Did you go to Disney as a kid?

[colleen costello]

I was thinking about how many years I have been going to Disney World. We first went right after it opened in 1972; I was 8. We stayed offsite and my Mom hated that and we never stayed offsite again. We went many summers and camped at Ft. Wilderness. There were no pools there back then and we swam in the lake. When River Country opened it was so unique that it was hard for me to describe it to my friends back home. Great memories!

So: Did you all start visiting Mickey as kids or not until you were adults? Are more DVC'ers "fans from way back" or more recent converts?

 

[DSNY FN]

My first trip was in 78 as a 9 year old I remember it well because we drove up from my grandparents trailer in West Palm Beach. It was cold raining and windy and my dad told us we could ride the monorail 1 time only it was either to MK or back we chose to ride it there. We had a crappy day and everyone went home unhappy. We rode the ferry boat back to TTC and absolutley froze to death but my dad said we could only ride the monorail one way and that was it stubbourn he was. I didn't make it back till 96 when I was an adult and it was my first trip with just the adults my then GF and now wife was the one who took me down with her family and we stayed in room 2323 at All Star Sports and have been hooked ever since. Our kids now travel to WDW every year in the early part of Dec my oldest had her first trip when she was 3 and the other 2 were not even one on their first trips down. Ahhh the memories.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

The first time I went I was 5 in the summer of 1976. We went back when I was 10. I was able to visit Disneyland when I was 13. Then a long drought hit... I was 25 on my honeymoon before I made it back to Disney World. Now we are DVC members and we get to go 3 times a year!!!

-My poor husband didn't get to go until our honeymoon. I hooked him in because it was his idea to join DVC. Well, at least he "thinks" it was his idea.

 

[mouseclick1]

I was 15 when I visited Disney for the first time with my family in 1979. We stayed at the Contemporary, but I remember passing the Poly on the monorail and really wishing that we had stayed there instead! It just looked so cool! I went to DL at 16, then back to WDW at 19(off-site - ugh!). Though I had fun each trip, it never really stood out as "magical". (I can't believe I just admitted that!)

I didn't go again until I was 35, this time with DH and 2 kids. It was totally different; I was hooked! We did stay at the Poly this time (it took a great deal of begging to convince DH to stay there at rack rate over Easter!) , and became DVC members 4 months later. We have been 6 times since, gone on 2 DCL cruises, and are leaving in 2 weeks for our 3rd cruise.

I don't think I will ever get tired of it, and I hope my kids never do either. Now, every trip stands out as "magical"!

 

[new_yawka]

My parents started me out young...and kept feeding me a steady dose of WDW each trip down to Fla to see my grandparents (we drove down and they lived in West Palm Beach). 2 trips a year throughout my childhood....hence my signature...."raised on I-95 between NYC and Orlando".

One of the first places I remember staying is at the Carolando (now the Hyatt)...lots of stays at Days Inn's and a stay at the Travel Lodge in DTD.....

WDW grew as I grew....Epcot opened as I began my teen years...and WDW blossomed into a city unto itself as I became an adult...

In a real sense, WDW is one of the ways I have always viewed the changes in my life....yet another symptom of the sickness of which I wish never to be cured

 

[DSNY FN]

Great analogy New_yawka wish I had all that to remember but alas now my kids will.

 

[jaysue]

Went to Disneyland once but never WDW - trip to DL, was 9 yrs old

Went to WDW for first time with DS#1 - I was 36 yrs old (LOL - 400% older)

 

[allicat]

neither DH or I went as a kid- we are making up for it now though! DD's first trip was at age 2. She's been there 9 times since then and she is 8 years old.

 

[JVL1018]

I never went to WDW as a kid. I was down in Daytona for spring break with some friends my senior year of high school and we went to MK for the day. It was horrid-loooong lines everywhere-I never had a desire to go back.
Somehow though DH and I decided to go on our honeymoon(he had been a few times as a kid and liked it alot) in 1992. WE had the BEST time!
Well we were hooked..and I have been making up for lost time ever since!

 

[okwdreamin]

I never went as a kid to WDW or DL. It was my Mom's dream to go to WDW, so DH and then 1 yo DS surprised her and Dad for our first trip when I was 26. It was love at first sight and I have been back 18 times in 12 years!!!

 

[LIFERBABE]

We were happy to go to Cedar Point! Never went to WDW until I was 28. Even then we stayed offsite and did a daytrip to AK.

I was converted in 2002 when our DS's had such a wonderful time. 2003 we went twice and purchased DVC.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

My first Disney experiences were at DL in the mid-sixties (year, not age!). I was fortunate to be able to go almost every year with my family. Didn't make it to WDW until 1985. Went with my best friend and we had a great time. Got married soon after and have gone many times with DH. Now we get to share the magic with our DD & DS. Ain't life grand!!!

