When did YOU know you were hooked on Disney?

[PreeningPixie]

I think just about everyone here can agree that they are officially hooked on Disney and will be for the rest of their lives lol. I grew up in Florida and have been lucky enough to be able to visit the parks just about any time I wanted, which I naturally started to take for granted over time.

But, over the last few years I've started to really appreciate Disney for what it is. Last year I even got a tattoo of Tinkerbell, so going to that extremes does show that I was definitely hooked. However, it wasn't until last night when I just absolutely knew I was going to be hooked for life.

It was 8pm, the lights through the park were low, and I had a perfect view of the castle. For the first time ever, I watched the 'Wishes" fireworks show. This may sound silly, but it was a particularly moving experience for me. I knewn right then and there that I was going to be hooked for life

Can you recall when you became hooked for life?

 

[I'mNoPrince]

I have always enjoyed the Mouse.. But what hooked me to take the next step to make it a Hobby was the look on DD face the first time she saw MK.


We have soooo Many great memories already and so much more to look forward to.

 

[ransom]

I was originally hooked when I went to Disneyland on my own, back in 1987 & 1988 (I'm originally from California).

The addiction lay dormant, only surfacing once every few years in a (never acted upon) desire to return to Disneyland, until last year. Then we booked a trip to WDW. As soon as we entered the Wilderness Lodge's lobby, we were hooked!

Being in the parks every day, and the Lodge every night, for more than a week completely sealed the deal.

There's no way we can turn back now.

 

[sdoll]

Well my addiction was instant... While pregant for our first son we wanted to take one more vacation alone while we could. We had usually done a cruise or Aruba. We were a little leary about cruising while I was pregnant and about leaving the country. So a friend of mine who did the Disney internship in college and is a huge Disney fan convinced us to give it a try.
I can't explain it but we fell in love right away. Not to sound cheesy but there is something truly magical about being there. My son is now 18 months old. He has been there twice since his birth with another trip the first week of March. I know he does not have the memories of his first trips but my husband and I do and I would not trade them for the World. We are expecting again in June and wanted to have one last trip with our little guy for the memories of him at that age. Its amazing.

A funny side note. My husband and I were talking about our financial goals and the way we wanted to raise our kids. I mentioned that I did not want to spoil them with toys and material things. I said I wanted to show them the World. My husbands quick response was "When you say the World.. You mean Disney World right" Not quite what i meant at the time but I guess he is right I want to take them every year if I can and have the special memories.
Anyways.. I am rambling on but I truly fell in love on our first visit. We were so relaxed and dreaming of sharing Disney with our kids when we had them.

Check out my signature picture... It gets me everytime

 

[Cee]

The place is beautiful, it's spotless, the employees are truly happy to be there
and helping you. Is this the real world? No, it's DISNEY WORLD. I'm hooked.
Last December when we were on Space Mountain my 23 year old DS was
sitting behind me screaming at the top of his lungs. I think he'd only feel
completely comfortable letting go like that in the safe haven of "the World".

 

[nluvwithmickey]

when we pplanned our first trip in 2002, I was about sure that this would be a once in a lifetime trip. Neddless to say that I had no idea just how completely addicted I would become to the place. DH calls me a Disney druggie, can't argue with that.

But if I could pin point that one moment when I knew I was hooked, I'd say the moment I stepped foot on Mainstreet USA and could see the castle in the distance, that and the first ever Disney parade in MK. The chills I got, the look in my children's eyes as they waved at the characters....Pure magic!

 

[laura001]

I went on my first WDW trip when I was 20, I was hooked before I ever went. My Grandparents were huge WDW fans, and loved Walt Disney, they passed it all along to me.

Once DH and I were financially established we/I was always trying to plan our/my next trip; made quite a few with my children and my Grandparents. When we got our first computer, there was a different "board" that no longer exists, that I belonged to, there was when the "real" obsession started! And here I am today!

 

[LadyGracey]

I don't know exactly when, but I was a little girl when I first got hooked. I grew up on Disney movies/TV, etc., and living so close to Disney World, my parents took me there a lot. I remember, as a child, pretending my room was the Grand Floridian (it had just opened), and actually planning out and budgeting our family trips on my own as early as 8 years old! I knew the best places to stay, the best rides...everything. (I was a WDW-planner-in-training!) Then, when I got to high school, I got busy with all the typical stuff, and sort of fell out of it, until last April. Two of my best friends flew into Tampa to see me in a show, and then they took me to the MK for the first time in ten years...we arrived just as Wishes was starting...and seeing the fireworks and the castle and hearing the music...it was like I was 8 years old again, except I appreciated it more. Within 3 months I had my first AP. I got my mom into it too--she never really liked it all that much when I was younger, but now she goes with me all the time.

