When did you become born again?

scheat

Active Member
July 1993. First trip to WDW on our honeymoon. I was in absolute awe of the place, especially EPCOT. I don't think I will ever have that awe feeling again, but I can't wait to see it in my grand daughter's eyes in a few years.
 

Tinkyroo

New Member
I grew up 3 1/2 hours south of WDW. We went a lot. There are photos of me starting from a baby and every age up to adulthood at WDW. I never remember a time that I was not absolutely monomania about WDW. Even though we went a lot it was so magicial every time....and still is. :)
 

JustInTime

Well-Known Member
I am pretty sure it's not a choice. I think I was born with it. Why would anyone choose this lifestyle? :shrug:


3 days untill I leave for Disney World...:lookaroun
 
Growing up in South Florida, just about all of our school trips were to Disney World. It just made sense. And for a long time, I took it for granted. One year, when I was about 10 or 11, I got my hands on a Birnbaum's guide of Disney World, and I would stay awake past my bed time looking at the pictures and reading and re-reading the descriptions of the attractions and the resorts, all the while wishing I was there. I think that's what did it. Beyond that, though, Disney was always a part of my life through movies and singalongs. My favorite video to watch as a kid was the Disney singalong Disneyland. I would watch that thing about 4 times a day.
 

Philo

Well-Known Member
I had always wanted to go to a Disney Park but never got the chance till I was 21. My first trip to a Disney Park was to DLP for 4 wonderful nights. The weather was freezing but that didn't bother me and whilst I had a great time, I didn't think I was addicted till I got home and realised that I wanted to go back there straight away.

Almost immediatly I began perstering my now wife to go to WDW. After a few weeks we ended up just "having a look" at what WDW packages are availalble in a Travel Agents. We took the brochures with us as we left but we hadn't even got into our car before we ran back and just booked it on the spot. It was then I realised that I might have a problem... other holidays just don't get me that excited.

Since then it's been a Disney resort a year. I've been luck enough to visit three so far (DLP, WDW and DL) and next April I will be going to TDL!
 

zurgandfriend

Well-Known Member
I saw the light when we visited with our son in 2005. We had gone to WDW for our Honeymoon in 1995 and always wanted to get back. Everyone told us not to take our son until he was at least 5 years old that, coupled with DW going to grad school we did not get back until 2005. I had an epiphany at Disney with the Magical Express, Disney transportation and the GREAT attitude of the cast members after having to drive, worry about reservations, handle baggage etc on trips to places like Sesame Place. When my DW says she wants to go somewhere different for vacation my DS and I say “we hope you have a great time, call us when you get there, we’ll be riding Test track."
 

Rogue21

Well-Known Member
I am pretty sure it's not a choice. I think I was born with it. Why would anyone choose this lifestyle? :shrug:

:lol:

I grew up watching the various incarnations of Disney's television show. During holidays at Grandma's, we often walked to the local movie house for the latest re-issue of a Disney classic. Knowing (now) that my folks weren't financially able to take a family of six -- five if we left the older brother at home -- only made actually going seem more like a dream.

Finally, at the ripe age of 24, my sister and I made our first trip. I'll be going on my 10th trip this October; which may not seem like much to some of you hard core fans, but I'm sticking with quality over quantity. :rolleyes:

I was also fortunate enough to take my parents on their first ever trip past December. What an awesome experience to go with 70 year old first timers! They proudly wore their "1st visit" buttons all week and they simply gush about the trip every chance they get. There is even talk of a return visit next year.

So, the Disney bug was planted early and just took root over many, many years.

PS JustInTime: If you like the Sookie Stackhouse series you might enjoy Jim Butchers' Dresden Files series.
 

sublimesting

Well-Known Member
When my wife and I went in 2005. It happened the second we got there and walked into the POP Century lobby and was really hammered home a few hours later when we saw the castle and my wife said "There it is!" Up until that point I didn't much think about it and we almost didn't go on that trip just to save the money.
 

happymom52003

Active Member
I'd always loved Disney, even though growing up I only went once as a child and then once again as a teenager. My husband and I went on a few WDW trips while we were dating (and he proposed in front of Cinderella's Castle:king:), but I still had not reached the "obsessed" level.

It was on our first trip with our children that the change happened...lol. The moment we all stepped onto Main Street and I saw their little faces light up, I knew. We had a perfect trip...PERFECT. It was pure magic.

Before taking the kids for the first time I thought Disney would be a trip we would do every few years or so. But boy was I wrong...the moment we got home from that first trip I booked our next one, and now we go as often as we can, which honestly is not often enough!
 

Missin_Disney

New Member
I had my moment of clarity in October 1989.

The first time my family (Dad, Mum, Sister & me) visited all the parks.

I was just in awe of everything, the attention to detail, the cleanlyness, the friendlyness of the cast members, the imagination that is evident everywhere....EVERYTHING!!!!

And living in the UK i feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to have visited nearly every year since.

God bless the internet that helps feed my hunger on a daily basis, and now i am looking forward to carrying on the magic in May 2010 when i will be returning again with my new wife and our 4y/o daughter and 1 1/2 y/o son.
 

trendicoff

New Member
I'm most definitely a born again Disney freak.

