What was YOUR first Disney trip like?

[leebee]

Our good friend, @Dan Murphy , has started a thread with several installments of how his first family trip to Disney came about. It's been interesting reading- thanks, Dan!- and it got me wondering about how people chose Disney for a vacation, how their first trip came about, and maybe what you've learned about disney since then. Here's my story"

I'd never thought about going to Disney World. I grew up in the Boston area and remember as a kid, Rex Trailer always sponsored a trip to Disneyland (there was no WDW then) but my parents wouldn't have considered it. When i was a senior in high school my girl scout troop went to WDW but there was only enough money to send my younger sister, so I didn't go. That was my limited exposure to Disney. Fast forward to late 1998/early 1999. DD was 5 and DH had a conference in Orlando but we weren't going to go. However, he started hearing from old friends from grad school who were going, bringing their families, and he decided it would be a good idea to go to the conference, too, so he could meet his friends spouses and kids. I started planning in January for a trip in March, and by planning, I mean I bought the Unofficial Guide and that was it. My sister/BIL heard of my plans and asked if they could join us, so I was planning for 6: Four adults, DD5, and DNiece, 1. I had no idea of what I was doing!! I know we stayed at a Residence Inn (2br) and rented a minivan. I followed the UG for how to do our park days at MK, Epcot, and MGM (which is what the studios was then and I'll always think of them this way, especially now as there are two "DS" locations... the Studios and the Springs). The 5 of us would hit the parks, with DH meeting us each afternoon after his conference. I have no memory of how he got to the conference/Disney... did we rent 2 vehicles? We'd leave the parks around 7. The dads made supper for the kids while my sister and I went and got take-out dinner for the adults, pretty much pre-made meals from Goodings or take out from Olive Garden, always with a bottle of wine (or two!) .

I can't remember what airline we flew but we lived in Michigan at the time, so probably Northwest. I can't remember where our hotel was, how many cars we rented, what our actual schedule was. We didn't do one rope drop, character meal (I don't think... if we did, it would have been Chef Mickey's), didn't see one evening parade or fireworks event, no ADRs for TS meals, no park hopping. In retrospect, we didn't so one thing "right" on our trip, but WE WERE HOOKED. As soon as I got home, my sister and I started planning for the next Disney trip, for October 1999. DD and I went with DS/BIL/DNiece, BIL's parents (who were like grandparents to DD) and his niece and nephew. I knew this would be a big trip, so I started looking online for ideas, and that's how I found The DIS, in the summer of 1999... and the rest is HISTORY (I've stopped counting the trips, but I'd guess I'm at maybe 34 or 35, and DD/SIL are in Disney right now, so the love continues thru the generations)!

So what's your story?

 

[slo]

I don’t have much of a story because my first trip was in 1976 when I was 5 years old.

When I have more time I’ll need to write about our first trip as a family - meaning my DH, my DD2 and I. This was in 2000

**UPDATE**
Post #48

 

[bobbiwoz]

January 1977. Youngest son was 2 1/2, I was pregnant with second son. We flew Eastern. I also used the Official Guide. We stayed at the Poly, and had a good enough time that we went back every 3 years during the 1980’s.

During our first visit, I have a picture with our DS was Donald Duck, and our DS didn’t look very happy with him! Right from the start, we “found” the movies and campfire at Ft. Wilderness, and we all enjoyed this “not park” entertainment. We enjoyed camping in trailers with extended family at home, so that sort of entertainment appealed to us. We did rent the trailers twice with our DSs.

One thing that I do remember about the staying at the Poly over the years was how difficult it was to get our sons to take a nap with us in the room. This was years before DVC began. We definitely were candidates for one bedrooms!!

 

[FastPasser.]

Like the OP I’m from the Boston area. My first visit was in 1981. My kids were 12 & 9 years old. WDW was beyond amazing and I thought “I need to work here some day ”.

It wasn’t easy and it took twenty years to achieve it, but there I was in 1998, a CM at WDW. Couldn’t believe it,

My Disney career spanned 20 years. It was lots of fun, and I got to meet a lot of great people, Dan Murphy being one of them.

 

[LuvOrlando]

My first trip was to Disney Land in the year I got married when we went out to California to visit my cousin out at UCLA. Stayed off property and added some other fun things like the San Diego Zoo, Coronado & dining at The Rainbow Bar and Grill. This was the first time I was ever on a plane & really my first ever real trip so it was wonderful.

A few months later we got married and I was all in for our Honeymoon, picked a whole week at WDW and armed with Birmbaum's book I squeezed every last drop of fun out of it. The whole visit was heavenly. The nicest part was the freedom of no kids yet so we were able to start very early and very late so we skipped the parks when they were super busy mid day.

