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View Full Version : Memories from your first visit to Disneyland?



keschy
05-16-2005, 12:53 PM
What really stands out when you think back to your first ever visit to Disneyland? For me it was walking down main street and seeing Goofy up on the Matterhorn. I'm not sure what they were doing up there but I remember seeing that and looking around and thinking "Wow! I'm really here!". The Country Bears is the first attraction I went into. Being on small world was great too because it seemed like such a classic ride. It was an exciting visit also because I had waited so long to get there! My first visit was when I was 30 years old. Sometimes I wish I could go back and have the first trip all over again because it was so much fun.

HydroGuy
05-16-2005, 12:59 PM
If it was not my first visit, it was at least the first I can remember. I was 3 years old and my grandfather explained to me how I was going to be only 2 years old that day. That did not sit too well with a big 3-year -old, but he got me in for free. The only other thing I remember that day was being on the Dumbo ride.

nursemelis374
05-16-2005, 01:02 PM
I don't remember it, but I just saw pics from my first ever trip to DL. I was 13 months old there with my family. I love the pics in the old Fantasyland! I am going to try to use on as my avatar soon!

bradk
05-16-2005, 01:13 PM
to be determined in 6 days :)

T&Rshep
05-16-2005, 01:14 PM
I can remember seeing the overhead gondolas that went across the park. I miss those. I can also remember seeing captain EO.

mkcbunny
05-16-2005, 01:28 PM
My first memory of Disneyland is waiting at the ticket booths outside before the park opened and then deciding how to "spend" our lettered tickets. I got so excited about using them. When I think back to being a little kid, the park seems more airy than it does now, meaning that thre was less going on outside the gates, and seemingly more air space around Fantasyland, perhaps from the trees being smaller then [this would be the late 1960s]? The only ride I remember from when I was really young, specifically, is the submarine lagoon, waiting for it in anticipation and then being submerged. I also have an early memory of riding the Matterhorn with my dad, but that was probably later [when I was about ten], since they probably wouldn't have let me ride it when I was really little [three-four-ish].

CrazyTrain
05-16-2005, 01:36 PM
Um... I can remember lots of DCA from my first visit but DL... hmmm... not really anything. Wow. That's kinda sad! *lol*

Rouxe1688
05-16-2005, 02:05 PM
I remember standing in line with my mom for the matterhorn, it was her favorite ride and she hadn't been on it in decades. i was nervous but i remember getting off the ride and being like, o my god, why don't they have more of these? it rained that night and i got an umbrella, lost that thing down a hole not long ago, DL looked fantastic surrounded by puddles.

HydroGuy
05-16-2005, 03:39 PM
to be determined in 6 days :)

BradK - If I read your posting correctly, you are just making your first trip to DLR in a few days! That surprised me because of your frequent knowledgable posts in other threads. Did you attend Disneyland Theory 101? ;)

bradk
05-16-2005, 03:55 PM
i've just been reading a lot over the past 4 months and discussing it all with a fanatic of a coworker. what can i say, i like to be prepared :)

Shortiemetoo
05-16-2005, 04:31 PM
First trip I remember that we had special tickets from my Dads union that were useable on any ride i.e. all "E" tickets. I also remember the newly opened POTC and losing my Mary Poppins hat and seeing it on t.v. later. I also remember Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and until my parents told me I thought it was an actor saying the speech!! That was soooo cool...oh yea I remember getting a tuna sandwhich from the chicken of the sea pirate ship!
And the house of tomorrow...that was so great!! Everything was so magical! :D

Disneyfun
05-16-2005, 04:40 PM
I was too young to remember my first trip but I have been told and think about it each time I visit the HM. It seems That I got soooooo Upset in the streching room that they actually never got me on the ride and theybrought my family back up. I now take the room back up often. Steaching room becomes shirking room LOL

wriley
05-16-2005, 06:26 PM
Being amazed with the special effects in the hunted house. I musta rode it 100 times that day with my grandparents. Took me like 10 years to figure out the ghosts, hitchhikers, elevator and paintings illusions.

bradk
05-16-2005, 06:30 PM
illusions? what illusions?

PirateSmile
05-16-2005, 06:31 PM
My first visit, I remember being completely afraid of the Disney characters. My one year younger cousin went up to Rafiki and I sincerely thought she would be kidnapped and taken up to his tree house. The real fun didn't start till my second trip. My family finally coaxed me to go up to Max, and he gave me a "kiss" on the cheek. Good times :D

Lekta
05-16-2005, 11:09 PM
I recall riding the overhead gondolas also. And I also can remember waiting in line FOREVER for Captain Eo, I think it was brand new or something.

