What was YOUR first Disney trip like?

[PollyannaMom]

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

Well, you see, I had to come back to it "the right way".

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.

Yep, we call it "the day 3 curse". If we do two long days in a row, we always do a short day next!

 

[LoveDaisy]

My first trip was in 1978. I was 5. We went to Florida to visit my grandma and did one day at MK. I have no memories of it. We also went to Busch Gardens and my only memory there was being attacked by a large parrot during a photo.

I didn’t go back to Disney until 2016. I was in Florida for a conference at universal and spent 3 days at universal and 4 at Disney after the conference. My now DH flew down to meet me after the conference.

 

[nighttowll]

My first trip was May of 2005, and it really was the perfect trip. We’ve yet to top it. I was in college at the time. 2004 had been a very bad year for my family, and planning for the trip was I think the thing that kept us all going. It was really the only positive we had to look forward to.

My mother grew up taking family trips to Disneyland, and she’d always wanted to take her kids, but we could never afford it. On top of that, my father was extremely anti-Disney and adamant that not a penny of his money would go to the company, so when my mother inherited some money in 2004, she decided she was taking her kids to Disney World without him.

It ended up being me, my mother, my 10 year old little sister, and my aunt who went. We drove down, and it should have been about 13 hours, but we got off the interstate for breakfast about 1 hr north of Orlando, and somehow my mother got back on the interstate going north instead of south. No one realized this until I woke up, saw the time, and knew something was wrong as we should have arrived already. Thank goodness my mother’s car had a built in compass. When I saw it, I immediately realized what she had done. We got turned around and finally made it a few hours later.

We stayed at Coronado Springs for two weeks. I don’t remember much about the hotel stay except swimming in the pool and that we found out we had been upgraded for free when we checked in. My cousin who I think was a general or colonel at the time in the army had stayed there two weeks earlier for work. He mentioned that we would be coming, and because of that, they upgraded us. I don’t remember what we were upgraded to, but it was a nice magical start to the trip.

We were there 14 days with 10 day hopper tickets, and I remember we did so much, all the parks multiple days, all the parades, all the nightly shows, both water parks and a few resorts. We saw the geyser and electrical water pageant at Wilderness Lodge, did horse back riding at the campground, rode the monorail for fun and toured those hotels. We went to DTD and the video game place.

I also remember I had planned in breaks and naps, but my mother who viewed this as a once in a lifetime trip, thought we could sleep at home, so she went back and scheduled stuff into all my breaks. We pretty much did open to close everyday for two weeks. You can imagine my 10 year old sister did not handle this well. I did not handle this well either. About half way through the trip, my sister just refused to walk anymore. I thought she had the right idea, so we left my mother and aunt in the park and went to the hotel for a 5 hour nap. Best decision ever. I also remember laying down on a large rock in the AK one day and being so incredibly tired. My mother and aunt laughed at me because I was young and couldn’t make it, and they were old and doing fine.

Memories that stand out that trip:

Watching the MK fireworks and finally feeling hope that things were going to be ok. It was such a stressful time for all of us leading up to this trip.

My sister getting a private audience with Mulan who was her favorite for about 30 minutes.

My sister letting Tinkerbelle out one morning.

The AK parade which was our favorite parade. Never got to see it again after that trip. I hate that it’s gone.

My sister being traumatized by It’s a Bugs Life. Poor kid we made her cry a few times on this trip. She was never scared of anything as a kid, so we pretty much ignored the scare warnings that didn’t go so well for us.

Waiting for rope drop outside HS on Star Wars weekend! The storm troopers were guarding the park, and they had this whole comedy routine going on. It was one of favorite parts of the trip. I was a huge Star Wars fan, and this was around the time they were releasing the prequels, and I remember getting to watch some kind of advanced special preview for one of the movies. I also got a SW Jedi Mickey that trip. I remember being in SW geek heaven.

We did a few table service and character meals, but mostly ate quick service to offset the cost of the tickets and resort. I know we did Crystal Palace breakfast for me because I loved WTP. We did the character breakfast in Epcot, Asker?, for the princesses for my sister, and it was the same CM for Mulan who spent so long with her earlier in the trip. She remembered my sister which really made her day. Our favorite meal, though, was Liberty Tavern in MK. We had some great character interaction there, and the food was good as well. I don’t believe we cared for the food at the other two. I think we also did garden one that spins in Epcot, but I could be thinking of another trip. I can’t remember where we ate in HS. We did the Fantasmic package, but there were no characters, and I feel like it was a cafeteria type eating experience. Fantasmic was great. The meal not so much.

