Your first time...

[davea61]

Since today is the anniversary of WDW's opening day, I thought it might be fun to remember your first time anniversary and share your memories. Here's mine:

August, 1975
I remember my Dad and I staying at the Contemporary for two nights and visiting MK twice on that trip. I was 14 years old and loved it! He bought us four books of tickets and we went on almost everything. My favorite ride then was "If you had wings"!!

Little did he know the he was creating a Disney fanatic!!

Thanks for the trip Dad.

[Mousekedude]

Aww.... that was very touching. Thanks for sharing, and good idea for a thread (I hope it's not a duplicate, but I'm too lazy right now to go check... )

My story doesn't stretch that far back. When Mouseoholic and I got married in '99, she wanted to go to WDW for our honeymoon, but I was like "meh... no way..." so she agreed to go to Cancun instead. For the next couple years after that she kept asking to go to WDW for our anniversary, and I stubbornly refused because I was totally clueless...
But after two more anniversary trips to Cancun, I finally let her talk me into going. Wow! I was blown away! I had no idea of all the magic I had been missing, and was instantly hooked. Of course, on our last day, as we were on the bus back to the airport, I tried to convince her (and myself) that "okay, now that we've done WDW we can move on.... no need to go back..." Yeah, right! It did something to me, and once I got home I couldn't stop reliving all the great experiences... I was smitten.
We've been back at least once a year ever since, sometimes twice a year, and we're going again this December!

[MmeLeota]

My first trip to the WDW resort area was in 1992...with an educational tour. We only got to spend one day in Epcot and one day at the Studios, but I loved every minute!!!

My first time at MK (and AK for that matter) was our honeymoon in 1998. AK was but a mere few months old and I was excited for my first visit to MK.

Hubby had grown up going to WDW so I'm sure he loved seeing my reactions to everything, just like I loved seeing his reactions the first time he went to DL! (with the exception of his reaction to Sleeping Beauty Castle )

[Amy]

This is great idea davea!
I first went to WDW in 1976 when I was just a pup. My Grandparents lived in Englewood, Florida so Disney was just probably a one day stop because of the cost. I don't remember much but I have a picture of me and one of my brothers with Captain Hook and also a picture of me with Snow White and one with Dopey. From the sounds of things, (still talked about all these many years later ) I made my Mom feel quite ill on Dumbo going up and down! I'll have to see what memories my brothers have since they were old enough to realize there were rides we weren't going to get to go on since everything required a ticket. I wouldn't have known at age 6 that there was more to see.
I don't know if my love for Disney started then or not, but it certainly has continued as I grew older.

[boilerbabe]

Awesome idea for a thread, I love reading everyone's first experience too!

My first visit and memory is from 1980, I was 3 years old! My parent's had no idea what they were starting...they created a Disney nut for life! We stayed at the Poly and my grandparent's (who are no longer with us) were there too. I remember going to MK and when I saw Mickey Mouse, I ran to him grabbed onto his leg and would NOT let go! (LOL, thinking back now, the person in that costume was probably like "get this kid off of my leg!") At that age, everything is so Magical b/c it's all real! I have vivid memories of splashing around in the pool with my dad and grandpa! That's why the Poly has such a special place in my heart. I have such wonderful memories there. Now I've turned my DH into a Disney nut, and we've started to create our own memories there!

[timekeeper]

My "First" time was when we were in 6th grade. We went to Disney for 2 days over spring break. My friend and I stood in the beating sun for hours to ride Space Mountain. That is all I really remember and how bored we were in the worldshow case with her parents.

Dd's First time was when she was 5. She didnt know what to expect and was not really excited because of that. We walked up onto Main street and immediately to her right were Chip and Dale meeting the guests. Dd was so excited she ran right up to them, good thing there wasnt anyone taking a photo with them at the moment. We quickly gathered her and got in line. Very unlike her to just run up to something but I knew then I had a Disney child. (And she was born on Oct 1.)

[Jacca5660]

My "First" time was when we were in 6th grade. We went to Disney for 2 days over spring break. My friend and I stood in the beating sun for hours to ride Space Mountain. That is all I really remember and how bored we were in the worldshow case with her parents.

Dd's First time was when she was 5. She didnt know what to expect and was not really excited because of that. We walked up onto Main street and immediately to her right were Chip and Dale meeting the guests. Dd was so excited she ran right up to them, good thing there wasnt anyone taking a photo with them at the moment. We quickly gathered her and got in line. Very unlike her to just run up to something but I knew then I had a Disney child. (And she was born on Oct 1.)

Happy Belated birthday to your Dd!!

