This isn't a one trip report, but is a not-so-brief history of all of my trips to Disney. I just got to thinking about the years of good times and thought I'd share. It’s long and sappy, so feel free to skip it – I’ll never know!!
My first planned trip to Disney never materialized. It was 1981, the Magic Kingdom was 10 years old, I was in my 20's, and my marriage was 4 years old. The week before we were to leave for Disney, my husband up and quit his job, giving up not only the money we would need for the trip but the company car that would have taken us there. My thoughts of Disney soon faded and the marriage did too (but not because of the Disney disappointment, I might add).
I reluctantly re-entered the single world, and as time began to heal the wounds, I realized that nothing was now holding me back from my dream vacation. I was in a new town with a new job, and I mustered up a new group of girlfriends for a trip to Disney. It was now 1983 and Epcot had been open for a year. We drove down to Orlando after work on a Thursday, and spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the two parks before heading home. I was completely mesmerized by Epcot - the amazing moving theater at Universe of Energy, the smell of oranges at Horizons, the delightful figment at Journey to Imagination, and cars and robot at the World of Motion, the double-decker bus riding around World Showcase, and the sparkling sidewalks when the sun went down. My eyes hurt from looking at all of the beautiful sights. I was especially amazed by the queues and pre-shows. After years of standing in lines at Six Flags and Carowinds, it was amazing to spend time waiting in the air-conditioning entertained by great pre-shows. Making Memories at the Magic Journeys 3-D movie was my favorite.
You know how you just want to share Disney once you discover it? Well, I badly wanted all of my family to enjoy it as much as I had, so at Christmas in '83 or '84 (I think '83, but not sure), I took my parents to Disney. My parents were now in their 70's so this was quite a trip. Not only that, but it was freezing cold in Orlando. On Christmas day it was colder in Orlando than in Anchorage, Alaska! The orange groves were covered in ice. Christmas fell on a Sunday, and we went to church that morning. The church we had chosen had no heat, and greeted us with blankets and mugs of hot chocolate. It was one of the "warmest" worship services I've ever attended. After church, we wanted to watch the Disney parade on Main Street, so we bundled up, drove to the parking area, took a tram to the TTA, took the monorail to MK, and staked out a spot on Main Street. About 30 minutes later we were all too cold to enjoy ourselves, so we took the monorail back to to the TTA, the tram back to the car, the car back to the hotel, and by the time the parade came on TV, we were all snug and warm!
1985 brought wedding bells to the confirmed "I'll never marry again" bachelorette. God had other plans for me! And you can be sure that it wasn’t long until I wanted to share Disney with my new partner. We didn't make it down in the first year, but by summer of 1986 I was expecting our first child. We decided that we had to make our first Disney trip "pre-children", in order enjoy what we wanted before needing naps and babysitters. So, during our Thanksgiving holiday of 1986, we made our first Disney trip together. Since I was pregnant I sat out the thrill rides, but together we relived my first magical trip to Disney. We ate at Marrakesh and found out we really liked couscous. It has since become one of our menu staples.
In February of 1987 our precious son was born. Another new job, another new city and in August of 1989 a darling daughter joined the family. It had now been three years since my last Disney trip and I was beginning to get the bug again. Somehow Disney seems more fun with a crowd, so we arranged a trip for the following autumn - September, 1990 - with my mother (Dad had died the previous year), my sister, her son and his wife and son. The 8 of us stayed in a suites hotel offsite. My most vivid memories of this trip are of my daughter crying when ANYONE else but me held her. All those people offering to help and she just cried. This was when the Dinosaurs show was on TV and we quoted the dinosaur baby, "Not the Mama! Not the Mama!". On this trip we waited in line about an hour for our son to meet Mickey, and when his turn came, he fell down and kissed Mickey's feet. I was so embarrassed at the time, but looking back on it, I don't know why. Now it sounds cute. Typhoon Lagoon was now open and we spent a delightful day playing in the water. My daughter took her afternoon nap sleeping on my tummy as we floated in the lazy river. Ah, good times.
