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View Full Version : Do You Remember Your 1st Time? (going to the parks that is)



awinner
06-06-2002, 11:07 AM
i was wondering if people remember the 1st time they went to DLR...back when i went in 1975 (i think) i was only 2, so I really don't remember it...but I have tons of pics...it looks like I am having a great time on the carousel, and standing in front of the old skull and cross bones in fantasyland. there are tons of pics of me with characters...boy was I a cute baby or what!!!

do you remember your 1st time?

mickeymom
06-06-2002, 11:37 AM
:) (cue the music...)

It was 1968, and my grandfather knew he was going to die. He wanted to see the country before he did, so he packed up the family station wagon, put my grandmother, uncle, two aunts and me in, and we went off to see the country (griswold style)

I remember getting to Disneyland about 2 weeks into the trip. At the time, I guess you had to pay to get in if you were older than 7, or your age determined which ticket you would buy, so I was told to lie about my age as so not to pay. (I was very small for my age)

I got my first set of ears, and have them to this day.

bjensen71
06-06-2002, 11:48 AM
It was 1986 for me and I was 15. I remember having to wait and wait until my sister was old enough to go and enjoy it too.

I remember the Jungle Cruise and the magical feeling, but not much else from the trip. I lived north of Seattle at the time and didn't return until my honeymoon in 1993. Since that trip, we've been down once a year for the first few years, then from 1996 on, it's been about twice a year...the obsession is growing and we're passing it on to our daughter now ;)

I still get the magical, happy feeling as soon as I walk in the gates...

Brenda

Mad Madam Mim
06-06-2002, 12:41 PM
I was 1 1/2...... :( i wish i rememberd, but i do have pictures. My daughters first visit was 7 months old. I remeber looking at her little face and KNOWING she was on censory overload.....LOL

Maximus
06-06-2002, 02:45 PM
I must have been 7 or so and I vaguely remember sitting with a few characters and posing for some pictures. It's funny how those first memories of DL are such strong ones in a young mind. I can barely remember what day it is yet I remember feeding the birds outside of the Matterhorn one Friday morning and thinking how special is this...

innerSpaceman
06-06-2002, 03:29 PM
It was 1970, and I was 9 years old. I visited the new Disney World in Florida a few weeks after and, even then, I could tell that Walt's original Magic Kingdom was lightyears ahead.

I fell in love with the rides I still cherish most to this day, the Haunted Mansion (which was then quite new) and Adventure thru Inner Space. Tomorrowland was a world on the move which impressed me incredibly. I remember my first ride on the Jungle Cruise and my first Matterhorn bobsled run. I was also very taken by a little ride called Pirates of the Caribbean, and I really liked Mine Train thru Natures Wonderland, especially the Rainbow Caverns at the end.

Eight years later, upon graduating high school, I moved to California and my love affair with Disneyland really took off . . .

Ace
06-06-2002, 03:34 PM
I wish... I remember the first time that I really cared, but other than that, no.

PineapplePrincess
06-06-2002, 03:36 PM
The first time I went to DL I was in 5th grade. We were doing a crosscountry trip and I had to beg my parents to go. They kept saying that it was the same as the MK in Florida which we were regulars. Wellllll you know that look that little girls can give their dad which usually works :D

I think that there was such a difference. I was shocked at POTC! Two drops! I still have the mylar baloon from that trip. :p

Disney Nick
06-06-2002, 03:44 PM
I just wish those drops were spread out throughout the ride like DL Paris... oh well

oregonzooron
06-06-2002, 04:06 PM
1961...I was two. I don't remember it, but I am told I was scared to death of Mickey Mouse. To this day, I have trouble dealing with costumed characters. I never even sat on Santa's lap. (And me an actor!)

1968...nine years old. I remember getting lost in a parade crowd...and later, finding my teenaged cousin, who had become seperated from the group. We spotted him on the Columbia, and had to wait for him to get back.

ron

DisneylandBoy
06-06-2002, 05:45 PM
May 1990, the day after my sister was born. I was three years old and my dad took me. The only thing I remember is being scared of going on the Haunted Mansion. I finally got up the courage and walked into the elvator. My dad turned to me and said, "Now this is the part where the floor drops." I ran out of there as fast as my little legs could carry me!

MagicBeliever
06-06-2002, 06:22 PM
The first time I ever went to Disneyland was when my mother was pregnant with me. Surprisingly, I don't remember much from this trip. ;)

Nor do I remember visiting the park when I was 3. I do remember going the summer after I turned 6, and I remember being very scared of Space Mountain and loving Autopia.

Rallymonkey23
06-07-2002, 12:02 AM
I can still remember things at Disneyland when I was 3 or 4 years old (1980-81) I remember being scared out of my shoes when we went on POTC. It wasn't the drops(from what I remember) but the cannon balls "hitting" the water in the fort battle scene.
I also remember "the needle ride" (as my dad called it) with the eyebal looking at you. But thats about it. Oh! And I remember parts of America Sings!! I'm proud of that one!

