YOUR Disney magic moment?

[kayleigh83]

What has been a moment for you that has really summed up the magic of Disney? Or if you're really lucky, momentS! Be they funny or profound or both!!

For me, it was the trip I took when I was 11. My mom had bought me a pair of Mickey Mouse jeweled stud earrings at a shop on Main Street (probably the Emporium!) that I put on immediately. We went back the hotel for a swim and a rest, and at some point before we went back I took the earrings off to admire them and noticed one of the jewels had fallen out!

So we went back to the park and brought the earrings to a CM in the store and told them what had happened. The CM was very sympathetic and assured us we could exchange the earrings no problem!! I wondered why he was being SO concerned and reassuring to me (considering I wasn't really that upset, I was a kid but I was old enough to understand the concept of an exchange so it wasn't like I was a crying 5 year old) until I realized that he thought I had been really upset and crying because my eyes were all red from swimming in the chlorinated pool at our hotel!

So thank you so much to whoever this kind staffer was! And next time you need something to be "fixed" at Disneyland and your kid isn't young enough to be truly upset about it, chuck em in the pool for an hour or so before you try your luck!

 

[Potterswife]

There have been so many!!

I think it's a toss up between when we were chosen at WDW MK to be family for the day or those moments where I realize I (or my daughter) have overcome the fear of a certain ride that we'd been avoiding for so many years...or getting riding in the caboose of the train...or being the first on Peter Pan...or the riding in the front of the monorail...ugh it's hard to choose just one!!

 

[cpster]

Mine was seeing the expression on my daughter's face as she fell in love with It's a Small World, her first ride and the first ride my DH took me on as an adult many years ago. She's not quite two and as we were getting off the ride she told us she wanted to go on again.

 

[meljensmom]

Well, I have quite a few from many years ago...but I'll just focus on our last trip which was last summer. My oldest hadn't been to Disneyland since she was 4 years old and was 14....my youngest was 4 years old and it was her first time. We counted down the days on a Disney princesses calendar for over 6 months. I saved like crazy and treated her to a BBB makeover for her "big" birthday present....the look on her face when they spun her around at the end and after saying the magical words and the curtains parted and she saw herself looking like Princess Belle...it was pure magic! I about cried because she was so stunned. And having loads of people we encountered at the park saying "Happy Birthday, Princess" was icing on the cake. Oh, and we had lunch with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto and I made prior arrangements for them to wish her happy birthday with a cake and everything. It was awesome.

For me personally, I know it's going to sound totally corny....but walking into the park first thing when they opened and seeing all the CM's out on the sidewalk waving at us with giant Mickey hands...just made my mornings! Where else can EVERYONE be a kid and experience magic??

Sorry for rambling on....it had been a long 10 years between visits and we are very excited to be planning our next trip for June 2012!

 

[jmac323]

So my favorite memory that happened on our 2008 Halloween trip is when we were standing in line to get pics with Mickey. We were at the end of the line and a CM was there, I told her that my daughter was hoping to give her binky to Mickey. She was 2 1/2 at the time and we had been pumping her up all month about giving Mickey her binky. I really thought I'd be putting it under her pillow and taking it and telling her Mickey came and got it. However, this Cm went all out and went and got balloons and buttons for my daughter and had a crowd around her cheering and she walked up to Mickey and he actually took her binky from her and hugged her. It was so magical. Only once did she mention the binky after that, and she said "Mickey took my bink". When I had her sister last year, she told me how we'd have to go to Mickey's house to get the binky back for her baby sister. AWWWW, so cute. We're going next Spring and my youngest will be 2. We might try giving up the bink that way again, but we'll see if she seems into it, still kinda young LOL.

 

[strikrr]

Probably my best recent memory was with my ds who is now 4. We took him to DL for the 1st time when he was 3. Before the trip we would talk about it a bit. I would do google image searches for characters and ask him who they were and he would say Mickey, Donald, Goofy etc. For DL itself I would bring up a picture of the castle. Fast forward to when we actually got there. We were walking to the gates and I told him we were at Disneyland...he didn't really react all that much. We get through the gates and it was myself, dw, my mom and ds. My ds and my mom were walking together ahead of us holding hands. We went under the tunnel and started up main street. When we got the hub my son looked up, saw the castle and squealed

"Grandma...it is, it is Disneyland...look grandma it is Disneyland!!!" That's when he new he arrived at the "Happiest place on earth!"

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

When DD2 won the Dream Suite. It's not so much what we were given..but how excited she and her brother were..how their eyes lit up about getting to be in the parade. This one, for obvious reasons probably tops the charts.

Aside from that..I'd say taking them that trip in general. Everything was magical to them. I was able to experience DL through their eyes and it was FANTASTIC.

 

[furb & dez]

Serious answer: Being the last people off the elevator in the Haunted Mansion on a slow night, dawdling by the "storm" windows, and sharing a (short, respectful) kiss with my honeybear as the lightning flashed and the wind blew!

******************************
Comedy answer: Watching the ill-mannered woman (whom I'd seen at various points of the day) using her stroller (sans child) as a battering ram down Main Street get clocked from the side by another (more sane) stroller pusher and fall to the ground. Then she tripped in one of the trolley tracks and fell again. Never laughed quite so hard (or guiltily) in my life.

