What/who got u started w/your love for Disney?

[DianaPrincessofWales]

In 1976 my best friend got to go to Disneyland with her family during summer vacation. I was sooooo jealous! She sent me a postcard and I still have it to this day-I'm going to frame it. A few years later I got to go to WDW with school friends and have been hooked ever since. Thanks Bonnie!!

 

[exwdwcm]

mine was our first trip as kids....some 20 plus years ago. We stayed in Fort wilderness in our pop up camper and did it on the cheap. With 3 daughters so close in age, money was tight. I remember buying the birmbaum's book and we all read it together every night! we were so excited! from then on, i was hooked!

my obsession got worse when i was doing an internship after my freshman year of college for a marketing firm. One of the guys working there (just out of college) told me how he worked on the disney world college program (WDWCP). i had never heard of it before. This is before the web got big, back in 93 or so. i was intrigued and learned all about his experience. I was hooked. I knew I had to do it. I was so busy with life, that I didn't even apply until I was almost a senior in college. I got accepted for the fall 96 program and the deal was done. working for the mouse just sealed the deal more. i loved it. and here we are 10 years later and I still go back every chance I can get!

 

[disney09]

It was my mother... first she took my DB and me when kids at WDW and then when I was 11, twice.
After that I had to wait several years until I married and convinced DH to go on a trip (it was his first time)...
Now it has passed 7 years since my last trip, and I'm almost there!!

 

[faeflora]

It was my parents. They decorated my bedroom in Disney when I was a little girls. My favorite memories are with my parents riding all the classic rides and growing up going to Disney on almost a yearly basis. We lived in NY but had a summer home in Florida and Disney was always a must. My parents got me hooked and now they still share the experience with me and my husband. Its a family thing.

 

[golden1]

My first trip was a Christmas trip when I was about six at the CR. On Christmas morning I woke up and found a stocking full of candy hanging on our doorknob and I was so excited! That was pretty cool for a six year old and it made a lasting memory. I think that is when I started loving WDW.

 

[disneysnowflake]

I didn't go to Disney World until 1982 when I was 13.
I've never been to Disneyland.

My love for Disney started when I was 5. My older sister used her babysitting money to take my twin and I to see Bambi.

I had a Spirit of 76 Mickey metal lunchbox for school. In 2nd grade I had an orange Snow White lunch box. Disney coloring books. Disney mini books with the little 45 records. On and on.

 

[MariaEllerºoº]

For me it was my band directer. Our high school band went down during spring break 1994 to march in Spectro Magic. Since then our family has been there many times. I'm so thankful for Mr. Gray for introducing me to the Disney magic!

My grandparents are the one's to be blamed for my obsession with Disney! My grandparents had owned swamp water where Disney now sits. My grandparents sold the land to Walt Disney and they took us to Disney World when it first opened to see what in the world anyone could have done with swamp water. LOL He's been kicking himself in the butt ever since for not getting life long passes for the whole family.

 

[lsutigger2]

Don't know exactly where it started, probably as a kid watching "The Wonderful World of Disney" on TV and I remember having a set of View Master reels from Disneyland.
But as a senior in high school, we were to write a paper about a famous person (?) and I picked Walt Disney. There weren't many books about him then - it was 1972 !! and we had to order a book from our state library. And then I got mono and had to "drop" out of high school! Never did write the paper, but guess I've always had a fascination with all things Disney and now a love of going to the parks. Thank goodness my DH is a wonderful man and an easy convert. I think it had something to do with all the golf courses for him to play while we are there!

 

[xWishes]

The only channel I watched when I was little was Disney...ok a little bit of a lie...I was a Sesame Street girl, too lol. But I always wanted to go back because the 4 times I went I didn't really remember completely. So I went back for Spring Break w. 6 of my friends this past March. As soon as I saw Minnie again I thought of my mom. She died when I was 18 (July 2004) and I didn't really have anything to connect her with after she died. My mom was Minnie Mouse. She had Minnie's laugh, voice, and daintyness. When I go to Disney now it's partially about the amazing rides and attractions, but mainly because Disney gives me a warm feeling in my heart.

 

[Hugpug]

It was my Mother. She took me to Disneyland when I was seventeen and it was Love at first site. I have been hooked ever since then. I remember the day I took her to Disney World the first time it was like I was re-paying her for the Love she gave me. Bless her soul I think of those Happy times every time I go to WDW and my memories are always with her.

 

[GalDisney]

Living in Anaheim and going to Disneyland literally my entire life is how I became a fan, but my real "obsession" began when I purchased my first AP to Disneyland. Now that i live in FL I have an AP to WDW. So I have had Disney Ap's for 11 years.

 

[Disneyhappy]

When I was in third grade, my first glimpse of WDW was in our Weekly Reader (people of a certain age remember what a Weekly Reader is ). There was a picture of topiaries of Mickey Mouse and a picture of Walt on the front page. The article was dicussing his new theme park in central FL. That summer my family took our yearly vacation to FL to visit friends and we stopped at WDW on the way to Bradenton. The park was not open but there was a visitor's center with the exact same Mickey topiairies! We watched a video with Walt explaining his vision for the park and I also recall a miniature model of the park. I think the actual park opened one or two summers later and, of course, we visited the MK on our annual trip to FL that summer with several other trips through out my childhood and college days. There was a lull for a few years until I met my DH who also has a love of WDW which is when I first started staying on site. I have actually lost count how many trips I've made to WDW since I was a child. It has to be over 25 times. Every trip seems to get better and better!

 

[DisneyJen0504]

Though I visited WDW as a child, and had a blast, I did not become the Disney fanatic that I am until I met my friend Kerry when I was 19. She was a huge fan and encouraged me to visit WDW again as an adult. I did just that, every other year since then! She has since passed away, but I still feel her a part of me through Disney.

 

[Tinkerbellmom33]

My husband. We went on a couple of vacations alone when the kids were small. Then when our second child was 2 we decided it was time to go on a nice Family vacation. Disney was it!!! We went for the first time ever in 2000 and loved it. I always wanted to go when I was younger, but my parents weren't interested. We got to see the Millenium Celebration and that great parade in Epcot. That first trip holds such special memories, I'll never forget it. It really was magical!! I'm so glad we went. We all love Disney, even my son, who I thought would outgrow it.

 

[jimmalru80]

DW did. Told me she was going to WDW with the kids whether I was going or not. This was 10 years ago. I did NOT want to go to an amusement park. BIG MISTAKE. I went and was hooked from minute one. I would never consider going without my family and we have been five strong ever since.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

My Dad. He had a rough childhood and didn't know a lot about parenting, but he made sure we had the best vacations and Christmases. And in '62 and '64 on trips west, we went to Disneyland. It was the most fun our family ever had.