DisDreams
05-17-2005, 12:00 AM
As a young boy I remember walking through the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea exhibit in TL (using actual sets/props from the film) and holding my hand over my eyes when i got to the large circular window which displayed the giant squid with menacing, moving tentacles. It was a scary experience and i completely forgot i wasn't underwater at all. My favorite ride in TL in the 'early years' was the Flying Saucers which i only rode twice, i believe. Was sad to see that attraction leave.
The (walk-thru) Monsanto House of the Future between TL & Fantasyland didn't quite hold my interest as much as an actual RIDE, but it did give my young imagination great fantasies like being able to actually LIVE there and wake up each day to walk out the front door and be IN Disneyland for as long as i lived there. In my mind, a 'resident' of DL wouldn't, couldn't possibly need tickets to ride the attractions that exist all around 'my' abode...

littlemissgorgeous
05-17-2005, 02:17 AM
Well Iīve been to DL the first time `93..
I remember riding the gondolas over the park, eating those great turkey legs, riding Space Mountain with my granddad because everyone else was to scared... :D
And I remember riding this Captain Nemo ride in those submarines- I believe this ride is gone... :crying:
And what I remember best searching our car in the parking lot.. :p
Canīt wait to see what has changed... :)

Wendi
05-17-2005, 10:30 AM
I have no recollection of my first trip to Disneyland. I was a year old. I do recall a trip when I was 3. I remember that we stayed at the Holiday Inn and I kept telling my mom that they spelled "in" wrong. My parents bought us those huge lollypops on the first day, and we ate them for at least three days straight. I remember licking and biting on them, wrapping them back up for a while, removing the wrapping again (much stickier each time) and eating more, etc. My mom probably regretted getting them for us!!! hahaha We probably had blue mouths for a week!!!

I remember lots of stuff, attractions, personal experiences, etc. But all from many trips through many years, not the first visit.

MsYumiBr
05-17-2005, 10:42 AM
Although I can't remember my first trip either (I was 6 months old), I do remember my father telling me that on that first trip although I couldn't walk yet, I did stand up in the IASM and kept looking everywhere at the singing dolls. One of the earliest memories I have of going to DL was obtaining a glowing Tinkerbell "wand". I LOVED that thing. It had a picture of Tink on it, was shaped like a thin stick with an open star on top and it glowed in the dark.

GrimmGreen
05-17-2005, 10:49 AM
i was a fetus... but i'm sure my mom could tell you all about it... all i rode was the king arthur carousell

hlbtimes2
05-17-2005, 11:11 AM
I dont have a lot of great first visit memories. I went with my aunt and uncle, and their daughter. They had bought a new car and it came with a trip for 4 to DL (it was during the 30th celebration). My uncle got lost on the way from LAX to DL. It took us forever to get there. The next morning we went to DL. I remember riding space mountain with my cousin- she was scared to death! The only other ride I really rember is Mission to Mars. I'm sure we rode other rides, I just cant think of what they were. Mid day my aunt and uncle decided they want to nap so we had to go back to the hotel. The next morning while we slept my uncle went and sold our tickets so we didnt get to go back. He wanted to go to the beach instead. The trip pretty much sucked.

mkcbunny
05-17-2005, 12:24 PM
My parents bought us those huge lollypops on the first day, and we ate them for at least three days straight. I remember licking and biting on them, wrapping them back up for a while, removing the wrapping again (much stickier each time) and eating more, etc. My mom probably regretted getting them for us!!! hahaha We probably had blue mouths for a week!!!.

Oh my! Reading this just sparked the same memory for me. I can SMELL those pops just thinking about it. I think I milked that thing all day long and took it home, too! They still sell them, but I haven't had one since I was a kid. And they probably taste different now.

mkcbunny
05-17-2005, 12:29 PM
illusions? what illusions?
I presume they mean the paintings in the hallway that have shifting images.

The entry to Haunted Mansion in DL is different from the one at Magic Kingdom. If I recall correctly, MK version you get int the Doom Buggy right after the stretching room, whereas DL version, there's a walk down a long hall between the room and the Doom Buggy conveyor belt. I'm not even sure if MK has a version of the paintings. My memory of it [and I was just there in Jan! Sad that I can't recall.] has been obliterated by my recent trip to DL.

HydroGuy
05-17-2005, 12:34 PM
i've just been reading a lot over the past 4 months and discussing it all with a fanatic of a coworker. what can i say, i like to be prepared :)
From your salutation it appears you are doing more than DL/DCA. We did Univeral Studios and Sea World last summer. You probably have already done your homework, but IMO the tram tour, sound stage tours and live stunt shows at Universal are not to be missed. The rides are OK but not the best part.

Have a great trip.