August 8th, 2008
Memories of My Disney Vacation
One of my fondest memories from childhood was my first trip to Orlando Florida to visit Disney World. As a 36 year old adult, I can still remember everything about that trip. I was 8 years old and the excitement of visiting the Magic Kingdom was almost too much to handle. Even my older brother picking on me throughout the flight to Florida couldn’t damper my spirits. I prepared to embark on the greatest adventure of my life.
After a long flight, a lost suitcase at baggage claim and long wait to get our car rental, we were finally on our way. The drive from the airport to the hotel seemed like hours and after asking “are we there yet?” for the tenth time, I was finally rewarded with an exasperated and forceful “YES!” The hotel was about a mile away from Disney World and when we arrived I thought it was the most spectacular hotel I had ever seen. My eyes widened in awe at the luxurious reception area and even my brother took a few moments to stop harassing me to take it all in. As soon as the bell hop showed us our room, brought in our luggage and left, I had one question, ‘When were we going to Disney World?’ My parents notified me that we would not be going until the next day. We would spend the remainder of the day lounging by the pool and relaxing. Needless to say I felt disappointed by this answer and felt the need to pout my disapproval, but after changing into our swimsuits and heading down to the pool I forgot all about my disappointment. The pool looked like an oasis in a desert, it was huge and inviting. My brother and I became like long lost best friends. The teasing and the poking ceased and so did my whining and crying for him to stop. We splashed and played in the pool for the remainder of the day. My parents thought that a day at the pool should have exhausted us and we would sleep well that evening, but the excitement couldn’t be contained. It took them forever to get us into bed and even longer for me to stop tossing and turning.
The next morning, I woke up at the crack of dawn pleading with my parents to hurry and get up. I was so obnoxious that my Father had to threaten to make me wait even longer than necessary if I didn’t settle down. That hit home and I didn’t say another word. I quietly sulked at the unfairness of having to wait another minute, but before I knew it we were in the car and driving to the Promised Land, WALT DISNEY WORLD! Entering Disney World’s Magic Kingdom was what I imagined it would be like to starve to death and then going to an all you can eat buffet. Everything was fantastic even before we arrived in the park. There were shrubberies shaped as Disney characters and a choice of riding the tram or floating on a riverboat to enter to the theme park. Once we walked through the main gates, all else paled.
While staying at our Orlando hotel, we spent the next three days trying to do absolutely everything. We laughed and screamed through rides, we stuffed ourselves with sweet treats and junk food, we were enthralled and delighted by the wonderful parades and shows and we did it all as a family and it was one of the best times of my life as a child.