Ok, now you've met me...who are you?
This is me and my wife and kids at one of our favorite WDW restaurants.
This picture was taken this past summer, it was my kid's first trip to WDW ever and mine and my wife's first trip in 17 years. A wonderful CM took the picture for us. We are all going again this summer the first week of August and staying this time at the Contemporary, it will be during our 21st wedding aniversary and it will be our first time back to the Contemporary since our honeymoon. I have mentioned now and again the following facts about myself on other posts here but I'll give it a go again.
I'm 42 years old soon to turn 43 next week, I was born on the west side of Chicago near Austin and Chicago avenues. I have lived on the northside in Uptown (Lawrence & Sheridan aves) for awhile and worked downtown. I'm a loyal Cubs and Bears fan. I now live and work in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago very close to the Illinois, Wisconsin border. I've worked in a few different capacities over my career starting when I was 16 as a stockboy at a grocery store, currently I'm a Production/Maintenence Supervisor in a small but rather affluent machine shop that makes parts for the military as well as aerospace, we just recently made some parts for the space shuttle which we're all quite proud of here. I spent a little time in the US Navy.
My love for WDW started just about when WDW started itself. My Grandfather brought me down to Florida as sort of a Christmas present to visit my Uncle and his family who was stationed in Tampa, Fl at MacDill Air Force base. He was a helicopter mechanic and had just recently come back after serving a tour in Vietnam.
While staying there in early February 1973 my Uncle brought us to WDW, which then was just the Magic Kingdom with only three hotels on property and was a little over two years old. I was only 7 years old at the time and had never been out of state before (other than Wisconsin) let alone to a Disney park. I remember being in a total state of awe the whole day I spent there. I had never seen anything like WDW before and have never seen again since. We couldn't ride on everthing because he only had so many tickets, and didn't have tickets for every ride. My favorite ride was and still is the HM. I first rode it at night for the first time and standing in the queue anticipating what was coming really built the suspense, instead of being frightened of what was inside as I was waiting in line, I was amazed by what I saw. I had never been back as a child, my parents divorced soon after my return so any future trips were not to be. I would, however, during the dark periods of my childhood reflect on my WDW experience and hold a promise that I would someday make it back. My siblings didn't get to go with me as I was the oldest and they were too young. I would tell them stories of what it was like and the look of disbelief on their faces is something I'll always remember. When I first met my wife it was as mutual friends of another friend. One of the things we had in common was our love for WDW. She had just returned from a "High School graduation trip" (her first trip) with her Mother and Sister. I shared my fond memories with her of my trip 13 years earlier. We planned a trip together for the summer of 1987 and earlier the same year (as a coincidence) I asked her to marry me. Our summer trip to WDW turned out to be our honeymoon, as an afterthought. We went again in 1990 and didn't make a return trip until last summer, we waited so long because we wanted our kids to be at least as old as I was for their first time.
My favorite hotel is the Contemporary, though the YC is a close runner up.
My favorite Park is MK and my favorite restaurant is the biergarten.
I may not be as passionate about WDW as most of you are here, I probably won't ever own a DVC or devote all my future vacations there, but I will visit more in the future then I have in the past, so long as I have the means to do so. I have entertained thoughts of maybe one day moving to Florida, working at WDW someday, possibly closer to retirement age, which is only about 20 years away, Jeesh...for you younger lot, believe it when we elders say the clock turns faster as you get older, just a blur! Whenever I've expressed any negativity about any WDW subject it has always been in the spirit of my ideal of what WDW is supposed to be, based on my first experience, which can almost be described as mythical, One of my faults is that I can get carried away, just like a lot of people not really meaning to. I do regret the attractions that are now history that I adored as a child never being able to ride again or watch my children experience, but I do appreciate the attractions that are still there.
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