Child's Memories of Disney

[Eoywin]

My DD still talks about how she rode the Haunted Mansion (my favorite ride) and wasn't scared at all! She was 4 almost 5 on our first trip.

 

[thelittlemermaid2]

My first trip was when I was 5, and I tend to get it confused with the trip we took when I was 8. However, the only things that I absolutely KNOW I remember from my first trip are these:
-Drinking apple juice on the plane
-Playhouse Disney
-The hotel pool
-Sitting on a bench with my Grandma while the rest of the family rode Splash

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

DD was 8 on her first trip, and she still doesn't have a lot of detailed memories. She does remember asking (and receiving) window seating in CRT and the fireworks starting outside said window during our meal. I don't know where she got the idea or nerve to even ask - that is totally not her normal personality.

I remember a lot from my first trip. My biggest memories are of Space Mountain - going through the queue, riding the moving walkway, how fun the ride itself was, and begging my parents to go again and again. They even let my brother and I go without them.

 

[Heidi K]

My kids were 2, 5, and 8 on our last trip. The memory that all three of them talk about the most is that I secretly packed their backpacks with little treats and items for the plane. They LOVED this. We are going again in October and they have asked me repeatedly, "Are you going to pack our backpacks again?"

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I love these special memories. It's a nice reminder that kids are truly so simple and easy to please.

As for these memories lasting, I don't think they will, but I will cherish them forever. My first trip I was a young 6 and I only have a handful of memories.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

The pool at our rental house They talk about it all the time.

We've been considering a rental house next time we go. I think a pool would be fun.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I hear this from parents every time I'm at the splash area at Storybook Circus or the Dinoland playground "I didn't spend all this money for you to play in a playground" or "You can get wet at home with our hose"

Although, this mom is not so good at ambiance music and pumping in smells as Disney World is. We usually go off season so the splash pad has thankfully been off for our trips since my daughter could walk.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

The pillow fight we had in our hotel room the first morning of our trip. Seriously my 5 year old told everyone about it when we got home...not Disney attractions, or even the beach or the dolphins.

Well that sounds like so much fun! He gets the true point of a vacation is for forging strong family bonds. They are just too funny!

 

[mshanson3121]

We've been considering a rental house next time we go. I think a pool would be fun.

We loved it! We had a 24' pool, with a nice patio, so we could eat breakfast out on the patio, lounge in the chairs etc... One of my husband's favorite memories is the night we came home from Hollywood Studios, and he and I went swimming under the stars at 1:00 am. It was beautiful and so relaxing. It was so nice for the kids, because instead of having to gather up towels etc and walk or drive to the resort pool, we could just literally walk out the living room door and jump in.

And having a house itself was so nice. We had 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, so we all had separate rooms which made for a much better sleeping environment for everyone. Plus, the kids could go to bed and then DH and I could watch tv, go swimming, play a game of pool (the house also had a games room) etc... Just have some "us" time. We could have breakfast in our pjs on the patio, no standing in line for food etc... I don't think I could ever convince my husband to travel any other way again.

 

[Nancyg56]

My first trip was when I was 5, and I tend to get it confused with the trip we took when I was 8. However, the only things that I absolutely KNOW I remember from my first trip are these:
-Drinking apple juice on the plane
-Playhouse Disney
-The hotel pool
-Sitting on a bench with my Grandma while the rest of the family rode Splash

Your post made me smile. We travel with my DD, DSIL and our beautiful Kady. We have been going to Disney since she was 4 and like most grandparents, Kady hangs our moon. She is almost 15 now, but I hope that when she is an adult and someone asks her what her memories are of Disney Kady remembers swimming wth her Pa every trip, and walking through the animal trails in AK while Dad and Mom went on EE. Or strolling through the NFL while everyone else took a tour. Right now she remembers that Nana made her go to ETWB and that it was worse than death! LOL! (SHe was kind enough not to tell me that, but begged her Mom to make sure I never did that to Nola and Rylee. LOL!!!!!)

 

[Kiersten]

My most vivid memory of Disney from when I was four was sitting on a bench with my mom waiting for my brother and dad to ride Space Mountain...

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

hahaha mine is being terrified on Haunted Mansion....

 

[NS8VN]

I was 9 on my first trip, I remember it rained every afternoon like clockwork (July in Florida, what can you do?) and that I was so afraid of heights that when I rode Dumbo I held the controller down the whole time and the kid who rode with me was really not too happy. Somewhere out there is a guy about my age who probably remembers his first trip to Disney that some scared kid wouldn't let him fly Dumbo...

Although I was 17 on our next trip my biggest memory wasn't from the parks either. I got up early with my brother and went out to the docks at CR and watched the Space Shuttle launch. Would have been STS-104 now that I look it up. That was something I had wanted to see my whole life so waking up at 5 AM to see it was entirely worthwhile. There was another family down there that was glad to see they weren't the only ones crazy enough to get up that early to see it. Now that the shuttle is retired I am especially glad we had that opportunity.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

and that I was so afraid of heights that when I rode Dumbo I held the controller down the whole time and the kid who rode with me was really not too happy. Somewhere out there is a guy about my age who probably remembers his first trip to Disney that some scared kid wouldn't let him fly Dumbo...

That just made my day!! LOVE it.

 

[JodyLynC]

We are planning a WDW vacation for July 2017. The last time we went was 8 years ago when the girls were 5yo. I am going to write down all the activities we did, food we ate, where we stayed, etc in a little spiral notebook for each DD. Then I am going to have the girls write down anything they remember regarding that activity, character visit, etc. One of the things we want to do is to recreate some of what we did before. It will be interesting to see how their memory compares with the real thing.

 

[TeamH5]

I love these special memories. It's a nice reminder that kids are truly so simple and easy to please.

As for these memories lasting, I don't think they will, but I will cherish them forever. My first trip I was a young 6 and I only have a handful of memories.

My mom does digital scrapbooks of all of our trips and adventures (we're military so my kids have been around the world), my son was 3.5 on our first Disney Cruise. He still talks about that cruise, and not just the pictures he sees from the scrapbook. I was talking to my mom about this, I really think that looking at the books jogs their memory of other events that took place on the vacation/adventure. He talks about Turkey a lot too and he was 4 when we moved there. He's about to be 8.
If nothing else, when he gets older the books will still serve as memories of some really good times for him and our family.

 

[Mrs Eeyore]

My kids loved the buses too. It paid off in a way, because when we got stuck taking public transit at home -- against my will -- they enjoyed it because it reminded them of Disney World.