Did your family's love for WDW fade?

[WDWScottieBoy]

I remember going in 87 wjen Epcot was built..was it 87 around there anyway.....But I still love it.

Epcot was opened October 1, 1982. And as long as you still love WDW, that's all that matters. We all know that not everyone is fortunate to go every year, but when you can, it's still all that magical as the first time. Don't let that love for WDW fade.

 

[MCMike37]

Well, here's my thoughts.

MY family has been Disney nuts for a long time. Born in San Diego, we went to Disneyland a couple of times when I was young (Under 5) I remember very little of the park, but do remember some things. At 5 we moved to the East coast (Virginia )and went to Disney World for the first time about a year after. A nice thing is that we always went in our trailer, so it made traveling a bit nicer for us. From the age of 5 on, we went to WDW a total of 15 times over 15 years. Two days after I gradutaed college I drove from Pennsylvannia to WDW to spend a week over Christmas with the family. My brother is five years older, and this was the last time we were able to be in WDW together as a family. However, the love didn't stop there.

While my parents have not returned to WDW for a number of years, they are still Disney fans. My dad not as much as my mom, but he always enjoyed his time in WDW (Spent fishing, listening to the radio and security (Really interesting to listen to that stuff)). But the love is still there. MY brother got married on the Disney Cruise so we were able to spend time there together. I've been to WDW a few more times for school and other things, as well as solo visits and still love that place more then any other place in the world. I literally could walk around blindfolded. You know your family is Disney nuts when you go for a month at a time, and spend maybe only half that amount actually in the parks.

Now I am back in California and have yet to visit Disneyland, but it is high on my list of things to do. My brother and his wife are Disney nuts as well, so it all fits in great.

 

[Atta83]

My family loves to keep going. Its a tradition to go....my mom loves it at WDW YAY!!!

 

[Nicole]

I grew up in Hawaii and didn't cross east of the Mississippi till I was a Junior in high school. But we went to DL about every other year, and I always looked forward to our stop in California for that reason.

Now, I'm a big WDW nut and my family doesn't get it. My dad went to Epcot (actually EPCOT Center back then) once and has said he'd like to go again, he loved World Showcase. Everyone else can't figure out what makes WDW different from DL "and you've been there a dozen times." Aaargh - our last trip to DL was in 1989!

But I'm working on them. The one sister who came with us in '97 liked it so much that when she graduated from college last year her graduation gift from my parents was to go to WDW with us. And I'll get the rest of them, just give me time....

 

[Stinkbug]

Perhaps one of those 12 step programs I mentioned might be worth checking out?:kiss:

That's fairly bold and hypocritical coming from someone who has 1,500+ posts on a Disney message forum.

 

[Woody13]

That's fairly bold and hypocritical coming from someone who has 1,500+ posts on a Disney message forum.

Yes, I know. I am sometimes visited by the sarcasm fairy.:wave:

 

[Atta83]

I am sometimes visited by the sarcasm fairy.:wave:

It comes and see you too!!! :lookaroun :hammer:

 

[MKCP 1985]

I remember that as a kid, the thought was that a big Disney vacation was a "once in a lifetime" event. Somehow, with grandparents who lived in Florida return visits became annual events, even if we only made single day trips (there was only one park at the time).

Then I did the college program and learned for the first time that Disney had been marketing hard for repeat business all along and the business model depends on repeat business. (This was before DVC existed) One summer of Disney work became two, and my family would come down to see me and visit at the same time. Something unintended happened along the way - my siblings and I developed a love for the "Disney Escape," and now the three of us all have families of our own so that we keep coming back, bringing our children to experience that Disney Magic.

My parents were always people who wanted their kids to see that there is a great big world out there, so our family vacations would take us to different places around the USA, and eventually Europe, but now that their children are grown, they find themselves returning to WDW to spend vacation time with their grandchildren.

I don't think the love ever faded, because when we see the magic in our children's eyes, we experience it for ourselves all over again, and there is always that little bit of us that will enjoy a short getaway even without the kids.

 

[kammybug]

Our family started going to WDW back in 1974. I guess we had our own "magical gathering" as it were at that time because our family and my dad's brothers family went every year. We all continued to go every year up until all of us kids started getting in our teen years and then only our immediate family continued going. Now that my brother is grown and married and has kids of his own and I am grown and have a kid of my own, we STILL continue to go once or twice a year to this day as a family. WDW holds a very special place in my family's lives. (My Dad is such a Disney nut that he has a whole room in his house dedicated to nothing but Disney.) I just hope our kids will continue to carry on this tradition when they are grown and have children of their own.