Originally Posted By stitchcrazy DVC_dad that was a great post. And your two pics on your website totally just made me cry. Thanks for sharing.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 DVC Dad, what a great post-- and our experiences are close - except that I was 16 in 1971 ( I wish I was 12 years younger) - but my Dad was a company man too - Illinois Bell Telephone ( now AT&T I believe) at the time....lower end position inside after being a lineman to start after the war...and m Mom stayed home and I had 3 other family vacations -- the first two was when I was <6 months and then next when I was 3 -- cross country drives to LA to visit relatives -- the first included a trip to DL with my uncle in August 1955 - ( sorry but I was 4 months old and don;t remember a thing except for a picture of me there) - and then we went to the Wisconsin Dells once...that was what we could afford....so the trip at 16 was 'off the charts' and to this day I still have no idea how they afforded it. So that was my start.....and the minute I coul afford to start going on my own we did, and 1 -2 times a year since...partly to continue on those good times, and partly to start my own with my family. A few years back having the DVC unit allowed me to get a 2 bedroom and we had my wifes cousin, husdand and 2 kids join us from Ireland. They are farmers there and not very well off financially, but they won round trip air tickets in a contest, and we provided the accomodations and helped with other costs...so that those kids could have a memory like I have...somewhere is County Kerry is a farmhouse with a whole lotof Disney souveneirs ! And the best time was probably had by my cousins husband -- who wasn't even going to come and barely had ever heard of Disney... a rough and tough farmer to all there, and by the time he was at WDW for 2 days -- he was taking pictures with characters and telling us the MSEP which was there at the time was the most 'brilliant' thing he had ever seen in his life.!
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Wow! Just think of the memories, the difference, your kindness and love has made to your Irish In-Laws' family, not to mention all of the others that you didn't mention, that you have also shared with. What an awesome thing to be able to do. Isn't the DVC awesome? Sometimes I take grief from people about the Disney Vacation Club, but knowing what I know about it NOW, I would still try to find a way to buy in, even if circumstances were different. I don't know how, but SOMEHOW, because we have shared so many trips with so many friends and family that would otherwise have not been able or not chosen to go. <-- excuse terrible English My mother, my in-laws, many of my friends and their kids... the DVC is so much about making the impossible, possible. I wouldn't trade it for the world. And what a legacy it is indeed. I have even given a few nights stays to family that went WIHTOUT ME! It, the DVC, has sooo much more than simple monetary value. In fact the older I get, the less and less important money is, and the more time and family mean to me. I appreciate you and your posts so much vbdad55. Thank you for being candid and sharing.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ^^^^^ Thanks, there are some great people here at LP...that's why I don't mind sharing.. Your right on DVC-- it is all about how you useit -- My daughter wants us to book one of the 3 bedroom 'beach houses' at Vero for her college graduation and invite the close family -- " but she hasn't seen the mediterranean Disney cruise itinerary yet - LOL ! I just got all that info...and that may be the choice instead....that looks awesome...
Originally Posted By jkayjs Touching memories guy thanks for sharing. Our first visit to EPCOT Center was in 86. I remeber driving into the parking lot and seeing SSE. I was smitten. We walked in and just stood there for a while looking up. This was our first attraction in the park and like already mentioned we spent a lot of time in the post show area. The kids were 6,8&10. They flipped over the LS. The hydrolators,sea cabs, the film, the aquarium and last but not least the diver in the tube. The rest of the day the catch phrase was "and it rained, and rained ....." you know how kids are and that was just my husband. My youngest fell in love with Horizans and WDW in general that trip. Little did we dream that 17 years later she would do her CP in the same park. I had read that if you wanted to beat the crowd to do WS counter clock starting at Canada. We did and they were right. I loved this area of the park. We had to drag ourselves away from Communicore. Figment made us smile. We ate at the Land and Kitchen Kabaret's veggie,veggie,fruit,fruit was edited by our 3 to veggie,veggie,toot,toot. Go figure. The gift shop(Mouse Gear) had an upper level at one end I think(not sure if I imagined this). The day was wonderful and from that day forward this has been my favorite park.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper DVC Dad...that was great. I only wish I had similar pictures. You make me want to go home and play with my boy.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad <<< The gift shop(Mouse Gear) had an upper level at one end I think(not sure if I imagined this). >>> No you are right, I have stood there recently trying to figure out HOW they made Mouse Gear one level. Cause I remember entering from the Fountain side already On the second floor, but the other entrance was the lower level. I also understand that there was a teacher's resource center on the upper level that would give teachers free stuff. Also, "leave a legacy" .... good idea on paper, terrible now.
