In honor of Walt Disney World's 42nd birthday, 42 things we've loved about Disney World

October 1, 2013, 2:10 PM · In honor of Walt Disney World's 42nd birthday today, here are 42 things (past and present) we've loved about Disney World.

Cinderella's Castle

The Mary Blair Grand Canyon Concourse mural
Riding in the front of the monorail
Mickey towel art on your bed
Mickey-shaped butter
Renting a boat at Dixie Landings and sailing to Downtown Disney and back
Roasting s'mores and watching a movie at Fort Wilderness
Trying on silly hats
Free buttons
Free wifi
Chocolate-covered frozen bananas
Watching the second nighttime parade in the Magic Kingdom and riding rides during the first
Canoeing around the Rivers of America
The last raft of the day from Tom Sawyer Island
A Citrus Swirl cone
A Dole Whip float
A chicken and waffle sandwich from Sleepy Hollow
The Adventureland egg roll dog
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Aunt Polly's
Sitting upstairs at the Columbia Harbor House
The goat trick
The Diamond Horseshoe Jamboree
The Country Bear Christmas Special
The tributes to 20K in the Little Mermaid queue
The Grey Stuff
Getting stuck on Buzz Lightyear
The music in Impressions de France
The first notes of Rhapsody in Blue in the original IllumiNations
Golden Dreams
The Disney All-American College Orchestra at Epcot
Using a live video call for the first time in your life to make a lunch reservation at Epcot
Guided tours
Choosing between space, desert, or sea?
Believing in hydrolators
Topiaries shaped like characters
The jumping fountains at the Imagination pavilion
Spaceship Earth in twilight
Thursday night cast member specials at Pleasure Island
Drawing your own Disney character at the Animation Academy
Mickey ice cream bars
The Cinderella mosaic
When the Yeti worked
Fireworks, every night of the year

You're invited to keep the list growing, in the comments.

Replies (25)

October 1, 2013 at 2:53 PM · Mango pie at the yak and yetti
October 1, 2013 at 3:08 PM · The feeling of actually being on an African Safari while riding Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Food and Wine Festival.

The Osborne lights.

The dolphins at The Seas.

The first time I took my daughter to Disney World.

October 1, 2013 at 3:39 PM · I love the ducks. I am 39 years old and the mother of two and we have ducks where I live, sometimes even in my own yard, but nothing captivates me like the ducks in a Disney park. I don't know why. But I am compelled to take dozens of photos of ducks walking in the parks.
October 1, 2013 at 4:33 PM · The relaxing rides on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority aka The people mover...special thanks to the CM's that would let me ride it for hours without disembarking :)
October 1, 2013 at 4:49 PM · - Walking down Sunset Boulevard at night, while the screams from Tower of Terror beckon you to ride.

- Reaching the top of Spaceship Earth, your vehicle rotating, the music picking up, and then having a view of the stars as the narrator states, "... YOUR Spaceship Earth."

- "We're not gonna make it... We're not gonna make it!"

- Seeing both Spaceship Earth and Cinderella's Castle for the first time on your trip.

- Going down the drop on Splash Mountain while Wishes is playing.

October 1, 2013 at 5:37 PM · -- Figment and Dreamfinder.

-- Riding Mr. Toad over and over again, back when a) Mr. Toad still existed and b) the lines in Fantasyland were reasonable enough to actually allow multiple re-rides.

-- The cool Mickey ear balloons within a balloon

-- Big Al

-- Huge glass mugs etched with your name from a shop on Main Street


October 1, 2013 at 7:08 PM · The view from the top of the Contemporary!
October 1, 2013 at 7:46 PM · Singing along "To a Big Beautiful Tomorrow"

Getting stopped by an animal in the road on the Safari

October 1, 2013 at 9:27 PM · Walking right down the middle of Main Street, USA.
October 2, 2013 at 2:35 AM · - Fighting cowboys in Frontier land.
- Characters walking around the park and be surprised by them.
- First time I road World of energy and the whole stadium rotated and after that split up in different carts.
- Talking to someone from Disney at the Gorilla display while guests weren't there early in the morning.
- ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter.
- Sitting at Main street after the fireworks while the park empties until the last monorail leaves and watching the people leave.
October 2, 2013 at 3:19 AM · Chequers/draughts (I'm English) outside the candy shop on Main Street.

Chocolate covered marshmallow while waiting for the mighty Spectromagic.

The cymbals in Spectromagic.

Singing to Spectromagic and not caring who hears.

Filming the Hunchback show (best live show ever) because it's your dad's favourite and you love & appreciate him so much for bringing you to WDW. (while holding back on aforementioned singing so that you dont spoil the film).

