Tell me about your first holiday to Florida

[N52939]

Originally Posted by Cloverlady

I know I was quite 'late to the party' in 2004 but is it true that the planes used to play Neil Diamond 'Coming to America' when they landed? (I think someone told me this once?)
I think I'd be quite moved! but then again I blub at anything!

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From memory Thomson used to do that on the taxi to the gate after landing.

[Guest]

1999, me and DH, I think it was Virgin we flew with into MCO.
We’d rented a villa from a work colleague and we had to pick the keys up from an office when we arrived. It was the days before sat nav and we couldn’t find the place, we drove up and down the 192 in Kissimmee and eventually said enough was enough and went to a hotel. We found it fine the next morning.
We visited Splendid China, there was hardly anyone there.
We went to Epcot and saw the Tapestry of Nations Parade - amazing! And Illuminations...
We only visited MK for the fireworks and went on Big Thunder Mountain because we were there.
We went to Universal and had our first experience of gang culture (!)
We used to go once a year for 2 or 3 weeks but now we’re both retired are thinking of doing a couple of trips a year. Sadly not on the scale of Mr Morrow 😁

[smithlane]

I’m a relative latecomer to the Florida obsession with our first trip in 2015. There were 10 of us altogether, myself and my 2 kids who were 12 and 10, my OH, in laws, sis and bro in law and their 2 kids.
My partner and his family had been to Florida many times before since 1994 so safe to say were veterans of Disney!
My in laws very kindly paid for our flights and villa in Formosa Gardens. We then bought every park ticket imaginable as it was only going to be ‘once in a lifetime’ for us as a family. A few months before going I also booked Coronado Springs for our second week as I wanted to make the most out of our stay, again thinking we wouldn’t be back!
We then decided to keep the whole holiday a surprise from the kids, telling them instead we were going to France for 2 weeks!
Needless to say we had the most amazing holiday. We didn’t stop the entire time we were there squeezing every last drop out of the 2 weeks. We covered MK, AK, HS, Epcot, Universal, IoA, SW, BG, Aquatica and Discovery Cove as well as doing a Wishes Cruise and Spirit of Aloha dinner show.
I have so many special memories of that holiday it makes me smile so much just thinking about it.
We then saved up to go all out for 3 weeks last year doing it all again but with 3 nights on Anna Maria Island as well.
When I try and explain to those who’ve never been before why we love it so much it’s just so difficult. It’s such a busy, full on holiday you barely have time to think so for me that’s why I come home physically broken but mentally relaxed and why it really is the Happiest Place on Earth 😃

[Whitequeen]

1989 was my first visit with my sister. We flew for Ł199 on a Virgin plane which was quite new at the time. You could still smoke on a plane and on some routes you could get a flight free if you entertained other travellers in the aisles.
We were ripped off by the car hire company but perhaps we weren't. There was no internet to research our trip.

There was only MK & EPCOT and the day we left they opened DS but we couldn't afford a ticket.
We only had a 3 day ticket and I remember my sister lying to me and saying Space Mountain was a 'tame' ride! I waited for 45 minutes in that line and when I got on (seats were side by side then) I spent the whole ride very nearly on the floor with my eyes closed... I never forgave her.

We thought we were in peril when Carousel of Progress stopped for no reason whilst we were in it. We, of course, now know it's an absolute regular occurrence. The Fireworks at EPCOT were set to the 1812 Overture.
I never in a million years thought I would be able to go back but here I am 24 trips later and branching out to the West Coast.

[Vanillapod]

I can’t remember if it was 1989 or 1990? I think perhaps 90?

We only went for a week but having not had a foreign holiday for about 7 or 8 years I was beyond excited.
We had horses and my mother would never leave them. It turns out this was a last ditch attempt to save their marriage so she agreed to a week. Spoiler alert, it didn’t work 🙄
I think it must have been a package deal.
We flew with TWA and stayed at the Delta Orlando Resort on Major Boulevard.
I remember a proper wagon dragon having a go at me before take-off because I couldn’t open my window shutter. It was totally jammed. She got really cross and clambered over my sister and practically onto my lap to do it but it wouldn’t budge 🤣
She pretty much broke every nail trying!
I was a bit upset (I was only 11) and a nice American man in the middle section shouted at her to try from outside 😬 She then turned her attention to him so I was off the hook!
I don’t know if you could fly direct back then? We went through St Louis and the immigration queue was long and boring!
Obviously the ill fitting toilet doors were noted as soon as we entered a rest room 😆
The grass too! When we finally got to MCO and walked through those doors the wall of warm just hit us and then we noticed the course spongey grass.

We bought tickets from the kiosk in the hotel upon arrival and visited MGM, Magic Kingdom, Universal, Water Mania and Wet and Wild plus did a lot of shopping at the Belz factory mall. I don’t remember being at Epcot with my mother and I’m fairly sure Blizard Beach and Typhoon didn’t exist then.

