.What are your memories of your first time!! thanks Jakeman

[eliza61nyc]

LOL, I was chatting with some folks on another thread and Jakeman laughingly mentioned how after your first trip it's downhill from there. LOL (we were joking, please don't take that as anything other than a joke).

Anyhoo that gave me the inspiration. What are some of your first memories? what did you think was uber cool!!

So unfortunately the very first time at Disney was not a success, not because anything Disney did or didn't do but more because I was a obnoxious 14 year old who thought the "girls" where finally coming in and after our family visit to disney we were going to Charleston to visit my grandparents. the thought of leaving NYC for the "backwood country" was horrifying. suffice it to say I acted like a be-atch until my mother was overheard mentioning that she should have smothered me in my sleep on the drive down. lol.

Luckily my next trip with my family was a hit.

What I remember most... was the first glimpse of Main street. It literally took our breathes away. we literally came to a dead stop and 5 people just stood there blocking traffic with our jaws dropped. funniest part of our first trip? we brought mickey ears for everyone and by the end of the night everyone had lost their mickey ears. there goes 100 bucks down the drain.

 

[macefamily]

I mentioned in an earlier post that my first Disney visit was when I was 27 yrs old. I was at a convention at the Doubletree outside of Universal Studios. The first park I went to was Universal and it blew me away. The biggest park I've been to in my life at that time was Hersheypark. Towards the end of my trip I went to Disneyworld and it was surreal. I remembered the Sunday night Disney movies and the opening where Tinkerbell flew around the castle, and there it was, right in my view as I took the ferry across the lake. I was a 27 yr old kid. I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with my wife. We went back in four years with our toddlers and we've been going every year since.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

One of my earliest memories at Disney was when I was about 4 years old and riding on top of my dad's shoulders as we were walking around the Magic Kingdom. I had gotten so excited that I couldn't sit still and plunged forward, head first towards the cement sidewalk, which if it weren't for my late dad's cat like reflexes and grabbing my ankle in mid-air, I would have probably just killed myself from over excitement at Disney.

 

[OneofThree]

February of 1984, and I was 9. Strange accommodations, in hindsight. My parents rented an rv from someone in Massachusetts, but we flew into MCO and picked it up there. It was my first time flying, and my first time visiting Florida. It was really, really, strange to leave 20 degree weather and having mid 70's a couple of hours later. I remember driving from the airport to FT Wilderness, where we stayed for 3 nights. Back then, it was just Epcot and Magic Kingdom. We spent all day in the parks trying to see as much as we could. It was total magic for all of us, as we had never experienced anything like it. I think maybe the most memorable thing for me was the entrance to Epcot Center -the spectacle that is Spaceship Earth, with this playing in the background:

 

[disneyworlddad]

My first trip I don't remember, about 3 months old staying in a pop up camper in ft. wilderness in late August / early September. My parents never went back after that. The first one I remember was with my wife who was just the fiance at the time. We went straight to Space Mountain and waited in line for about 45 minutes and I was thinking is this what it is going to be like all day. After that we thought hey we will give these fastpasses (paper version) a try. Once we figured that out we used the system to our advantage and did so much. Didn't leave the park until the kiss goodnight!

 

[JIMINYCR]

First trip memory was of gazing up Main Street seeing the Castle and thinking... after all these years... I'M FINALLY HERE. We stayed in the Poly and I couldnt get over the beauty of the resort. Every park, every attraction, every show, was fulfilling long held dreams. Everything exceeded our desires and met our expectations. There was nothing on that trip that we were unhappy about and it set us up for wanting to go back multiple times. The only disappointment was that the days went by so quickly and we didnt have more days.

 

[Kristoff]

Good Memory: We had done our first family trip when I was about 6. The one thing I remember to this day was the first time I saw Spectromagic. The lights, music, and floats had me hooked and I loved it every trip afterwards and it was a must do.

Not so good memory: Being dragged on the ToT because everyone else except me wanted to go on. I have an extreme fear of heights and to this day I still refuse to go on it.

 

[Gainesvillain]

I don't remember much from my 1st trip as a kid in 1977, but my 1st trip as an adult was during the 25th anniv of MK, and I remember thinking, what the @$#! did they do to the castle?!

 

[Tk0021]

I was five and I have a bunch of memories of different rides. Pirates of the Caribbean, haunted mansion, 20,000 leagues under the sea...... I even remember running around the halls of the contemporary hotel with my uncle and brother looking for a vending machine that sold cans of Hawaiian Punch.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I was 35 years old with two girls, 7 and 9 years old, plus my wife. It is a good thing that Disney managed to keep the bug population down because I wandered around with my mouth hanging open all three days. A short background. I had spent most of my adult life, after 4 years of service, 1 year in So.Vietnam, in Vermont. Vermont was a tech entrenched place thanks to a large IBM facility along with others. However, as far as the regular population getting a lot of exposure to it, was limited. It was the late 60's before we got direct dial phones and most of us were on a party line basis. Driving on the property the first time and tuning my radio into the instructional channel that gave me directions and seemed to know where I was at all times, floored me. Even pulling into MK's parking lot was a marvel of organization and something that I had never seen before. I don't even know how to describe the inside of the park. It looked a lot like it does now at first glance, but, the AA's, the way the shows worked, CoP, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, PoTC, Country bears, Haunted Mansion, Hall of the Presidents, The Voyage to Mars, If you had Wings, 20K Leagues and so on. Took my breath away.

It was just a few months after Epcot opened and they had very little to do there. Many things hadn't open yet. The lines stretched out for what seemed like miles so we decided to leave and hope we could get back another year after they had time to get things open and get their people moving skills to kick in. There was a lot of things that weren't working or less then attractive. But, I was hooked and subsequently returned 45 times in 35 years and saw many ups and downs in quality. The worse I remember was in the late 90's, AA's not working, dirty sets, the smell of garbage on Main Street. Rancid Ketchup at Casey's. I've seen a lot of change, some good, some bad, but, it always provided an escape from the responsibilities of being a adult parent. I had more fun there then my young kids did.

