Why do you love Disney??

[Alex Smart]

Hi, I just wanted to start a thread on people’s experiences of Disney. From different perspectives because as a wheelchair user I can’t ride all of the rides etc but I still love Disney World, So id love to hear about other people’s thoughts on:
why do you love the parks?
what is was that made you fall in love with Disney?
What’s your favourite things to do?
And anything else really

thanks Alex

 

[RaySharpton]

Hi, I just wanted to start a thread on people’s experiences of Disney. From different perspectives because as a wheelchair user I can’t ride all of the rides etc but I still love Disney World, So id love to hear about other people’s thoughts on:
why do you love the parks?
what is was that made you fall in love with Disney?
What’s your favourite things to do?
And anything else really

thanks Alex

Hi, Alex and welcome.

Before getting a TV at home, I remember watching a show at my aunt's house.

I think it used to be called "Walt Disney's Disneyland" before they changed it in 1961 to "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color". I believe the series originally tied together with the newly constructed Disneyland theme park with programming highlighting certain rides and attractions.

I was hooked. But no one in my family was ever interested. So I was lucky if I was able to watch it. And no one was ever interested in going to Disneyland and later Walt Disney World.

Most of the other only four TV stations on showed adult programming except for Saturday mornings.

I still have never been to Disneyland and I was finally able to visit Walt Disney World as an adult in the 1980's When EPCOT had just opened.

Walt Disney World wasn't Disneyland, but it did have the Magic Kingdom.

And after watching the weekly teases of Mr. Walt Disney showing and describing everything about Disneyland's Magic Kingdom.

Anytime I was allowed to watch the shows, I would.

So to answer your question...

I loved walking down Magic Kingdom's Main Street and seeing the castle.

I now like seeing everything at nighttime with everything lit up, and the fireworks, and the parades at night.

I love the nightly castle lightings along with the other parks.

I love being able to get in any attraction queue with everyone else and sometimes being able to roll onto an accessible ride.

I haven't stayed off-site in a long time. And I like being able to arrive by plane and worry about trying to obtain accessible transportation to Walt Disney World.

And once on the property, I have my choice of using a bus or a sidewalk or a boat or a monorail or a Skyliner to get where I want to go on property.

So many choices. So many places to visit. And my wheelchair is accessible, unlike other vacations.

So there are probably more reasons I like to.

Every first two weeks in December, I plan my annual trip to Walt Disney World to enjoy all the nightly lighted Christmas lights and Christmas music and Christmas shows and Christmas events.

But really do miss a lot of the things that no longer exist like parades, MGM first Christmas light neighborhood you could walk through and EPCOT's Arch of Lights with music. So many now extinct Christmas things.

If I can ever find a travel agent that specializes in trips to Disneyland including wheelchair planning from airport transportation, hotel/resort, and return I will start planning that Disneyland trip. But I haven't found that travel agent that thinks about or understands all of those needs even though they say they do understand.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

For me, it's that the rides are the exact right level of thrill for me (for the most part). I have serious startle issues, especially with things that look like they're "coming at my face", because my brain short-circuits and panics. That means Universal is generally too intense for me. And I couldn't ride anything too wild until a few years ago, so upside-down/crazy-twisty coasters were out, meaning no Six Flags. Disney, on the other hand, tends to have milder rides I can enjoy over and over again - things I can enjoy and get giggly over, but without freaking out my brain too much. There are a couple rides I can't really do (RnRC springs to mind), but things like BTMRR are perfect for me. At any other park, that would be the "baby ride" and sized accordingly, but not at Disney.

As for what made me fall in love...I don't think I have any pre-Disney memories. I was a kid throughout the Disney Renaissance, so the music and animation were just always part of my life. We weren't a family that went to the movies often, but we always went to see the new Disney Animated Feature, I wore out the cassette soundtracks, we had the VHSes and watched them all the time, etc. They were just better than the other animated movies around at the time, so it was easy to be hooked. We went to the parks (WDW) as a family when I was 2, 6, and 9, and I remember looking forward to the latter two trips for months beforehand and talking about the good times we had for years after we got home.

