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View Full Version : What Sparks Your Disneyland Memories ?



R44kids2
04-29-2009, 08:31 PM
I find it funny how a little thing can bring back such strong memories. I was raised in a very poor single parent family. It was always a dream to go to Disneyland "Someday". After many years of dreaming the dream came true in 1972 when I earned a spot in a YMCA summer trip from Palo Alto CA to Disneyland by selling Butter Toffee Peanuts door to door. My mom could not afford to give me any souvenir money but she did manage to buy me one of those kodak 110 cameras and some film. The feeling I had walking on to Main Street is still to this day one of the deepest and most special of my life. I can still feel the warm Anaheim sun and smell the treats and hear the sounds all these years later. The pictures I took with that camera were so special to me. My mom and my little brother and I spent many evenings sitting around looking at them as I relived the trip telling them about all the different "Lands" and special memories from my trip.
Well here I am 37 years later and every time I see one of those little 110 cameras my mind goes right back to that day on Main Street. I swear I can still feel the Anaheim sun on my face and smell the bakery and popcorn and hear the music.
What does it for some of you? what triggers those special Disneyland memories? I'd love to hear.

foolishmortal
04-29-2009, 10:57 PM
For me it is sounds and smells that get me.
I will here the crickets on the farm and I'm instantly in Bug's land. I smell popcorn and I'm transported to main street.

My very first trip to DL 1974 I was 5 with my dad and mom and a pack of cousins. The fist ride was the rockets! They seemed to be so very high you could see the whole park, then the tea cups , this is my strongest memory of DL! I used to spin around at home after that reliving the feeling of being on the tea cups.

every time I get in a boat I think about the ones that used to motor around tomorrowland. I loved getting to "drive" them I thought I was a real boat caption!

My brother and I built a "skull" rock on our paintball Field in memory of the one that we thought was soo cool when we were little at DL. It's the one in my Avatar!

I have the DL cd in my car and the kids love to put the Space M. music on, close their eyes and have me turn the AC on full blast so they can pretend to be riding SM! It's too cute!

Looking forward to everyone's posts!

fairestoneofall
04-30-2009, 04:57 AM
Thank you R44kids2, what a great post! There are SO many things that spark memories for me. I miss the bear 'snoring' in the cave that used to be in what is now Critter Country. I miss driving the boats, too. I also thought they were real. One time I rode them at night with my mom (we took separate boats) and I thought I was so cool and grown up to drive my own boat. All of a sudden my boat turns one way, hers another and I thought I was lost!

The #1 childood memory tirgger is the Main St. Electrical Parade. My boys saw it in DCA for the first time last summer. When I watched their eyes light up with amazement I cried. I still get teary eyed and choked up thinking about it. It really is a magical place....



(btw...been to Sequim many times, used to work there 1 day a week)

Carina
04-30-2009, 09:50 AM
My strongest was a smell... I didnt even know I had this association until it happened.
I went to DL when I was 13 and 3 years ago with my husband and kids.

On our way there 3 years ago we stopped in Redding overnight and we went out for supper, when we got of our Van near the resturant there was this very distinct smell. I can only discribe it as a very warm aromatic smell that was like a cross between the warm evening air, the pavement, and stargazer lilys ( which I normally hate the smell of). I took this HUGE whiff and said to the kids THIS IS what Disneyland smells like. I han't smelled anything like it in 18 years.
I didnt even know I had a memory of that smell (whatever it was) but it was so strong it was overwhelming

amelialourdes
04-30-2009, 02:31 PM
I feel like I grew up in Disneyland or raised on Disney. I was born in the Philippines but raised in Alhambra, California and my parents took me to Disneyland just a month or a couple of months after I arrived in the States. I was probably 10 or 11 months old at the time so I don't remember a thing but I'm pretty sure that that programmed my brain for life in relation to the Disneyland atmosphere.

From that point on, I have been to Disneyland every year since and even now as an adult (24) every time that I'm near it or even walking through Downtown Disney, I'm compelled to go. In fact, I just went yesterday on a whim but that's beside the point.

I agree with the other posters that it's definitely the smell. The water rides and areas in particular have that distinct smell. I always say that I wish I could bottle up that misty smell in Pirates of the Caribbean and take it with me whenever I need a pick me up. It's the smells of fresh popcorn that remind me of Main Street. It's the little original Disney logo with the slowly spinning Mickey Mouse in a video that reminds me of the Main Street Electrical Parade. There are just certain feelings and smells and sights and sounds that you absolutely cannot get anywhere else but the Happiest Place on Earth.

