My First Disney Trip

 

What you are about to hear is something that I remember 30 years ago.

It all started right after school in the beginning of October 1994. That was when we first went to our trip to Disney World in Florida. I'll never forget my first trip.

Here’s what happened the first time I was here. We got into a plane and we were headed to Florida. Then after the flight, we arrived in Orlando and got a place to stay at the Sunshine Foundation.

As we got together and while everything was all set, we stayed at Elves’ Village. And guess what it had when we stayed in here! It had a swimming pool that’s “zero incline”, and there was a Keebler themed bedroom.

I really love the setting in this dream village the foundation has. It had everything. A living room, a TV, a kitchen, EVERYTHING! I cannot believe my eyes and of what I’ve seen when we got in. I even saw Ernie Keebler making cookies on the wall art. It’s like I’m inside a Keebler tree. And all I could say is like…WOW!

It’s really fun! And I swear to God, IT IS! And I give it five stars.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

In translation, I really enjoyed it!

Now on to the swimming pool. At the Sunshine Foundation, there’s a zero incline pool and there’s a clubhouse.

I gotta tell you, I remember my first at the swimming pool here at Elves' Village. My dad would throw me in the pool as I got in the water. It was really really fun. Before that, I was watching a Disney Afternoon show on TV. I had no idea that this village has a television in the living room. In fact, everybody loves to go swimming in the pool anytime! How about that? I remember going to the outdoor pool in Lawrence Kansas for the first time ever since I was a little kid.

Now before we continue, I must remind you that it's been 30 years since I first went to Disney World with my family. And this is just the beginning in my blog to talk about it. So if you'd like to know more about Disney World, let me know.

Okay now on to the next part of the story. The three Disney theme parks. So to start things off for the time being, I'm gonna begin with the Magic Kingdom.

Right here you can see a picture of Cinderella's castle. I actually have two of them to show you. The second one is the close-up shot of it.

I'll never forget the first time I saw Cinderella's castle in Disney World.

While we were at the Magic Kingdom, we roamed around the theme park. And right here where we were chilling out and looking at the map, a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse was seen. It was amazing when I first saw it. And how did we get all of this? Well, my dad brought his video camera with him and he got to videotape the whole trip. That's right, folks! We got the whole trip on video!

Isn't that wild?

But one of my favorite Disney characters I first saw on our trip is Minnie Mouse. I was finally happy to see her for the very first time.

Okay, here's some rides I first went on here.

Splash Mountain

I think that I remember that song 'Zip A Dee Doo Dah'. It was interesting, but really memorable with a wonderful feeling in a 'wonderful' way. It all started with a log flume with some dark ride scenes at Walt Disney World based on the characters, stories, and songs from the 1946 Disney film Song of the South. I held my heart up at the top of that thing. And right out of the blue, I went down screaming as the ride flew really fast and got very wet. That was really cool! It was my first time riding that thing and my family and I were screaming downhill! And SPLASH! That was an awesome time in that ride, I just wish Mickey Mouse was with me though. And in case you know, that ride was located in Frontierland where Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is seen.

And speaking of which, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a mine train roller coaster at Disney World. And in fact, it was also my first time riding on that thing. So...all aboard!

In Fantasyland, my mom and I went on Dumbo's ride. We both went so high on this flying elephant, it's like where on an airplane. Dumbo the Flying Elephant is based on the 1941 Disney animated masterpiece, Dumbo. It's Dumbo ride vehicle between the two Dumbo the Flying Elephant rides for guests to take photos.

It was fun! And speaking of Fantasyland, I also got to see Beauty and the Beast in person. That Belle was happy to see me too.

Another fun fact is that I watched Beauty and the Beast a long time ago when I was at my friend's house in 1993. I think... But I might be wrong about that.

I also got to see the friendly Genie from Aladdin too.

I'll never forget that other time I first watched Aladdin on videocassette. That film was from 1992 and I'd never had a friend like the friendly Genie.

Wanna know what I did when I got to the movies? I actually saw a remake of the original Aladdin in 2019. It was really something, wasn't it! In the original animated Aladdin, Robin Williams voiced the Genie. And in the live-action remake, Will Smith played the friendly Genie.

Then I saw Mickey Mouse's dog Pluto! That was fun too!

We got to visit the gift shop and I got to show my dad the Disney World flag. It was like I did the mini-version of the Star-Spangled Banner with my eyes closed.

