What was your first trip to WDW like....special memories>

[maxaroni]

My first trip was in 8/72. We were going on a car trip to FL from NJ and my dad had a full 2 wks off. It was just going to be a car trip, nothing special. My parents didn't want to go to WDW because it was still so new and figured the crowds would be horrendous. We called my cousin in AL to say we'd stop in and visit for a nite or 2. Well, my cousin was VP and Gen'l mgr to a TV station in B'ham....he told us to make plans to go to Disney as he'd get us tkts. Well, ok....I was starting to get really excited. What turned out to be tkts was a VIP tour of the parks...a private tour. We knocked on side entrances to attractions and right on in. It was excellent. A truly memorable experience.

 

[safetymom]

After my husband died my sisters decided we needed to have a family trip somewhere. They had been to WDW so they dragged us to FL. I didn't want to go.

The thing I remember is the look in my kids eyes when they saw the parks. It is something I will never forget. They were still grieving over their father and had the weight of the world on their shoulders. When they entered the parks they got to be kids again. It truly was a magical moment.

 

[snowglobe girl]

I was 7 and my brother was 4 on our first trip. Something that always stood out in my mind was sitting in chairs outside by the ice cream shop waiting on the fireworks to start. I can remember being in awe at the electrical parade. I can also remember being on the ferry over to the park and Pinnochio water skiing by the ferry and waving at us. After we came back home. They used to sell gigantic maps of the park (poster size, but on thick paper) and me and my brother would lay in the living room floor for hours looking at the map and pretending we were back at the park.

One of my Christmas presents last year from my brother was a silver Mickey photo frame that has Mickey's silhouette holding up the frame. I have a picture of me and brother sitting on a bench at MK eating Mickey ice cream bars with ice cream all over our faces and smiling from ear to ear. It is my favorite picture of us little

 

[AlwaysAPrincess]

My first trip was for Disney's 10th Anniversary. (7/1981) My Grandmother took our whole family after our Grandfather passed away. We rented a Town House in the Lake Buena Vista Estates. 4 kids & 6 adults at the time. The only park was MK....and we spent 4 days in MK!!! We also went to River Country (the only water park at the time) and went horse back riding. We had breakfast at Chef Mickey's which was in DTD at the time. ANd also getting dragged to church when we wanted to go into the pool because Grandma said "just because we are on vacation's doesn't mean God is."

We drove from NJ to FL. My mother had packed goodie bags for my sister & I. I was 10 & she was 7. Our parents knew they had to keep us busy for that long car ride. I think we colored in every coloring book, played hang man & tic-tac-toe a BAGILLION times, and UNO!! Who could forget UNO! We also had SIMON in the car...remember that game....ok I know getting off track...but what a GREAT THREAD!!!!

SInce my Grandmother took me on my first trip to Disney...I thought it was only fitting that when she passed (a year ago), that I buy into DVC with the money she left to me. (sorry have a tear. ) I have such wonderful memories of the AMAZING vacation she gave me (our family). She is/was a very strong woman....and an amazing one who is missed every day.

Thank you Maxironi for starting this thread. I have tears of joy right now.

 

[Catrin]

My first trip was in April 1984 - with my High School Band. I was in the Flag Corps, and we marched down Main Street - in front of the Electric Light Parade. That was such an amazing experience for us.... April Vacation was Packed - and the crowds were amazing.

The thing that got me "hooked" that trip though.... was not the MK ... it was EPCOT Center .... I was just amazed in awe at that whole park. I loved the World of Motion, and Horizons.... loved the music when you first walk into the park..... loved the World Showcase.

I have been back 5 times since, but always will remember that night marching in the parade.
Catrin

 

[bugsy]

While this is my first WDW trip..When my son was 5, I secretly planned a weekend trip to DL. When the day arrived, we went to the airport (also his
1st plane trip) the flight was only 1 hr. He kept asking where we were going, I kept avoiding the question, until, just as we were about to land, I said
"Oh, I forgot to tell you--"WE"RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!" I thought his sweet heart was going to burst, never stopped smiling for the 3 whole days,
he is now 23, and everynow and then, we take a little walk down memory lane, just he and I

 

[kandeebunny]

I was only 1 on my first trip.

The first trip I remember though is when I was 5 so 1988. The ONLY thing I remember from that entire trip is getting out of my stroller (I was a wee one and they didn't want to lose me) and going over and sitting on the Dreamfinders knee who had figment with him!

My most special memory was back when I was 18 so 2001, I had finished up some rough treatments at the hospital, and I had spent almost a week every month at the hospital since 1996. We went to Disney, and I only had an inch of hair, and was soooooo self conscious, pale from the hospital, very very very thin from treatments, and almost bald! First day there we went in to the MK to toontown fair! They brought Pooh and friends, mickey, minnie, goofy, Cinderella and the 2 mice all in to one room for me. (I was in an ECV and not walking well with 2 metal leg braces) I got up and was standing with Tigger having a photo taken and he stole my hat playfully! I was in shock and looked at my mom in complete panic. Cinderella noticed and came over and said I looked pretty and even better without the hat. As did the photographer and other CM's in the room, after that I left the hat off for the rest of the trip! That was my absolute favorite trip we have taken. This will be my first trip back since then, as Mom got sick, then I relapsed, but I'm better now and this trip I have shoulder length hair, which will be getting cut in the barber shop while there! (my first cut since it fell out)

 

[Catrin]

kandeebunny....

