When did YOU know you were hooked on Disney?

[Ms.Grumpy]

MY PARENTS TOOK ME WHEN I WAS TWO YEARS OLD BUT I REMEMBER NOTHING. THE MOMENT I KNEW THAT I WOULD BE HOOKED WAS WHEN I WAS 18 YEARS OLD AND WE WENT BACK TO WDW ON A FAMILY TRIP. WE TOOK THE FERRY OVER AND THE SIGHT OF THE CASTLE IN THE DISTANCE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES, I KNEW THAT I WAS DISNEYS FOREVER.
I AM NOW A MOM AND I TOOK DS WHEN HE WAS JUST 9 MONTHS OLD. IN DEC. OF 06 MY DH. DSSON-11, DS-3, AND I WENT FOR MVMCP AND IT WAS THEIR FIRST TRIP TO WDW, THE AWE IN THEIR FACES WILL FOREVER BE IN MY MEMORY.

 

[nurse.darcy]

I remember many trips when I was younger. . .to Disneyland of course (California girl here). I have old E-Tickets that are souveniers from then. But when I really got hooked was when I brought my DS to
DLR in 1998. He was 5 then and was having an absolute blast. I would post my most favorite memory pic if I could find it. . .maybe tomorrow when I go through some boxes, but he is standing in front of the Crystal Palace on Main Street, the display is a crystal version of Sleeping Beauty Castle. . .he is wearing one of those sailor hats with his name embroidered on it. . .it is the cutest thing ever. I knew at that point I was hooked for life. . .

Now, this August we are taking our first ever trip to WDW. . .can't wait.

 

[dwaddict]

I remember going for the first time when I was about 5 or 6 Epcot was almost done. I was just in awe of the GOLF BALL! When I came home I tried to convince my little brother we should run away and live at DW! I guess after watching Walt on TV and then being there I was a junkie! It did not truly sink in how hooked I was until I had children and that is where I had to take them. Every time we step on Main Street I cry! I don't know why, it just gets me. Something about that place and all the happy people can just make you forget all the horrible things that can happen.
We now have 3 children , DS17, DS8, and DD2, they all love it the way I do.
DS8 has been counting down our upcoming trip for over 6 months. On valentines day he told me "mom only 92 days to go!" awe he is just like his mother!!

 

[wendy darling]

I don't remember a specific moment when I became hooked, my family has a long standing tradition with disney. My great-grandmother went to school with walt. I have been going to disney parks ever since I was born.

I have fond memories of wdw with my grandmother (who has since passed) and others who are no longer with us. I can look at a ride or show, or parade and remember a magical time in my life, of me and my sister when we were different ages in life, my parents carrying me when i was little, of being at first afraid of mickey. Of thinking anything was possible.

Some rides have come and gone and the old favorites still remain. I have worked at the parks, so I have seen both sides of the experience. And yet I still always want more, I can never get enough of the magic!! There truly is pixie dust, but it's what we create that makes the magic. We want it so bad, that it just happens!!

I will forever be a lifer of disney and walt.

 

[smidgy]

we didn't figure out we could afford disneyworld unitl our boys were older. ages 10 and 13. we had fun and took them back at ages 12 and 15. had a GREAT time. then (ominous music playing) we divorced.
fast forward 5 years. neither of us were dating anyone in particular, the boys are basically grown. we are still friends..... "hey! still miss disney? you too? got any money? let's go together... why not?"
OMG the best trip EVER!!!! just the two of us, after being apart. disney was CHEAP, after 911. we stayed a couple nights at Animal kingdom lodge, then a few more at all star movies. and then we were HOOKED!!! on Disney! and.... on EACH OTHER all over again!. after 20 years of marriage, a divorce, 5 years apart.. there we were at the most magical place in the world.
we went back for the fairy tale
package the next year, and have been every year since. (yes, we remarried) we now go every may, and have been in sept for the free dining twice. (we just can't get those darn kids,now grown with wives) to go down with us! (read hubby's trip reports- "If it's tues this must be epcot" and "guess who's coming to free dinner")
I lost track of how many times we've been back. but IT WAS DISNEY that brought us back together!!! Is that romantic or what???
so that is when WE WERE HOOKED. talk about a fairy tale romance!(thank you, walt!) ok, in the real world, maybe we would have gotten back together anyway, but that trip we took (just as friends, mind you) sealed it!
I think we have the market on fairy tale endings! (ok, the story would have been MUCH better if we remarried AT disney, with the coach bringing me to the pavillion, etc. sorry. we remarried at a courthouse in town. we're romantics, not rich!) but... the honeymoon....

