Trips

As I go through and reorganize all my old digital photos, I am trying to come up with a list of when I made various Disney (and other) trips. This is a work-in-progress. It contains the dates I visited, and any notable occurrence during that trip (such as special events, grand openings of rides, etc.).

There does seem to be some data missing. For example, I have been to Worlds of Fun on at least three occasions, but I only have dates for two of them. I also had an annual pass to Paramount’s Great America and went a number of times, but do not seem to have photos from many of my trips. Since this is a photo website, “pictures or it didn’t happen” applies here. Anything without photographic proof will just be me claiming I did something . . .

My local part, Adventureland, was one I went to quite often so I won’t be breaking it out in to the year-by-year, but you can see actual dates in the raw data at the end of this page.

Last Updated: 4/16/2023 – still updating!

The current photo count is 180,849 photos.

1970s

Several family trips to Disneyland and Walt Disney World (as a tot, probably first in 1975). I remember when Space Mountain was new, and the opening of Big Thunder Mountain.

We also visited Astroworld in Houston (where I grew up) and the original Six Flags in Dallas. We never called if “Six Flags Over Texas” because it was just Six Flags. Those add-on titles became a lot more important once Six Flags owned tons of parks.

1980s

  • 1982 – Walt Disney World summer trip (Epcot monorail ride to see it under construction).
  • 1983 – Walt Disney World summer trip (visiting EPCOT Center its first summer).
  • 1984 – Silver Dollar City.
  • 1980s – Other trips up until around 1987.
  • 1995 – Fiesta Texas, Astroworld.

1994

  • 1994 – Walt Disney World summer trip. First time seeing things like Splash Mountain, Disney/MGM Studios and Universal Studios.

1995

  • July 1995 – A trip with just “me and dad.” ???? Rest in peace, dad.
  • December 1995 – Disneyland (before I had a digital camera).

1996

I think this year was my first trip ever to Knott’s Berry Farms and Magic Mountain, thanks for a local friend of mine pulling me away from Disneyland long enough to learn that there were other things to do in Southern California than visit Mickey.

The dates for visiting Great America seem wrong. I had an annual pass there, and went many more times than just this one visit. One of the visits was during the time they had the world’s tallest drop tower ride.

  • May 20-26, 1996 – Disneyland.
  • May 26, 1996 – Six Flags Magic Mountain.
  • July 10-12, 1996 – Six Flags Over Georgia. (These dates seem wrong.)
  • August 12-18, 1996 – Disneyland.
  • August 18, 1996 – Knott’s Berry Farms.
  • August 26-30, 1996 – Walt Disney World’s 25th anniversary.
  • July 23-26, 1996 – Paramount’s Great America.

1997

  • May 10-14 and 16-18, 1997 – Disneyland. Annual Passholder Party. Light Magic premier.
  • May 10, 1997 – Knott’s Berry Farms.
  • May 18-19 and 21-25, 1997 – Walt Disney World. (possible bad date codes on the 18th and 19th since there should have been one day in between DL and WDW visits.)
  • August 16 and 19-20, 1997. Disneyland. I was there on my birthday!

1998

My first (and so far, only) visit to Hershey Park happened because I was going to be in the area for a convention. I was representing an entertainment magazine I contributed to at the time, and we had a room at the Hershey Inn 🙂

  • January 23-26 and 28, 1998 – Walt Disney World.
  • May 22-26, 1998 – Disneyland. New Tomorrowland opening.
  • August 14, 1998 – Hersheypark.
  • October 16-18 and 23-25, 1998 – Walt Disney World. Fantasmic! premier.

1999

  • March 18-19, 21 and 23-24, 1999 – Disneyland.
  • March 19, 1999 – Universal Studios Hollywood.
  • March 20, 1999 – Knott’s Berry Farms.
  • May 11-13, 1999 – Disneyland.
  • November 6-8, 1999 – Walt Disney World.
  • November 12-15, 1999 – Walt Disney World.
  • November 18-20, 1999 – Walt Disney World.
  • November 22, 1999 – Walt Disney World.

