What got you hooked?

[Smiley/OCD]

Me, it was my first trip to the World. I was 23 and it took a month of my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three nephews and wife to convince me to pay all that money for rides. I felt that WDW couldn't be any better than Cedar Point or Kings Island. The thing that finally changed my mind to go was Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was opening that year and it was described to me to be the Demon Drop on steroids and I love me some Demon Drop.

So I was all in, we reserved a room at the Contemporary and made a reservation for the Hoop-Dee-Doo. Bought tickets through AAA and applied and received a Disney Visa card to save some dough.

We drove from Michigan and stopped in every state we entered to play football. This was not only one of the best parts of the trip, it also made the twenty two hour ride easier to do. I was actually able to drive the full way there. The other thing that we did that is now very memorable was my wife and brother-in-law had to listen to the fabulous seventies CD's all the way there. Every time we stopped they would trade CD's. I like seventies music just fine but this was too much. Run Joey Run has been permanently etched into my brain.

We crossed the boarder into Florida around four in the morning and decided to sleep for a couple of hours in the car before continuing on to Orlando.

After finally arriving at the Contemporary we checked into our rooms. We had a garden wing room with a big tree right in front of our window. After unpacking we went pool hopping instead of wasting a ticket on a partial day. The pools were amazing and I started to realize this was not a typical amusement park just by the pools.

Well since I have droned on so long I will finish by saying that almost everything we did was amazing. From MK to EPCOT to MGM Studios to Typhoon Lagoon and even River Country and Discovery Island. It was all amazing and I can literally say it changed my life.

The quality and the stories and attention to detail were all unmatched for a theme park.

We have been to Cedar Point twice, and to Kings Island once since that first magical visit and though they are both better at thrill rides they just pale in comparison to WDW.

What, no "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks, "Billy, Don't be a Hero" by Bo Donaldson & the Haywoods and "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers???

 

[NickWilde]

1. Growing up with Disney films and TV shows

2. Binging theme park videoes on YouTube

3. Been a sucker for good theming and fun attractions, Disney offers both.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

For me, my DW & I went there on our honeymoon in 1993...my first time there, first time on a plane...spent 10 days at WDW, Uni & Kennedy Space Center...Loved it, but wasn't "hooked" yet. Fast forward to 2006...oldest DD was 7 & youngest DD was 5. The look on my youngest one's face upon seeing Cinderella Castle from the train station was PRICELESS. That's when I became hooked. We've been there just about every other year since.
Two highlights, my mom passed away in 2011, and my extended family decided to take my then 82 y.o. dad there. The last time he was on a plane was on his trip home from Europe during the Korean war. He had the time of his life with his 5 grandchildren and talked about it all the time. (He just passed in February).
The second highlight was in 2015 when my family (4), went with our good friends and their 8 y.o. twin DD's. They went before, but never PLANNED the way my DW does it. They never did pin trading (their mom didn't think they would be into it) I bought 100 REAL pins from Ebay and split them among our 2 and their 2...boy, did they LOVE IT!!! They saw things, went on rides and ate foods that they never had a chance to experience before. We still get thanked for turning them on to the WORLD. I don't consider myself a "pixie duster" by any stretch of the imagination, but my wife and I agree that WDW is our happy place never to be outdone by any other place. In case you're wondering, the OCD in my user name stands for Obsessive, Compulsive DISNEY. THAT says it all!

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Watching Disney movies during my childhood

 

[Maddad]

All of these responses are amazing. I love seeing all of the different ways everyone became hooked. On the trip I got hooked on my daughter got hooked on Minnie. We purchases her first pair of ears. She wore them every day for over three years. Long enough for us to get in another trip.

 

[GVentola]

We've been going since I was a baby, so I don't remember when I was hooked. My Mom says when I first saw Cinderella's Castle, my eyes went so wide. Maybe that's the moment!

 

[LUVofDIS]

What, no "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks, "Billy, Don't be a Hero" by Bo Donaldson & the Haywoods and "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers???

I see you know the CD's I speak of.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

I see you know the CD's I speak of.

I see you know the CD's I speak of.

I am a child of the "one hit wonders" of the 70's, and worked on the air in radio during the 80's, so YES I know the music that you speak!!

