It’s time once again to wish Walt Disney World a happy birthday. And though I can’t be there to enjoy the festivities, I do want to remember the 25th birthday and its year of celebration. That’s just one of many great things about Walt Disney World: they always stretch their birthday parties out for the year.
It was March of 1997 when my father, brother, grandmother and I flew from Syracuse, NY, to Walt Disney World. We were restarting the annual family March Break trip after a three-year absence. In that time, my parents had divorced and my grandfather had passed away.
To say that things were very different was an understatement but we all looked forward to the trip. Even being delayed by a snowstorm in New York and arriving a day late didn’t dampen our spirit. When we arrived, we were relaxed as we checked in to Fort Wilderness and headed out to explore the magical world.
It had been a quarter century since Walt Disney World opened, and though the celebration had been in full swing for months, it felt like the party just began as we started our holiday.
When we arrived at Magic Kingdom we could see from the ferryboat the birthday candles standing tall in front of the Main Street train station and Cinderella Castle, the backdrop of millions of vacation photos was transformed into a giant birthday cake. Imagineers turned one of the most iconic images into a silly, oversized cake that looked more at home in Alice in Wonderland than at the Central Plaza hub. Still, we got a family photo in front of it. In addition to the cake castle letting everyone know something special was happening, the Sorcerer Mickey image was plastered everywhere from the shopping bags to the banners along Main Street pointing out the 25th Anniversary sign.
A special version of the Walt Disney Story was still playing on Main Street in the Town Square Theatre. Here we watched the story of Walt Disney chronicled in his own words. It was while exiting this theatre that we received a commemorative poster of Mickey and a boy walking towards Cinderella Castle. This treasure still hangs in my house today.
My grandmother was in good health, but she couldn’t walk the parks and keep up with us. On our first day, my grandmother was eager to walk everywhere. She followed us all around Epcot and had a great time. That night, she could barely sleep because her legs were throbbing in pain. So the next day we rented her a wheelchair and did so every day for the rest of the trip.
My father was often the one pushing her through the parks, and one picture of him leading her down Main Street towards that birthday cake castle is an image of strength that I will always treasure. Dad was going through a rough time with the divorce, but he was happy because nothing could bother him while he was on vacation.
That’s what makes Walt Disney World special to me. No matter what is going on in your life, a trip to the magical lands of Walt Disney World gives you that much-needed relief. It was the 25th anniversary of Walt Disney World, but it was a new beginning for our family. Looking back on it, the Cinderella Castle birthday cake didn’t even look that bad.
Happy Birthday, Walt Disney World, and thanks for the memories.