First trip to the parks

[Amy]

I'm not sure if I've seen this anywhere yet ~ I'm curious how old everyone was, or what year they first got to go to a Disney Park.
For me, I was 6 when we took our first trip to Walt Disney World on a trip to see my Grandparents in Florida. There was only the Magic Kingdom then, and they were still using the ticket books. I don't remember much about the trip, but we have a few photos and I've heard enough stories about how I almost made my Mom sick on Dumbo going up and down that I feel like remember the trip pretty well. There is also photographic evidence that my oldest brother was pushing me closer to Captain Hook!
Our second trip would come 7 years later when we went back and I first got to see EPCOT. I do remember more about that trip, and again it was a side trip when we went to visit my Grandparents. My brothers were both in college by that time so it was just my parents and me

[cy1229]

GREAT idea for a thread, Amy!

My first trip was in 1980, and there was only the Magic Kingdom then. It was in January, and I remember it really well. Dad was an assistant principal at the time and had the chance to go to an administrators' conference in Ft. Lauderdale. He and Mom decided to bring my sister and me, and we rounded out the week with a stay at the Polynesian. GREAT family vacation, and in spite of my parents no longer being married I know we all think of that trip with fond memories. I remember the dumbest details... our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale was right on the beach, my sister wanted one of the coconuts from the pool bar but was too afraid to ask so I had to ask for her (I was in 6th grade, she was in 2nd, so it was an appropriate big sister thing to do). Our rental car was a Chevy Citation and when Dad and I went out to get food for my sister and me while parents went out for dinner, we got held up by the drawbridge. The wallpaper in our room at the Polynesian was green foil wallpaper (ugh), and at the time 'Ohana was a fancy sit-down restaurant. The server brought us girls a flower and told us the correct side to wear it in our hair, based on whether we were single or taken. Mom and Dad got some kind of fancy drinks in frosted tiki-style glasses, too. I wonder whatever happened to those glasses. I wish I had them!

The coupon books were still in use but Disney was transitioning to the one-price "passport." My junior passport was $15 for the day. I only know that because I found it in some of my stuff and it had the price on it. Our first day we did all the "free" stuff, and my sister promptly got sick on the circlevision 360 theater that took you all over the US. So Mom took her back to the hotel room and Dad and I used some coupons that a friend had given him. I don't remember much more about the trip except LOVING the volcano pool and feeling really sad when we left. Here's a photo of me. No comment on my hair style or apparel. I was TWELVE.



I know that trip was something of a financial sacrifice for my parents, given that my Mom had only recently returned back to work after staying home with us kids for 12+ years, and that Dad had only been an administrator for 6 of those 12 years.

Our second trip was in 1983, just a day... we were visiting my grandparents in Ormond Beach, near Daytona, over our spring break, and decided to drive down to Orlando and do a day trip. Epcot was open, but since we only had one day we went to the MK. I don't remember as much about that trip, though.

I didn't return to WDW until 2001 when my girls were 7 and 3! And the rest, well I'm pretty sure you know about the rest.

EDIT: My bad. My one-day passport was from 1983 and was $14. STILL.

[Amy]

Very cool ~ and no worries on the 12 year old you's outfit ~ I think I had very similar clothes...although I'm not sure I ever rocked the knee socks Your shirt almost looks like it has Spaceship Earth on it, but I'm sure it wouldn't have in 1980. Do you know what the picture on it was?

[jderoche5]

Photo evidence shows my first trip at about 5 or 6 so that would have been 79/80 time frame. It was only The Magic Kingdom at the time and we stayed in the Contemporary tower. I may have been one other time when I was younger but I can't be sure. This is the first trip I still have flashes of memories of. We would ride the monorail constantly back then "just because". There were no automatic doors back then but buttons that the CM's would walk up and down pressing to open the doors. I can still remember the sound. The Contemporay pool was just a boring rectangle and River Country was our favorite spot. We would have to wear our park tickets on our shirts and I remember picking out and buying just the right Disney pin to pin it there. I remember eating at Top of the World for breakfast and loving the waffles. "Downtown Disney" was much smaller than it is today and I remember Lego being where the Pin station sits today in that open area. It's funny the things we remember.

[horizons1]

Photo evidence shows my first trip at about 5 or 6 so that would have been 79/80 time frame. It was only The Magic Kingdom at the time and we stayed in the Contemporary tower. I may have been one other time when I was younger but I can't be sure. This is the first trip I still have flashes of memories of. We would ride the monorail constantly back then "just because". There were no automatic doors back then but buttons that the CM's would walk up and down pressing to open the doors. I can still remember the sound. The Contemporay pool was just a boring rectangle and River Country was our favorite spot. We would have to wear our park tickets on our shirts and I remember picking out and buying just the right Disney pin to pin it there. I remember eating at Top of the World for breakfast and loving the waffles. "Downtown Disney" was much smaller than it is today and I remember Lego being where the Pin station sits today in that open area. It's funny the things we remember.

If the early monorail doors worked like the ones in Disneyland I think when the train arrived in the station all the doors popped open automatically but then the cast members had to slam each one shut. Does that sound right?

[horizons1]

I grew up in Southern California in an apartment next door to my grandma and uncle, so we took a lot of family day trips and often those were to Disneyland. Here are a couple pics with my mom & dad when I was about two or three:





These would've been 1969 or 1970. I love these pics because it shows how much my parents enjoyed Disneyland when they were 20-something and care free before my sister and brother entered the world and ruined everything

And here's one a bit later. I must've been around four or five (1971 or 1972), sitting on the curb on Main Street with my uncles and my grandma waiting for a parade:

[Amy]

Photo evidence shows my first trip at about 5 or 6 so that would have been 79/80 time frame. It was only The Magic Kingdom at the time and we stayed in the Contemporary tower. I may have been one other time when I was younger but I can't be sure. This is the first trip I still have flashes of memories of. We would ride the monorail constantly back then "just because". There were no automatic doors back then but buttons that the CM's would walk up and down pressing to open the doors. I can still remember the sound. The Contemporay pool was just a boring rectangle and River Country was our favorite spot. We would have to wear our park tickets on our shirts and I remember picking out and buying just the right Disney pin to pin it there. I remember eating at Top of the World for breakfast and loving the waffles. "Downtown Disney" was much smaller than it is today and I remember Lego being where the Pin station sits today in that open area. It's funny the things we remember.

