When and How did the Disney bug bite you?

[nkjzmom]

If it's possible to be born with the bug, then I was!

I was just one month old when my parents took me to MK for Christmas. We lived in Titusville, so we made multiple trips every year....summertime, Christmastime, New Year's....many times it was just my Grandma, my cousin, and I. We'd stay ALL day, open till midnight, with a nap in the lobby of the Contemporary. Gma always kept us until Main St was empty, then we'd get to buy a treat for the ride home. I don't know how she did it!! And she swears we NEVER cried, whined, complained. We always ate lunch at the Diamond Horseshoe Revue, the show was good and it got Gma out of the heat of the day.

To this day, I do not leave until Main St is empty. And I always wait and do my shopping there at the very end of the day.

Sadly, my Gma has Parkinson's and Alzheimer's now. She doesn't always know what's going on around her, but when I talk about Disney she lights up and can recall all the details of any trip. Disney will always be about family and her.

 

[SuiteDisney]

I was raised on Disney. My mother took me to Disney movies from the beginning and we first went to WDW just 4 months after it opened.

Imagine this.... when I was 16 we took a 2 week vacation to WDW - stayed in a treehouse villa - and the only park open at that time was the Magic Kingdom!

 

[katerkat]

1980, my parents took me, my older sister and our grandparents to the MK. I was 7 months old, and Mom said I didn't sleep one bit while we were at the park. And this is extremely rare for me, because I slept the night in the hospital the day I was born! So I think the bug bit me then! Especially since my sisters were brought to the parks when they were older (around 3) and they are no where near as obsessive as I am. I've never gone longer than 18 months without a visit. Start your kids early!!

 

[DNSDisney]

Golly Gee Guys I love these stories !!
Keep them coming Please!!

 

[disykat]

I went to DL twice as a child and WDW once as a single person. The magic hit me when I went on my honeymoon. We went back with the kids 10 years later and it was just as magical if not more so. Dh experienced the magic too, but I doubt we'll be going again unless we move closer.

I think this board made a huge difference in finding the magic. Our trip went so smoothly with all the tips I learned here.

 

[melk]

In my senior year in high school, 1984, most of my friends were going to Bermuda on April vacation (no drinking age ), but two of my friends wanted to go to WDW. So I jumped on that trip because I always wanted to go as a child but my parents couldn't afford to take us. So we saved our money all senior year and went that April. My two friends had been there with their families so they knew what was there. They wanted to make it magical for me. So the first night we went to the Polynesian for dinner and they took me to the beach so we could see the castle in the distance. They kept saying, "we'll be there tomorrow." I remember I couldn't sleep at all that night, I was so excited!! Hence, I was hooked.

DH has always been fine with going and enjoys WDW but really got the bug last year when he decided we should buy DVC because with three kids, we'll be visiting for quite a while! Now it's so much fun that it is something we both get so excited about (and of course the kids are being raised as fanatics ).

 

[Kissimmee JP]

I went to Disney for the first time when I was about 8. I fell in love with it instantly. Almost every happy childhood memory I have is related to Disney in some way. We had either annual passes or at least a 3 season salute every year after that, which was no small feat for a single mom raising me and my brother on her own.

When I was in my 20's, the Florida lifestyle started to wear on me and I needed a change. After moving my family to Portland, we went to visit some relatives in Kissimmee 2 years ago. During that trip, we took our boys (aged 4 and almost 2 at the time) to MK for a day and just seeing the happiness, awe and wonder in their eyes (almost like I was reliving my childhood all over again) sealed the deal for me. Ever since, I have been planning the move back to Central Florida for us. We have every planning video known to man. We watch them at least once a week....and the wonder in their eyes returns each time.

I really take exception to people I run into that try to tell me that all Disney is is corporate greed run amok. I really, honestly feel sorry for their children b/c they'll never experience what mine will grow up with.

 

[kinlaw6450]

I was not bitten. I was born with it. It is definately genetic because my mother has it as well. I think she caught it at Disneyland when she was around 10.

My mom started taking me to WDW at 3 months old and I have been back every year since (more often when I lived in Florida!)

 

[kevind65]

As a child, I only went to MK one time for one day only when I was about 12 years old. I really didn't have any special memory of the place to be honest. I always liked the "wonderful world of disney" show on TV and the disney characters and all, but, when I was growing up, we didn't have vcr's yet, so, I wasn't super famaliar with all the characters. Things started to change for me after I got married and we had our dd. disney started releasing all the animated videos and the disney channel came out on cable TV. Our dd watched them constantly. Therefore, when it came time to plan for our first real family vacation; there wasn't any question on where we wanted to go: it had to be disneyworld. The first trip was may 1996(CBR)16 days at the happiest place on earth and we were all hooked!!! we've spent 129 days at wdw since then and will be back again in June! we just can't get enough of the place. The joy we've seen on the face of our dd over the years at disney is priceless!!!The first thing we saw at wdw was spaceship earth; but, I don't think the "magic bug" really, truely bit us until that first walk down mainstreet heading towards the castle; truely amazing! I don't think I can ever imagine a time when we won't take a least one trip to the world each year.

 

[sue Z]

My first trip to disney was August 22, 1973!!

I have basically always had the Disney bug! I once found out that Walt Disney besides being born in December that he also died in December! I was determined to found out the date of his death!
Once i did I knew I was really hooked and decided that this was the reason that I was hooked on disney.

Found out by reading a couple of books on him that he died on December 15, 1966 which just happens to be the day I was born!!
thank you Walt for my love of Disney!!!!

 

[Moosysmom]

It had to be in the 60's when I watched the Mickey Mouse Club with Annette, Jimmy and all the gang. I didn't get to go for the first time until 1992, but I never stop now. My dad thinks I'm nuts, but I told him that the Pixie dust from the Wonderful World of Disney came out of the TV and landed on me.