Your most memorable moment...

[d1sneymom]

while at the DLR.... I love to hear stories of lasting memories Disneyland has given them.

We've been visiting the park yearly since DH and I were 18 (we're in our 30s now!!). I've had some awesome memories at the park but what is one that sticks out the most?

I have a few but my 2 most favorite were the first time we brought our first DS to DL. He was 8 months old right after the holiday season was over (so there were NO crowds) my MIL paid for our stay at GCH and DS came down with a cold. Although that part was awful, we still had a great time. He fell in love with both Astroblaster and Small World. So much that we rode Astroblaster probably 50 times that day and we didn't mind...

Another was last year when DS #2 (who was 17mos) was fascinated by the bubble gun we got him. He learned to say his first real word ("bubbles") on that trip. And he would walk through the park ONLY if we would leave a trail of bubbles for him to chase. I saw plenty of people with smiles on their faces watching him walking through bubbles and I can still hear him saying bubbles while trying to pop all the ones he could catch.

Both of these memories still bring a smile to my face!

So what are your most memorable moments at the DLR!

 

[Dot2Vegas]

One was a couple of years ago. We left Disney have a half day to drive home to Vegas (coming off of a three day trip). For the heck of it my girls insisted we all get hand stamps on the way out, so we did. We get to the hotel and pack up, head to the car and our battery exploded. By the time AAA came we realized that we would be leaving in rush hour and we should stay the night. So DH went off with the car and I went into the park with the kids (yay hand stamps!) We were walking around and walked right into DDs favorite princess at Snow White's wishing well. We walked around and and even though it was busy we seemed to walk right onto everything. It was like a perfect day. Dh met up with us later on and we were wandering in the back by IASW during the fireworks. We caught the projection show on the building, which we had no idea about. Turned around and saw that no one was in the area! We were all alone and totally in awe, even tearing up.

Another was this past trip. It was horribly crowded and we were all a little cranky. We were closing the park and noticed that New Orleans Square was emptying out. It's my favorite area and I just hate when it is packed. So we decided to just linger and see if we could be the last people. We rode HM twice and when we came out we were one of three families walking around the area! We walked passed POTC and decided to squeeze one more ride in. We were the only people on the whole ride!! So amazing to have a private ride through! Especially because it is a family favorite and the whole week there had been 45-60 minute waits (which I have never seen!).

 

[awdsmama]

My favorite moment was when DS (then 7) walked into DL for the very first time, the parade had just started going by when we walked in - the look of awe on his face was great! He loved it, it was like his very own "Welcome to Disneyland" event.

 

[crystal1313]

I have a couple:

Before kids....deciding to ride Splash mountain at night at Xmas time and getting soaked, only to get off the ride and have it start pouring rain! All we could do was laugh! We high tailed it to the castle and took our xmas card photo in front, soaked! It was fun, even though we were cold =)

Taking my oldest son for the first time at 10 months old. When we finally got to meet Minnie, he was so excited! He grabbed her nose and kissed it! (he did that with all his stuffed animals at the time). Made the whole line go: awe! Same trip, taking him to the Tiki Room (his official first attraction ever). He was in total awe........tiki room was his favorite song and the only song that would calm him down in the car and when he recognized the song, pure joy came over his face and tears of happiness came over my face =)

Riding the Lilly Belle with my youngest son and he fell asleep on me (he was 13 months).......it was so quiet and peaceful in there and a moment I will never forget.

My oldest son dancing in Cafe Orleans to the jazz music. Had everyone around us laughing....so cute!

My youngest riding the teacups for the first time. Never forget his laughter.....

Being lucky enough to dine at Club 33. Kept pinching myself the entire time. Amazing!

Last but not least, going into Walt's apartment on the tour was something I thought I'd never be able to do, so that was quite emotional and humbling.

 

[gunka]

Most memorable moment was a couple of years ago, DD was about 2/3. It was February and California Adventure was not crowded. We ran into Handy Manny (At the time one of DD favorite shows) outside of Tower of Terror. He toke DD by the hand and they walked down the street toward the Hollywood Backlot. It was like they were pals just enjoying the day/park. It was a moment I will never forget....especially since I caught it on video.

 

[T0rrent]

The first time my parents took my younger brother for his first visit to Disney was pretty funny in the memorable way. First night we went to this buffet and my brother after sitting down and picking up his fork to eat his salad fell asleep face first in his salad plate. MY dad removed his fork and cleaned his face. A few minutes later my brother woke up and tried to continue eating and was confused by the missing fork.

A couple of days later on that same trip we had a character meal and chip and dale came over to my brother. He accidentally bopped dale in the nose and felt so bad and insisted on putting a band aid on his nose.

Others that I've had for me were mine and my wife's honeymoon getting put into the monorail operators car in the front to sit, getting a use this anywhere but TSMM fastpass, and just the normal little bits of magic that Disney goes out of it's way for you.