At this point, even though I grew up as a Disney World kid, I felt the amount of things to do at Disneyland (and the convenience of everything being so close, and cheaper) made me give up on having a Walt Disney World annual pass. I did not return for years.

2000

My Universal Studios Hollywood visit this year was not a vacation. I was in town for a work trip, and we visited someone who worked for a production company that had their office there. I got to see some very famous “in/out” boxes, as well as the custom golf cart of a famous director. I am not supposed to say much more about it, but I do have some fun stories about us walking around unescorted backstage and watching a music video be filmed.

  • May 1, 3-4 and 5-8, 2000 – Disneyland.
  • August 4-6, 2000 – Disneyland.
  • October 9-10, 2000- Disneyland.
  • October 31-November 1, 2000 – Universal Studios Hollywood.
  • November 2-3, 2000 – Disneyland.

2001

  • February 17-19, 2001 – Disneyland.
  • Feb 20, 2001 – Knott’s Berry Farms.
  • February 21-23, 2001 – Disneyland.
  • March 3, 2001 – Disneyland.
  • December 14-17, 2001 – Disneyland.

2002

  • January 12-13, 2002 – Disneyland.
  • January 19-20, 2002 – Disneyland.
  • March 2-3, 2002 – Disneyland.

2003

  • December 12-17, 2003 – Disneyland.

2004

  • August 26-31, 2004 – Disneyland.

2005

This was my first trip to Valleyfair. I think they had Halloween stuff going on at the time.

  • April 17, 2005 – Worlds of Fun.
  • July 14-21, 2005 – Disneyland. 50th anniversary! We lined up super early in the darkness.
  • September 17, 2005 – Valleyfair.
  • December 10-15, 2005 – Disneyland.

2006

2006 marked my return to Walt Disney World, but only because I was being sent to Melbourne, Florida for work. Even with this being a bit over an hour away, it was too close to not make it to the parks. I bought an annual pass and drove to Orlando each evening after work. This was also the first year I saw the after-hours Halloween event. I liked the original version back then much better than the offering they do these days.

The annual pass also let me return for a full seven-day vacation in December.

October 23-24, 2006 – Walt Disney World.
December 3-11, 2006 – Walt Disney World.

2007

Since I still had an annual pass, I returned to Walt DISNEY WORLD specifically for the 25th anniversary of E.P.C.O.T. Since I saw this as a child, being constructed, and visited it the first summer it was open, the park has special meaning to me. That visit was also the first time I met Werner from Yesterland.com. After this visit, I would be done with Walt Disney World again for awhile…

  • September 28-October 5, 2007- Walt Disney World. Epcot’s 25th anniversary.
  • December 6-11, 2007 – Disneyland.
  • December 19,2007 – Disneyland. (???) I don’t recall this one-day visit, but I have photos that claim to have been taken on that date.

2008

  • November 28-December 7, 2008 – Disneyland.
  • December 2, 2008 – Universal Studios Hollywood (VIP Tour).
  • December 5, 2008 – Knott’s Berry Farms.

2009

  • March 2-8, 2009 – Disneyland.
  • March 3, 2009 – Knott’s Berry Farms.

2017

After years of being so broke I couldn’t even go to a movie theater, I finally got a chance to return thanks to Yesterland sharing transportation and lodging with me.

  • May 6-9 and 11-12, 2017 – Disneyland. A visit with Yesterland.com.
  • May 10, 2017 – Knott’s Berry Farms.
  • September 9-15, 2017 – Disneyland.
  • December 9-13, 2017 – Disneyland.
  • Knotts Berry Farms

2018

After my Disneyland annual pass expired, I then decided to get one at Walt Disney World. This was also the first year I visited Universal Orlando since just after Islands of Adventure had opened.

  • May 12-18 and 20, 2018 – Disneyland.
  • May 12, 2018 – Knott’s Berry Farm.
  • May 19, 2018 – Universal Studios Hollywood (VIP Tour).
  • September 7-15, 2018 – Walt Disney World.
  • December 2-4 and 6-7, 2018 – Walt Disney World. A visit with Yesterland.com.

