Share your best Disneyland memory

[goingtoexpo!!]

My family are WDW vets but took our first trip to Disneyland in October 2016. We had the best time!

My favorite memory was the Dapper Dans dressed as skeletons and singing in the Grand Cali lobby in the afternoon. It was such a surprise and was one of those "only in Disneyland" feelings.

We spent SIX days (5 day park hoppers plus we bought an extra for each of us when we decided we just needed to do it one more day) in Disneyland and for some reason, that sticks out the most to me.

What about you?

 

[BadPinkTink]

My favorite memory was just walking down Main Street for the first time and realizing I had finally made it. I had been dreaming of returning to a Disney park since my one and only visit to Walt Disney World in 1992. So there were 18 years between the 2 parks. That first day I just knew that that Disneyland California was going to be MY park, and that I had found my happy place.

 

[Cal-Pie]

I had to BEG my husband to agree to our first trip. He didn't want anything to do with it and didn't want to spend the money. We got 5 day hoppers and we had the absolute best trip, just so much fun every day! After closing time on the last day, we stopped to sit on the benches on the castle bridge (back when they were still there) because none of us were quite ready to make the sad walk down mainstreet to the exit. My husband turned to me and said, "This has been so much fun, how soon can we come back?"

Needless to say, we've been back, many times.

 

[StarWarsNerd24]

Growing up I watched the Wonderful world of Disney show each and every week. Loved it. My parents only ever did camping holidays hence we never visited while I was a kid.

Fast forward to adulthood when my wife and I decided that we were going to take the kids (promised myself that i would take my kids). That first time stepping thru the tunnel and seeing the castle and the view of main street will always remain a very vivid and emotional memory for me. As well as the amazing memories of how much fun we had as a family got me hooked on my Disney obsession.

 

[Mike_M]

Wow. Hard to choose. I have so many amazing memories there. Trips as a kid. Trips with my kids. Trips as an adult without my kids. Each kind of trip has had special moments to me, and are a different kind of emotional experience. But I think for this thread, I’ll talk about what has tied them all together for me:

My Goofy hat.

On one of my early trips as a kid in the 80’s while wearing my Original Goofy Hat, I ran up to Goofy as he was heading backstage by himself. I said “Hiya Goofy” in my best Goofy voice and the usually mute costumed character replied back with a wave and a “Hiya Goofy” of his own to me just before heading backstage. Hearing Goofy speak to me as a kid always felt magical and special, especially knowing now as an adult how costumed characters aren’t supposed to speak to guests.

I’ve made wearing that same style goofy hat a regular part of my Disneyland attire (although now that they’ve changed the decades old style to a new design, I won’t be able to replace mine with an exact copy again when it finally wears out).

When they first started the pirate theme on Tom Sawyer Island, the Bootstrapers Pirate band would play on the island. While enjoying a set of nautical tunes from them, they stopped mid song to admire my Goofy hat with awe. They joyously announced how brave a soul I was to have traveled through the magical land of Dis-ney across the river and not only slayed the half man/half dog beast that roams there, but now display my kill proudly by wearing its head upon my own. The entire audience, myself included, were dying of laughter from that.

That hat brings out the kid in me on every trip. I always have a little extra bounce in my step when I wear it, and never get tired of hearing cast members tell me how ‘goofy’ my hat looks. Lol

That hat makes memories happen.

 

[Vala]

We had been in line to meet Alice and Mad Hatter when Gaston showed up harassing them. He walked past us, so we tried to get him to stop - my friend had never met him. He would pose for Pictures, but it was hard to get one with him. We were bantering back and forth with him a bit and got on the subject of things he liked. I asked him if he liked gifts and managed to find one of my drawings: Gaston admiring himself in a mirror. I had worked on it forever and it was one of the pieces I was most proud of. Not only did this immediately get me a Picture with him, when I offered to trade it to him for my friend getting a Picture he was all ears.

Then he proceeded to walk through Fantasyland, slapping the drawing on random tourists maps, having others have their picture taken with him and the drawing, admiring himself with the drawing in anything showing his reflection, showing it to everyone that couldn't get away fast enough - including Alice and the Hatter, I could barely yell to them that I had drawn them too and would be back... he even ran along the Peter Pan line showing it to everyone. It was MENTAL. We followed him for a while until we knew we had to get back to Alice and the Hatter to give them theirs. Poor Alice was totally shocked when I handed them their drawings as gifts too. "I thought you were joking." It was so funny.

