When we were young and broke

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The older girl on the left in that picture, now has three children and goes to WDW fairly often. She even requested that as a wedding gift (she got it). The younger one on the right still loves it, but, isn't quite as enthusiastic as her sister. When she was in college in New Orleans and I would travel to WDW, she usually hopped a plane and went with us. Since she has married (one child) she has only been about 4 times and I have always accompanied them. Her husband thinks I make a good tour guide. I think he's just trying to suck up to me though. He knows he married my baby girl and I am watching him closely.:cool:

Here's some picture so what those two little girls look like now.
View attachment 67132 View attachment 67133
And, of course, it wouldn't be complete without the BEFORE picture.
View attachment 67134
Great pics again. Thank you for sharing. Lovely young girls grew into lovely young women. Must make you very proud.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I remember going as a kid in '72, '76, and '80. Every trip was taken in Feb so we could go to the Daytona 500 (I wish the money for the race tickets would have been applied to another day at wdw). We would go for two weeks with the truck and p/u camper on the back. An additional tent provided more sleeping room as we grew. We would stay at family's house around the central FL area during the trip to off-set camping expenses. There was one campground, a Jellystone campground, in Apopka that we always stayed at for numerous days as part of the trip. We always did the WDW visit after visiting Aunt Violet in Plant City. She worked at a place where they gave her a special card that allowed us to purchase a booklet of "E tickets" only so we would get a couple of those and then supplement with a regular booklet for the "lower" ticket activities. We would leave Plant City early in the morning and arrive in the parking lot of WDW (the MK really) and have breakfast before leaving for the park. Lunch would be very conservative in the parks and then we would leave during the late afternoon, travel to the campground in Apopka and have dinner in the camper. We would beg, when we found that there was an impending trip, to stay at Fort Wilderness but by the time that the decision was made to travel it was filled. All meals done out of the camper and grill, stopping at Piggly Wiggly for groceries, and who got to ride in the top bunk watching the road and who got stuck riding in the middle in the cab. Oh the memories!
Those camping adventures must have been wonderful.
 

copcarguyp71

Well-Known Member
1st anniversary 18 years ago we got chased out of the Keys by a hurricane. It was either go home or go somewhere else. We drove 7 hours to Disney, stayed at the HoJo's main gate for like $35/night and did it all on a shoestring budget because our vacation in the keys was prepaid and as a young couple we did not have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out of....it was a great trip and besides our first trip with our daughter in 2006 when she was three it is the most memorable!
 

MissingDisney

Well-Known Member
We've been taking our children to Disney since they were very little and they've been several times. I'm not sure where our love for Disney came from or when it even began. It's always just been there. Over the years, our trips have become more elaborate as our budget allowed. In the beginning they were very penny-pinching and tight. Not that we're rolling in the bucks now, but they are more comfortable.

Hearing all of you reminisce about the struggles and sacrifices you went through for your children to experience Disney makes me think of my grandparents. My first trip to Disney was when I was 12 years old. My parents were going through a very nasty divorce. My sister and I were living with our grandparents because of it. One day my grandpa looked at my grandma across the table and said "These kids deserve some happiness. Pack up the van- we're driving to Florida tonight. Let's go to Disney World." (We were in Indiana). They probably did not have the money but did it anyway. We packed coolers, sandwiches, set up 'beds' in the back of the van when seatbelts were still an option (lol), and off we went. We ate meals in the parking lot, bought souvenirs at roadside stands, and the closest I got to staying at the Contemporary was buying a post card but it was awesome.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We've been taking our children to Disney since they were very little and they've been several times. I'm not sure where our love for Disney came from or when it even began. It's always just been there. Over the years, our trips have become more elaborate as our budget allowed. In the beginning they were very penny-pinching and tight. Not that we're rolling in the bucks now, but they are more comfortable.