 

[rowan1813]

My most memorable moment at DL came when I was about 9 or 10. DF had a connection to get us into Club 33. DM, DB, DF, and I were having dinner and we noticed that Mickey (in his tux) had come out into the dining room. He had something in his hands and walked over to a couple. The guy got down on his knees and proposed to his fiancee. Mickey had the ring box in his hands which he handed over to the guy when the girl accepted. It was the romantic thing I had seen and I still think its the best way to propose (at least to my Disney-fied sensibilities).

 

[viaggiamo]

I think the most gorgeous moment for us last time was when we waited (andwaitedandwaited) to see Mickey mouse in his house in toontown. DD and DS (aged 5 and 2 at the time) had their first time visitor badges on. The CM stopped us at the door to see Mickey and told us to wait.
We were first in line and when the door opened DD was greeted by Mickey Mouse himself who hugged her and took her hand into the room, just her and him. I still get teary thinking about the magic. I got some beautiful shots and she was just so excited that Mickey wanted to be her best friend.
Priceless.
There were many more amazing moments, but those ones make the 14 hour flight to Disneyland worth it.

 

[Barry Browning]

I took my son to work in the College Program.We were walking back in two groups and my wife was walking with him.We been going since he was born it was sooo hard to leave him in the land of Charles Manson.And it didn't get any easier the last couple of times here we had to come home.It is just so exciting to see him and soo sad to leave him behind.They grow up soo fast.I have a pic of him in his uniform on my desk, thanks god for the Hojo Cam.All I can tell you is stop and savor the moments you spend with your kids they are real memories..

 

[ironlou]

We got back from DL a few weeks back. one great moment was on RSR. Adults filled up one car and teh kids filled up the other car. It was great wehn we lined up at the starting line and boo'd eachother and cheered adn yelled the whole race. They won but it was a great time. I wondered what we sounded like as both cars raced by lol

 

[DisneyMarvelStarWars]

When we were boarding Dumbo, Pinocchio entered and rode with three-year-old in my group.

Eating at Carnation I saw kids had curly Mickey straws in their drinks. I asked the waiter if I could buy one for my soda. After we paid our bill, he gave us a doggie bag with enough straws for every member of my party.

In line waiting to meet Mickey there was a small girl who was vision impaired. Mickey spent a lot of time touching her, holding her, and playing with her. I think everyone in the area was crying.

On October 11th, 2001, Disneyland had the special patriotic fireworks encore. It was a bit beautiful and a bit painful, and many people were sobbing.

I was doing a meet and greet with Chip and Dale. Chip saw my Dark Mark tattoo, pointed to it, grabbed my arm, and ran with me around Main Street, showing other people and he did an "X" with his fingers. It was so funny!

 

[lalasmama]

I have several "most memorable" events....

My first trip was when I was 7. I bought a little Cabbage Patch PVC figurine--apparently, DL didn't have a ban on non-Disney merchandise at that time. I remember walking down Main Street holding my little bald figurine. I still have him in a box somewhere!

I went again when I was 17. For whatever reason, I remember my papa (step-dad) sitting behind a black fence in NOS. Just a few years later, he had a mental breakdown and has never been the same. I treasure that most basic moment, where things were so normal.

Last year, I brought DD to the parks for her first time. I actually cried walking through the turnstiles. You see, this was one of those places that my mom loved, and it was my first trip as the "Disneyland Loving Mom." My mom passed away 5 years before that trip, but her spirit was all around us that first day...

This last trip, we had two memorable moments. The first one was when we were in line to see Goofy. SO was in a Oregon Ducks sweatshirt. (For those that aren't aware, in Oregon, overall, you are a Duck or a Beaver; you aren't allowed to be both. Ducks and Beavers are fiercely loyal to their respective team.) Goofy started pointing to SO, jumping around, and then puts his hands above his head, making an "O", as we Ducks tend to do... We thought it was great to know that Goofy was on our team! The other memorable moment was managing to be riding on the Matterhorn during the fireworks. It was magical!

 

[CaptainEIEIO]

This story I have told on these boards before, but its still one of my best memorable Disney moment. My wife and I saw this on her first trip to Disneyland. We were riding on the shuttle that runs from the off site hotels to Disneyland. The driver stops at this one stop and we noticed this very old man (had to be at least 80) that needed a cane to get around and could barely even walk very slowly stepping onto the bus. The bus driver looked over in amazement at him and his just as old wife and said "You do know this bus is going to Disneyland, right"? The old man who was slowly climbing the two stairs onto the bus looked up at him and with a grin from ear to ear and said "Your damn right I do, and were getting on it and going to Disneyland." The whole bus sat silent for a second in amazement thinking "wow" then a huge cheer broke out. It was and still is the greatest magic of Disney moments I have seen in my life. My wife and I still talk about that old man to this day and that was 31 years ago.

