When did you first get the Disney Bug and why do you love Disney so much?

[BostonTigger]

Hey there fellow Disney lovers. I was talking with a friend the other day and she asked, "When did you first start liking Disney and why do you love Disney so much?" And it took a while for me to answer the question...don't know why, I guess I never really thought about it. I first re-discovered Disney in the Navy, of all places I would never have thought the Navy would be the place for it to happen, but it did. The first Disney movie I ever bought was, "The Rescuers Down Under." After I got back from the Base Exchange, I popped the video in the VCR and started watching. Well, what happed next I would have never emagined...about 40 sailors crammed in to my berthing space to watch this movie(the funniest thing I thought at the time considering what sailors usually watch). Well, I had so much fun watching that movie I went out and bought another, and another, and then came the pictures of WDW and I was hooked for life. I'm a Disney addict and I love it. So, now for the other question, "Why do you love Disney so much?" This question took some time to think about. Until I was asked the qeustion I never really thought about it...I just love Disney. This question is still kind of hard to answer(its hard to put into words), but I can say for sure that it makes me feel like a kid(keeps me young, ok ok, I may only be 32, but it still keeps me young). I also like theme parks and Disney is the King of them all. Basically Disney plays to the kid in me, and it gives me an excuse to act like a kid at 32 and get away with it. So now I'd like to hear from other people on these two questions. When did you first get bitten by the Disney bug and why do you love it so much? And don't hold back anyone, let it all out.


Your fellow Disney addict,
Steven

 

[Dan Murphy]

Originally posted by BostonTigger
...... So now I'd like to hear from other people on these two questions. When did you first get bitten by the Disney bug and why do you love it so much? And don't hold back anyone, let it all out.


Your fellow Disney addict,
Steven

You can read about it (long) in the first link in my spinner clipart (click on flashing yellow arror) below. Long story.

 

[figmentvi]

I first went to WDW in the Spring of 1978 and from the moment I drove through the parking toll booths, parked my car, and got on the tram to the MK ticket booths, I knew it was going to be a dream come true.

Ever since I was little and watched the "Wonderful World of Disney" on Sunday nights, I wanted to go see "The Castle". The first time I saw it, I cried like a baby.

What keeps me coming back??? I still get that same feeling 25 years later.

 

[zulaya]

There was s imilar question on the Theme Parks Board. I sat here and thought. It's so hard to describe the feelings you feel when you think of or see WDW. I think the new ads on tv sum it up simply for me.

"where the magic lives"

Wouldn't you want to be in the place where magic lives as often as you can? I know I do.

 

[ASFCurly]

I really don't know, I have always wanted to go to WDW, but most of the time it was a everyone I know has been and some have been so many times that they are sick of it and I felt bad that I had never been. So I saved my money and went, I had a lot of fun and really liked it and everything, I found the DIS before my trip, but it really wasn't even then that I really started liking it, or became addicted, I went on my trip in June of 2001, and went to work at camp right after I came back and wasn't able to get to the DIS that often, but it wasn't that big of a deal, then camp ended and for a couple of weeks I was just on occasionally, then all of the sudden one day it just hit me, I wasn't doing anything special, I just really missed the DIS and all of the sudden I loved everything Disney, I wasn't watching anything or doing anything special so it was really weird, it just hit me all of the sudden, I really can't explain it, part of it is probably because school is fairly stressful and Disney takes me away from all that, totally for a while, it helps me to relax and feel like a kid again

 

[chelsea&austinsmom]

I've always enjoyed watching the Disney Movies since I was a kid. I just love Winnie the Pooh, and my 2nd childs room was decorated along with the kids bathroom in classic pooh. I've been wanting to go to WDW since I was a child to see the Castle, and we never went. The first trip I went was February 2000 with my family and friends. I was just so amazed about the feeling I got when I entered the Magic Kingdom. This will be the first year we are not going and I know we will miss it. The kids want to do something different this year. We are already planning for the trip next year. Hopefully March of 2004.

