Misunderstanding of things as a child.

[Spikerdink]

I don't remember the year, but it had to be early 70's not long after Disney opened.... my brother and I went to Florida to visit my great-grandmother and we went to Disney for our first visit. I don't remember much from that trip, but I do know we went to see the Hall of Presidents. Afterward, my great-grandmother was amazed that they had 'found so many actors who looked just like each president'....

 

[pjammer]

I remember when I first saw Captain EO. At the end Fuzzball kind of points and winks at you. I really thought he was doing that to me and only me. I always felt that there was times the he was just communicating to me and that he remembered me every time we came back. We had annuals and would go often. I was probably 3 or 4. Probably one of the reason I was at the first show when they reopened it.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

The first time I went to Disney I was 17, so this is kind of embarrassing. I just thought it was one big park.. like Animal Kingdom, DHS, Ecpot, and MK were all connected. I was so confused because on the first day there, my friend took me to Animal Kingdom. I asked her where the heck the castle was. She then explained there were multiple parks... man did I feel stupid! It blew my mind!!

 

[CLandrum]

My daughter was 5 on her first trip. I always stopped and made her go potty before we got in any long line. We were at the restrooms by Peter Pan and she flat out refused to go. I saw that it said it was a princess bathroom on the outside. So I told her "look it is where all the princesses go potty." She gave in and we ended up going into the handicapped stall with the sink in it. From then on she called all the handicapped restrooms with sinks in them the "princess restroom." Even at our local mall she would go in and shout in excitement "WOW! They have a princess restroom!"
She is now 12 and she just stopped doing this about 2 years ago when we went into the Peter Pan restrooms and she said "Hey mom, look, it says it is a princess restroom." I then shared the story with her. Now she laughs everytime she sees a "princess restroom."

 

[RunnerFool]

For the longest time, I wasn't aware the the "D" in "Disney" logo was a "D"
Looked like a Q or something

 

[popcenturylover]

I went to WDW for the 1st time in 82' when I was 8 yrs old. My mother & I rode Space Mountain & I thought that we were going so fast that I would fly out of the car! I kept yelling at my Mom to hold onto me & was hysterical by the time we got off the ride! I couldn't believe it when I found out how fast it really goes!

 

[madtea_party]

For the longest time, I wasn't aware the the "D" in "Disney" logo was a "D"
Looked like a Q or something

I was going to write this! For the longest time, I just could not see a "D".
I knew it was one, I just didn't know how it was a D lol

 

[juniorthomas]

I wanted to make a thread that identified an experience you or someone else may of had as a child when you went to the parks.

For example, when I was a small child I rode the TTA with my parents. In the Space Mountain section I saw two rockets full of people on each side of me going up the track and then heard them screaming as they went down. I did not realize that the other people were on a seperate ride. Being a rather nervous child I thought that they were just unlucky. I thought that they got on a different part of the TTA track that made you fall hard to the ground and possibly die. After riding it once I was deathly afraid of the TTA, and my parents could not convince me to ride it again. Until I got older of course.

A second example would be of my cousin Will. When Will was very small we rode PotC, and after the first drop the pirate captain (before he was transformed to Barbosa) screamed "fire at will!" Of course Will thought that the captain had ordered the cannons to fire at him and unconsolably cried the rest of the ride.

That being said, I know I am not the only one with experiences like this so feel free to share.

This is amazing. Glad to have never been that unlucky on the mystery second track of TTA!

As a littl'n, my sisters convinced me that by going on HM, I would have nightmares every night for the rest of my life. Needless to say, I had no interest in going on it. I did, and was terrified throughout. Then they laughed at me afterward.

Hmm. Doesn't seem to be much of a happy ending there. Let's try that again.

As a littl'n, my sisters convinced me that by going on HM, I would have nightmares every night for the rest of my life. Needless to say, I had no interest in going on it. I did, and was terrified throughout. Then they laughed at me afterward. But then I invented Google.

 

[muteki]

Thinking the Hydrolators were actually taking you under water

 

[Oddysey]

That's classic!! I love that story! Do you laugh at that story now with him??

Unfortunately Will moved a great distance, and we dont talk as much as we would like. However, I did just get news that he is moving back to Florida to play basketball at a local college so I will definitely remind him of it. I almost always think of him when I go past Barbosa on PotC. LOL!

 

[Sped2424]

I thought on splash mountain the "Sheds" in the que were full of the animals in the ride and that's where the slept when I was little and That Ariel and king Triton lived in the 20,000 league lagoon cave in the back.

 

[JillC LI]

We took my 4 year old cousin with us to DL and it was her first time going on Soarin' Over California and Star Tours. Both times she started getting upset in the waiting area. She thought we were really going on a trip and she didn't have her suitcase and her mom wouldn't know where she was. We kept having to tell her it was just pretend and we would come back to Disneyland when the ride was over. The pre ride videos of people with luggage getting on the rides didn't help.

