Walt Disney World...

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around the age of 21, after going to Disney World for a few days to kill time while visiting my relatives down in Florida, I got really into Disney.

I'm a major fan now--and thankfully so is my girlfriend--and we keep looking up travel plans cause we want to go there in a few years.

Here and there, I even check out videos online of classic attractions--read about 'em on Wikipedia too--and I'm currently reading an article about several now sadly defunct EPCOT attractions.

The funny thing is I'm realizing that I can now truly appreciate this stuff in a way I never could as a child...and I think I know why.

First of all, my parents took me...and to this day, I don't know why. We didn't stay at a hotel on the premises, and they just wanted to cram as much in as they could, and didn't really take any of it in. I mean....my folks even went there as part of their honeymoon...and my Dad doesn't even remember what they saw.

Like I've said in the past, they're "fly-by-nighters".

Most of my family never seemed to really take it in, either.

So, what about me you may be wondering? My memories were kind of bizarre there; upon reading descriptions about a lot of the attractions, I understand now what we were experiencing on the rides, but at the time, it just seemed like the ultimate mindf&*%.

A lot of it just flat-out freaked me out: y'know, a lot of the humorous and cool stuff that was meant to be "edutainment for kids". I just didn't comprehend what I was even experiencing at the time, and I totally get it now.

I love it now in ways I didn't then.

I'm guessing my Autism played a very big role in that.

Anyone else care to chime in with their thoughts?

I went to Disney World back in 1993. We stayed at the Disney Village resort. I would really like to go back sometime and see how much it has changed.

While I was I could now re-experience some things again understanding things I didn't back then, one thing I'm glad is gone: Horizons.

I prefer Spaceship Earth. Watching a video on Youtube about Horizons bored the sh*t out of me...

I used to work at Disney world. I was a dancer in the show in front of Cinderella's castle called, "Dream Along With Mickey". It was hard work doing 6 or 8 shows a day in the heat. The benefits were really good though, I got to go to the park whenever for free and take a certain number of people a year. I never reached my maximum number of people for obvious reasons. I really enjoyed walking around the park alone though. If I was ever really bored on a weekend, I'd just go to Disney World.

My favorite attractions are:

-Magic Kingdom-

Dream Along With Mickey
The three mountains, Space Mountain, Big Mountain Railroad, and Splash Mountain

-Hollywood Studios-

Rockin' Rollercoaster
Tower of Terror

-Epcot-

eating
The world of Tomorrow
The chinese acrobats
Soarin'

-Animal Kingdom-

Mount Everest (favorite attraction in the whole park)
Dinosaur

Also, I love love love their frozen lemonades and McDonald's fries. They have them in every park, you just have to find them.

I absolutely LOVE Walt Disney World; infact it is one of my obsessions

Everything about it I just love. I normally hate crowds but in Disney I don't mind them!

Favourite park: Magic Kingdom (because it's magical) But I love them all.

Favourite attractions: Test Track, Mission Space, Soarin, and all the character rides e.g Peter Pan etc.

Oh you got me all excited again...I want to go for a fifth time soon!

I only started getting into the Disney films a few years ago. I have quite a lot of them on VHS -- my favourites are Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King, 101 Dalmations (both the cartoon and the film), Robin Hood, Lady and the Tramp and Alice in Wonderland.

The ending in Pinocchio actually makes me cry. The bit where Pinocchio sacrifices his life to save Gepetto and the Fairy Godmother rewards his courage by making him a real boy.

I went to Disney Land in CA - usa when I was
4 this was about 1973, I don't remember
very much of it and I want to go again
but I think it costs $5000.00 USD to stay
for a whole week per person so I don't
think brother and me will ever get to go again

You can get some very cheap deals if you know where to look. I booked through a UK travel company and saved a lot of money. PLus, once you are there, prices in the park are reasonable, considering you are in WDW, the Happiest Place on Earth!

I'm with you on the "why didn't I love it this much when I was a kid"? I lived about an hour from Orlando for a good part of my childhood and my dad got us annual passes every year...we went a couple times a month, and I remember whining "do we have to go to Disney World AGAIN????" Then, as a young adult, I ended up working there for about 3 years...of course, cast members get free admission, so my roommate and I would spend our days off visiting the parks every week.

