Your first visit to Disney World?

[lborne]

I thought it would be fun to share my memory of my first visit to the world which I think, caused me to be such a Disney nut. And, to read what everyone else remembers from their first trip. Maybe this should go in the trip report forum.....

My first trip was in 1978. At that time, I did not watch Mickey Mouse cartoons. Not because I did not like them, but because Disney cartoons were not shown on any of the 5 stations our antenna was capable of capturing. Bugs Bunny and Scooby Do reigned the air waves then. I assume you who grew up in the 60s through 80s remember those glorious Saturday mornings which ushered in the beginning of the school free weekend. Sadly, those mornings were devoid of Mickey and friends. But, there was something better. And it could be found on television every Sunday evening. Those melancholy Sunday evenings that otherwise would be deeply depressing due to looming back-to-school Monday, were a time for anticipation and joy. Yes, you know exactly what I am talking about – The Wonderful World of Disney. That eclectic series of films, cartoons, nature shows and more that always kept me entertained and one of the main reasons I read the TV guide each week. And of course, being the marketing empire they are, Disney ran advertisements for their theme park in Florida. Living in the southeast, the ads were always about the Florida park and not California – due to the short flights to Orlando – which Delta and National Airlines reminded me about in each Sunday paper.

So, as children are so inclined to do, my sister and I begged, pleaded and whined to our parents during every commercial break to please please please take us to that mecca of kid’s fantasies in the Florida swamp. But even at age 7, I knew this was a long shot and I had no illusion that we’d ever be able to convince my parents. My tight-wad father’s idea of a typical vacation was camping in a tent, and for a truly luxurious vacation, taking the RV. My mother, being a school teacher, persuaded my father TWICE to take us to Williamsburg where we could be entertained by watching people in hilarious period costumes split wood for minimum wage. The only saving grace of those trips was Busch Gardens, which my father loved because young blonde German women served him beer and bratwurst while my mother took us on the rides.

Then, one hot July day in 1978 fate intervened and answered our prayers. A past business partner of my father’s, trying to get him to work at his firm located in Longwood, Florida, offered (ala Brady Bunch Hawaii Bound) to fly our family to Orlando, put us up in a nice hotel near Disney, and give us use of a company car. (As an aside, the firm was a distributer of items like those “As Seen on TV” products that you can now find broken at thrift stores nationwide. Also, when you consider the builder of the hotel in Hawaii was able to fly the entire Brady clan, including Alice, to Hawaii, it’s no wonder room prices are so high there).

Anyway, this was an offer my father could not refuse, even if he had no intention of joining the firm. So, in the great tradition of dad’s of his generation, he agreed without consulting my mother. In fact, he only told her (and us) about the trip on Thursday, despite the fact that we were flying out the next day. I’m sure he waited because he wanted to surprise us, and not because he did not want to see us jumping up and down for weeks on end.

To say I was excited was the understatement of the century – like saying World War II was a minor skirmish. I thought we would have all day Saturday and Sunday to spend at the Magic Kingdom since we were flying back on Monday. However, only one day would be spent at the park – Saturday. Sunday was reserved for church (WHAT?? The Magic Kingdom did not qualify as a church?) and a tour of the firm’s warehouse – (surprisingly, not very magical). It was a minor disappointment, but hey, at least we were not going back to Williamsburg.

I don’t even remember Friday excepting the flight over, but now it was Saturday morning. We departed the hotel late – around 10:30 am if I remember correctly, because frankly, no one, including myself, had a clue as to when the park opened. My parents, thinking of Sears on a Sunday, envisioned it would open about 10 or 11, so we surely did not want to be there early. After parking the car, it was just about time for another minor disappointment – this one a bit more foreshadowing of things to come. After we purchased our ticket booklets (I don’t have to explain that to you like I do the outsiders), it was time to head to the other side of the Seven Seas Lagoon. Of course, only the monorail was the proper form of transportation. Who wants to ride a ferry boat? Not me – especially seeing as how we rode them across the Mississippi river from time to time back home. But the line for the monorail was long, and the ferry line was short. We took the ferry.

