Making Memories. Your First Trip.. Remember?

[danyoung56]

Sorry that I don't have any pictures of the event, but my first trip was in 1979. I was travelling with a show group, and we had a date somewhere in Florida. We also had a day off, so I convinced several of my bandmates to do Disney for a day (back then there was only one park!). I grew up in SoCal, so I knew the Disneyland layout very well. But the MK was so different. It sorta looked the same, but stuff just wasn't where I was used to seeing it! Now I go back to WDW a couple times a year, so I'm much more used to the differences. Still, I'll never forget seeing the Contemporary for the first time, or the monorails going around the Seven Seas Lagoon. I'd seen everything on TV and in print about this relatively new park, but I was finally seeing it all for myself - magic!

 

[Mainahman]

Sorry that I don't have any pictures of the event, but my first trip was in 1979. I was travelling with a show group, and we had a date somewhere in Florida. We also had a day off, so I convinced several of my bandmates to do Disney for a day (back then there was only one park!). I grew up in SoCal, so I knew the Disneyland layout very well. But the MK was so different. It sorta looked the same, but stuff just wasn't where I was used to seeing it! Now I go back to WDW a couple times a year, so I'm much more used to the differences. Still, I'll never forget seeing the Contemporary for the first time, or the monorails going around the Seven Seas Lagoon. I'd seen everything on TV and in print about this relatively new park, but I was finally seeing it all for myself - magic!

pictues are not a requirement! I can almost see it though in my head! See ive never been to DisneyLand. I was out there in 2007 for a Drum and Bugle Corps finals week in Pasadena, and we got stuck in a Hotel across the street, so ive seen the outside, but never have been inside. Someday ill make the trek!

 

[danyoung56]

I've been in Anaheim for work events, and I just hate being outside of the gates of DL and not being able to go in!

 

[Mainahman]

I've been in Anaheim for work events, and I just hate being outside of the gates of DL and not being able to go in!

It was for the entire final week of finals so we were there for several days. I have pictures of the gates, and TOT, but due to schedules etc we couldnt get in, plus none of us had that kind of money after paying tour fees...

 

[LeighM]

My first time at WDW was when I was a toddler in the early 80s so I have no memories - just those of my family who would talk about what a nightmare I was in the summer heat and that they would never ever go back I've always loved Disney movies, as did my Grandma and Mom, so I grew up with a lot of the older movies (even the westerns my Granddaddy loved) and of course my favorite Disney Afternoon with DuckTales, Rescue Rangers, etc. I would hoard the Disney Store magazines that were mailed (kept the bottle of Pixie Dust for years that Mom got me), and lived for the free preview week of Disney Channel LOL. So you can imagine the desire I had to go to WDW! Eventually I would order the free CD/DVDs when Disney began sending them out hoping for the day I would be able to visit. Finally, in 2012, my boyfriend did something that he had to do some serious apologizing for so he was unable to refuse my "request" to finally go to WDW And I've been hooked ever since!!!! It was a last minute trip and I didn't do much research at all - didn't even know I needed to. We still lucked out in getting good dining reservations but our mistakes still make us laugh. We somehow completely missed Adventureland. Didn't even realize it until after the trip when I started researching. We thought the pyramid in the Mexico pavilion was just a pyramid so we skipped over it. I was so overwhelmed in the World of Disney that I never even looked up at the detailed ceilings. I was in shock I missed all of that. We still laugh over it all. Especially over the fact that there is not one picture of me the entire trip lol. So of course I had to go back in 2014 just to ride Pirates and Jungle Cruise

 

[Mainahman]

