Do You remember the first time you went to Disneyland?

[Tom Chaney]

I have very vague memories... more like impressions, really... from my first trip. I was 5 years old and it was in late 1955. Oddly, the one thing that really stands out is the Flight Circle in Tomorrowland where you could watch guys fly model airplanes. I have no idea why that memory stuck and is the most clear to me. Also the Hall Of Chemistry. Lots of bottles of colored liquid... representing chemicals... were displayed. I must have thought they were pretty. There was also a model city that somehow impressed me. For some reason, only memories from Tomorrowland come forward. That may be why it's a favorite for me... even in it's current reduced state.

[judimouse]

I have very vague memories... more like impressions, really... from my first trip. I was 5 years old and it was in late 1955. Oddly, the one thing that really stands out is the Flight Circle in Tomorrowland where you could watch guys fly model airplanes.

This is something I was not impressed with as I flew my airplanes every weekend. I could never understand why they did is at DL as it was something I did at home. LOL

[Tom Chaney]

This is something I was not impressed with as I flew my airplanes every weekend. I could never understand why they did is at DL as it was something I did at home. LOL

LOL! Well, I'll admit that the Flight Circle was one of the odder attractions in TL. I think I was impressed because I was only 5 and wanted to have one of those planes but was a little young. I did finally get one a few years later and spent many happy hours spinning in a circle watching my aircraft buzz around. It's well known that Walt was running short of cash by the time it came to fill out TL. I imagine the Flight Circle was a cheap way to fill up a chunk of real estate for awhile using local model plane enthusiasts as a kind of volunteer CM.

[cellarhound]

I remember it, but only in bits and pieces... I was five at the time... And it was so warpped by other memories... It was back in the Pooh's hunny pot days...

[suzsqueak]

I don't remember my first trip, I was probably about 6 months old. But I still clearly remember being about 4 years old and going to the park with my grandmother while my parents stayed home with my new baby sister. It was pre-passports and I loved the tickets, because I felt like a grown-up with money. I think we went on IASW a half dozen times that trip and it was a few years before the Fantasyland re-do of 1982. I also loved Adventures Through Innerspace and Mission to Mars. In fact I loved Mission to Mars so much that while my parents and later even my little sister went on Space Mountain I'd go through the trip to Mars again and again.

Living in Los Angeles, Disneyland was a special outing, but we got to go a couple of times a year, and everytime it was better than the last. I won't ever forget the beauty of being a child at the park and I think that's why it's still so special to me. But I also adored the Peoplemover and the skyway. I think the idea of unusual forms of transport delighted my younger self, since I lived in a city where everyone drove everywhere.

It's amazing to think how much I enjoyed Autopia though. I was always in a car going to school, to friends' houses et al. and then we'd get to Disneyland and the first thing I wanted to do was drive a car.

[FantasyWatersDude]

does anyone remember when Fantasy Waters at the DLH was built? Was it a big attraction when it opened?

[NeverNeverland]

I always get my first and second trips mixed up... which is sad because they both were about a year and a half ago

[Tom319]

I think I was about 4 and my grandparents took me. I remember meeting Chip and Dale and I also remember crying because I wasn't tall enough to ride Big thunder mountain.

[cindersgirl]

I think I had to have been around 7 or 8 years old, because I was somewhat oblivious to fashion back then. I was in Girl Scouts, Mom was the leader, and I was wearing a t-shirt labelled, "I Am A Girl Scout" on the front. Mom had made us have our hair cut short until we were old enough to care and protest. As I walked by the Matterhorn line, a boy in the line pipes up, "HE'S a Girl Scout?", to which my Mom replied, "HE is a SHE!".

Completely embarrassing.

[Mickeyfan3]

My parents took me for the first time in either '71 or '72, when I was 3 or 4. I remember staying awake all night because i was so excited....I think we drove down around 4 a.m. and my parents came in to wake me and - SURPRISE! - I was lying there w/ a huge grin on my face.

We drove down in my Grandpa's Mercedes....I remember The Jungle Cruise, Small World, SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON Treehouse, seeing Pluto (my favorite), Mickey Mouse Pancakes, the canoes, Tom Sawyers Island, and the Matterhorn! I must have been 4, because I was tall enough to ride it and it's been my favorite ever since. Teacups, Dumbo, Snow White......Don't think there was a Bigfoot on the MH yet either.

Also - the Submarine flooded...the hatch didn't close right and we got doused and got to go to Disneyland's Medical Center. Also my Dad and I posed like Indians in front of the cigar store w/ the real indian.....

[Hakuna Makarla]

yeah, it was august 27th 2003. it was hell on earth, hot, my son was screaming every time we left the motel to head for the park and well I try to foget!!

[Barbossa]

1985 - during the 30th anniversary. I was 6 at the time. A couple of weeks before we went, The Goonies was released in theaters. Of course when we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, the first thing to come to mind was when are Mikey, Chunk, Mouth and Data going to show up. It was a great trip. Got to go on a few attractions that are now in Yesterland such as Adventure Thru Inner Space, America Sings, The Subs, Motor Boat Cruise, Keel Boats, Country Bear Jamboree, Fort Wilderness, and anybody remember Videopolis? (still don't know what the point of that was). I even remember when the Captain EO theater in Tomorrowland was an open-air theater with no roof. I remember getting off Space Mountain and seeing a live show from the balcony. Of course all the other Southern California theme parks were visited, except for Magic Moutain which I still haven't been to. Now back on The Goonies topic, on the way back to BC, we drove the coast. Got to see Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock and drove thru Astoria, but didn't have a chance to stop and see the Walsh residence (Gooonies House) though. It was a fantastic trip and hopefully next year I'll be able to go down for a fourth trip after I finish my BBA.

Forgot to mention, If anyone remembers, during the 30th anniversary everyone got these scratch tickets at the gate each time they entered the park. We were lucky enough to win a plush Mickey and Minnie, funny thing was since we were from Canada, we had to do a skill testing question to claim the prize.

[FlyingSquirrel]

I know its cliche, but its so true for me. My first time in Disneyland was the happiest day of my childhood. I was 11, so it must have been 1985. I went with 2 aunts and an uncle who spoiled me rotten. I remember the first time I met Mickey, getting woozy on the Matterhorn, flying high about Tomorrowland on the Astro Orbitors and getting a snack from nearly every ODV cart we came across, courtesy of my uncle. It was the first time that I had ever felt 100% taken care of, loved and special and I have my family as well as the kind, friendly CM's to thank for that beautiful day.

[splashmountainfreak]

Nah, I've been so often all my memories have been mushed into one. I can never remember during which trip something happened unless it was the last time, the time before that that I had been there.

[chadb14]

Wow, I feel like a late bloomer. I made it to WDW in 1980. Never made it back. I was 10 then. My first trip to DL was when I was 30 (2000) (might have been mid to late 1999). I have been back to DL at least once a year (at least 3 days per trip) every year since then, and I will probably keep going as long as I possibly can.