My Child Forgot Disneyland

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Yesterday was my 6.5-year-old’s first time back to Disneyland since March 2020. It blew my mind, but he straight up forgot Disneyland. We were AP holders and went at least once or twice a month, sometimes much more, from the time he was 2. I was prepared for my 2.5-year-old not to remember DL, but I thought my 6-year-old was old enough to retain all those memories. I kept asking him what he wanted to see or do and he said he didn’t know because he didn’t remember when we used to go. It was wild. In hindsight, I wish I would have looked at old photos and videos to jog his memory before we went.

It took him some time to warm up to everything even though we went to DCA a month ago. I couldn’t coax him on to a number of rides but he ended up having a blast and did not want to leave. We clocked 13 hours inside the park despite the fact that he fell off a fence and hurt his knee around 6pm and basically couldn’t walk after that. He begged me to stay for fireworks and I couldn’t say no and make him leave. I held him in line for Pirates and HM then we strolled around enjoying the atmosphere (and snacks!) until Mickey’s Mix Magic. (I know these aren’t as good as some other fireworks but we had never seen them before and we really loved them!)

All in all, a really fun day despite being PACKED and we got to ride RotR (he loved it and wanted to ride again … another day buddy!).

 

[KippyKip]

It sounded like you had an amazing time! I took my 8 y.o. back to Disneyland and California Adventure back in May after reopening. Thankfully, she remembered. I even got her to ride Incredicoaster for the first time but she said never again. Actually, she won't even let me use the word "Incredicoaster" at home. But she had a fun time just hanging about and going to Pirates, Dumbo, Smallworld, Racer, and Midway Mania. Racer and Midway Mania were her first time because the lines used to be so long. But she really enjoyed those.

 

[Brett Wyman]

My 7 year old doesn’t remember much, including the 3 years of WDW trips, before she was 5. That kinda makes sense as even as an adult that’s about where my memories begin too.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Actually, she won't even let me use the word "Incredicoaster" at home.

This is hilarious!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

My 7 year old doesn’t remember much, including the 3 years of WDW trips, before she was 5. That kinda makes sense as even as an adult that’s about where my memories begin too.

Yes he had just turned 5 when things shut down. It was still really surprising to me though!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Awww, love the pictures and the fact that you had so much fun!

Speaking of forgetting things, A’s FAVORITE thing at all of Disney was always the Animation Building - from way back when she was a baby. We spent so much time in there that I can literally sing through the entire song playlist, in order, to this day.

We saw a video on IG the other day where someone was standing in the middle and panning around the room/screens, and she said, “What’s that?” My mind was BLOWN. But we haven’t been in there in almost a year and a half at this point…

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Awww, love the pictures and the fact that you had so much fun!

Speaking of forgetting things, A’s FAVORITE thing at all of Disney was always the Animation Building - from way back when she was a baby. We spent so much time in there that I can literally sing through the entire song playlist, in order, to this day.

We saw a video on IG the other day where someone was standing in the middle and panning around the room/screens, and she said, “What’s that?” My mind was BLOWN. But we haven’t been in there in almost a year and a half at this point…

What??? That is just crazy! You will be understanding exactly how shocked I was yesterday!

 

[evilmommie]

Super cute update! Love the pics. Enjoy the moments....they grow up fast!

 

[Jaina]

Cute pictures! It's kind of crazy, isn't it? Meanwhile, during Covid, somehow my 4-year-old's favorite shows are now found on Nickelodeon. (And we don't even have channels!) I feel like I've failed...

 

[pindecisive]

I went when I was 13 and barely have a handful of memories from the week long trip, I do however remember riding Rocket Rods

 

[PirateBrigade]

Our Disneyland-free days were spent watching old videos, ride videos on YouTube, and playing Sounds of DL on the computer. We also discovered a computer game that let you explore a virtual DL (it’s on the Microsoft/Xbox subscription service, can’t remember the name).

DD7 and I hit the ground running when park reopened, but she also has this uncanny memory and remembers things from age 2-3 vividly (not from videos, actual memories and descriptions).

Every kid is different — use his fading memory bank as an excuse to go more often!

 

[PirateBrigade]

I was converting an old VHS tape from ~1992 and I have pretty much zero memories of that trip. So much so that, when I saw myself on Tom Sawyer's Island, I was taken aback, because I've always told people, "yeah, I never went on that island before it closed," yet there I was.