My first time at WDW was when I was a toddler in the early 80s so I have no memories - just those of my family who would talk about what a nightmare I was in the summer heat and that they would never ever go back I've always loved Disney movies, as did my Grandma and Mom, so I grew up with a lot of the older movies (even the westerns my Granddaddy loved) and of course my favorite Disney Afternoon with DuckTales, Rescue Rangers, etc. I would hoard the Disney Store magazines that were mailed (kept the bottle of Pixie Dust for years that Mom got me), and lived for the free preview week of Disney Channel LOL. So you can imagine the desire I had to go to WDW! Eventually I would order the free CD/DVDs when Disney began sending them out hoping for the day I would be able to visit. Finally, in 2012, my boyfriend did something that he had to do some serious apologizing for so he was unable to refuse my "request" to finally go to WDW And I've been hooked ever since!!!! It was a last minute trip and I didn't do much research at all - didn't even know I needed to. We still lucked out in getting good dining reservations but our mistakes still make us laugh. We somehow completely missed Adventureland. Didn't even realize it until after the trip when I started researching. We thought the pyramid in the Mexico pavilion was just a pyramid so we skipped over it. I was so overwhelmed in the World of Disney that I never even looked up at the detailed ceilings. I was in shock I missed all of that. We still laugh over it all. Especially over the fact that there is not one picture of me the entire trip lol. So of course I had to go back in 2014 just to ride Pirates and Jungle Cruise

Duck tales!!! YES! sounds like my childhood too! ha! i didnt go until 2001 for the first time, but i knew of it, lived for that disney channel preview, and just wanted to go ha! 2012 was our first family trip, and my first experience with any other park than epcot! a few more weeks and ill be back there, but sadly no pirates

 

[Major Mickey]

My first visit was March 1973 on my honeymoon. After that first day, I was hooked and have been back every year since. The thing I regret is we never rode the Swan Boats or the Train in Fort Wilderness.

 

[Mainahman]

My first visit was March 1973 on my honeymoon. After that first day, I was hooked and have been back every year since. The thing I regret is we never rode the Swan Boats or the Train in Fort Wilderness.

i wish they would bring back the swan boats. Id gladly paddle around and just take in the scenery.

 

[danyoung56]

i wish they would bring back the swan boats. Id gladly paddle around and just take in the scenery.

This sounds like you remember the swan boats as being something you paddle around. They were motorized boats - no paddling involved.

 

[Mainahman]

i guess i need to do more research i assumed haha! but either way! id love a low slow boat ride.

 

[correcaminos]

oh man! Those pictures would be amazing!! I LOVE epcot contruction pics! What a memory!

It was a great memory to have. Not sure what you can see with these scans but look closely at the lack of glass on the Journey Pavilion pyramid. Also the black on the bottom of SE. It really was more impressive in person LOL

A few from a MK show as well. Found also the luau which was funny to see

 

[Goofyernmost]

My first visit was in 1983. I was 35 years old and was with my wife and two girls ages 7 and 9. We had never been there before and were truly newbie's. We had asked others that had been there what it was about and they collectively gave us a list of must see's defined as things to go to first. That was also just three months after EPCOT opened. We went into MK with must see list in hand and proceeded to zig zag back and forth across the park to go to the must sees and ended up not seeing very much because we spent most of our time walking from place to place. The second day my wife and I decided that everything was probably worth seeing so instead of jumping around we would just take them one at a time and go from attraction to the one next to it. At the time the BIG attraction was Space Mountain so everyone headed that way first. We went the other way and worked our way around clockwise. We had a 4 day passport and actually spent 3 days seeing everything in MK. We weren't exactly commando type visitors so we took our time between places, didn't look for shorter lines or any of the other tricks we learn over the years. We were so green that we didn't realize that the evening parade and fireworks show was something worth seeing.

We spent part of one day in EPCOT Ctr. but found that the lines that, for example, ran from the movie at Imagination ran from there almost back to SSE. We didn't realize that SSE was a ride, there was no Horizons yet, or Seas, or WoL and all we were aware of in Earth was the boat ride and that line was as long as Imagination was. We stood in one line for over two hours for the movie at Imagination (the ride wasn't open yet) and decided that there were other things to see in Florida besides that backsides of others. We left and drove to the Kennedy Space Center and never really saw much of EPCOT until our next trip.