Visits with kids changed things but we still went frequently, I'd say my kids are Disney kids for sure. I had to take a break 2016- 2023 when DAS wasn't being offered for me. Last year was a wonderful 30th anniversary trip but since there are more changes in the works for disability accommodations not sure how things are going to land but so far postponed indefinitely and redirecting to other places & parts of Florida.

Hoping things work out but if not I have nice memories, time reveals all things.

 

[Kitty 34]

Our first trip was in '97 to WDW. Our sons were 17, 11 and 9. We stayed at what was called the Buena Vista Hotel across from Downtown Disney. It had purple busses. We went in the spring around Easter which was pretty crazy. We had a fun trip but we were definitely inexperienced.

Three years later I found the DIS while planning a trip for my brother. Got so much helpful info on this place we ended up going several more times in the next few years and had awesome trips with the help of staying onsite (Dolphin and All Stars) and taking advantage of EE, Fastpasses and that Extra hours thing at night.

Going to Disney has stopped but the memories for me and being a DISer will be forever.

 

[Moliphino]

Our first trip was to Disneyland when I was 15 months old, so I don't know much about the planning or remember anything. We were going to CA for my aunt's wedding and I think my older sisters wanted to do Disneyland while we were there and they convinced my parents.

 

[mumto3girls]

My memories of my first trip are not strong. I think it was the fall of 1973 and I was 4. My sister was 3 and my parents drove a station wagon from Pennsylvania. I do recall loving Winnie the Pooh and my mom chasing him through the park with me so I could “meet” him.

I think we next went when I was 8. I had two more sisters by then. I think we took a cousin on that trip and my grandparents went for part of it.

We went regularly during my childhood, but other than that first trip (and maybe not even then I don’t remember) we never spent a week at Disney. We’d tack on a day or two to a beach trip. My mom always loved Florida and we often took vacations to Sanibel or Longboat Key.

My own kids grew up going to Disney. We also usually just tack on a few days to a beach trip although 4 days is not unusual for us. I think we only did a whole week at the parks once or maybe twice. My oldest is my Disney kid. She’s 23 and goes with friends now as well as with us. My younger two like it, but not like their sister.

 

[Chirple]

First trip was to Disneyland in the mid-'60s; I was around 3. We were also visiting my aunt and uncle and spent time driving around the state based on the photos. I don't remember it.

Second trip was in 1976 to Disney World when I was a young teen. We stayed at the Contemporary, and I remember a lot from that trip. My parents gave my sister and me a lot of freedom around the hotel and going to Magic Kingdom. For this trip we drove. Our car broke down twice on the way home, and I made a promise to myself that I would never travel by car there again. I have kept that promise.

My next trip wasn't until 1998 with my now-husband. We loved it so much and have been back at least once or twice a year since then. We even got married there.

Edited to add car experience.

 

[BrianL]

I don't remember my first trip that much. When I was a kid I took two trips. On the first one, my dad brought us during one of our summer visits. This was a bit of a family controversy as he didn't tell my mom. The trip was definitely fun and exciting though. We stayed at a Days Inn in Kissimmee or somethwere I think. It was 1986 or 87 as I remember it was the "15 Years" celebration. I remember that song from the parade ( Fifteeen Years, We're having a party ), being impressed with the effects in the Haunted Mansion, and just LOVING Space Mountain. I was an 80's kid with a love for all things space, futuristic, robots, etc. Epcot was like a dream and I remember liking it more than MK (Horozons! ). I also remember drinking a strawberry milkshake and then puking it up right in front of the doors to the newly opened Captain EO! The CM's were super nice to me, brought me inside to sit down, brought me cold water. We ended up waiting one extra show rotation before seeing it.

Anyway, my mom had always wanted to bring us too, so this was always a sore spot (for many reasons that I won't get into). It was hard because I was just an excited kid and wanted to talk about it. Anyway, she eventually was able to bring us. I was in high school at this time, but I will say that she did it up right! We stayed at what was then called Dixie Landings (Port Orleans Riverside), visited Typhoon Lagoon and the newly opened MGM Studios. We also did a day at Universal. I do remember getting a little sick again at Epcot, but I didn't throw up (in public anyway - I might have hit a restroom). There's something about Epcot man! This is the trip I remember more. It was epic! There were mishaps though. I got a nasty sunburn at Typhoon Lagoon - it was BAD, all down my back. We still had a day at Uni to go, so I toughed it out. I made the best of it by volunteering a lot - I got to hang off the carousel, work the eathquake machine - lots of stuff. On our first day, there was a bit of an argument with my sister as we were all raring to go but she wanted to shave her legs (she was like 18 or 19 at this time). Anyway, we all knew that this would take FOREVER and we told her not to worry about it. She did though, so, after several arguments, she wore pants. In Orlando. In June. She was angry and silent as we made our way into the parks. What I remember most though was that after ONE ride - I believe it was 20,000 Leagues - she was all smiles and giggles afterward. She was touched by the Pixie Dust! It's powerful stuff, believe me. This is also the trip where my mom screamed at that little boy - recounted recently on another memories thread. Man, my family is crazy - but I like them that way!