BJW
06-07-2002, 12:15 AM
I can't really remember the first time I went to Disneyland because when I was a toddler we went almost every weekend. (We lived in Pomona at the time.) However, one memory that rings out is being at the opening of the new Fantasyland in the early 80s. As for DCA, I was there for the very first weekend of opening. People predicted the lines would be in the 3 hour range. I showed up 2 hours early and was disappointed to hardly see anyone in the park, especially on a Saturday.:D

Rallymonkey23
06-07-2002, 12:20 AM
Originally posted by BJW
As for DCA, I was there for the very first weekend of opening. People predicted the lines would be in the 3 hour range. I showed up 2 hours early and was disappointed to hardly see anyone in the park, especially on a Saturday.:D

Same thing happened to me.

Main Street Magic
06-07-2002, 04:41 AM
The date was 1957...Do I remember? Just a few things...like dropping my Brownie camera while entering Frontierland....Meeting Mickey....Getting scared in Fantasyland....Riding the train and the horse drawn trolleys...and Monsanto's House of the Future! All I can say is ... Thanks Walt!

Not Afraid
06-07-2002, 07:51 AM
1967 was my first time, I was 3 years old and I have pics to prove it (see avatar......awwwwww). I'm not sure I have specific memories from my first visit because there were soooooo many over the years. I do remember being scared by the "fire" in POTC. Between Bambi and POTC I developed a healthy fear of fire. I also remember clearly a black swan (Egyptian swan) in the moat with the white ones. The Swan obsession started at a very young age.

Beyond that, riding the teacups with my dear father and the many characters out and about (3 Little Pigs!) are all that I can attach to my early, early years.

Allysen1Derland
06-07-2002, 11:26 AM
Golly, I was about 3 years old, and the memory is kinda vague, but what little pieces I do remember, I remember crystal-clear! What makes the memory so special was that my Mom and Dad took me, and I have very few memories of them happy together, since they divorced when I was still really young. I remember riding on that little mine train where BTM is now. I know I was terrified of "shrinking" on Adventures Thru Inner Space, but the clearest memory was of Haunted Mansion! I was so freaked to get on that ride, and my Dad kept reassuring me it was fine, and no need to close my eyes. When the first ghost popped up and screamed, so did I, and to this day, in my late twenties, I STILL close my eyes in the attic and graveyard! Thanks, Dad! My Mom says I also threw the brattiest hissy-fit for a Minnie Mouse plush toy, but Thank God I don't remember that! Sorry, Mom!:D

mad4mky
06-07-2002, 11:43 AM
Originally posted by oregonzooron
1961...I was two.


Well, Ron. You and I are the same age!

That was about my first time to DL also...1961. The next trip down, that I remember was when I was 4.

I remember that trip vividly...because I remember the awful blister I got on the heel of my foot because of new tennis shoes. I remember the kind nurse (yep...in full old fashioned nurse regalia) fixing me up.
I remember the Indian Village, and the dance show and the circle that we got to go down and dance with the indians hand in hand (we have pictures of me!). I remember the Mine Train. I remember the Mule Train.

I loved Disneyland right from the start!
:D

I want to go back...:crying:

cemeinke
06-07-2002, 12:08 PM
Iwent in 1965 when I was 3. My memory's kind of hazy, but I do remember riding the mine train, going through tunnels with all kinds of cool stuff, then the next thing I knew I was home and in bed. The dang train put me to sleep!

opus
06-11-2002, 09:41 PM
Let's see... I'm 31 now, and I must have been, oh 30 the first time I went. It was way back in 2001.

Apparently I had a good time, because I'm going again at the same time this year, the first week of October.

Man, the old days were great, weren't they?

hehe.

opus

blusilva
06-11-2002, 11:12 PM
I'm not sure if it was my first time, but I remember going right after the Haunted Mansion first opened. My Dad, who was a journalist for the Santa Ana Register, had seen it before it opened to the public, and was so thrilled by it that he wanted my mom to see it as soon as it was.

I was too little (only about 3), so I stayed outside with my Grandpa. I remember having to wait what seemed like a really long time. I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't let me go in the house that looked so pretty. Grandpa told me it was scary inside, but I wouldn't believe him. He bought me a balloon to keep me occupied. :)

I also remember a trip - could have been the same one - when my Dad and I rode the Dumbos and he kept bouncing the Dumbo so hard that they said over the microphone several times "PLEASE DON'T BOUNCE THE DUMBOS". I was terrified that they would kick us out of Disneyland for life!

OH! And I remember being scared of Pluto cuz he was SO HUGE! Mickey was OK, but Pluto was just enormous and scared me half to death!

Dad died when I was in kindergarten, so I really cherish these memories of him. They are among the few I have had all these years and I'm grateful that we went to Disneyland when I was so young.