As an adult, my heart starts pounding with excitement every time I drive onto the Disney property and I feel like a little kid. Now I live in WA state, so of course, I haven't been in many years, but I was just thinking a couple days ago that I want to plan to spend a week maybe next spring because I miss it.

I think for me the big difference was that as a kid, there was so much going on and I just couldn't focus on anything and it was all so overwhelming...my parents were always rushing to get to the next ride and trying to balance the needs of 3 different kids, and it turned out to be all a blur for me. As an adult, I can show up at Epcot, head to World Showcase, and just watch the street shows, sample food and wine, window shop, and just get lost in the experience, and if I get through the whole day without riding a single ride, it's ok.

By the way..World Showcase is my favorite part, and I have a tip that took me a year to figure out. Most people seem to start at Mexico, and proceed clockwise around to Canada. If you go the other way and start at Canada...stay for their street show there, and casually proceed around the world counterclockwise, you will hit a show in every country:)

I remember being traumatized by a giant stinking rat.

I used to love the idea of WDW, but as I learn more about what kind of stuff Disney Corp has gotten itself involved with, the thought of giving a dime to that place sickens me.

Well, I definitely think that the attractions there are meant to be viewed in different ways by both adults and children. I LOVED Disney as a kid, though I was more of an EPCOT geek, especially because I loved the whole idea of how it was originally thought up to be a model community and stuff, but the first time I went there I was like 8 so I was old enough to not view things in a totally childlike way (like by then I had little interest in the characters and stuff personally, though I know a lot of adults who do so I don't want to seem as if I'm saying I think that is immature, just by then I myself was all totally into science and academics rather than fantasy). I also was very into geography by then, but had never left the country, so I loved the World Showcase SO much haha. And Spaceship Earth I thought was so awesome. But I also remember I loved The Land because my maternal grandparents own a nursery and I was always surrounded by greenhouses and stuff like that when I was young. The old Journey to Imagination with Dreamfinder was probably my absolute favorite though, which is apparently pretty trippy to see as adult. I remember buying a stuffed Figment doll that I just loved. I'm sad that attraction isn't the same anymore because I'd love to see it as an adult. I felt like the only kid my age who preferred EPCOT to Disney. I mean I loved Disney, but I loved learning more by that point I guess, heh.

When you are a kid a lot of it is going to just seem totally overwhelming, especially the first time (probably as an adult to some extent as well). I mean you see the pretty lights and designs and everything and sensory-wise I think for anyone it is difficult to take all of that in at once, or even after a few times. That is how they get you back! Haha. But they also have to design things so that adults can enjoy them in and "adult" way, while at the same time evoking a sense of nostalgia and feeling like you are getting to be a kid for the day.

I haven't been to Disney in a while and I really want to go back. I'm also SO excited for the Harry Potter section of Universal Orlando to open as well. I don't know it is such a fun place (aside from dealing with all the people I guess haha). I also have always thought fondly about how exciting it would be if I had kids someday and got to take them there for the first time. The first time my family went I was the only kid that went. Then we went the next year and my sister came because she was about 2 and a half and old enough to take around and it was so cute seeing how excited she got. Then when we a couple years later and my sister was in elementary school by then and my little brother was a toddler. I don't know, when you are a kid it is all going to seem amazing, but I doubt you are going to know why. Ultimately though it is adults who thought it up and designed everything, so I think in the end most places like this are actually more oriented toward us than kids!

Walt Disney wasn't such a nice bloke either .

But he was quite damn creative

It's usually the jerks who are creative. Irony!

I LOVED Disney Land!!

So far I've been to Walt Disney World 5 times and Disney Land California once. I've enjoyed them both, but I'd have to say my favourite parks would be either MGM Studios or Epcot!

Disney was a major obsession for me.
I would watch the movies every night, usually 'Peter Pan' or 'Beauty and the beast'.
I went yearly to WDW with my mother. I loved it there. When I got home I would try and keep it alive by re-reading the guide book, and underlining things... listing things... I collected it too...the old books, the annuals, the musical globes, toys I found in charity stores. It gave me this warm, safe feeling, but maybe that is what all aspies get when they are absorbed in their special interests.