Trip Reports

• Time of Year: Spring
• Travel Method: Personal Car
• Resort: Offsite (Relative's Home)
• Accommodations: n/a
• Ages Represented in Group: Adult
• WDW Experience Represented in Group: Rookie
• Comments: This is a description of Jim's first trip to WDW. He grew up watching Disneyland the television show, but didn't get to a Disney park until almost twenty years later. A wonderful report, don't miss it! (As I add this report to the site's collection, I'm really looking forward to reading additional reports by Jim...stay tuned!)

Walt Disney World, April, 1973, One Day

I have been extremely impressed by the trip reports I have downloaded from Brian's Web Site. Perhaps I should start by giving you a Jim Pertierra Disney background report.

As of this writing (January, 1997) I am approaching 48 years old. That's physical age. My wife is still waiting for me to grow up, trust me! On June 1st, my wife, Janet, and I will be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary. We have three sons. Matt turns 10 in March, Dan will be 9 in August and Mark is 7 in May. We live in Cohoes, New York, a small town north of the State Capital in Albany. I grew up in Schenectady, NY which was, for most of this century, the headquarters for General Electric.

Given my age, you all know that I grew up watching Walt on the original Disneyland television show. I have very strong memories of watching the progress of the construction of Disneyland through that show. My younger brother, Chris, was born on the morning of July 17, 1955. I am sure you recognize the significance of that date. After the park was open, my Godmother gave me 4 puzzles for Christmas. Each puzzle detailed one of the four lands in the original park. For some reason there was not a puzzle for Main Street, USA When I was 8, I had a major league crush on the 18 year old girl across the street. I remember telling my mother that I was going to marry Diane and we would spend our honeymoon in Disneyland. I knew, of course, that the second stories of those Main Street buildings housed apartments where you could honeymoon. Of course she married someone else and my dreams of getting to Disneyland faded.

When my father got a vacation in the 50's and '60's, he usually spent the vacation painting the house or some other big project around the house. I know that any time that a show about Disneyland popped up on the Wonderful World of Color (Black and White in my house), you would find me right in front of the television. The dream never faded, but reality is a stubborn thing.

When Walt announced plans for Disney World (it was not Walt Disney World then), it was very exciting as there would be another park closer to home. It was closer, but for all practical purposes, it could have been in Katmandu and I still had no chance to get there. It is funny, looking back, how little impact the building of Disney World had on me. I mean I have always been a confirmed Disneymaniac, but what went on in Kissimmee meant little to me.

When the park was finished and dedicated, it made for nice news, but now Walt was dead and HIS park was in California. This was just going to be an imitation of the original.

My cousin Tom, who lived in Daytona Beach, FL, was getting married in March of 1973. My Aunt and Uncle invited us all down for the wedding. My parents could not afford to go, so I volunteered to represent our portion of the Pertierra clan at the wedding. It would mark a lot of firsts for me. The first time I had flown (since I was an infant), the first time I was going to be further South than Virginia, and the first time I was going to be in the same State as a Disney park.

I won't bore you with the details, but my cousin got married, went on his honeymoon, and my Aunt and Uncle took myself and my 2 Aunts on a whirlwind tour of Florida. We were scheduled to spend 1 week in Florida. My cousin got married on a Saturday. Sunday was a day for rest and recuperation. We hit St. Augustine on Monday, April 2. As I remember, St. Augustine was okay. The highlight was the view from the old Spanish fort.

Tuesday, April 3, we went to the Kennedy Space Center. Fortunately for us, this was during the time when you could visit the Spacecraft Assembly Building which was just awe inspiring. I really enjoyed the Space Center. If I remember correctly, there was a night time, un-manned launch while I was in Florida which we watched from my Aunt and Uncle's porch.

Wednesday we rested. At lunch my Uncle asked me if I wanted to go to WDW on Thursday. I said why not, but was not exactly brimming with excitement about the prospect of going. We would be leaving to fly home on Friday and part of me was dreading the prospect of being in the cold North again.

Thursday, April 4, 1973 - Jim visits Walt Disney World

We left Daytona around 9 AM to head for Kissimmee. I don't remember much about the drive over as I read all the way. As we approached the Disney property I felt a definite change in attitude. Regardless of the fact that this was an imitation, it was still Disney. There was a Main Street, there was a Castle, the 4 lands were there (yes, I know there were 5) and so was I.

We parked in the parking area and, for the first time I realized that the sun was shining, it wasn't too warm and it was a lovely day. We walked to the trams to take us to the TTC. My Aunt and Uncle had been to the park (Only Magic Kingdom at this point) 10 times and they were going to give my 2 Aunts and myself the whirlwind tour.