 

[MikeS.]

Mom and Dad took my sister and me to DL for my b'day on the 20th. MM overheard that it was my b'day and he got me in the parade riding down mainstreet with him in a fire truck.

We went once most years and sometimes more. When I had my girls we went a lot then too. Now we take our 5 yr old g'daughter to WDW.

 

[MeMom]

Since we lived in Florida when Magic Kingdom first opened, we drove up from St. Pete to check out this place that was getting so much hype. I remember how clean, happy, and just how perfect feeling it seemed. I thought the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse was the neatest thing, and I checked out every detail. I was a teenager then, and I was impressed with everything. We couldn't do it all, because at the time, you bought a certain amount of tickets and had to choose. Through the years, as I've been able to go back and share it with my kids, I just grow more and more addicted to Disney. I've taken my kids, and I've taken a good friend twice. This year, I'll be taking my granddaughter for the first time and seeing it in a whole new way with her. I hope to be healthy enough and have enough money to share Disney many more times in the future with my children and many more grandchildren. Everyone has their heaven on earth, and being in WDW with my family is mine.

 

[orangekid13]

Every time I leave Disneyland or WDW there's that moment of "wait, no. we can't just walk away from this! wha......."

not being able to leave these forums alone is another clue...

planning my college years around the Disney CP...

hoping above everything else that I can get a job as an imagineer to help bring Disney magic to others...

 

[sweetascanbee]

I went with my Family to Disneyland twice growing up. Once when I was 10 and again when I was 15. Both times I loved it and spent many years after that wishing I could go again. I wanted to go on my honeymoon with my first husband and was still wanting to go after we had children but he wasnt the type, Looking back Im glad we didnt go, because that marriage ended badly I would hate being there now knowing I had been there with him.
Now second hubby (he had been once as a child) was all for it and we honeymooned there in 99 and have been back 4 times since. Twice with the kids. While were were on our honeymoon we kept looking at each other and saying "this is so much fun!" We knew we were hooked then and there!.
We decided on our honeymoon that we would got to WDW for our 10th anniversary in 2009. My best memory was from our trip in Nov 05, we sat for hours on the cement to watch Fantasmic. We had never seen it before. It was followed by the fireworks, which we had seen many times but for some reason this night they were even more incredible. Then as the fireworks ended Julie Andrews voice filled the park as she broke into song and it began to snow. Tears welled up in my eyes, DH and I just held each other as we sat with fake snow falling all around us listening to Julie. It was magical!!

Becky

 

[Mommyof2Sweetpeas]

I grew up in South Georgia so I have always been within driving distance of Walt Disney World. My parents took me several times as a child and I LOVED it! I was fortunate enough to marry someone that loves Disney also! However, I did not become addicted until I saw the world through the eyes of my 5 year old DS and my 4 year old DD. I can't wait to take them back!

 

[GalDisney]

The first 40 yrs of my life I lived 5 miles from Disneyland.. "nuff said

 

[IFOUNDNEMO]

The first time I went in 1992. A Wish Come True sent us. It was the year before my daughter passed away. It was October. The weather was beautiful, my kids were happy. I actually felt like I could relax and let my kids enjoy themselves. The cast members were so kind to us.I have many wonderful memories of that trip.

 

[MickeyMirth]

My original Disney obsession began way back in the 1950's with the Mickey Mouse Club. Jimmy Dodd and Spin and Marty were my heroes. My family realized the strength of my convictions during the late 50's-early 60's when I started standing up to my much older brother on Sunday evenings. Our parents had worked out an equitable TV viewing schedule for Sunday. One week my brother got "The Rebel", the next week I got "The Wonderful World of Disney" Right after church, on MY Sunday, my brother would start trying to bribe me into giving up WWOD. I was pretty laid back about most things and not adverse to gentle persuasion or a good bribe except where Disney was concerned. Give up Ludwig Von Drake, Zorro, or Fess Parker? I don't think so.