 

[Mainahman]

It was a great memory to have. Not sure what you can see with these scans but look closely at the lack of glass on the Journey Pavilion pyramid. Also the black on the bottom of SE. It really was more impressive in person LOL

A few from a MK show as well. Found also the luau which was funny to see

I'm in love with these!

 

[Mainahman]

My first visit was in 1983. I was 35 years old and was with my wife and two girls ages 7 and 9. We had never been there before and were truly newbie's. We had asked others that had been there what it was about and they collectively gave us a list of must see's defined as things to go to first. That was also just three months after EPCOT opened. We went into MK with must see list in hand and proceeded to zig zag back and forth across the park to go to the must sees and ended up not seeing very much because we spent most of our time walking from place to place. The second day my wife and I decided that everything was probably worth seeing so instead of jumping around we would just take them one at a time and go from attraction to the one next to it. At the time the BIG attraction was Space Mountain so everyone headed that way first. We went the other way and worked our way around clockwise. We had a 4 day passport and actually spent 3 days seeing everything in MK. We weren't exactly commando type visitors so we took our time between places, didn't look for shorter lines or any of the other tricks we learn over the years. We were so green that we didn't realize that the evening parade and fireworks show was something worth seeing.

We spent part of one day in EPCOT Ctr. but found that the lines that, for example, ran from the movie at Imagination ran from there almost back to SSE. We didn't realize that SSE was a ride, there was no Horizons yet, or Seas, or WoL and all we were aware of in Earth was the boat ride and that line was as long as Imagination was. We stood in one line for over two hours for the movie at Imagination (the ride wasn't open yet) and decided that there were other things to see in Florida besides that backsides of others. We left and drove to the Kennedy Space Center and never really saw much of EPCOT until our next trip.

Epcot is my fav! I wish I could of experienced dream finder in person!

 

[SteveAZee]

My first trip was 1973; I was 13 (wearing the striped shorts). My experience with amusement parks was Playland (Rye, NY) so the Magic Kingdom really amazed me. It was August, so the heat was difficult to bear, but I remember being impressed by the park and wanting to get back to it in better weather (and with better planning). I've been back many times over the years and have plans to return in 2019 with my adult children.

 

[Mainahman]

My first trip was 1973; I was 13 (wearing the striped shorts). My experience with amusement parks was Playland (Rye, NY) so the Magic Kingdom really amazed me. It was August, so the heat was difficult to bear, but I remember being impressed by the park and wanting to get back to it in better weather (and with better planning). I've been back many times over the years and have plans to return in 2019 with my adult children.

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im a fan of striped shorts even today! Might be why my wife now buys my shorts. Love it!

 

[SteveAZee]

im a fan of striped shorts even today! Might be why my wife now buys my shorts. Love it!

I think they were hand-me-down pants from my older brother (in the red) which mom (also in stripes) converted to cutoffs. Wise woman, your wife.

 

[Mainahman]

I think they were hand-me-down pants from my older brother (in the red) which mom (also in stripes) converted to cutoffs. Wise woman, your wife.

shes also Disney Obsessed. I found a gem!

 

[Elfinko]

I was 40 when I visited WDW for the first time in 2014. We stayed at Coronado and our first night was at Hollywood Studios. There was a band playing center stage with everyone dancing and singing along. Our boy totally loved it. We watched Fantasmic that night and the fireworks on our way out...or maybe it was the other way around, lol. Anyway, too many highlights to mention on that trip, but we'll never forget it. Ironically, some of our favorite moments were just relaxing at the pool with the water slide and hot tub

 

[Mainahman]

I was 40 when I visited WDW for the first time in 2014. We stayed at Coronado and our first night was at Hollywood Studios. There was a band playing center stage with everyone dancing and singing along. Our boy totally loved it. We watched Fantasmic that night and the fireworks on our way out...or maybe it was the other way around, lol. Anyway, too many highlights to mention on that trip, but we'll never forget it. Ironically, some of our favorite moments were just relaxing at the pool with the water slide and hot tub

FANTASMIC!!! it "broke" on the only night we could see it in 2012. its on our must do list this trip for sure. LOOVE it!