When are you at your happiest when your at the Happiest Place on Earth?

[BC1836]

This is one of the most difficult questions to answer. And yet so much fun!
Others have mentioned this on this thread, but that first full view of Main Street is quite special. The music, the aromas, the colors!

And checking in to a Disney resort!

And watching the opening of the gates when Spectromagic begins! Or listening to the conclusion of the Spectromagic music at Frontierland!

And taking a People Mover ride without any others on board!

And gazing into the sky as "Wishes" entertains!

And getting suprised by a Disney character!

Think about it: Imagine a place that is full of so many happy experiences that it's difficult to select just one.

Or two.

Or three....

 

[dwfanatic]

Well, my 5 yr old DS had some insight into this just last week...we caught most of Disney on a dime on the travel channel last week. We are going to the World Aug 8, so we have been talking a lot about Disney, etc, looking at rides online, pics, etc, but this was the first time we watched an actual TV show with lots of attractions, families talking about where they stayed, what they like to do, etc. At a commercial, my VERY precocious (too smart for his own good ) 5 year old says "Now I get it. When you get there (meaning DW) the magic gets all over you and then you get HAAPPPPPYYYY" (Obviously a really exaggerated 'happy'.)

I thought it was the cutest thing ever. So apparently, after our plane lands, DS will be HAPPY...I just hope it stays that way throughout the whole vacation!

 

[LimeGreenEd]

As soon as we see the Welcome sign over the highway

 

[yooperfan]

When I look at my DH's face relaxed with no stress. His is flopping his big feet down the monorail ramp, sun shining, music playing, on the way to MK.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

When I first see the castle. I'm like a big kid! LOL I get so excited! Also the sign that says Welcome to Disney World.

 

[Cool-Beans]

World Showcase:

When it opens up at 11:00 and there aren't many people in there.

Early afternoon, having lunch in Mexico, sitting on the water and looking around.

Early evening, watching Off Kilter in Canada and dining in Morocco.

After Illuminations when everyone has cleared out (I think this might be the best of all.)

 

[Barb]

The 1st time we arrive when we see the Welcome To Walt Disney World gates.

That's eaxctly it for me, too. I feel like the weight of the world lifts off the minute I see them!

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Watching the opening ceremony at the Magic Kingdom and counting down from 10 to open the park. It makes me tear up when I hear them say "the most magical place on earth is here" because it really is.
There's nothing like that surge of excitement walking under the train station into Main Street for the first time each trip. I can't wait to do it on Sunday!

AGREED!! Although we usually don't do MK until day 3 or 4, the opening ceremony with the dancers and the characters and the kids running around picking up pixie dust...one day we WILL be that family that gets to ride in on the train...

 

[Rora]

When we first walk in and there's hardly anyone in the parks.
I usually cry.

 

[WaltD4Me]

When the first person you see at the hotel says "Welcome Home!"

Me too! I just LOVE when they say that!

I'm also pretty happy watching Wishes.

 

[12kizuna]

I'm loving this thread

It makes me so excited!

 

[stemikger]

Good thread.

I have waves of overwhelming happiness on each trip. Some trips, it takes me a little time to relax, but others I get right into it.

Each trip, I remember getting what I call my overdoese of magic. It is when a wave comes over me and I truly know I'm in Disney and living the magic.

One year, it was something as mundane as waiting on line to Peter Pan's Flight. The music of the ride was playing and I was just filled with it.

Another time, it was watching the pre-show to Honey I Shrunk The Audience and I almost started to cry.

There are so many great memories like this.

 

[Delay Fish]

Sounds a little strange, but I'm at my happiest when we are at Wolfgang Pucks at DD. Every year, we go there for dinner the night we arrive. So it's always an exciting, happy (and yummy) meal, knowing our vacation is stretched out in front of us.

Last year, we got a call on DH's cell right after ordering our food to let us know that his luggage arrived at the airport, so we were ESPECIALLY happy that time!

 

[black562]

Disney was a place where me and my Dad went every year, so its our special place. When I was married, I honeymooned there and also proposed to my now ex-fiance there.

Even though its had its ups and downs in terms of my relationships, I always....ALWAYS remember it for me and Dad FIRST and when I'm there, it still feels like he's there with me......maybe he is.

 

[DanMedix]

There's so many of these for me...

