I have been a consistent annual passholder for the past 6 years. My very first Disneyland Annual Pass was back in 1994. It cost only $99 and was not a part of any tiered system. My whole family got passes and we would go down right after school to see “Fantasmic!” at least twice a week!
Those were some amazing times. We had our passes for two years, I think. Then I only went sporadically from 1996-2001. I may have had a pass sometime in there but I can’t remember. Unfortunately, as into Disneyland as I was, I took advantage of things like the Rocket Rods which I was never able to ride, the Skyway which I never got to do “one last time.” Same with the PeopleMover! I never got to take that “last ride” which I am always sure to do now.
I remember when I went to grad-night as a junior at Hollywood High School, I was SO confused because the parking lot had completely changed and we had to walk to the park from some weird area past these huge cones (I guess we parked in the old Lion King parking area? Not 100% sure). I was very confused but excited because I had no idea what DCA was! I felt like such a “poser.”
Grad night was fun but then I started going a lot after graduation. A friend and I got passes from 2001-2002 and had a blast that whole time. I really enjoyed DCA and DL together and made the most of those days.
Fastforward to now and here I am — an adult who tries to go once a week if I can but more commonly once every couple of weeks. I have my core group of people I like to go with, we have the path that we take, we have days where we only do things we have never done before, and we have a blast!
The thing I miss the most today is that they don’t change the design as often anymore. That was always the fun thing: getting a special design when renewing and having it match the theme of that year’s DLR theme.
All of that said, one of my favorite things about the AP is that I still have that picture of myself from 2001 on my pass. I was 18 then and love that just by this little feature on my pass, I can always feel like a kid! I back it!
What are your favorite AP memories? How old is your picture? Let us know down in the comments!