Disney of Decades Ago–My Childhood Magical Memories

I grew up in South Florida, just an hour and a half from Disneyworld, and my parents took us to Disney a lot in our search for family fun.  That was back in the day when you bought E-tickets for each ride, so my parents would give us a handful and send us off to have fun for the day. Sure, we were supposed to buddy up and stick together, but we all knew that wasn’t really going to happen long.  Our parents would typically hang out at Fort Wilderness while we were exploring Adventureland, and we all knew we just had to make it back to the campsite by the end of the night and we’d be able to go check out Tomorrowland the next day.  My mom really enjoyed the Country Bear Jamboree show, so sometimes she’d have us all meet there (a welcome escape from the Florida heat), but sometimes we wouldn’t see each other again until it was time for the Electrical Light Parade at dark.

On a recent trip to Tallahassee, I caught the tour of the Florida Historic Capitol Museum and it wrapped up with a tribute to souvenirs from the Sunshine State.  One entire cabinet was dedicated to Disney.  Looking through that glass, I thought someone must have raided my mom’s drawers and dug out all of her little relics.  Every trip for her meant a new ceramic Disney character.  I still remember the hours dusting every little figurine as we grew older.  I can’t imagine what those would be worth now to a collector somewhere.

What I did not see in that museum was a good ole’ coon cap.  The kind that Daniel Boone wore.  I got one on my first trip to Fort Wilderness and wore it proudly, especially around my cousin, Buddy, who had a coon cap of his own.  I dug out the old pic and had to share it here.  I have no idea what happened to my coon cap, but if I did, I’d probably send it along to the state capitol to add to its collection.  That was the best souvenir ever.