What was YOUR first Disney trip like?

[neverlandsky]

Disneyland 1990, 35th anniversary year. Don’t remember much. Except the decorations. I was a tween.

Walt Disney World 2017, kids were young teen and older tween, they don’t remember much. It was bumpy. Plane had a fire before right before boarding. Different plane flew us, to different airport, so new connecting flight and our seats were no longer together. We were lucky just to get on the plane. Thank goodness a very nice lady after seeing our youngest in distress traded seats so they could sit next to Dad/DH. So many thank yous to the very kind stranger! Then I got sick 2 days in. Was miserable however soldiered on. We were able to do a ton.

The best part of the trip, us cancelling all plans and then hanging out in Stormalong Bay from 5pm to close nightly and getting to-go ice cream from Beaches & Cream Soda shop. Basically had Stormalong Bay all to ourselves. This is what the kids remember.

 

[cabanafrau]

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!!
View attachment 854960

We took our oldest daughter for her first visit when the castle looked like this. I shake my head just thinking about how it looked. How in the world did that get the greenlight?

Honestly seemed like the castle was away on vacation or something that whole trip and we got stuck with the kooky cousin.

 

[1420Elexismc]

I was 7 on my first trip. It was the one and only trip/vacation I took where my Gram there was there. I remember it was during Spring Break and also my sister's birthday(Epcot also had a celebration at that time and had this hideous giant fake cake lol on display) I remember having a ton of fun on that trip and the characters were in these neat futuristic costumes. We also went to Cypress Gardens and Sea World that trip. I don't recall every detail, but lots of fragments of things we did. There is this picture of us in Magic Kingdom where the rest of the group looks absolutely exhausted and there's little me looking like I'm ready to run a marathon lol! I really had a blast and have always enjoyed Disney since for all the nostalgic memories that started back then and stayed with me until now(at almost 45) and now I have gotten to experience it with my daughter(now 24) and my son(now 11). They have both gotten to go a few times. So many great memories!

 

[Praying Colonel]

2004. I was older (wife & kids). The hot new ride was Mission: Space, believe it or not. Epcot was our first park, and I remember the CM trying to hold back the RD crowd screaming, "NO RUNNING! EVERYBODY'S GOING TO HAVE A CHANCE TO RIDE MISSION: SPACE!"

We pooh-poohed the idea of taking an afternoon break. We went for the first 2 days from RD to park closing. Day 3 we went to Blizzard Beach and hit the wall. From that point on we were taking afternoon breaks.

Lots of attractions that are no longer there: Timekeeper, Alien Encounter, Backlot Tour, Maelstrom, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Ellen's Energy Adventure, just to name a few of the good (and not-so-good) ones.

Hurricane Charley hit Friday night. We were staying offsite and it was hairy for about an hour, but it was moving fast and went through quickly. Every park was open the next day except AK, albeit with no FP or monorail service. Still a big accomplishment.

We were going to fly home but the airports were closed. Our rental car co let us keep our rental car and waived the one-way fee (thank you, National Car Rental), so we drove home.

We made several mistakes (besides some of the above, we burned a day on our 5-day ticket to spend 3 hours at MK one evening), but we were excited to go back and do it again 2 years later. We all think of the 2nd trip back as our favorite vacation.

 

[jimmymc]

When I was 11, my mom, out of the blue, had our whole family sit around the TV to watch a movie. This isn't really something we'd normally do, at least on a Saturday afternoon. That movie turned out to be the Disney World informational DVD they used to send out in the mid-2000s, and when it was over, they showed us the itinerary for our first trip. Skip ahead a few weeks, and we're leaving the house at 4 am to catch an 8 am flight out of Laguardia.

We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter for four nights. Arrival day was the pool, second day was Epcot, third day we hopped over to the Riverside pool, and the last full day was Magic Kingdom. Both the theme park days lined up with extra magic hours, early at Epcot and late at MK. My aunt and uncle from south Florida also drove up for the trip and stayed at the Swan while joining us in the parks and for our pool day. I specifically remember loving Soarin, Test Track, all three mountains, and the waterslide at Riverside. It was clearly a great first trip, since I keep going back even though I'm now the one paying for it.

After the Disney portion, we spent a few days with aunt and uncle at their house, going to beach. It was a really fun time.

 

[Aladora]

My first Disneyland trip was in 1999 for our honeymoon.