K & S
04-30-2009, 03:43 PM
Lately my memories have been a little bittersweet. I took my Mom to Disneyland for her 80th birthday. She hadn't been in over 30 years so I did it right, lunch at the Club where they had a menu with her name and "Happy Birthday" printed on it, and a special Happy Birthday Button. It was a perfect day right after Thanksgiving so all the Christmas decorations were up, not too crowded and perfect weather. We ended the day watching the Holiday fireworks in front of the castle. I started a thread about it the next day right here on MP.

I lost her on Easter and I've been remembering that day at Disneyland with smiles and of course a few tears.

Sansarc
04-30-2009, 03:44 PM
Oooh, I agree about the misty smell in Pirates. Me, too. Since I've been about 10, I compare almost every night sky that I've ever seen to the night sky in Pirates when you first board the boats. It's almost automatic! I also have an immediate reaction to the music from the Main Street Electrical Parade, which I saw when I was 12. That was the one time that we went to Disneyland with my grandfather, even though he lived here (in Southern Cal), too. It was the best time I've ever had in Disneyland -- my grandfather loved every ride that we went on and I was so happy to be with him. When we saw the Electrical Parade . . . I was just amazed by it. I'd never seen anything so beautiful before. The music was magical -- and even now, when we hear snippets of it in the park during other parades, or during that fireworks show last summer -- I start to cry! So for me, it's the music and that deep blue sky in Pirates, I guess.

Stichy626
04-30-2009, 09:31 PM
Whenever I turn the air on in my car a musty smell emerges for a brief moment and I smile because it smells just like Pirates to me.

R44kids2
05-01-2009, 10:26 AM
WOW, what great replies! I guess you are right. Sounds and smells do trigger a lot of Disneyland memories for me too. Popcorn and churro smells always make me long to be on Main Street. That "Pirates Smell" that we all know so well and the crickets really are a strong ones for me too. My wife and I spent part of our honeymoon at Disneyland. Of course we had dinner at Blue Bayou, even got a water side table. The sound of the crickets and the smell of the water remind me of that dinner.
I have another funny one, soap. When we go we always stop in DTD and buy one of those Glycerine soaps at the bath shop. That soap smell brings my mind back to DTD, lol.

*Tink*
05-01-2009, 11:50 AM
R44kids2: Your post got me a little teary; thanks for sharing it!

K & S: I'm glad you and your mom got to spend such a perfect day in Disneyland together. I'm sorry for your loss. *Hugs*

I would say that the things that remind me of Disneyland the most are...

My first trip, I had just turned 12 and was with my mom, step-dad, grandpa, grandma, and sister (15). My mom, step-dad, and grandma stayed behind at the hotel.

My grandpa took my sister and I over to Disneyland and we all got in line for Space Mountain, Grandpa grumbling about being too old to go on rides like this. After we rode, we got separated from our grandpa somehow, and my sister and I started looking all over for him. We looked, waited, ate a snack, then decided to ride Space Mountain again. Well, who do we find in the line for Space Mountain... Grandpa. We ask him where he has been and he tells us, "Going on this ride."

At first I thought that he had gotten in some weird line and, over an hour later, hadn't gone on the ride yet, but my sister asked him, "How many times?" And he said, "This will be my 5th!" Apparently he liked the ride so much that everytime he got off of it, he went and got right back in line. :)

Now my grandpa is pushing 80 and has had 2 heart attacks... and everytime he is feeling down, my sister and I tease him about ditching us for Space Mountain. Even more than remembering Space Mountain when I'm with my grandpa, I have never been able to get on Space Mountain without talking about my grandpa.

Like others have mentioned, if I smell anything musty, it automatically reminds me of POTC! It is my favorite smell (not just at Disneyland, but anywhere). I'm suprised others like the POTC smell, too, because my family thinks its awful. They think I'm strange for liking it, but then again, my 2nd favorite smell is of post offices (paper and envelope adhesive), so maybe I am...

Last, my husband and I cannot eat a brownie without having a conversation about Disneyland brownies. Their Triple Chocolate Brownies (we get them at Pooh Corner) are so stinkin' good!!! Anytime we've ever had a brownie since eating one, we always end up in a 5 minute discussion about why all other brownies are a disapointment in comparison. The discussion always ends with us swearing not to eat another brownie until we go back to Disneyland. Unfortunately, within 3 months we end up eating another brownie and said situation repeats itself.

