Your most magical WDW experiences

[jenn&nelsonrego]

Actually - it was a tiny, unexpected, precious moment - That took me off guard - and that I will never forget.

It IS magical and really one of the best reasons to be there... the way a childs face lights up... you can't help but light up with the kid... and you don't even have to know them... I have had tears in my eyes watching a little girl run up to a princess.... and the way the princesses interact.... they are amazing!

 

[Desiree1972]

I think almost every Disney nut has this picture... not the picture of your daughter exactly but a picture of a child that just needed to be taken at that moment... for us it was our first trip in 2001 (nelson and i together, I had been once prior in 1996), we were eating at CP in MK near the windows where people wait outside to be seated and this little angel (she was so perfect) dressed in a tinkerbell outfit was just outside our window, smiling and waving at us... she was just perfect!

That is one of my very favorite things to do at Disney... watch kids eyes light up and watch them interact with the characters...

I think everyone had heard of my most magical moment in WDW... but in case you have not... It was that same trip, the very first in 2001 when immediately following the fireworks, Nelson proposed to me (with a plastic mickey mouse shaped ring) in front of Cindys castle! That was magical...

You are going to be the best Mommy!

 

[wallyb]

It IS magical and really one of the best reasons to be there... the way a childs face lights up... you can't help but light up with the kid... and you don't even have to know them... I have had tears in my eyes watching a little girl run up to a princess.... and the way the princesses interact.... they are amazing!

I always feel like my heart will almost burst out of my chest at those "Pure" moments... And they always seem to take you by surprise. And for me It almost always is these "small" moments that resonate most.

 

[Desiree1972]

It is difficult to pinpoint my most magical moment (it seems that as my life experiences change, so do my "most" magical experiences)- but I will share a couple

As a little girl, the only time my siblings and I really got along was at Disney - so when I look back on those childhood memories they make me feel warm and fuzzy about them.

When I was around 20, my girlfriend's Mom took us to the Grand Floridian on Christmas morning. When we arrived there were chestnuts literally roasting on an open fire, hot apple cider was handed to us and when we walked in and saw the decorated lobby - uhhhhhhh magic!!

The 1st time I took my Son on Space Mountain he was sitting in front of me and I kept trying to reassure him by reaching my arm out - with every jerk, dip, and jump my anxiety increased. I was terrified that he was terrified and I felt guilty that maybe I pushed him to ride it too soon. At the end of the ride, I finally heard him screaming. But when I finally saw his face, it was just filled with sheer JOY!

My daughter's 1st trip - just magical. Our first parade at night and as each character passed us she was yelling at the top of her lungs:
I love you Ariel
I love you Cinderella
I love you Mickey
brought tears to my eyes - the best part was many of the characters heard her screaming and blew her kisses

Marie, my wife, takes everything so seriously. She has such work ethic and generally has work on her mind. She was not really looking forward to our family trip and didn't think she would be able to relax. Once we had been there for a couple of days, she was grinning from ear to ear! She was already dreaming about our next Disney Vacay as we were driving home - that is some serious Disney Magic!

 

[Timrobb]

What a great thread . . . I have two:

Before adopting our little one . . .

Riding Peter Pan with Tim for the first time. Him leaning over, giving me a kiss, and telling me that this (DW) is magic.

I still get all tingly when I think of that.

After adopting our little one . . .

Her first trip. Dressed up like Cinderella. Somehow getting into the park before anybody else and walking up Main Street alone. It was MAGIC. Once at the castle, we were able to take TONS of pictures without a single person there. . . Breakfast at the castle, her meeting all her favorite princesses - AMAZING.
Later that day at TT rope drop, Minnie grabs her hand and walks her all through Toontown and then gives her a private tour of her "house".

WHAT AN AMAZING DAY!

Gosh, I love DW = May cannot get here soon enough!

 

[zeitzeuge]

We have a few so can I share another?

Finding a place to stand for a parade can be a bit of a nightmare unless you want to spend 3 hours planting your butt on the curb. We were towards the back on the sidewalk, probably a good 5-6 feet from the curb. A little kid with his parents were behind us and the boy wanted to see the parade but couldn't. I allowed him to stand up in front of me. It was impossible by this point for him to make it to the front. He was kind of upset. He still couldn't see. I told the parents behind me that I would watch him and I put him on my shoulders so he could see the parade. His Dad wasn't really in the sort of shape to do that sort of thing.

I'll never know what it's like to experience DL with my own child or someone elses for that matter, but it was the first time I felt what it would be like. I just wanted to take him with us around the park the whole day if I could.

They should have a "rent a child" center. That way you can return them if they get out of hand or start to cry.

Kidding.

I always love Steven's response. "You know, Disney is NOT for children...."