2019

  • May 26-April 3, 2019 – Walt Disney World / Universal Orlando.

2020

  • TBA

2021

TBA

2022

  • Universal Orlando
  • October – Disneyland.
  • August 27, 2022 – Lost Island (the newest theme park in America).

2023

  • April 5 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
  • April 6-9 – Universal Orlando.

Raw Data Reports for Nerds

Using a custom script I wrote, I can go through all my photos and collect all he unique dates. Photos taken with my 1996 Epson PhotoPC did not have EXIF data. I don’t even know if it existed when this model camera was released. Instead, it used JFIF headers.

Photo apps of the day did not support this, so any time I rotated a photo in my editor, it lost the internal JFIF date/time information. The only hint of when hose photos were taken was in the filename, which was in the format of “MMDD_NUM.JPG”. Due to the 8 character filename limitation of PCs back then, there was not room for the year. I have managed to figure out many of these photos in my gallery, and renamed them to have “_notime” in the filename to indicate there is no internal time.

My script just ignores those files, so it won’t correctly find dates for thousands of photos I took with that original camera between 1996 and 2000.

Script: https://github.com/allenhuffman/ShowDatesInPhotos

RAW DATA REPORTS FROM ACTUAL PHOTOS

Disneyland Resort
----------------------------------------
1996:05:21
1996:05:22
1996:05:23
1996:05:24
1996:05:26
1996:08:12
1996:08:14
1996:08:15
1996:08:16
1996:08:17
1996:08:18
1997:05:10
1997:05:11
1997:08:16
1997:08:19
1997:08:20
1999:03:23
1999:05:11
1999:05:12
1999:05:13
2000:05:01
2000:05:03
2000:05:04
2000:05:06
2000:05:07
2000:05:08
2000:08:04
2000:08:05
2000:08:06
2000:10:09
2000:10:10
2000:11:02
2000:11:03
2001:02:17
2001:02:18
2001:02:19
2001:02:21
2001:02:22
2001:02:23
2001:12:14
2001:12:15
2001:12:16
2001:12:17
2002:01:12
2002:01:13
2002:01:19
2002:01:20
2002:03:02
2002:03:03
2003:12:12
2003:12:13
2003:12:14
2003:12:15
2003:12:16
2003:12:17
2004:08:26
2004:08:27
2004:08:28
2004:08:29
2004:08:30
2004:08:31
2005:07:14
2005:07:15
2005:07:16
2005:07:17
2005:07:18
2005:07:19
2005:07:20
2005:07:21
2005:12:10
2005:12:11
2005:12:12
2005:12:13
2005:12:14
2005:12:15
2007:12:06
2007:12:07
2007:12:08
2007:12:09
2007:12:10
2007:12:11
2007:12:19
2008:11:28
2008:11:29
2008:11:30
2008:12:01
2008:12:02
2008:12:03
2008:12:04
2008:12:05
2008:12:06
2008:12:07
2009:03:02
2009:03:03
2009:03:04
2009:03:05
2009:03:06
2009:03:07
2009:03:08
2017:05:06
2017:05:07
2017:05:08
2017:05:09
2017:05:11
2017:05:12
2017:09:09
2017:09:10
2017:09:11
2017:09:12
2017:09:13
2017:09:14
2017:09:15
2017:12:09
2017:12:10
2017:12:11
2017:12:12
2017:12:13
2018:05:12
2018:05:13
2018:05:14
2018:05:15
2018:05:16
2018:05:17
2018:05:18
2018:05:20
2022:10:11
2022:10:12
2022:10:13
2022:10:14
2022:10:15
2022:10:16
2022:10:17

