My FIRST TRIP To Walt Disney World
I look back nearly 30 years to an old home video of my first trip to Orlando, where we visited Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. We'll get to see some of the classic rides and quite a few that no longer exist as we see how much has changed in all this time.
I stumbled across the home video from my very first vacation to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios Florida and it’s nearly 30 years old. I thought I’d bring you with me in the way-back machine so you could actually see what it was like to visit at that time.
We’re going to see old attractions that aren’t there anymore, vintage parades, blurry VHS footage, and me with hair. What’s to lose… other than the hair?
Come along with me and witness when I actually fell in love with Disney.
Discovering the Old Home Videos
That is 13-year-old Joe Findlay, and that’s actually his seven-year-old sister Dayna, who is now an editor at CGMagazine.
You can tell this was everybody’s first chance using a camcorder because we knew absolutely nothing about exposure or filming. Looking back now, it’s wild to see how far we’ve come.
And the quality? This footage went from camcorder tape to VHS to DVD before finally being digitized. It’s basically been through the media equivalent of a teleportation accident.
This was actually my first time watching it in probably 15 years.
For some reason, we videotaped everything. Including wandering around the hotel gym for no reason whatsoever.
It was really nice seeing my dad in these videos too. We barely have any home videos of us growing up, and my dad passed away in 2011. My daughter was only about six or seven months old at the time, so my kids never really got to know him. Being able to show them these moments and say, “Hey, this was your grandpa,” means a lot.
Flying to Florida in the Mid-90s
For context, I was 13 on this trip and my sister was seven. Funny enough, my daughter is now 13 and my son is eight, so it’s almost the exact same family dynamic all over again.
This trip also taught me something I still swear by today: take the early flight.
Yeah, you’re exhausted, but getting that extra first day in Orlando is completely worth it.
My sister was terrified to fly for the first time, while I was apparently busy inspecting airplane instrumentation like I was applying for the FBI.
Back then, kids could even visit the cockpit during flights. Imagine trying that now. Security today would descend from the ceiling like a Mission: Impossible sequence.
Eventually, we landed in sunny Florida after leaving behind rainy Canadian weather.
Naturally, we kept the hotel curtains closed.
Perfect logic.
Our First Park: Universal Studios Florida
Our first stop was Universal Studios Florida.
To put the timeline in perspective:
Universal Islands of Adventure didn’t exist yet
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was still 15 years away
Only one ride from 1995 still exists today: E.T. Adventure
Our first attraction was the old The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera.
The footage is so blurry I can barely tell what’s happening, but somehow that makes it feel even more authentic.
Then came Kongfrontation.
The queue for Kongfrontation was incredible back then because it genuinely felt like you were entering a New York subway station. The sets were fantastic.
Old Universal had this charm that’s hard to describe now. It still had that “making movies” identity woven into everything.
We also absolutely broke every rule by filming on rides.
Thankfully, I have video evidence that it was my mother doing it and not me, so I think I’m legally safe.
At the end of Kongfrontation, there was a fake news report showing your tram escaping danger, and you could actually see my mom filming the screen while holding the camcorder. It was peak 1995 energy.
ET, Hard Rock Cafe, and Theme Park Food in the 90s
We eventually made it to E.T. Adventure, which somehow still exists today.
Seeing people lugging around giant camcorders really reminds you how different content creation used to be. Now you can shoot entire cinematic travel videos on something that fits in your pocket.
Then came what may have been the culinary low point of the trip: Hard Rock Cafe Orlando.
My mom still talks about how every meal everywhere felt exactly the same:
“Chicken fingers and burgers. Chicken fingers and burgers.”
Honestly? Theme park dining has evolved light-years since then.
The Magic Kingdom: Where the Disney Obsession Began
Our second day brought us to Magic Kingdom Park.
This was my first Disney park experience, and you can actually pinpoint the exact moment the Disney obsession took hold.
The park was decorated for Christmas, and even back then the holiday atmosphere was magical.
One thing I forgot entirely was The Timekeeper starring Robin Williams.
For years I thought Robin Williams was part of ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Turns out I had completely mashed two attractions together in my memory like a VHS tape left too close to a magnet.
Alien Encounter, though? Absolutely terrifying.
My sister was too short to experience most of the effects, so while my mother was whispering “it’s fake, it’s fake” into her ear, I was sitting there fully convinced an alien was about to eat us alive.
Later, when it became Stitch's Great Escape!, I remember being confused because I thought the attraction had once traumatized me as a child.
Turns out… it had.
Classic Disney Attractions That Still Hit Different
We rode classics that are still essential today:
it's a small world
Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Caribbean
Splash Mountain
I will never skip “it’s a small world.” Ever.
Anyone who genuinely loves Disney understands that ride is stitched directly into the soul of the parks. It’s nostalgia operating heavy machinery.
Haunted Mansion completely blew my mind as a kid. I remember going home and trying to explain to friends that the room stretches. That attraction is Imagineering wizardry at its absolute peak.
We also watched Country Bear Jamboree, which I shamefully skip too often these days because I’m always in “go-go-go” park mode trying to maximize every second.
Back then, though, I would sit there hyperfocused on the animatronics, staring at every facial movement like I was studying for an exam in robotic bear sciences.
SpectroMagic and Disney Memories
We ended the night with the legendary SpectroMagic parade.
Watching that footage again hit me harder than I expected.
That’s the thing about Disney memories. They don’t just remind you of attractions. They remind you of the people you experienced them with.
Hearing my mom’s excitement in the background while she watched the parade honestly meant everything to me. As a parent now, I understand exactly what she was feeling.
You just want the experience to be magical for your kids.
And when it becomes magical for you too? That’s the part that sticks forever.
MGM Studios and Attractions We Lost Along the Way
The next day we visited Disney-MGM Studios, now known as Disney's Hollywood Studios.
We watched the legendary Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!, which has a special family connection for me.
My dad was selected as one of the audience participants during this trip, and years later I was picked during my daughter’s first visit. Tiny Disney full-circle moments like that feel weirdly cosmic.
We also visited the now-defunct Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure playground, which may still be one of the best themed play areas Disney ever created.
Then came classics like:
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The Great Movie Ride
I love Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, so I’m okay with some evolution, but The Great Movie Ride is definitely one I miss.
The park also had an incredible Christmas lights setup across the backlot streets. Every house looked like the Griswolds had personally decorated it.
Looking Back Nearly 30 Years Later
There’s no footage from EPCOT because we barely explored it on that trip.
My mom had no idea World Showcase existed.
So we basically walked into Future World, did a couple things, and left thinking EPCOT was boring.
An all-time Disney vacation mistake.
Going through these videos again was incredibly special. It’s really the only footage that exists of all of us together as a family, and while that’s a little sad, I’m grateful it exists at all.
It was amazing seeing attractions that no longer exist, revisiting old memories, and realizing how much those early trips shaped the way I experience theme parks even now.
And honestly?
Seeing 13-year-old me discovering Disney for the very first time again was kind of magical.
