What does Walt Disney World mean to you?

[MickeyDent]

When I was young, my parents would take my sister and me to the Magic Kingdom about 2 or 3 times a year. Living in Florida, it made day trips to Disney pretty easy. We didn't go camping or travel like other families. We were a Disney family. So I come by my Disney obsession honestly. I guess you could say I was raised that way..

Time has flown by. I am no longer a boy but a grown, 37 year old man with my own family. The sad part is, both my parents are gone. Mom passed away in 2001 and dad passed away last year, in 2008. My sister has a large family and trips with her to Disney are virtually nonexistent. So family trips to Walt Disney World now, while enjoyable, are different.

However, there are those moments in every trip, where the lines of time seem to blur. Where, suddenly and only for a moment, I'm a child again. I can feel that excitement, the rush of "Let's go on something else!!", the anticipation of the next attraction. Most of all, in these moments, it feels as if my family is with me again. As if I will hear my mom and dad say something about me straying too far ahead. Or hear my big sister complain that I'm "bugging" her. Those times disappear almost as fast as they come, but they still happen.

Now you can say it is just because I was there so much as a child. You can say it is simply a sight or smell that is triggering a vivid memory. You may very well be right. However, maybe, just maybe, this is where the real Disney Magic comes in. The magic that allows you to be a child again. That gives you permission to forget, if only for a day, the real world outside and to journey to a place where all dreams are possible.

So what does Walt Disney World mean to me? It means a place where dreams DO come true. A place where magic lives. Thankfully it is pretty easy to get there. Simply take the second star to the right, then straight on til morning...

What does it mean to you?

 

[kstella]

To me it's a place to meet up with my parents after not seeing them many months, inlcuding Thanksgiving and Christmas, and escaping the Wisconsin winter for a while. It means spending happy time and making memories with my kids who are rapidly becoming adults. It means remembering my brother who was taken from us too soon, but not before we were able to have two Disney trips with him. It means trying to spread the magic so when someone tells me "I'm going to Disney World, can you help me plan?" I'm happy to do so because I want them to have magic memories, too.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

A place where I can take the family once every 2 - 3 years for a holiday away from the stresses of reality.

Reality is when I get home and get the credit card bill

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Simple enough. Disney is HOME

 

[Victor]

Like a second home. Much like my real home and family, it isn't perfect and has it's flaws, but I still love it warts and all.

 

[scheat]

It kind of does feel like a second home because I feel so comfortable there.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Disney is where my family reconnects. Where we laugh, we love, we relax and we bond closer together. Disney is where my husband doesn't have to be a military man, he gets to just be my love and daddy. It's where laundry fades away and I get treated like a princess, where imagination lives and the possibilities are endless. It is where my sons get to experience their heroes and dreams in real.

Life keeps us pretty busy, so Disney is where we STOP and just be together. That's what I love about it most.

 

[luvlifeinfl]

What does it mean to you?[/quote].

Wow you hit an area that w/ some of us it goes so deep. For me I grew up in a coal mine/ steel mill area, so vactions were not there also considering my parents never thought of taking me. I am a only child so I never did get to share what you had which is ok, becasue I have changed that with my own childern. I did not want them to not believe that there was a place you can go within your self and never grow up. We took our DD's now 9&19 for their first trip in 2005, they were 14& 4 then and we did not even tell them we were taking them. We said we were going on vacation & it was a surprise, so at midnight we put them in the van to sleep during the night and my DH & I took turns driving all night to arrive at Disney around 3:30 pm the next day.

We we arrive the girls really did not believe us, but a few hours later we walked into the MK and I stood on MS and watched my girls faces and they looked at that Castle and it still makes me cry.

Since then we have become DVC members and my Dh said that this will always be our 2nd home until we can retire and move there.

So for me it is vision that Walt had so many years ago when he sat on the park bench wathing his girls ride a merry go round thinking how nice it would be to have a place to go with family and have a great time of memories, because you are so right, that time passes us so quickly and then it is gone so I build this with my family so that when I have grandkids that I will be able again to wlak through those gates and stand with htem on Main street for the very 1st time and see the joy & excitment on their faces.

One last point I want to make is now when I go I really try to slow down and not be consumed with what I need to purchase or hurry to the next ride, I try to stop and look at the beauty of the decor and pictures and paintings, then enjoy the time with my family.

 

[MickeyMad]

A place where I can take the family once every 2 - 3 years for a holiday away from the stresses of reality.