DH said he would take care of planning the honeymoon since I was taking on most of the wedding planning. (DH was on his officer basic training course the summer we got married, he only had 50 hours off when we had our wedding!) Since time (and money!) was in short supply, he went to the base travel agent and booked us a motel "across the street" from Disneyland.

Well when we got there, we were in for a bit of a shock. Yes, technically it was across the street from DL but on the complete opposite side from where the entrance was so it was a heck of a walk. Also, it was the second scariest motels I have ever stayed at in my entire life! When we checked in, we walked up to a window outside the building and talked to the front desk person through plexiglass! We had to pay a key deposit of something around $10 and the bed had actual working "magic fingers"!


So, the next day we got up and went into Disneyland, our second ride was Space Mountain and when we got off the ride we stopped at a bank of pay phones near the exit. (1999, pay phones were everywhere and cell phones were not really common) My husband asked me "how do you think you should be treated on your honeymoon?" As a joke I replied "well, like a princess of course!"

He told me to wait there and he ran off. He left me there for about half an hour with no way of contacting him, by the time he got back I was super annoyed but he grabbed my hand and said "let's go". We walked back to the motel, packed everything up and just left.

He took me to the Disneyland Hotel where he had booked us a concierge level room for the rest of our honeymoon!

I never asked him how much the room ended up costing us but I know it was a lot, especially for two newlyweds.

We took a picture with Winnie the Pooh that I keep on my bedside table. When we were there in 2019 to celebrate our 20th anniversary I brought the photo and we took another picture of us with the photo with Winnie the Pooh.

 

[Chime]

My dad and I went in 2005, sometime in January I believe. I was 21 years old. Dad had been to WDW a couple times, once with my mom in the early 80s on their honeymoon, and once again in 2004 or 2005 on an anniversary trip. After that anniversary trip he was hooked.

Growing up the only vacations we ever took as a family were to Las Vegas. Except one time we drove to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. I always thought it was funny that after all those Vegas trips the year I turned 21 he took me to Disney. We always had the Disney channel and I remember watching all kinds of shows and features about the parks. I remember when AK opened and seeing the safari ride and begging for us to go there.

Our first trip was just dad and me. We stayed at the Contemporary for an entire week. We went to Epcot the first night and got quick service in Morocco and watched Illuminations. We opened and closed the parks. We took a break one day so I could go horseback riding over at Fort Wilderness. We had breakfast a at Chef Mickeys and a dinner one night at California Grill. He convinced me to go on Tower of Terror and to this day still says he wishes he would have bought the ride photo because I looked absolutely horrified in the photo and he thinks it was hysterical.

He and I start going together every year, sometimes twice a year, for the next few years until I got married and had children. I remember we were there when Everest had a soft open. My dad rode it and I chickened out. Sometimes my mom went with, and a couple times I had a boyfriend tag along. But mostly the trips were just with dad.

In 2015 we made it to Disneyland which had been a dream of ours for awhile.

 

[fla4fun]

I don’t remember much. It happened the summer between second and third grade. The only thing that is a vivid memory is the four of us (me, sister, parents) sitting at a table behind what is now the Christmas Shop at MK, eating ice cream while the parents decide what ride to use our next ticket on (this was back when they had the individual tickets for attractions). We had a good view of the castle and hub since the trees were much smaller, and I remember being really happy to be sitting there. We only spent one day at MK before heading to the beach for the rest of our two week vacation. The one thing I don’t remember, but Mom teased me about when I got older, is that I guess I cried all the way from the park to the car when we left. I guess I didn’t want to leave and I kept saying I would never get to come back. If I knew then what I know now . . .

We didn’t do a multi day, on property stay until I graduated and started working so I could pay for it.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

My first trip I was 6 and my grandparents gifted my family a trip to WDW. We flew, stayed at the Poly. My one big memory from that trip is that I lost my flip flop into a waterway in MK somewhere and strangely we ended up getting it back days later. I also remember doing a luau and my dad being called up on stage to dance. That trip gave my parents the Disney bug and as soon as DVC started they bought in, and we went yearly from then on. Every trip after that one included my extended family and even today we go with my parents.

