Do You Remember Your First Time?

[mkepcotmgmak]

I remember as a kid my biggest dream was to be able to go to Walt Disney World. My wish came true when I was a sophomore in high school. I actually went with two people i barely knew. The lady worked with my mom and said they were going to Disney World, and had an extra park hopper pass and all a person needed to provide was an airplane ticket. well, i didn't care if I would have been going with complete strangers - i wanted to go.

I felt like I already knew the attractions and such, and playet "tour guide" for the couple I was with. I always thought the parks were just right close together, and much to my surprise, you couldn't see them all lined up in a row. This was my first clue to how big this place actually was. We checked in at All Star Sports - another tear jerker for me.... i made it. I am staying on property.

Our first visit was to the MK. I will NEVER forget that feeling of walking under the station and onto Main Street U.S.A. I was so excited that I forgot EVERYTHING - literally. I kind of actually forgot where I was. After I saw the castle we would walk from attraction to attraction (which I knew everyone of them) but I was dumbfounded. When we reached the Jungle Cruise I was like, OH THATS RIGHT - THIS IS HERE, and the same with PotC. BUT WHEN WE MADE IT TO THE HAUNTED MANSION AND IaSW - BOY O BOY... I KNEW WHERE I WAS! ANYWAY - could go on forever, but what are some of your stories...
p.s. - things i didn't get to witness/ride on my first visit but really wanted to, but the people i was with weren't DISNEYFIED... but tired... in a way this was good becuase it kept me begging to go back...lol
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain
THE NEWLY OPENED ANIMAL KINGDOM (we arrived one month after its opening)
CoP
Fantasmic!
World Showcase
Spaceship Earth
Peter Pan
JIYI - all we rode at Epcot was Living with the Land
Beauty and the Beast LIVE
most everything at D/MGM

 

[mickeysaver]

I have flashes of pieces of memories about MK from my youth. I was so small when we went I don't remember much. As for Epcot, I got to go with my Dad and my then step-mother when I was a senior in high school. I loved it, but I was doing the parts they wanted to do. I went to MGM with my honey for the first time in March, 2001. I loved it. She had been to all the parks except AK before since she grew up in FL. I did all the above and AK last September. I totally fell in love with WDW. I can't wait to get back! So there are lots of WDW first times for us. There are lots of great memories. I still think actually meeting Mickey Mouse last year will be one of the best memories of my lifetime. The only thing that tops it was meeting my honey for the first time face to face since we met on the net. But, that's a different story. lol Mickey

 

[RU42]

My first was in 1991 - for my Honeymoon. Growing up next to Disneyland I have been there eons of times.

I have always wanted to go to WDW - and it was an incredible experience.

RU

 

[TinkRBell427]