 

[Meriweather]

First Disneyland trip was 1957.

First WDW trip was 1990. We lived in Washington State, so long travel experience. DD and DS were in Junior Olympics in St. Petersburg, so we decided to take a few days to experience WDW. We also took another little girl with us. DD was 8, DS was 11 and the other girl was 10. It was a bit overwhelming for me to have the three of them and not knowing my way around yet.
My 2 kids and I went back again the next year when Junior Olympics was in Tallahassee.

 

[cabanafrau]

Summer of '72. Walked into MK and started leading my parents around. Despite never having been there it all felt familiar the moment we came through the tunnels. Must have really absorbed a lot from a WDW special on TV and was able to use it to navigate. It was a great trip. I remember how magical the fireworks over the castle seemed.

 

[amcnj]

My first trip to WDW, and actually to FL, was in Spring 1975. We, well actually my father, drove down. Our car didn’t have air conditioning and you started to notice the heat as you headed further south.

Of course only the Magic Kingdom was open then. But it was quite different from any amusement park we had ever gone to. We had seen it’s a small world, Mr Lincoln, etc at the NY Worlds Fair though.

We stayed at a Days Inn that was surrounded by orange groves as far as the eye could see. The oranges were left to drop and rot as the land must have all been sold.

We also stopped at St Augustine where I recall going to the Ripley museum. On the way home we went to Daytona Beach where my brother and I became as red as boiled lobsters.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

My first trip to WDW was in 1985. I was in middle school. I know my parents waited so that my little brother was old enough to not require a stroller and we were both old enough to remember. I had been begging to go since the late 1970s, but they thought Disney was going to be a one and done once in a lifetime sort of thing. What's funny, my parents now live in Florida and have been annual passholders for a number of years.

Our trip wasn't exclusively Disney because my parents thought we should see more of FL and that me would get bored if we spent any more than one day in each park. We visited Sea World on our arrival day, Magic Kingdom day 2, EPCOT day 3, Kennedy Space Center day 4, and then drove down to Sanibel for the rest of the trip. Much of it was a blur, but of what I do remember...

• We stayed at Larson's Lodge, off property. I know it was to save money. It was a relatively cheap, motel style place. I remember trying to see some of the lasers from EPCOT from just outside of our room and having to retreat inside because there were spiders. It had a restaurant attached, which was my introduction to fried alligator.
• I remember the change in signs as we entered Disney property and tuning our radio to the radio station for arrival instructions.
• I remember taking the monorail to MK.
• My very first ride was Mission to Mars. I wasn't in love with it.
• My second ride was Space Mountain. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Those commercials and print ads from the 70s had me envision cars without tracks.
• Third ride was the Speedway. The smell and the bumping around is still burned in my mind.
• I recall Big Thunder breaking down shortly before we got to the front of the line after a 45 minute wait.
• We had really long waits for IASW and PotC.
• My dad wanted to beat the crowds, so we left well before closing.
• Our EPCOT day started with my dad trying to make video reservations for dinner. He wanted France, but everything was booked solid for a reasonable dinner time with the exception of Morocco. We had lunch in Mexico.
• My dad didn't like the line for SSE, so we rode Horizons and WoM. I actually preferred WoM.
• We waited over 2.5 hours to ride Imagination but it was worth it. We played in the jumping water during the wait and afterwards, things like the rainbow corridor made for timeless memories.
• I also recall being excited to finally see the UoE dinosaurs in person.
• We left early again to beat the crowds.

What's interesting is that one of the most enduring memories from this trip was our day at Kennedy Space Center. While we had to keep our distance, they had just taken out the next shuttle they were preparing for launch. So, we got a fairly up-close look at a real Space Shuttle. That shuttle was Challenger, and it was being readied for an April 29th launch date.

The days in Sanibel after that were more relaxing. We spent a lot of time shelling, we rented a boat one day, and there was a lot of beach time. Still, I wished we could have gone back to WDW.

 

[georgina]

We were visiting my in-laws in Gainesville for Christmas in 1997 and I saw an article in the newspaper about the new park Animal Kingdom. Decided our kids were probably old enough, so we planned a trip for October 1998 (they were 8, 6, and 3.5 years at the time of the trip). We had a package and stayed offsite at a Holiday Inn. We visited each park and had a good time, don't remember too many specifics except it poured the day we were at AK, we were eating at Rainforest Cafe and I had to buy a shirt because mine was so wet I was freezing cold! That trip gave me the Disney World bug. We went next in 2000 and stayed at the Ft Wilderness cabins)

 

[cabanafrau]

Thinking about the trip also brought this first memory back to mind -- riding in on the monorail and being so surprised by all the topiaries scattered around the lawn. Where else would you ride a monorail and the shrubbery looked like an entire zoo? Absolutely jawdropping how detailed the experience was back then.