I think the thing that draws so many of us in is simply this: "Here, you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy." I love that plaque.

 

[car55]

I knew I was hooked The day after I got home. I wanted to go back. I took my first ever trip with my family in 2005. I'm trying for my second trip this April.

 

[Marion]

I think I was hooked in about 1971 when someone gave me a Disney World colouring book. I was 7 years old. NOBODY coloured in this book but me. I loved this book... it was so beautiful and I KNEW it was a real place. I knew it was real because every Sunday evening my Grandpa and I ate our dinner on tv trays in the livingroom while we watched 'The Wonderful World of Disney'. We never missed it. Anyway, there was the castle and there was that beautiful little fairy I didn't even know her name back then!

Alas, I was told Disney World was too far to travel to so I never made it there until 1981 with a school choir/band trip. Of course I fell in love with the place and swore I would be back! I didn't realize it would take me 26 years but whatever. I'm going back this fall!

 

[jpeka65844]

DH and I went for the first time in 2005; thinking "eh...we'll do this every 5-10 years or so." We liked it so much that we thought "Okay, maybe 2 years" But I knew we were hooked when DH leaned over as we were taking off to come home "730 days until we come back."

Now look at us! We're DVC members with a fabulous March trip coming up AND one in the works for '08 and '10.

Some people ski, some play golf, some go to Hawaii; we're WDW people!




Denice T.
Olathe, KS

 

[summerlandjeff]

April 1979... High School trip to Disney. I took the monorail and got off at Poly. Just as I walked into the lush tropical lobby, I knew I wanted to live there! Never did, but you can dream right....

 

[FamilyGuy]

When planning our first ever trip to WDW, it actually made sense to purchase annual passes becuase we were going for so many days, and were hoping to make a second trip within the year's timeframe.

Little did we know; we would enjoy it so much that we became DVC members that first trip and will be hooked on 'the Magic,' from day one!

 

[Mischa]

I was hooked when my parents took me on my very first trip in 1976. But years passed until I was able to go again.

I knew I was really hooked though when DH & I went in May '06. It was his very first trip and we were also celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary. Our very first night we went to MK and watched "Wishes". The chills I got! I listened to the music, to the words and watched the fireworks and thought - I want to do this every year! What I didn't know was that DH was thinking the same thing!

So towards the end of our vacation we became DVC members and had our next trip this past December, and we're planning another trip in June this year (and I'm planning a girls' weekend in November).

My friends think I'm nuts, oh well! But I'm definitely hooked on Disney!

 

[halliesmommy01]

As soon as I walked through the gates on to Main street and saw the castle I was hooked.

 

[3PRINCESSMOM]

When I was a child my family visited Disneyland quite often. I have really fond memories of watching the Wonderful World Of Disney with my grandparents. We visited WDW the year it opened, then again in 1980. I didn't return until the end of my honeymoon in 1995.

However, everything changed when we visited in December 2001. After 9/11 I became really depressed, as many Americans did. My "down in the dumps" state lasted for nearly 2 months. Somewhere around my 35th birthday in early November I suggested to my husband that we take the kids out of school and go to WDW in December. I had remembered a story one of my Psychology professors told me many years earlier. About how Disney really knew what they were doing when they designed the "world;" that everything about the place was about being submersed in the magic, a true escape from the real world. That is what I wanted! We convinced my Dsis to come with her family, too. Although we had initially booked POR, we got a deal to change over to the Poly 'cuz they closed down POR. Staying in a delux really stretched our budget, but I can honestly say it was the best $$$ we ever spent. That week in December, Orlando experienced unseasonably warm weather. All our days were in the 80s and the nights never dipped below the mid-70s. It was awesome! Just what I needed to feel better. We couldn't visit in 02, but returned in 03, visited twice in 04, skipped 05 (ds was born), visited twice in 06 and will be going twice in 07.

Everyone thinks we're crazy... I always tell them we are...about DISNEY!

 

[KimAshton]

I remember being a young kid and going with my parents and my brother. I wish I had treasure the family trips more when I was younger.

I went down to MGM for ABC Super Soap weekends in 2000-2003. It was nuts and I never got to ride the rides while I was there.

 

[Bellaroo]

I went for the first time when I was 6 years old. I only remember a few things from that trip. Our family went in September of 2005 and that was it!! I am completely hooked!
I love planning the trip and all of the build up and excitement. It really gives me something to look forward to.
It is the most magical place!!!

 

[Simba22]

When DBF and I returned from our "family trip" in 2004 and decided right then and there that we would be going back, on our own, every year from then on.

 

[wearegoingtowdw]

The very very first time I knew was when I saw a picture of myself at the age of 2 (1974), being hugged by Goofy.

My honeymoon in 1996 when I relived my childhood trips with my husband who had never been.