- when we cross under the WDW arch on the DME bus
- when we take our first walk to the bus to any of the parks
- listening to the monorail (and bus) spiels on the way to or from the parks
- seeing Spaceship Earth, or Cindy's Castle.....this one always gives us the big "...WHOA..." feeling. Know what I mean?

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

Wow... noone picked MINE!!!

ILLUMINATIONS!!!

I get a spot (won't tell where) REALLY EARLY... like an hour and a half early if necessary. I stake my claim. I sit there, eating a snack or meal on the concrete, then when it starts... thats MY time!!! No one bothers me during illuminations, and everyone in the family knows it. (unless the wife wants to give me a kiss on the cheek... thats always OK!) Its the single favorite reason we do WDW. I have seen it probably 50 times, and it gets better every single time.
I'm not sure really why, but I just LOVE the entire thing from the blowing out of the torches, to the explosive white finale. I've often said that the whole cost of the trip is worth it for JUST illuminations.
I'm not as impressed with Wishes or Fantasmic; only Illuminations; it just seems magical.
But let me explain something else... (not as "pixiedustish") We reserve a seat EARLY. Once it starts, thats my time, and I don't like people trying to push their kids in front of me. They should have been there earlier. I was waiting there patiently while they were riding those last few rides with little or no wait, so now they need to stay where they are and leave me alone. Don't get me wrong, I often let a kid or two I don't know up against the rail with us without being asked, out of friendliness, just don't expect it.
We try to take as little room as possible, but if we were there an hour early don't expect us to squeeze up like sardines for people who waited till the last second. We don't "hog the rail", but if we waited there an hour early, its rude for anyone to think their children should be allowed to just jump in front of us at the last second.
That being said, we also love meeting new people at the rail (also waiting early for illuminations) and just talking. Some of our best memories are with complete strangers chatting against the rails on the concrete.
AFTER ILLUMINATIONS: but BEFORE leaving... is "romantic time". No, not that... Just simple romance. We find a seat overlooking the lagoon, and since the kids are usually dog tired, they just sit there and rest (they know the drill by now), or they look for bunnies and ducks nearby. My wife and I share a few minutes holding hands staring at the lagoon, enjoying just being with the one person we love the most. Behind us, only a few feet away, masses of tired bodies are fighting for the fastest way through the crowds to the exits. We are miles away in our minds, completely relaxed, tranquil, and silent, and content just being where we are, watching the boats extinguish the last remaining lights in the lagoon. The sounds of the thousands of people fade away completely leaving only the sounds of the waves created by the boats.

Then my second favorite moment at WDW (as a person recently posted) is the walk back to the buses AFTER Illuminations. We always wait till almost everyone is gone, then we stroll leisurely taking in the sights and sounds of Epcot at night. There's an amazing atmosphere there thats completely missed if you "rush out" with the masses of hot, tired sweaty people. You miss all the beautiful lights and the beautiful music if your in that huge slow-moving hoarde of cattle moooving to the front of the park! You miss all the colored fiber optic lights dancing in the concrete, all the spinning things, the neon lights, the fiber optics, the wind rustling in the flags overhead, and the smell in the air that I just can't pinpoint.
Its just breathtaking.
If any of this sounds familiar, it may be because I actually won a whole lot of goodies (lanyards, etc) from an essay I wrote once on the ambiance of Epcot at closing. It was from a popular Disney website many of you know all about.

 

[kisobel]

when the first person says "have a magical day". i absolutley love that.


also the count down at magic kingdom for opening, i was crying as i was counting. but i was soooo happy.

kate

 

[lauradenise4779]

It really hits the morning after we have checked in (we always check in at night) and hit the food court for breakfast. Everybody is so excited to get to MK that we can hardly eat.
I have to agree with the posts about the MK... when you turn and see the castle down Main Street. LOVE IT!!! The music playing, the way the sun shines on a sparkling clean park, and having my kids (and husband too, he's like a 3rd kid) all ready to have a great vacation!

 

[Barbossa'sWench]

Riding POTC first thing, singing "A Pirate's Life for Me" at the top of my lungs.


Having my picture taken with Captain Hook, especially since my whole "Peter Pan is a codfish" fiasco.


Wishes. It always makes me cry as well, but there is something about POTC. Can't explain it, there's a smell to it, a certain FEEL that just makes me absolutely giddy. I adore that ride.

 

[susan1]

when i am lying on the warm sand at typhoon lagoon in january sunbathing far a way from the freezing cold in the u.k.!