Disney Ride Pics of Yore

I have a feeling this blog post might be the equivalent of someone saying, "Do you want to sit down and see the slide show of our trip to the Grand Canyon." You say yes to be nice, but get bored after picture five of 200, and keep wondering when the boring stories that are exciting to no one except the person telling them will be over. So, feel free to skip this post if you have no interest in the pictures or stories. I won't be offended. Actually, I won't even know you skipped them, that's the magic of blogs.

As many people are aware, I've done the Disney World thing several times in my 29 years of life. One of my traditions of traveling to the land where dreams come true is to buy at least one souvenir ride photo during each trip. This tradition started in 1994 and will continue until my last trip to Disney (hopefully as an old grandma). So here they are (just click on pictures to enlarge):

Splash Mountain

October 1994

On my third trip to Disney World my family went with my best friends from Tennessee's family. I was born in TN, and after my family moved back to Wisconsin Elizabeth and I were pen pals for most of our lives. Her little sister Juliet and I became pen pals as well. I still have most of the letters they sent me, and I think think they have some of the letters I sent them. When I grew older I would spend a few weeks each summer at Elizabeth and Juliet's house. Our families also went on a few vacations together. One year our families decided to venture to WDW. We shared a nice big villa, and Elizabeth, Juliet, and I got to share the master suite featuring a large jacuzzi tub. We had a great time. This was the first time I rode Splash Mountain, and I love how in the picture below Elizabeth and I are holding hands. Their mom is in the middle (before the ride she said, "Let's all try to look like we're terrified for the picture!" She did a great job!). My mom and Juliet are in the back, and I don't think Juliet is pretending to be terrified, I think she really was that scarred.

Tower of Terror

October 1994

This was my family's and Elizabeth's family's first time on the Tower of Terror as well. I think the ride had just opened. Our families take up the first two rows on the left hand side of the picture. I don't think my big brother, Jimmy, a teen at the time, loved this trip with three giggly pre-teen girls and two sets of parents. My arm is linked with my dad's. His eyes are closed. My mom (in front of me) and I have the same screaming face.

Splash Mountain

Summer 1995

In 1995 my friend Kristy and her father invited me to go to Disney World with them. I was more than happy to oblige. Kristy and I are in the front row, her dad is in the back. This was one of the first times I remember being aloud to go out on my own without parents. Kristy's dad let us go to Magic Kingdom one night all by ourselves. I felt SUPER cool!

Splash Mountain

Spring 1996

I was lucky enough to go to DW two times in 1996. Here I am on Splash Mountain with my little cousin Venessa (whom I adored) and my friend Katie behind us.

Tower of Terror

May 1996

My mom, my friend Katie, my cousin Venessa, and my Aunt Peg all decided to take my special needs brother, Todd, to Disney World. This was a trip filled with ups and downs, much like the Tower of Terror. On our last day we took my brother Todd on TOT. Poor guy didn't know what was going on, and was actually shaking at the end. Katie, Mom, Todd, and me are in the second row on the left.

Splash Mountain

October 1996

This trip was really fun. I went with a group of friends from school, my mom, and one of their mom's. I'm in the second to the last row with my friend Katie. The moms are in the middle, and my other two friends are in the front. This was my freshman year of high school, and right before school started I cut my hair REALLY short. I liked it at first, but eventually grew it back out.

Tower of Terror

October 1996

Our group is in the front two rows on the right-hand-side.

Splash Mountain

October 1997

This trip my mom and I went with my cousin Venessa, my cousin Jesse, Uncle Dave, and my Grandma Stoehr. We all had a great time. I'm glad we got my Grandma on Splash Mountain. :)

Tower of Terror

October 1997

My mom, Jesse, Venessa, and myself are in the second row from the front on the left.

Dinosaur

October 1998

This was a trip we took with some of my church friends. We had so much fun! We're in the middle of the ride with my mom.

Tower of Terror

October 1998

Our group is in the back left-hand-side. We came up with the plan that my friend Mim would be choking me, and Lauren would be pretend stabbing me for the picture. I was supposed to look dead -ha! Lauren's Mom, Patsy, is next to her screaming, and my mom is in the yellow shirt with her hands up.

Tower of Terror

October 1999

This was the trip we took right after my brother proposed to his wife, Amy. It was my senior year of high school and we took my little cousin Ariana with us. My brother and his fiance are in the front left-hand-side. My mom, Ariana, and myself are in the second row on the right-hand-side.

Tower of Terror

May 2002

This was on Jim and my honeymoon. BEST. HONEYMOON. EVER. We're the cute little couple in the front row at the bottom left.

Splash Mountain 2007

This was the first trip my mom got to take her grandkids on -- her dream since having grandbabies. Tralee was only nine-months-old at the time. Jim was probably watching her, thus lack of his face in this picture. The guy in the very front is a stranger, my niece, nephew, brother, mom, sister-in-law, and myself take up the rest of the photo.

Tower of Terror 2007

My mom, Jim, and myself took my little niece Haylee (who was around five at the time) on TOT. She heard people screaming on the ride and said, "Oh boy! Do you hear them screaming? They must be having A LOT of fun!" We didn't tell her otherwise and took her on. A few seconds into the ride she said, "Uh-oh. I don't think this is what I was thinking of." My mom kept telling her, "If you get scarred, just close your eyes and hold on tight." You can see from Haylee's face that she took Grandma's advice to heart. We're in the second row on the left. The cute little girl with eyes squished so tight it looks like her face with implode is Haylee.

Rock 'N' Roller Coaster 2007

Mom, Amy, Jim, and myself. This is Jim's favorite ride (besides the Dino one), even though he gets motion sickness.

AND LASTLY. . .

Splash Mountain 2010

This is the first picture that Tralee makes her debut!! Jim was sitting out with Hunter for this ride. My mom and Haylee are in the front, Tralee and I are in the middle (look at Tralee's cute little scarred face), and Amy and Brady are in the back. This was a GREAT trip to Disney, especially because Tralee got it. She's still talking about it, and most nights before bed she says, "I'm going to dream about going to Disney World with Haylee and Brady." Hopefully we can make her dream come true in another year or so.

That's that.