Walt Disney World
----------------------------------------
1996:08:26
1996:08:27
1996:08:28
1996:08:29
1996:08:30
1997:05:21
1997:05:22
1997:05:23
1997:05:24
1997:05:25
1998:01:23
1998:01:24
1998:01:25
1998:10:16
1998:10:17
1998:10:18
1998:10:23
1998:10:24
1998:10:25
2006:10:23
2006:10:24
2006:12:03
2006:12:04
2006:12:05
2006:12:06
2006:12:07
2006:12:08
2006:12:09
2006:12:10
2006:12:11
2007:09:28
2007:09:29
2007:09:30
2007:10:01
2007:10:02
2007:10:03
2007:10:04
2007:10:05
2018:09:07
2018:09:08
2018:09:09
2018:09:10
2018:09:11
2018:09:12
2018:09:13
2018:09:14
2018:09:15
2018:12:02
2018:12:03
2018:12:04
2018:12:06
2018:12:07
2019:03:26
2019:03:28
2019:03:29
2019:03:30
2019:03:31
2019:04:01
2019:04:03
2020:11:16
2020:11:18
2020:11:19
2020:11:23

Theme Parks
----------------------------------------
1996:05:25
1996:05:26
1996:06:04
1996:06:05
1996:06:15
1996:06:16
1996:06:22
1996:06:23
1996:07:11
1996:07:12
1996:07:23
1996:07:24
1996:07:26
1996:08:24
1997:05:10
1997:08:01
1997:08:09
1998:08:14
1998:08:15
1999:06:13
2000:06:11
2000:08:18
2000:10:31
2000:11:01
2001:02:20
2001:04:28
2003:04:27
2004:05:01
2004:06:19
2004:06:25
2004:07:04
2004:07:17
2004:07:25
2004:08:08
2004:09:12
2004:09:19
2005:04:17
2005:06:05
2005:06:17
2005:06:26
2005:07:04
2005:07:09
2005:09:10
2005:09:17
2005:09:24
2005:12:18
2006:05:14
2006:06:03
2006:06:11
2006:07:04
2006:09:23
2006:12:05
2006:12:06
2006:12:07
2006:12:09
2006:12:10
2007:04:15
2007:04:28
2007:04:29
2007:05:13
2007:06:02
2007:07:22
2007:09:22
2007:10:04
2008:04:26
2008:04:27
2008:05:03
2008:06:03
2008:06:04
2008:06:09
2008:06:14
2008:06:22
2008:07:04
2008:07:31
2008:08:24
2008:09:14
2008:09:28
2008:12:02
2008:12:05
2009:03:07
2009:04:25
2009:05:09
2009:06:06
2009:06:14
2009:06:28
2009:07:04
2009:07:12
2009:07:19
2009:07:26
2009:08:30
2010:04:24
2010:06:17
2010:07:09
2010:07:24
2015:10:03
2016:04:29
2016:05:01
2016:05:08
2016:05:14
2016:05:22
2016:05:27
2016:05:28
2016:05:30
2016:06:01
2016:06:02
2016:06:04
2016:06:11
2016:06:18
2016:06:25
2016:06:29
2016:07:02
2016:07:03
2016:07:04
2016:07:09
2016:07:12
2016:07:15
2016:07:16
2016:07:19
2016:07:20
2016:07:23
2016:07:29
2016:07:30
2016:07:31
2016:08:06
2016:08:12
2016:08:13
2016:08:20
2016:08:27
2016:09:03
2016:09:04
2016:09:10
2016:09:11
2016:09:17
2016:09:18
2016:09:24
2016:09:25
2016:10:01
2017:04:29
2017:05:10
2017:05:14
2017:05:20
2017:05:21
2017:05:26
2017:05:27
2017:05:28
2017:06:03
2017:06:11
2017:06:20
2017:07:01
2017:07:22
2017:07:29
2017:08:26
2017:09:24
2017:09:30
2018:05:05
2018:05:12
2018:05:19
2018:05:28
2018:06:02
2018:07:22
2018:08:26
2018:09:01
2018:09:03
2018:09:12
2018:09:23
2018:10:06
2018:10:27
2018:12:05
2018:12:08
2019:03:27
2019:04:02
2020:11:16
2020:11:17
2020:11:18
2020:11:19
2020:11:20
2020:11:21
2020:11:22
2020:11:23
2021:10:29
2021:10:30
2021:10:31
2021:11:01
2021:11:02
2021:11:03
2022:02:11
2022:02:12
2022:02:13
2022:02:14
2022:02:15
2022:02:16
2022:08:27