 

[Patio]

I really got it bad when I was planning my February 2001 trip and bought the Rita Aero book. I found Disney websites existed and the DIS became an obsession. Now, I'm hooked!!
I love all the magic that I feel when I'm at WDW, how it makes me feel young, seeing my kids having fun, being a family in a dream world. I love the different hotels, the parks, gift shops, restaurants and most of all, I love the DIS. The DIS allows me to relive many dreams through other's trips, reports and pictures. It makes you feel good!!

 

[smileybrat]

i have watched disney movies all my life so i have always wanted to go to wdw. my first trip there was in 2000 and i've been addicted ever since. it is such a happy and magical place.

 

[nativetxn]

When my father took my sister and me to Disneyland in 1956. That plus the fact that Disney was such a huge part of my growing up years.

 

[Disneyaholic]

Not sure what the "cause" was, but it's just something that's always been there with me! When I was a kid, I wanted to go to Disneyland more than anything, but we were never able to afford to. I did have the neatest Disneyland lunchbox, though!

My first trip to WDW was in 1981 (just the MK then) and it poured the whole two days we were there. Didn't matter -- I was hooked.

Finally made it to Disneyland in 2000, but only had a few hours to spend there.

I just love the magical feeling I get when I'm there. I turn into a little kid again. DH and kids just know to leave mom alone and let her do her thing. I get very upset by the increasing number of people who don't "feel the magic" when they're there: rudeness, cutting in line, etc. I want to send them out of the park and lock the gates behind them!

 

[helenabear]

For me that is a very easy question to answer. I grew up with Disney. I was pretty much "spoon fed" Disney stuff as I was a kid. I went to WDW for the first time when I was 5 and was able to go back several times with my family. By the time I reached high school it was in my blood. Disney is pretty magical. Even when I am feeling my worst, WDW can make me feel 20 times better. I always come home feeling much more relaxed than when I left

 

[allicat]

I never went to Disney as a kid. It wasnt until I had my own child that I found a love for Disney. DH suggested we plan a trip and the rest is history. We've gone 7 times in the last 6 years, joined the vacation club and we have 2 trips planned this year.

We love going so much because we feel like kids there, its such a happy place with lots to do and we enjoy spending time as a family in a wonderful place.

 

[olena]

I just had a lot of the stuff. My parents got me many of the storybooks/ with records. I'd read them over and over. On my fifth birthday, I got 3 Disney LP 33's. One was Winnie the Pooh....lots of music. The other was Mickey Mouse Disco. We LOVED 'Watch Out For Goofy'. Then there was the Muskateer's Album. It had the '70's crew who wore the colored jumpsuits. That and 2 trips to MK in the 70's got my seeds planted.....

 

[caitycaity]

though i had been before, i wasn't really into it until mine and dh's first vacation together -- when we were still dating. we went to wdw for a week. then he proposed to me at dl and we got married at wdw...it has evolved from there.

 

[catsrule]

first time i went to mk, at age 14. there is lots to do, i still find something that i have never done before every time i go. i feel like a princess.

 

[AngieBelle]

I grew up on Disney movies. Several of the old classics were re-released to theaters in the 80s when I was little, and my parents took me and my sister to see them all. However, it wasn't until Oliver and Company followed by the release of The Little Mermaid that I really got into Disney. Oliver & Co also came out the same year as my first Disneyland trip. Disneyland quickly became my favorite place. I think, though, that it was Aladdin that really got me going. That film was the first time my love for Disney reached full blown obsession. (Beauty and the Beast, believe it or not, wasn't always my favorite!)

What I love about Disney is the fantasy and the stories. I just really love a good story, and stories are what Walt Disney was all about. I love the magic of being transported to another world- as corny as that sounds. Imagination has always been a big thing with me.

 

[tc]

It's funny how a question like this can be so hard to answer. But, I guess I have been a Disney freak since childhood. I spent my formative years in San Diego before my parents divorced. My father was in the Navy, and we'd to go Disneyland for Military day. My father wasn't the nicest man, nor was he very fun, but Disneyland brought out a side of him we never saw elsewhere. He laughed and played and didn't get angry if one of us acted "un-ladylike". I remember riding the Teacups with him and laughing so hard when he'd spin us around. I never lost that Magic feeling.