It was another three years before our next trip. In the fall of 1994 we headed back to the magic - just the four of us. On this trip darling daughter was now all grown up - in her opinion, at least. She wore cowboy boots all day every day as they pushed her over the height restrictions. She rode Space Mountain three times. (Yes, I guess I was one of those bad parents that let their children cheat on the height restrictions, even though they are there for safety reasons. I'd do better now, I'm sure. ) On this trip we discovered River Country, Sci-Fi Dine In and 50’s Prime Time Café, Tom Sawyer's Island, the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground, and the free child care at the Holiday Inn where we stayed. To this day our daughter remembers that her favorite thing on the trip was staying in the free child care!
1997 brought another family reunion trip to Disney. This time we met up with relatives from Scotland whom we had never met. They had a boy our son's age (now 9) and a girl our daughter's age (now 7). It didn't take long for the kids to hit it off and for the adults to become friends. On this trip we enjoyed the new Blizzard Beach (opened in 1995) and seeing the castle still decorated like a big old pink birthday cake! The boys loved Alien Encounter - the girls found something else to do. We watched the Electric Parade in a downpour and all got soaked. Star Tours and Indiana Jones were hits at MGM. Was that the year that Captain EO was the 3D movie at Epcot? This visit the kids were now old enough to stay in Innoventions alone – playing video games to their hearts’ delight. And, we sent emails to friends back home – oooh, cooool!
For my next trip, I gave hubby a break. He's not really a big Disney fan, although he has certainly humored me over the years. This one, however, was an all-girls trip. The years have started to run together, but I believe this was the spring of 1999 when my daughter was in the 5th grade. She and I went with my other sister and that sister’s daughter. We had such a good time at MK, Epcot, and MGM. Animal Kingdom was new, but our time was short and we didn’t make it to that park that year. During that trip we LOVED “Cast in Bronze”, a performer at Epcot who played the world’s only (or maybe the world’s largest) portable carillon. He was amazing! On this trip, Test Track was new, and we all rode except my sister, who was chicken. Then, we convinced her it was ok and the last thing on the last night she agreed to ride. We stood in line (before fastpass) and got into the car, when the ride broke down and never restarted. She had to wait for her next trip to enjoy that.
In 2000 we got our Disney fix on the other side of the country with a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure. We were visiting my husband’s brother in San Diego, and managed to spend five days in Anaheim! Disneyland seemed so compact compared to Magic Kingdom but still full of great attractions. At California Adventure we loved Soarin’ Over California, California Screamin’ (the great Mickey Mouse roller coaster), and the bakeries that demonstrated baking sourdough bread and tortillas – complete with free samples! We saw Fantasmic for the first time there and I loved that too. However, one thing we didn’t love was that gut-wrenching, stomach-churching Sun Wheel thing – the ferris wheel with cars that SLIDE IN AND OUT on the spokes of the wheel. WhatEVER made me think I could stand that ride??? Never again!
I believe there was a 5 year delay before our next trip, which was for our son’s 18th birthday in 2005. What a delight – teenagers at Disney! We rode all the thrill rides as many times as we could. We celebrated his birthday every day of the week and at every meal. On this trip we stayed onsite for the very first time – springing for a value room at Pop Century (woo hoo!). We also splurged on the meal plan, and really got our money’s worth feeding the hungry teens. We tried out resort restaurants – ‘Ohana, Boma, Whispering Canyon Café, and Cape May Café. We visited Animal Kingdom for the first time – loved the Safari and the Rapids ride, didn’t love Dinorama or Rafiki’s Planet Watch. We were able to see the Lights! Motor! Action! Show in soft openings, and saw the castle all dressed up for the 50 years of Magic celebration. Hubby rode Test Track for the first time and declared it a favorite. This was our first exposure to Epcot’s Festival of Flowers and we were amazed by the beauty.
After this trip, my Disney trips became more frequent. Maybe it’s like an addiction – the longer it continues the less time you can go between “fixes”. In June of 2005, Hubby and I went for a quick weekend trip to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I declared it the “Shows and Countries Tour”, with the goal of seeing all the performers, parades, and shows that I had missed while running from thrill ride to thrill ride. We did see most of the ones on my list: Voices of Liberty, Off Kilter, MoRockin, Festival of the Lion King, Tarzan Rocks, Beauty and the Beast, and many more. We had our first Dole Whips, and closed this trip (my 10th!) with a nostalgic dinner at Marrakesh.