 

[larryz]

What I remember most vividly about my first visit is the 9 months of anticipation. There were only two resort hotels back then, and you HAD to reserve as soon as you decided you wanted to visit, sometimes more than a year out. Stayed in the Contemporary South Garden Wing. Loved the MK. Loved the Water Parade. Loved the schwartzwalder kirschtorte in the lobby restaurant.

 

[Minthorne]

Seeing the iron framework of BTM being built.

 

[larryz]

funniest part of our first trip? we brought mickey ears for everyone and by the end of the night everyone had lost their mickey ears. there goes 100 bucks down the drain.

You shoulda put your names on them...

 

[Raineman]

It was March of 1990, and I was 16 years old at the time. I went to Florida during spring break with my grandmother, as her sister lived in St. Petersburg. We spent 3 days at WDW, first day at MK, second day at Epcot, and the third day at MGM. Overall, Epcot was my favourite park, followed by MGM and then MK. I remember the huge line for Space Mountain, riding the WEDway PM, going on Mission To Mars, riding 20KL and loving it, despite my claustrophobia, and not being able to find HM because I didn't grab a park map on the way in lol. I loved Communicore and Horizons at Epcot-I think we spent almost the whole day in Future World, and, as a tech loving computer geek, I loved every minute of it. My favourite parts of MGM were Star Tours (I felt like I had died and gone to heaven) and the Backlot Tour. Looking back, my least favourite park as a teenager is now my favourite park as a middle aged adult-I thought MK was ok back then, but too much kiddy stuff. Epcot and MGM, with all of the movie biz stuff and the futuristic attractions, were right up my alley.

 

[shannon12]

It was the summer of 1986, I was 9 years old. I remember we were supposed to stay in a Ramada but when we checked in the room was full of mold, my mother said NOPE and we had to find another hotel. I remember waiting in at least a 2 hour line for 20,000 leagues, and that ride is when I realized I had claustrophobia lmao. I remember being terrified of Haunted Mansion, which is funny because it is now my all time favorite ride. I remember being amazed by the jumping fountains in Epcot. I fell asleep on Universe of Energy and never lived it down.

 

[bhg469]

I dont remember my first visit other than being around 5, and loving pirates of the caribbean Mr. Toad and 20,000 leagues under the sea. about 12 or so visits after during my adult life were a string of slowly less and less satisfying visits. Disneyland however, total renewal of my enjoyment of the theme parks. I simply cannot believe I never went and I can't believe anyone that loves WDW and has gone more than 10 times could ignore the Anaheim offering.

 

[DfromATX]

I went to Disneyland at the same snotty age of 14 lol. I don't remember much from that trip, just that we (my parents and younger brother) drove in a van all the way from Texas to California and not particularly enjoying that part of it. Keep in mind, that was in the 80's and we had NOTHING like cell phones or the internet.

Fast forward to age 32 and that's when my husband and I went to Disney World with our 4 kids for the first time. I remember crying during the MK dreams parade and my husband will admit he was so excited and thought, "Wow, every kid should get to experience this!" Our first ride was Stitch! LOL

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

My first trip was an adult with our then 5 and 7 y/o kids. My first "WOW" impression was when we were on the ferry to the MK, and saw the castle from afar! I was completely amazed and said, Yes, we are HERE! We wanted to take the monorail from the TTC, but everyone else that was waiting ran towards the monorail and it had a big wait. We headed to the Ferry boat and it was great, and we never took the monorail after that. We stayed off site at that time and drove.

 

[danyoung56]

My first trip to WDW was back in 1978. I was in my early 20's, travelling with a show group. We were in the area, and had a day off. Now, I grew up in SoCal, so I'd been to DL many times. But I remember I kept getting turned around - nothing in Frontierland seemed to be in the right place!

I also remember looking at a display on Main Street of the new park coming in a few years - E.P.C.O.T. I asked the young CM at the display what happened to Walt's plan of a real city. He looked confused and said "no, it's always been a theme park". I was pretty bummed that Disney had given up on Walt's dream. In fact, every time I hear that E.P.C.O.T. is the realization of one of Walt's greatest dreams, it ticks me off!

 

[Goofyernmost]

My first trip to WDW was back in 1978. I was in my early 20's, travelling with a show group. We were in the area, and had a day off. Now, I grew up in SoCal, so I'd been to DL many times. But I remember I kept getting turned around - nothing in Frontierland seemed to be in the right place!

I also remember looking at a display on Main Street of the new park coming in a few years - E.P.C.O.T. I asked the young CM at the display what happened to Walt's plan of a real city. He looked confused and said "no, it's always been a theme park". I was pretty bummed that Disney had given up on Walt's dream. In fact, every time I hear that E.P.C.O.T. is the realization of one of Walt's greatest dreams, it ticks me off!

Although it does upset me when I hear people say that Epcot (the theme park) was the realization of Walt's dream since there was nothing in his mind at all about Epcot the theme park. I still take solace in my opinion that I strongly feel that based on the anti-stepford wives sentiment of most people, Walt's Dream would have been Walt's nightmare and that it would have been likely that it would have bankrupt the Disney Company and we wouldn't have any of what we have today other then a big empty swamp. I know that Walt had a way about him, but, history shows that he wasn't successful with everything he decided to do. The concept was one that looked good on paper, but, the infrastructure alone would have been a massive expense. So to me it is one of those things that we wish had happened, but, are in a much better place because it didn't. However, let all stop calling EPCOT Ctr., Walt's dream because it wasn't even a thought.