 

[mom2alix]

First trip was in '77 when I was 5. My mom, grandmother and great-grandmother took me for a multi-generational trip. As each of my younger sisters turned 5, my parents would take us again, so 3 trips as a kid. I've been hooked every since and was a college spring breaker to Disney (who needs Cancun? ).

DH's first trip to WDW was for our wedding at WL (he thought I was crazy for wanting to get married at WDW). Now he's hooked too, so DVC was an easy choice for us.

DD2 has already been for her first trip and the great thing is that with DVC she'll be going a whole lot more often than I did as a kid!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I think our first trip was in '72, and I was also eight years old. We stayed at a high rise Howard Johnson's about 10 miles away. I am not sure if it is still there, but if it is, I would probably not recognize it. We stayed there several years in a row, as there were only the Contemporary and the Polynesian for on-site hotels at the time.
Back then you needed to book one of those hotels at least six months in advance, and it was too expensive for my parents.

My parents, although not wealthy, always gave us a great Disney vacation. They both loved the Magic, even when it was only The Magic Kingdom.

Although my father passed last year, we are still trying to get my mother to join us for a WDW/DVC vacation. I know she STILL loves the Magic!

MG

 

[Uncleromulus]

First trip was Sept. 1975--I was just 2 months short of my 30th birthday. Despite this "late" start, we've been trying to make up for lost time. Our 27th trip is coming up in Oct!!!

 

[Disney1fan2002]

When I was a kid, if some kid in school came back from a trip to WDW, he was a celebrity. Very few kids went to WDW. The had to be "RICH" LOL It is funny how it is rare to come across a kid who HASN'T been to WDW these days.

I was 27 years old when I took my 1st trip to WDW. But I was seeing it as though I were 10!

 

[Macnjac87]

I believe my first trip was in or around 1974, I would have been about 8- my Dad used to take us (3 girls, then ages 8, 6 and 4) to Florida every Easter to see our grandparents who lived in Bradenton, Fla. My parents divorced when I was 7 so this was a solo trip for him (I give him a lot of credit now that I have 3 kids and am not a solo parent!) We used to drive to MK (thats all there was back then) for a day and vividly remember Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (My favorite- how I miss that ride!!) and lots of others. We would continue to go yearly until I was 12 or 13. My DH is one of 11 and never went on a family vacation. Ever. His Mom didn't drive and they didn't have a car big enough for all of them anyway! So, when our first DS was a toddler I started planning our first trip, I thought that when he was 5 would be a good age, and by then our DD would be 2. This was 1995. I planned the trip to the T- HDDR, Chef Mickey's etc. etc. We stayed at Dixie Landings for a week and the smile never left DH's face the entire time. When we returned home, he told me it was the best vacation he ever took (and at that point we had been lots of places together; honeymoon in Bermuda, the Caribbean a few times, etc.) but nothing quite measured up to this vacation. We returned in 1996 and stayed at Dixie Landings again. In 1997 we returned but stayed in Port Orleans ( I was now pregnant with our third, DS) and we went down to OKW to do the Winnie The Pooh Breakfast. We walked around OKW (it was Disney's Vacation Club Resort then) and were overwhelmed with it. We briefly checked out the DVC desk, did not look at models but felt we could not financially afford it at that time, but felt in a few years we might. In December of 1999 while planning another trip, I called DVC and had them mail me the info package. Well, you know the rest of the story... we became Members the next month, buying in at BWV and adding on a year later at VB. Now looking to add on again within the next year (have to get those 2 BR's with 3 kids!) Best thing we ever ever did.

 

[jodifla]

I was fortunate enough to grow up about 90 minutes from Disney. We went in February '73 for the first time and stayed in one of the garden wing rooms of the contemporary. The rooms were $45 a night, VERY expensive for back then, but my parents splurged (quite rare for them). It was an amazing experience, seeing the monorails for the first time, and everything everywhere was brand new.

For years after that I had a map of Disney up on my wall. It included hotels they had planned, including the Venetian and a few others. My family only did day trips after that, other than camping with my scout troup at Fort Wilderness.


But after I got my own car and went to college, my visits really picked up!

Now I have DH hooked, and I'm working on DS, 2.

 

[pearljim]

Never got to go ask kids - neither family could afford it. First trip for our family was in 1987 when our kids were 8 & 5. Since then, we average 2-3 trips per year. 3 yr old grandson has been three times with us and 2 yr old grandson has been two times (three if you count the trip when mommy was pregnant! Bless DVC!!

 

[RoutemanDan]

First trip was in July of 1976 at the age of 7.Been going back ever since!