A new job has me traveling all over the country and in July of 2005 it landed me back in Orlando! I didn’t have time for an official trip to Disney, but did manage to enjoy dinner at Chef Mickey’s and a nice monorail ride one evening.
Work also sent me to Anaheim in August of 2005, where I managed to spend most of one day at Disneyland. I enjoyed the original Small World and a ride on the canal boats through Storybook Land. They had just renovated Space Mountain there and I enjoyed that as well.
My most recent trip to Disney was in April of this year. This was an all adult trip – my two sisters and their husbands with the two of us. We tried the Fantasmic Dining package for the first time, saw Mickey’s Jammin Jungle Parade for the first time, and rode the new Expedition Everest! We rode Soarin’ (my sister’s favorite), saw It’s Tough to Be a Bug (my brother-in-law’s favorite), and watched the amazing Karuka acrobats at AK.
Our calendar doesn’t have the next Disney trip penciled in, but I’m already making a list of things I want to see, do, and eat. Of course we’ll repeat our favorites – Boma, Tusker House, RnRRC, ToT, EE, Soarin’, Test Track, Festival of the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mickey Bars, and Dole Whip. But there are a few things I’ve missed on every trip that I hope to catch for the first time: Mulch, Sweat, and Shears at MGM, Spelman’s Gledje in Norway, Turtle Talk with Crush, and dinner at Le Cellier, the Concourse Steakhouse, and the new Garden Grill. I still want to see the Stars and Cars parade and hope it is there when I go. And then there will be new things that haven’t been there before on my trips - Segways at Innoventions, the new Living Seas, and the new Pirates ride. Nemo and Monsters Inc may be open by then. I want to spend more time on the trails at Animal Kingdom and, finally, to take time to sit on Main Street and just enjoy the performers, the atmosphere, and the passersby.
From a single young adult in my 20’s to a middle-aged 50 year old with teens, there has always been something for me and our family at Disney. And no matter how many times I go, there is always something new to discover. I can’t wait to go back!
My first planned trip to Disney never materialized. It was 1981, the Magic Kingdom was 10 years old, I was in my 20's, and my marriage was 4 years old. The week before we were to leave for Disney, my husband up and quit his job, giving up not only the money we would need for the trip but the company car that would have taken us there. My thoughts of Disney soon faded and the marriage did too (but not because of the Disney disappointment, I might add).
I reluctantly re-entered the single world, and as time began to heal the wounds, I realized that nothing was now holding me back from my dream vacation. I was in a new town with a new job, and I mustered up a new group of girlfriends for a trip to Disney. It was now 1983 and Epcot had been open for a year. We drove down to Orlando after work on a Thursday, and spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in the two parks before heading home. I was completely mesmerized by Epcot - the amazing moving theater at Universe of Energy, the smell of oranges at Horizons, the delightful figment at Journey to Imagination, and cars and robot at the World of Motion, the double-decker bus riding around World Showcase, and the sparkling sidewalks when the sun went down. My eyes hurt from looking at all of the beautiful sights. I was especially amazed by the queues and pre-shows. After years of standing in lines at Six Flags and Carowinds, it was amazing to spend time waiting in the air-conditioning entertained by great pre-shows. Making Memories at the Magic Journeys 3-D movie was my favorite.
You know how you just want to share Disney once you discover it? Well, I badly wanted all of my family to enjoy it as much as I had, so at Christmas in '83 or '84 (I think '83, but not sure), I took my parents to Disney. My parents were now in their 70's so this was quite a trip. Not only that, but it was freezing cold in Orlando. On Christmas day it was colder in Orlando than in Anchorage, Alaska! The orange groves were covered in ice. Christmas fell on a Sunday, and we went to church that morning. The church we had chosen had no heat, and greeted us with blankets and mugs of hot chocolate. It was one of the "warmest" worship services I've ever attended. After church, we wanted to watch the Disney parade on Main Street, so we bundled up, drove to the parking area, took a tram to the TTA, took the monorail to MK, and staked out a spot on Main Street. About 30 minutes later we were all too cold to enjoy ourselves, so we took the monorail back to to the TTA, the tram back to the car, the car back to the hotel, and by the time the parade came on TV, we were all snug and warm!
