Oddest Disney memory? About This Page:

[korki-rad]

So, what is the strangest memory you have of Disney?

For me, it is when my family went to WDW for the first time...in 1979 or so...pre Epcot. I was five years old. I had been completely traumatized by the Snow White ride, so when my parents *really* wanted to do Haunted Mansion, I wanted nothing to do with it. After arguing quite a bit, my parents realized there was no way I was going into HM. So, they found me a nice little bench just outside HM and LEFT ME THERE!! while they rode!! This was the middle of June and even then, WDW was extremely busy. In my mind, they were gone for about two hours, but I'm sure that is an estimate exaggerated by my child mind. I remember sitting on the bench (I'd been ORDERED not to move a muscle!) and studying the WDW map, looking at the little pictures of the rides and things until my parents came back.

Even today, when my family talks about it, my mother shakes her head and says how she absolutely can't believe that she left me there. For years, that was my main Disney memory.

How 'bout you? Any odd Disney memories out there?

[Jookiba]

For me (and it's pretty faint since this was when I was 4) it was riding the old Skyway with my dad and uncle and being stuck on it when it broke down......feeling the wind sway us back and forth. I did some searching on youtube and found a video someone took right before they tore it down in 98......brought back so many memories.

Or on a high school band trip-we could tell who all rode "If You Had Wings" as on the bus trip back everyone kept humming the tune "if you had wings......if you had wings.....if you had wings had wings had wings"........YEESH!

[elbug10]

One of my strangest memories is of taking the boat over to the original Discovery Island in either 1975 or '76. I remember it being pointed out to me that the river traveled OVER the road (via a cement overpass), and we have pictures of it, somewhere! I also rememher my Grandmother using her umbrella handle to scoop up and collect some of the stray flamingo feathers that were floating under the wooden walkway. I barely remember any of the rides that trip, except for IASW and Cinderella's Carousel, which I LOVED and couldn't ride enough of (to my family's dismay b/c in those days you needed the proper lettered ticket to ride; we never had enough for my tastes!). I also remember wanting OFF the Wedway People Mover once we realized it went into Space Mountain (mid-ride!) and being terrified of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and most of the dark rides for that matter. Also the skipper on the jungle cruise scared the living daylights out of me with the RIFLE he used (at least I remember it as a rifle back then). I was a fun kid; I was terrified of everything. It's a wonder I love WDW so much, now, lol!

Edited to add: I just read Joanne929's post, which jogged my memory about an "incident" with the 3 Little Pigs. This memory was from the same trip, mid-1970's. I remember the 3 Little Pigs were doing a character greeting, I think over in the Rose Garden when some older kids started hitting them in the head with either sticks or their hands! This was before the characters had handlers and they had to leave abruptly to protect themselves so I never did get to meet them. I don't know why the kids were hiting them, but I was only about 5 and it was very scary to me. On that trip I DID manage to get my picture taken not with Mickey or Minnie, but with Flower the Skunk from Bambi!

[dejavu]

When we went to WDW when I was 16, we rode Space Mountain. My mom, who to this day STILL carries a giant purse unzipped with papers and stuff overflowing the top, was next to me on the ride. As we were flying around in the dark we could hear tons of ping ping ping sounds- my mom's vast amount of loose change falling out of her purse and pinging on whatever it hit. She was terrified on that ride and also mad at the 'ride' for making her lose her money.

[RobinKay6573]

I was 5 when we visited WDW the first time. Mom and dad wanted a day to themselves so they took my sister and I to "daycare". It was fun Disney Daycare where we played games and did activities. Because it isn't like a normal daycare where all the attendants know your name they gave us big Pooh stickers to wear. Being 5 I thought this was the COOLEST THING EVER! After mom & dad picked my sister and I up we went over to the petting zoo at Fort Wilderness where we were staying. A goat tried to eat my name sticker and I was so angry with that goat that I smacked him on the head and said, "NO BAD GOAT." My mother was MORTIFIED and snatched me up. No silly goat was going to eat my sticker.

Here is me at the ORIGIONAL Discovery Island with my intact sticker:



Oh and that same trip I remember being TERRIFIED of the "ship wreak" on the beach at Discovery Island. I wouldn't go ANYWHERE near it....dad and my sister were climbing all over it but me? NO WAY!

[caitdanmom]

Two memories. The first was back in the late 70's. - I was 12. We had breakfast at the Contemporary and i was carrying this purse with me (i swear it said THE Fonz on it). I left it at the restaurant at the Contemporary and we walked all the way back to our room in the Wings and realized I forgot it. My older sister had to go back with me and all she did was complain. The 2nd was when I was 20, my younger sister and I went to Epcot by ourselves at night, we went on the Journey to Imagination ride and got stuck on it. We had to walk off the ride through a few of the scenes. my DS just mentioned it to me over the holidays.

[Lemap760]

I went with two friends after high school graduation. It was the first trip for all of us. We couldn't find the mears shuttle at the airport and some cab driver offered to take us to our hotel. Since we didn't know any better we accepted the ride. The strangest part about it is I don't remember paying the cabbie for the ride.

[Joanne929]

When we went with my parents the first time (in the 70's) we stayed at the Dutch Inn (now the Grosvenor) and I remember losing my sandals at the pool and seeing a Mickey phone and wanting to use it (I have no idea where in the hotel the Mickey phone was!).

I also remember that my sisters were scared by the Big Bad Wolf - there was some 3 Little Pigs show and we were all sitting on the side (of the stage?) by a gate and that was apparently where he 'escaped' to (or something - I was only maybe 7!)

I remember it being really hot too (we went the end of June!)

[Suzie]

MY oddest memory of WDW was back in 1981, when my oldest DS was very small. He was a Pooh lover so we were anxious to do a meet with him. At that time Pooh did not look like he does now, he was slightly skinnier and wore a "hunny" pot on his head. I was walking around the flag courtyard looking for him when I saw a small group of people gathered around -the bear was lying on the ground! Poor Pooh must have tripped on something or been overcome by the heat, who knows, but it was really distressing all the kids around him. I said out loud the first thing that came into my head which was "Pooh is tired and needs a nap it seems. " His handler (cast member) was gazing helplessly at him and occassionally mumblimg something into a walkie-talkie (remember those? about the size of a brick and about as easy to communicate on). Pooh himself just keep rocking back and forth in a totally futile attempt to get up. He was obviously overbalanced by the thing on his head and the cast member was not offering any assistance. When she heard me, she nodded her head and said, "Yes, Pooh needs to take a nap. Please go along, he will be back later." But the crowd just stood there, sobbing kids in their midst. I left with my son, I never did see how it was resolved.
It was pretty sad at the time but now it makes me laugh. Next trip I noticed that Pooh no longer had the hunny pot hat.
Suzie

[Section1Guy]

I'll have to really think about something that has to do with Disney, but on my last trip while driving on property...don't remember where to, but I called Nextel 411 on my cell (don't remember what I needed as a number...maybe Bahama Breeze), but the 411 operator and I got into a crazy screaming match with each other that to this day when I dial 411, it's stored in my phone (now Verizon) as "Crazy Nextel Woman"