 

[KPeterso]

First trip was to Disneyland in 1985 as a kid. A relative was getting married, so my parents decided we should go to the wedding and would tack extra days onto the trip. We also took Grandma on the trip but after the wedding, we took her to her sister's house in San Diego for a few days. We hit Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm while Grandma spent time with her sister. My biggest memories from that trip was that Peter Pan was our first ride and that we lost mom for about 5-6 hours since it was the pre-cell phone days. We rode things she would ride and she rode what she thought we might ride. We finally found her towards the end of the day.

For WDW, that did not happen until 2002. A series of strange events had happened and I commented that we had never been there during a long car ride, so I was given the go ahead to plan a trip for us. Even up until the day we were leaving, my Dad kept saying he was not understanding why we were not going to Disneyland as we did have the family out there. We had a great time. A college friend flew down and joined us for about 4-5 days of the trip, so that was fun. We went to all the parks and just generally had a great time. Really had no ADRs but made it work. When we headed home, my mom said she loved it and maybe about 5 years we could do it again. Oh little did she know - I was already dreaming of the next time which was less than 2 years later with that Disneyland trip my Dad wanted in between.

 

[cabanafrau]

First trip was to Disneyland in 1985 as a kid. A relative was getting married, so my parents decided we should go to the wedding and would tack extra days onto the trip. We also took Grandma on the trip but after the wedding, we took her to her sister's house in San Diego for a few days. We hit Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm while Grandma spent time with her sister. My biggest memories from that trip was that Peter Pan was our first ride and that we lost mom for about 5-6 hours since it was the pre-cell phone days. We rode things she would ride and she rode what she thought we might ride. We finally found her towards the end of the day.

For WDW, that did not happen until 2002. A series of strange events had happened and I commented that we had never been there during a long car ride, so I was given the go ahead to plan a trip for us. Even up until the day we were leaving, my Dad kept saying he was not understanding why we were not going to Disneyland as we did have the family out there. We had a great time. A college friend flew down and joined us for about 4-5 days of the trip, so that was fun. We went to all the parks and just generally had a great time. Really had no ADRs but made it work. When we headed home, my mom said she loved it and maybe about 5 years we could do it again. Oh little did she know - I was already dreaming of the next time which was less than 2 years later with that Disneyland trip my Dad wanted in between.

I love the "Losing Mom at Disneyland" story, hilarious and sweet. That would be a family classic in our house.

 

[KPeterso]

I love the "Losing Mom at Disneyland" story, hilarious and sweet. That would be a family classic in our house.

Oh it still comes up a lot. We have lost her many places over the years. Cell phones help a lot to keep track of her!!!!

 

[Christine]

I was 12, it was the 1970s, and it was PURE MAGIC. We stayed at the Contemporary which was a huge splurge for my parents ($75/night). Can you imagine how cool that place was in the 70s with the monorail going through it?

We stayed 5 days and did all of that in the Magic Kingdom. We scoured every inch of the park. I remember going to the Hoop Dee Doo and doing the Luau. We ate at whatever restaurant was on the concourse level at the Contemporary.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I see now that I should have mentioned my 1963 trip to Disneyland as my first Disney trip! I was between my Jr and Senior years in high school, and I was with DM on a Tour of the West, that was mostly a rail trip starting and ending in Chicago. This was a high school graduation trip for me, because after my senior year, I was definitely having to work before starting college. When my younger sister was between her Junior and Senior years, both my Mom and Dad took her.

I went with another family on the tour to DL. I was a fan of The Wonderful World of Disney and I was thrilled to see The Tiki room that was as wonderful to me as Walt had described it on TV. I also remember the Matterhorn.

That whole trip was wonderful! We went across Canada, Banff, Lake Louise, Victoria, Seattle, Muir Woods, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon! The trip was a trip to open my eyes to what I could see if I took my education seriously. Mom was a waitress, dad a carpenter…I was the first in my extended family, 14/cousins to graduate college, DSis did too!

 

[HopperFan]

First trip was 1970 ......... Dad made sure we visited the Disney Preview Center on Hotel Plaza Blvd. I remember it well, the model and movies. I still have the postcards I bought there. He promised we'd go back as soon as it opened.

Due to school we had to wait until the Thanksgiving holiday, November 1971, for our first trip to Magic Kingdom. Disney had some decent crowds leading up to the holiday and while they expected more they were NOT prepared for what they got. The park was packed. They were prepared for 15,000 or a few more but what they got was close to 50,000. Parking lot was full, park was closed. Imagine what we consider a decent crowd in the park but with it what? 25% of what it is now. It was insane. My mother who was very quiet and nonconfrontation was asking CMs WHY DID YOU LET ALL THESE PEOPLE IN? Food was gone by lunch time. Mom wanted to leave after a couple hours and I insisted I was NOT leaving until I got on the Haunted Mansion. So we waited a couple hours and we rode. By time we got out I guess lots had given up and left. I enjoyed the rest of the day, not sure the family did.