CariBelle
05-01-2009, 12:59 PM
R44kids2- Your post had me in tears! Thank you so much for sharing!

R44kids2
05-01-2009, 04:15 PM
Fairestoneofall, Tink and CariBelle. Thanks for your replies and youre quite welcome. Disneyland has always been very special to me and it sounds like it is for all of you . Have a great weekend.

K&S, Thanks for sharing, I hope your memories are all happy ones.

dsny1mom
05-01-2009, 06:33 PM
For me it's seeing the Mark Twain. Back in the 1950's we were on the Mark Twain one night while a jazz band played onboard. I was still very young and my dad had me stand on his feet while we danced together for the first time. Every time I see the Twain I look to the heavens and say hi to my dad. We lost him Easter Sunday 1998.

dsny1mom

TowerofTerror
05-01-2009, 09:27 PM
My memories that spark is when I went to 50 th anniversary July 17. 2005. That will be with me for a lifetime. I hope to go for the 100th

Soomojogrl
05-02-2009, 10:07 AM
The musty smell - I always think of The Matterhorn and how much fun I had on my very first ride! (and yes pirates too!) :D

Seeing a really big pickle - we always get one in line to Splash Mountain :p

seeing a ferris wheel always reminds me of our hellish trip on the sunwheel.. ugh:eek:

Cricket and Frog sounds always make me think of when we stayed at the DLH and how magical even at 21 years it was!

I have pictures from my favorite Splash Mountain moments in a frame in my room... looking at those always brings a smile to my face and usually gives me a chuckle (thinking of cramming 8 people - 4 adults, 3 football players, and a 15 year old! into a log and how much fun/wet we got!!) or (our cousin lying to her 5yo to get him back on splash mountain and to hear him crying going up the hill to then shreaking with delight and wanting to go again at the end!):fez:

Anytime I see fireworks I automatically go back to a night my mom and I were on Alice and we came to the outside part and fireworks were going off. So magical!!!:)

*Tink*
05-02-2009, 01:38 PM
seeing a ferris wheel always reminds me of our hellish trip on the sunwheel.. ugh:eek:

LOL! When I read this, it reminded me of my 1 and only ride on the SunWheel...

My step-dad, ex-brother in law, husband, sister, and myself wanted to go on it and couldn't all fit together, of course, so the men went together and my sister and I went together.

Well, we didn't know that there was a difference between the "cages" and all, unknowingly, got into the swinging ones. My sister and I were scared to death!!! It felt like we were going to sling right off the rails, straight into the lagoon. We couldn't find anything to hold on to but the edges of our seats, so we pushed our legs across the middle into the seat across from us, shrieked several times, and basically wimpered until the thing finally let us off. We agreed not to tell the guys how terrified we were, hoping they hadn't heard our screams, knowing they would laugh and tease us for days about it.

Well, we got off before them and stood there waiting while they unloaded... all 3 of them got out and were as white as ghosts. My husband walked over and said, "Its the Ferris Wheel from HELL!!!"

Needless to say, we have never gone near that thing again! Even thinking of going in one of the stationary carts terrifies me!

backsthepack
05-02-2009, 05:19 PM
My first trip was in 1976, I was 4.

I remember being soooo afraid of POTC, the falls. Scared the heck out of me. My parents all but forced me on the ride while we were there. Now we go on that ride at least 3 times a day when we are there. I always giggle and hold on tight when we get close to the falls.

Every time I see Captain Hook another memory from that very first trip flashes through my mind. We were seated, waiting for the parade. I had a prized Mickey balloon in my hand. Captain Hook was walking the parade. He came right up to me and I started crying. Not because of him, but because I thought he would stick his hook right through my balloon. I was hysterical.

I also remember staying at the Disneyland Hotel, it was like a cabana or something. Can't think of another way to describe it. It had a little porch off of the back of the room. Anyway, so whenever we stay there now I always try to visualize where the room was, where the little cafe was and how the Monorail use to be right there for you to board it.


We started taking our son when he was just 1.5 years old. At least twice a year (if not 3 times). I can only hope he has some great memories of Disneyland when he grows up. He is 9 now and still loves to go.

Malcon10t
05-02-2009, 06:43 PM
My most vivid memory, it was 1968, my first trip, I was 8, and was watching in total awe, the fireworks. Next thing I know, my arm is burning. The guy standing next to me was smoking and didn't notice he was burning me with his cigarette.