Next, we saw The Lion King in a live show like never before. It was 'The Legend of The Lion King'. In that show, the beginning started out with Rafiki telling the story. Then the show began. It was a puppet version of the entire movie just like the one that I saw in movie theaters.

And after the show, I finally found Timon and Rafiki there. It was a thrill to see them in person.

Now, remember that railroad train ride I went to? That was the Roger E. Broogie train we got on. It was like riding on a choo-choo train in real life.

Then as we continued walking the path around the Magic Kingdom, we got onto to a train to Mickey's Starland Station. By the time we got there, I got to play around in the slides and the play tubes there. I had no idea there was a playground to play in.

And after that we got into the theater and just as I suspected, we first got to see 'Mickey's Starland Show'!

The characters in this live show included Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Goof Troop, and Bonkers! Now that was really wild! Oh and not only that, Mickey Mouse was in that show too! Double wild! This is why we love Mickey Mouse!

Then at the Magic Kingdom, we got together and we first saw the Mickey Mania parade!

I even saw Roger Rabbit dancing on top of the parade float! I wish that I could meet and greet Roger Rabbit someday.

During the Mickey Mania parade, I saw everything. There's Disney characters on parade floats, people dancing like in music videos, and the marching's been going on. You just can't help but be in a good mood when you see it. Nostalgia!

After the parade, we got to Tomorrowland and hung out there too. My dad was right, this place has lots of futuristic stuff here. There was this one time I got inside a time machine and traveled a million years through the ages. I even saw Tom Morrow on the stage.

 Yep, lots of futuristic stuff.

There was this attraction that I remember just once when we're in Tomorrowland. Just this once we went to an indoor attraction that comes face to face with your worst nightmare in 'Alien Encounter'. I was terrified while I was in there. It was really scary. Note to self: Never let aliens devour you. (Yikes...) Fact is that it was a 'sensory thriller' attraction co-created by George Lucas, and he's know as the creator of the Star Wars franchise.

What I do remember is the time I first got on Space Mountain where once and for all in space, everyone will hear you screaming. It was really fast at warp speed!

It was a really great day here at the Magic Kingdom for the very first. I just hope that I can see the fireworks blaze through the sky for the time being at least.

The next part of the trip is where we got to go to Epcot Center and explore the future and world showcase.

The first ride we first got on is the giant geosphere that's called Spaceship Earth. We went through a million star fields around the universe for an unforgettable view of the planet.

We also got to see Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable. It was a 70 mm documentary, shown in the Harvest Theater in The Land pavilion. It starred Timon and Pumbaa along with their friend Simba as they tell a story about the environment that we live in and teaches us how we can work together to help out environment. It really fun and educational to watch since Sing Along Earth Songs.

We were already just getting started with our second day at Disney World and just as we all suspected during the second part of the trip, it started to rain. I got really upset... But, good thing we got an extra couple days here. And I was relieved on that. I felt pretty good to hear about that. You know something, I guess having extra days in Disney World isn't so bad. So we got a couple extra days at Disney World and we've got to go to try out the Disney Studios.

So here's the scoop of what me and my family did for a couple extra days here.

We did another day here at Epcot where we got to check out World Showcase.

And at first, I've never took an around the world tour here in Disney World before in my life. The first time I've done that was when we discovered Morocco or France or maybe Italy at some point. I'm not sure though, but it still counts.

The second part of an extra day was the time I first got to check out the Disney MGM Studios.

It's home to Disney's animated masterpieces and seeing how Disney characters can come to life. I remember classics like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, everything. You know something, I wish I would've tried other attractions at the Disney Studios such as SuperStar Television. I wanted to see what it looks like to play opposite characters through the magic of TV and film.

And sometimes I wonder what it would be like if my dad played opposite Tim Allen on the set of 'Home Improvement'. Which you already know that I remember watching this show once, and it was extremely hilarious. And what's really cool about it is that Jonathan Taylor Thomas is also starred in the cast.

You gotta love Tim Allen.

Anyway, while at the Disney studios I got the chance to see everyone's favorite mouse. Mickey Mouse! And where did I get to meet him in person? At the Animation Courtyard.

That was the very first time I met Mickey Mouse here at the Disney Studios. I even got his autograph. So exciting! We even got to hang out for a while and got to go see Muppet*Vision 3D, starring Jim Henson's Muppets. Fun fact about our favorite Muppet star is that Kermit the Frog used to guest star in Sesame Street.

We know something really cool just happened, the Muppets pulled out some pretty hilarious stunts of their own. It even featured a CGI animated character in the show named Waldo the Graphic.