 

[CGB]

My first and only childhood trip was to Disneyland when I was around 9 years old (1979). I don't really remember much about it because I don't think I rode many rides. (Disneyland was just one stop on a two-week road trip out west.) I do remember resting by a fence and it suddenly opened and a ton of characters walked out. Made my whole day!

 

[tvguy]

Disneyland, June 1965, a few days before my 8th birthday. I am reminded of the trip daily as a photo of my dad and I and Mickey Mouse is on the wall over our kitchen table in a collage of family photos my wife put together.
I don't remember a lot of being in Disneyland, just too young. What I do remember centers around lodging for a couple of reasons.
I remember my dad parking the car and going into the Disneyland Hotel to see if they had any vacancies. He came back out saying they didn't, (or if they did, the price was too high). My dad's sister lived in Hawthorne and we were going to see her the next day, so my dad picked a motel closer to Hawthorne. We ended up at what seemed like a nice motel in Watts. The story would end there except for one major historic event. The Watts riots in August 1965, two months after our trip. I got up one morning and my dad showed me a picture on the front page of the Sacramento newspaper showing the riots..........and the motel we stayed in being burned down by rioters.

 

[PollyannaMom]

My first trip was my honeymoon, in 1997, and my first view of the castle was this one, when it was decorated for the 25th anniversary -

DH's parents had given us a week in their timeshare (not actually in Florida, but you could trade weeks within a catalog) as a wedding gift, so we were staying in a condo at the Parkway International Resort in Kissimmee, just across from Celebration, which was then pretty new.

Details from that scrapbook pictured above say we went to SeaWorld on Monday, saw a movie in Celebration that evening, and when we came "home" there was a raccoon on our porch!

The next day, we did Typhoon Lagoon, and then Wednesday was my first ever visit to Magic Kingdom. - I've been hooked ever since!! We stayed from early morning until after the fireworks, rode a ton of rides, and ate at Liberty Tree Tavern (which was a character meal back then). The nighttime parade at the time was Spectromagic.

Thursday we did future World at Epcot and took the afternoon to relax, Friday was devoted to part of MGM in the morning, and then a side trip to DH's grandparents' house in the afternoon/evening. - Several other relatives I hadn't met yet came over, and it was such a nice "welcome to the family" day!

Our last day was Saturday, and we must have had park-hoppers, as the notes show MGM in the morning and World Showcase at Epcot in the afternoon. DH was picked to be in the Indiana Jones show at MGM, and it looks like we saw a mime in a bubble in France! Judging by the pics, it was also the Flower & Garden Festival.

Animal Kingdom wasn't an option yet, but there were many more visits in our future to enjoy that as well.

Thanks @leebee (and @Dan Murphy) for inspiring this trip down memory lane!!

 

[BrianL]

My first trip was my honeymoon, in 1997, and my first view of the castle was this one, when it was decorated for the 25th anniversary - View attachment 854908

DH's parents had given us a week in their timeshare (not actually in Florida, but you could trade weeks within a catalog) as a wedding gift, so we were staying in a condo at the Parkway International Resort in Kissimmee, just across from Celebration, which was then pretty new.

Details from that scrapbook pictured above say we went to SeaWorld on Monday, saw a movie in Celebration that evening, and when we came "home" there was a raccoon on our porch!

The next day, we did Typhoon Lagoon, and then Wednesday was my first ever visit to Magic Kingdom. - I've been hooked ever since!! We stayed from early morning until after the fireworks, rode a ton of rides, and ate at Liberty Tree Tavern (which was a character meal back then). The nighttime parade at the time was Spectromagic.

Thursday we did future World at Epcot and took the afternoon to relax, Friday was devoted to part of MGM in the morning, and then a side trip to DH's grandparents' house in the afternoon/evening. - Several other relatives I hadn't met yet came over, and it was such a nice "welcome to the family" day!

Our last day was Saturday, and we must have had park-hoppers, as the notes show MGM in the morning and World Showcase at Epcot in the afternoon. DH was picked to be in the Indiana Jones show at MGM, and it looks like we saw a mime in a bubble in France! Judging by the pics, it was also the Flower & Garden Festival.

Animal Kingdom wasn't an option yet, but there were many more visits in our future to enjoy that as well.

Thanks @leebee (and @Dan Murphy) for inspiring this trip down memory lane!!

I'm amazed you wanted to come back after that cake castle!