What a remarkable story.... hope you are feeling better now, and I hope your memories of this trip will surpass the good memories from your last!
Catrin

 

[kandeebunny]

much much better! I finally got cleared to travel about 2 weeks ago! I am so psyched! This time my step mom and step brother are joining us, so it should be even more fun!

 

[HTH]

March 19th, 1996. I remember seeing a really, really tall building at the Disney-MGM Studios. We go through, but me and my grandma take the chicken exit because I'm too young to ride it. I remember thinking to myself "Man, I will NEVER ride this, never ever ever!"

 

[efinn88858]

My first trip to Disney was right after I left the Military and could afford to go. I had never been there as a child and wanted my daughter to experience it, and have WDW as a memory of growing up. Needless to say, DW, DD and myself all loved it and have gone back a few more times since then.

Our very first ride was "it's a Small World" because the line was the shortest when we first walked into MK. It was nice but wasn't very exciting, so we thought "Oh No! WDW is not going to be a lot of fun." Boy! Were we ever wrong!!!

 

[magicgirl]

We were unexpectedly left some money so we booked a week's holiday in Florida for the kids, then aged 12 and 14. This was in Feb 1997. It was truely a holiday of a lifetime. The memory we still talk about was our trip to the MK the first day we were there. We arrived at the entrance to discover our tickets were still in the safe in our hotel on I Drive! I have never let my DH forget it.

Our feet never touched the ground and we arrived home exhausted. We are returning in Dec with our DS now 24. Last year we had booked a holiday to celebrate our Silver Wedding Anniversary for our ourselves our DD and her boy friend. It ended up being their honeymoon as well!

 

[VWLMember]

My first trip was in April 1995. My wife's family planned a trip and invited us to join. I was 29 and had never been anywhere but Italy. My parents moved here in 1956 and we would go visit relatives in Siciliy every summer for 4-6 weeks. Not that this was a bad thing!

We stayed at the CBR and I was amazed at the size of the resort. I was absolutely astounded at the size of Disneyworld. I had no concept at all. The place was so clean, organized and beautiful that I walked around in a near daze for 10 days. Well, the magic was permanently implanted. I will be celebrating 10 wonderful years of Disney vacations in May with a trip for just my wife and myself ( we have two boys, 6 and 15).

I joined DVC and immediatly took my parents to VWL and the world last November to share the magic. They were just as impressed as I was. My father still cannot believe the genius of Walt and how his legacy affects so many.

I look forward to many trips to the world and will never tire of the wonders!

 

[Sazzo'sMommy]

It was 12/72 and I had just turned four. We went for Christmas...My DD, DM, DB, DS, and me! It was amazing! Even then WDW was decked out for Christmas. We stayed at the Poly...how cool! They left three candy filled stockings on our door, one for my DS, one for my DB, and one for me!

But the best part of the entire trip...I got lost at the MK! I'll never forget it! I wasn't scared at all, because even then, cast members swarmed all over me, and took me to the confectionary on Main Street, USA. They gave me a Mickey sucker to enjoy, until about three minutes later, my DM "found" me!

Now, that's a great first memory of the MK! I still to this day can't pass the confectionary without having that fond memory!

 

[disnutt]

This doesn't sound like it is going to be a happy story but it is. My first trip was in 1988 with my (now) ex-husband. I was so enchanted by WDW that I realized how unhappy I was with our marriage situation. I tried to get him to talk with our pastor or a counselor after we returned home. He wouldn't have any of it. I tried to stick it out because I had made a vow. I would wistfully look at our Disney album and wish I could feel that happy, excited and relaxed again.

One day he announced HE was ready for children. That was the final straw. One of the things I couldn't imagine was taking kids to Disney with him and fearing that would be their only happy memories with Dad. I decided I had to leave. He began seeing a counselor with me at our pastor's referral but only to convince me to stay. We divorced shortly afterwards.

I moved on and even went to Disney a few times with friends. It was always inspiring. I've since remarried and had 3 wonderful children. We look forward to our Disney trips as part of the MANY happy times we have together as a family.

I believe that WDW is partly responsible for creating my happy family.

 

[GoofieRuthie]

My first trip was in 2003. I had always wanted to go to WDW but never got to go on vacation ANYWHERE as a kid. My mom was a single parent and just never had the money. She has been in the breast implant lawsuit since I was in highschool and has been promising to take me "when she gets her money". Well, I'm now married with three kids and she still hasn't gotten that blasted money, lol. Anyway, while doing our taxes in 2003, I jokingly said, "let's go to Disneyworld!". To my surprise my DH said, "go for it".