Reality is when I get home and get the credit card bill

As Captain Hook says, it's getting away from the stresses of reality, immersing yourself in that wonderful thing called Disney Magic and just having total relaxation. :sohappy:

 

[Mikester71]

Never got to go to WDW as a kid as we didn't travel much. My parents had a trailer, but we would just go out to the same trailer park every summer. It was fun and all, but I really wish we would have taken more family trips together.

So back in 2005, my wife and I decided we would take our kids (and my mother-in-law) on a nice family vacation down to WDW. I think I was AS excited as the kids when we finally got down there. We have made it back twice more since then and took my brother with us also the last two times. Since my brother and I never got to travel much as kids, it meant alot to me that we were able to both go together as adults.

WDW, to me, is all about sharing magical moments with the ones closest to you, in a magical setting away from all the distractions of everyday life. For those 10 days we are down there, everything seems a little bit better and life is good. It is the ultimate family bonding experience and I wouldn't trade the memories made with my family for anything in the world. I can't WAIT to make some more on our next trip in 2011!!!:sohappy:

 

[Missin_Disney]

WOW guys reading all this had made me come over all emotional.

I feel i've been very lucky to have got the chance to visit WDW more or less every year since 1989 all the way from the UK.

All of what you have said is true. its an escape, a fantasy, a dream, call it what you will. But all in all its the PERFECT feel good, pick me up, smile inducing holiday where hum drum every day stresses don't exist.

We are takin our DD who will be 3 when we take her in May 2010 and DS who will be 1 1/2. Already DD is soo excited. And reading all your posts and then thinking ahead to the first time she sees Cinderella's Castle is bringing tears to my eyes!!

We as parents intend to start making memories for all of us as a family and something they can hopefully pass on to their children.

Sorry to be so mushy!! lol

 

[tiggerzgirl83]

Disney is home away from home for me..my mom raised my sister and I to be disney freaks and I thank her for that. Disney World is my compfort zone. You forget about all of your problems back at home and live your dreams at Disney. I love it there so much!!!:kiss:

 

[bgraham34]

I am sorry to hear about your parents. What you said was truly spot on and I can't add anything else to it.

 

[rlaeromech]

its a place that I take my kids and say hey, its ok to be a kid, and while we're at it, I'll be one with you. My dad was always waiting on me to grow up. He never really "enjoyed" me being a kid, at least that's the feeling I was left with. I want my kids to know I LOVE them whatever stage in their life they are at. WDW is a place we can share that together. Yeah I know I can do that anywhere, but its FUN to do it there.

 

[SOLISIMO]

Its funny you posted this. Looking at your age makes it even more special. Im turning 28 soon and my wife 27, we go 2 to 3 times a year. Every time we go my co-workers always say the same thing (bla bla bla its for kids bla bla) :brick:

Anyway when me and the wife go its like we are leaving our troubles behind. No matter how repetative things are, I love it!:king:

Although this trip it seems like things are changing. When I road Soarin I was looking more at the new people riding and their expression rather than the actual attraction and thats where I seem to be getting my thrills from. I think its time for us to have some kids to spoil them with the world and pass our love to them:animwink::lol:

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Moonbeams and snowflakes

 

[magicmaya]

**Magic**:wave:

and dated rides...

It's simple It's someone's name with the word "world" at the end of it and the name got converted into a park in central florida.The person died before the world opened in 1971:lookaroun

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

An escape from Reality

 

[Texas84]

It's a return to a happy childhood, although those trips were to Disneyland when my Dad was stationed in Sacramento (McClellan AFB). I do turn into a kid when I go to WDW. But with money!

 

[LiveyMouse22]

What does it mean to you?

I am one of the lucky ones, I've been going to WDW every year since the year of my birth, unfortunately I don't have a heartwarming story about my first trip and what it meant. Fortunately, I have plenty of memories since that first trip although I can't remember how magical it was to be strolled into the parks by my parents for the first time. I can, however, explain the feeling I get everytime I walk into a park, or see a WDW sign, or even hear of "The Happiest Place on Earth: Where Magic Lives". One vacation I stepped off the bus to arrive at the Magic Kingdom and had to catch my breath because everytime I return it's like I am arriving for the first time and get the full magical experience. To me, Disney World means home, happiness, love, pure greatness. There's no other feeling like the unique one you receive when in WDW. It's an escape like no other where families and friends come together in love and happiness and become a child again and live a fairytale experiencing everything they ever dreamed of in the place where magic lives.
:wave: