How many of you had your first Disney park experience as an adult?

[Canadi-Lynne]

I was 50.. The oldest so far.

I wasn't far behind!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

We first went as a family in 1998, so I was 36. DH had been as a child but our family vacations when I was a kid were always camping trips near home. We had a good trip and I immediately started planning a second trip in 2000!

Ironically, my parents went to Disney World for a conference the week I had to move into a college dorm for the first time. I was the 6th kid so I guess they were over the college thing (I was not happy that my brother-in-law had to help me move)

I can relate to the simpler vacations as a child. You must have been so annoyed they were in Disney while you made your move, but what a cool place for a conference!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

Did y'all feel like you had to ride everyride (even the kiddie rides)? We're you kind of like Tom Hanks in Big, Kid in a candy store?

I suffer motion sickness so the kiddie rides were my speed! LOL I was like a giant Alice in Wonderland!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

No OP, you are not an oddball!
We never had the money to go to disneyland when I was a child (there was only disneyland then). I would watch Wonderful World of Color (or Disney can't remember) Sunday night and wish I could be there.
Fast forward to when we had our children. We waited until they were a little older to take them to DisneyWorld. They were 5 and 7 y/o and we were in our twenties. It was just as amazing and wonderful to us as it was to the kids. I don't feel like I missed out on anything by not visiting until we had our own kids. We go once a year now and still find the magic.

It is magical! It's like age and time don't exist once you cross into the park!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

I was 22 and on my honeymoon,first time for my wife as well.My family was poor so we never had the money to go.So at 65years old i took my mother for her first trip.

Awwww that's so awesome did she love it?

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

Growing up it was one of those "yes, we will go to Disney World one day". Well my parents never took me but we did take my daughter when she was 7 and my husband and I were 29 and 31. It's truly magical because it became our "magical place". I did take my parents to WDW when they were 62 and 64 years old. They loved it. I'm not sure if they "get it". They just remembered how clean it was and the good food. After 15 WDW trips we started Disney Cruise Line which we enjoy more now. We are about to go on our 16th WDW trip in October.

That is so awesome! Your list of visits is amazing!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

Me!! I always wanted to go as a kid but my parents had no desire to go. We went out west when I was going into 6th grade, saw the Grand Canyon, all the natural monuments in Utah and so many other things. It was nice, but as a 12 year old, I complained "why didn't we go to Disney?" LOL! When I was in college and went to Daytona for Spring Break I had a chance to go as a day trip, but decided I wanted my first trip to be special, not just a hurried day on a set tour. So glad I waited...A day or so after DH proposed to me, he asked where I wanted to go on a honeymoon and I had no idea. We had even talked about a wedding date, but I hadn't thought much further. DH suggested Disney World and I was sooooo happy and excited!!! We didn't stay on sight, but very close by and we had a blast! It certainly wasn't your typical, super romantic honeymoon. More nights than not, we would get back in the room and I would crash from the busy days and DH would go to the bar and watch the World Series! LOL! (It was October) However, if we both had the chance, we wouldn't do it any differently. We ended up getting sucked into buying a timeshare! (At Westgate, no less ) There was an airfare war the next year, so we went again with DH's parents and brother. We then went 5 more times over the next 10 years and it has been way too long since we last went. My parents ended up going by themselves for a few days, but said they didn't particularly care for it. They just don't know what a good time is!!

I love your story! I think that would be such a fun honeymoon!

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I was 34 the first time I went to Disneyland, and 36 for the first trip to WDW.

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

Disneyland when I went on my first overseas holiday aged 21. Our last trip was in 2017 when I was 47 and I still cried as I walked through the gates

I think I'm going to cry like a baby the first time back after this chaos!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

First trip was July 2012. I was 43. We have made a couple of trips each year and even bought DVC in 2019.

We stayed at POFQ on that first trip and several more after that. Once we stayed at AKL, we did just didn't like any where else as much. We tried CBR but it was not to our taste. We did not like YC but we LOVE BCV. We were supposed to stay at CC in May but CV-19.... We are set to stay at CC in September-fingers crossed.

I hope it works out, we all need to get our magic back!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

From New Zealand so Disney vacations were never an option growing up, though I was aware of Disneyland from the odd kid at school who went plus of course Disney on t.v.

I was 39 for our first visit, kids were 4 and 7, I had been to USA a few times with work but this was our first visit as a family on vacation (previous vacations were to Australia including their theme parks). Disneyland was incredible, and this was reinforced when we visited Legoland and Seaworld on the same trip. Everything at Disneyland was just right for our family, completely magical, and we all fell in love with the Disney experience. We have had four subsequent trips to DLR and two to WDW.

I'm the DisNut of the family closely followed by my eldest daughter. I love the escapism Disney offers, the real world can disappear once inside the parks and it is just about our family having fun together. It isn't perfect and at times can be frustrating but is still loved by us and is an integral part of our family fabric.

You have captured my feelings of Disneyland perfectly!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

I was 19 and my father-in-law (I had been married less than 1 year) retired and they wanted to take that trip to Florida they had always talked about. They invited DH and I and we did because we had no money of our own to travel. We went to Magic Kingdom one day. It was 1984. DS still laughs at my stories of traveling with my in-laws.

I bet there are plenty of laughs in those stories!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

While I technically went to WDW as a child, I was only 2 at the time and have no memories of the trip at all.

My first real Disney trip was when I was 27, DH took me to Disneyland for our honeymoon. I was tepid on the whole idea but I remember him saying to me "Trust me, Disney pumps happy gas or something into the air, you are going to love it!"

And I definitely did!

There is happy gas in the air inside Disney parks! I have experienced nothing like it anywhere else!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

It was 2005 and I was 29 with 3 daughters(ages 8, 7, and 10 months) that adored the princesses, so I thought it would be the perfect trip for them! It was also our first ever family vacation, even though we'd been married for 9 years. I really didn't expect to love it as much as I did and thought it would be a one and done, or possibly one more trip when the baby was the same age and deep in the princess world. The trip was a family trip off site that we invited the in-laws on and it was kind of disastrous, lol, but I fell in love with Disney! We didn't make it back for 4 years, but it was amazing that trip and only spurred the love even more. We've made it there a total of 5 times now, and are trying to make it yearly thing at this point. Our first trip onsite was a year ago this week at POP. It's special every single time and we've never even done the fancy stuff, lol! We're in our mid 40's now and my goal is be able to go 2x/year, at least. We're only 8 hrs away, so the only thing holding us back is financial responsibilities and work committments.

That's our goal too!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

I was 28. My parents didn't do vacations, and I had no interest in WDW- I could go to the local theme park if I wanted to ride rides

Then I had princess-loving 3 and 6 year old girls and DH suggested we go, for our first family vacation.

Your daughter's avatar work is beautiful!

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Thank you!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I was 21 the first time I went.

 

[bjscheel]

Your daughter's avatar work is beautiful!

Thank you, she is now a grown-up graphic designer! Honestly I think us taking Disney vacations was life changing in a few ways, one of which was her drawing a lot of Disney characters

 

[kimmar067]

I know that a lot of people grew up taking Disney vacations, but how many people didn't enter a park until they were adults? I'm wondering if I'm an oddball! LOL

...guilty as charged. I had never even been to Florida before the age of 30.

 

[Canadi-Lynne]

Thank you, she is now a grown-up graphic designer! Honestly I think us taking Disney vacations was life changing in a few ways, one of which was her drawing a lot of Disney characters

What a cool job! I wish I had talent like that!