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

[Skipper Sam]

In 1986 I was 26 years old I think I ate 4 turkey legs and 15 Dole strawberry pops
Stayed at Inn O wizard on international Drive a wizard of Oz themed hotel

 

[Skipper Sam]

Swimming in 7 seas lagoon

a gator did not get you ?

 

[Goofyernmost]

In 1966 my dad could not afford very many e-tickets

At that point they would have been dirt cheap in WDW.

 

[Skipper Sam]

wdw never had ride tickets

 

[Goofyernmost]

wdw never had ride tickets

Yes it did... from opening to the end of 1982 when Epcot Ctr. opened.

 

[Clyde Birdbrain]

I grew up in Europe and desperately wanted to go to WDW. When friends went they brought back park maps for me and I studied them, traced them and framed them, I was so happy with them. I finally went for the first time in 2005 and it was amazing. We stayed at Riverside for 7 days and had a great time. I have been an annual passholder since 2011 and now live nearby. My wife and I go about every 1 or 2 weeks. Now I regularly find crumpled up time guides or park maps in my pants and I go "Ugh, another map" and toss it in the recycling bin. I still love going every time, but it is funny how things have changed.

 

[LaughingGravy]

1977 certainly did have A-E tickets.
Haunted Mansion had no gate, and no canopy.
There were Keel Boats.
There were Swan boats.
There were two River Boats.
The Empress Lilly
Much smaller Shopping Village with really boutique shops that I can't imagine now.
Pirates line was sweltering.
There were trees with twinkling lights and benches at the circle in front of the castle.
Tiki Room was original for FL with fountain and wondrous.
You could ride the double decker bus on Main St. as well as the Fire Truck and the Horse Trolleys of course.
Rope drop! And the shortcut through Tomorrowland. People ran!
Castle did not have a stage at all, just two side ramps going up.
Characters used to wander freely and you could seriously interact with them
Lines for 20K Leagues were long, but no more than an hour. Space Mountain line was about an hour, too.
Main St. Arcade with games/movies.
The Contemporary was just the tower with (2) two story garden wings.
Discovery Island
You could buy toy guns without colored tips.
Skyway to/from Tomorrowland.
Our parents would let us wander from the hotel at ages 12 and 9 on subsequent trips. We would meet up with them at lunch.
At 12 and 9 they let us have an entire monorail car to ourselves. They just opened all the doors.
Monorail car design interior was drastically different. . Many times the rafts to Tom Sawyer Island were filled with a lot more people and water crept up over one side, making it seem like they were sinking.
I wonder how close we really ever came.
What is pin trading? There were a few pressed buttons available to buy
There was a magic shop that sold foam rocks, invisible leash dogs, glow in the dark skulls, and lots of Adams magic tricks.
Little plastic oranges with straws, filled with orange juice
There was no Aladdin Capet Ride Spinner.
CircleVision 360 America
Carousel of Progress without a video game with Rex Allen and no dumb smoking oven gag.
Contemporary Game room with some of the coolest games ever (Fiesta Fun Center) with shooting gallery and movie theater.
Rental boats were Red and Yellow and I think, Orange?
River Country was new.
Only Contemporary, Poly and Campground with Hotel Plaza semi-off site as hotels on property.
No Magical Express. Mears shuttles, Taxi, or Rental Car.

I've heard the prices were lower.

 

[Skipper Sam]

Yes it did... from opening to the end of 1982 when Epcot Ctr. opened.

thats why we just walked around I always wondered about that !

 

[addacollier]

My first trip was in 1989 aged 19. There was no Universal, no Animal Kingdom, no Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach. MGM Studios was about 3 months old but I remember having the best time of any holiday. At the time, my main impression was how professional every attraction in Orlando was. The toilets were always clean, there was no litter on the floor and everyone was so welcoming. EPCOT was like nothing I’d seen before. In fact world showcase hasn’t changed all that much but is still enjoyable now. Wet n wild was the only water park. I remember being in the wave pool when the 3pm thunderstorm came. At MGM, I met Ken Kercheval (Cliff Barnes) from Dallas and ended up being a news reader at the TV studio.
We went to Boardwalk and Baseball. A very trational fun fair but we were the only people there so no surprise it closed. And SeaWorld was just a marine life park. No rides in 1989. We took a trip to Tampa to watch the Bucs play the Saints. The Bucs won 20-10 are their fans just went bananas.
My only ride on Its a small world was in 1989. I think once is enough. On the flight home to the UK, we refuelled at Bangor, Maine. Wearing shorts and t-shirt, I didn’t think how freezing Bangor was as I walked to the terminal building. Happy days.

 

[EastTNDisneyfan]

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.

well my first memory was sitting on my dads shoulders, so excited, watching the light parade as he took pictures with an old Kodak 110 camera (remember those?). Needles to say Epcot hadn't even built yet. I still get as excited every time I go. WDW rocks!

