Well, I feel led to confess something to you, my blog public. Now, before you brace yourself for the spillage of some long-suppressed, deep, dark secret, let me put your mind at ease. It’s not that bad. It’s just that…well…I LOVE Disney! There, I said it. It’s out.

Yes, Disneyworld is one of my all-time favorite places. For me, it really IS one of the happiest places on earth. It all started, actually, in 1985, with a visit to DisneyLAND in California. Right after college graduation, Kevin went to L.A. to train for a new job and I met him out there one weekend to see the sights. Neither of us had ever been to a Disney park, so we set out for Disneyland. We were both hooked, but decided we would wait until we had kids and they were old enough to remember going, before we went to “the big daddy” in Florida.

Fast forward 10 years, and there we were, our little family of four, Mickey Mouse, and several thousand of his closest friends! It remains one of my favorite vacation memories. We’ve gone back a few times as a family (including a Disney Cruise), and Kevin and I have been countless times, as we are now Florida resident passholders and live close enough to head over there at the drop of a hat.

I’ve often thought to myself, “why in the world aren’t you sick of this place?”. You may be wondering that yourself! I think it’s because I get to revisit some very happy memories every time we go. I watch us all settle into a carefree, happy-go-lucky, anything’s possible demeanor…we smile a lot and laugh a lot…scream on the thrill rides…hold hands and relish the thought of taking up residence in a perfect, parallel universe, free of stress and problems (of course, this part is assuming you are not the parent of a cranky two-year-old, stuck in line in Fantasy Land). And, as if these things weren’t enough, we get to draw – another of my favorite things! We’ve started dropping in on the drawing class at The Magic of Disney Animation at MGM, which we just found this year…you’ll see each of our attempts at Winnie the Pooh throughout this post. Not bad, huh?

So, while Disneyworld is not my only vacation destination of choice (I’m not THAT crazy), I still LOVE it. I’m grateful that God gifted Walt Disney with an above-average imagination and the guts to see it through to reality. My family (along with countless others) has been so blessed because of it…and that’s something I’m not ashamed to confess!