What I DO remember was eating corned beef from a can (with rice) from the back of our van in the DL parking lot because we didn't have enough money left to eat in the park, and I remember how embarrassing it was to me at the time ("why can't we eat inside like everyone else?!") -- it took me years to appreciate this, and it hurts that I was so ungrateful.

Memory is a process, it's a means to get to the next memory. Your trips with your kids at age 3 lead to a bond at 4, which leads to more trips through age 5, which leads to fun things to talk about at age 6.... they may not remember what happened at age 3, but you are where you are because of what started there.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I was converting an old VHS tape from ~1992 and I have pretty much zero memories of that trip. So much so that, when I saw myself on Tom Sawyer's Island, I was taken aback, because I've always told people, "yeah, I never went on that island before it closed," yet there I was.

What I DO remember was eating corned beef from a can (with rice) from the back of our van in the DL parking lot because we didn't have enough money left to eat in the park, and I remember how embarrassing it was to me at the time ("why can't we eat inside like everyone else?!") -- it took me years to appreciate this, and it hurts that I was so ungrateful.

Memory is a process, it's a means to get to the next memory. Your trips with your kids at age 3 lead to a bond at 4, which leads to more trips through age 5, which leads to fun things to talk about at age 6.... they may not remember what happened at age 3, but you are where you are because of what started there.

Yeah... for the very frequent park-goers, it's not really a question of remembering "trips" - it's more like going over to a friend's house where you used to hang out all the time and your kid not remembering where their friend's bedroom is. (Which, I mean, has also happened to me in the past month... the post-pandemic struggle is real.) It's just jarring compared to our adult experience, where 1.5 years is a long time and all, but it doesn't fundamentally change our recollection of where the nearest bathroom is or something...

But a funny memory story - my sister recently unearthed and forwarded me an email I sent from freshman year of college back in 2000. In it, I talk all about this really impressive fireworks show that my school put on for Homecoming. I mention how long it was, how "several students' tuitions clearly just went to the cost of this show," etc. I have zero - ZERO - memory of this. My husband (who was also there) also has no memory of a fireworks show. We grabbed the yearbook to see if it's mentioned. The cover of our freshman year yearbook? The campus silhouetted against fireworks.

Anyway, memories are wild and I often wonder how our kids' memories are being shaped by all the photos and videos that exist of them. I went to Disney World when I was five, and I have four photos of the entire week. (I bet there are more photos somewhere, but they didn't make it into the album I have.) I have over 4,000 photos of my daughter inside Disneyland before her third birthday. She loooooooves looking through all my old photos and videos of herself and can quote quite a few of her funny little phrases from when she was 2-3. It's just a very different reality.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Anyway, memories are wild and I often wonder how our kids' memories are being shaped by all the photos and videos that exist of them. I went to Disney World when I was five, and I have four photos of the entire week. (I bet there are more photos somewhere, but they didn't make it into the album I have.) I have over 4,000 photos of my daughter inside Disneyland before her third birthday. She loooooooves looking through all my old photos and videos of herself and can quote quite a few of her funny little phrases from when she was 2-3. It's just a very different reality.

I wonder this, too. I constantly ask myself, "Does she remember the actual memory? Or is she recalling the photo/video? Does it even matter?"

I'm reminded of a journalist, who was at a Nirvana concert that was taped for MTV, who refuses to watch it (to this day) for fear of sullying their original memory of standing in the crowd and watching/listening to Kurt Cobain.

Does a photo fundamentally change our recollections, or aid in helping us retain them? I feel it's different for different people. So my daughter could very well be pulling all the sights, sounds, smells, and tactile feel of a particular time in the park from looking at a photo...or maybe it's like your fireworks (and my Tom Sawyer Island video) and the photo just serves as a hard fact, devoid of feeling.

One of my favorite trips to Disneyland (January 2020) was when I took my film camera only (and used my phone only for MaxPass, dining, minimal stuff). It was nice taking a picture and not immediately looking at it to see if I needed to take another one, it was relaxing not having any photos to caption/filter/tag on Instagram Stories while waiting in line.

The photos I got back 2 weeks later were some of my favorites (aside from the look of film), and the fact that I only had 36 of them (instead of 24398, half of them food) made me appreciate the details of each one.

 

[Epicnemesis]

My daughter is 5, the last time we went was for her 4th birthday. She forgot all aboutour trip to BBB to get her hair done for her third birthday. Not sure how much she remembers. At the very least she remembers the train rollercoaster is her favorite. (however she has lost her thrill tolerance in the lockdown because she is not a fan of a Knotts ride that is a lot more tame than thunder.)