Video games are my addiction, and I totally blame my parents.

My father worked for AT&T and was somehow involved in some of the first ever home computers. So naturally, we had one at our house. It pretty much looked like this:

AT&T 6300 Courtesy: http://www.vintagecomputer.net/analog-digital.cfm

As a kid – it SUCKED. We got to play really exciting text based games like Zork! We were the really cool family in town……or something. My parents believed that there was no different between this beauty, and the video systems sold in stores.

So when all my friends had Atari, then Nintendo…I had serious video game jealousy. I would spend hours at the homes of my friends…especially Missy and Heather – who each had the greatest video games around. I would play for hours. And would often get grounded for coming home late. My mother did NOT understand the concept of getting extra players and not being able to save your progress. So as I was finally getting to levels of Mario Brothers that I didn’t know existed, I knew I would be paying for it when I returned home.

But now that I’m an adult, and have boys of my own, things have changed. It’s safe to say that we are a video game family. All of us. On so many different platforms that my parents heads would literally explode if they knew what we were talking about.

My kids have been so excited for Wreck-It-Ralph since the new commercial. I really didn’t know anything about it – and as my 9-year-old explained to me after watching the preview for the 100th time on YouTube…”It’s a movie about a video game bad guy who decides he wants to be a good guy.” OK, I’m in.

Obviously, we had planned to see it as a family opening weekend. But we jumped at a chance by the Disney Blog to see it early. I actually didn’t even read the event information – I just thought it was a fun event meant to build excitement about the movie. I didn’t actually know we’d be seeing the movie two weeks early!! Perhaps I should read next time.

We told the boys Friday night, and they were beyond excited. I even made my husband by them shirts the day before once I saw they had them at the Emporium – so they were ready – with some extra special hair color and all:

We’re Gonna Wreck It!

We made our way over to Disney Quest, again – no idea that’s where we were going. It’s that ‘not reading’ thing again. And for over two hours – my kids got to play any game they wanted without having to pay. First we met big ol’ Ralph:

Wrecking it with Ralph.

We got to play the Fit It Felix, Jr. – which was fun and a bit different than the iPad version of the game we’ve been playing:

Fix It Felix, Jr video game

After all the fun, it was movie time. Getting into the theater was a little unorganized, as we were directed to the wrong theater and in the wrong line for quite some time. But after the confusion was cleared – we had great seats and were ready for the film.

First I should say…I cried at the new Disney Digital Short – the Paperman. Cried. It was beautiful.

Then came the movie… I’m not going to spoil it for you – so I’m not saying anything that will give it away. But I will say the writing was cleaver, witty and just plain fun. I can honestly say, it’s my favorite non-Pixar Disney movie ever. That’s right people, EVER. You just can’t stop smiling.

The surge protector doing his job, the Oreo’s, the little candy crowds in Sugar Rush. It was smart, especially the whole glitch, coding, mentos and diet soda…. Just amazing. Funny for kids, funny/smart for adults. The kind of movie you need to see over and over again to really catch all the little things, like the donut named Dunkin.

I’ve also decided that I’m going to be Vanellope for Halloween to my youngest son’s Ralph costume. I can wear a green track suit around with candy in my hair!

In short – go see it. We’ll definitely be seeing it again opening weekend. As part of the Disney party, we also got these medals. I had no idea at the time what it was about, but now I get it, and I love it.

The front and back of the Wreck It Ralph medal.

And one more picture to share- look at this amazing chalk work of Ralph – he’s so adorable.

Chalk artist designs Ralph at the Wreck-It Ralph Family Game Day Meet-Up at DisneyQuest.