1985 brought wedding bells to the confirmed "I'll never marry again" bachelorette. God had other plans for me! And you can be sure that it wasn’t long until I wanted to share Disney with my new partner. We didn't make it down in the first year, but by summer of 1986 I was expecting our first child. We decided that we had to make our first Disney trip "pre-children", in order enjoy what we wanted before needing naps and babysitters. So, during our Thanksgiving holiday of 1986, we made our first Disney trip together. Since I was pregnant I sat out the thrill rides, but together we relived my first magical trip to Disney. We ate at Marrakesh and found out we really liked couscous. It has since become one of our menu staples.
In February of 1987 our precious son was born. Another new job, another new city and in August of 1989 a darling daughter joined the family. It had now been three years since my last Disney trip and I was beginning to get the bug again. Somehow Disney seems more fun with a crowd, so we arranged a trip for the following autumn - September, 1990 - with my mother (Dad had died the previous year), my sister, her son and his wife and son. The 8 of us stayed in a suites hotel offsite. My most vivid memories of this trip are of my daughter crying when ANYONE else but me held her. All those people offering to help and she just cried. This was when the Dinosaurs show was on TV and we quoted the dinosaur baby, "Not the Mama! Not the Mama!". On this trip we waited in line about an hour for our son to meet Mickey, and when his turn came, he fell down and kissed Mickey's feet. I was so embarrassed at the time, but looking back on it, I don't know why. Now it sounds cute. Typhoon Lagoon was now open and we spent a delightful day playing in the water. My daughter took her afternoon nap sleeping on my tummy as we floated in the lazy river. Ah, good times.
It was another three years before our next trip. In the fall of 1994 we headed back to the magic - just the four of us. On this trip darling daughter was now all grown up - in her opinion, at least. She wore cowboy boots all day every day as they pushed her over the height restrictions. She rode Space Mountain three times. (Yes, I guess I was one of those bad parents that let their children cheat on the height restrictions, even though they are there for safety reasons. I'd do better now, I'm sure. ) On this trip we discovered River Country, Sci-Fi Dine In and 50’s Prime Time Café, Tom Sawyer's Island, the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground, and the free child care at the Holiday Inn where we stayed. To this day our daughter remembers that her favorite thing on the trip was staying in the free child care!
1997 brought another family reunion trip to Disney. This time we met up with relatives from Scotland whom we had never met. They had a boy our son's age (now 9) and a girl our daughter's age (now 7). It didn't take long for the kids to hit it off and for the adults to become friends. On this trip we enjoyed the new Blizzard Beach (opened in 1995) and seeing the castle still decorated like a big old pink birthday cake! The boys loved Alien Encounter - the girls found something else to do. We watched the Electric Parade in a downpour and all got soaked. Star Tours and Indiana Jones were hits at MGM. Was that the year that Captain EO was the 3D movie at Epcot? This visit the kids were now old enough to stay in Innoventions alone – playing video games to their hearts’ delight. And, we sent emails to friends back home – oooh, cooool!
For my next trip, I gave hubby a break. He's not really a big Disney fan, although he has certainly humored me over the years. This one, however, was an all-girls trip. The years have started to run together, but I believe this was the spring of 1999 when my daughter was in the 5th grade. She and I went with my other sister and that sister’s daughter. We had such a good time at MK, Epcot, and MGM. Animal Kingdom was new, but our time was short and we didn’t make it to that park that year. During that trip we LOVED “Cast in Bronze”, a performer at Epcot who played the world’s only (or maybe the world’s largest) portable carillon. He was amazing! On this trip, Test Track was new, and we all rode except my sister, who was chicken. Then, we convinced her it was ok and the last thing on the last night she agreed to ride. We stood in line (before fastpass) and got into the car, when the ride broke down and never restarted. She had to wait for her next trip to enjoy that.
