We're less than 20 days away from heading to the House of Mouse for our end of the school year trip so I thought it would be fun to climb back into the Wayback Machine and take a peak at my family's second trip to WDW in the summer of 1991. As with the last post, pictures will be old school, kind of grainy, and full of great fashion and fanny packs (HA!).
And here we go! As with last time, our home away from home was the Caribbean Beach Resort...at that point still one of the only moderates resorts on property (Port Orleans French Quarter had just opened). And there I am, poolside. I was a budding freshman, ready to embark on my high school career. I had become a bit (and I'll stress bit) more fashion conscious during those two years of Jr. High though for the life of me I could not get my bangs to stand up, no matter how much Aqua Net I used. Oh well, truthfully, I'm not sure how much I cared. Plus it was 90 plus degrees with 90% humidity...no one was giving a you know what about how they looked. I had just joined the Agawam Piranhas Swim Team and I was representing in my team suit. I remember having quite a few people say my body was built for swimming and looking at the picture I can see why, with those broad shoulders. That would come in handy for all those laps of butterfly I was about swim over the next three years.
I had originally thought that there weren't many pictures of my sister and I on this second trip as we got sick of posing in front of stuff from the first trip and refused to do it the second time around. No matter, my Dad still got his pictures! However I did notice that he appears in more of these photos. Some of the photos are fun to look at because you notice details that are different today. Case in point:
Look through those trees and you'll spy the old entrance to Tomorrowland, which in my opinion, looks better than the newer one. Fashion alert! Yes, this picture is us from behind but take a look at that popped collar on my Dad's shirt!
I'll wait, zoom on in there and take a look. Here, let me help you out:
Go Dad! I also may have spied a few pics of my Mom in acid washed denim shorts. We were kicking it in the early 90's!
This is the trip where I rode Space Mountain for the first and possibly the last (unless my son has his way) time.
Splash Mountain was still just a dream:
But Brer Bear was there!
Tea Cup time!
Simulator rides were the new thing that summer...and we rode both of them. Body Wars at the now long extinct Wonders of Life pavilion at EPCOT (it was still all caps then):
And the new Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios.
Not sure if that is me before or after the ride but I'll take a guess and say after...I learned quickly that those rides were NOT for those of us who get motion sickness. I spent half of each ride with my eyes closed gripping the seat. I found out this January that they have very much improved and perfected the technology in the interim 22 years and urge to hurl on Star Tours was even stronger the 2nd time around. I'm sure the 3rd time would be the charm in June...I won't be riding. My potential co-riders are already thanking me.
Moving on...Mickey and Minnie in their Future World Space Suits:
Yes those are random people in those pictures...pre-fastpass days people...we weren't waiting in line.
It rained a lot when were there for this trip...like every day a lot. It wasn't horrible but there was a thunderstorm that rolled through every afternoon. Did that stop us? Not a bit...we just donned our ponchos and kept on going. This was while waiting for the movie in the France Pavilion:
We spend one (rainy) day at the now abandoned Discovery Island, pretty much the precursor to Animal Kingdom. Like River Country, it's hard to believe that Disney just closed it up and left it to rot (after they moved the animals of course!):
Remember when there was an actual show at the Diamond Horseshoe?
We do!
I remember this happening:
We finished up our trip with a visit to the newly opened Universal Studios Theme Park!
Which I remember the highlight for me being Nickelodeon Studios. Who remembers You Can't do that on Television and getting slimed??? I remember when we went to this show my mom distinctly told us NOT to volunteer.
And can we just talk about this guy's outfit for a second? Clearly channeling his inner Zack Morris (Saved by the Bell).
I have no recollection of this but wow, the appeal of this attraction has 1991 written all over it:
We lunched at the Hard Rock Cafe. This was a big deal in the early 90's.
Look at that lady on the left! A total photobomber before photobombing was a thing!!! Wow, is she happy!
See that bag I'm holding in this picture? I coveted both the shirt inside it and the bag it came in. Chances are that brown bag covered one of my textbooks the following fall.
I had no idea that after this trip, the next time I would be in The World would be a three generation trip 22 years later with my own kids. Nor did I have any idea how much the memories from these two trips would stick with me as I grew up. The Disney bug bit us hard. My parents even considered moving to Florida for a bit...my Dad sent inquiries to school systems in the area. In the end they decided to stay put. But clearly those days had a lasting impact on all of us.
19 days and counting!
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