Hearing all of you reminisce about the struggles and sacrifices you went through for your children to experience Disney makes me think of my grandparents. My first trip to Disney was when I was 12 years old. My parents were going through a very nasty divorce. My sister and I were living with our grandparents because of it. One day my grandpa looked at my grandma across the table and said "These kids deserve some happiness. Pack up the van- we're driving to Florida tonight. Let's go to Disney World." (We were in Indiana). They probably did not have the money but did it anyway. We packed coolers, sandwiches, set up 'beds' in the back of the van when seatbelts were still an option (lol), and off we went. We ate meals in the parking lot, bought souvenirs at roadside stands, and the closest I got to staying at the Contemporary was buying a post card but it was awesome.
When I was a kid I never got to go. But I do remember when I was little my daddy could only afford to buy those big old used and abused land yacht cars that were already wore out. He would drive one till it died then try to find another. It seems they all had these big, huge areas behind the back seat under the rear window. I used to like to lie up there when we went anywhere, which was not often. Could you imagine...a person would get arrested today for letting a kid ride like that.
Oh, bet your van trip was a blast. Those meals in the parking lot might not be fancy, but filling and fun.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
We've been taking our children to Disney since they were very little and they've been several times. I'm not sure where our love for Disney came from or when it even began. It's always just been there.
When I was a kid I used to watch the Mickey Mouse Club (the original) while sitting in front of the TV eating a Fluffernutter Sandwich. I remember seeing Disneyland at that time, but, we not only couldn't afford to go there but I don't think we would have had a car that would make it and there wasn't any way my Dad would fly. I watch the Wonderful World of Disney/Color on Sunday nights, but, I don't remember being that big a fan. Oh, yea, and Davy Crockett too!

I was almost 36 years old before I could afford to take the kids to see WDW. I was hooked as I drove into World Drive. Being from Vermont, we didn't get much of a chance to see high tech, modern things often and I was infatuated and have remained so ever since even though I now know how most of the stuff works. Actually, that made it more fascinating for me.

When I was a kid I never got to go. But I do remember when I was little my daddy could only afford to buy those big old used and abused land yacht cars that were already wore out. He would drive one till it died then try to find another. It seems they all had these big, huge areas behind the back seat under the rear window. I used to like to lie up there when we went anywhere, which was not often. Could you imagine...a person would get arrested today for letting a kid ride like that.
Don't I remember that! Every week we went about 20 miles to my Grandparents house and when we would come back at night, I used to lay on my back on that shelf and look at the moon and stars up above. Sometimes I would even fall asleep up there. Not for long though because we also stopped at an A&W Root Beer stand and had a frosty mug of Root Beer. And yes, we would have our children taken away from us if we let them ride up there now. Didn't really matter much anyway because that was way before seat belts were in cars anyway.
 
My first trip was in 1992. As a UKer not many working class people from our country got to make the trip, it's very different these day. My late husband and my then five year old daughter and I stayed at The Days Inn Lakeside and we had the time of our lives. My husband absolutely loved everything about Orlando and the Disney Magic and would literally be dragging us around to the point of exhaustion until I would put my foot down and demand a down day, he would argue that we may never come back again and we needed to see as much as we could.

My daughter and I leave in five weeks for our twentieth trip, this time we get to try out the Boeing Dreamliner. In a way my late husband still accompanies us because there's hardly a day goes by that I don't think he would have loved this or that and I know he would have lost sleep over the new plane.

It's interesting to look back and see how much lives have changed, great thread by the way.
 

jbird327

Member
My first trip to Disneyland was in 1972. My friend and I left from PA to CA the day after we graduated high school. We had a '59 23 window VW bus that we converted into a camper. We had roughly $1000 dollars between us for 2.5 months on the road. We made it to CA sometime in July and stayed with my friend's Aunt in Laguna Niguel. We took a one day trip to DL and I recall my budget was about $15. After exhausting the first ticket book, I think we each bought another 5 E tickets for the Haunted Mansion, clearly the most amazing ride we had ever seen. We stayed until closing, probably midnight, and got back to Laguna around 1 a.m. My souvenirs from the trip included a small name plate with Mickey on it, a glow in the dark skull and a string of small bells, both from Adventureland. Having grown up a few blocks from a traditional park (Willow Grove), Disneyland was just an incredible experience. The trip itself was great and we repeated it in 1975, this time with more money and a tent.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My first trip to Disneyland was in 1972. My friend and I left from PA to CA the day after we graduated high school. We had a '59 23 window VW bus that we converted into a camper. We had roughly $1000 dollars between us for 2.5 months on the road. We made it to CA sometime in July and stayed with my friend's Aunt in Laguna Niguel. We took a one day trip to DL and I recall my budget was about $15. After exhausting the first ticket book, I think we each bought another 5 E tickets for the Haunted Mansion, clearly the most amazing ride we had ever seen. We stayed until closing, probably midnight, and got back to Laguna around 1 a.m. My souvenirs from the trip included a small name plate with Mickey on it, a glow in the dark skull and a string of small bells, both from Adventureland. Having grown up a few blocks from a traditional park (Willow Grove), Disneyland was just an incredible experience. The trip itself was great and we repeated it in 1975, this time with more money and a tent.
Here is your first like.
 