[Amy]

...We walked up onto Main street and immediately to her right were Chip and Dale meeting the guests. Dd was so excited she ran right up to them, good thing there wasnt anyone taking a photo with them at the moment. We quickly gathered her and got in line. Very unlike her to just run up to something but I knew then I had a Disney child. (And she was born on Oct 1.)

That is one of the things I miss about the "good old days", when children could see their favorite characters and run right up to them. I understand the meet and greet lines and why they are necessary but there is just something about seeing a child's eyes light up with delight as they run full tilt at their favorite character

[Pluto23]

What a fun idea.

First trip was in 1994. Wife & I have returned every year since, and often twice in a year. Just keeps getting better and better.

[Lion Sleeps Tonight]

I can't remember what year it was, but it was the early 90s. I don't remember doing a whole lot of rides at MK because I was too chicken at the time. I also remember Epcot as being the most boring place ever. It was hot, I was thirsty and threw a hissy-fit because I didn't want to drink water anymore as we were in line for the Canada movie.

I remember staying at the Contemporary and eating at Chef Mickey's. My grandma had a cold sore, so she took some salt from the restaurant to gargle with. The overall feeling of that trip was just okay. Never really cared to go back....and how I was wrong about that later on in life.

[kcarts]

October 2, 1982. Epcot had opened the day before and you could tell it was brand new. We actually went over there on the 3rd. Nothing worked. We got stuck on SSE for a 1/2 hour. Apparently they had stopped the ride as the always do, to assist someone in a wheelchair in to one of the cars and no one could figure out how to start the ride back up. It was wonderful. Then on Horizons, the soundtrack broke. We rode through with no sound. They actually were very good about it. They told us if wanted to wait, we could ride it again and not have to wait in line. But they couldn't tell us how long it would take to fix the problem. So they gave us a voucher to skip the line when we came back. I guess you could call it the origainal fast pass!

But other than that it was great. And I was immediately enthralled with the place. I was only 10 but still have vivid memories of the entire trip. Our first attraction was Swiss Family Robinson tree house. I still have a picture of me and my sister on that.

[theBIGyowski]

My first trip was in November of 1986.

I was almost 5 years old and my parents had never been to WDW...so it was a first for the whole family. There were only two parks then...MK and Epcot. Epcot was fairly new but had some great attractions and countries by then. I cannot remember how many days we were there but I can't imagine it was more than 3 or 4. We stayed in Kissimmee because staying on Disney property wasn't all too common back then. I think we also did it because we had timeshare that transferred to a place in Kissimmee. I remember having a blast and never getting tired of walking around...which was a big deal for a 4 year old. I remember Spaceship Earth, Figment, POTC, and IASM. I can't remember much else because it was so long ago...and because I have been many times since then. I do know that I will always go back to 1986 when I ride SSE...because of the smells. I'm sure my parents knew I would be a Disney nut because I loved to draw and always wanted to be a Disney animator. Little did they know I would be this big of a WDW nut!

DW and I hope we can go back many, many times throughout the rest of our lives and that we can eventually bring kids so they can have their first WDW experience!

[ericpabear]

My wife and I first visted Walt Disney World in Oct. 3rd, 1980. We had just gotten married and honeymooned there. We stayed at the Motel 6 at the end of Disney's main drive. I like to tell everyone that we saw and did EVERYTHING, ate real good too. All we had was $500 dollars, and came back with money in our pockets.
(The punch line, all they had was the Magic Kingdom, and a three day pass).
Now we pay a couple of thousand, and still don't see and do all we want.

I know this is about our first Walt Disney World vist, but I have to mention our first visit to Disneyland was this past week. We wanted to do something different for our 30th anniversary. We have been to Walt Disney World two dozen times now, soooo.

[MadEye]

Don't remember exactly when but it had to be mid to late 80s because I remember it was only MK and EPCOT Center.

[MmeLeota]

I can't remember what year it was, but it was the early 90s. I don't remember doing a whole lot of rides at MK because I was too chicken at the time. I also remember Epcot as being the most boring place ever. It was hot, I was thirsty and threw a hissy-fit because I didn't want to drink water anymore as we were in line for the Canada movie.

It's funny that you mention this. Though I didn't go to MK on my first trip to WDW, (see my post above) I feel like I would have truly enjoyed myself more if I weren't so chicken. I do have equilibrium issues so I felt my objection to riding Body Wars and Star Tours was justified at the time (uh, yeah sure...years later I rode both and ended up fine...for the most part). But I was also so scared of anything we went on. SSE for example...the trip backwards in the dark did not fare well with me. Especially since we were stopped for a while for a wheelchair. I tried to play it off since I was with a group of peers, but I was terrified! Not knowing what to expect on any rides really scared me. (I was scared of a lot of DL rides for many years as a kid...except HM go figure)