10/26/2024
My agency asked us to think about when it happened, when we became Disney people, the first time we knew the magic, when we knew it was central to our story.
It started for me in 1993. My dad worked for IBM and he traveled to a conference every January for work. What the heck!? Why did he go and I didn’t? We couldn’t swing the cost at the time, but the promise was there. My mom’s cousin passed away in the fall of 1992 and he left her some money in his will. My parents, my maternal grandmother and I got to plan our first trip.
We stayed around Dixie Landing, now Port Orleans Riverside. We were hooked, I mean absolutely enamored with everything! This was just the start. We started going every year, finding our family favorite hotel, Wilderness Lodge (The OG of Disney resorts if you ask me) and eventually joined the Disney Vacation Club in 2003 as members at Beach Club Villas.
They say home is a feeling, not a place. This is both true and not true for me. Walt Disney World is a feeling for me, peace, happiness, relaxation, anticipation, and now as I watch my kids; pure joy. It’s also a place, a sprawling property with endless memories of the past and the promise of future ones.
I really have my parents to thank for giving me the gift of Disney. It’s a very happy part of my childhood that I’ve carried into adulthood to share with my three children.
I wish I had photos from 1993, but this is the oldest photo I have on my phone from Disney, my husband and I in 2016, little did we know our first son was in tow 🙂 A few other favorites of the today.
As Walt says, “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing – that it all started with a mouse”. Thanks for everything Walt!