After trudging off the ferry with everyone else, the magical train station came into view and the entrance beaconed us. I may not have known the opening time of the park, but I definitely knew which ride to go on first. Yep – Space Mountain. Nothing like being hurled through space to help your stomach loosen its grip on breakfast. Even my father agreed that this should be our first ride, although as he saw everyone else heading that way, I think he was having second thoughts. He definitely had second thoughts when he saw the line. But, he had been warned by his business partner that a Saturday during the summer would mean long lines at Disney, and to just grin and bear it. After Space Mountain, we then rode 20,000 leagues and IASW before having lunch – but for the life of me I can’t remember where, and neither do my parents. This will trouble me for the rest of my life. It was nearing the hottest part of the day, so next we went on Haunted Mansion, Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates and Jungle Cruise. By this time, it was probably 3pm because my father was starting to get cranky. Not for lack of beer, but for the oppressive heat, humidity and sea of humanity everywhere. Next we rode the paddle wheel steam boat instead of BTMRR because it was not as crowded (sound familiar?) Then, it happened – The Meltdown. No, not my little sister – my father. We were waiting in line in the hot sun for either Peter Pan or Mr. Toad’s wild ride or Sleeping Beauty (One of the dark rides – I don’t remember which one) and he lost his cool. Actually, he had lost it a few hours before. He just up and decided it was time to go – that it was too ^$%#& hot and too &*#(% crowded. I vaguely remember being dragged down main street kicking and screaming. And that was the end of my Disney park experience. I have my good memories and 4 (yes, a total of 4) old faded photos they took of nothing particularly interesting. While I was pretty disappointed at the time as you can imagine, it all worked out in the end. One summer in 1991 I worked at Disney in Main Street Ops and I always came to work early or on my days off so that I could spend free time in the parks (by then they had EPCOT and Disney MGM too). I now go as often as I can since I live just about 1.5 hrs away.

 

[EeyoreFan90]

1971 November we drove from Pennsylvania spent 2 days at the Magic Kingdom, then toured other parts of Florida. Have gone back many, many, many times! Just love it!!!!

 

[glassslippergirl]

I was just 11 months old for my first trip in 1977. I don't remember, but my dad still likes to tell the stories. We were in the front row of the boat on IASW. I was sitting on my dad's lap pointing to every doll, saying, "Look! Look!" Then, we went to Crystal Palace for lunch. It was a cafeteria back then. I fell asleep in a high chair with amounts full of peas.

My son's first visit was in 2013. He was 10 months old, so that he could beat me on age of first visit. The Dapper Dans sang a song just for him because it was his first visit. I'd say his favorite ride was the tram from the parking lot with Dumbo being a close second. We had breakfast at Cape May, and he loved the character interaction.

 

[Klayfish]

Sad to say that my memory is brutally awful. I know I was there in 1977 or 1978, but I was only 5 or 6. I really don't remember it at all. I went again in '82 or '83. I have very vague recollections of the monorail, the Polynesian (we stayed there), and a tiny bit of memory of some attractions...20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth. Funny thing is that as little as I remember about my childhood trips, I do recall that I was absolutely in love with it, so when my wife and I made our first trip together there in 2004, it was magical. That was her first visit ever to WDW and my first in 17 years. I don't remember it all, but I remember a lot of it and it was just wonderful. I remember seeing my wife's eyes get really wide as walked down Main Street for the first time. I remember sitting with her outside the Electric Umbrella just having a snack and laughing. Camping out on Main Street to wait for the parade and Wishes.

 

[mshanson3121]

I was 8 for my first trip. My grandmother kept it a surprise until a few days before we left. It was myself, my grandmother, her sister and her granddaughter, and my grandmother's friend and her granddaughter. 6 of us shared a hotel room off-site. I forget which hotel, but it had 2 beds with a pull out sofa. I remember driving from the airport to the hotel, my grandmother couldn't figure out how to get to the hotel. We drove by it a couple times, always on the other side of the highway. Finally, she said, "Screw it!" and drove us across the median, across the other two lanes of traffic and into the driveway, lol. My grandmother had (still has) spunk

It's been long enough now that I don't remember a tonne of details about the trip, I know we went to Epcot and Magic Kingdom, but these are the random memories that stand out to me:

- Meeting Pluto, he was my favorite
- Watching the piano player on Main Street, he let me stand right next to the piano and watch him. After he gave me his autograph. I loved that.
- I remember Spaceship Earth (of course it was called something different) and enjoying it, I remember how nice and cool it felt
- I remember the Innovations areas - they were so much fun! There was so much to see and do in them back then.
- I loved Carousel of Progress
- I remember being in awe of the castle and loving the afternoon parade
- I remember loving Big Thunder Mountain (and I remember my poor grandmother getting very sick, lol)
- I remember the characters were much easier to meet, they were just out on the street and a long wait might be 10 minutes, lol
- I remember browsing through stores trying to find the perfect t-shirt and the perfect book (I still have the book). I quite honestly can almost remember the SMELL of the store.
- I remember buying a Goofy hat that had the floppy ears and tongue.
- I remember the general feeling of magic and awe

