Over a decade before I had ever even heard the expression ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ when I first visited Disneyland in 1988, I had determined that the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World was in fact the happiest place on Earth. Words cannot adequately express the nostalgic chunk of memory firmly rooted in my brain when it comes to my second visit to Disney World in the early Summer of 1977. At the age of five, my mind was made up: this was my kind of place.
The visit to Disney World was the first leg of our Florida vacation in June of ’77. Along on this trip with my family was my cousin Lora. After driving through the weekend, our first day at the park was on Monday, June 6. There is only one photo that can be specifically assigned to this day – all others were either taken during our second day on Tuesday, or cannot be earmarked for any specific day.
For me, this was a hugely welcome return to the park that I had visited back when I was three years old in 1975. Yes I was a young ‘un, but the nostalgia of returning to the park wasn’t lost on me. I remember specifically recalling the previous trip as we circled the park again two years later.
A classic shot of entering the park on the second day. Not sure what I’m doing, but I actually remember doing it.
Just before the camera took our one and only full family photo at Disney World, I pinched Mom’s leg, and she reacted accordingly
My attempt at a nice photo of my fellow family members
The intent here was to make it look like I was shaking hands with Mickey Mouse. Is that slobber down my shirt or a drinking fountain mishap?
Entering Main Street U.S.A.
Balloon vendor on Main Street
My photo as we approached Cinderella’s Castle
At this point in the park’s history, the cost of general admission was $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. However, to actually get on the rides one had to purchase books of coupons, or tickets. The value of each ticket differed and each was good for different calibers of rides. The E-Ticket, a phrase that has now entered the common vernacular, was good for the major attractions in the park.
Sample of the old ticket book
I can generally recall most rides and attractions that we visited during this trip: in Adventureland there was The Jungle Cruise, The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, The Enchanted Tiki Room, and of course The Pirates of the Caribbean. Wheras I had cried through the Pirates during our 1975 trip, this time I stared in awe at the audio-animatronics. Denise slept through this ride, which was likely her first Disney ride ever.
Exterior of the Tiki room
Interior shot of the singing bird Animatronics of the Tiki Room
Frontierland had very little to offer as compared to today. This was long before the days of both Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Spash Mountain. I can’t recall riding the Walt Disney Railroad or visiting Tom Sawyer Island, but am fairly certain that we saw the Country Bear Jamboree. Over in Liberty Square we saw The Hall of Presidents which should have included 39 Presidents at this point, all the way up to Jimmy Carter. At this time the current President did not give his own speech which later began with Bill Clinton. The Haunted Mansion was seen as my greatest challenge as I acutely remember bawling my way through it in 1975. Now that I knew that we would in fact get out of it alive, it became one of my favorite attractions. I never forgot those hitchhiking ghosts.
Tigger strolls by in the Mickey Mouse Club Parade
A Mickey Mouse sighting in the parade
Just five years old and I was already taking photos of passing foxes
Fantasyland means much more to me now than it ever would have had I not had my first experiences there as a little kid. We naturally hit all the dark rides despite the crazy lines: Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and It’s a Small World. I’m not sure which of the outdoor amusement park rides that we got on, but I know for a fact that we waited a ridiculous amount of time so Lora and I could ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
Lora and I on the Dumbo ride, the only known photo from Monday
The now-defunct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Wait a second, I’m not a member of this family!
Hanging out with Goofy…and also that big dumb dog from the Disney cartoons
And finally there was Tomorrowland. It was here that I chose my absolute favorite ride of the trip, the Carousel of Progress, which I’m certain we road at least three times. I also loved If You Had Wings -and the song from that defunct ride sticks in my head to this day. We also rode the Wedway People Mover, Mission to Mars, Circlevision 360 (America the Beautiful), and most likely the Grand Prix Raceway.
But the biggest memory in Tomorrowland was my first time on Space Mountain. Dad took Lora and me on this massive indoor rollercoaster while Mom waited out with Denise. I recall the sheer terror of these high speed rocket ships careening around sharp curves and steep hills in the dark, going through tunnels with deafeningly loud sonic booms, and the huge cookie-looking-thing floating by amongst the stars. But mostly I remember sitting in my Dad’s lap and screaming and crying all the way through it. My Dad was not a fan of rollercoasters and was scared to death as well, yet laughed all the way through it in an effort to calm me down. When we got off, neither Dad nor I would ride it again with my Mom. Lora said she would ride it with her when we came back the next day.
But that never happened.
That night after a full day at the park, we went back to our motel room at the Days Inn and grabbed a late night supper at the Tasty Burger in the motel. It may be hard to believe but in those days there wasn’t the huge commercial complex around Disney World that there is today, and it was not easy to even find a fast food restaurant – especially one that was open at about 10pm.
My photo of Space Mountain as we headed out on the ferry
Whether Lora got food poisoning or just simply got sick is unknown, but what was known was that she was up all night in our motel throwing up. Mom and Dad had purchased more tickets for the next day at the park and we would be heading out on Wednesday for St. Pete Beach – so we simply had to go and use them whether Lora was sick or not. So they came up with the bright idea to hire a wheelchair for her for the day.
Denise and Lora in their strollers. This photo is hilarious because I had just fallen behind and lost my family. Just as I was catching up to them (after a brief moment of panic), Dad snapped this photo as I rounded the corner and located them in relief.
So even though she was puking neark the entrance gate as we were entering the park, Lora actually proved rather useful as it enabled us to get preferential seating and great spots in the front of the lines as we revisited all of our favorite attractions. But unfortunately, she was unable to ride Space Mountain again, so Mom didn’t get to ride it until years later. Lora eventually started to feel better (and Dad would let her eat nothing but soda crackers all day) – and she was fine for the rest of the vacation.
After getting back home, I became a huge fan of Disney World. I immediately set about writing a story about a family that goes to Disney World complete with details of all of the rides as I remembered them: the hitchhiking ghosts, the tunnels of Space Mountain, Madame Leota’s floating head, the Carousel of Progress theme song The Best Time of Your Life, etc. I also loved my Disney World coloring book and wore it out. I went through our photos of this trip – all of the ones seen above – many times over. I also went through my Grandma and Grandpa Murphy’s photo album from their Disney World trip repeatedly. I would get the Haunted Mansion record for Christmas that year. And for many moons, I would long to visit Disneyland in Calfornia.
Amazingly though, with my love of Disney World so strong, it would be a full seven years before I’d get back to the park – which in fact would be the longest stretch to date between visits to Walt Disney World.
Denise conked out
Return to the St. Pete Beach postings…
1977 will continue…
I went to Disneyworld for the only time in my life in March of that year. My memories are few and fleeting. I can remember riding on the Pirates of the Caribbean. I recall waiting in line for quite a long time to ride some sort of roller coaster, but cannot recall actually riding it. The only other ride I can remember was either an indoor coaster or a large car that shook about while projectors all around the ride showed scenes from around the globe. I have no idea what this ride was. Perhaps, you can identify it for me.
I clearly remember riding the glass-bottomed boats to and from the parking lot and the Mickey Mouse song playing during the voyage.
My other memories from there are mundane and have nothing whatsoever to do with the ‘fun’ attractions that filled such a magical place.
Dave Chasteen
September 11th, 2008