When did it happen? I think it was love at first sight. First time I went was as a teenager back in 97 and I was hooked ever since. But that wasn't my real *eureaka!* moment. That came a few years later. I was on the WDW internship and watching Wishes for the umteenth time when my friends were like "we have work in a few hours lets go early". Walking out during wishes really is a religious experience.

As I described it to my friends "There before me were 20,000 pairs of eyes, each one glazed with the reflection of hundreds of tiny points of light as fireworks exploded over their heads. Many had their mouths open in amazement and not a single child stirred as explosion after explosion filled the sky." It was that moment when I said I want to always be a CM!
 

GoochDSA

Well-Known Member
I guess I have always been a big Disney fan. When I would stay home from school on sick days or vacation days I would sit with a stack of Disney movies (gotta love those big bulky VHS cases). Then in my early teen years I kinda stopped for a while. Then one day I was watching the History chanel and there was 2 hour history of WDW. As I watched it I could feel myself getting sucked in.
 

DizneyPryncess

Well-Known Member
When the Internet was first introduced to me is when I became a Disney freak. I was probably 13 or 14. The very first thing I ever saw online was something about hidden mickey's, and a very short list. I went to Disney that year, and found the few mickey's on the list, and thought it was the best thing ever. Then I just wanted to go back & find more.

I'm 28 now, and the obsession continues...:)
 

disfan411

Active Member
I went as a kid and i remember loving it. I was always excited to go to WDW. I have gone a few times as a kid and as a teenager and couldnt get enough of it. However I think i started to really become crazy about it when i was in college. I went for spring break 3 years in a row. I got to book my plans and do it all myself and it just adds to the excitement. Then i went this year for my honeymoon after having a disney wedding.
 

maelstrom

Well-Known Member
I've always loved Disney. My first trip was in 1988 when I was 2 years old (if you don't count the 1985 trip where I was in utero), and I've always had Disney videos and toys. To date, I've been to Disney World 24 times and to Disneyland twice, with my next and third trip to Disneyland coming up next month!

I became a Disney *geek* in the first few days of March 2003. I had just come back from Disney World for the first time in a few years, and I went online to figure out what happened to the Skyway. Well, that led me to WDW Magic, Yesterland, Widen Your World, and a whole bunch of other Disney websites. I became pretty obsessed with Disney theme park history. I can't believe it's been six years!
 

SAV

Well-Known Member
I went for the first time in my mid 20's and liked it. Went again when married and liked it, but the real moment came when we brought my daughter for the first time. Watching her interact with the characters and how happy she was was to be there is what did it. And now that is doubled with my son.

I am glad that they were born Disney Nuts and will pass that on to their kids.
 

mickey's mamu

New Member
Well, I do know what it means to be a born again Christian, and at first I was slightly offended. Then I thought about it and I have to say I do understand the OP's comparison.

I went to DL as a teenager with my family in 1968 and while I loved it and felt so lucky to be there, it was just a neat vacation. In 1981 we took our 3 and 7 year olds to DL while we were there for a convention and again it was just a great vacation. I did enjoy seeing my kids first experience with the magic!

Then in 1984 everyone we knew was going to WDW that summer. By this time our children were 6 and 10 and I thought they were the perfect age for a one time trip to WDW. Well, that is when the conversion happened! I do remember it being very much like a religious experience. I was completely blown away by the differences in DL and WDW and we did have the trip of a lifetime that summer ( I actually left Horizon in tears and unable to speak). When we came home I immediately began planning our next trip. Circumstances prevented us from going again until 1990, but I kept a trip planned and reserved every year for 6 yrs. I would just roll the deposit over to the next year. When we finally did make it back, I was more hooked than ever. WDW was even better that I remembered it with all the new additions.

Well the rest is history! Like most of you I am up to going once a year and I know (or hope) that there is an AP in my future so that I can go 2 or 3 times a year!
 

PeoplemoverTTA

Well-Known Member
Growing up, we had all the VHS tapes for every movie and of course saw them all in the theaters (we had those awesome old records, too, where a movie image covered the whole album...anyone else have those?)...my grandma and grandpa really instilled a love for Disney in my mom, which she thankfully shared with my dad, and eventually us :).

My parents didn't have a lot of money, but we went for our first family WDW trip in 1986, when I was 5. My parents made sure we understood that not everyone gets to visit WDW, and this is a special place. My mom still gets misty when she remembers us seeing the castle for the first time.

My grandma took us in 1988 and 1990, and we didn't get to go again until my brother and I went on our high school band trip in 1996. The anticipation and planning that went into that trip I think was the turning point where I wasn't just a Disney Freak, but a Walt Disney World Freak :D. My brother bought a Music From the Parks CD, and we listened to that thing over and over again and learned all the words (led directly to my Mousebits obsession!).

Once I got into college, I discovered two things...credit cards and annual passes. Both are intricately connected :lol:. For awhile, I was visiting WDW 3-4 times per year. Now that I'm more fiscally responsible, WDW trips are 12-18 months apart. I've also been to DL three times (most recently in 2006, when I won a trip from McDonalds), and DLP once in 2004.
 

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