He says it as a joke of course.

I think.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Uh, Mr. Z? You are more than welcome to take my child to WDW. Of course he turns 14 this month so you should not attempt to put him on your shoulders.

On that very first "once in a lifetime" trip we were watching Wishes. DH turned to me and said, "I wonder when we can come back?" What a slippery slope THAT has been!

 

[kingLouiethe1]

When I was a kid one of the roller skating snowflakes from the Christmas parade looked right at me and blew me a kiss, I felt like the most special kid in the world.

 

[2GirlsMama]

I have two to share.

The first occurred during our youngest daughter's first trip to WDW. She was three years old and absolutely loved Cinderella. We had a reservation to eat in the castle, and had just turned the corner into the restaurant waiting area when Cate saw Cinderella. She yelled "Cinderella!" and ran toward Cinderella with her arms wide open. Of course other kids were waiting in line, but Cinderella crouched down and hugged Cate then sort of danced in a circle with her. I didn't get a picture or anything because it happened so fast. Then we explained to Cate that she had to wait in line to see Cinderella. But then they called our name for lunch. When we were finished eating and came back downstairs Cinderella was still there and remembered Cate. Cinderella took the time to talk to Cate and then they danced again. It was a moment of absolute joy. I wish you could have seen Cate's face, she was glowing.

The other occurred a few years later in China in Epcot. Our daughters were in line to see Mulan. When it was their turn she pulled them over to a bench and sat with one daughter on each side to talk to them. I told them "come on Mulan has to visit with other kids", but she said "it's okay, I'm visiting with your daughters now." She sat an really listened to them. It was absolutely beautiful. My daughters were born in China, and to have Mulan treat them with such love and respect made them feel like princesses. I was so impressed with her that I wrote a letter to Disney about her after we got home. It absolutely made our trip.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Oh gosh, those are wonderful stories!

I remembered another little moment...

We had taken a 17 year old relative to WDW with us, and were dining with him, and my wife's parents (at 1900 Park Fare). Peter Pan visited our table and we all had a little chat with him, as you do with characters and then he moved on.

The 17 year old said with real sadness, "so howcome no one took my picture with Peter Pan?" Now that's not exactly a "happy" memory, but the fact that the teen had so gotten into the visit from Peter was the point.

I still regret not even thinking about taking that photo, especially since when that 17 year old was a little person, Peter Pan was his favorite.

When another one of our relatives was a little guy of 2 1/2-3 ish, we took him to EPCOT. Mary Poppins was there along with Alice. He hugged and hugged and hugged and HUGGED Mary Poppins so much she finally started to giggle a bit and asked him if he didn't want to hug Alice too... he said, "NO!!" and hugged her again! LOL. Poor Alice!

 

[soulmates]

Awesome thread!! I'm loving reading all your sweet stories. And Wally, when I FIRST read your comment, I almost posted how touching that was, and that deep down, I knew you have a tender heart...but thought you'd let me have it..now I wish I did.

 

[daannzzz]

That is a hard question as there have been many great moments. I think the best was the first.
I live in California and grew up going to Disneyland. I did not go to Walt Disney World until I was 40! At that time I had been to Disneyland about 20 times.
We flew into MCO and had a rental car. Our first night was at the Day Inn Lake Buena Vista (Now the Sheraton Safari) but I wanted to come in through WDW so took the Central Flordia Greenway to Lake Buena Vista bu entered via the main road that goes to Epcot. We were driving along and suddenly it was pretty dark and there were no lights along the road...just trees. Then there was the purple road sign and I said "Where on Disney property"> My sister and I were both so excited. For those of you who have been to Disneyland and WDW you know how huge the difference is when you get of I5 at Harbour BLVD and arriving at WDW. I pulled of onto Buena Vista Blvd and the first thing we saw was the Old Key West water tower on the corner. That will always be a special sight for me.

 

[MonorailMan]

I know this is going to sound a bit trite, but reading Daannzzz's story made me want to say this: If anybody ever wants the font that is used on the road signs that you see coming into WDW it's called "Florida Project", and it's a free download. I don't remember the site, but I found it through Google, so I'm sure it can do the same for you.

 

[nyc2theworld]

I have two of them both happened on my most recent trip (Dec31 09 - Jan 5-10)

A friend who was Jungle Cruises Skipper had his last day recently...Even though there was a 40 min wait for boats the CMs there allowed me to stand to the side to suprise my friend to video tape one of his last Cruises. His excietment about getting a momento of this occasion was awesome.

On my last day (literally I was in the park till 3:30 my flight left at 7PM!) I was watching the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade. I was wearing my mouse hands up and down...When Mickey came around he saw my hands and we both acted suprised we had the same hands, gave each other high-fours from a distance and mimicked each other for a good 30 seconds...to me at the time it seemed like 5 minutes. That was awesome.

