First visit

[Mary and Colin]

Following a post Ellie has just said about her friends first visit, (and i read another thread somewhere) <:confused do you remember your first visit to Florida?

Ours was in 1996 a once in a life time holiday no expenses spared as it was a one off <:widegrin trying to cram all the parks and shopping in, no rest days. We sure needed a holiday when we got home.
My first memory was the warmth of the air that hit you when you got of the plane, the excitment of waiting in line to speak to a American customs officer, just to tell him it was your first trip. Oh how he must have thought "i know i hear it everyday" :)
Once we got the car all sorted the smell of the fresh air , the cleaness of everywhere and how polite people were.
Then getting used to the roads and driving on the wrong side. Everything seemed so huge as well, a small Macdonalds had us staring wide eyed and thinking thank godness we never orderd large.
Then that first day hitting the parks after getting up at the crack of dawn, driving under the Disney arch, parking in huge car spaces and getting the tram, i can still see the wonderment on the kids faces as we sailed across to the magic kingdom, walking up to the entrance and WOW we had arrived.
I am so glad that magic is still there today and that it was not a once in a lifetime trip, the kids now 28 and 24 still come with us when they can and we have different memories for every trip, it has kept us all young.
Happy first trip all

Mary

[lizpaterson47]

Our first trip was back in 1984 for 4 weeks, we stayed in a timeshare on DelVerde way which is near what was the Belz shopping area which at the time only consisted of one main mall. From there you did not have anything until almost reaching wet and wild only partial pavements/sidewalks and no Universal, however we had a great time at the MK and Epcot, baseball and boardwalk, and others we also drove to Miami (got a speeding ticket) and daytona.

The first memory I have is the heat too, its like walking into a hot oven when leaving the airport, and all these years later with making a minimum of 2 visits a year it still the same feeling every time.

[pbensur]

My first visit to Florida was in 1985 the year after we were married. My husband and I were so excited to get to visit the parks for the first time and absolutely loved all the excitement the area had to offer. I remember how awe-stricken we were with all the wonder and magic of Epcot and Magic Kingdom. We were still young enough to experience that juvenile excitement but adult enough to really look deeper and appreciate the tremendous amount of creativity, talent and advanced technology behind every attraction.

We've been back many times since then and with babies, toddlers, youngsters and now teens in tow - reliving it all again and again always through different eyes!

[Steve]

Yes, you never forget your first time! :) For us it was 1990 and we stayed for 3 weeks. 2 weeks in Orlando and 1 week at Clearwater. When I think of it now, it brings a smile to my face. It was early November and we arrived there on the only Virgin daily flight at around 5:00pm. By the time we got the car it was dark and I had rehe****d over and over how to get out of the airport before we left the UK but still managed to go wrong. Instead of turning onto the Bee Line (528) to get to I-drive I went sailing past and onto Semoran Boulevard. I soon realised it was wrong when I didn't see a toll booth! We stayed at what was then called the Clarion Plaza (now Rosen Plaza) Up early the next morning around 5.00am and had breakfast and off to Disney. Nothing beats that first time your eyes see Walt Disney World.

Even in the time we have been going we have seen some massive changes.

[Debbie]

Aaah - I too remember our first trip to Orlando 1984, with my Mum and our 2 children then 5 and 7. We did a 2 centre holiday spending the second week in Naples [for a rest!!!] The first week we stayed at the Holiday Inn on International Drive. The whole week was "wow factor" we had so much fun at the parks. The food, weather and people were great and it's been the most memorable holiday ever.
As you can imagine we only scratched the surface so returned again, again and again!!!!! Now we own a home there we can keep returning with family & friends and maybe grandchildren one day!!!!! Villa ownership is hard work and quite stressful at times but we still feel so priveleged to own a home in the best holiday resort on Earth!!!! <:wink
Debbie