What Is Your First Disney Parks Memory?

[undertheradar]

For me, it would be how clean the Magic Kingdom was in 1981.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Disneyland, 1977 (I was 10). They don't have a Scrambler????

 

[Kayabee]

I remember the construction of the Spaceship Earth. It was my first WDW trip and I really don't remember much else about it but I remember seeing the dome half built. I wish my parents took some pictures of it.

 

[Disneylover99]

Back in the 70's, I just remember the lines......Car lines to pay and park, lines to buy tickets and get in, lines for rides. We would go to the MK one day a year over the Christmas break in the middle of the day. I guess my parents didn't know any better. It's funny to me how I read about how crowded the parks have become.

 

[Kogo Shuko]

Back during our vacation in 92-93, I remember desperately wanting a stuffed Pongo but my mother wouldn't buy it because it was "too expensive" and figured it'd become just like all the other dozens of stuffed toys I had - in a big pile of them.

Well, my aunt got me Pongo instead.

I still have him. He was my favourite stuffed animal all through childhood because Pongo was my hero.

 

[Zooshoveller]

Herbie the Love Bug and the reindeer in the Christmas parade. Meeting Chip & Dale. Those two are the most vivid memories.

(This was in 82, I was 5.)

 

[sharona]

Space Mtn 1978.

 

[NewRVLady]

Having my pic taken on Discovery Island with a parrot on my shoulder!

 

[LBIJim]

My first memory is that Disney had a parking fee of only 50 cents in 1980. Most other places were at least a dollar.

Still, the other people with me complained that it was a rip-off, that Disney should offer free parking. Hmm, doesn't sound very different than many people these days.

 

[BrianL]

I think my earliest is riding the Monorail to MK on day 1 of my first trip in '87. The most VIVID memory of that trip is the bright pink strawberry milkshake that I barfed right at the head of the line to enter Captain EO (brand new at the time). A huge line of people took a giant simultaneous step to the left!

 

[Squirlz]

I remember piloting the little speedboats around the Contemporary in 1972. If you sat back in the seat they would just putter around, but if you leaned forward they would get up on plane and you'd be flying! We would cut through the restricted area where the large boat docked.

 

[luvsJack]

I was 13 or 14 (51 now) and I remember my bff and I riding Space Mnt. over and over and over. We had keep going and buying more E tickets. I remember riding Pirates, HM and Space Mnt. I am sure we did more but those are the ones that I remember.

And I was so impressed that WDW had its own 4 lane driveway. I don't know the highway names/numbers but its whatever goes to the T&T center and there was nothing on that road, not even a sign that I remember.

What I don't remember there being is any kind of crowds that trip. No lines anywhere. 2 years later we went back and the crowd level had exploded!! It was much more crowded and it didn't seem like they had the greatest handle on it. The next time we went it was even more crowded but things were much more organized and better crowd/line control.

 

[johde]

Space Mtn 1978.

First trip was in 1976, and I remember my mom deciding I was too young for Space Mountain even though I was tall enough. So, the older 3 kids got to ride Space Mountain with Dad while me and my younger sister waited with Mom.

I remember waiting in line for Country Bear Jamboree. The shop just to the right of the entrance was used for Queue Line back in the day. The doorway is still there on the right side of the lobby .

I remember the ticket books and I remember on our second trip a few years later, we were able to get the 1 day pass ports you put on a button or on your wrist because my Aunt was part of the Magic Kingdom Club. We felt like VIP's that day not needing to worry about tickets.

 

[Luv2Run]

My 5th birthday at Disneyland. I was so proud because I was tall enough to ride Splash Mountain, which had just opened two months prior. I also got a light blue sailor hat with my name embroidered on the back. I wore the heck out of that thing until I outgrew it.

 

[misse320]

The only trip I took as a kid was when I was 12 (1990). My dad said we were staying at the Hampton Inn to save money. I was bummed because I wanted to stay at one of the big fancy resorts. As we drove to WDW from the airport, my dad started to turn into the Beach Club (which was brand new). I was so embarrassed (because I was a 12 yr old brat) that my dad wanted to look around in the lobby of a hotel that we were not staying at. Finally, inside the lobby, he tells me that this is where we were actually staying. For my family, this was a BIG DEAL! We rarely took vacations and certainly didn't stay at places like that. My dad still teases me about it to this day.

 

[SamRoc]

I remember back in 1975 when dh (then boyfriend) were just walking all over Tom Sawyer island and having so much fun (we were teenagers) our friend took a picture of us which we re-created last year. Then our friend said lets eat at the Pizza Pavilion. I thought that would be a great idea, until we got closer and realized it said "plaza pavilion" To this day we still call it the pizza pavilion.

 

[lizabu]

I'm not sure what my first memory is but I remember the characters just walked around and you would just run up and hug them. Pooh bear had a big pot of honey on his head. I remember being kind of miserable from the heat. Riding Dumbo and the paddle boat. The Country Bears were funny. Mr Toad and Snow White were so scary. A few days after our visit to Disney World they opened Epcot. We begged and begged to go but Daddy said no.

 

[lucky978]

My first trip was back in 1984 - with my dad, my step-mom and her family that had met us there from IL. I remember being on the race cars at Magic Kingdom laughing hysterically (although I have no idea why). Wish I could go back to that moment....

 

[bjscheel]

Sitting on the ground waiting for rope drop April 2005, feeling pukey, and worried that we'd come all this way and only had 3 park days and I would mess things up being sick. However, our first thing was breakfast in Cinderella castle and somehow after eating there, I was fine and we had a great trip!

 

[bcla]

So we don't have anyone who jumped over the fence on "Black Sunday"? Or maybe just entered on a counterfeit ticket (real tickets were invitation only)?

At least anyone remember when Mickey and Minnie looked like this: