There are some moments you’ll never forget. For Dennis Heikoop, a visit to Heroes Dutch Comic Con marked the beginning of a special adventure. As a regular visitor since the very first edition, Dennis has been a familiar face at the event for years. A spontaneous participation in a giveaway during the preview night ultimately turned out to be the start of a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando.
Entering the Walt Disney World giveaway
At the preview night during the 2024 summer edition, Dennis heard about the Travel The Magic giveaway from a friend. A photo was taken at the stand, which participants then shared on social media with the hashtag #ikwilnaarwaltdisneyworld. His participation started very spontaneously and without high expectations. Like so many others, he saw it mainly as a fun activity during his visit to Heroes Dutch Comic Con: “I even said, ‘You’re not going to win anyways, with so many people entering.’”
The next morning, he checked to see if the winner was announced yet, unfortunately not. While he was enjoying Heroes Dutch Comic Con, the winner was announced on social media. Which didn’t go unnoticed. A bunch of friends tagged him when it was announced on social media that he had won. His phone wouldn’t stop vibrating from all the congratulations. “At first I thought, ‘It’s not even my birthday,’” he laughs. “Until it finally clicked.”
We’re leaving in six weeks
After Dennis found out on social media that he’d won the giveaway, he also received a private message from Travel The Magic asking him to come to the stand right away. But in all the excitement, that turned out to be easier said than done. “You’re so pumped up on adrenaline that, of course, I suddenly couldn’t find the stand anywhere.” It wasn’t until about twenty minutes later that he was back at the stand, where the reality of it all really began to sink in.
The next surprise was waiting for him right there. Not only had he won the trip, but he also learned that the departure would be happening very soon. “I’ll never forget that moment. They suddenly said, ‘We’re leaving in six weeks.’ I literally said, ‘Excuse me? In six weeks?’” A few days later, the practical details were sorted out, and before he knew it, Dennis was at Schiphol Airport, ready to depart.
A trip to Disney in Orlando
Shortly after, Dennis traveled to Orlando for an experience that he would remember for a long time. Together with a small group of eleven people, he stayed in a villa with a pool, and a tight-knit atmosphere quickly developed. “Because the group was so small, we bonded very quickly,” Dennis says. “I really made some friends for life there.”
Although Dennis had been to Walt Disney World before, this trip felt very different. It was the combination of the parks, the excursions, and traveling as a group that gave the experience that extra something. “One day I’d go to a park with one group, the next day with another, depending on what everyone wanted to do.”
A returning customer
The trip he won wasn’t just a one-time experience. Since that giveaway, Dennis has returned to Orlando once more, and another trip with Travel to Magic is planned for February. Dennis has been a huge Disney fan for years and has been visiting Disney destinations around the world since 2005. He has now visited every Disney park worldwide except for Tokyo: “Only Tokyo is left on my list. And as it happens, Travel to Magic offers trips there too, so I’ll probably end up going there someday.”
Even outside of this trip, Dennis is fully dedicated to his passion for pop culture and fandoms. For example, he started his own blog about Comic Cons, partly due to coming across old photos and memories. On that blog, he shares memories, experiences, and archival material related to Comic Cons, including moments from Heroes Dutch Comic Con. Dennis has been attending the event since the very beginning and says: “I’ve been to quite a few events in Europe, but Heroes Dutch Comic Con remains my favorite. It’s just home base.”