As an adult, I remember taking a single-day trip with my partner during the "give-a-day, get-a-day" promotion. We were broke as hell then, hadn't been on a vacation in years, but the combination of the free single-day ticket, a free hotel rewards night, and $10 tickets from Jet Blue for their 10th birthday, meant that we did a quick trip to EPCOT with like 24 hours' notice. It was the most magical, awesome thing ever. A couple years later, when a better job meant we had a bit of financial breathing room, we went back for like 4 days (plus a few days at Universal for my HP-obsessed partner) and it continued from there.

I don't know. I just know that, when we go to a Disney park - wherever in the world we are - we'll have a good time. Maybe not a perfect day, but we'll ride some rides, we'll have some food, we'll enjoy ourselves and the atmosphere, etc.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Hi, I just wanted to start a thread on people’s experiences of Disney. From different perspectives because as a wheelchair user I can’t ride all of the rides etc but I still love Disney World, So id love to hear about other people’s thoughts on:
why do you love the parks?
what is was that made you fall in love with Disney?
What’s your favourite things to do?
And anything else really

thanks Alex

The main reason I love WDW is how the CMs have been, and lately even the guests, especially when I'm solo. Everyone's always been exceptionally cordial and friendly. Pre-wheelchair, it was just CMs, but now I find that everyone's been incredibly helpful. I've had people run ahead of me to open doors (even automatic doors, but I still thank them). I've had people run to pick up my cane back when I could get around with a cane.
My favorite thing to do, by far, is to just sit on a bench and soak in the atmosphere, extra points if it's a bench where I can people-watch.
But if I'm doing rides, my all-time favorite is Kilimanjaro Safari. In MK, it's Splash Mountain; in Epcot, Soarin', in DHS, Toy Story Midway Mania. But give me a park bench and I'm fine. There was a promotional video once, with a guy whose favorite thing was to go from bench to bench, just sitting-that's me!

 

[mamabunny]

Hi, I just wanted to start a thread on people’s experiences of Disney. From different perspectives because as a wheelchair user I can’t ride all of the rides etc but I still love Disney World, So id love to hear about other people’s thoughts on:
why do you love the parks?
what is was that made you fall in love with Disney?
What’s your favourite things to do?
And anything else really

thanks Alex

I think I love the Parks for many reasons; it's true that in no small part, WDW especially is the one place in the world that I can go and not have too many worries about what I *can't* do. But I also love the Parks because each one transports me to a different place or time (or several!) and each one has something unique that can't be found anywhere else. As an adult, I love the Parks because they are the physical manifestation of Walt Disney's dream. As a kid, I loved the Magic Kingdom because it seemed as though it were made just for me!

What made me fall in love with Disney was in no small part the TV show - "The Wonderful World of Disney" that aired when I was a kid. Even though I was born in 1960, the first movie I remember going to was a Disney film, and I remember when Walt Disney started talking about "The Florida Project" - and magazines like Popular Mechanics and Popular Science would have articles about all of the technology that was being built into the Magic Kingdom, and how The Contemporary Resort Hotel was "modern and modular!" I clearly remember my dad - a very serious, very thrifty, Korean War vet who worked for NASA on the Gemini and Apollo missions, and was *nothing* if not practical - get excited about going to Florida, and visiting this wonder of technology! My mom wanted to go because back then, if you bought your ticket after 3pm, you got the next day free (or you can think of it that you got from 3pm to close free + prepaid for the next day - same thing LOL) And we could take a picnic basket with us so we didn't have to buy expensive snacks (!) AND she had heard that there was HISTORY incorporated into this theme park, and was determined to find every bit of, and make us see it! (Can you tell she was a teacher? LOL) She did, by the way - first thing we did was march straight to the Hall of Presidents, and afterward, little brother and I had our pictures taken next to the replica of the Liberty Bell. My dad then steered us straight over to "If You Had Wings" which we proceeded to ride back-to-back multiple times that first day! My dad was fascinated by it - especially the "speed room" and it was the first time in my life I remember thinking that parents could actually have fun on vacation! When we went back to school at the end of summer, my brother and I were basically celebrities in our friend circles; no one else we knew had any hope of going to someplace as *glamorous* and famous as Walt Disney World in Florida! It remains forever the best vacation I ever took with my parents.