Overall, the trip was just perfect. Great weather. I don’t think it rained once, and nothing went wrong. Lots of little pixie dust moments. I really feel like God knew we all needed this, and we needed it to go smoothly. It was one of those trips where we were just always at the right place at the right time. We walked on to almost everything. We waited 15 minutes, once I think. It really spoiled us. How I miss paper FP.

 

[Dan Murphy]

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"

Thanks, leebee, for the shout out and glad my thread inspired you here for this thread. So many neat stories here, loved reading them all.


For my first Disney World experience, here on that thread you referred to. was in 1998.

As for even earlier experiences at Disneyland, I went to California in 1968 to visit a good friend who had moved there the year before. When he went to work one day, I took his car and went to DL for the day. It was nothing really special to me at the time, just a fancy amusement park. ha.

And then in 1996, while on a family trip to visit several of Marie's relatives in California, we spent one day at DL and one day at USH. Again, I as not really 'blown out of the water' back then. Took me a few more years to mellow and get hooked. Marie's very favorite ride was ET at Universal. She still talks about it.

 

[Rogue1677x]

During my childhood many of the treats we had were thanks to my grandparents, including our first to Disney World. With 3 granddaughters, they certainly spoiled us leading up to a two week trip to Florida with one week strictly devoted to Disney.

I was 9 at the time so my memories are a little fuzzy, but I do remember my grandfather, who hated some rides, pushing himself to do it for his girls. My grandmother had fun taking pictures of the whole family together because my dad was there as well.

I've since been back more times than can count. Took my daughter for her first trip when she was 4 1/2 years old and the most memorable photo was the scowl in front of the castle.

 

[Robber Baron]

1971

I had just graduated 8th grade and high school was next, All our vacations up to this point had been visiting relatives and maybe a few days at a time down the Cape.

We flew to Orlando and took a cab to the Polynesian and my Dad did not stop complaining about paying $29/night for the room.

Checked in and got a room on the top floor of the building right next to the Ceremonial House, we got the room closest to the monorail as it makes that turn going by the Poly, with the curtains open we waved at people on the monorail as they passed by and they waved back.

Went to the Papeete Bay Verandah for dinner that night and it was the best place I have ever eaten. The next morning was breakfast at the Coral Isle Cafe and everything was so new and different than anything I'd ever seen.

Then we took the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom, the only park, and spent an A ticket I believe, riding the fire truck up to the end of Main St USA.

My first actual ride was Eastern Airlines If You Had Wings.

That, to this day, is still my favorite Disney ride ever and me and my family have been back dozens and dozens of times.

 

[C&Jx2]

I grew up in the Tampa area so we went a lot, but my dad made sure my first trip was a true Disney vacation. We stayed at the Contemporary. I was about four years old. I don't remember much but I have a few moments I can recall. One is sitting on my dad's shoulders as we walked through Fantasyland. And I remember Chef Mickeys. I also have a weird memory of the resort soaps in black boxes with Mickey on them... IDK if that was thing or not lol.

My first trip as a mother was a nightmare for me. I put way too much pressure on myself to make a perfect trip. I also though bringing my mother-in-law, my step-mother, and little brother with behavioral issues would be a good idea and make great memories for my kids! It did, because they still won't stop talking about my meltdown in HS because my daughter as scared of every ride and the fact that halfway through we just started meeting my side of the family for dinner because we could not get along (my brother is only a year older than my kids and his mother and I have very different ideas of what is acceptable behaviors). My mother-in-law is an angel and was literally just happy to be there and go with the flow. It was still a good trip though. My husband, who had never been, loved WDW and it was entered into the vacation rotation.

We have another trip with family coming up in two weeks and I always said I would never travel with a group again. However, my husband's cousin and his new wife are coming and we are actually excited. They're fun and laid back, she's from Columbia and is so happy to see and try everything. Her personality is infectious so I'm sure this family trip will go much better!

 

[slo]

I finally have time to write about our first trip as our little family…..

It was September 2000 and our DD was 2yrs old.
I was very nervous about this trip - we never traveled a big trip with her before. Did I remember everything? How will she be on the plane? So many stresses.

