Do You Remember Your First Disney Attraction Experience?

Chrononymous

Chrononymous

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Can you recall the very first time you went to WDW, and what the first ride or attraction you encountered was?

I distinctly recall riding the trolley on main street, but I really don't consider that my first attraction. It was the Country Bears (the summer vacation Hoedown) that has that distinction.

When I finally took my Mom for her first trip many years ago(which was her life long dream) we started in EPCOT. and I wanted to start her off small...but with a true innovative and magic attraction...so I made her see Captain EO as her first Disney Experience!

What about you? What is the first thing you can remember seeing on your first trip?
 
foreverbelle

foreverbelle

Well-Known Member
I remember being nine, and heading down to the world for the first time. We, my sisters and I had always wanted to go, and begged to go. For years we did....Anyway so we finally got to go. I wasn't tall enough to ride a lot of the major attractions but we hit up the classics, rode Small World. And while it wasn't the most exciting of rides it defined what Disney was...
 
M

musketeer

Well-Known Member
Yes, and it was pretty traumatic. I was 3 years old, so it is one of my earliest memories. It was december of 1981. My grandparents had a house near the gulf of mexico, straight west of orlando. It was about a 3 hour drive to Disney. The WHOLE way there, my grandpa was told me over and over that we were going to ride Snow White's Scary Adventure. I was terrified. How awful is that, to make a 3 year old scared to go to Disney. And when we got there, HE ACTUALLY MADE US RIDE THAT FIRST!!!! I begged not to. Why would they do that? Why would my parents allow it? It was so obviously just to be mean.

Anyway, I still remember keeping my eyes closed the whole ride, except at one point I opened my eyes, and remember seeing a really scary looking tree, and immediately shut them again.

And now, nearly 3 decades later, on our last visit a few months ago, I rode it and looked at that tree and remember exactly as I did when I was 3.

Apparantely it's funny torture a 3 year old for hours and then make him go through something he doesn't want to.

Anyway, there...I said my peace.

The first positive disney attraction was later that day when I got to actually drive a car. I don't think I could even see over the steering wheel or press the gas pedal, but I got to turn the wheel which was freakin' awsome at the time.

And I've just realized that is all I remember from that trip, are those two rides.
 
S

Smee

Member
1980, our honeymoon. First was Tiki Room, I think it was a C ticket.

For many visits after we kept tradition and went first to Tiki. (after my son got tall enough, we swtiched to Splash )

Our first EPCOT was SSE, just a couple months after the park opened, we were in awe.
 
stephdanielle

stephdanielle

New Member
The first attraction I ever went on was Snow White's Scary Adventures, I think I was about 3 and a half or 4 years old...and I was completely terrified of it. And really, that's pretty much the only thing I can kind of remember from my first trip!
 
DisneyMusician2

DisneyMusician2

Well-Known Member
I wish I could...

My father tells me I was young enough to have that disconnect between reality of the experience and entertainment, and it was apparently very "cute" for me to think we might not actually make it back from Mars.:)
 
Mansion Butler

Mansion Butler

Active Member
I can't. The first time I went to Disney I was less than 2 months old and just grew up going there all the time until we moved from Florida when I was 6. My memories are around refusing to do Space Mountain, the Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain because I was frightened, loving the music in the Tiki Room and Journey into Imagination but hating the thunder, and wanting to do Dream Flight and Pirates of the Caribbean over and over again. And I remember Splash Mountain being built.

The first time we went back I was 10, and I'm pretty sure the first attraction we did was Splash as it was the first time we'd been there since it opened. I was still pretty scared of rides like that, but determined to do it, anyway. By the time I survived, it was instantly my favorite.

I do remember my first attraction at Disneyland was the Submarine Voyage. We took the monorail from the hotal to Tomorrowland and I was instantly enthralled by the look of the submarines and wanted to go on it.

And my first attraction as a cast member was the TTA during my orientation class.
 
zurgandfriend

zurgandfriend

Well-Known Member
On my first trip to WDW for our Honeymoon in 1995 DW and I rode IASW first. I remember riding it and saying "I've seen this before." Then it dawned on me. I saw it when I was a kid at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
We still ride IASW first every time we visit and I walk around singing the song until DW threatens me with bodily harm if I don't stop.
 
