My family once lived in Pensacola, Florida where my brother was born. My father was stationed there while being in the Navy. I remember seeing photos of us on the beach while living in Florida. I also remember a photo of my sister, Leilani, and I sitting on a chair together wearing Mickey Mouse ears and Disney shirts to match. I automatically assumed we’ve been to Disney since we lived in the state when we were very little. Little did I know until I got married at 25 that we’ve never even been to Disney as a kid. At that moment, I totally thought I was deprived of my Disney experience.

Since the age of six, my family has lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where my father retired and where I grew up. I met my husband there but he’s originally from Orlando, Florida. It’s amazing how I made it back to Florida not just for the Disney experience but we just made a life of it down here. And this past year we made a plunge and bought the Disney annual passes. We normally wouldn’t spend our money on this but part of it was paid for and we knew friends and family were coming into town the same year. It made more sense to go since one of our kids could go for free until the age of 3. Some people might say they’d spend their money on something else like new clothes or invest it in the bank. Now you’d never know until you’ve had the full experience going to Disney the entire year and not just for vacation. When we first moved here, we usually knew someone who get us in for free but our benefits ran out when people left their jobs which wasn’t a benefit to us anymore.

The last couple weekends we’ve been to Magic Kingdom and Epcot. I love the look on our kids faces when we say we’re going to Disney as if it were the first time every time. We even spell it out for them and shouts of joy fill the mini-van. We’ve totally made great use of going to Disney the entire year and it’s given us something to do as a family all year round especially during the holidays.

Today we headed off to Epcot for the Flower and Garden Festival. Adam had a great desire to see the plants and flowers. Landscaping our yard is one his joys in life and for some reason calms him. As we parked our car and hopped on the shuttle, the weather was perfectly cool as if it were meant just for us. We headed to the gate holding passes like they were golden tickets. As soon as we walked through we immediately saw all the towers of flowers and amazing statues of Cinderella and her prince made out of plants and flowers. And all the statues in the front were princesses and special Disney characters all over the park. Having girls, it’s an amazing feeling when you hear the excitement in their voice as they recognize a princess from a Disney movie they’ve seen like Cinderella, Jasmine, and Sleeping Beauty. And when they see these princesses walking around their costumes, my girls truly believe these princesses know them.

As we walked further into the park, we noticed a butterfly garden. Our eldest daugther, Gigi, loves butterflies. In fact, she names all her butterflies Magnet. I’m not quite sure where the name came from but she likes to name all her stuff animals and every animal she comes across. She and Lana were quite curious about all the butterflies flying around and all the plants that attract butterflies. Standing in the butterfly atrium, I seriously felt like a princess with all the flowers and butterflies flying around. Any minute I thought the butterflies were going to spin around me and I’d magically have a beautiful gown lifting me up in the air awaiting to take me to the ball.

Last weekend, we met up with some good friends at Magic Kingdom. This is truly the best park for kids. Near the end of the night, all the kids and parents anxiously await for the parade and fireworks right next to Cinderella’s castle. Our second daughter, Lana, just loves Cinderella, so seeing the castle is always a special treat for her.

The music from all different types of Disney movies started playing and eventually filled the atmosphere as we walked through the park. The music, the lights, and the performers set the mood as the floats started to make its way toward our direction. You can a see a sea of parents holding their kids on their shoulders and people making their way to see the performers on the floats. Suddenly, it became dim and all you could see were the glow of digital cameras and its flashes taking photos.  I had Lana on my shoulders. If you haven’t seen hundreds of kids suddenly go silent, this was the exact moment where hundreds if not thousands of kids watched with their mouth gapping open. I could see performers wearing costumes with tons of bulbed lights and floats with dancing colored lights. One by one each float had Disney characters ranging from Alice in Wonderland, Jafar, to princes and princesses.

Lana suddenly saw Cinderella in her carriage with her prince. She lifted up her hand and started waving. She said, “Cinderella. It’s Cinderella. Hi, Cinderella!” Her little hand was waving as if she were opening a door knob. She looked at me and wanted me to see Cinderella too. My heart just melted. And when the villian Ursula from Ariel went by, both my girls turned their head and hid their eyes.

As soon as the parade was over, hundreds of people in a mob were trying to make their way out or pushing their way through. There was a line of Disney employees next to one another wearing vest uniforms holding blue light savers directing traffic. I thought I was an airplane waiting to take off. Hundreds of people with balloons, Disney gift bags, candy, and stuff animals walking around waiting for the fireworks to go off in front of the castle.

The music was playing and fireworks shot straight up in the air. We stood there staring at the castle being lit up in different colors and the bright lights shot from the fireworks in all different directions. I stood there in awe. I can never tired seeing fireworks.

I see many families there from all over the world. I can hear people speaking in different languages to one another. I can see teenagers walking around with their faces painted. I can see elderly people in wheelchairs or riding around in one of those electric mobiles wearing Mickey Mouse ears and scooting away through the crowds. I can see digital cameras in people’s hands taking photos of friends standing next to a Disney character or in front of a memorable monument. I can see families who saved almost all year or years to come to Disney for Spring Break and probably wouldn’t be back until many years later or not at all.

As we left the park, I couldn’t help but feel I won the lottery every time we go to Disney. I couldn’t help but feel my girls will never know until they’re much older how fortunate they are to experience this time now. I can’t help but feel I’m living more of my childhood now through my children’s eyes.