This is a continuation of Part One of this post. From last time – my grandmother put together an awesome scrapbook telling the story of my first trip to Disney World when I was six years old. This is the text and pictures from the book, lightly edited. At the end of Part One, we had just finished a full day at the Magic Kingdom. From there, we would go on to my grandma’s roommate’s condo in Fort Myers, and then eventually back to the Magic Kingdom on our way back north. The non-Disney bits are included for posterity. As before, the pictures appear in their same order and approximate location. And as before, the captions are my own additions.
As before, my comments will look like this.
<June 21st through July 6th>
In the morning we checked out of Ho Jo’s, ate at the Waffle House and then drove on to Fort Myers.
Arrived in the early PM, unpacked, had lunch and went to the grocery. While at Dot’s place we went swimming almost every day, sometimes twice. Dan tried to learn to swim a little, so Dot got him a swim ring, some fins and goggles. We also went to the beach a couple of times.
Chillin’ in the Pool.
I made some friends at the pool. Many were there visiting their grandparents as well.
Me and my grandmother’s close friend Dot, swimming in the pool. Dot and I always got along when I visited – I attribute some of my wry sense of humor to her influence. She passed away a few years ago – I still miss her sometimes.
Sand castles in the sand…
Dan wrote his name in the sand and said he would come back to see if it was there. When we went back it wasn’t there naturally, the waves had washed it away. The next time we fed the sea gulls bread and made some sand castles, and a little girl gave Dan a sand dollar she picked up in the Gulf of Mexico at low tide. She had collected quite a few.
Sometimes we cooked some good meals at Dot’s and sometimes we went out to eat. Dan met a lot of little friends at the swimming pool, a few who lived there and some that were there on vacation like him. We also had our good friends, Tony and Dot from New Jersey down one evening for cheesecake and coffee, and they thought Dan was quite a young man.
I honestly don’t remember much about this part of the trip – but I do remember the pool and going to the beach several times. And I specifically remember the cheesecake – it was from the Naples Cheesecake Company, the same place Grandma would send us a cheesecake from in the mail every Christmas. I’m still so surprised the trip/visit was that long.
<July 7th>
But now it was time to head back home. We left early on Tuesday 7/7/87 and checked in at the Quality Inn at Kissimmee and took the elevator to the second floor to our room. It was a very nice motel. Settled in quickly and went on to Disney World. This time we parked at Grumpy 123, took the tram to the gate, took Fluffy to the kennel. But this time we rode the monorail into the Magic Kingdom all the way in, right thru the middle of the Contemporary Resort Hotel. And as we passed along the grounds, we could see all the bushes they had trimmed as animals.
Monorail…monorail….(I hear those things are awfully loud) It glides as silent as a cloud…
This time when we went through the gate, we went through different ones. Dan and Grandma did not win a prize, but Dot did! A souvenir pin and I’m a Winner sticker which we had to claim at the redemption center on Main St. Dot gave the prize to Dan. We were hoping for the car they give away each day, but the pin was nice too.
Oh look, we won something!
Don’t know what happened to the pin (I do vaguely remember it) but here’s the sticker – it even has the backing still on it.
I like the previous passage and the next one as they really show my grandmother’s sense of humor.
We stopped at the Plaza Restaurant for lunch, and sipped many drinks along the way because it was so hot. We rode the Skyway from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland. Also rode Peter Pan’s flight over London. Went back to the Mad Tea Party (Cups and Saucers) since Grandma got so dizzy, she wanted to do it again. Dan spun the wheel himself this time, and around and around we went. Then we went to get the hats at Mickey’s Mart – a Donald Duck hat, Mickey Mouse hat and Donald Duck animal, and then to Space Place for the light up hat. Then it rained again a little while so we took cover and walked to Frontierland and bought a Churro and split it three ways. It was very good, sort of a mexican pastry rolled up in cinnamon and sugar. Stopped at El Pirate Y el Perica for Cokes before going to Liberty Square to get on the Riverboat – the Richard E. Irvine – a steam powered stern wheeler. It goes all the way around Tom Sawyer’s Island and the Fort. Saw the Indians and part of the Fort.
Tom Sawyer island. I don’t recall if the mill is still there and if it is labeled Harper’s Mill anymore. Will have to check next time I go.
It just sits there and burns and burns. You probably don’t want to know what it’s made of, and you certainly shouldn’t eat it.
The boat dock? I’m honestly not sure. I don’t think this is still there, or it must look different now.
The Donald hat was for my brother, as was the Donald Duck stuffed animal – I already had a Mickey stuffed animal, so got the light-up LED hat instead. I remember playing with those toys in my childhood very vividly. For some reason, it was stuck in my head that my brother was into Donald Duck and I was into Mickey Mouse. I’m not sure he actually was at the time, but I very well may have converted him.
After this adventure we ate Nestle cookies and milk at Sleepy Hollow and picked out our seat for the show at the Castle and the Parade. The Castle show was very nice, all the Disney characters singing and dancing and then Mickey’s magic somehow gets him from the stage to the top of the castle in the blink of an eye. At nine, we watched the Electrical Parade and it was just as beautiful the second time around. After this was over we took the Ferryboat back to parking and Grumpy 123. However when we left parking, they routed us to downtown Orlando so we were a lot farther from our motel than anticipated, so we had a midnight supper in our room. Even so, it was good.
<July 8th>
We packed up the next morning and headed for Sea World, but after parking and seeing where we had to leave the dog, and that we would have to sit in the hot sun all day for the show, we decided against staying, and so started for home. Had breakfast at Dennys and drove on our merry way. Stayed overnight at Perry Georgia, at the Capri. Went for a swim, had supper, and got to bed early.
The aforementioned Capri. Why would someone want a postcard of a motel in the middle of nowhere? It will remain a mystery.
<July 9th>
Drove all day Thursday, and played a game, Dan had to be quiet every half hour for two minutes. Arrived in Indianapolis about nine PM or so, had supper and Dan said he would stay overnight with us, and go home in the morning.
My memory of this is faulty – I always thought I was having to be quiet for 25 minutes and could only talk for 5 minutes, but this clearly flips that around. Interesting. As family home videos from that time indicate, I had a VERY active inner monologue, but it wasn’t very inner – I was constantly talking whenever I could. Jasper seems to have the same tendencies. In any case, I’m sure hearing me talk for 14 and a half hours was probably exhausting, so I totally get the game.
<July 10th>
So this is the end of our trip – home again Friday Morning.
THE END.
So there we have it – my first trip to Disney World. It was only when I was much older that I truly appreciated how difficult that trip must have been for my grandmother. I returned two years later with my entire family, but that’s a story for another time…