DisneyDreamer08

DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
My first trip was in 95 when I was 13. I don't remember which ride we went on first, but I do vividly remember Alien Encounter for two reasons. One, I remember being really scared when it was dark and you could feel hot breath on the back of your neck.

And two, on a lighter note, my younger brother who was 9 at the time, had never been on a ride with a harness that lowers down over you. He got confused and tried to put his two arms through the middle of it. He ended up sitting really awkwardly and uncomfortably with his arms in front of his face for the whole show. We made of fun of him the rest of trip, and still do today! :lol:
 
RNRguy

RNRguy

New Member
okay i have to tell this story... but kinda embarrasing.. but since in older i still get reminded of it even when we went to disney in 2007. by my dad!..
but my mom won a trip to disney though her work.. (a cable company)
at the time and she had won a trip to stay at the grand floridian.. but elected to not take it and down grade to take me and my sister!.. so

for some reason i was scared of its a small world.. i refused to go on the ride.. .. my parents.. really my dad got upset with me and threatened to leave the park that day..

then there was the sky ride.. i was scared of that but i got bribed to ride that nd it worked!:) for riding i got a dale stuffed doll.. which i still have.. but its seen better days lol..

mind you this story was in 87 i think.. bc it was in the days of horizons. anf the old journey in to imangation..:animwink:
 
luvlifeinfl

luvlifeinfl

New Member
Since my first time I went to WDW is in 2005, I was in my late 30's. My first thing I remember is pulling into the resort for FW cabins, then our Ferry Ride to the MK.

Now my youngest was 5 at the time and I think she would tell you that all the rides were scarey. Then my oldest was 15, it was probably the best time in her life.
 
WishIwasThere

WishIwasThere

Active Member
My first ride at Disney, which only had the MK at the time (1980), was the Jungle Cruise. I remember that trip like it was yesterday. They still had the swan boats. BTMRR was built but not open yet. There was a cleared area just before it, that would much later become Splash. The skyway was still running. 20K was still there. It was a 90 minute wait the day we were there, and my dad says, 'I waited an hour and a half for that'. The Indy speedway was longer. Mission to mars was there as was some other circlevision 360 movie about travelling around the world (was it magic carpet?). If you had wings was there before Buzz. Toontown...non existant. I also remember Main St. being alot busier with trolleys and firetrucks than what it is today.
 
WishIwasThere

WishIwasThere

Active Member
luvlifeinfl said:
Since my first time I went to WDW is in 2005, I was in my late 30's. My first thing I remember is pulling into the resort for FW cabins, then our Ferry Ride to the MK.

Now my youngest was 5 at the time and I think she would tell you that all the rides were scarey. Then my oldest was 15, it was probably the best time in her life.
Click to expand...

Ok, if we're including those...then my first ride was the Monorail. :animwink:
 
Chrononymous

Chrononymous

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
How cool! Thanks for all the stories!

Yeah I guess Technically my first ever WDW ride was the ferry to the MK...but I don't really remember doing it.
 
Kaertos

Kaertos

Member
My first trip to WDW was my honeymoon in '96. We had planned on taking a nap when we got to the resort since we had a 6 am flight the Monday after our wedding (and I don't need to tell you how tired we both were... :: wink wink ::). But by the time we got to the resort, I was so excited I couldn't sit still. So we went to the Magic Kingdom.

I could tell many stories about the walk down Main Street and how we realized that we had forgotten to eat lunch. Th upshot of it all is that we ended up in the fast food place that has the window overlooking IASW. So, we started there since the line was short.

I remember thinking that I had wanted to see that ride since I was a kid and had a Disneyland pinball game that had several rides on it. Now here I was, 23, married and finally at Disney World riding IASW. I was at best 10 years old that afternoon. I sang along with rides, and by the end of the night my face literally hurt from smiling.

... and people wonder why I (and we, for that matter) love Disney so much.
 

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