 

[mmlover74]

WOW!! What a great question but hard one. I think for me besides spending my honeymoon in WDW, it would be taking my son when he was 2 for the first time. We were in line to see Mickey and he was crying, but with Mickey being my favorite I was determined to see him. When he saw Mickey, he was all smiles and I got some of the greatest pics to remember the trip. After we drove home, it was late, put him in his crib, and because he has Disney characters on the walls in the nursery...he was talking to them in his language.

I was so happy that his first time seeing Mickey and he was happy.

 

[wvnative]

Mine would have to have been my DD's sweet 16 trip. We stood in line at PFF for close to 90 minutes only to be mildly disappointed by who was there. The two girls saw a page they thought was cute and we convinced him and the other CM to pose with them. Just as I was about to snap the pic, Snow White walked up and we got her to pose. Hot on her heels? Aurora. Snow White got her to pose.

Why does it matter? We waited all that time to see those two princesses. My favorite, Snow White and hers, Aurora.

 

[Pacific Northwest]

The one I'll remember most is about my daughter. She was 4 at the time and it was her first trip to DL. We had been preparing her for this trip for many months by watching a video (whose name escapes me) that had characters and kids going on many rides and singing many disney songs. In the video, the kids would scream and put their hands up while on the rides. We called it the roller coaster scream and said it made the scary parts of the ride not so scary. Our first ride was Small World. We get in the boat, and the conveyor moves the boat forward into the "river". As the boat was launched off of the conveyor, she put her hands in the air and screamed. It was awesome! Totally unexpected and everyone in the boat had a good laugh.

 

[yenanh00]

Mine got to be last year when DD was 3. We were at WDW Epcot watching the night show (I forgot what it called now, but similar to World of Color) She looked up to me and say, "Mommy you made all my dreams come true." I got it on my video camera. I totally melted and tears up..

 

[DisSarahK]

Our trips to Disneyland have been full of Magic! The magic started with our first trip when my daughter was 4.5 and my son was 2.5 and we were riding the Disneyland Express (the big Greyhound bus) from LAX to our motel. My little boy had been jabbering away the entire bus ride but due to his age and his speech impediment, nobody except for me could understand him...however we pulled up in front of the Disneyland Hotel and he saw the giant statue of Mickey Mouse--and as clear as day he shouted "MAMA! ME FOUND DI-NE-LAD!!"

You better believe the whole front half of the bus heard those words--he got some clapping for that statement! Unfortunately we weren't staying at the Disneyland Hotel, so I had some explaining to do to him at that point!

 

[merfsko]

I have a lot of magical moments- from both WDW and DLR- but if I had to choose one that summed up everything, I would have to go with watching the fireworks. There's something about Disney fireworks that really encompasses the whole magical feeling, and I tear up everytime.

 

[meljensmom]

I have a lot of magical moments- from both WDW and DLR- but if I had to choose one that summed up everything, I would have to go with watching the fireworks. There's something about Disney fireworks that really encompasses the whole magical feeling, and I tear up everytime.

My sister and I were just reminiscing about the fireworks at Disneyland....we both got teary eyed just talking about being teary eyed while watching and listening to the moving music....and seeing Tinkerbell fly across the top of the castle and watching the fireworks with my arm around my teenager and my little one in my other arm....PRICELESS!

 

[kayleigh83]

I happened to pop into the Disneyland webcam thread last night during the fireworks, and I totally got a little thrill thinking about getting to seem them live next year!!

 

[meljensmom]

I happened to pop into the Disneyland webcam thread last night during the fireworks, and I totally got a little thrill thinking about getting to seem them live next year!!

You won't be disappointed...it really IS magical!

 

[4xMommy]

On our last trip, we had MANY magical moments, including so many acts of kindness from other guests, I was just amazed. However, the one that sticks out the most was my 8yods watching the Christmas parade. We always shop the dollar stores previous to going down (5 children could spend a fortune at Disneyland if we let them), and I buy each child a "Tinkerbell present" to give them each morning. The stores had bunches of little figurines, and those were a hit for keeping in pockets. They could break them out to play with at any time during the day. Now, our son knows that the characters aren't "real," but he loves Woody, and loved his Woody figurine. So as the Toy Story characters go past during the night parade, he's holding up his figurine so the characters can see. And as Woody turns our way, my son turns to me and cries, "He saw him! Woody saw him!" And he was just glowing. I'm sure we were indistinguishable in the huge crowd, but as far as my son was concerned, Woody had seen him, and it just made his night.

 

[becpee]

I have two

My DH's first trip to DL at the age of 37, we walked in and were walking past City Hall towards the castle and I looked at my DH and he was nearly crying and wiping his eyes he was speechless because he'd dreamt of going to Disneyland as a child

And my DS3 hadn't really taken to any characters, was scared of them, we'd been to Universal and seen Dora and he wouldn't go near her.
On seeing Pooh he ran up and threw himself at him and wouldn't let go

 

[dwheatl]

Every time we go, there's something magical, but my family has one time that was a favorite, funny magical moment. The kids were young adults, maybe 17 and 19, and they had had enough of each other on this Christmas time trip. They really started bickering, and said some pretty mean things. DD was crying, and I was asking them to please be kind to each other; for heaven's sake, it's Disneyland, the happiest place on earth. Just then, magical Christmas music started blasting out of the speakers right behind us,(near IASW) and Disney "snow" started to fall on us. We all started laughing and hugging, and the kids made up right away.