Spinoff: How old were YOU the first time you went to Disney World (or Disneyland, etc)?

[BlueStarryHat]

24, in 1992. I went with four other people, including my Mom. As a child we had little to no money to use for stuff like trips to Disneyworld. I had a set of big hardback Disney books that I read and read, especially the one about the Disney Parks. Never dreamed that I'd ever get there, but in 1992 I was working as a freelance illustrator for a number of companies and was able to afford a trip-I paid my Mom's share, too. We stayed for 5 nights and 6 days at the Poly.

 

[Moxiepup]

9 years old in 1977. My mom had taken a seasonal job so we could afford it. I also went when I was 22 as a last family trip shortly before my dad died of cancer, when I was 32 with some friends and new partner, and then just this past April as an alone trip with same said partner. This most recent trip was the first one where I was the one doing all the planning. I know planning now is different than planning was back in the 70's, but it made me appreciate all the research my mom did back in the day to make our trip special. We did the Hoop de doo, and a cocktail cruise on a chinese junk by the Polynesian, among other things. So many good memories!

 

[Klayfish]

WDW - It was either 1977 or 1978, don't remember exactly. So I was 5 or 6.

DL - never been. As much as I love WDW...it's my happy place...I don't have a huge desire to go for whatever reason.

 

[Tattylou]

WDW- 1985, I was 7
After that, we went just about every year. So many of my best childhood memories are from those trips. Disney is so incredibly sentimental to me as a result.

DL- 1993, I was 15

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Magic Kingdom-Age 20. One day during college spring break 1980.
Epcot-Age 29. One day in 1988.
Hollywood Studios-Age 33. 1993 First "Disney Vacation." 4 days, including return visits to MK and Epcot.
Animal Kingdom-Age 43. 2003 All 4 parks.

Disneyland and California Adventure-Age 56 2015

 

[nene0182]

I was 30 the first time we went to WDW. Still haven't made it to Disneyland.

 

[MimiOfTwo]

33 and that was to take my 10 year old. I didn't love it. Went Christmas week. It's a wonder I ever went back. Took her again at 17. It was ok. Went again with a large family trip about 6 years later. On the way home DH & I said never again. But then we had grands...and now I'm there at least once a year, sometimes 3. I'm always planning the next trip.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I grew up in Southern California, so Disneyland was a fixture in my life. I've been there more times than I can count. My earliest memories are sitting in the Tiki Room watching the show with my grandmother and riding the Matterhorn with my dad and little sister. I don't even know if these 2 memories happened on the same trip. I think I was 6.

We moved back east when I was in high school. My parents took us to WDW the first summer Epcot was open (1983, I was 17).

 

[BelleBriarRose]

22! My boyfriend took me to WDW for a weekend as my college graduation gift, and it couldn't have been more perfect. Going as an adult for the first time, rather than going with my family as a kid, gave me all the flexibility and fun to do exactly what I wanted and not have to worry about other people's nap schedules, height restrictions, etc. It was perfect, and so nostalgic for me in the sense that I spent my childhood dreaming of going, and now that I'm an adult I can go whenever I decide to save for it.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

I was 5 on my first trip to Disney World. Obviously remember zero but the pictures are SO CUTE!!!

I've never been to DL so my first trip will be in my twenties at some point hopefully!

 

[xjillianpaige]

My parents took me when I was 3 ½ - January of 1994! My brother was just about 6 months.

 

[MomofKatie]

Disneyland- 1971. I was 5. We were on a trip to the West Coast from Wisconsin and visited my aunt and uncle in San Diego. They took the family to DL. My biggest memories were loving IASW and the Carousel, and hating PotC. I was also deeply worried about my big brother (8 at the time) going on the Matterhorn Bobsleds.

First WDW trip was in 1973 when I was 7. We were moving to Puerto Rico, and stopped in Orlando on the way to Miami for our flight. I loved IASW (again), If You Had Wings, and Mr Toad's Wild Ride. My mean brother tricked me into going on Haunted Mansion- I hated every minute of it. Climbed up my dad's legs in the Stretching Room, plugged my ears and closed my eyes in the Doom Buggy, and freaked out when I saw the Hitchhiking Ghost in the seat with us.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

My mom was pregnant for me when I went the first time lol.
After that I went for the first time at 2.5yrs old. My parents left me home with a babysitter twice!!!
But after that I have gone every year and sometimes twice a year except 1997 and 2005.

 

[ctipp79]

My first time was the year Epcot opened so I must have just turned 4. I remember nothing. Apparantly my parents decided my grandmother deserved a vacation. So my mom told her that she had entered her M&M cookies into a contest and that my grandmother had won an all expenses paid trip for all of us to DW lol she never questioned it. According to family story 3 adults and 3 kids 3, 5, & 7 packed into a Volkswagon Rabbit and drove down there.
As far as remembered trips I'll be making my first one this year for my 38th birthday. Super excited

 

[winterman]

DH and I were 41, DS was 11 and DD was 8.

 

[mamamary]

10 - It was the first airplane ride for the family.

 

[indimom]

1975 or 76. I was about 3. My sisters were 5 and 9. Only the oldest really remembers the trip.

 

[Kellykins1218]

I was 3...Disney World 1973. We went back again in 86, 88, 92, then at least yearly starting in 99, and about twice a year since 2010.

 

[doombuggy]

Walt Disney World - 1974 at age 6. My mom's parents moved to Tampa in January and we flew down for a visit in February. My mom, grandmother and I spent the day at mk in dresses.

Disneyland - 1998 at age at age 30. Went for a company Disney competition with the winner of the store I worked at. She actually won the national trivia competition that year and we went back again the following year - the last year Disney store had it.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Al this talk about the "best" age to take your kids to Disney World...

I was thirty four.

When I was a kid, I used to go to travel agencies and collect Disney travel brochures and dream. But, I knew we could never afford to go there, so I tucked it away as a "bucket list" kind of thing. Which meant I was completely surprised when my husband suggested spending a week at Disney World, on our way back from visiting my relatives in Mississippi (we took three weeks one spring and drove down from Ontario, with the kids).

I'd picked up the Unofficial Guide, made a plan, and we showed up at the Magic Kingdom before the park opened. I still remember walking up to the castle, with everything still damp and the sky glowing, very few people around, and looking over at Tomorrowland and just being utterly floored at the sight of it all.

I'd never seen a real "theme park" before (just Six Flags type things), and this was SO much more than I'd ever anticipated.

It was a truly magical moment, and I do wonder if I would have been as awestruck, if I'd been a child.

So, how old were you, the first time you visited a Disney park?

Disneyland, and I was 34. WDW, I was 36.
I always wanted to go. My bestest friend when I was 4 went to DL, and I was sooo jealous.

I was 42 before I made it to Seaworld.
I still haven't been to Universal (and I'm 46 now).