Earliest memories of Disney

[1420Elexismc]

My sister's birthday/spring break was our first trip...there was this horrid looking fake cake in Epcot at the time(one of their anniversaries) I just remember it being hideous. The trip was awesome though and I have a lot of great memories from it.

 

[bcla]

For myself it was old black and white syndicated reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club. I might have been too young, but my parents told me that they had taken me to Disneyland when I was a one year old.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Some amazing memories here guys

 

[dizneegirl]

Mid-70s - I lost my first tooth standing in line for Country Bear Jamboree. I can remember being excited waking up in my sleeping bag on the floor of the Contemporary and finding coins from the tooth fairy under my pillow.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

These memories have been so much fun to read!

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I will be showing my age. LOL My 1st trip was the summer of 1973 and we stayed in one of the outer buildings at CR. I went with my sister's family and she still remembers how I stood there with my mouth open when I first saw the monorail come into the building I was totally in awe. I also remember riding the Skyway in MK, 20,000 leagues under the sea etc. That and also when a goose started chasing after my nephew outside on the CR grounds by the lake
You did not see any of this back in Detroit where we traveled from.

 

[Moliphino]

Mid-70s - I lost my first tooth standing in line for Country Bear Jamboree. I can remember being excited waking up in my sleeping bag on the floor of the Contemporary and finding coins from the tooth fairy under my pillow.

Oh memories. I was the youngest of three, so a family of five. My parents always booked one room and squeezed us all in, so I was usually the one on the floor. For a while it was a pool float between the beds with a sleeping bag, other times we moved the table out of the way and I got an air mattress directly under the AC vent and froze my bum off all night.

 

[wabbott]

About 1959, I think. One of my oldest friends and school classmates went out to Disneyland with his mom and dad that year. We were nine that year. It's a long trip there from Louisiana, and to drive that far for a vacation was unheard of. Anyway, he came back with tales of how great it was, and ever since it was a life-long dream of mine to go there.

My friends mom and dad owned/operated a bookstore and record shop in our little town. LP's and 45's, magazines, and comics. It was the place I got my Disney comics. I saved my nickels and dimes and went there every few days to see what was new in the comic rack.

Of course I knew about the TV show on Sunday nights - Walt Disney Presents, et al - but we couldn't pick up the channels that carried the show. And a color TV was completely out of the question. Only when when we visited relatives in South Louisiana, near Baton Rouge, did I ever get to see the show.

So our 55th high school class reunion is this weekend, and I visited a bit with my old friend last night about his trip to Disneyland. He couldn't recall the exact year - he thinks 1958 or 1959. He said he had some pics from the trip and was going to try to find them. He said he's taken his family to WDW, but has never returned to Disneyland.

All of us on this thread talked about our first visit to the parks, but I want to mention my earliest other Disney memories, which are pretty vivid.

That would be the True-Life Adventures films, specifically The Living Desert, and the wasp/spider fight. Then there was Secrets of Life. Remember, those films were the forerunners of all the nature programming that is so ubiquitous today.

And then came along 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Harper Goff's depiction of the Nautilus was and still remains as the most powerful version of Verne's machine. And that movie still works as well as it ever did. We watched it in one sitting a year or so ago.

I begged my mom to buy me the Big Golden Book of the movie. Don't know whatever went with that book. Here's what it looked like.



But I still have a few original Dell Disney comics and almost all the Gladstone reprints that were done in the 80s and 90s.

I still read them, even though I've memorized much of the dialogue.

 

[Nora03]

Our first trip to WDW was January 1980 with my husband, two young daughters and my parents. Our first ride was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I was in charge of the ticket books and remember quickly tearing out the correct ones in line and having to hurry. My Mom and I were afraid on Haunted Mansion and screamed like little girls when it went backwards. We stayed offsite in a lovely two bedroom suite. I recall something about Lake Buena Vista. Great memories of our first trip.

 

[wabbott]

Had a few more minutes last night at our reunion banquet to visit again with my old classmate. He couldn't find his pictures, but he's pretty sure his visit was in the summer of 1958. Asked if he remembered the Monorail, he said no. As that didn't open until 1959, that would be a good indicator.

Trust me, he would have remembered that. Bruce was the kid in our class who, in the early 60s, put together his own shortwave radio receiver from a mail-order kit. Naturally, he went on to become a successful electrical engineer.

I asked him what kind of car they traveled in. Every boy in the USA can remember what kind of car their folks had when they were growing up. "Dad always drove an Oldsmobile," he said. "So, yes it was a 1958 Oldsmobile."

