Which Park Holds Your Favourite Memory.

[real mad hatter]

So last night DW & I decided to watch our DVD of our first visit to WDW back in 2004.Our DS was just over six years,and looked so small,( he's now almost 5ft 10" )bigger than the DW. Anyway whilst filming on our last night at MK and the fireworks at Wishes,you could hear my son talking away in the background and out of the blue he says in his squeaky voice " Thanks mum,thanks dad,this has been the best holiday ever " Altho still filming,I turned and looked at my DW,tears running down her face,at that point I stopped filming as tears were starting to build up with me.Even last night whilst watching the DVD,it brought back a favourite memory.So which park holds a memory that you'll never forget.Got to be good stories out there.

 

[Hakunamatata]

MK. My mom loved the flower cart area on main street (this is quite a few years back.....it has been replaced by a snack cart). We always had to have the traditional picture taken in this area. To this day when we walk down main street passed the side street where the flower cart used to be, I catch myself looking over to see if it is there......

 

[real mad hatter]

MK. My mom loved the flower cart area on main street (this is quite a few years back.....it has been replaced by a snack cart). We always had to have the traditional picture taken in this area. To this day when we walk down main street passed the side street where the flower cart used to be, I catch myself looking over to see if it is there......

Cool.

 

[marni1971]

EPCOT Center 87,90 and 93. There was nothing else like it and everything seemed like a million dollars.

 

[rsoxguy]

EPCOT.
We received free AP's to EPCOT in the mid 90's as an educator's promotion. We attended approximately 35 times that year. My daughter was very young, and that was the year in which she was brainwashed into loving Walt Disney World, albeit mostly EPCOT for the time. There was no need for an ADR and they had lunch specials at the World Showcase restaurants that included a nifty little kid's place mat with cut-out characters. They also had Splashtacular, which my daughter loved, and many of the "classic" EPCOT attractions still in place. I have countless memories of my now twenty year old daughter having the time of her life, including her first interaction with a character that involved her laughing uncontrollably for a still unknown reason. I'll never forget that period in time. Thanks Disney!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

What's crazy to me is that my favorite memory didn't happen until our first trip with our girls. My first trip was in 1985- back when Epcot felt like, well...EPCOT! But we went at least every other year between 85 and 91...sometimes more...and then we moved to FL in 91...Gainesville to be specific...and I could pop in for a day here or there no prob. I lived there until 97 and my close family still lives in FL (now south FL)...so I guess it took something major like bringing our girls for the first time to really bring about a true favorite memory.

So, here goes...

It was Dec 7, 2010...after a horrible plane ride with a total hag...we left the nasty behind and rode DME to WL. I had picked WL partly for the holiday decorations, but also b/c of the boat ride to MK. I had thought about the Contemporary, but I guess I just wanted the girls' first time seeing the castle to be a little more special. So, after about 10 freezing minutes (38 degrees + nasty wind/wind chill) waiting on the dock, we started our first boat ride over to MK. DD6 (who was 4 at the time) was the first one to see the castle...



At this point DD3 (just turned 2) was super frustrated b/c she couldn't see it. So, DH had to help her and I caught this sequence.

I think she sees it...


Maybe reposition a little more...


Now I know she sees it



So, MK holds my fave memory...the girls seeing the castle for the first time.

 

[Britt]

GAH. So sweet HouCuseChickie....your girls are gorgeous! Great pics!!

I've got 2.

1st was after a LONG night before in a hotel in Denver with a 8 month old baby going without Oxygen for the first time (he was born at 28 weeks and had been on oxygen ever since, at that point, and finally got off the oxygen at 11 months - he was approved by his Ped for an evening in CO and the week in FL since it was sea level), and our first flight....I was exhausted.

We'd taken the ME to Ft. Wilderness Cabins and got checked in, got to our room. It had been GO- GO- GO. We had ADR's at 1900th Park Fare, so we had to go BACK out and get on the bus, then the ferry and then the monorail.

But there was that moment when we finally got onto the ferry, got everyone settled that it just hit me. Im in Florida. Im at Disney World and this is REAL. The cool air from the water, the fresh air and seeing MK coming up around the bend....it was my "Oh my gosh" moment.

2nd was our first full day there, we had breakfast at the Crystal Palace. We got off the ferry and the skies just...opened. They poured and we were SOAKED. We hauled it over to the Crystal Palace, soaked, and waiting. People didn't want to come outside, so we had to wait. We eat, get out and the park is just EMPTY (for April, spring break, thats a big deal). So we're walking to the back of the park to get to Space Mountain and Im coming up on THE Statue (walt and Mickey) and it was my second OH MY GOSH moment. IM HERE. IM HERE. IM HERE.

MK will always have a special place in my heart for giving me 2 OH MY GOSH moments : )

 

[hellowonderland]

One of my favourites was during my first date with my now-husband. We were both CM's (on the IP) and attended MNSSHP and had both been looking forward to going on Splash Mountain together as it was our favourite ride. There was a couple ahead of us, terrified of the big drop, so we kept telling them it was coming up at every turn. So mean, but so funny. They forgave us at the end ;-)

My all-time favourite was when he proposed on our first trip back after being CM's (four years after). He dropped down on one knee where we used to meet after work in the Canadian Pavilion (I was in Canada, he was in the UK). He completely blindsided me -- I usually know what he's up to -- and it was this perfect, perfect moment of every memory of our time at Disney rushing back -- and so beautiful to be in the place where we fell in love. What makes me laugh when I look back is that two Photo Pass Photographers saw it happening and started coming at us like paparazzi. It was so ridiculous and so romantic.