jbird327

Member
Here is your first like.
Thanks!
I'm on the left.
Bus2.jpg
Bus1.jpg
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Thank you for sharing. Great photo with wonderful memories. For us we had to save on food and accommodations to make it happen. Our drive is from north Georgia, so we could make it easily in about nine hours, eight if we put it in the wind. Can't imagine driving from Vermont, where we have visited, and loved.
Of my 43 trips, at least 25 of them were driving from Vermont. Personally it didn't really matter. When on a vacation trip the entire experience is what I enjoy. I love road trips, but have to admit that as I got older the trip seemed longer and longer. Part of the reason we were able to do it so often was that we never tried to marathon it. We would, after the first trip, leave Vermont on Saturday morning (early) and drive through to Fredricksberg, Va. Stayed over-night and then traveled to Walterboro, S.C., stopped and then drove from there to Kissimmee the next day arriving about 2 pm on Monday. We made many stretch stops along the way and I loved the entire trip. But that's just me.

I know others that go 3 to 4 times a year and drive because they always bring their cats. They drive straight through. I don't know how that is done without killing yourself. And how do they have the energy to do anything once they get there. Others won't drive at all, but, will fly down. I did that in later years when I was single, but, previous to that the cost of flying the entire family down plus renting a car was just to expensive.
 

Voxel

President of Progress City
Of my 43 trips, at least 25 of them were driving from Vermont. Personally it didn't really matter. When on a vacation trip the entire experience is what I enjoy. I love road trips, but have to admit that as I got older the trip seemed longer and longer. Part of the reason we were able to do it so often was that we never tried to marathon it. We would, after the first trip, leave Vermont on Saturday morning (early) and drive through to Fredricksberg, Va. Stayed over-night and then traveled to Walterboro, S.C., stopped and then drove from there to Kissimmee the next day arriving about 2 pm on Monday. We made many stretch stops along the way and I loved the entire trip. But that's just me.

I know others that go 3 to 4 times a year and drive because they always bring their cats. They drive straight through. I don't know how that is done without killing yourself. And how do they have the energy to do anything once they get there. Others won't drive at all, but, will fly down. I did that in later years when I was single, but, previous to that the cost of flying the entire family down plus renting a car was just to expensive.
It's a small world, Writing this as I look out the window of the coffee shop in downtown Fredericksburg. :D Born and raised..
Sorry to interrupt thread.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Of my 43 trips, at least 25 of them were driving from Vermont. Personally it didn't really matter. When on a vacation trip the entire experience is what I enjoy. I love road trips, but have to admit that as I got older the trip seemed longer and longer. Part of the reason we were able to do it so often was that we never tried to marathon it. We would, after the first trip, leave Vermont on Saturday morning (early) and drive through to Fredricksberg, Va. Stayed over-night and then traveled to Walterboro, S.C., stopped and then drove from there to Kissimmee the next day arriving about 2 pm on Monday. We made many stretch stops along the way and I loved the entire trip. But that's just me.

I know others that go 3 to 4 times a year and drive because they always bring their cats. They drive straight through. I don't know how that is done without killing yourself. And how do they have the energy to do anything once they get there. Others won't drive at all, but, will fly down. I did that in later years when I was single, but, previous to that the cost of flying the entire family down plus renting a car was just to expensive.
Went to Vermont a couple of years ago. Did not drive from here in Georgia. Flew to Boston then rental car for a week. Stayed at Stowe...beautiful place. Did all the tourists stuff, Ben & Jerry's etc... Went to many small towns and each one looked like a postcard. We bought a guide to covered bridges and one day we did a photo journey taking pics at about 30 covered bridges. Put lots of miles on the rental car that day. Will make it back to Vermont some day.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Went to Vermont a couple of years ago. Did not drive from here in Georgia. Flew to Boston then rental car for a week. Stayed at Stowe...beautiful place. Did all the tourists stuff, Ben & Jerry's etc... Went to many small towns and each one looked like a postcard. We bought a guide to covered bridges and one day we did a photo journey taking pics at about 30 covered bridges. Put lots of miles on the rental car that day. Will make it back to Vermont some day.
Yup, Vermont can be quite attractive, but, unless you are a skier, it is seasonal. Winter is a total bear when you have to live in it day after day, pay for heating fuel and clean snow up so you can get your car out. And you had to get your car out because unlike the south, nothing stops for a snow storm. A major blizzard will slow things down a bit, but life goes on. Schools have snow days, but businesses do not.

This time of year in Vermont is tremendous. The leaves have changed or are changing and it is bright with colors. All that beauty is followed by about six months of cold, snow and misery. I moved to N. Carolina a little over 3 years ago and I can honestly say that I don't miss the place at all. In my work I spent a lot of the winter up in the parking lot of the Base Lodge at Mt. Mansfield directing buses. It gets old really, really fast. The summer is nice, fall is spectacular, winter is barren and spring is nothing but mud.
 

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