My favorite things to do are... all of them? LOL. It's really hard for me to pick just a few; I love the rides (some much more than others!) shows and attractions; at Epcot, for example, a must-do every time for me is the little museums that are tucked into quiet corners. Even though I have seen the exhibits many times over, I still enjoy re-visiting them. There's always opportunities for people-watching, of course. I lovelovelove some of the dining options, and have favorite spots for dessert or snacks too. I will never tire of taking the boats, (any of them) and I will always have a soft spot for the Monorail - sorry Skyliner, but it was there first! One of my favorite moments every trip is when you are at MK, and you make "the turn" - from the Square onto Main Street, and there she is, that castle, standing there glorious and beautiful and as magical as ever. I get goosebumps just thinking about it, and I cry (happy tears) every time. And there's still so much other stuff to do! There's live music at Disney Springs, as well as more food and shopping (and water taxis!) and there's the big dinner shows like Hoop-Dee-Do. If it's Halloween or Christmas, you can (and should) rent a golf cart at Ft Wilderness, and tour the campsites where everyone decorates! There are movies on the lawn at the Resorts, and cozy little bars to sip adult beverages in, and it's all so, so good.

After every trip, I say that my one wish is to have at least one more trip in the future. I know how blessed our family is that we can average a couple of trips a year. There are people who get to go one time in their entire life, and many, many others never have the opportunity to go even once. I try to never take it for granted, and to look at it with fresh eyes every time, knowing how fortunate I am. More than anything, it is my respite, and my escape from pain; when I am there my pain levels plummet, and I laugh and smile so much my face hurts (in a good way!)

And maybe that's what I love most about Disney World. I get to act my shoe size, and not my age.

Edited to add: That first trip with my parents & little brother? The first summer WDW was open, and my *my* birthday - July 1972!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I forgot to say what made me fall in love with Disney. My first contact was in the mid-50s, when I had a Viewmaster with one set being the Jungle Cruise attraction. That was my favorite set on my Viewmaster, and so now it's a must-do attraction when I go to the MK. Also, I remember seeing the Carousel of Progress at the NY World's Fair (when my parents could get me away from chasing boys, but that's a different story) and It's a Small World. Although I enjoyed WDW the first time we went (1987), it was a one and done for me. That is, until I got back and someone else who wanted to go asked me about it. The more I talked, the more I realized how much I enjoyed it and we HAD to go back...and back...and...about 35 times, so far.

 

[cobright]

why do you love the parks?
what is was that made you fall in love with Disney?
What’s your favourite things to do?
And anything else really

When Disney (the company and its marketing and park CMs and such) talks about WDW being "The most magical place in the world." I believe it in a way maybe a little different than most.

I had a really rough time after 9-11. I was working across the East River in Long Island City the morning it happened and my wife was in the Chalmers station when the tower came down. I got home and had a voicemail from her telling me where she was as it was happening. She got out, was one of those people evacuated across the Brooklyn bridge and about 5 hours after leaving that voicemail she was able to call me from a payphone in Brooklyn. That's how long I spent coming to terms with what I figured was some pretty bad odds. It took another 3 hours to drive through the chaos to get her. Over the next 4 months or so I slowly but thoroughly cracked up. We moved back to Michigan and by the time I finally got professional help it was 3 years later and I was paralyzed home-bound with anxiety.

Then ... things got a lot better; slowly. I went back to finish my degree. Had a kid. Lot's of therapy. Another kid. Our personal finances recovered. I was back to going out and about and even talking to people sometimes. Things were getting to be... okay. Never good, but okay was good enough. Then we took a 4 day trip to WDW. I had been twice as a kid but didn't really have a good time at the time, but we had kids now and a trip or two to pepper their childhood memories was sort of a status symbol tradition in my family.