And before you know it, the cannonball came right into the screen and caused mayhem in the studio! Cool, huh! That attraction was in fact the funniest and exciting thing to watch in 3D. And why? Because of the 3D glasses! Duh! I really love how the Muppets are having fun with it though. I always imagined what would it be like if The Muppets launched their own television network. We would watch plenty of our favorite Muppet hits of all time 24 hours a day. Anyway, at the end of this demonstration we see a 3D Mickey Mouse in front of the stage curtains when it closed.

The next live show I saw was 'Voyage of The Little Mermaid'. My family and I watched the show and it was an incredible experience to see here. It was great! I even saw the puppets of the characters from the movie. It was where Ariel meets me "under the sea" for a live stage show spectacular. And it was just like the movie.

I remember going on to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride. There’s this 13 get-wrenching faster than gravity story freefall. The elevator drops down really faster then lifts up and drop me again! It’s like this science fiction theme into another dimension, just like in the TV show. Whoa… I hope that I can do that again. In case you don't spoil it too early, it was the first time during my second time at the Disney Studios.

You know something I wanna do, my dad and I’ve been thinking about seeing the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular live on stage. I would really like to see how he pulls out those hair-raising movie stunts live. I wonder what he’ll do next.

I can even remember another ride I used to go on with my family, and it was the only time I went on that one. It was The Great Movie Ride and was originally developed by Disney as a cinema-themed pavilion for the Future World section of Epcot. Under the direction of Michael Eisner and Marty Sklar, the concept was expanded into a new theme park devoted to motion pictures that included the dark ride as its centerpiece. And it's now, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railroad.

Pretty cool, huh.

Now there's one other ride that I first wanna try out at the Disney Studios.

The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.

In this indoor ride, it zooms you through the rock world's fast lane! Inside their Hollywood music studio, legendary rock band Aerosmith is wrapping up a recording session. When their manager tells them they’re late for a concert across town, the band invites you to ride along. This is where you race along the darkened freeways of Los Angeles in a super-stretch limo to the rockin' tunes of Aerosmith. And they say that this rollercoaster is "da bomb"!

I remember listening to Aerosmith on my CD player while we were on a drive together. I think they're really awesome.

It's been a great vacation here at Walt Disney World and it was my very first time going there with my family ever since I was a little kid. And I hope that we can do this again sometime and come back real soon.

Now here's some other Disney characters that I wanna meet and greet.

Now I know I met Mickey and all his friends, so what I also wanna say hi to are:

Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers at the Disney Studios

Max Goof at the Disney Studios

Roger Rabbit at the Disney Studios (On special times)

Nick Wilde of Zootopia at the Magic Kingdom

Buzz Lightyear in Tomorrowland

His friend Woody at the Disney Studios

Darkwing Duck and Launchpad McQuack at the Magic Kingdom

Scrooge McDuck

Diasy Duck at Epcot

Etc.

Okay before we wrap this up, I have yet another place that I remember going to the second time I was at Disney World. So here's my bonus blog for today.

The second time going to Disney World was in 1999 and guess where we got to go for the very first time.

Disney's Animal Kingdom!

It was the first time I've been to that fourth Disney theme park in '99. And I gotta tell you, it was great! We went on a safari, got on some rides, and saw some really good shows.

For instance, I first went on Kali River Rapids, and I gotta tell you about it right this second. I GOT REALLY REALLY REALLY WET!

I'm thinking next time I wanna ride the Kali River Rapids, my advice for myself is to bring a poncho with me. And second of all, if I'm gonna get really wet, a couple towels and extra clothes are also included. (Just for safe keeping.)

Now before that, I got together with my family to see 'It's Tough To Be a Bug'. It's a 9-minute-long 3D film based on the 1998 Disney·Pixar film A Bug's Life, using theater lighting, 3-D filming techniques, audio-animatronics and various special effects. And guess what, it starred Flik in this attraction! I was totally surprised to see that. And right in the middle of the show, WE GOT STUNG!

I've always known the very first and only time I got to dig up a couple of old friends here at the boneyard. It was on Dino Land U.S.A. You know what they say, everyone has a bone to pick. At least you can all remember that though.

I learned about dinosaurs since I was in Cordley that grade. It was pretty amazing considering that time we watched Really Wild Animals. Spin was talking about the dinosaurs that ruled the world and the prehistoric animals that lived here before the Earth was born. Even that time I was at the KU Natural History Museum where I saw some dinosaur fossils here. It was pretty interesting.