 

[Goofyernmost]

But now we have the technology, so once we unfreeze Walt, he can make his E.P.C.O.T. dream a reality.

I suppose, but, it wasn't the technology alone that would have been a problem. It was the desire to have your every move regulated by the community? It is that way somewhat with community regulatory boards now, but, at least that is usually run by people that live in the community, not the board room of Disney. Also what came first the ability to support that idea or the idea itself. Where were the people going to come from to fill that city? Employee's of Disney World? Does a day ever go by where we don't hear about how difficult it is to live anyplace on the typical Disney salary? Without the existing population to support the needs of all those companies that he envisioned, where do they come from and why would they want to move their R&D locations to the middle of a swamp in Florida? These are highly competitive places that spend a lot of money to protect their ideas, would they want the competition peaking in the windows from next door? Wouldn't they run into the problem that many of their high valued personnel would just not want to move there? Wouldn't the price to live in a self sustaining community be ginormous and beyond the pockets of most people? What happens over time when the companies that are expected to generously upgrade each location with modern technology that changes everyday decide that giving away that technology to a select few that literally live in a bubble are going to benefit from it is not making any profit for them?

I could go on and on, but, I'm not going too because the problems are huge and it was never tested it was just an idea for a on earth utopia that completely relied on the cooperation of a whole city of people that only existed in Walt's imagination. If anyone could have pulled it off, it would have been him, but, alas, even Walt Disney was human.

 

[Disney Drew]

October 1994 - our 4th wedding anniversary - 28 yrs old.

Weeping uncontrollably at the first sight of the castle. (and still do every time)

Tomorrowland closed?!?!?!? (some more weeping)

Skyway still intact, so was Mr. Toad. Subs still in the water at 20K.

Stayed at Dixie Landings (and we still call it that).

Come 'home' from the parks one night - go into Fulton's to get some snacks - it was so humid outside you could feel it stick to you - when we came back out, it felt like we were back home in Canada - the temperature had dropped 20+ degrees easily - said to DW, we need to get back to the room...now...

We did - tornado warning. Nothing came of it, thankfully, but will always remember that happening.

Man, I love this place.

 

[Disney Drew]

You, lucked out as all the old stuff was still there.

I look back and realize how lucky I really was - you're quite correct.

Epcot 1994 still had Horizons (RIP), World of Motion and Wonders of Life (actually had attractions in it that you could ride). Innoventions was completely open - BOTH SIDES!!! Canada pavilion - the building at the top of the hill (Chateau Laurier replica - I've stayed in the real one) was actually open as a shop and sold Blue Mountain pottery (which was made where I lived - Collingwood, ON).

 

[jloucks]

I was pretty young (and later had some funny brain damage in a car wreck) so my memories are fuzzy. It was right before Epcot opened, so,, 84ish?.

I remember, pretty much in order of detail...

• The emotion, pure joy, getting goosebumps thinking about it
• Main street for the very first time
• 20k Leagues (most loved and memorable ride for me)
• Crystal Palace
• Parade
• Riding front of the monorail
• Tiki room
• Haunted Mansion
• Splash Mountain - especially the music
• Space mountain - hurt my neck pretty darn bad. Pain for weeks.
• Having to share a bed with my sister. The opposite of joy
• Riverboat
• Parking lot walk(s)
• Tom Sawyer Island
• Driving there from Texas

I was sad, when I went back with my kids and remembered very little. I told my story here before, but when I asked a cast-member where I could find 20k and was told it was no more, it was a blow. And in hindsight, I have always been impressed at how well the staffer handled my request. Not only did they gently inform me, but they told me all about the ride, its history, where it was, and what replaced it. Top notch customer service right there.

 

[danyoung56]

Epcot opened in '82, so it had to be before that.

 

[John park hopper]

Yup, October 82 EPCOT opened

 

[WDWJeffC37]

Summer of 1977. My brother worked at the MK in the All-American College Band and was able to get us all of the ride tickets we wanted. The band members would stock pile their tickets for whoevers family was visiting that week. The ticket were good for all of the attractions; "A" to "E". He was also able to get us lodging at the apartments where the band lived at a good price. Good times. Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I was 4 months. According to our scrapbook, we went to Epcot and ate in France.

 

[Bpmorley]

I don't remember what month, I'd imagine summer. 1972, staying at a holiday inn and the only thing there was Magic Kingdom.

 

[MickeyMomV]

Our first trip was in 99 with my then fiancée and his younger sister. We got off the Monorail in MK and my fiancée was looking at us while talking and ran right into one of the polls on the platform. We thought it was hysterical but boy was he mad!!!! Our second trip was about a year and a half later for our honeymoon!!!