u/Timppis

I just wanted to write this up here for people to see. Maybe these stories find their way to those people who made our trip that much more simply because of their small gestures and dedication to people visiting.

These are just small anecdotes, but things that I will remember at least if not more vividly for the rest of my life than big attraction moments.

First one:

I was coming back from Disney Springs late in the evening. As we are leaving the stop the bus driver announces. "I am sorry ladies and gentlemen, but there seems to be some sort of a problem here. Are there any teachers on board"? It seemed such an odd situation, but being a teacher I raised my hand as did one other person on the bus. Few moments passed and I was wondering if there was going to be follow up before the driver continued: "Alright people we do have some national treasures here. Let's give it up for the teachers for national teachers appreciation day. Come on everybody".

And it was so funny because it was literally that "everyone in the bus applauded" moment that you make fun of in silly stories. I just laughed but people really clapped and said thanks to us. It was so much fun.

Second:

I was in the Rise of the Resistance ride. I was simply flabbergasted. In awe. Everything was so gorgeous. So as we were being ushered from the transport into our spots to be taken for interrogation I stood there grinning like a small kid. This officer steps up RIGHT into my face and yells "WHAT'S SO FUNNY REBEL SCUM!" and my mind just hopped back into 20-year old me trying not to laugh at a training officer. So I just answered "Nothing sir!". He looked at me a fraction of second and walked away saying "We'll get you first".

Then when we were being rescued the rebel guy ushered everyone out of the room "You too funny guy". AND I FELT SEEN!

It was so great. Like I was 100 % in the story at that point.

Third:

I was doing last night snack hoarding from our hotel store and the store manager, huge guy, just came to me and said straight up that Oh no this looks like last night! He had been asking questions about our trip the whole week whenever I happened at the store. (We had the 1st visit pins all the time) and he had been genuinely funny dude.

So then he asked if the vacation had been good. I just broke down. I just started to cry and said it was so much better than I had expected or even hoped for and that it had really been the best vacation and 8 days ever. This big dude just looked at a grown man cry and straight up asked if I wanted to hug. And I did.

So two middle aged dudes hugged through a moment of emotions.

These were just few moments with people there that I will remember forever. And these are the things I think that make the place magical on top of everything else.

Best vacation and trip ever.

We were with my family and my two sisters families. Visited all four Disney parks and Epic Universe.

There was SO MUCH. Just so so so much. I would love nothing more than to tell every single thing that was great from hugging a store manager on my last night snack hoard to my kid saying to me "Did you notice you said holy f**k under your breath dad" as I saw tree of life for the first time.

Like there was so much laughter and tears and sweat and awe and amazement and scare and even pure terror.

And it was supposed to be once in a lifetime trip.

But I need to do it again. Like this is now deeply integrated into my fundamental needs. So few questions that I would love tips on.

1. We can't go immediately. Flying from Europe and it takes at least couple of years to save up for this thing. Should we wait straight up to 2030 with the new areas or try to hit 2028 maybe?

2. We stayed at Pop Century. It was absolutely great with the Skyliner and transportation. We are considering (I am with my sister. Everyone else is oblivious) Caribbean resort. It just looked so beautiful. Is there any big upsides on staying moderate instead of value? Probably not gonna hit deluxe as those prices jump up a lot.

3. May was already too hot. I know it's not always like that but we are probably going to go for wintertime. Should we splurge and go christmas with the full season on stuff or are there less pricey / emptier times during winter at all? We chose may just because it was the emptiest / cheapest this time to hit the parks.

4. Any other good tips for twice in a lifetime? We did and are going to do LL's, Dining plan, memory maker all of it as they are peanuts when coming across atlantic. There are tons of attractions we "missed" like Big Thunder Mountain and Tron and a lot of EPCOT. But it doesn't matter because everything we did was Fantastic. Also gonna do a little bit longer trip with maybe 6-8 park days compared to five we did this time. Just to hit those late evenings better.

So yeah. All in all once in a lifetime was a really good start and now I will spend rest of 2026 planning on how to get back 😃