You Had Me at Welcome

The first time I was a guest at Walt Disney World Resort in 1996 I fell in love. As a child I always wanted to go to Disneyland or Disney World. I saw the commercials on TV during the Wonderful World of Disney program that came on every Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. Each time I pleaded with my parents to take me they only laughed or made the ususal open ended promise of "Maybe one day." I loved Bambi, one of the first movies I ever saw in the theatre, and watched Snow White, Cinderella as well as the Mickey Mouse Club a few times but loved the movies that was shown on television each Sunday evening. Not many of my friends had ever been to Disneyland or Disney World so I never heard much about it, only what I saw on T.V. I hoped that one day I would get to be one of those happy faces wearing Mickey ears and laughing with my family.
That day finally came, it was nearly a month before my 30th birthday when I walked onto Disney property for the first time. My husband and three children were with me when I first met Mickey Mouse. The castmembers were all so friendly and helpful. I couldn't believe there was a place that made you feel so special and welcome. Sure it was a busy place but we never experienced a rude or negative member of the cast the entire time we were there. We wanted to take it all in because we felt we would probably not have a chance to return until our kids were practically grown or even may have kids of thier own. We got up early for the extra magic hours and stayed for the extra p.m. hours as well. We requested wake up calls from Mickey and his friends and ate at every Character meal we could get in to. Sure we paid for it over the next few years but it was something we would never forget. Our youngest daughter was not yet three so she was free to enter the parks and free to eat at the buffets, while our other two were 4 and 10. My husband had just signed on with a few buisness owners to open a fast food resturaunt and we knew it was now or never, well at least not for many years, before we could take a vacation so we did it up.
I would have never imagined how much I would enjoy myself, I thought Disney World was for kids. Much to my surprise when we walked into the lobby of our resort and the cast member greeted us, I was hooked. It was ten years before we were able to return to that magical place but within a year we had purchased ownership in the Disney Vacation Club. Each time we go back I feel a renewal with each "Welcome Home" I hear.