If you could go back in time....

MmeLeota · Post by **MmeLeota** » Aug Thu 13, 2009 4:37 pm

What do you wish you could have experienced at Disneyland in it's early years?

And for anyone who may have experienced the "good ol' days" at Disneyland, care to share your memories?

For me, there are many...but a couple of them are Mine Train thru Nature's Wonderland, "date nights" (when they had live bands and people actually danced...not just bounced around to a rhythm), and the original Matterhorn.

I also wish I could remember the old Fantasyland...I experienced it, but I was only 3 or 4...I don't remember it too much. The next time we went, it was the new fantasyland. (I've seen plenty of pictures of it and vaguely remember a couple of things...like Skull Rock, I was scared of it)

There's others, but this is all I can think of at the moment...anyone else have anything?

elizabethswann · Post by **elizabethswann** » Aug Thu 13, 2009 7:07 pm

There is so much I would love to do that I have no idea where I would start. I know that I would not have wanted to go on opening day because of how crazy it was.

I know I would have loved to go on the Monorail and Matterhorn the days they opened to experience how different they were before they were remodeled. Plus I would love to have gotten a chance to experience the A-E tickets and say that I got to pull that off. Basically I would love to have gotten to ride on all the old rides that were there before being removed.

MmeLeota · Post by **MmeLeota** » Aug Thu 13, 2009 11:17 pm

I am fortunate enough to be able to say I remember the A-E tickets, however I think dad always handled them because I don't remember physically using them. He says we still have some somewhere.

It would have been cool to walk around the park before NOS and Bear/Critter Country...I can't imagine the park essentially ending after Adventureland/Frontierland.

FlyingMouse · Post by **FlyingMouse** » Aug Sat 15, 2009 12:41 am

I would like to have been standing in line for something and said to myself "hey, Walt Disney just walked by".

My parents got to do that.

Lucky dogs.

I'm pretty sure they went to the Date Nights as well.

MomPaula · Post by **MomPaula** » Aug Sun 16, 2009 5:46 pm

My mother always said she kicked herself for not telling Walt how much fun the family was having the one time she saw him in in the park in 1962. I would have liked to do that.

MmeLeota · Post by **MmeLeota** » Aug Mon 17, 2009 1:28 am

That would have been amazing!

PureDisney · Post by **PureDisney** » Aug Tue 18, 2009 10:10 am

My mother saw Walt Disney once while she was waiting for Dad and I to get off of a ride. She says that she regrests to this day that she didn't tell him what a wonderful place he had made. I'd like the chance to go back and help her do that.

mindflipper · Post by **mindflipper** » Sep Tue 08, 2009 11:01 pm

If I could back in time....

...wouldn't be fun if you could be there the day Disneyland opened?

...be there the first night MSEP or Fantasmic was done in the park?

...be one of the few people that saw Light Magic before it ended after 15 weeks?

...see the park being built?

mindflipper · Post by **mindflipper** » Sep Tue 08, 2009 11:04 pm

Okay, one more. This one would be my personal time travel trip: I would have loved to have been there for the first HMH back 2001. I would have loved to be there for that special event night on the day before. I couldn't go at the time because of work, but if I could travel back in time, I would have loved to have been there. I would love to see what that HMH was like with the original Goodwin soundtrack.

MmeLeota · Post by **MmeLeota** » Sep Tue 08, 2009 11:06 pm

Yes to all of those questions! I would have loved to have been there for all of those events!

Wasn't born yet when DL opened

Wasn't born yet when MSEP premiered...saw F! about 6 months after it premiered

Was supposed to go to DL during the summer LM ran...love the music though!

Closest to seeing a park being built was watching DCA go up...

mindflipper · Post by **mindflipper** » Sep Wed 09, 2009 10:35 am

I wasn't alive for when DL opened either. I was a small child when MSEP started. However, I did get to see EPCOT the summer before it opened. Once they had the monorail finished, Disney would let you pay to see the "EPCOT Preview" where you could see the park under construction. That was cool. Only wish I owned a camera back then (young teenager then).

MmeLeota · Post by **MmeLeota** » Sep Wed 09, 2009 11:53 am

I bet that was awesome! EPCOT is my favorite Florida park. Being from the West, I'm partial to DLR, but EPCOT impressed me the first time I was there and I've loved it ever since.

Amy · Post by **Amy** » Sep Thu 17, 2009 9:31 pm

I have to agree with the people who have mentioned Walt Disney. That would have been awesome to see/meet/thank the man who dreamt up this wonderful world

MmeLeota · Post by **MmeLeota** » Sep Fri 18, 2009 11:50 am

At the expo last week, I got to shake hands with a few big names in Disney and I made sure to thank them for their contributions...I didn't want to have any regrets about that one. But there were a few that in hindshight, wish I could have talked to longer, or approached instead of being shy.

...still, I am envious of anyone who got to shake hands/talk to Walt personally! Amazing memories!!!!

disneydreamer58 · Post by **disneydreamer58** » Sep Fri 18, 2009 12:09 pm

My fav memories if I could go back in time is when DLR in CA shut down the park at 8pm for private use for Bank Of America employees and their family/guests! It was called BofA night. We had the whole park to ourselves until 1am, it was fantastic!! We did BofA night for years and it will always remain my fondest and best memories of my trips to DLR!! BofA used to be the main bank for DLR but now it isn't any longer. That perk was nice. I am glad my Mom worked for BofA (God rest her soul) all those years!

Edit: I forgot to mention there was NEVER a line during those hours cause of the private party, so we road rides multiple times on a night