These stories were received as part of the Disney Family.com Favorite Vacation Moments contest.

We have been Disney Vacation Club members since 1992, thanks to my generous parents and their foresight for their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. Our family trip in May 2007 included our daughter and her boyfriend and our son and his girlfriend, and was planned the week of our daughter, Lisa’s, 26th birthday. Her boyfriend was a “Disney first timer” and had asked our permission prior to our trip. He realized what we’ve known for a while. . . .Lisa is a huge Disney fan. I happened to volunteer to be his accomplice all the way. Soooo, on Lisa’s 26th birthday, the family spent the day together at the Magic Kingdom. During the finale of Wishes, in front of Cinderella castle, Mike popped the question. Needless to say it was well photographed from every angle, and was a very unforgettable moment for us. Lisa has created a beautiful scrapbook for that trip. . . .and their date is 9/19/09.

These stories were received as part of the Disney Family.com Favorite Vacation Moments contest.

Living in California (northern part) I had been to Disneyland many times as a kid and several times as an adult. It really was my favorite place on earth. By 1995, I hadn’t visited for several years and this was a tough year for me. In September of that year I was about to turn 30 years old and it hit me rather hard. It seemed like such a milestone and I was feeling like I was getting “old”. My husband had asked me what I wanted for my birthday and it took me a couple days to give him an answer. It was kind of a revolution that just came to me. I had decided that turning 30 was not going to make me old and that I was still very young at heart. My answer to him was that I wanted to go to Disneyland! He was surprised at first (we had no child at that time) that I wanted to go there, but I was very insistent. We did go that year and even my in-laws joined us. It was the best birthday I’ve ever had and seemed like the best visit to Disneyland that I had ever had. Everything felt new and vibrant there, including me. I returned from that visit with a new motto, “always young at heart”. That was 12 years ago and I still remember that trip even though we’ve probably been there at least 5 or 6 times since and made other memorable trips with our daughter, who is also now a Disney fan. Disneyland is such a special place and it makes me feel so young every time I visit but back in 1995, when I turned 30 years old, it worked its magic on me in ways that I’ll always remember.

These stories were received as part of the Disney Family.com Favorite Vacation Moments contest.

My favorite vacation moment was when my husband and I took my parents who were 60 and our daughter who was 2 to Walt Disney World for their first visit. I had never had the chance to go to Walt Disney World when I was younger as we were unable to afford a trip like that. I finally got to go when I got married and I remember the feeling of walking down main street and Magic Kingdom and having goose bumps and the lump in my throat as I was focused on the breathtaking Castle straight ahead. Although my parents were never able to afford a vacation like that we never went without food or clothing or a home, but by all means we were poor. I always said that I would one day take them there to experience it, because I know they had always wanted to take us there, but used our finances for the necessities needed to live. The time had come and we were taking our 2 year old daughter and our 60 year old parents to Walt Disney World for the first time. I was trying to decide what I was more excited about, our daughter going for the first time or the look on my parents face when they set their eyes on the beauty of the castle. The day was here and we got off the bus and walked up to Magic Kingdom, as we entered the doors and walked the round a bout at main street I turned and saw the look on our daughters face, and she had the biggest eyes as well as smile, I then turned to the right slightly and saw my 60 year old parents with tears in their eyes and a smile on their face that I will never forget. I realized that I made their dreams come true and that was and probably will always be my favorite vacation moment.

These stories were received as part of the Disney Family.com Favorite Vacation Moments contest.

The first of my Disney adventures began when I was 11 years old. Our family drove down from Connecticut. We fell in love with the Magic Kingdom ( the only park there) From then on we came every year for one week after that first visit in 1978. Walt Disney World was an amazing place for our large family. There were so many things to do for each of us. My parents gave all of us a love of Walt Disney World that to this day each one of the 6 of us carries with us. Each of us has grown now and most have families of our own that we yearly bring to the parks. Occasionally, we have large family reunions and all of us go together. The last trip that we took as a group was Spring 2005. My mom had been in a car accident the previous December and was in a coma for several days, and had many months of rehabilitation. All of us had decided that a trip to Disney was due. There were 14 of us. We all had the best vacation together and took many pictures. My favorite was of my parents wearing eye patches sitting on a bench in the Studios. My Mom had lost the vision in her eye in the accident and my Dad wore a patch so she wouldn’t feel that people were staring at her. That was her last vacation to Disney. She died on September 26, 2005. The following April, my Dad brought us all back down again. It was very bittersweet to walk through the Parks for the first time without our Mother. However, I will always treasure that last trip together in April 2005.