I went to MK in Orlando the year it opened. I was 11 years old. Then went back twice with my two young kids & once with one of the kids and her friend = 4. By this time, Epcot and HS were in the picture. Jump 18 years after my middle daughter was born and we had our 3rd child. We waited till she was age 5 and took her for her 1st visit to WDW. Thus began a whole new lease on my Disney life and our annual visits! My husband joined once more, we went on mostly mother/daughter trips and also brought friends and on one occasion another parent. We visited WDW from age 5 to age 16! Bringing my total to = 15. I am really bad with numbers (counting on my fingers), but that does not account for the fact that I have been 16 times, not 15. The reason being, when my daughter was 8, we went to DL to mix things up! We loved DL, despite my sister in law trying to kill the vibe by telling us pre-trip that we would not like it as much as WDW. And Anderson Cooper reporting on CNN that Japanese radiation had arrived on CA coast. Yes, it was the year of the big Japanese quake. I feel no guilt going to Orlando or FL strictly for WDW, although I probably should. We have done road trips to get there. We have even gone en route to Miami, where we would depart the country to live in Brazil. We did not fly to Orlando to visit WDW until that first visit with the youngest child. Heeelllo! What a difference that made. Flying vs driving ever since. I’ve been to Universal. The OG in CA. I liked visiting the real studio backlot. Nothing against the one in Orlando, but that was the draw for me. We really enjoyed it, but only went the one time. I felt some mega guilt going from the airport to DL and back. CA is such a fantastic place to visit. So much to see. So, yes I would say I am very loyal to WDW and hope to visit again. Sadly, I broke my chain this year. The little 5 year old is now 17 (soon to be college bound) and I reluctantly let her go on a school trip minus mom. Bringing her total to 13 visits (12 WDW/1 DL). Did I want to go. Heck yes!! Was it hard not to? You guessed it. I did not want to be that Mom. Turns out no moms went, despite the request for chaperones. I’ll admit, I got some satisfaction out of the fact that the trip was not well planned, and did not go off as flawlessly as my fine tuned and militarily executed missions. She had a blast with her school friends, but admitted as much to me. So this year I visited vicariously thru my child!