I also have a lot of great pictures of this visit and they are some of the best ones of my wife that I have due to the genuine smile she has on her face. You all know the one, its the one all first timers finding out about what the magic is smile. This and the video we have telling the kids that they are not only in California to see grandma but they are going on their first trips to Disneyland too as were boarding the plane. Priceless!!!!!

 

[vladimir p]

like 3 years ago, december 23rd, went to disneyland for my niece's 10th birthday with my brother's family, it has been a tradition to always watch fantasmic, but the show got cancelled because of the weather and we were all really bummed about it, my brother, two nieces (5 and 2 years old) ane me ended up at the carnation plaza gardens while my brother's wife and birthday girl went to ride haunted mantion. we were just sitting there watching people walking by, little niece fell sleep in stroller, the other one was playing with one of her toys, we were all really tired, and then, all of a sudden,completely unexpected the light at the stage went on, and a elvis presley tribute band came on and starting rocking that place out, several couples started dancing, most of them pretty good at it, i'm not even an elvis fan but now i'm a fan of that band (scot bruce band is their name) little niece woke up and started dancing with her sister, they played for like 40 minutes, and just as they finished, my brother's wife and birthday girl returned and the fireworks show started, oh my god, everything was so perfect and so unexpected, magical is the word.
now i really miss the carnation plaza gardens.

 

[SCRAPBOOKQUEEN]

My most memorable moment was in 2006. We went to Goofy's Kitchen and the only thing that my DD could think about was if Aladden would remember her or not from a 2006 visit. Well, what could I say??? I told her that he sees so many kids each year that there was a possibility that he would not. So off we go, and of course he wasnt there. I decided to go the the restroom, and who walks in????? AND it was the same Aladden. I went up to him, all nervous and couldn't hardly talk and told him the story. He was so kind, asked me her name and where we were sitting and told me to relax and he would take care of the rest. About 15 minutes later, here he comes. He kinda sneaks around, the says "Hi Everyone..... Taylor, is that you???? Wow, come here sweetheart let me see you. How long has it been, about two years???? My daughter just had the biggest smile and then kinds starts crying and saying "You remember me", You remember. It was the most prescious thing to see. I started crying, it just warmed my heart so much. I have never told her to this day. I think of the moment so often and I have the most adorable picture of them together. Aladden will always hold a special place in this Mommy's heart.

Scrapbookqueen
Kellie

 

[seagodess]

Mine was from May 2012. We took DS for his 5th birthday. A friend of mine had gone a few weeks before us and said she would send a post card. She sent one with a picture of the fab 5 to DS and it had Pluto's signature. DS thought it was so cool. Our first day there we were sitting and watching Mickeys Soundsational Parade when Pluto walks right up to DS (who wasn't even paying attention) to give him a high five, he even waited for him to look over at him. Then through out the rest of our time there, DS got 4 more high fives from Pluto. DS thought it was really cool. He got 5 high 5's for his 5th birthday.

Another thing I will always remember is on DS's actual birthday we went to the parks for our Magic Morning. As we are going through the tunnel thing, There was Mickey in his tux. Mickey is DS's favorite, so I thought it was neat that he got to see him the very first thing on his birthday.

 

[Malachi85]

Hmm tough decision, but definitely my first trip to DL would also be my most memorable. Nov 2005, my 20th bday. (28 now) that was also the same year of the 50th anniversary. Just never having the chance to go as a child, or teen ate at me. Finally saved enough money to take my gf (wife now) and have fallen in love ever since. The moment I was at the entrance and it was official I was pretty proud and beyond excited. Next goal is WDW

 

[crystal1313]

My most memorable moment was in 2006. We went to Goofy's Kitchen and the only thing that my DD could think about was if Aladden would remember her or not from a 2006 visit. Well, what could I say??? I told her that he sees so many kids each year that there was a possibility that he would not. So off we go, and of course he wasnt there. I decided to go the the restroom, and who walks in????? AND it was the same Aladden. I went up to him, all nervous and couldn't hardly talk and told him the story. He was so kind, asked me her name and where we were sitting and told me to relax and he would take care of the rest. About 15 minutes later, here he comes. He kinda sneaks around, the says "Hi Everyone..... Taylor, is that you???? Wow, come here sweetheart let me see you. How long has it been, about two years???? My daughter just had the biggest smile and then kinds starts crying and saying "You remember me", You remember. It was the most prescious thing to see. I started crying, it just warmed my heart so much. I have never told her to this day. I think of the moment so often and I have the most adorable picture of them together. Aladden will always hold a special place in this Mommy's heart.

Scrapbookqueen
Kellie

Oh my goodness! I'm crying imagining this in my head. What an amazing moment! This story right here is why I LOVE Disney. Where dreams come true!