I too liked the bungalows at DLH. And the Monorail Cafe. And staying at the Magic Lamp motel.

mswong40
05-04-2009, 02:59 PM
I always say that I wish I could bottle up that misty smell in Pirates of the Caribbean and take it with me whenever I need a pick me up. It's the smells of fresh popcorn that remind me of Main Street.


Honestly the Pirates smell is what makes me yearn for Disneyland.........and also the distinct orangy smell that you get while on DCA Soarin.........I walked into Sears of all places and was transfixed instantly......I could already imagine myself walking drinking a cold coke and eating some delicious popcorn.....its funny how these smells attract us.

mousecanuck
05-04-2009, 03:38 PM
Everytime I see/head/read an ad for 'transfer your 8mm reels/videos to digital files', I almost cry. My first trip to Disneyland (1973 I think, I was 7 1/2) my dad had a movie camera and did a little filming here & there of the whole trip (Oregon Coast, Paul Bunyan, body surfing in San Diego - a bunch of things). In the late 80's, he gave all his films to a guy to put them on video. The guy did, but somewhere along the line LOST the DIsneyland reel - not on the video, never seen again. So now whenever I see an ad it makes me think of that first trip to DIsneyland.

These days whenever I hear a ballgame going on at a park near our house, the (occasional) screaming makes me yearn for California Screamin'. Then there are all the 'hidden Mickeys' I come across in everyday life here and there (balls in a bin, 'clumpy-type' flowers that happen to bunch just the right way, anything, really!) There is the ring, two bracelets, three pairs of earrings and a pendant that I wear regularly (I can't think of a day where I don't have at least one Mickey on me, not counting my tattoo or watches).

Last - my scrapbooks of course!!! There are a bunch - three total from our 50th trip (each kid plus ours), two little ones from this last trip (each kids') and a big one I'm working on right now. And the pictures we have on Splash, Screamin', and of the kids with Mickey & Goofy (favorite of all time, going to be pretty hard to beat) in 2006. Plus a little artwork here & there - cerigraphs we got on our honeymoon, commemorative '50th' artwork. I think that's it, plus the t-shirts, stuffies, etc. we've collected along the way.

Next time we're thinking Disney World - a whole new set of memories, but my heart belongs to Disneyland...

danyoung
05-05-2009, 05:54 AM
I lost her on Easter and I've been remembering that day at Disneyland with smiles and of course a few tears.

What a touching story. I lost my mom this past November, but I have great memories of a DL trip with just her and me a few years ago. She was pretty frail, but refused to do a wheel chair. We just took it slow, enjoyed the sights, had a lovely lunch at the Blue Bayou, and had fun on a few of the milder rides like Pirates and the HM. She slipped on her way out of the Jungle Cruise boat, and the panicked CM just stood there tugging on her arm. I had to get him chilled out before I could get down to make sure that Mom was OK (just a little hip bump), and help her up and out. The one ride she really wanted to do was Dumbo, so we waited in line for 45 minutes to ride. I made sure I was in the elephant in front of her so I could turn around and see the most amazing child-like smile on her face. It's the memory I turn to the most now that she's gone.

It's always sad to lose a parent, but it's sure great to have a cache of DL memories to keep her alive!

Sleeping Beauty's mom
05-05-2009, 08:49 AM
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Disneyland proudly presents the Main Street Electrical parade and then the music starts---- takes me back to when
dd was little about 5 and we sat on the curb on Main Street and the snail comes
by and "talks" to her, she was sooo excited.

the new parade (or past ELP) in DCA just isn't the same.

ScottC4746
05-06-2009, 07:52 AM
I doubt this has come up but the smell of Churros...oh and the taste of Pineapple Juice from the Tiki Room.

ScottC4746
05-06-2009, 07:53 AM
Honestly the Pirates smell is what makes me yearn for Disneyland.........and also the distinct orangy smell that you get while on DCA Soarin.........I walked into Sears of all places and was transfixed instantly......I could already imagine myself walking drinking a cold coke and eating some delicious popcorn.....its funny how these smells attract us.
Your Sears comment I forgot about the smell of popcorn that Sears had. Slurpies and Popcorn I would beg for.

MouseVII
05-06-2009, 02:18 PM
Just today the grease smell from a brake lathe at work reminded me of when I boarded Thunder Mountain last week. It smelled like the grease they use for the track or wheels or something. I'm probably one of the few people on here who would notice it, but it sure did make me want to go tomorrow (unfortunately I have to work)