Then 3 hours later we were in line to meet Belle in her Villager Dress. Who shows up at the line, STILL CARRYING THE DRAWING WITH HIM? Gaston. Cue more or less quiet Freak out. Well okay, less. He showed it to all CMs bragging how hard he had worked on this, and hadn't seen me. So I stepped out of line, cleared my throat and told him (Hands on hips): "Excuse me, Artist Standing right here." His face when he realized who was talking was priceless. And my friend managed to snap a Picture of his reaction. He came to Chat with us. So I gave him the drawing I had done of Belle so he could Show it to her - she hadn't been that impressed by his other "masterpiece." Off he went. It was so so funny. He then came back to us to return the Picture and as a special treat he agreed to join me on my Picture with Belle.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

This moment!! My son’s first trip to Disneyland and we ran into Dale within seconds of walking onto Main Street. My son was so overcome with awe already and then Dale just scooped him up in his arms.

Watching him experience such a magical first moment is one of my favorite memories. It was my first time being back since childhood and it was the best first day memory anyone could have.

 

[SteveH]

Growing up on the Left Coast I've been to Disneyland a bunch of times.

Fondest memory as a kid was going to Club 33 with my parents, it was wonderful for me but also pretty much marked the end of their marriage, I just didn't know it.

In high school we were on our way to Mexico for a Mission trip with the YMCA. We had 1 day in Disneyland, and it was pretty slow, almost dare I say dead. We were able to ride Space mountain probably 4-5 times in a row, one of us took turns running up and spinning the turnstile to count each of us, then ran down and got on and rode again, had a blast riding everything we could that day.

My wife and moved our family from Missouri to California to be closer to family, trying to find a place to live that was affordable was really getting us down. She'd just gotten on at The Disney Store and she suggested we take the weekend and go to Disneyland, we had a blast for the next couple of years going every 2-3 months. Took one trip with my mom before she passed, great memory for me to have of my mom.

Finally, our 2019 trip was a bit of a reunion for me, I hadn't been back to Disneyland since 2003 and within the year my oldest son took his fiancee and my wife and I took our youngest son for the opening of Star Wars.

 

[WonkaKid]

One bright April afternoon about three years ago I took a seat at one of the benches that ring the main “hub” near Jolly Holiday and sipped my tea. Within moments, a girl across the small patch of grass between us began to cry. And not just to cry, but to wail. Soon she was inconsolable, despite her mother’s efforts to soothe her. I love children, hate to hear them cry and always try to help when and if I can, while trying to be sensitive to boundaries, etc.

As I turned to look, I saw that the girl had a bulky, block-like hearing aid attached to her left ear. It breaks my heart to hear any kid cry. But that image of a deaf child in tears? It magnified the feelings infinitely.

As we all know, Disneyland has a healthy (debatable, given all the popcorn, beignets and churros they must eat ;-)) duck population and there was a pair in the patch that divided us. I had some pecans in my pocket leftover form lunch and, as a test, I tossed a few of them into the grass. I learned instantly that ducks love them.

I walked up to the mom and her crying child, held out the pecans and asked “Can I give some of these to your daughter to feed to the ducks?” She smiled and nodded without hesitation and I offered some to the girl, who was still sobbing. Then I demonstrated: I tossed a few to the ducks, which devoured them faster than a ten-year-old with a corn dog who hasn’t eaten in the last hour. She understood immediately, flicked a few into the grass and in seconds she transformed from a heartbroken, hopeless child into a smiling, laughing cherub.

I’ve had many special experiences at Disneyland but this was by far the most magical. It made me at least as happy as it seemed to make that girl and I’ll never forget it.

 

[StarWarsNerd24]

@ Wonkakid: You melted my heart with that story, THANK YOU.
@TikiTikiFan: Love that photo. That is what makes Disney such a special place. Thank you for sharing.

thanks to everyone for sharing.

 

[rkstocke5609]

A wonderful dinner at Carthay Circle that included a couple of these:

https://images.app.goo.gl/ke2ToggiCuCDZH3M7

 

[Walt's Dream]

Probably 2003 or 2004. Just went through a divorce but had started the tradition of going with a dear family friend every year during the week after Thanksgiving. Holding my 5 year old son during the Holiday fireworks - (God he was so heavy!) , when he whispers in my ear... "Momma, it's magic." I will always remember when my son felt the magic. Tradition continued through 7th grade.

 

[Winnowill]

Being selected for the first ride of the day on BTMRR with my BFF and our daughters in their matching blue Cinderella (the live-action one) dresses was a great one. And the time, a few months after that - the day they reopened TSI after the long closure to redo it for Star Wars, going over and encountering Jack Sparrow, who hung out for at least ten minutes with my daughter was pretty great. Probably the best one, though, was when Oswald, learning that he was her favorite character, spent a solid nearly 15 minutes with her, entertaining her, dancing with her, hugging her - that was awesome.

There are so many!

