Growing Up Disney

Yes you can grow-up and still like going 

to Disney with your parents 

(at least I think he likes going with us)!

 

Our oldest son, if you asked him, would tell you his first trip to Disney was in November, 1979, now he wasn't born until February of 1980 but technically he was there.  So I could not go in Space Mountain, the Tea Cups, or anything else that says pregnant mothers should not ride, but I still had fun because it was my husband's first trip to Walt Disney World. Now our son's Paul first "real" trip to Walt Disney World was when he was 14 month's old and we went to visit his Great Grandmother in Florida with my uncle, we (he) drove straight through and I promised myself I would never do that again!) and of course we had to go to Disney.  I can still remember the smiles when he saw Mickey Mouse, which was his favorite. 

His next trip was when his brother was one and he was four and this was the first time with dad! Back then we really did not have a lot of money so we drove up and down International Drive (which was I-4 back then) to find the "cheapest" nice hotel we could; of course we will take a room in the construction wing for $25.00 a night, at the Hilton, SCORE!

We went to Disneyland for the first time when his Uncle Tony graduated from Marine Corp boot camp, this time dad could not come with and we left a day before the rest of my family so that we would be able to go to Disneyland before heading down to San Diego.  We flew into LAX and drove right to Disneyland, or should I say tried to, Paul was my map reader, he told me to turn, but I "knew" where I was going.  He told me "mom if you keep going this way we are going to drive into the ocean", well we did almost drive into the ocean and he has never let me forget that.  
We called dad when we were done at Disneyland at the end of day and the boys told him about everything he missed.

We went to Disneyland a few years later when dad came home with a surprise trip for us (again due to his job he could not go with). We all finally got to go together during one of the boys leaves and included our daughter in law Renee (Paul's wife).

We went back a few times with my mom to visit Grandma, with stops at Walt Disney World on the way home, but our next trip would be a big one......and the first time for the boys to stay on Disney property.  This trip was totally planned at the new Disney Travel Company at the Woodfield Mall near Chicago, we went there as a family and met with one of the travel coordinators and he walked us through everything for that trip.  We would be staying for 9 days at the brand new Boardwalk Hotel, we got a "meal package" (okay back then it was coupons) and we let the boys do a few tours and classes through the Disney Institute.  Paul even took the Keys to the Kingdom tour by himself.  The boys would get up early in the morning to be the first ones into which ever park we were going to that day and we would sometimes meet them later in the morning at a planned time and place.  We did every park, water park, Pleasure Island, Downtown Disney, rode the boats in the lake outside our resort and after this trip never stayed off property again.

After this trip he went off to the Coast Guard.  We have made a few trips with him and Renee since then.   

Both our sons knew a trip to Disney (or any vacation) was a "treat" not a given.  Yes we went many other places throughout their childhood and everywhere was an adventure, you have to make each trip a learning experience, even Disney can be one, like learning how to read maps (LOL).  We taught the boys from our first trip that we could do one nice dinner at Disney and that meant they had to "dress-up", I wish people would put a little more thought into their attire (when it says no shorts, tank tops, flip-flops - Business Casual only try following directions, give your children a base to work off of).  Every trip after that the boys looked forward to that one special night and the boys will still pack dockers and nice shirts for our "nice" dinners, which is much more then one night during the trips. 

He is kind of like me, the planner especially when it comes to Disney trips.  We go over each detail many times before we leave and that includes trying to get our flights to land around the same time from two different city's. He is also the IT guy for the Disney Gals and comes up with a lot of my photos for Wordless Wednesday, since he is the photographer in the family (due to his job). He is our first born and I am happy to say has grown into a wonderful man.  As I type we are getting ready to leave for North Carolina to spend the weekend with him and Renee as both their birthdays are within February.  

Happy 33rd Birthday Paul!! Hope you have a wonderful day, miss you and Renee (Happy Birthday to you too!). Cannot wait to spend your birthday weekend with both of you.