5 and 2.5) had GRAND plans for their trip to Disneyland--including playing with their friends (aka Mickey and Minnie) and having a sleepover with the princesses. I tried to talk them down, but wasn't very successful. They were fixated on their plans and nothing else!

I worried in vain. Our trip was amazing and it started with my children skipping through Toon Town with Minnie Mouse. She grabbed each of their hands and off they went through Toon Town, skipping and having fun. My babies were thrilled and it was amazing to see one of their dreams come true. (and yes, I ran around like a mad woman snapping pictures!)

 

[mystic_path]

Mine was 2 years ago. I was sitting down watching the "Parade of Dreams" and the Pinocchio float stopped right in front of my spot. I love the song and I was singing and clapping and dancing along, and getting right into it, when Jiminy Cricket turned around on his chair, pointed at me, mimicked one of my hand dance moves to let me know he was pointing at me, and he sat there facing & looking at me and we made up some little dance moves and hand jestures to copy each other the entire segment. When the song was over he pointed at me, blew me a kiss and that made my entire trip.

I now say that Jiminy Cricket and I got Down!!!

 

[barefootmomma]

This year during the Celebrate Street Parade, I had my son on my shoulders so he could see because we were further back in the crowd. Peter Pan and Wendy were in the highest part of one of the floats and I noticed them looking in our direction, but I couldn't believe they were looking right at us. Wendy pointed us out to Peter Pan and mimicked my son who had his hands crossed and his head resting on them on top of my head and they waved right at him. He was mesmerized by the parade and it felt so special that even though we weren't right up front, they connected with him.

 

[jlindley9]

I love reading these stories! Thank you Melpuff for starting this thread and to all those who posted.

 

[ACDSNY]

Wow, so many over the years, so many memories of good times with our family. I remember so many wonderful trips with my parents and grandparents. DH & I took his Grandmother for her first trip to DL when she was 80, oh what a great time she had. I remember our DD dancing in the Marti Gras parade, she was so excited. Nov 2005 we had 25 of our family members for a 4 night trip, so lots of visiting while waiting in lines. We enjoyed our tours of the Dream Suite, A Walk in Walt's Footsteps and Segways. X-Mas decorations are always magical. The Electrical Parade is still my favorite parade!

 

[Scrapmouse]

A very special moment for me was watching both my kids get picked for the Jedi Academy and then watching them battle Darth Maul. I guess I was a pessimist because I honestly never thought they would both be chosen. I thought either neither would be chosen or only one would be chosen. And I was really dreading only one being chosen. So thank goodness when they were both picked. And the huge smiles on their faces said it all -- they were in heaven. They couldn't stop smiling the rest of the trip and it's something they still talk about today and it's been over two years since they were in the Jedi Academy. This was their dream come true. It's a treasured memory they will always have and so will I.

 

[jmac323]

We took DD1 for the first time around Halloween in 2008, she was 2 1/2. We made a huge deal of her giving up her binky around that time and I was planning to put it under her pillow and tell her Mickey came and took it while she was sleeping. Instead, we were in line to get pics with Mickey and were at the end. I asked the crew member if we could possibly pretend to give the bink to Mickey and she said "no, you should give it to him for real". So she spoke to him and went and got special buttons and a prize for her and made a huge deal out of it where she got the crowd cheering. DD was a bit scared at first, but to this day she talks about how Mickey has her binky and is giving it to other little kids to use and she even talks about having her new baby sister go and give her bink to Mickey. It was awesome.
BTW- She only asked about the binky a couple of times after that night and we would just remind her that she gave it to Mickey and that we didn't have it anymore. Worked like a charm!

 

[rentayenta]

2 more to add:


Same trip 12/05 middle DD got picked to do the Sword and the Stone. I have a pic posted in my pre-trippie.



Another was when I took the kids without DH. We had waited in line to ride BTMRR. DS was too small so the plan would be that we'd walk through the line with the girls then wait at the exit once they loaded. Well, my daughters though tall enough, weren't old enough to ride alone. We said okay, they were sad, and as we were walking away with heads hanging low, a CM came up to use and offered to ride with the girls. It was pure Disney CM magic!

 

[mom2rtk]

2 more to add:


Same trip 12/05 middle DD got picked to do the Sword and the Stone. I have a pic posted in my pre-trippie.



Another was when I took the kids without DH. We had waited in line to ride BTMRR. DS was too small so the plan would be that we'd walk through the line with the girls then wait at the exit once they loaded. Well, my daughters though tall enough, weren't old enough to ride alone. We said okay, they were sad, and as we were walking away with heads hanging low, a CM came up to use and offered to ride with the girls. It was pure Disney CM magic!

Aren't Disney CM's just the BEST!!!

 

[PFopma]

I took my niece to Disneyland for the first time when she was 12. We live on the East coast and are veterans of Disney World. Thanks to this board we found out about the parade that invited guests to take part. We were picked and got to be in the scene with the dancing hippos from Fantasia.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Wally even sponsored a book signing for some fellow DISers and me (he wrote an autobiography that was published recently).

I love my book, thank you again!

Special moments we have had:

- Behind the Scenes tour with other DISers last June (and later finding out it was FREE)
- "Opening" DL
- DD8 getting chosen to be part of the Drawn to Magic show
- When DD was 4 she got to ride Gadget's Go Coaster with Pluto
- Riding the Lilly Belle
- Recognizing Maynard and the rest of my family thinking I was truly nuts for wanting a picture with him.

 

[samkj]

We had a great experience during our trip in August. My ds10 has disabilities and doesn't speak. He was very irritated with waiting in line to see Mickey. We didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes (we were meeting him in front of his house just when Toontown opened), but it was hot and humid that day. He was hitting his head on the armrest of the wheelchair and letting us know that he was upset. I was rubbing his arm and head trying to calm him down. Then it was our turn to meet Mickey.

Mickey had obviously noticed DS's distress and my calming actions. Mickey knelt down to the level of the wheelchair, rubbed DS's arm and head. And just paid attention to him for a minute or so....it was SO special. I cried the rest of the way through Mickey's house.

This is why we love Disney! Our 12 year old is also disabled (moderate-severe cerebral palsy) and she gets that type of treatment everywhere around Disneyland. Its wonderful!