I don’t really remember the first time I saw Walt Disney World. I must have been in kindergarten, ‘67 or ‘68. My dad had an elderly friend named Tom Bronson, a distant cousin of Irlo. Tom wanted my dad to drive him out to a piece of family property that had been sold off to a company that was going to develop it. Tom wanted to see it one last time before it was “all dug up”. We lived in Wintergarden and Tom lived south of hwy 50 off Maguire Rd between Gotha and Beulah. We didn’t go far and I don’t remember exactly where. I only really remember because when I was a little older some people came to our school with a film about the engineering marvels taking place nearby. I remember the A shaped hotel with rooms being lifted into place like drawers in a cabinet and most especially the Monorail. We were traveling to the Moon one day and building these marvels out in the scrub country the next. Tom thought it all quite funny that they were building “Dinky World” right out on all that “sorry land” south of Windermere. He also laughed at the idea of people going to the Moon. The very idea of somebody building a concrete castle amongst all that palmetto and live oak made him laugh so hard I was always afraid he would swallow the toothpick that seemed to always live in the corner of his mouth.
Dad took Tom to a preview of the Magic Kingdom and a few days later Mom went with a group from church who had been invited to the Grand Opening at the Contemporary, she got to see Bob Hope. My brother and I have January birthdays and for our birthday we went as a family. I was turning ten and was perfectly transfixed by the Tiki Room and Country Bear Jamboree. My favourite ride was the Monorail of course. We went a number of times after that until we moved away in 1975. Each time was better and better. I was sorely disappointed that we moved just as Space Mountain was opening and I never got to ride it. I did talk my Mom into going when we were down visiting my Grandparents in 1978. Space Mountain was a long wait for a short ride and it seemed the City of Tomorrow was just going to be another theme park... I pretty much lost interest in Orlando after that trip. My roommate in college and I went to Sea World in the early eighties but Disney wasn’t really even on our radar. I remained a bachelor well into my forties so never really had any interest going back until I met my wife in 2009.
When we were getting to know each other we went to Florida and she was anxious to fulfill her dream of going to Disney. She had never had a chance to go but had grown up in love with Disney movies. We still have quite the collection of VHS tapes of Aladdin and Tarzan and The Little Mermaid. She even has The Hunchback of Notre Dame. So we planned a trip and jammed a complete whirlwind of a Disney tour into 3 days then went back to visit Animal Kingdom on our honeymoon. Ten years later I’m a fifty six year old father of a 9, 7 and five year old who just had their first visit. That’s what this report is about. Now if I can just get this d@&#ed memory maker thing to work we’ll be all set.
Dad took Tom to a preview of the Magic Kingdom and a few days later Mom went with a group from church who had been invited to the Grand Opening at the Contemporary, she got to see Bob Hope. My brother and I have January birthdays and for our birthday we went as a family. I was turning ten and was perfectly transfixed by the Tiki Room and Country Bear Jamboree. My favourite ride was the Monorail of course. We went a number of times after that until we moved away in 1975. Each time was better and better. I was sorely disappointed that we moved just as Space Mountain was opening and I never got to ride it. I did talk my Mom into going when we were down visiting my Grandparents in 1978. Space Mountain was a long wait for a short ride and it seemed the City of Tomorrow was just going to be another theme park... I pretty much lost interest in Orlando after that trip. My roommate in college and I went to Sea World in the early eighties but Disney wasn’t really even on our radar. I remained a bachelor well into my forties so never really had any interest going back until I met my wife in 2009.
When we were getting to know each other we went to Florida and she was anxious to fulfill her dream of going to Disney. She had never had a chance to go but had grown up in love with Disney movies. We still have quite the collection of VHS tapes of Aladdin and Tarzan and The Little Mermaid. She even has The Hunchback of Notre Dame. So we planned a trip and jammed a complete whirlwind of a Disney tour into 3 days then went back to visit Animal Kingdom on our honeymoon. Ten years later I’m a fifty six year old father of a 9, 7 and five year old who just had their first visit. That’s what this report is about. Now if I can just get this d@&#ed memory maker thing to work we’ll be all set.
Sneezy is the old man in the lower photo. He is blessed to be married to the beautiful blond Cinderella next to him.