For a flash of real Detroit retro:



Can you imagine what it would be like as an 8-year old driving across the mountains and deserts of Arizona and New Mexico - probably along part of the original US Route 66 - in 1958? What DisBoard freak wouldn't spend his/her last dime for such a memory?

To wrap up this ramble, our first trip to Disneyland was 2019. We had been to WDW several times beginning in 1979. Several times while we were in DLR/DCA I thought about my old friend and his trip there in the 50s.

So on the way home, somewhere around Las Cruces, I called Bruce and told him I finally made it to Disneyland, and told him I thought about him a lot while we there.

 

[TJLogan]

I remember going to river country with my mom and sister, I was around 10, she was 7, we all got sunburned so my mom had me take my sister to dinner. I also remember bring allowed to go to MK alone with my tickets (stayed at contemporary) which was so much fun. We always stated there because my parents could just leave us at the giant arcade with a roll of quarters. Gotta love the 70’s!

This is hilarious, we had almost the exact same experience, river country, hanging out at the contemporary arcade for hours and due to my dad breaking his ankle and ending up in hospital, we extended our stay and went to magic kingdom on our own - 3 siblings age 10, 11 and 14. what a blast!

 

[NYCgrrl]

First Disney visit sometime in the late ‘80s/ early ‘90s with youngest son. It was in Paris and I recall being amazed Disney had been able to find enough polite locals to open the place, LOL.

 

[dcassetta]

My earliest Disney memory that I know specifically is seeing Sleeping Beauty in the theatre. It is still my favorite. I am sure I saw Wonderful World of Disney before that, but do not recall exactly when. My earliest park memory is Dec 1971 and visiting the Magic Kingdom.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

While I wouldn't get my first parks trip until 1985, my earliest Disney memories were...

1. Going to see the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at a drive in. I would have been around 3.5 at the time.
2. Like so many others, The Wonderful World of Disney was big in our house. I don't think it was the original run, but an airing of the Apple Dumpling Gang really stands out in my mind. I adored Tim Conway, so no shock there.
3. This is not my video, but the 1977 commercial for Disneyland's Space Mountain was burned in my brain (came out not long after the Winnie the Pooh movie). It was the first thing that really made me want to go to the parks. The ride looked absolutely terrifying, and my 3.5-year-old brain really thought you'd be flying around like they did in the commercial. By the time I did finally visit the parks, I still had no idea that it was actually a roller coaster and had built it up in my mind as this ultra thrill ride where I'd be in a flying vehicle taking these massive dips and dives...just like in the commercial. Needless to say, I was a little surprised the first time I experienced it in real life.

 

[Jaya]

1958. I was 10 years old and my grandparents took me out to California to visit relatives and we all went to Disneyland. I was absolutely dying to ride on the Jungle Cruise but my two cousins didn't want to ride on anything I chose. For some reason, the rule of the day was "majority rules" and they always voted against me.

So, no Jungle Cruise for me for another 19 years. I can tell you, I held a grudge for those 19 years, too! LOL

 

[Sparkly]

Passing through the Contempory on the monorail to MK and being amazed. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.
Drinking chocolate milk and being disgusted by the gross tasting macaroni cheese my parents got for me at Columbia Harbour House.
The caramel popcorn Sleepy Hollow used to do

 

[aerxo17]

My very first memory, was at age 2 in WDW..... funny enough, my only memory of the trip was waiting in line at the Haunted Mansion and asking "how much longerrrrr?" LOL

 

[BrianL]

Passing through the Contempory on the monorail to MK and being amazed. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.
Drinking chocolate milk and being disgusted by the gross tasting macaroni cheese my parents got for me at Columbia Harbour House.
The caramel popcorn Sleepy Hollow used to do

That really is special isn't it? That is something I miss a little with onsite stays. The whole arriving at the TTC and boarding the Monorail. When you come around that curve and the castle comes into view - it was all so purposeful and magical!

 

[Skippyboo]

First trip to WDW that I remember (not counting one as baby) was 1983 . The summer between 4th and 5th grade. First time flying (Eastern Airlines), stayed at Holiday Inn Main Gate, we had an AMC rental car, did 3 days at MK, 1 day at Sea World, 1 day at Wet n Wild, 1 day at Circus World. Drove to Cocoa Beach and Kennedy Space Center.

Puked on Liberty Bell Riverboat- I was in an anti egg phase and had mainly sausage at hotel breakfast. Not a good combo with rides and Florida heat.