On our first night in the MK while watching the fireworks, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I truly never thought I would EVER get to be there. I stood there with tears running down my face. It was just so magical. Now, I'm planning our second and hopefully not last trip in 13 days!!!!

On a side note....Since my mom has talked about taking me (and now my family) to Disney "when she gets her money" for so long. I told her that I have decided (God forbid) when she passes away, that I plan to use the insurance money or whatever, to buy into DVC. That way we can always thank her for our trips to Disney.

 

[maxaroni]

Some of you have lost a family member or gone through incredibly hard times including ill health and it's nice that a magical place like WDW can help heal some holes that we have had in us.

Thanks everyone for sharing some wonderful memories.

 

[Mykelogan]

These stories exemplify to me exactly what so many people don't get about the Disney experience. How it is more about the feelings and memories, than the prices and crowds. Thank you sooo much to everyone who has shared so far. Your storied have touched my heart and brought a happy tear to my eyes.

Thought I would jump in with my own as I try to get motivated this Sunday morning. I was around 10, my sister was 8 and my mom took us to Orlando. My parents had recently divorced and for many years my dad would say "As soon as I get vacation time we are going to Disneyworld." It never happened. My mom made the goal for herself that she was going to take us to Disney by herself after the divorce was final. Looking back I give her all the credit in the world because she was quite young, younger than I am now. My grandparents had wanted to come along but it was important for my mom to do this. The flight went well and we arrived at our hotel on International Drive. Everything seemed so big and there were signs for Disney everywhere! We were very excited. We checked in and headed to our room, it was a disaster... it was totally trashed, one of the beds was flipped, and the wall had a hole big enough for you to put you head through to the next room. The hotel tried to give my mom the runaround, saying there were no other rooms, and we could see that she was getting upset. So she handed us a bag of quarters and told us to go play in the arcade while she waited for the hotel's response. The pay phones were right near the arcade and I heard my mom call my grandfather crying about what was going on, I could hear her saying "No, you are not coming down here. I have to be able to do this myself. We are going to be fine. I can take care of this." She went back to the check in desk and demanded to see the manager who immediately apologized placed us in a different room, comped one night of our stay and gave my mom free passes to Wet n Wild. I had no conception at that age what this meant to her but I did find out years later.
From there on, we had a great trip. My mom had cousins in Florida, one of which was Cinderella at MK during the time of our visit. (She eventually married Prince Charming, very romantic! hehe) It was great to meet her and have her show us the Disney magic and a bit of the behind the scenes. The first day we went to the parks we were meeting her at dinner time, so did a lot before then including the Haunted Mansion. The HM pre-show scared my sister so bad that by the time the doors to cars opened she was crying and screaming her head off. The CMs were trying to stay in character but be helpful and it was just making things worse. She finally looked at one of the CMs and yelled "If you make me get on that thing I am gonna call a lawyer!!" At that point the CM broke character and said "Calm down, it;s gonna be ok, I can get you out of here." He led us to the "hidden" exit and out into the sun. He actually stayed with us a few minutes trying to convince my sister to come back in but she was not hearing it. When my mom's cousin heard this story later on she said she would take us back and show us it was not scary. We went back and my mom's cousin knew the CMs working and she got them to stop acting scary for us. With her with us my sister went right in, proclaiming "I knew this wasn't really that scary, I just had to check." hehehe

Honestly the rest of that trip is a blur of memories, all good. I think I appreciate it more now than I did then. It was my mom's way of showing us that things were gonna not just be alright but be better than ever. I thank her for it to this day!

Mike

 

[ricktib]

Wow - I don't have a story that compares to many of these, but here's my first look at Main Street as a high school freshman in Jan., 1988:

and for those of you in Rio Linda, this was for the bicentennial of the Constitution, not Walt Disney World:

 

[GarrettJD]

My first trip to WDW was in 1984. I was only 7 years old, and I don't remember too much of it. We stayed offsite, didn't see any fireworks or parades, etc. etc. I loved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and rode it over and over again. Other than that, I don't have too many clear memories of that trip.

Fast forward 19 years. I've been caught by the Disney bug, and my GF Nikkie and I had always wanted to go to WDW. MY family never went on any real vacations, just to see relatives. The only reason we even went to WDW once was that my grandparents payed for it. Nikkie grew up in a less well off family, and had to do without a lot. She worked hard to being herself up, and now she's a teacher. We had financial difficulties at first that prevented us from going, but now we had saved enough money to make our dream come true, and in June 2003 we took our first "real" vacation.

I almost lost it the first time we arrived at the Magic Kingdom on our first morning and saw the castle. I was overwhelmed with emotion the first time we was Spectromagic, Fantasy in the Sky, and Illuminations.

The shared experience of our first real vacation together was the real joy of our trip to WDW. We both love it there.... people say, "Why do you keep going back?" To be at WDW with the ones you love is the reason we keep going back.

We're going again in June this year, and we have a trip planned with my brother for sometime in 2006. He went a couple of times in the late 90's with his high school band, and he's looking forward to going back with us. I'm also trying to get my mom down there with us-- she hasn't been back since she first took me in 1984.