Adventureland Park Iowa
----------------------------------------
1996:06:15
1996:06:16
1996:06:22
1996:06:23
1996:08:24
1997:08:09
1999:06:13
2000:06:11
2001:04:28
2003:04:27
2004:05:01
2004:06:19
2004:06:25
2004:07:04
2004:07:17
2004:07:25
2004:08:08
2004:09:12
2004:09:19
2005:06:05
2005:06:17
2005:06:26
2005:07:04
2005:07:09
2005:09:10
2005:09:24
2005:12:18
2006:05:14
2006:06:03
2006:06:11
2006:07:04
2006:09:23
2007:04:15
2007:04:28
2007:04:29
2007:05:13
2007:06:02
2007:07:22
2007:09:22
2008:04:26
2008:04:27
2008:05:03
2008:06:03
2008:06:04
2008:06:09
2008:06:14
2008:06:22
2008:07:04
2008:07:31
2008:08:24
2008:09:14
2008:09:28
2009:04:25
2009:05:09
2009:06:06
2009:06:14
2009:06:28
2009:07:04
2009:07:12
2009:07:19
2009:07:26
2009:08:30
2010:04:24
2010:06:17
2010:07:09
2010:07:24
2015:10:03
2016:04:29
2016:05:01
2016:05:08
2016:05:14
2016:05:22
2016:05:27
2016:05:28
2016:05:30
2016:06:01
2016:06:02
2016:06:04
2016:06:11
2016:06:18
2016:06:25
2016:06:29
2016:07:02
2016:07:03
2016:07:04
2016:07:09
2016:07:12
2016:07:15
2016:07:16
2016:07:19
2016:07:20
2016:07:23
2016:07:29
2016:07:30
2016:07:31
2016:08:06
2016:08:12
2016:08:13
2016:08:20
2016:08:27
2016:09:03
2016:09:04
2016:09:10
2016:09:11
2016:09:17
2016:09:18
2016:09:24
2016:09:25
2016:10:01
2017:04:29
2017:05:14
2017:05:20
2017:05:21
2017:05:26
2017:05:27
2017:05:28
2017:06:03
2017:06:11
2017:06:20
2017:07:01
2017:07:22
2017:07:29
2017:08:26
2017:09:24
2017:09:30
2018:05:05
2018:05:28
2018:06:02
2018:07:22
2018:08:26
2018:09:01
2018:09:03
2018:09:23
2018:10:06
2018:10:27

Hersheypark
----------------------------------------
1998:08:14
1998:08:15

Kennywood
----------------------------------------
1996:06:04
1996:06:05 - possibly wrong
1997:08:01
1999:08:20 - JFIF data missing.
2000:08:18

Knotts Berry Farm
----------------------------------------
1997:05:10
2001:02:20
2008:12:05
2009:03:07
2017:05:10
2018:05:12

Lost Island
----------------------------------------
2022:08:27

Paramount Great America
----------------------------------------
1996:07:23
1996:07:24
1996:07:26

Sea World Orlando
----------------------------------------
2006:12:06
2006:12:07
2006:12:09
2006:12:10
2007:10:04
2020:11:16
2020:11:20
2020:11:21
2021:10:30
2022:02:13

Six Flags
----------------------------------------
1996:05:25
1996:05:26
1996:07:11
1996:07:12

Universal Studios CA
----------------------------------------
2000:10:31
2000:11:01
2008:12:02
2018:05:19

Universal Studios FL
----------------------------------------
?? Obviously missing EXIF since I have photos from 98/99 ??
2006:12:05
2006:12:09
2018:09:12
2018:12:05
2018:12:08
2019:03:27
2019:04:02
2020:11:16
2020:11:17
2020:11:18
2020:11:19
2020:11:22
2020:11:23
2021:10:29
2021:10:30
2021:10:31
2021:11:01
2021:11:02
2021:11:03
2022:02:11
2022:02:12
2022:02:13
2022:02:14
2022:02:15
2022:02:16

Valleyfair
----------------------------------------
2005:09:17

Worlds of Fun
----------------------------------------
2005:04:17