My first trip to WDW was as a baby. Yup, I was one of those kids in the stroller that probably ran over some feet. j/k:lol: Sorry had to bring that up because last year I was almost run down by five strollers at once. Anyway, all I remember was that some dinosaur was right in my face (not really, but what do you expect from a baby)and I thought that it was real and I screamed my head off and they had to stop the ride to let my mom and I off. I guess I was a pain to everyone on that ride. I think the ride is Ellen's energy adventure now, but I haven't ridden it since. Only because I haven't made it that far!
But I do remember the trip to WDW when I was six. I loved it and never wanted to leave. My favorite rides were JiYA, SE, HM and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride(which is now extinct)

````````````````````````````````
Next WDW trip:
May 10-15, 2003
only a few more days!!!!:sohappy:

 

[imagineer boy]

I first went when I was about four years old. I absolutely loved it!
There are only a few scattered memories of it though. I remember pirates of the caribean a little, and liking it. I really, really, really loved Peter Pan's Flight. I was a Peter Pan fan at the time, and I was just in heaven on that ride. I remember the Witch in the Snow White ride popping out so many times that I nearly cried. I was in love with BTMRR. It was my first roller coaster ever. I went on it many times to my parent's moans.:lol: At EPCOT, I really liked the living seas. I went on the Universe of Energy, I liked it alot, but I was a little scared of the dinosaurs. They seemed so real to me! At MGM, I only remember The Backlot Tour ( mostly catastrophy canyon ) and the Great Movie Ride. I also remember the Beauty and the Beast show and the alladin parade. I htought it was so neat! Wow, WDW was really amazing for me at that time. I have good memories. ( except of the wicked witch )

 

[MicBat]

My first time at WDW was when I was a baby... we lived 45 minutes away at the time, so it wasn't really making a vacation of it... I remember snipets of vacations when I was about 3 or 4.

 

[rokcandy]

I was only 2 on my first trip (1987), so obviously I don't remember it. But I can think of all the old rides, like the original UoE. I LOVED that ride when I was lil. And the way DTD Marketplace was when it was called the Village - I miss the original stores...and Minnie Mia's.

 

[jrashadb]

Originally posted by mkepcotmgmak
p.s. - things i didn't get to witness/ride on my first visit but really wanted to, but the people i was with weren't DISNEYFIED... but tired... in a way this was good becuase it kept me begging to go back...lol
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain
THE NEWLY OPENED ANIMAL KINGDOM (we arrived one month after its opening)
CoP
Fantasmic!
World Showcase
Spaceship Earth
Peter Pan
JIYI - all we rode at Epcot was Living with the Land
Beauty and the Beast LIVE
most everything at D/MGM

Dude...
You missed all the best stuff. I hope you got to see Illuminations.
As for my first trip... I don't remember much. I was a little kid. I was about 3 or younger... I have pictures of me hanging out in Tomorrowland.
All I can remember is the usual... I was amazed by how cool everything was, I was scared senseless of Mickey and I cried when we had to leave. And, other than a short time there during middle school, when I was tryiong to figure out if I was too cool for WDW, I've been hooked ever since.
If You Had Wings? Mission to Mars? Mr. Toad's Wild Ride? The Skyway? Those were the good old days.

 

[Bagheera]

Hmmmm..... I was about 8 for my first trip back in 1972. I remember a few of the rides, like "If You Had Wings" (had wings, had wings...) and small world. But my most vivid memory is toward the end of the day, in Fantasyland (I think), when my brothers and I were negotiating with my parents as to how many more tickets (and of what letter) they would buy for us before we had to leave.

Oy, I feel so old....

 

[Jenevra]

The first time I ever went to Disney I was already 20 years old!!! I guess my mom figured late is better than never :animwink:

Now my husband and I have gone the last two years in a row and are leaving for WDW this Saturday! I absolutely love it!

 

[Sir Hiss527]

I think when I went to Disney my first was when I was 2, or 3. I had a wonderful, and Magical time at Disney World...

 

[lildivaaa]

Well...my first trip I actually consider it separated by 25 years!!! I'll explain...........

My very first trip, but not appreciation and love for WDW, was when I was 6 years old...I believe this would have been 1974. I really don't remember much...just impressions and foggy memories. I do remember The Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamborie and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. But, beyond that...nothing much else. Being 6 years old...I suppose it was more of the "let's play" attitude and drive my parents crazy while at WDW.

NOW....fast forward to 1999, I'm now 30 years old...married for 2 years at this point, no kids and my wife and I decide to go to WDW for our first, OFFICIAL vacation and a married couple. With a little detour to the Bahamas 3 days prior (which we should have NEVER done!!), we head to WDW to vacation for 4 days with another couple we are very good friends with. We decided to spoil ourselves, so we stayed at Dixie Landings (aka Port Orleans - Riverside). Just arriving at WDW and staying onsite was blowing me away at this point. I found it such a relief to leave the outside world behind and relax, once we drove through the area stating "Welcome to Walt Disney World Resorts". Then we arrived at Dixie Landings....and I was floored!!!. This place was so beautiful, clean and pleasent. I could really just RELAX and enjoy EVERYTHING!!!