 

[WonkaKid]

@ Wonkakid: You melted my heart with that story, THANK YOU.

My pleasure. Thank *you* .

 

[Indiana Scott]

I posted this once before.
It was our first trip as a family. I had been to the park as a kid in 1968(?) but my wife had never been.

It was 2001 and our son Wes, was 10. Wes is developementally disabled. Basically, he will always be a 2~5 y/o little boy. Wes had no idea what DLR was about and we didn't know how rides and attractions would affect him.
The first part was pure Disney magic.
We were in line before opening and it was cool and foggy out. It was supposed to get warm so we were dressed very lightly. It was really rather dreary and grey and we were shivering.
Suddenly, the air lit up with Jiminey Cricket singing "When you wish upon a star" and at the same time, the fog began swirling as the sun broke through, warming us. The gates opened and we started to move. It was electrifying.
Looking down at Wes, who never shows much emotion, I saw an expression on his face I had never seen before. It took me a moment to realize what it was; complete and totaI awe. I got a lump in my throat. You see, Wes has very few things he enjoys in life. We are constantly trying to find more for him (Wes is also hearing and visually impared). Disney was a home run.

The second part is more of a funny. We rode several gentle rides before finally deciding to try a roller coaster - Space Mountain.
Imagine having no idea what a ride is going to be like. That was Wes. We strapped in and took off. Of course, it's dark so we have no idea how he's doing.
We came to a stop and as soon as we got off, Wes burst into tears.
Mom: "Did that Scare you?"
Wes: "NO!!"
Mom: "Do you.. want to go again?"
Wes: "YEAH!!!"

Yep, we created a monster. Wes has very few words but he learned a new one that day and repeated it constantly; ROLLERCOASTER ROLLERCOASTER!!

Needless to say, we all had a magical time.

Wes and I in 2001.

 

[Marssiful]

My husband and I went a couple years ago on the rainiest day I’ve ever seen in the park. It was empty!! I’d never seen it like that and we go a lot! We did BTMR in the rain, got back around to the front and the CM said who wants to go again??? And everyone cheered. We were both laughing so hard just getting pelted in the face with rain. We spent the day just soaked to the bone running around to all the rides. We rode splash mountain so many times cause it didn’t matter if we got soaked! I haven’t laughed like that in ages. It was a truly magical day.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Like Steve above, my first trip to Disneyland was at the end of my parents marriage, I was 15 and thought the trip would help, it didn't.

Flash forward 15 years later and my Wife and I took our DD for her first trip at 5, where we thought she may be able to remember some of the trip. We went with another couple and their two young girls. It was in February during a holiday weekend. It rained all three days we were in the parks. We were soaked three straight days, I mean it came down. Rides were constantly shut, most performances were cancelled. But everyone had a blast. Little blue ponchos for the girls, the adults all had yellow if I remember correctly.

On the last day we rode Indiana Jones 15 times in a row to somewhat stay dry. It was a constant walk through as the park was completely empty. We also were able to get on the Matterhorn for the first time on the trip. There were some mechanical issues after we got on and then proceeded to get soaked once again as the rain poured down on us before they evacuated us off the ride.

I had imagined for many years that my first trip with my own family would make up for my first flop of a trip as a teenager and it did tenfold. I can still remember those little blue ponchos walking down Main Street, stomping in puddles, little boots not holding back the rain, soaked socks, and smiles for days and days. We still have one of the blue ponchos, a few rips, but 20 years later no worse for wear.

Didn't find any pics with the blue ponchos on the kids-all yellow here-my Mom pushing my DD:

 

[WonkaKid]

Previously @StarWarsNerd24 mentioned The Wonderful World of Disney. I was born and grew up in Chicago. When I was very young -- four or five -- we'd often drive by Buckingham Fountain at night. It was usually lit up pink and blue and I used to think that it was Disneyland (since I'd only ever seen the castle in the WWOD opening sequence). That's how you think as a kid: anything you see on TV has to exist in your immediate world; nothing is far away. Here's a side-by-side comparison. The pic on the left is... wait. Never mind. This doesn't require an explanation ;-).


Another instance of this kind of thing. When I was eight, my grandmother asked me if I'd ever seen the Statue of Liberty. I told her "Of course I have. It's in Chicago, not far from our house." This statue below is what caused my confusion - Chicago's 24-foot Statue of the Republic. Not exactly the same but close enough for a kid who's eaten too many boxes of Apple Jacks and watched too much Saturday morning TV ;-).

 

[StarWarsNerd24]

@WonkaKid That is awesome, I can totally see the similarities. The statue is very majestic.

 

[StarWarsNerd24]

@Indiana Scott Another heart melting story. Sincere thanks to you for sharing that. This is such an awesome thread.