Our first stop was my in-laws timeshare in the Clearwater area, which was a nice way to ease into Disney, until we had to evacuate due to a hurricane coming. Thank God my DH has always been good of taking control of a situation. My thoughts were only of traveling with a 2yr old, not everything else. So DH was able to call The Best Western in DTD and they had a room for us early (this is where our reservation was for the trip). We said our goodbyes and off we went. We got to The Best Western and spent the first day of trip doing very little due to rain.

Next day was HOT & humid - so hot. We went to the MK that day and the crowds were not bad at all. Our longest wait was to see Mickey in Toon Town, which a large part of the wait was outside with no stroller allowed. We had to hold DD, because she was a zoomie little girl and would have taken off we didn’t. We waited almost 2 hours to see Mickey - the longest wait of my life - it’s 95 degrees outside, I’m sweaty, she’s sweaty and mainly wants me to hold her. We finally make it to tent and DH was finally holding her and that instant air conditioning made her want to fall asleep. I told DH - oh he!! no is she falling asleep now. So we’re tickling her and doing everything we can to keep her awake. It was finally our turn and the door opens, I set DD down and Mickey knelt down, opened his arms and she ran to him like an old friend. She hugged him and loved him with no fear. In my head I heard When You Wish Upon A Star playing and began to cry - it was such a beautiful moment and one I will never forget.

The next day was our EPCOT day. This day we pretty relaxed walking around. Spaceship Earth proved to be a good place for DD to nap and the CMs let us stay on until she woke up. We spent about 45 minutes on the ride. In The World Showcase they just started The Kidcot Fun Stops, which was fun. Kids made a mask on a stick. Every country added something to the mask and the kids colored the mask many different ways. These masks were very cool and I don’t think the countries do this anymore. At one point we walked past The Foundation of Nations fountain and it was very windy and the midst got DD and her mask wet and the colors on the mask started to run and DD freaked out. Luckily, the freak out didn’t last long and that masked looked pretty cool after it dried - it had a bit of a tye dye look to it. At night we went to France to watch The Tapestry of Nations parade and Illuminations. Another emotional night for me. DD was such a cute little girl with her pig tails and never had any fear. Those big figures in the parade would lean down and tap her on the head or let her touch their hand and she squealed with joy. Then the fireworks started and I still can hear her saying Yea! over and over. Seeing my DH holding her as this was going on was like a slice of heaven. Again….i cried. Then it was time to leave and I never thought how long that walk would be after a long day. Needless to say….we have never watched the fireworks from inside The World Showcase again - LOL!

The next day we left, which was a bummer since DD was doing so well. We didn’t know what to expect, so this short trip was a test trip for us all. Our next trip would happen next year, 2001 a few weeks after 911, and that trip has a ton of memories with it too. The next trip after that was 2002 and this trip was awesome with a 4yr old. 2003 we didn’t go due to DD#2 being born. Then 2004 we went for the first time as a family of four, DD#2 was 13 months, we had to evacuate a big hurricane which made an awful way to end this trip. So many memories - thank you WDW for blessing us with so many wonderful family moments starting from when I was 5yrs old and continue to this day at 52yrs old.

I had a lot of people ask me why I would take a 2yr old to WDW when they’ll remember none of it and I would say to them……Because I will remember it and WDW isn’t just about what kids will remember, but what their parents remember too, and I will never forget that trip and will always cherish my photos

 

[RedAngie]

My first visit was in 1975 when just the MK existed. Two nights at Contemporary, one day at park. It was my 14th Birthday.

I think Space Mountain had just recently opened. We hurried to it at rope drop and the wait was maybe 15 minutes. That evening we rode again with about a 90 minute wait.

Oh, yeah, we walked out of Country Bear Jamboree because we thought it was too corny. It was easy because we were at the end of a row toward the very back.

We ate late dinner, like 9pm at Cinderella’s Castle. Minnie Mouse brought me a small birthday cake.

 

[kymom99]

My first trip was in 2004 as an adult. We took our son who was almost 6. We drove from Kentucky and had 4 days in the parks, staying at All Star Sports. As soon as we got home I planned another trip for the next year. That time we flew and stayed at Movies. We took another trip in 2008, just after my dad passed away, and a final one in 2010. Those 2 times we stayed in moderate resorts.