In 2000 we got our Disney fix on the other side of the country with a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure. We were visiting my husband’s brother in San Diego, and managed to spend five days in Anaheim! Disneyland seemed so compact compared to Magic Kingdom but still full of great attractions. At California Adventure we loved Soarin’ Over California, California Screamin’ (the great Mickey Mouse roller coaster), and the bakeries that demonstrated baking sourdough bread and tortillas – complete with free samples! We saw Fantasmic for the first time there and I loved that too. However, one thing we didn’t love was that gut-wrenching, stomach-churching Sun Wheel thing – the ferris wheel with cars that SLIDE IN AND OUT on the spokes of the wheel. WhatEVER made me think I could stand that ride??? Never again!
I believe there was a 5 year delay before our next trip, which was for our son’s 18th birthday in 2005. What a delight – teenagers at Disney! We rode all the thrill rides as many times as we could. We celebrated his birthday every day of the week and at every meal. On this trip we stayed onsite for the very first time – springing for a value room at Pop Century (woo hoo!). We also splurged on the meal plan, and really got our money’s worth feeding the hungry teens. We tried out resort restaurants – ‘Ohana, Boma, Whispering Canyon Café, and Cape May Café. We visited Animal Kingdom for the first time – loved the Safari and the Rapids ride, didn’t love Dinorama or Rafiki’s Planet Watch. We were able to see the Lights! Motor! Action! Show in soft openings, and saw the castle all dressed up for the 50 years of Magic celebration. Hubby rode Test Track for the first time and declared it a favorite. This was our first exposure to Epcot’s Festival of Flowers and we were amazed by the beauty.
After this trip, my Disney trips became more frequent. Maybe it’s like an addiction – the longer it continues the less time you can go between “fixes”. In June of 2005, Hubby and I went for a quick weekend trip to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I declared it the “Shows and Countries Tour”, with the goal of seeing all the performers, parades, and shows that I had missed while running from thrill ride to thrill ride. We did see most of the ones on my list: Voices of Liberty, Off Kilter, MoRockin, Festival of the Lion King, Tarzan Rocks, Beauty and the Beast, and many more. We had our first Dole Whips, and closed this trip (my 10th!) with a nostalgic dinner at Marrakesh.
A new job has me traveling all over the country and in July of 2005 it landed me back in Orlando! I didn’t have time for an official trip to Disney, but did manage to enjoy dinner at Chef Mickey’s and a nice monorail ride one evening.
Work also sent me to Anaheim in August of 2005, where I managed to spend most of one day at Disneyland. I enjoyed the original Small World and a ride on the canal boats through Storybook Land. They had just renovated Space Mountain there and I enjoyed that as well.
My most recent trip to Disney was in April of this year. This was an all adult trip – my two sisters and their husbands with the two of us. We tried the Fantasmic Dining package for the first time, saw Mickey’s Jammin Jungle Parade for the first time, and rode the new Expedition Everest! We rode Soarin’ (my sister’s favorite), saw It’s Tough to Be a Bug (my brother-in-law’s favorite), and watched the amazing Karuka acrobats at AK.
Our calendar doesn’t have the next Disney trip penciled in, but I’m already making a list of things I want to see, do, and eat. Of course we’ll repeat our favorites – Boma, Tusker House, RnRRC, ToT, EE, Soarin’, Test Track, Festival of the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mickey Bars, and Dole Whip. But there are a few things I’ve missed on every trip that I hope to catch for the first time: Mulch, Sweat, and Shears at MGM, Spelman’s Gledje in Norway, Turtle Talk with Crush, and dinner at Le Cellier, the Concourse Steakhouse, and the new Garden Grill. I still want to see the Stars and Cars parade and hope it is there when I go. And then there will be new things that haven’t been there before on my trips - Segways at Innoventions, the new Living Seas, and the new Pirates ride. Nemo and Monsters Inc may be open by then. I want to spend more time on the trails at Animal Kingdom and, finally, to take time to sit on Main Street and just enjoy the performers, the atmosphere, and the passersby.
From a single young adult in my 20’s to a middle-aged 50 year old with teens, there has always been something for me and our family at Disney. And no matter how many times I go, there is always something new to discover. I can’t wait to go back!
