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Thread: That's My Opinion: That Disney Something

  1. #1
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    That's My Opinion: That Disney Something

    That Disney Something by Steve Russo

    Just what is it that keeps us coming back again and again?

    Read it here!


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    I've been planning my annual trip of taking my kids to Disneyland for Spring Break, for months. I can't wait to check in to the Sheraton on Saturday. I'm divorced from their mom and it's "our" thing. I always look forward to it. My first trip to DL was when I was a kid and it was a dream come true. I can't count the times I've been back since my two times as a kid. In the old days, we'd scrape up just enough money to get in the park and buy a meal for the day. Sleeping in the back of a pick-up truck along the seven hour journey because we couldn't even afford a hotel.

    Disneyland marks the important moments of my life and helps me have perspective of where I started and how much we've both grown, (DL and I). Always something new at DL, always something new in my life. The year DCA (2002) opened and I couldn't go because I had a new daughter. The year (2003) my daughter was 18 months and I spent a week at DL with my best mate from my Marine Corps days that I hadn't seen in twenty years. The time my new girlfriend and I snuck rum in our cokes ('87) and rode the old rocket rides. What a flight! The year ('93) my 3rd cousin came out to visit from the east coast and we saw Japanese tourists yelling "Toy-o-ta!" in the former DL parking lot, for over forty minutes, over and over again. We thought, "Omigod, they're calling their car!". I laughed til I was sick. I have dozens of these times. This is how I tend to earmark my life and it all started with that first wish coming true when I was eleven. I'm not sure what year this is, yet. I know it will be something memorable.

    Additionaly, the folks who run the park do such an amazing job keeping things family friendly and keeping the parks safe. If you've ever stood in line with thugs at Magic Mountain, or in line with some of the line-cutting teens that seem to appear in every other type of amusement park out there, you realize your hard earned dollars go towards the policing that allows you to believe you're in a magical world when you're really in an amusement park next to the Santa Ana Freeway. I haven't been to Florida, although I've been to the Tokyo and Paris parks, and DL is that special place I always go back to that represents the better part of my childhood. The part of my childhood that I like to remember. The part of my children's childhood that is far better and like the one I always imagined for myself. A place where indeed, "Wishes come true!".

    Last edited by averagecuppajoe; 03-27-2012 at 04:38 AM.
    averagecuppajoe@yahoo.com

  4. #3
    Registered User Silvercat's Avatar
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    Well thanks Steve for making me quietly blub while at work!

    I guess most folks who keep going back have their 'Disney moments' and that's what keeps us going back. We definitely get our 'moment' every time we go, and it always seems to be different each visit! Probably my most memorable was a few years ago, when my daughter was about 7 or 8 years old. We queued for around an hour to meet Mickey, not so she could get his autograph or so we could take her photo with him, but just because, in her words, "he looks like he needs me to hug him". My darling daughter is now 29 years old, and this memory still makes me tear up.

    Thank you for trying to put the 'moments' into words; I guess we Mousepadders understand, even if no-one else does!

    Silvercat

    (Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels" - all 4 books available now as e-books)

  5. #4

    Excellent reading, Steve. This is indeed of of life's great intangibles - why we all love WDW so much and keep going back so often. It's a tough one to convey to co-workers, who will always voice the inevitable "Again? You JUST WENT THERE!". I always try to say in a few words that it's not just the rides - it's the food, it's the scenery, it's the atmosphere, it's the shows. It's just "something" that is very hard to make folks understand.

    Part of it is, in the words of John Travolta - you always need something to look forward to. I just about HAVE to have that next WDW or DL trip in the planning stages, and have at least a mental countdown in the works. And while I take a rental car from the airport instead of the DME bus, I do the same as you - as soon as I cross that threshold between "not WDW" and "WDW" the heart starts to beat a little faster, and I just CAN'T WAIT till that first sight of a monorail! I've always said my life has two phases - inside a Disney park, and outside a Disney park. And on each trip, the first time I click through that Epcot turnstile and realize that the waiting and planning and traveling is over and I'm finally HERE - well, it's one of those magical moments that just can't be experienced anywhere else.

    Next trip - 4 weeks and 2 days (not that I'm counting or anything . . .).

    The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
    - James Taylor

  6. #5
    Registered User DisneyGator's Avatar
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    My "that's it" moment comes at two parks. And so I always start my trip at either Epcot or DHS. At Epcot, it's when I see SSE and hear the entrance music. At DHS, it's when I step around the first Mickey Globe tower and see the Sorcerer's Hat at the end of Hollywood Blvd. I think that's my personal fav, but the Epcot moment feels great, too.

    The only other place that makes me feel this way is Yosemite National Park. It's just 2 hours away, so I get to visit a couple of times a year. And every moment went I round the bend on the 120 and see Half Dome. It's just like seeing anything at WDW. But that's the only place I feel this way. Disneyland, Hawaii, SnakeRiver Canyon, Yellowstone, Monterey, Corpus Christi...none of them have the "it" factor like WDW.

    Working for Disney. No, no. Working (in a Modesto office) for (the money to take a trip to) Disney (World/Land)

    WDW Trips: June 2002, Feb 2004, Dec 2006, Dec 2008, Jan 2010, Feb 2011, Dec 2012
    Disneyland Trips: Feb 2006, Nov 2013, Nov 2014, Feb, March, June 2015 (x2), Nov 2015

  7. #6
    Registered User srusso100's Avatar
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    Thanks all. It's interesting reading about the different moments that provide that "something".

    Steve

  8. #7

    Such a great article! You are so right, how does anyone describe the Disney "Feeling"?!?!?


  9. #8
    Registered User srusso100's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan the Light Man View Post
    Such a great article! You are so right, how does anyone describe the Disney "Feeling"?!?!?
    Thanks, Dan.
    Steve

  10. #9

    I thought it was called Disney "Magic". =)


    Powers &8^]


  11. #10

    Hey Steve, excellent article! Glad you are back writing.

    Youre right its hard to put into words for That Disney Something. For me it might be that subconscious sense of a near utopian place. The weather is better, the little details are taken care of, theres something entertaining around every corner, the cast members are helpful and friendly and even the crowds are friendlier than anywhere else on the planet. Even the efficiency of everything plays a part. (We all wish that everything was that way in our day to day lives like the DMV, malls, public transportation .)

    Its almost as if youre in a Twilight Zone episode, where everything is perfect but there is a catch. The great thing about WDW is there is no catch! Yes there are hiccups now and then. Other wise it would be truly utopian and we would never leave.

    I also think thats why many of us like to plan. Disney did their part, now its up to us to make our vacation as utopian as possible. Then when we get there and that moment hits - all we have to do is enjoy.

    Michael and Kellis August 2016 Trip with 25 Friends and family
    http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?234828
    Common Walt Disney World Wild Birds http://bochnik.com/disneybirds/disneybirds.htm
    Our other Disney Trips (including our Disneymoon): Kelli and Mike's Adventures http://www.bochnik.com/

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