 

[real mad hatter]

Awesome stories,more please.

 

[zurgandfriend]

Our's is Epcot, on our first visit with our son we got in late and had dinner reservations at Biergarten. After dinner my son of course wanted to experience everything. The first thing he and my wife picked was Mission Space, in those days they only had one version. I tried to tell them that maybe they didn't want to do that right after dinner but they wouldn't listen. I basically spent the whole ride holding barf bags infront of my son then my wife. After the ride they had to sit on a bench and rest and stop spinning for awhile. The good thing was Illumination was getting ready to begin just as they felt better.

 

[maryszhi]

all of them because each has a story/stories near and dear to my heart

 

[onesandzeros]

I’d have to say MK. My first trip to WDW was in ’75 with my now ex-DW. In those
days MK and River Country were the only park/water park on property. Being from California
and visitors to Disneyland we were amazed at the size of Cinderella’s Castle, the Monaural
connecting the resorts and MK, the boat transportations and the fabulous resorts (only 3 in those days). I was hooked after that first trip and have returned more times than I can remember.

 

[Gojira ゴジラ]

MK at Disneyland, because financially it was impossible to visit the US -let alone Disney- until 12 years ago. The stepping out from the tunnel to see the gorgeous Snow White's castle was so overwhelming. It's a constant reminder for me at least not to take any Disney vacation for granted.

 

[real mad hatter]

all of them because each has a story/stories near and dear to my heart

Magic cookie bar for every story.

 

[maryszhi]

Magic cookie bar for every story.

ok i will start off with irish dancing at epcot with my irish dance school. it was amazing
getting my dad on the tot, splash mountain, space mountain, etc. thank goodness for on ride photos
my mom and i going to character meals because my dad conveniently got sun poisoning
drinking around the world for my 21st
before my grandpa passing away, going on rides with him while my granny chilled at the hotel . my mom was with me as well.my dad once again was at the hotel with sun poisoning
being tall enough to ride the thrill rides

 

[maryszhi]

oh and i forgot dancing with my dad to the beauty and the beast song "tale as old as time" at the grand Floridian with the band.

 

[real mad hatter]

oh and i forgot dancing with my dad to the beauty and the beast song "tale as old as time" at the grand Floridian with the band.

Thank you.You now owe me a box a paper hankies.

 

[bethymouse]

I remember when we were in line for Test Track, and we had waited 30 minutes and asked to leave the queue. My son was upset. We went over to Mission Space and told the CMs. They proceeded to take us to the control room. We signed the log book, and immediately got on the ride! I had never experienced quite anything like this VIP treatment!

 

[crispy]

In 2010, we decided to take a spur of the moment trip so I only had a couple of weeks to plan. We usually vacation with others so it was our first trip with just me, DH, and the kids. We visited during the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot, and they had the Fairy topiaries, a butterfly house, and a special playground set-up with a playhouse. My girls stayed there for hours playing. It was just beautiful that day with perfect weather, and it was wonderful watching them play without having to be somewhere or worrying about other people. Later, we had dinner with the princesses and then they saw Mary Poppins and Alice at the UK pavilion. My youngest who was two at the time just ran to Mary Poppins arms and hugged her. Mary Poppins held her for about five minutes and told her she loved getting cuddles from sweet little girls. We apologized to the people behind us for taking so long, and they said it was the sweetest thing they had seen all day. All in all, it was just a magical day. My girls still consider Epcot to be thier favorite park.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I might have referred to this in the past, if so, sorry. My first trip to WDW was in February of 1983. My girls were 6 and 8 years old. We didn't have any idea what WDW was all about. We were all like kids, lost in a candy store. Even me in my mid 30's. The most lasting memory for me was at the CoP. The song used at the time was "Now is the best time of your life" and believe me it was. We loved that attraction and the song was so catchy that we memorized it (pretty much) after the second time we saw it. We had driven there from Vermont and sang that song all the way back, much to my wife's upset. I always remember that!

Now flash ahead almost exactly 20 years. Life had taken a series of turns, some good some bad. By then the kids were grown and married, my wife and I had divorced the previous year, I was in a job that I absolutely hated and way too many other things to relay here. I was in a deep canyon of self pity and didn't think I would ever come out of it. I made a solo trip to WDW hoping that my past experiences would serve to cheer me up a bit. When I first got there, everything I saw reminded me of happier days gone by (bummer ), then I went to CoP. It was the first time I had been since they changed the song back to "Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow". Basically I couldn't believe how good the timing was. If the song had been the first one I had heard (now is the time), I have no doubt that I would have responded by saying...Yea, right! But for some reason GBBT was almost the perfect way of saying...Tomorrow will be better. Make a new life. Get over yourself and make it happen. I did! It was just the kick I needed to stop whining and fix my life.

Granted it's not as sweet a story as the others have been, but I cannot tell you the effect it had on my life from that point on. Feel free now to continue on with the sweet stories.