After their divorce, we moved to Wyoming, and I figured my Disney days were over. I never imagined that some day I'd own DVC and would go often.

When I am there real-life doesn't exist. Don't get me wrong, I love my real life. I am happily married and have two great daughters who are grown and happy. But, at WDW, the daily stresses aren't there. No deadlines, no calories, no panic attacks, just Magic.

We took our daughters this last time the week after New Years. The weeks leading up to the trip, Sarah (21) and I argued often. She's a senior in college, and is not quite making the choices about her future career that her dad and I think she should. And, she sometimes tends to get a little self-centered, thinking the world revolves around her (her name does mean princess, lol). I was kind of dreading our vacation, because I didn't want to have to fight with her, or deal with her attitude while at WDW. Miraculously, she was on her best behavior. No attitude, no arguments, just magic. After we got home, she apologized for being so difficult the weeks prior. She said she realized, even if we disagree, we'll always be family. Then she thanked us for the best vacation ever (this is her 4th time to WDW.)

Now that's MAGIC!

 

[Mouseteacher]

I, too, grew up with Disney. The Mickey Mouse Club show was on every afternoon when I got home from elementary school and I wouldn't miss it for anything. I remember my grandmother taking me into Boston to see Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Parent Trap, etc. I was hooked! But a dream to visit Disneyland didn't come true until I was in my 20s and made my first trip to DL. The feeling that came over me when I entered the park and saw Sleeping Beauty castle was indescribable. It is a feeling that has no words.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than that, I made my first trip to WDW in 1978. WOW - the feeling came back a million-fold! 16 trips to the World later and I am never tired of it and that "feeling" always come back each time we go and enter through the gates that say "Welcome to Walt Disney World" !

We have a tradition in my family - the first words we say on every trip as we arrive: "We're home!"

 

[WDWfanatic288]

haha! one of my best friends did the same thing on Friday when I took her home and she was flipping thru my CDs and I hadn't really thought about it before and I get asked a lot why i like it and that' s just as hard!

I've always liked Disney, I grew up with it...we took our first trip in 1996 and it was great, 97 was amazing, 98 was horrible! 99 was good, 2000 was great and then it also helped I found the boards in 2000 to help with the disney obsession! and then 2 trips to DL and i was in it and I put Disney Princess on the back of my letter jacket! and then we went in December 2001, March 2002, June 2002, December 2002 and are going back in June 2003! and I'm full fledge in it!

it's the magic I feel, it's how friendly everyone is, how everyone talks to everyone yet you have no clue who anyone is, the great rides, how close my family is there and just SOOO much more! I love feeling like a little kid!

 

[DiznEeyore]

What a great thread!

I also grew up with Disney. My grandma had the storybook albums -- Cinderella and Bambi were my favorites -- and I used to listen to them endlessly. I have them now and can't imagine parting with them.

Always watched The New Mickey Mouse Club, and went to WDW with my family at age 8. I don't remember much of the trip, just that it was Mickey's 50th birthday. I don't even remember meeting any characters. I *do* remember chickening out of Space Mountain. LOL My mom took like 2 photos.

I've always loved Eeyore and found myself collecting Eeyores over time (bought some myself, got some as gifts). My dh and I went to "The Rescuers Down Under" with my best friend & her boyfriend for our first date. Once we were married, I'd buy WDW guidebooks each year and dream of going to Disney to "have breakfast with Eeyore". We couldn't afford it (or so we thought), so dh pacified me with Disney movies and even splurged on tickets to "Beauty & the Beast" when it came to town.

I began to think we might be able to make it to WDW when a lady buying tote bags at our garage sale mentioned she was buying them to take to WDW. I told her how much I would love to go, and she shared with me what a great deal she'd gotten and how much less expensive it was than she'd thought it would be. I made it my personal mission then and there to find a way to go. We had AOL, I found the AOL WDW boards, and the rest is history!!

When we finally made it to WDW in '98, dh and I fell in love with the place and were hooked forever. And yup, I got to have my longed-for breakfast with Eeyore! We now own DVC and can't imagine a year going by without a visit to WDW.