Remembering... Where Dreams Come True

In the United States it is almost a right of passage to go to Disney World.  There is a sign in the park that says...

The first time that I went to Walt Disney World I was 18 years old and in my first year of college.  Someone that I knew had won a free trip to Daytona Beach for four days and three night.   My sister and I decided to go even though that meant I would have to use my college tuition money and take off a semester to finance it. (As a side note, obviously my thinking was flawed at 18 years old...stay in school!)   We went in January and it was wonderful to get warm and away from cold Tennessee in the winter.  A memory that stand out from that trip is my first time on the Small World Ride and recounting the song I had made up about sixth grade to that tune "It's a world of torture, a world of hate, It's a world of something you never ate.  Though the windows are wide, you are still locked inside.  It's a boring school!"   Ahem...back to Disney... It was a wonderful day.  A day of first.  My first time at Disney , my first time on Space Mountain, my first time in Florida...  My favorite show was The Carousel of Progress "Now is the Best Time of Your Life" was the song, and it showed how we had progressed with a spinning timeline from the perspective of General Electric.   It was so cool!  And that was before people had computers and cell phones.   I don't think we had even taken the plunge to buy that new device that everyone was talking about....the microwave!

The second time that I went to Disney World was on my honeymoon!  Mike and I had been given the same trip.  The price was right for poor college students, so off we went on a repeat trip for me except for now I had a brand new husband!   I did have to keep myself from saying "When my sister and I were here...."  so I wouldn't hurt my new husband's feelings.   Honestly, I don't remember many specifics about that trip...only that I was so in love and with the greatest guy on earth at the happiest place on earth.

Mike took this picture of
21 year old Kathy on her honeymoon at Disney World.

Fast forward to the Spring of 2000.   I am now 36 years old and have three children Michael (age 12), Mandy(age 9) and Christy (age 4).  I work at First Presbyterian Church School as a sixth grade teacher and we are on Spring Break.   Mike is at an Army School in Fort Leavenworth so I am on my own with the kids. They were at the age that if you tell them you are going to do something, they will worry you to death asking you "Can we go now? now?  NOW???"  I didn't know if I was going to be too tired to do anything...so I had kept quiet about any plans.   We are on day 3 of Spring Break, so I am feeling pretty rested and about lunch time we went to Kmart in Hinesville.   I bought all three kids a new outfit, and new toothbrushes and we went to get some lunch at Captain D's.   I asked the kids where they would like to go for Spring Break? I got a joking "Disney World" from Michael, the beach from Mandy, and Christy also thought Disney World was a grand idea.   I gave them a "yeah, right" look and we loaded up in the van.   When it came time to turn off to our house and I didn't turn, they asked...."where are we going?"   I didn't answer them and they speculated that we were going to the beach.   When we missed the turn off for Tybee Island they again asked "where are we going?"   I said "Where do you think we are going?"   Christy said "Disney World!"  Her older and wiser brother and sister said, "No really, where are we going?"  I said, "Disney World.".   Again they said "No really, where are we going?"   They could not believe that we were REALLY going to Disney World!   Michael even seemed to get upset.   He said "I can't believe you, you don't have a map or anything!  And I don't have anymore socks!"  The boy was obsessed with having clean socks on :).   When reality set in, they were so happy!   Another side note....probably not a great idea to drive to Disney during Spring Break with no hotel reservation.  We had a hard time finding a vacancy and Disney was SO CROWDED.   In spite of the long lines, we hung in there with good attitudes and had a wonderful time and made some great memories.

Six years later I had my fourth experience with Disney, only this time we were living in Europe.   Mike is deployed to Ramadi, Iraq and the girls and I were going stir crazy in Friedberg, DE.   I had yet to venture too far from home, afraid that I would get lost and not understand enough German to get home.   I decided that I really needed to be more adventurous or I wouldn't last the deployment with my sanity.  I impulsively booked us on a tour leaving the next day (I haven't changed that much in six years) to Paris, France.   It was an exhausting bus ride, but we had a blast in Paris.   On the last day we had a chance to choose going up in the Eiffel tower or going to Disneyland Paris.   Mandy and I were mostly interested in going to the Eiffel tower, but Christy had been too little before to ride many of the rides, so she was really wanting to go to Disney...so we went to give her the experience.   Disneyland Paris is way different from the one in Orlando. For one thing the shows were in French....."say what?" "Le monde est petit, après tout." instead of "It's a small world after all."

Space Mountain was very hard on my 42 year old neck....but Disney is still always a fun day...and Christy had a wonderful time! 

  

Paris Disneyland March 2006

So far in my life I have "left today and entered the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy", The Magic Kingdom, four times.   As we live out our real lives day to day, it is good to remember that inspiring and true quote from Genie in the movie Aladdin, "Today's special moments are tomorrow's memories."