You can look for these fossils available here:

For those of you knew don't know dinosaurs before, I also watched about them on an episode of Bill Nye The Science Guy. I bet you knew that too.

So anyway, next time I wanna go to Disney's Animal Kingdom the second time on my next trip to Disney World, I wanna check out Safari Village, check out Harambe, go on a Kilimanjaro Safari to spot some animals, take the Maharajah Jungle Trek, explore the wilderness, all that stuff. So there you have it on that one.

And during my second time at Disney World, we first stayed at a Disney resort hotel back in '99. This time, they chose the jazz theme. Which is why, I love smooth jazz and one of my favorite genres in music.

And where did we stay? At The Jazz Inn!

Catch a tune, folks!

While we were relaxing in the hotel, I got to watch Toon Disney on TV, go for a relaxing swim in the pool, walked around the resort, and I got to check out a picture of Cyndi Lauper.

It was amazing when I first saw that. I can also remember that time we all went to a character breakfast as a family. We saw Mickey and his friends here, and Goofy was acting really funny. I even got to see Minnie the second time.

Moving on. During our second time of the trip, my dad and I first went to one of the Disney water parks. The first one was Blizzard Beach. It's got the famous family flume ride and the highest slides on earth.

Then, we first got to go to Typhoon Lagoon where I got to check out the high waves of excitement in the largest wave pool. And I even got to relax in the lazy river.

In the evening, we all got together and went to Downtown Disney. They say it's home to dining, shopping, and entertainment from the world's greatest cities. I can see it now, my family and I got to enjoy some dinnertime here at the House of Blues. The House of Blues is home to the beat of live music. We even got to hang out and look around the area for something cool to do. We were gonna try the new Disney Quest, but it had some technical difficulties. So it was close for repair. Ouch. Anyway I kept my cool about it though, and I got to check out the virgin megastore. It's got everything. Books, music, movies, all that stuff. I just wish that it would come back in the future. We also got to check out the World of Disney. They say this shopping center is as big as a football field. You know something, I remember my first time going to Downtown Disney with my family, and we think that it's really cool. Why? Because it's the pulse of big city life. I really love Downtown Disney because it has all the shops and eateries that we can all try as a family together. You know something, I wonder if I can go to the Rainforest Cafe just like the time I went there here at the Oak Park Mall. And who knows what we'll be doing next. Maybe we can do a little bowing here in Splitzville. I also wonder what else Downtown Disney might do next. It's also knows as Disney Springs. You might wanna consider checking out sometime in the future. What would you like to do next here at Downtown Disney? You decide for yourself.

And that was your bonus blog for today.

Okay, so now you know. This was my story of my first ever trip to Walt Disney World. Now, you wanna know what my favorite part of the trip is?

Well, I'll tell you!

My favorite parts are the theme parks, the Disney character I met, the rides, and the parades, and the shows. Before we go on our trip to Disney World, I always set up my Disney World playlist on Spotify. That way I can relive the Radio Disney nostalgia with the power of music in my ears while I'm in the car and when I'm at the Disney theme parks. So when you make a wish on a star, your dreams will always come true. Everyone should always experience Disney World not just once, but over and over again because it's never the same. And for me, whenever I got to Disney World, I'll always be a kid at heart. So it really brings out the kid in me.

I think I'm gonna recommend Disney World to all of my friends from Lawrence Kansas and to all of my other friends here in Bluffton, SC. This'll be really cool and I hope that they'll get the chance to take me with them just like I do with my family.

Stay tuned following this next blog entry for some more tips and ideas to invite friends to take them on a Disney vacation. (Coming soon.)

Now I have one thing left to say before I wrap this blog up.

Make the dream come true with a Walt Disney World stay. It's like no other vacation you've ever dreamed up. It's sharing a smile. It's watching storybook fantasies come alive. Seeing the world as it should be through the eyes of your child. It's magical memories in the making. It's wishing upon a star, and having your dreams come true.

If you like my blog about my first ever trip to Disney World, let me know about this and we'll talk more about my next trip there. And of course who could forget of Muppet*Vision 3D? That will also be included too. So when you're planning on your next Disney World vacation, remember to plan ahead and definitely plan your visit. Before you leave home, it's best to make reservations, book dinner shows, and much more. But don't worry, Disney World will make all this easy for you.

Phew, that's all for now. Hope you like my first ever Disney World story. See you all next time, and have a great day. Hey, tell Mickey Mouse and all his friends I said hi. He's all ears!

See you real soon!