 

[Matt in the Hatt]

I was fortunate as a kid my parents took us every couple years or so. One year my grandparents took all of us down their 3 sons,their wives, and all 10 grand children. When i was in my teens a went through a rough patch and was in my stupid "i listen to punk rock and i am too cool for this" phase. I remember the breaking point for me was when we were at the restaurant in the land pavilion and Mickey and Minnie were at our table and they wanted me to kiss Minnie and i wasn't having it (i was being stupid but to be fair when i made it clear i wasn't interested in playing it should have stopped sooner than it did). That was our last trip it would have been the late 90'S. Fast forward to when me and my wife were getting serious and we talked about going. Fast forward again to 2014 a vacation we were planning with my family got cancelled and we had never had a proper honeymoon despite having been married for 2 years we decided to go to Disney World. She loved all the planning (this is a woman that loves spread sheets) and for me all these memories came flooding in creating a nostalgia high like i had never experienced. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and it was beautiful. Our first park day we went to Hollywood studios, a unconventional first park i admit, our first ride was tower of terror and as we exited the ride i knew for sure this was now a permanent part of our lives. We have gone back every year since, due to crazyness 3 times last year. But i guess in the end it started as a kid. my dad passed away in 2016 and when were helping my mom move i found 3 old pictures from disney that I treasure

 

[Bullseye1967]

My family used to go to Myaka State park every year from Illinois. When Ft Wilderness first opened we were one of the first 1k to stay there. My father 88 yr old father got an award for being in the first 1000 camping there and proudly has it on his wall to this day. I made 17 trips as a child. I prayed for snow on Sundays because then we did not have to go to church and could watch Wonderful World of Disney. I took my kids 22 times. We retired to Orlando but got called away to take care of my wife parents. We went 100s of times when we lived there. I just became a grandfather. There will be many more visits to the world with my new grand daughter! My kids have already had vacations there and family meet ups are in the future. My 88 yr old father still visits once a year.

 

[Astro_Digital]

I used to go at least once a year but those days are over.
I can no longer handle the crowds which keep getting worse, I can no longer avoid the admission.
I hate the security all over the place, "It does not make me feel any safer"
Magic Kingdom, I miss the most but I seen everything 100x
Epcot, Disney destroyed "Future World ???" years ago and World Showcase you want to go to Japan.... go to Japam
Animal Kingdom, Pandora is a joke two attractions and one constantly with 3 hour plus line up, and the plastic plants and fake mountains
Hollywood Studios, Really people are so hyped for "Toy Story Land" two attractions a kids roller coaster and bumper care thing.

Oh I may go back "the only reason I come hear", but I am not going back for along time.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I used to go at least once a year but those days are over.
I can no longer handle the crowds which keep getting worse, I can no longer avoid the admission.
I hate the security all over the place, "It does not make me feel any safer"
Magic Kingdom, I miss the most but I seen everything 100x
Epcot, Disney destroyed "Future World ???" years ago and World Showcase you want to go to Japan.... go to Japam
Animal Kingdom, Pandora is a joke two attractions and one constantly with 3 hour plus line up, and the plastic plants and fake mountains
Hollywood Studios, Really people are so hyped for "Toy Story Land" two attractions a kids roller coaster and bumper care thing.

Oh I may go back "the only reason I come hear", but I am not going back for along time.

Wow... what a sad way to go though life. You hate everything about it, but, you love it. Crowds are not going to get smaller, prices aren't going to get cheaper, classics aren't going to all go away, Future World is different then before, but, if you look closely enough, what is there is quite good and if this were your first time in the park, your fond memories would be of what is there now.

Older now, Disney has priced me out even though now I have the free time to go whenever I want. What I have for assets have to last me for the rest of whatever my life is. I have asked my children if they are looking for something to get me for Fathers day or my Birthday, gift certificates to WDW or Universal would be helpful in me being able to have fun before infirmity makes that impossible.

As far as, if you want to see Japan, go to Japan, that is true about everything that is confined in any theme park, country wise. Pandora is more then fake plants it is about a different adventure, one the DAK has been needing for a long time.

All that aside though you are expressing that you actually do want to go again, but, "not for a long time". As I have aged I seem to feel, more and more, with each passing day, that we don't necessarily have a long time to spare. No one is promised a tomorrow. I guess if we don't last for a long time to come we really won't care at that time, but, if it feels good to go to WDW, then the time to do that is now or in the near future. Life is to live not to find fault. So basically I see a conflict in your post. You hate everything that WDW is or has become, yet, you still want to go. Pick one!

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

Seeing the magic of Disney World.

 

[ELG13]

My husband and myself took our daughter for her 4th bday...just a quick trip while my mom kept the 1 yr old. That was it. Hooked. She was so excited and it really made everything come full circle. I remember my parents bringing us when we were kids. We went for a week last year at the cabins and that made me even more hooked...my mom and our son came this time. They were so well behaved, the weather cooperated (mind you this was 8 days after ft.wilderness reopened after the hurricane)...it was lovley. We are 90 days out from this year's trip. Im keeping expectations low bc last trip was so great lol!

