That's so cool you got to experience it with your best friend. I haven't had that pleasure... yet.
My best friend and i had been friends since 1st grade, and best buds since middle school. we graduated together, but had different futures laid out ahead of us. He enlisted in the Marine Corps, while I headed to school in Florida, an hour from WDW. The summer after graduation, but before we had to leave, we did do a few parting things. We went to see some shows, went to the beach, and had a special "last night out" where we had dinner and saw a movie together before he headed off to basic training a few days later. If only I knew then how much I took seeing him every day for granted.
Being from a household of limited income, my friend had never been to Disney. He loved Disney movies, but never made it to any of the parks. In fact, until he was about 16 or so, he had never been to an amusement park at all. I brought him to a local park with me one day and he got to experience his very first roller coaster. He loved it. That summer before he left for basic, we agreed that one day, the two of us would have to go to WDW together. One day... we would make good on that promise.
Last spring, he took a few days off from an extended leave and came to visit me at school. He mentioned on several instances his desire to go to WDW on that trip, and it crushed me that I couldn't make it happen. I didn't have a car at the time, and we would have had to have bribed someone else with a car to go with us, and nobody wanted to dish out $60 for a day. Not to mention I was short on cash, and couldn't really justify the one-day cost. My friend literally pleaded with me, even offering to cover the cost of my ticket if I agreed to go, but there was just no way we could find a ride. Needless to say, we parted a few days later, still with hopes of one day visiting Disney together.
This year, I have a car and hold a Florida Resident Seasonal Pass. I go to WDW every couple weekends, but most of the time I go alone. If he came down to visit me now, I would take him in a heartbeat. But he just got back from his second tour in Iraq, and opted (reasonably, no doubt) to spend the few precious weeks he had at his expense at home with family and some other friends. So yet another year passes with us no closer to seeing Disney together.
But we still talk about it. Last we spoke, he was making plans to come and visit me sometime next semester. But even if he doesn't come next semester, we WILL get there eventually. I plan on renewing my pass next year, I'm renting an apartment for all of next year, and will probably stay to take some summer courses to make up for lost time and take advantage of having the apartment over the summer. His discharge date from the Corps is supposed to be in July 2006, unless the ongoing political situation overseas continues to necessitate his service, in which case his contract may be extended. But If he does get out when he's supposed to, I will have the car, apartment, and seasonal pass, all ready and waiting to fulfill this dream we've been chasing for the 4 years.
This is a reminder to anyone and everyone who has ever had the joy and good fortune of experiencing someplace as magical and memorable as WDW with one of your most treasured and trusted friends or loved ones... Keep that memory near to your heart forever and always, because it will be moments like that which will define your friendship and companionship for maybe a lifetime. And who knows... perhaps one day, when we're old and tired, and having trouble remembering when the last time we took our meds was, we will be able to take comfort in a memory of long ago, when you and your best friend, whom you have known your entire life, made that first trip to Disney World... the one you'd been planning and waiting for, for all those years.
... Now, I realize I got waaaaay carried away with my story just now. Sorry for that. But it just got me thinkin, ya know? It made me remember to pray tonight. To pray for best friends, both mine own and those of people I've never met. For the memories yet to be forged in time, for the wishes that still await granting, and for all the dreams that haven't yet come true. Please, everyone... keep all your friends close, and your best friends closer. Don't ever give up on your dreams.
Because when you wish upon a star...