Ahmmm, I am 56 and my hubby will be 59 by our next trip (Feb 05). In 1968 (I'll wait a minute for you to figure out how old I was at the time)...I left my home in Wichita, Kansas to go to Los Angeles, and told my parents I would be home "after I go to
Disneyland." Once I got to LA, it still took me 3 years to get down to Anihem, but I finally got there. Unfortunately, I moved to northern California shortly thereafter, and didn't get back to DL. I ended up moving back to Wichita in 1980 to help care for my parents.
Part 2: 1988 - took my then husband and 6 year old daughter on our 1st trip to WDW. I fell MADLY in love, their reception was luke warm.
Part 3: 2000 - FINALLY talked my now husband (married in 1992) into a trip to WDW. We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary at the California Grill, by a window, watching fireworks over MK. That was it, now he was hooked, too. Though he is not quite as enthusiastic as me. During every trip he says "well, this is the last time for WDW" and a few months after we get home its "are you planning our next trip yet?" We have celebrated several anniversaries there and done something different/unique on each trip. Loved our stay at AKL! We have taken a lot of the tours and we now 'slow down' to smell the roses, so to speak. There is so much to see and do, there is never enought time, though!
Part 4: On our 2003 trip, we met a couple even older than us (yes I said OLDER than us) on the cruise portion of vacation. They are from Iowa and travel a great deal. We have joined them on several vacations through their property ownership club (Fairfield). On our last trip they asked where I would like to go next. Let me see, I chose - WDW - and they are letting me do the trip planning. Though they have been traveling for years, neither of them have ever been to WDW so, this February we have the opportunity to introduce WDW to what will hopefully become a new set of 'senior' fans.
Conclusion: The older you get the better WDW is. After all, age is just a state of mind. And as long as my mind is in the state of Florida (Orlando in particular) I'll NEVER GROW UP - OR OLD!
PS: My daughter is now 22, married, and still rather concerned that her mom is such a Disney nut. I can't wait until the time when I can take her 1st child with me to WDW - maybe the magic just skipped a generation!