 

[Brise Nannie]

I knew I was hooked the minute we stood on Main St. watching the parade and I looked up at my DGS's face while he was sitting on his dad's shoulders. His face was beaming and between that, seeing the Castle, and listening to the Disney music I was totally hooked. Tears came streaming down my face and I felt very much at peace. Best medicine in the world for me!

 

[themudd4]

I don't ever remember not being "hooked" on Disney!

 

[auntread]

I watched the Mickey Mouse club as a child in the '50s every week day afternoon. I never missed a Sunday Wonderful World of Disney. I had a huge "little girl" crush on Walt himself. I thought he was the wisest man in the world.
The 1st time I went to WDW it was just my 2 sisters and I, I knew i was gonna love it there. it was in 1979, and my sisters and i were all in our early 20's. As we drove into the entrance, there was a sign to tune in to the radio station for announcements. I got so excited when i realized the voice was the man who was the announcer for Wonderful World of Disney that's when my sisters knew i was hooked!!
but i knew i was hooked many trips later in 1996 on (what we didn't know was to be) my mothers last trip. She was in a wheelchair for that trip and as we were watching the Spectromagic Parade (a favorite of ours) and each one of the 7 dwarves made a special stop at mom with a special gesture, some kissed her hand, some bowed, but each one made her feel special. I remember watching this and thinking "Oh my God I love this place!"

 

[kellypops]

I've been hooked since the first time I visited as a little girl--my grandparents lived in Florida, and we got to visit a few times back then (that was during "E" ticket time). When I got older (I won't say "grew up"--I don't ever plan to do that!), my grandmother shared an inheritance she'd recently received with my mother and me. We got to do what we wanted with the money. My mom chose Italy. I chose Disney! So the three of us went to Disney World, stayed in the Contemporary Resort like we'd done when I was a kid (though the prices were NOT the same as way back then!), and brought those old yummy feelings back again. The castle always does it for me, so being able to see MK from the hotel is more magical than anything!

For years, I didn't go...until I got married. My DH was just an H back then--had been only once as a teen, and that was before Epcot, so he was really ambivalent about it. We didn't make it for our honeymoon, but I talked him into having our first anniversary there, figuring if it's a total bust for him, we could just hang out in ESPN Zone. But that first night we took in Illuminations, and when I looked at him with tears dripping down my face, he was doing the same thing! That's when I knew that I'd married a big old sap like me, and he was going to love DW. And we try our best to go back for every anniversary! Our tastes are more adult--we go to the Contemporary to eat at CG now--but get him near "Wishes" and the waterworks begin! How can we not return again and again to a place that makes us both so incredibly happy inside?

 

[piglet50]

we'd been to wdw several times in the past - the last time in 1998 and loved it. had experiences without kids and with kids when they were 9 and 14. this past summer the youngest graduated from high school and the oldest was able to again take a vacation with her family so we decided to load them up and go to wdw. it was great! we did some stuff together and some apart and everyone had a ball. the kicker for me was finding this board and getting really involved in planning the trip, learning so many new things and actually getting there.

we stayed in a 1br at vwl. it was wonderful. it was our first on site trip. the ease of transportation and the beautiful resort just pulled me in. i didn't realize how much it worked on dh until we began planning for a big anniversary this year and he suggested going back to wdw! we're both hooked and have said that we'll probably make at least a yearly trip if we're able. he even looks at the boards over my shoulder sometimes!

i feel like i will stay hooked. it's such a wonderful place, and we have such a good time there. sounds really sappy doesn't it?

 

[PreeningPixie]

I forgot about this post, I love reading everyone's stories!

 

[Mckymousefn]

When we started booking our first trip as a family back in the spring of 1997 (went Nov. 1997)... i thought this will be something fun. Little did i know how much we would grow to LOVE this place. My husband went when he was young.. but never returned until we took our 2 boys. I on the other hand, I had never been there before our 1997 trip. There is just something magical that grabs you and never really lets you go!