When we walked through that arch into the MK, I started breathing easy for the first time in 7 years. I smiled and talked to strangers more in those 4 days than I had in years. For weeks following the trip I wasn't waking up with a nightmare every night. I don't know why I'm so at ease there. I'm supposing that being in the bubble is different enough from the 'real world' that I just process life differently there.

I do know that we could have bought a much bigger house and drove much nicer cars with the money we've since spent going back, but I'm happy in my little house decorated with AP magnets.

 

[Alex Smart]

Thank you all for your stories my wife and I absolutely loved reading them

 

[a1tinkfans]

I was Blessed to basically be brought up at Disney, lol. Oh the memories! My 4 siblings and I in the back of a station wagon for our 18 hour overnite drive from NY to Disney... dad did all the driving! ( and those stories boarder on Crazy) we did that twice a year! Many memories of arriving in Fla..and visiting Disney typically for 1 -2 days but never staying onsite. I think they were called 8 days Inn in those days. My dads side of the family then decided they all needed to go south and he and his siblings, friends and extended family all bought vacation places, so Fla has always held a Very Special place for me.
A family of 7 with our food for the day ( typically fried chix dad n mom fried for days before we left or Pbj) packed and placed in a small cooler in a locker. We d all meet up and eat together than paired off, do what we loved most. Then meet for a counter dinner. I remember the tickets and always wishing I had more. I loved Jungle cruise and Swiss Robinson tree house the most. Pooh and Small World! And the freedom of going off with my little sis, holding hands n skipping down Main Street. Never able to eat at the Castle but Dreaming of it!
Then in HS, met (my hubby), and introduced him to Disney. He’s never loved it and as he’s told me a million times.. he loves watching Me love it, has indulged me/our family over 35 years. And we’ve of course eaten at the Castle and honestly, I think every place, over the years lol.
My ds was introduced by age two ( now adult) and has gone a minimum of yearly since childhood. I typically plan a meet up when he flies in to visit. We moved to sw Fla after retirement ( too far from Disney if u ask me, lol) and since then Blessed to return often.
Disney was the first place we celebrated after having my son( which was a very long process) the first celebration after beating Cancer , a Very Special Trip, the many extended family reunions, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and Unbirthdays too.
My nieces are all Addicted as we like to say. We ve always stayed Onsite ( which I love ...the Total Immersion) and started at Dixie Landings ( POR) which literally became our second home. We ve stayed almost all resorts now, but AKL Savannah is my current fav!
I still tear up upon entering MK. I take a small pix of my mom ( who sadly passed quite young) and take a pix of me, holding her pix, standing in the same spot on Main Street. The memories are Endless.
For me it’s about The “ feelings” I get, it’s honestly like returning Home. Leave the daily happenings behind and just breathe it all in! Every aroma, sight and as hubby often reminds me ... the Shopping is fun too.
Thx for Asking OP, this Disney diversion put a smile on my face. And Welcome to the DIS!
Stay Healthy All!

 

[paisleys]

Growing up, my father worked 7 days a week aside from our two week FL road trip with about 10 days spent at WDW. It was the only time we really got to spend time with him and he was so much fun! He was like a kid at the parks and at River Country. I have a lot of great memories, some of my only happy childhood ones.
I hadn't been in years when I went with my husband 20 years ago (his first trip there ever). The look on his face when our bus pulled in was priceless, plus the whole rest of the week. It was as magical there as I remembered as a child--it even still smells the same! People question why we go so often but we all love it. Every trip seems different as there's so much to do. Also, just walking the grounds is lovely. It feels like home.

 

[ladyjubilee]

I'm going to duck....I don't. For me, a fun trip is going to a historic site or a zoo or traveling to a concert. My mom is to the point she doesn't want to go back.

But Disney is one of the few places we CAN go and have something for everyone. My son LOVES WDW, and we get a Disney bump for 6-8 weeks after a trip. His teacher said he "was like a whole new child" when we camr back after the last trip.

I know other places try, but even at Autism events at museums and other places, we get the "looks" and questions. Disney makes sure it's people are trained, and their calm positive interaction is contagious. So Disney is on our every other year itinerary.