 

[sirJeffrey90]

In Disneyland my cousins and I got off Splash Mountain just as the riverboat was passing by. It was right after Fantasmic, so all the characters were on board and of course we waved, but the awesome part was that they waved back, directly to us! 20+ characters all to ourselves was pretty magical, even if it was only for 40 seconds.

 

[jjjmranch]

We have a few so can I share another?

Finding a place to stand for a parade can be a bit of a nightmare unless you want to spend 3 hours planting your butt on the curb. We were towards the back on the sidewalk, probably a good 5-6 feet from the curb. A little kid with his parents were behind us and the boy wanted to see the parade but couldn't. I allowed him to stand up in front of me. It was impossible by this point for him to make it to the front. He was kind of upset. He still couldn't see. I told the parents behind me that I would watch him and I put him on my shoulders so he could see the parade. His Dad wasn't really in the sort of shape to do that sort of thing.

I'll never know what it's like to experience DL with my own child or someone elses for that matter, but it was the first time I felt what it would be like. I just wanted to take him with us around the park the whole day if I could.

They should have a "rent a child" center. That way you can return them if they get out of hand or start to cry.

Kidding.

I always love Steven's response. "You know, Disney is NOT for children...."

He says it as a joke of course.

I think.

That's exactly what the grandparents say too. Give 'em back when they start to cry...

 

[jjjmranch]

My favorite moment was when I brought my two boys (6 and 4 at the time) for their 1st trip and they saw Buzz and Woody. I had to stop my 4 year old from running and hugging Buzz as he was taking a picture with another child. Buzz and Woody were so cool to both my kids during that meet and greet and they will never forget.

 

[starann]

Taking both boys when they were 1.5 and 2.5, then 3.5 and 4.5, there are many magical monents we shared. Seeing Disney thru the eyes of a child, your child, seeing the excitement in their eyes, them taking it all in, finding everything SO exciting all makes for magical moments you can't express in words.

That being said, one thing that stick out in my mind.............

We were coming out of Tutto in Italy and they had the actors putting on Romeo and Edna (they didn't want to pay copyright fees of Romeo and Juliet!). We all sat dow nto watch and the one actor got such a kick out of my boys.....he pointed them out and said how hysterical they were!!! Now, as a mom I know how cute my kids can be , but for someone else to comment, it made my day!!!!! They even hung around after the show to talk to us and the boys, we got some picts and it will be something I will always remember!

I can't wait to see what magic waits for us when we go in Sept!!!!

 

[rpmdfw]

You want magic? I've got magic for you.

In 2003 we did a family trip in March to celebrate Mom & Dad's 35th wedding anniversary. It was them, me, my brother and his girlfriend and my sister with her fiance. We had a great trip, but I was definitley feeling like the "odd man out" because I was the only one not coupled up. After dropping the rest of the fam off at the airport, I had a lot of time before my late flight and I'd recently upgraded my ticket to an Annual Pass so I headed back to the Magic Kingdom. It was a really relaxing day where I just wandered around and soaked up the magic. Just as I was about to leave the park, I was leaving Fantasyland to head down Mainstreet and out. I passed Cinderella's wishing well and though "well it worked for Snow White . . ." wished for Prince Charming and then walked out of the park.

In June of 2003 after all of the people that were supposed to join me for my first ever Gay Days trip cancelled on my, I joined in the chat room on gayday.com and met a great group of people and arranged to meet them to tour the parks.

Upon arrival at my resort (the Carribean Beach) parking lot on my way to check in, the first person I ran into was someone I recognized as a fellow gayday.com chatter. I said hello, and realized he was on his cell phone. I apologized and went on my way.

Later that night, at Pleasure Island, at the "gayday.com mixer" at 8-trax, that guy came over and apologized for not being able to meet me properly at the resort. His name was Scott. Since we were staying at the same resort, we agreed to meet for breakfast the next morning before heading out to meet everyone else at Animal Kingdom.

The next morning, I sat across from the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen and was dazzled by the most brilliant smile in the world and I thought "wow. I didn't think I believed in love at first site".

You know the rest. We moved here from Dallas and Los Angeles to be together, we adopted Tolliver, we had our Big Fat Gay Disney Wedding at the Adventurers Club, we're living happily ever after.

But that's how it started. With a wish for Prince Charming in a wishing well as I left Disney World. And Prince Charming was there waiting in the parking lot the next time I went back.

Like I said . . . Magic.

 

[hematite153]

On that very first "once in a lifetime" trip we were watching Wishes. DH turned to me and said, "I wonder when we can come back?" What a slippery slope THAT has been!

Rob -- that really is one of the best stories going.