Now, onto the parks!! The first was Magic Kingdom.....and suddenly, I was 6 years old again. My wife and friends had to run just to keep up with me as I ran down Main Street USA! Looking at the guidemap, I notices where 20,000 Leagues was. So I ran around the corner and stopped dead in my tracks.....the ride was gone!!! I didn't known it had been decommissioned a few months prior to our trip. I just stood there with a lump in my throat, stairing at the water where the subs use to be. It took my wife 15 minutes to pull me away. Anycase, after that inital shock, the rest of my day at Magic Kingdom was "magical". The next day, was Disney/MGM Studios and then Epcot. Everything was perfect and I couldn't have been happier.

Keep in mind that when I visited in 1974, there was NO Disney/MGM....NO EPCOT, etc, etc.....only The Magic Kingdom. So....like I said, this was my first trip......separated by 25 years.

 

[GoCamels]

My first visit was Spring of 1984, sixth grade on a school trip. That was still in the days of the old rope drops.

So of course, we slammed our way to Space Mountain at the Magic Hour!!! I think we rode it at least a half dozen times that morning before jetting to Pirates. The one regret I have is not waiting in line for 20K, and not doing the same on a trip in 86 in 8th grade.

The 8th grade trip is much more meaningful, since it was band trip...hooked up with a girl from FLA...first REAL kiss onboard TTA (then known as WedWay). It was while we rode thru the Dreamflight section (now Buzz). I even pointed it out to my wife when we rode thru it this past July. As usualy she made some wise crack about it. Plus, we got to march at Sea World on that one, but I do wish it had been MK.

Other fav memories from my first visit were the old Penny arcade and the Magic Store.

Hotel we stayed at on the sixth grade trip, which at the time was a HoJo up near downtown on I-4, is now crack house I think...it looked a little desolate last time I rode by.

 

[Momx3]

Off topic some. Other than WDW my other favorite place in the world is OBX. I've been there in 1996,1998 and 2000. We stayed in a house in Duck. I haven't been back since and ache when I think of it. It must be great to live there! Sorry this isn't about WDW but I couldn't help myself!

 

[crazygirley]

Nope. I remember not. My mom was 8 months pregnant with me on my "first" trip to WDW. My mom claims that at about the moment they got to WDW, I suddenly became very fussy, kicking and squirming around. I must have wanted to get out and have some fun. Trip number two I do remember. I was 2 years old. I don't remember details, but I distinctivly remember eating at the Electric Umbrella, or whatever it was then.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

My first trip to WDW was in 1994, so I am a late developer as far as Disney is concerned.

 

[WDW1971]

I was born in October 1971 (yes, WDW and I are the same age!!). My first trip was the summer of 1973. I don't remember it other than what I've seen in old super-8 home movies.

I really consider my second trip my first. It was 1977. I remember riding Space Mountain with my mom (scared to death!) and getting my 18 year old sister sick on the teacups. I also remember her losing a flash stick (anyone born since 1980 will have no idea what I'm talking about) from her camera while leaning out to take a picture of the city on the Peter Pan ride. I also remember the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. I loved it and to this day it is the one thing I MUST see at MK. We stayed at Fort Wilderness that year. I remember taking the boat over to MK. I also remember a snake falling out of a tree and landing at my mother's feet. She was NOT amused.

I hope to build memories with my son there in the next few years.

 

[EmeraldDolphin]

my first trip to WDW was my honeymoon! I hadn't even really heard of WDW before then... and it was my first time on an airplane... first time to FL... lots of firsts... I fell in love with WDW and have been totally hooked ever since!

 

[Slinky Dog]

October 1989, and much like mkepcotmgmak, I couldn't get over the size - we stayed at the Caribbean Beach and I remember looking at the WDW map in Birnbaum before we went, Typhoon Lagoon was really near the CB, so I though, "wow, that's great, I can just walk over from the hotel", little did I realise that the CB was one of the biggest hotels in the world back then and that everything else was also so spread out. :hammer:

It goes without saying, that I and all my family, and now my fiance, have been hooked ever since - my dad used to have a really stressful job and being able to see him completely unwind was just wonderful.

I'm getting married next month, honeymoon's not at WDW and no money left for the annual trip to WDW, it'll have to be next year

Still, it could be worse

 

[Sherm00]

My first time down was in 1979 or 80 I was 7. i was awed by everything. at that time only the magic kingdom was there and orlando was mostly open fields. I remember down town disney wasn;t there it was just lake buena vista, we had a charector breakfast on a boat, Mr. Toad and It's a small world was my favorite ride's.