Plus, Star Wars (I just pretend the sequels didn't happen.)

 

[obisbondgirl]

Hi, Alex and welcome.

Before getting a TV at home, I remember watching a show at my aunt's house.

I think it used to be called "Walt Disney's Disneyland" before they changed it in 1961 to "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color". I believe the series originally tied together with the newly constructed Disneyland theme park with programming highlighting certain rides and attractions.

I was hooked. But no one in my family was ever interested. So I was lucky if I was able to watch it. And no one was ever interested in going to Disneyland and later Walt Disney World.

Most of the other only four TV stations on showed adult programming except for Saturday mornings.

I still have never been to Disneyland and I was finally able to visit Walt Disney World as an adult in the 1980's When EPCOT had just opened.

Walt Disney World wasn't Disneyland, but it did have the Magic Kingdom.

And after watching the weekly teases of Mr. Walt Disney showing and describing everything about Disneyland's Magic Kingdom.

Anytime I was allowed to watch the shows, I would.

So to answer your question...

I loved walking down Magic Kingdom's Main Street and seeing the castle.

I now like seeing everything at nighttime with everything lit up, and the fireworks, and the parades at night.

I love the nightly castle lightings along with the other parks.

I love being able to get in any attraction queue with everyone else and sometimes being able to roll onto an accessible ride.

I haven't stayed off-site in a long time. And I like being able to arrive by plane and worry about trying to obtain accessible transportation to Walt Disney World.

And once on the property, I have my choice of using a bus or a sidewalk or a boat or a monorail or a Skyliner to get where I want to go on property.

So many choices. So many places to visit. And my wheelchair is accessible, unlike other vacations.

So there are probably more reasons I like to.

Every first two weeks in December, I plan my annual trip to Walt Disney World to enjoy all the nightly lighted Christmas lights and Christmas music and Christmas shows and Christmas events.

But really do miss a lot of the things that no longer exist like parades, MGM first Christmas light neighborhood you could walk through and EPCOT's Arch of Lights with music. So many now extinct Christmas things.

If I can ever find a travel agent that specializes in trips to Disneyland including wheelchair planning from airport transportation, hotel/resort, and return I will start planning that Disneyland trip. But I haven't found that travel agent that thinks about or understands all of those needs even though they say they do understand.

Hi Ray. I just wanted to say that I’ve recently been following two people on social media who use power wheelchairs & travel as a career. I believe they are both also licensed travel agents! I am not sure if I am allowed to mention them here. But based on following them, I think you could definitely book an accessible Disneyland trip with someone who understands your needs!

 

[danceintherain]

I love that the transportation and entertainment options are vast. DH has always needed a break every day, even before his abilities changed, and I have yet to find another vacation destination that has fully allowed for meshing of my vacation style with his. I've been able to stay out touring with our oldest, while he took our second back to the hotel for a nap without any major transportation issues. The hotels have lots of activities all day long, so if I go back to the hotel and don't feel like resting for some reason (or the kids won't let me!) I can find something to do without going back to the park.

He didn't come with us on our last trip. Partially, because he was worried he would drag the us down. But, I think I've learned enough to be able to make sure he has the accommodations he needs to feel confident at Disney again.

 

[DisneyOma]

I love Disney because it's not all about the big roller coasters. I can go on a trip there with anyone and have a good time. I've gone with family members of varying abilities, and we've always found a way to have a blast, be exhausted in a good way at the end of the day, and make the kind of memories that stick for decades.

Even though my last trip there ended up with an emergency room visit, it was still a great trip because Disney put in the effort to make sure I was well taken care of on the way to the hospital, and after I got back to my room. And the ER doctor at Celebration Hospital found the magic medication that worked for my very tricky bacterial infection, and I finally got better after months of being really off.

 

[ttintagel]

Confining my response to Disney parks. It’s a little bit less now that crowds are so heavy that they add another kind of stress to the mix, but what I love about being in the parks is the feeling of leaving the real world behind and entering a fully-realized world all of its own.