 

[wdwfan757]

I am that token weirdo who though the Dolphin was the coolest hotel ever made by man. It had a triangle at the top. And some upside down dolphins on the corners and it was so bright. I was just old enough (or it was the early 90s and my parents were that lax enough) to let me wander through the hotel by myself. I'd wake up at the crack of dawn, go to Tubby's (it's Picabu's now) and get a mini carton of frosted flakes and a milk carton. They had this cool boat that took you to epcot and hollywood studios. It was just the coolest thing I'd ever seen. Looking back, I think it was always the architecture and that drew me in. From the weird hotels like Dolphin, to the bright blue ball of Planet Hollywood, to the highway in the sky monorail. To space mountain and contemporary. If you grow up near williamsburg and move to DC, the crazy designs at wdw just blows your mind.

 

[Phonedave]

If I was not already hooked, I don't think I would become hooked.

I went as a kid when it was just MK and EPCOT. My family did a Florida vacation - Sea World, Space Center, Disney World, etc. WDW was nice and all, but as a 15 y/o old or so, I had other things on my mind, and family vacations were not "cool".

Fast forward to around 2000 (I think) maybe 1999, and my then wife wanted to go to WDW. I looked at the prices and was floored (as a newlywed, with a new mortgage, and a young child) but we ended up going as cheaply as possible (POP Century, early cheaper flights, ate breakfast in the rooms, not too many TS meals, etc). When we got there, I was honestly floored by the level of service, the attention to detail, and the level of maintenance and commitment. This was not a "theme park" this was a resort in all aspects of the term. It was expensive, but you got value for your expense. Over the years I have built many many memories at WDW.

Now, I am paying for that nostalgia. prices have gone up and up. Quality, in almost all aspects has gone down, and the magic is not there. The only magic is the magic I bring with me. The idea that somehow WDW is still a special place, and it will somehow be as it once was.

So yes, I keep going back (not as often I will admit) and I most likely will, but if I had started going around 2010 or so, I don't think I would have been as big a fan.

-dave

 

[Think Tink]

I was pretty much like you. I went when for the first time in 2005 as a day trip while staying at my Uncles. It was fun but I don't remember the Disney part of the trip that much. I do remember trying all the sodas in EPCOT and Spaceship Earth though.
I went again in 2006/07 over new years with my High School. It was a fun time but again, nothing that made go "WOW".
It wasn't until 2016 when I went with my husband, sister, BIL, and nephew that I really started seeing the magic! There was something different about that trip. Maybe it was that I was with my husband, or maybe it was just that I was old enough to fully appreciate all the little things throughout the park that I didn't get at my local amusement parks (Cedar Point, Kings Island, and the now defunct Geauga Lake). The smell of main street had me this time. I can remember almost all the small details that I wasn't able to before. The hidden Mickeys, the cleanliness of the paths compared to CP, the vibe of the different areas at MK. It was all perfect.
After that I told my husband in no uncertain terms that we would be coming back staying on site next time. We went back in 2017 at the Beach Club and it was one of the best vacations I had ever had. We just now got back from a week at AKL and I am offically a pass holder

 

[DisneyFreak]

I grew up with Disney. I had a Winnie the Pooh record player and most if not all the Disney albums, view-master reels, books, etc. We took our first trip to WDW in 1979 but it was my first visit to EPCOT Center as a 12 year old in 1983 that made me obsessed.

 

[KCheatle]

I went nearly every year from age 2-12. I remember liking WDW, but when we stopped going and pursued "bigger, older-kid" trips, I didn't really miss it. When my daughter was 2 1/2, I was pulling my hair out from the stress of my 2nd year of law school. I don't remember how it came up, but in the spring of my 2nd year my mom and I ended up booking a trip for her, my dad, my DH, my DD and I for June 29-July 6 (crazy time to go!), and we stayed in one room in the Garden Wing at the Contemporary (funny to think about now because I cannot believe my DH went for that!!). At that time, I was working for a law firm as a summer clerk, and the stress was non-stop. I thought about my work day and night, and worried constantly that it wasn't going to get done right, or on time, etc. I remember apologizing profusely for taking this trip, and telling my boss that I would check my email every day I was in WDW and make sure I answered any questions he had or wrote any briefs he needed. Well...we got to the last day of the trip, and I realized I hadn't checked my email once. I hadn't even thought about work. The constant stress in my life had been lifted and all I thought about for 8 days straight was my family. I have never forgotten that feeling. It's been 10 years since that trip, and I still crave that feeling of freedom every day.

 

[KCheatle]

My goodness, I feel you on this SO MUCH. But listen, writing an opposition brief on the PeopleMover would be an experience.

I would have to conflict out of any opposition to the PeopleMover.