Getting home to play back your videos to find you have indeed sung all the way through the Fantasy in the Sky fireworks...badly.

October 2, 2013 at 3:20 AM · Ooh and when the storyteller 'blows out' the lights at the start of Illuminations...It gives me chills every time.
October 2, 2013 at 4:50 AM · Future Corps
any crowd in Philharmagic that knows the films and reacts at the right spots (the brooms, the jewels, the sun in Lion King, Tinker Bell appears, etc).
October 2, 2013 at 6:06 AM · Patrick and Peggy Blose---we have really enjoyed the campground parades at Fort Wilderness on July 4th. We have camped there several times as I am a teacher/administrator and this has be the only season when we were able to camp at Disney. Our family has many, many memories of WDW. Going back in October, as we have just retired.
October 2, 2013 at 6:47 AM · Smelling rotten eggs in the line for Pirates.
The doors opening at the WDW Haunted Mansion.
The redwood smells on Soarin.
Rod Serling in Tower of Terror.
Running the Space Mountain Marathon.
Getting the song from Carousel of Progress stuck in your head.
The weightless feeling on Mission Space.
The stink bug in Bug's Life.
Seeing the castle just after the passageway under the train station.
The lightning storm in the Tiki Room.
The Swedish Chef with his cannon.
Etc.
October 2, 2013 at 7:01 AM · The turkey legs at frontierland
October 2, 2013 at 8:11 AM · What's the Goat Trick? And Horizons has been closed for a long time....
October 2, 2013 at 10:08 AM · Relaxing ride around the park on the trail

The old gondola ride from Frontierland to TommorrowLand

The look in my childrens eyes when we approached the big welcome archway on the road into Disney World.

October 2, 2013 at 11:48 AM · Listening to the Voices of Liberty while waiting for The American Adventure. This is a must do for me anytime I am in EPCOT.

Riding the Wedway People mover.

Singing with the Dapper Dans on Main Street after their set is done. If you let them know that you have sung barbershop before, they will often invite you to join them in a song after they finish their set.

Riding the Tower of Terror early in the morning and running right back to the entrance to do it again.

Walking across the bridge from Jamaica to Port Royale early in the morning at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Everything is calm, quiet, peaceful and beautiful in the early morning stillness.

October 2, 2013 at 11:48 AM · Exiting Journey Into Imagination into the original ImageWorks.
Forgetting that the Enchanted Tiki Room was ever "Under New Management"
Having sellers at a Mexican market hawk their wares in el Rio del Tiempo
Riding Peter Pan's Flight for the first time
October 2, 2013 at 9:10 PM · Backside of Water
Listening to Ellen to open wider and spit!
Spitting Camels on the Magic Carpets
Wanting the Redhead
Knowing the ingredients to make a Figment
Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit
Impressing my friends that I can "turn on" the countries during Illuminations
You are not the First to Pass this Way!
October 3, 2013 at 3:15 AM · Disney Collegiate band - on parade in MK and a jazz set in Cosmic Rays.
Films in the original working Animation tour sequence at Studios (1) Walter Cronkite and Robin Williams (filmed live) intro, followed by animated short "Back to Neverland" (RW vs Captain Hook); and (2) mixed live film/animated intro (Chernabog blocks the view, "Hey, sit down", Chernabog: "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Eisner") followed by a Disney 'greatest animated moments' mix.
October 4, 2013 at 8:12 AM · Watching your daughter's eyes light up at her first princess luncheon every time a new princess arrives.
October 6, 2013 at 6:14 AM · 1.) Hearing the cast member say "Have a magical day!"
when you're finished making reservations for your
next Disney trip!

2.) Finding that one last pin on a Cast Member's
lanyard that you need to complete your collection!

3.) Being the only one on a Disney Transport bus and
talking with the driver!

4.) When the video on the Magical Express bus starts and
the next thing you know, you're at Disney!

October 7, 2013 at 8:06 AM · Taking in the Festival of the Lion King show 4 times over 2 days and sitting in a different section of the theatre each time so you can make all of the animal sounds

Attending the final session for the American Idol Experience at Disney Hollywood Studios and getting to vote for the best of the best...just vote quickly or you will be locked out!

Booking an appointment for your 60 year old husband to get his hair cut at the Main Street Barber Shop and knowing that he will love the experience even though he just had a haircut last week in preparation for holiday time

Buying a bottle of Laila perfume at the Norway pavilion gift shop in Epcot and not having to carry it around all day because it will be delivered right to your resort for you

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