Chicago – Winter – 1984 – It’s 5am, my sister and I are woken by our mother. We have a 9am flight from Chicago to Disney World. We’ve been waiting for this trip ever since our father booked it with the travel agent months before. We excitedly wait for the cab to take us to the airport. Then at the airport, we wait for the plane to depart. We say goodbye to the snow. While on the plane, my sister and I put on our Mickey hats. We are getting so excited. The anticipation is too much for us to handle. We finally land. The smell of the warm air is bringing back to the memories of the previous trips. We hop in the rent-a-car for Magic Kingdom. That last 35 minute drive takes forever. We see the Walt Disney World sign and we know we are home free. We park and finally make it to the gate and make a b-line to the Mad Tea Party (Tea Cups).
All this anticipation and travel excitement added to the magic of Disney. For months, all we talked about was our upcoming trip to Disney. I see this in my kids today.
So, I’m just wondering, for the kids that live near Disney and have an annual pass. Does this lack of anticipation and travel take away from the Disney magic? For me, a big part of the magic was the travel and just getting away from home.
My wife and I always planned on moving near Disney one day. Will doing so make us loose some of that Disney Magic?
>>Joe Principe
Creator of sharemickey.com, Moderator at reddit.com/r/disney, Partner at Signal Flow Music, Inc along with Disney Mousekteer, Ricky Luna, Husband, Dad, Tech Geek, DVC Member, Disney Nut! I have the best wife and kids! I’m the guy that won’t stop talking about Disney!
Related articles
- Top 5 Spinning Attractions at Disney World (returntodisney.com)
- Disney Confidential – Special Event planned for Disney World 40th Anniversary (chipandco.com)
Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.
Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.
Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel
For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!
I honestly don’t think it would. My husband and I plan on moving down to Florida after we’re both done with school. We’re planning on moving to Miami though so that we’ll still be a couple hours away so it will still be a vacation to go to Disney World, but I don’t think anything could ruin the magic for me.
Living near Disney does not take the Magic away…it’s all in how YOU make it magical. I have an annual pass and still get excited the morning I am heading out.
NEVER! My family and I moved down here for the parks. We live 10 minutes away from the parks and go every weekend. There’s always new things to discover, and the rides never get old. Plus, all the events Disney schedules keep up busy! A way to keep my family excited for Disney is by telling us if we finish our homework early, we can to to see Wishes or walk along Downtown Disney.We still LOVE Disney and don’t feel it will be getting old anytime soon.
We will be here one year next month. When we got our annual passes, we went to Disney for 35 days straight, then 4 or 5 days a week and now we go 2 or 3 days a week. We love going! We live 15 minutes from the Parks. We go to all the special events, Flower & Garden, Star Wars Weekends, Holidays and love the Food & Wine at Epcot. This has been the most magical year of our lives. We intend to renew our annual passes again next month. We have also stayed on property ( Beach Club is our favorite) several times during the year just because it’s so much fun! We always see something new when we go because the parks are always changing. WE LOVE IT HERE!!!!!
NOT AT ALL! We moved to Florida 4 years ago and live over on the space coast. We have taken numerous trips to WDW both just my husband and I and with our now 5 year old son as well as our 7 month old daughter. Every time we go, we experience something old and something new. Yes, we have our favorites, but the guests and cast members are always changing, as is the weather and other such things (busy, not busy, time of day, parades, etc.) and so it is never the same way twice…Last year we made 2 week long trips and 1 long weekend trip. This year, we have made 1 weeklong trip and are planning a weekend trip in a couple of weeks along with another weeklong trip in November and another starting new year’s eve. We ride fave rides, try new ones, eat new places, and see things through the kids’ eyes and it is AMAZING!
I will have to get back to you on this one. We have just moved to the Jacksonville, FL area (about 2 hours from Disney) and are planning on getting Disney AP by next summer. We plan on going to Orlando for a week for our vacation (we have a timeshare in Kissimmee). I’ve thought the same thing and my Mom says no b/c with our rate it probably will take us a year to see everything! Bc every trip you’ll “have” to go on your FAVORITE rides!
Definitely not! I’ve lived in Orlando (about 45 minutes away) for my entire life. Our family is a part of the Disney Vacation Club, so our whole family stays at the resorts at least twice a year. And it never gets old! First of all, there’s so much to do. A lot of the times we won’t even go to the parks; we’ll go to different pools, take a walk on the Boardwalk, eat a nice meal, catch a fireworks show, etc etc. Second, these trips are like mini-vacations. It’s far enough to feel like you’re out of town, but still not an expensive plane ride or long haul away. To answer your question, I haven’t felt like any magic of Disney has vanished because of the close proximity to the parks! It’s still the happiest place on Earth!
Absolutely NOT! We live just 30 min or so from the parks, my mom is a cast member (she’ll be retiring in Jan) We don’t have passes but we get in with my mom several times a year and go to Downtown Disney at least once a month. Disney is still magical for my dd(14) and I. Matter of fact we are so excited to attend MVMCP this year 🙂