Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in

“Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” - Walt Disney

Oh, how our World has changed! No. I am not talking about the world we live in; I am talking about Disney World in Orlando Florida, and how much it has changed since our family’s first visit in 1981.

Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, I would work teaching summer school during June and
July, and if we could, we would take a week vacation during the first week in August. During the summer of 1981, we decided that we would take our first trip to Disney World, and we would do so by car. In 1981, Jeff would turn five in September, Jon was barely two and one-half and Cathy was four months pregnant with Jameson. Despite their youth, we packed up the car and set off on our first driving vacation. After two brief stops, and some minor car trouble, we arrived at Disney’s Polynesian Resort for a three-day stay.

In 1981, Disney World consisted of the Magic Kingdom, the Polynesian, Contemporary, Grand Floridian Resorts and of course, that wonderful monorail system. Epcot was still in its planning and early building stage. For our small Marchese Family, visiting the Magic Kingdom was truly magical; little did we know at that time the changes that would take place over the next forty-one years. Since that initial trip, we have been back to visit over twenty-five times, and we now have our sons, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren joining us as we continue to find the magic of Disney World. It would have been almost impossible to imagine the changes that have taken place over that forty-plus year period, but as Mr. Disney himself said, “There’s enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we can possibly imagine.” Despite that, I believe that he would have found his “World” to have grown far beyond his fondest dreams.

I hope that our family will continue this tradition, and we will continue to build on the beautiful memories that we have created since that first trip forty-one years ago. As we ended our week in Mr. Disney’s World, we did so with fond memories of future weeks together enjoying our family. Our Disney World has changed, and we welcome what the future will bring.