Personal Photo Spots

Personal Photo Spots
Tony Caggiano

When you write articles several times a week, you will sometimes have ideas that you work on over the course of weeks, then there are other times you quite simply stumble upon something that catches your eye. This is just one of those times.

As I was looking through some vacation photos from the early 1970’s, I noticed that one of them looked quite familiar. Now, I am sure I had seen this particular photo before, as I spend an awful lot of time going through these old albums, but this one was familiar in a different sort of way. As it turns out, I had taken a photo very similar to this one just a few months earlier. So, I sat down at my computer and began to riffle through the tens of thousands of Walt Disney World vacation photos I have taken over the past few years, and found just the photo of was thinking of.The original photo was taken in February of 1975, it is of my father, who was at the time years younger than I am currently, my younger brother Frankie, a mere 18 months old and myself at the ripe old age of 3. We were standing on the bridge to Adventureland, just outside of the Crystal Palace. It is a great photo, three of the four Caggiano men together (the fourth was 6 months from arrival at the time of the photo, and being carried by the photographer, my Mom).The second photo was taken nearly 34 years to the day later, in February of 2009. Same spot, on the bridge to Adventureland, and once again three Caggiano men are pictured. This time, it is myself in the role of Daddy and my own two boys, Dylan, at about 7 months old, and Jordan, at just over 2 years old. To me, this is one of my favorite photos to take in all of Walt Disney World. I love the ability to create your own “Kodak Photo Spot” of sorts, returning year after year, decade after decade to the same spot and recording a personal bit of history in a timeless place.

Admittedly, I am not about to rush the process, I am enjoying every second of my time watching my boys grow up, but every visit I look forward to creating memories with them. Part of those memories is the traditions I was taught by my parents and will, hopefully, will pass on to my own children. I know I have said it many times, but I just cannot express this enough, the importance and absolute magic in creating ones own traditions, especially in a place as special to me as Walt Disney World. You can bet that I will be back at this very spot on future vacations fostering a Caggiano family tradition. Now get out there and make some of your own!