Happy Birthday Epcot!
Some of my favorite memories include the Tapestry of Nations parade, the original Imagination, the original Canada movie, the awesome entrance to the Living Seas through the hydrolators and then the Sea Cabs, my kids fighting about the choice for the "final return" at Horizons, "veggie-veggie fruit-fruit",....I could go on, but one post that I made back in 2006 remains for me the most magical experience we ever had there:
I have so many stories about magical times with my own family, many of which I've shared on previous threads, but I guess my most memorable one was with my "other" family. Some of you know the story, and I'll try to keep it brief.
Seven years ago, our pastor's wife lost a 2 year battle with breast cancer, leaving behind three very young children (ages 2, 5, and 7). At the time, two of us were helping him with the children, while raising our own families as well. The other family had reservations for a Disney vacation in July, as did we, so while trying to arrange our schedules so that one of us would still be here for the kids, we casually asked him if he'd like to go too. Much to our surprise he said yes, so with the help of a CM friend of ours, we made reservations for our family and his at the Beach Club, while the other family stayed at the Contemporary. When we made the reservations, we didn't realize that we would be there on his wife's birthday.
The week was stressful, partly because we were trying so hard to make sure they had a good time - hard to explain, kind of that elephant in the living room thing.... Anyway, the night of her birthday, he surprised us with dinner reservations at the Biergarten. He and his wife had met in Germany, and this seemed the perfect way to celebrate her birthday. I had serious doubts about going there, but for the first time all week, I saw the magic there. The band, our hostess (Sylvia), the food, the drinks, it just all came together that night, and after a whole lot of tears, we all realized that it was OK to have fun again. I'll never forget it. After dinner we stepped outside just as Illuminations was starting - that song has never meant more to me.