We purchased our 1 day pass at the TTC and boarded the monorail to head over to the Magic Kingdom. I could see Cinderella's Castle in the distance and I could feel the big grin start spreading across my face. I realized that the monorail was going to head into the Contemporary Resort. This was one of the things I remembered about WDW, the fact that the monorail went right through the A-Framed hotel.

The monorail ride was pretty slick. I remember looking at the interior of the Contemporary reminded me of a beehive. We weren't in the station that long and before we knew it, we had exited the Contemporary and were heading to the Magic Kingdom.

When the monorail stopped at Magic Kingdom station, I was a kid again. Everything I had always wished for had come true (except the Honeymoon, but that's something for another report!).

I remember walking into Town Square for the first time, looking around the square and finally focusing on Cinderella's Castle. I was in awe! The Walt Disney Story and Tom Sawyer Island were under construction at the time and there were signs on Main Street letting everyone know that.

Now I certainly can not remember the exact order we saw things nearly 24 years ago, but I do remember what we saw. In Adventureland we saw the Tiki Birds, Jungle Cruise and the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. In what would become a tradition with me, I fell asleep at the Tiki Birds. The Treehouse was fun (I had always loved it in the movie) and the Jungle Cruise spiel impressed me more than the audio-animatronics.

Frontierland really only had the Country Bears at the time. We did them later in the day and I loved the attraction. Funny, but I have no recollection of Big Al from back then. I remember Teddi Bara, but not Al!!

We had a ball in Liberty Square. Like now, there were only the two attractions, but at that time, The Hall of the Presidents was probably the most crowded attraction in WDW. I remember noticing for the first time that the Presidential figures were "chatting and nodding" while their counterparts were introduced. Richard Nixon was the President back then so the stage was less crowded than it is now, but there was so much to look at on that stage. The HoP was my favorite attraction back during my first visit. The Haunted Mansion was fun. I can still remember the laughter of my Aunt Jeanne (now deceased) as we came to the end of the ride and saw that our car had an added passenger.

Fantasyland was OK. I am sure we went on It's A Small World, but I didn't like it as much as I had at the New York World's Fair. It wasn't until many years later at Disneyland that I discovered why. I had taken some 8mm movies at the World's Fair in May of 1965 and the exterior of the building (plus the boats also leaving the interior) was the same in Disneyland as it had been in New York. The only other attraction I remember going on in Fantasyland was my 2nd favorite, the late, lamented Mickey Mouse Review (Is it still in Japan?). The Review was housed in the building where The Legend of the Lion King now appears. The premise of the attraction was based on the Mickey Mouse short, "The Band Concert". I really wish that my children will someday be able to see this attraction. If any of you remember the MMR, drop me a line!

Tomorrowland was much different then also. Monsanto sponsored America the Beautiful, which was my first 360 degree movie. I remember a lot of the movie, but the one image that still stays with me is going down the hill in San Francisco and watching everyone leaning to and fro. The Carousel of Progress was another holdover from the New York World's Fair. I loved it in New York, I loved it in 1973 and I love it now. The other attraction that we went on in Tomorrowland was Mission to the Moon (I don't think it was Mars in 1973, but if anyone has a clearer memory, let me know!). I wasn't that impressed.

Our Disney dining that day consisted of fast food at the Tomorrowland Terrace and some of that great popcorn along Main Street.

At the end of our visit, I was not ready to leave. Someone had sprinkled the pixie dust on me for sure. We stopped in the Emporium and I remember asking a cast member how you could get a job at WDW. She told me that you had to have a Florida mailing address or else they wouldn't even consider you. Now my Uncle lived in Daytona, had the same last name, and would vouch for his son, Jim, if needed. As we boarded the boats to return to the TTC, I was figuring how long it would take me to clear my stuff out of the room I shared with my brother at my Parent's house for the move. I stood in the back of the boat in order to keep Cinderella's Castle as my last image of the trip.

The ride home was quiet. Returning to the real world was something I was not looking forward to.

I don't know why I never applied to work there. I am sure that uprooting was the main reason, but I do know that I probably missed my best opportunity. The desire to be a cast member has never diminished. I drive my wife more than a little bonkers now just to work in the Disney Store part time. I often wonder what would have happened if I had made the move. I know that I probably would never have met my wife and been blessed with my 3 sons, but who knows?

From the moment I stepped out of the car in the parking lot for the first time, all the emotions I had as a 6 year old came gushing again. I was re-hooked as a Disney Maniac and I knew that it was not a bad thing.

I hope you haven't minded putting up with my fractured memories. I had told Brian that I wanted to report on all my trips since discovering the Site and the 1973 visit is the one that I remember the least. The rest of the trips contain a lot more memories and events, but the first one is always special. It was certainly the least time, by far, that I have ever spent on the property during a visit. 10 years would pass before I saw Cinderella's Castle again, but that is for another time and another report.

Drop me some mail if I haven't bored you too much!

Jim Pertierra, 1/27/97

JPertierra@aol.com

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