That's me (Brad) on the left (the luckiest guy on the planet) and my beautiful wife Amy on the right, sitting down in the 50's Prime Time Cafe, getting ready for an awesome lunch. We love the 50's Prime Time for both the food and the "show" the waiters and waitresses put on. Never put your elbows on the table, or else!
Back in 1991 when we were getting ready to be married, my soon-to-be wife and I sat down and started planning our honeymoon trip. I had thoughts of Hawaii or maybe Las Vegas dancing in my head like sugar plums on Christmas Eve! My wife on the other hand, had other ideas. Walt Disney World.
To be totally honest with you, I was bummed out. Why would I want to go to a place that was built for little kids? Oh and by the way, Disney World would be much more expensive than Vegas or Hawaii. But let's face it, I would do absolutely anything for my wife, so it was a no brainer for me to get on the phone and get the trip booked.
Of course as newlyweds, we were pretty much broke, so flying down to Florida was out of the question. So we hopped in my Isuzu 2 seater truck and off to Mickey's house we drove. All 16 hours of it from Indiana! Needless to say we couldn't afford a true Disney hotel so we chose a hotel on International Drive, which was just a short car trip to the Magic Kingdom.
After a good nights sleep and rest from the drive, my wife chose the Magic Kingdom as our first stop. Great! I couldn't wait to get on the "kiddie" rides. At least maybe the food would be ok?
It would have been proper to have bought a Grumpy hat and shirt and put it on me the entire way over to the Magic Kingdom. Bless my wifes heart for putting up with me and my attitude. But you know what? After only an hour in the park it was ME who was dragging my wife around the park! I simply could not wait to see everything my eyes could take in. The music, the sounds, the rides, the food, the ambience. I wanted it all as quickly as I could get it. Needless to say, I was hooked 100%. And I have been for the last 18 years. My favorite rides are (in order) Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain.
As always, my wife was right. I know I was only 23 at the time, but I felt like a kid all over again. We had the time of our lives and that week started a tradition of Disney trips that has continued every single year (sometimes twice a year) since then, including Disney Cruises. We even got my Mother and Father-In-Law hooked and now they love Disney as much as we do. Both of our families are proud Disney Vacation Club Members and we look forward to many more visits going forward.
As I said, I absolutely, categorically, positively, LOVE everything to do with Disney. The theme parks, the food, the collectibles, the clothes, the moves, the music. You name it, I love it. And I really hope I get you to love it as well.
Why? Because there is simply not another feeling of joy and happiness that you can find anywhere else in the world. It's not just the theme parks either. Your love of Disney can be with you each and every day. I always tell everyone who will listen that Disney is not just a place, it is a state of mind. A euphoria that takes you back to a simpler time when play time was ALL the time. Love is all around you, as Princesses are rescued by their Princes, toys love the kids who play with them, and Little Mermaids long to be understood and at last find true love. The amazing food you get to eat at the parks can be made at home as well! And the music and spiels that you hear on the rides can be played on your ipod any time at home.
Each day, or as often as I can, I will share some pictures with you and the stories that go with the pictures here on my blog. I hope you will take the time to leave a comment as well. Feel free to ask me anything you'd like about the pictures, or Disney, or well anything you'd like really.
My goal is to turn this blog into a book. With this in mind, I encourage you to email me your Disney stories if you have them, or your Disney questions, if you have them, and especially your pictures, which I will include in my book.
Also, very soon, I hope to start my own podcast that I will publish on iTunes where I can further share my love for Disneyana in audio format. I will also post the podcast here on the blog as well.
I hope you will hang around and enjoy my journey with me. I have loved every minute of it and I truly look forward to sharing it with you and hope your love for Disney will grow as mine and my families have over the years.
So until next time.....M-I-C, I'll see you next blog post. K-E-Y, why, because I LOVE DISNEY! M-O-U-S-E!!!!
Bye for now! Brad