DS thought he had really gone to Mars the first time he rode Mission: Space (age 7). He was excited about it so my hubby and I encouraged the notion. LOL.

I went to WDW for the 1st time in 82' when I was 8 yrs old. My mother & I rode Space Mountain & I thought that we were going so fast that I would fly out of the car! I kept yelling at my Mom to hold onto me & was hysterical by the time we got off the ride! I couldn't believe it when I found out how fast it really goes!

I had that same sensation that I would fly out of the car the first time I rode a Six Flags wooden coaster at age 23, and it took me nearly 20 years to be willing to try any of the coasters at Disney after that terrifying experience. Now I do love BTM and RnRC, but I hate ToT and Everest because of that sensation that I am going to fly out of my seat.

 

[Neph-Neph]

For the longest time, I wasn't aware the the "D" in "Disney" logo was a "D"
Looked like a Q or something

I thought it was a backwards G when I was little! I was very confused.

 

[Mater_Disney]

I was frightened very easily as a child. At the age of either 2 or 4(I can't remember which trip it was), I cried hysterically at the heffalump part of the Winnie the Pooh ride. My parents definitely weren't expecting that!

I refused to go on a lot of rides till I was in the double digits, including (but not limited to) Dinosaur, Snow White's Adventures, Pirates of the Caribbean, any 3D films, etc...

The Haunted Mansion was my worst fear at Disney. When I was 9, my parents told me we would only go to DW if I agreed to ride it. Of course I said yes, but I shut my eyes the entire time on the ride.

I wasn't often afraid of the thrill rides. I rode ToT for the first time when I was 7.
The animatronix were what freaked me out. They just look so real! I still shy away from them if the ride cart gets too close for my liking. I sit in the middle of a ride whenever possible.

Also, my Dad and I were the first ones on the PotC on our trip this year. No one else was on the ride. PotC may not seem scary when the boats are full, but let me tell ya, it is sooo scary when it's just you! Especially in the beginning! It was my first time seeing the mermaid feature, so I thought they were going to pop up or something! The cannons also had a blast of air which hit your head that hadn't been there my previous trip. It just felt like something was wrong because I was so used to all of the people.

 

[Disney_Belle]

As a child I was afraid of EVERYTHING and my brother didn't really help. I was convinced that a ghost from Haunted Mansion really would follow me home. My brother definitely helped make me believe that.

I was so paranoid as a kid that a ghost would really follow me home. I also used to think that there would be a secret track that the TTA would divert on to when going into Space Mountain and we would somehow end up on the SM track, but in the TTA car.

 

[jmorri26]

I never figured out the Peoplemover went through Space Mountain when I was younger. It was so dark, I'd just squint around and go "pssh...everything is upside down!" then you were out of it. Now I love to look for the TTA when going on SM.

I was 100% convinced Tinkerbell before the fireworks was real. My parents pretended they didn't know what I was talking about! I'd insist I saw a sparkly fairy flying in the sky and they'd look at me puzzled (obviously, they knew) Years later I remember seeing Tink soar off the castle and going "OH MY GOD SHE'S REAL!!!" It was one of those things I didn't notice in all the later trips after that for some reason convinced it was just in my head so it was really cool to see as an adult and that it was real and get that magical feeling.I just thought of that. Bizarre how probably 15+ years and probably 10 trips I never noticed it til then.

 

[AGDLillyBelle]

Snow White's Scary Adventures really did me in when I was four. I didn't ride it again until I was 29, and only because I knew it would be my last chance!

 

[AllyInWonderland]

I was so paranoid as a kid that a ghost would really follow me home. I also used to think that there would be a secret track that the TTA would divert on to when going into Space Mountain and we would somehow end up on the SM track, but in the TTA car.

Me too!!!! I'm still a little uneasy about it!

 

[PUSH]

For the longest time, I wasn't aware the the "D" in "Disney" logo was a "D"
Looked like a Q or something

I thought it was just scribbles! Then a couple of years later I looked at it and am like "What the... it CAN'T be. It CAN'T be! IT IS!!"

Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but still.

 

[PUSH]

I was scared to ride just about every ride as a child, though I still loved the place and always wanted to go back for some reason. I remember on KS I was convinced that the animals were going to climb in the vehicles and take me away. I'd always have to sit in the middle of the vehicle. Then when we got to the bridge I was even more scared.

One time we went on HM during Halloween night and I was scared to death. Not screaming, but hanging onto my mom's hand tightly. The CM walking on the conveyor belt while load looked me in the eyes and stared me down. My mom asked me if I wanted to get in first or her, and without saying anything I quickly scurried into the buggy like it was a getaway car!

And then in ITTBAB, I always leaned forward because I didn't want to get stung by a bee. I was deathly afraid of bees. Like even more than anything else.

And my last wimp story is at the Living Seas (before Nemo), the manatees scared me so much. I was afraid that I was somehow going to fall into the water and it would kill me. Any larger bodies of water like that with visible, large sea animals scared me to death.

I was a real wimp wasn't I?