If the early monorail doors worked like the ones in Disneyland I think when the train arrived in the station all the doors popped open automatically but then the cast members had to slam each one shut. Does that sound right?

I remember CMs having to push buttons for the doors as well, but I can't really remember whether it was coming or going.

[Amy]

Great pictures horizons1! Love the dig at your siblings too

[Marty Moose]

My first trip was sometime 1980-1982 and a few of my memories include:

McDonalds was just introducing chicken nuggets in the southeast, so we stopped for chicken nuggets on the drive down at least once a day!

EPCOT was under construction, but the preview center was open so we rode the monorail over to check it out.

We camped somewhere between Orlando, Jacksonville and Kennedy Space Center (since we visited all three) and there were huge spiders in the campground.

We took the tour of all the old launch pads and control rooms at the space center, but mostly I remember the bus ride in between all of the sites. And the tour guide warned us to stay with the group since most of the security at the space center was actually alligators.

And we visited the Magic Kingdom, but I only have vague memories of it. I was years away from being a (borderline?) Disney fanatic.

[Amy]

fun memories Marty Moose! We went to Cape Canaveral too but I really don't remember that at all. That's funny about the alligators

[cy1229]

Very cool ~ and no worries on the 12 year old you's outfit ~ I think I had very similar clothes...although I'm not sure I ever rocked the knee socks Your shirt almost looks like it has Spaceship Earth on it, but I'm sure it wouldn't have in 1980. Do you know what the picture on it was?

I didn't have a clue, so I opened the photo and zoomed WAAAYYYY in. Oh my...

IT'S A SHAUN CASSIDY T-SHIRT!!!!!!

[Amy]

Very cool ~ and no worries on the 12 year old you's outfit ~ I think I had very similar clothes...although I'm not sure I ever rocked the knee socks Your shirt almost looks like it has Spaceship Earth on it, but I'm sure it wouldn't have in 1980. Do you know what the picture on it was?

I didn't have a clue, so I opened the photo and zoomed WAAAYYYY in. Oh my...

IT'S A SHAUN CASSIDY T-SHIRT!!!!!!

[figmentaholic]

My first trip was, I think in 1987. I would have been about 11 or 12. I only have a dozen, maybe less photos from the trip and they all look like they were taken in Epcot. Sadly I have very few memories of it, it was so long ago. Just little snippets, like the awesome rainbow tunnel in the area above Journey Into Imagination.

[MrPhil]

I was about to turn 14 in 1994 and our grandparents wanted to do a "remember-us-by" trip. So they took us on our first trip over the Atlantic to WDW for two weeks. We had not been to DLP, so we had no idea what to expect.

At an "to-cool-for-everything" age I was simply blown away by the size and quality of ... well, everything. Please note that we only had a few leaflets to guide us and I think I saw a TV documentary once (I explicitly remember to "dictate" the family plan in order to see Star Tour first (and since nobody knew anything, my grandma did come along - and had lots of fun screaming *g*)).

This trip left me in admiration and love of WDW, I had never seen anything like it (and we had been to quit a few places in Germany). There are so many aspects that where new and never-before-seen paired with the "knowledge" (of a 14 year old) that one can't simply return (due to the price tag of such a trip), that it was just awesome. The day at KSC sure helped as well

I will never know why it took me 19 year to return.

[MmeLeota]

My first trip to Disneyland was around 1980/1981 and I was 2 or 3 years old. I remember very little from that trip...except that Mom told me that I was afraid of pretty much everything except the Haunted Mansion (talk about foreboding), and Skull Rock creeped the crap out of me.
I believe the next trip would have been around 1983...Fantasyland was "brand new" and I remember more of this trip...I was definitely a scaredy cat! I remember wanting to go on IASW and Tiki Room (except the thunderstorm at the end scared me) over and over. I was ok seeing characters from a distance, but didn't want anything to do with them up close!
I was just a really scared kid. We went several times when I was a kid, and I know there is photographic evidence, but I have no clue where that might be at this time.

My first trip to WDW came in 1992, and it was one of those educational trips through the school. We went to Gatorland, Kennedy Space Center/Space Camp for a day, MGM Studios, and EPCOT. (I didn't get to MK until our honeymoon in 1998) This Florida trip was significant because it was the first time I was so far away from home without the parental units (traveling from the west coast to the east coast). Again, I was kind of a scaredy cat, but found to really love EPCOT! It was also the first time I ever got Disney "insider" information...Tower of Terror had just been announced and the guy who gave us our tour told us all about it. The only regret I have about that trip (aside from being such a nervous Nelly) is that I didn't take more pictures. So much has changed between the 2 parks over the years. I know I got a picture with Dreamfinder and Figment, but I have not been able to find it in years. I have a feeling it might be mixed in with stuff at my parents' house.

Oh, and to answer a question about the monorails, the Mark IV monorails that were originally used at WDW had buttons that the driver had to get out and push to open all the doors and the attendants had to close each door individually. I only know this because when I worked at the original monorail in Vegas, the 2 trains we had were two of the original Mark IVs from WDW. I think they were Coral and Lime...I can't remember now. Anyway, I hope that answers the monorail question.