And after that... when I came home, I was hooked. I loved all things Disney after that. I watched all the movies, repeatedly. I sang the songs, I always wanted to go back. I cherished that trip my whole life, but it means even more to me now, because I know how much my grandmother sacrificed to give it to me. Without going into heavy details, I didn't have a great childhood. In the year and a half before the trip, my mother walked out on us (for a woman no less) taking my severely handicapped sister with her, and I stayed behind with my father. There was just a lot of upheaval. But that was really just the tip of the iceberg. The very next year, our family went through a really rough time that basically involved losing everything, and my father going to jail. My grandmother knew it was all coming, and that my life was going to be turned upside, and she wanted to give me that trip, that bit of normalcy, she wanted me to have that memory - and let me tell you, Disney got me through a lot of rough times. The movies, the songs, the stories of conflict and hope, of strong girls/women... Anyways, she knew it was financially going to be the last chance she'd ever get to do it for me, and she did everything in her power to make it happen. And more than anything, I will never, EVER forget that. I will always be grateful to her for that trip.


When I became a mother... I knew that I wanted to take my children to Disney. But neither my husband or I had much money, we lived paycheck to paycheck (and I mean basically hovering at the poverty threshold paycheck to paycheck, not "middle class" pay check to paycheck where you have two new cars and take trips and eat out every Friday), and we were never able to save any money, let alone money for Disney. Then our daughter was born with all her health issues, and they only compounded the finances and then I lost my job, our health coverage and yeah... let's just say that Disney basically became a dream I gave up on. As the children got older, they too fell in love with Disney, and my son starting at age 4, would literally cry sometimes seeing commercials of Disney World, wanting to go, asking me why can't we go. Anyways, long story short, things slowly turned around, my husband got a new job, I found work at home as a writer, and then when my son was 7, we had financial windfall. And... yeah. There wasn't even remotely a discussion on "What should we do with this?" It was just an immediate known that we were going to Disney.

I cried the day we first drove under the Disney World sign, because, to me, Disney is so much more than just cute books and movies and fun rides. I honestly, can't even begin to find the words to say what it is to me, other than it's sacrifice, and love, and promises and dreams and hope. And as long as my children are interested, we'll do what we can to keep taking them back.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

My first trip would have been over Easter in 1983. I was 3 years old. I visited with my parents and my mother's parents. Here are some of the things I can definitively date to that trip, because my parents have confirmed it or because I know my grandparents were involved and that's the only time we went with them.

- My dad arranged for hotel-airport transfers, but was unaware he had booked us a limo until it pulled up to the curb. I remember crawling in and petting the soft seat cushions. "This is nice!" I got to sit facing backwards.
- We stayed at the Polynesian Village. I remember being very impressed that my mother's assertions that there was a waterfall inside the hotel were true. For years I would think my memories of a stone colored pool slide (with a secret entrance) and a hot metal playground were my own fabrications, until I would see grainy old pictures of just such things on this site. I recall at one point insisting to my family that there was a talking statue that had scared me. They laughed it off and for years I had no idea what that memory was about. Years later I found a Tiki with a radio speaker concealed in its base - Mystery solved!
- I'm pretty sure my first ride was actually the horse drawn carriage up Main Street. I literally have no other memories of rides that I can be sure were from that trip. I do remember the talking parrot outside Pirates was my parents' favorite thing.
- I have a memory of some boy telling me that he lived in Disney World, just across the water (my parents think he was staying at a hotel like we were, and was just confused). When my parents insisted it was time to leave, I told them we didn't need to - citing the boy who said he lived there. What I do not remember, but which my parents have repeatedly reminded me of, was attaching myself to a Tiki statue in Adventure land, refusing to let go, and screaming bloody murder.
- My dad got a very nice picture of me sitting on the wall in front of the castle a licking a lollipop. I remember this not only because we have the photo, but because he posed me there like that for a good 15 minutes while he used his old Nikormat to get just the right picture. It was really hot on that wall.
- I remember meeting Mickey. I remember thinking that my parents must be confused, because he clearly wasn't Mickey. He was some person in a suit dressed up like Mickey. I decided not to disappoint my family, and so I didn't tell them.
- I swear to God, there was a talking trash can. It was way to early for PUSH to have been around, but I remember a freaking talking trash can.
- Epcot had flamingoes. And a Mexican pyramid. My parents told me they'd take me to see real Mexican pyramids.

I took my 3-year old DD last December. I wonder what she'll remember in 30 years.

 

[mshanson3121]

[QUOTE="ZephyrHawk, post: 55874219, member:
- Epcot had flamingoes. And a Mexican pyramid. My parents told me they'd take me to see real Mexican pyramids.

I took my 3-year old DD last December. I wonder what she'll remember in 30 years.[/QUOTE]

Yes!!! I remember all the flamingos! I thought they were so cool. And I remember all the flowers at the front of MK - having my picture taken in front of the flowered Mickey head.