With no internet, only holiday magazines to flick through and good old Judith Chalmers showing us the sights on TV once in a while it was just another world entirely and I miss that side of things a lot really.
The food was so alien. I remember trying mozzarella sticks for the first time, I was in heaven!
I also recall squeezy cheese, those tall purple plastic bottles of grape juice with the tear off tops and bringing home boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix 😆 (must have been easily pleased)

I absolutely loved the Knee Skiing at Wet and Wild but how dangerous must that have been? Surely there’s a chance alligators were hiding in that murky water? 😬

Aside from the mozzarella sticks, cartons of probably insanely sugary chocolate milk and jacket potatoes (they found me asking for a jacket potato hilarious) I can’t really remember what we ate.
We ate in the hotel most of the time I think.
We definitely went to a pancake house which was amazing. It wasn’t IHOP, it was sooo much better than that but I just can’t remember what it was called.
The pancakes were randomly stacked and totally covered with fresh fruit, cream and ice cream. It was a pancake mountain! 😋

I think the queue in the parks were pretty long and FP didn’t exist but you were kept entertained and characters randomly wandered back then which was always exciting to see.
People always say you never forget seeing the castle for the first time but I have forgotten!
I can’t recall being in MK with my mother at all 🤔 Maybe she just didn’t come that day so I’m confusing trips?

I do recall watching candles being dipped at carved at old town and drinking Coke from glass bottles for 5c (providing you returned the bottle)

After that first taste we returned many times but just the 3 of us as our mother had left soon after.

I am still so excited each time a trip is booked. Life is just so serious and stressful so what could be better than disappearing into a world of magic and make believe where you can truly see things through a child’s eyes again?

[Taffy1959]

September 2003, we booked through CO-OP travel agency and we were with First Choice.
We flew premium and thought we were the bees knees being in such nice seats.
There were 5 of us DH, myself, DD 24 and DS's 2&3 who were 16 and almost 14 DS 1 age 21 wasn't interested.
We stayed at a Howard Johnson on Kirkman Drive near Sweet Tomatoes on Idrive.
The hotel was just about OK and we took the view of its somewhere to sleep and shower.
We bought a 5 park flex ticket which covered both Universal parks, SeaWorld, Busch Garden and Wet & Wild.
Before we left I got an egg credit card which was interest free for 6 months and used it to buy our Disney tickets from the Disney shop at the Beltz outlets.
Everywhere was so quiet we didn't really need the paper Fastpasses most rides were a walk on.
We had an absolute blast and I couldn't quite believe that we were actually there.
The 5 of us were in one room but it didn't bother us as we were just so happy to be there, we were out early every morning and back late most nights, when we were back earlier we ate at Sweet Tomatoes as DD was a vegetarian, it was cheap and convenient.
We paid around Ł850 each for myself DH and DD (who paid for herself) Ł59 for DS2 and Ł159 for DS3.
2 days before we were due to leave we had a bad thunderstorm and got back to our room to find water running down the wall, they offered to move us but the thought of packing at 10 pm for 5 people and moving rooms wasn't appealing so we stayed put and fortunately the rain stopped shortly after.
It was supposed to be once in a lifetime but we were hooked and there's only been 2 years since that we haven't gone.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Taffy1959

It was supposed to be once in a lifetime but we were hooked and there's only been 2 years since that we haven't gone.

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I love it when people say that, I don't think people are kidding themselves when they say it, it's honestly what they think at the time but Florida has other ideas

When you think what you can spend on a holiday elsewhere, it's no wonder people keep coming back.

[stupet11]

I have said every year will be our last.

Even when I book the next trip before going on the current one!

[Mo&Chris]

My first trip to Florida wasn't a holiday! In 2000, I flew out from Gatwick to Miami to join the cruise ship I was working on. Couldn't tell you where I stayed the night I landed, only that I remember the bed was massive, and I was ironing my uniforms at 3am thanks to jetlag and nerves.

I spent 4 months sailing round the Caribbean, before relocating to the Med, and I remember several American passengers apologising that my first impression of the US was Miami Airport!

First proper holiday there was to celebrate our 40ths, we flew with Virgin, and stayed at Windsor Hills. Lucked out with a condo we loved, and have stayed there every trip since.

I remember welling up as I walked towards the ferry to MK and got my first proper glimpse of the castle! Several trips later, it still gives me goosebumps!

/Mo

[fluffychicken]

1988 I spent my 11th birthday in MK 😀.
We stayed on Marco island for 2 weeks and had 3 days in Orlando MK EPCOT and SeaWorld. Our American relative had said that was all the time needed in Orlando. My parents disagreed so 2 years later we went back for 2 weeks.
The thing I remember most is my dad meeting tigger, he ran to tigger and was then mortified when tigger polished his bald head 😂