1971 fashion show - Mom was always more fashionable than me.


It was beyond crowded. There was literally no where to go.



The crowd for the Haunted Mansion and me plopping myself down in protest that I was not leaving.

As you can tell by my DIS avatar, my face still looks like that.

Note that lady behind me right .. there is still a window there in Memento Mori but it was a ticket booth.








https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fI2_flXq...g5UkQ/s1600-h/Orlando-Evening-Star-for-we.jpg

 

[bsmcneil]

I don't remember my true first time(s) because of age (and at the time, we had family in Florida and so I was lucky to go super young once or twice). The first trip I remember was around 9 - I remember taking the ferry and seeing either Goofy or Pluto water skiing (IIRC). I remember being super afraid of the Haunted Mansion and refusing to go, which ended up making my grandmother (who was my chaperone) and me get lost from our group (a dozen or so people from our church) in an age without cell phones. It was the only time I recall my grandma ever being mad at me throughout my whole life (and I grew up in her home mostly). I also was super afraid Spaceship Earth was a roller coaster and didn't do it. I remember leaving on the ferry and it was dark and super crowded and I was exhausted. And I remember watching the fireworks through my fingers because they were scary ...


... which came up the following year at a fourth of july event, where my cousins were also at. But my cousins didn't get to go to Disney World with our grandma (again - I was living with her, long story). And so when I mentioned watching the fireworks through my fingers, "like I did at Disney World", I got a very quick "shush your mouth".

 

[NYCgrrl]

Actually my first trip was at Disneyland Paris but that was a trying time in my life and although my son had fond memories of it I was pretty distracted at the ime.

A better time was had @ WDW with our DGD in tow. We were able to secure one roomette on the Silver Star going to Orlando and one coach ticket. The man and I took turns sitting in coach but often the three of us sat in the room, playing board games and taking in the scenery. About 30 hours later we arrived in WDW via taxi. I was not expecting much from Disney but to fulfill a want of DGD. Was really surprise by my first impressions of Poly. Room scent at the entrance? Where was I? I was some place perfect for the whole family where we left our worries back in NYC, smiled more and laughed louder.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

It was back in the 90's and it was great! I didn't know it was possible to have that much fun.

 

[Donalddidwhat…?!]

First family trip to a Disney Park was to Disneyland in the summer of ‘68, with my folks and 2 younger bros (12-year-younger sis was not born yet), for one day.
My Pop worked for the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, and was recently hired by IBM, and we ended up in San Jose, CA.
I remember riding long-since-extinct attractions such as “Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland” and “Journey Thru Inner Space”, which were incredible at the age of 5…!!!
Also, PotC…Haunted Mansion wouldn’t open ‘til a year later, which we did experience on a summer of ‘70 trip.
First trip to WDW was on our honeymoon in Dec. of ‘88. Memories made forever…!!!
First family trip to WDW with our 3 kiddos was in July of ‘01.
A decent amount of trips since, including one last October with our 2 young granddaughters, and one coming up in late June/early July for youngest granddaughters 3rd birthday…!!!!!

 

[marthachick]

DH & my first trip was in 1984 with my now late in-laws. DFIL had recently retired from his job and got what to us seemed like a big profit sharing check. He wanted us to go to Florida. (I had always wanted to go and had won a free trip as a kid but my parents wouldn’t go.) When we started talking about going, we wrote to or called AAA for information and a TripTik (remember those?). We drove to Deltona and there was a huge storm. We stopped there for the night. The next day we talked to the people at the front desk and they told us we were about 20 - 30 minutes from everything we wanted to see. They lied. Anyway, we would take forever getting ready in the mornings with a big sit down breakfast and getting dressed, hair and makeup done, etc. We went to Kennedy Space Center, Sea World, Cypress Gardens, a wax museum and Magic Kingdom. I loved MK the best and while we were standing in a restaurant ( I think it was Cosmic Ray’s), I saw Mickey walking down the sidewalk. I ran out to give Mickey a hug and I’ve been hooked ever since.