In 2019 we took a day trip to MK from Madeira beach. I missed it so much! I’d love to get back again!

 

[gopher101]

The year was 2000 and I was 11 years old so I should remember more, but I don't.

The ride there I remember getting my Maryland quarter, not being buckled in sitting the closed of back of my Grandma's truck bed eating David Nacho Cheese sunflower seeds, and Totino's nacho kits. Also this was going halfway across the country. Kid me thought it was fun, adult me is horrified looking back on this.

I remember meeting a great great aunt and her giving me Philidelphia cheesecake bars, my great aunt having a pretty french trip pedicure, and my mom getting lost on the way back to the motel. Me trying to tell her she took a wrong turn at a light and getting on a wrong freeway, and her telling me to be quiet. I was trying to tell her how to get back. being lost for hours. After that most everything is just not there.

I remember bits from the entire trip (we also visited family), but at wdw it was waiting in line to meet the purple mouse from Cinderella, the space mountain section of people mover, McDonalds and walking into Epcot and asking to go to magic kingdom instead. That was it. I blocked out most of the entire trip. What was sad was that my sister qualified for the GAS pass Disney had at the time, but my mom did not do any research into it and did not get it.


My mom was not a good planner and has gotten a bit better with age. Mainly her letting me plan stuff because I am better with it. She said she wants to do a redo trip with me, she said she would save the money and just let me plan it.

 

[goofyernmost]

I could go on for pages about it, in fact I did write a family book about all my travel adventures from College and beyond. However, I got married in 1972 and my wife was still completing college, followed in rapid succession but two daughters 2 years apart. When I got married I was in the last 6 months of my Air Force obligation and then had to start creating a career so things were tight for the first years and more.

In 1982 I managed a branch of the Advertising News Paper (sometimes in a downgrading, and less classy way, called a "Shopper"). I had created a give away trip to WDW with a local Travel Agency called "The Cabin Fever Getaway". While setting it up I mentioned to the agency that I had never been to WDW myself but hoped to go someday. They gave me 4 three day passes to WDW, so with those in hand I tried to find a way to get there, and the additional money to do so. No one seemed willing to stop eating during that trip so we could save money so we all got together and figured out (including my 6 year old and 9 year old) and worked on a plan to save money and be able to go. I got the tickets in October and knew that we only had enough break in the school time to go in late February when the kids had a long mid-winter break, giving us enough time to drive to Florida, go to WDW, and other places and get back before school started again. I had been to Florida once with my parents (prior to WDW) in the summer and promised myself I would never go there again in that time of year.

The trip was one of the finest events we ever did as a family. We were on a strict budget and everyone knew the limits of what we could spend, so there was no whining about things they wanted and we did everything we possible could with the time we had. We went to MK for two days and one evening, taking each attraction as we got to them. Ate Mickey Bars back when you didn't need a second mortgage to buy four of them. One of those three days we went to EPCOT but the lines were so long and there was so little see that we only spent about two hours there and decided that we probably would come back someday so we could go there at a different time. Instead we jumped in the car and drove to the Kennedy Space Center and had a wonderful time there. When our three days was finished we headed up the west side of Florida and visited Silver Springs before heading north.

When we arrive in the DC area, we stopped in a motel and saw a brochure for Tour of Washington. I called and made reservations for the next morning at 8am. We waited outside the hotel expecting to see a bus pull up, instead it was a Small Ford Van. The driver said that we were the only ones that called for a tour that morning and what would we like to see. Other than government buildings, the Smithsonian and the Vietnam memorial we had no other suggestion. The driver then started asking the kids and when he got to my youngest he asked her and she told him that just before we left for the trip they had studied about Abe Lincoln. He said, I've got just the place and took us to the Ford Theater and across the road to the house that Lincoln actually died. Boy, did that girl have a lot to say in her class "show and tell" when she got back.

It was such a significant trip that I can almost remember every moment of the trip to this day, some 41 years later. The girls remember most of it as well. It solidified my love of road trips and WDW resulting in 47 more trips to WDW over that time. I'm so glad we waited, somewhat out of necessity, until the girls were old enough to retain some memories for themselves and we could really do everything as a family. There were indeed times that I know I was more excited then the kids were. They could be equally happy swimming in the hotel poll. I was gobsmacked by the technology that compared to today is very primitive but for a guy from Vermont it was all magic.

Sorry for the length, but you should have seen the original script.