Originally Posted By Labuda Actually, when Eric & I were on our honeymoon, we got a free Leave a Legacy tile, and we LOVE to visit it on each trip. It's so very nice to look at it and see us on day 5 of our honeymoon, happy and obviously in love just as much then as we are now.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Well Labuda, I guess I am wrong about Legacy. I want to do it but my better half won't let me. (Yes won't LET me) I guess I am just disappointed that there is sooooooo much unused space on the stones, I would have thought it would have been completed by now. I think next time I am going to get one made of the kids and me, and if wifey doesn't wanna do it, she can just not do it. I was looking at some photos on the net from EPCOT opening day, and that fountain and flower garden that used to be there were really beautiful.
Originally Posted By MinnieSummer To the Dads on this thread, thank you for posting. Your memories are so strong and so close to mine. My father is very ill right now and probably only has weeks to live and this thread has brought back so many memories of him and our first trip to WDW. His favorite ride was IASW. He rode it with my daughter once when we went for Mickeys Christams Party but she was so little then and doesn't really remember it. He's never been to Epcot but recently saw the behind the scenes show on travel channel and said he wants to get well enough to go to Epcot and see SSE and see MK through my daughters eyes now that she is old enough to enjoy it. I know it wont happen but I love that WDW has given him a dream at this stage in his life.
Originally Posted By Lucinda54 Nothing I have ever done will ever live up to the thrill of the first time I went to WDW. I was 34, married with 2 young children. It was a few months after my father passed away, and my mother decided to surprise us with a trip to WDW. We couldn't believe it - our first family trip and all the way to this magical place (we live in NH). I had grown up watching Wonderful World of Disney with my parents, and I remember being in 4th grade, watching the episode when Walt introduced all he was doing for the NY state fair...audioanimatronics, It's a Small World, dinosaurs, Pirates, etc. That yearning to see those things never left me, but I never thought that dream would come true. Well, it did in July 1990. We stayed at the CB, and first thing we did was go to River Country...remember how great that place was? And upon entering the Magic Kingdom for the first time, "When You Wish Upon a Star" was playing, and I completely broke down crying. My kids knew that was my all-time favorite song, and it just set the mood for the rest of the trip. It rained buckets the whole time we were there, but nothing could spoil the fantastic time we had. I cried everytime I saw soemthing I thought I'd only see on TV, and it became a joke..."Uh, oh! Mom's gonna cry again!" The sights, the music, the thrilling feeling of being in a completely magical place...it was unbeatable. I have been back 5 times since then, and each time it gets better, but nothing will ever compare to the feeling of that first time. Wishes DO come true!
Originally Posted By mickey_ring August, 1972 I was 7 years old. I can still remember walking thru Frontierland back towards the Castle after a busy day just thinking "wow! It's like it's all here just for me!" I still get that feeling on every WDW trip.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj I remember staying at the Contemporary Resort in the summer of 1982. EPCOT was just finishing up being built and you could see Spaceship Earth from our balcony. We rode the monorail to the preview center that was set up at the EPCOT monorail station.
Originally Posted By rhodisney My first visit to WDW was in 1975, my treat for finishing my junior year of high school. There wasn't half of what is there now, just the basics JC, Tiki Room, People Mover, COP, HM and Space, and the raceway,PPan and Small World. I don't think the riverboat had even been put in yet. I remember a dusty road up to the HM, I don't remeber it being paved. I was enthralled and was afraid of the HM at the same time! And those spooky cast members! Now I just have a ball on that ride. On that trip my grandma loved the Country Bear Jamboree and the Diamond Horseshoe Revue. But My first and most lasting memory is always that Dixieland music playing when you enter Town Square.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Minniesummer....miracles do occur, here's praying one happens for your Dad and he gets his wish
Originally Posted By kimberlyn Fainting from heat stroke when I was about 5 or 6 and crying when my parents made my sister push me over to go meet Captain Hook. On a better note...riding Dumbo for the very first time!
Originally Posted By mickey_ring Amazing how the first WDW memories are so long-lasting. Feels like I was in Mission to the Moon just yesterday. I think the seats kinda sunk in at liftoff and wasn't there a projection screen on the floor to look down on? I was 7 so I really put my imagination into it.
