Memories of trips and family vacations to Disney
Welcome to the Disneyland Vacation Memories Category
We have created this category for you to discuss all of your Disneyland vacations, things you did, people you met and rides you wish you could go on again!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joe Madden on -
Okay, somebody's got to start blogging here, so it may as well be me.
My first trip to WDW was in March of 1979. I was eight years old. I remember getting off the plane in Orlando and actually having to walk across the runway because the airport was a lot smaller then. We stayed outside Disney property at the John Newcomb Tennis Resort (Don't ask how I remember that name, I have no idea who the Newcomb guy was, nor did I (or do)have any interest in tennis. All I know is that the place is gone now, no doubt swallowed up by the urban sprawl that has since become the Orlando -Kissimee- St.Cloud area) The only feature I really remember about it was that it was in the middle of nowhere with nothing but miles of Orange groves as far as the eye could see.
We visited several different landmarks during that trip -Sea World, Circus World (Sadly now also defunct) but Walt Disney World was the best. I remember that the characters there were much more, shall we say, in your face. One family photo shows me writihing while Chip shoves a paw down my shirt to tickle me (With my luck, he was probably a pedophile).
We only spent about three days in Disney altogether, and it seems amazing to me that it was all spent in the Magic Kingdom. Nowadays we go for a week and hit all 4 major parks plus some.
That's all for now. Now that this blog has started, I hope we'll get some more action going. Next time I shall elaborate on my November 1980 trip.
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Permalink Reply by Webmaster on -
Jon,
Great story, thanks for being the first to get things started here! I have a ton of pictures and other information to post here but have been busy with work and other stuff lately. I'll set a New Year's resolution to get 1 item posted every week and will try and get a huge head start over the upcoming holidays if time permits.
For my first trip to Disney, I was about 24 and was out visiting my Mom who lived in Chula Vista, CA. Me and my two sisters drove up to Disneyland with my mom and stayed at the Disneyland Hotel for one night. We got there late in the afternoon and checked in and just relaxed. The next day we went into the park and I remember doing the Matahorn several times over. I also remember going on the submarine ride, I think it was called 20,000 leagues under the sea and it was pretty cheesy as the portholes on the submarine were barely below the water line. I had grown up going to Kings Dominion down near Richmond, VA many times so compared to that it was all pretty lame compared to what I had expected. I was pretty disappointed at the time but was trying to make the best out of the situation as my sisters and mom were all having a great time. I know we went on a few other rides but they obviously weren't as memorable.
Skip ahead to today and I have never been back to Disneyland but have been following many press releases of new rides, new parks and many changes. I would really like to re-visit Disneyland and see how it has changed, and I'm sure I wouldn't recognize a thing except for Main Street.
In 1989 I got married and we moved to Orlando in 1990. We went to Disney World for our honeymoon and have been going several times a year ever since. While we lived in Florida we always had the Florida residence passes and remember driving over to Epcot and heading into the France Pavilion at the Epcot World Showcase for breakfast many times, back when the pavilions used to open early. Back then Space Mountain was the big ride that I remember and still go on it every time we visit the Magic Kingdom.
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Permalink Reply by Joe Madden on
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Okay, set the wayback machine to November 1980. Ronald Reagan has just been elected president, The Empire Strikes Back is the big movie of the year and this is my second trip to Walt Disney World.
We upgrade this year and stay on Disney property for the first time. We stay at the Contemporary Resort (Fourth floor, right across from the monorail station and Fantasia shop.) and my grandmother has come along on this trip
The Contemporary is by far the coolest hotel I have ever stayed in. (The Monorail goes right through the building!!!! How cool is that?) Being a big science fiction fan, this place seems like something out of a Star Wars or Star Trek set. It's changed a lot since that first visit. The original game room downstairs next to the lobby was huge (Much smaller now, and not just because I've grown bigger) There was a shooting gallery, Aisle upon aisle of games and a movie theater that showed all the classic Disney films.(Grandma and I went to see "One of our Dinosaurs is Missing." Who can forget that classic???- sarcasm)
I remember going to Discovery Island for the first time and getting to hold a parrot like a baby (Much to my mother's dismay. She hates birds). Mission to Mars was just about the coolest ride ever (Those moving seats that simulated the push and pull of weightlessness.I'm talking THRILL ride -more sarcasm.) and I remember Brian and Debbie from Ohio, the two kids in the room next to ours who I spent countless hours with in the game room or just playing Go Fish with on the floor of the "Hallway" outside our rooms.
Big Thunder Mountain had just opened a few weeks before. What a rush that was. Must have ridden that one 9 or ten times. The Haunted Mansion still freaked me out. And the characters are a little more sedate this time around (Must have gotten some complaints from the parents of taumatized children.
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Permalink Reply by Webmaster on
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That's some serious way-back material, very impressive!
Regarding the Contemporary, my wife was there about a year ago now and they had just completed an awesome remodel. I was there just walking around taking pictures a few months back and one of the house keeping staff walked by and I said hi to her and a short while later I ran into her again and noticed she was watching me take pictures of the monorail. I said hi to her again and she pointed over to a door in the lobby and said if I really wanted some cool monorail pictures to go through that door (which led to an outdoor stairwell) and then climb up a story or two. Sure enough, after a quick run up a few stair landings I was sitting right over top of the monorail tracks and I could see one heading my way as it was pulling out of the Magic Kingdom monorail station.
Check out my attachments below of pictures of the Monorail in and near the Contemporary.
Click here for more pictures of the Monorail in and around Disney W.... - Attachments:
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