Engagement Ring

Brandon, 22, Binghamton, NY

My family has visited Walt Disney World four times and loved every second. On the fifth trip, something special happened that trumps all the previous trips combined. In July 2007, we went for seven days and invited my fiancée to come along with us. I had already proposed to her the year before, but without an engagement ring. Two days prior to the trip, my mother gave me the engagement ring that my dad had given her 27 years ago.

We all took the train down from upstate New York. My fiancée slept in the chair next to me, while the engagement ring was safe in my pocket. We arrived in Orlando, Florida, 27 hours later and made our way to the hotel. That same evening we went to Magic Kingdom to ride a few of the attractions and watch the fireworks show.

During the first few blasts of fireworks, I held my fiancée's left hand while removing the ring (still in its box) from my pocket. Her eyes were already sparkling from the flashes of color and light in the sky. When I opened the box to show her the ring, her eyes magically lit up even more as I slipped the engagement ring onto her finger. We'll be married in 66 days!

Family Dreams

Liz, 38, Petersburg, IL

 

When my husband and I celebrated our honeymoon at Disney World, I don't think we had any idea how much happiness Disney would bring us through the years. We have watched the kids grow up in our many trips to Disney. From the first Dumbo ride until our youngest was tall enough for Rockin Roller Coaster, each moment has been special!

This summer, we had a dream trip. On our first day at Epcot, my son wished for a Dream Fastpass. An hour later, each of us was presented with a Dream Fastpass -- it was our lucky day! On our last day, we wanted to open the Magic Kingdom and make a full day of it. We got our wish by being chosen the first family and throwing out the confetti to open the Magic Kingdom with Mickey and the gang. I will never forget my children's faces as the train we were riding with all of the Characters rounded the bend to the thousands of people waiting to enter the Magic Kingdom.

Disney has made many of our dreams come true in the last 15 years ... I can't wait to see what else can happen in our future visits! The kids are counting the days until we come back!

Family Lives on at Disneyland

CJ, 58, San Clemente, CA

 I can remember going to Disneyland for the first time around age six. Wearing my coonskin cap, I was selected to lead the band down Main Street, U.S.A. What an everlasting wow!

My family, with Grandma and Grandpa, saved and planned every year and returned on the third Wednesday of August every year from 1956. The excitement bubbled and exploded as the time grew nearer. It was easier to sleep the night before Christmas, than the night before Disneyland. It was a day the whole family spent together, something that never happened unless we were going to Disneyland. Quality time, enjoying each other's company, sharing each other's joy. Breakfast at Aunt Jemima's, dreaming and hiking on Tom Sawyer's Island. And, oh, those Autopia cars, getting to drive a car ... another wow. Each ride had its own memory, each Land its own experience with the family.

Then in the 1980s it was my time to be the mom, and take my kids to the Happiest Place on Earth. The excitement of taking them was as big and bold as it was when I was a kid. And the dream never got old, the experience never died.

Today my grandparents have passed on – my mom too. Nobody lives in the same home, not even in the same neighborhood. Disneyland remains the only place I can visit to relive the wonderful memories of my childhood. To smell the smells, and touch the places where we all had such good and endearing times together. When I miss them, I don't visit a cemetery, I visit Disneyland. It still brings a smile to my face, and I still get that twinge of excitement as I enter the Happiest Place on Earth. Thanks Disneyland!