A Magical Vacation

Family reunited through a Disney vacation

A Magical Vacation

Fewer than five days after homecoming, I was in Disney World. My family has always been proud members of the Disney family. For the longest time, my family would go every single summer, and for the most part that tradition has continued. However, my parents got divorced several years ago, and this year was the first time that Mom, Tyler - my brother - and I were going to Disney World together. I was excited and nervous. I was slightly nervous because Mom is almost always worried that we only keep the memories that we have with our dad.

The first Disney park that we went to was the Animal Kingdom. Some of my all time favorite rides are at that park. Mount Everest was the first ride that we rode, and that is when I realized that Mom had never ridden that ride. What happens on Everest is that you are slowly taken through a path and up the mountain. Then, the yeti pops out at you and all of a sudden you start going backwards - fast. Mom, was very shocked at this turn of events even though Tyler and I had been expecting it.

Collecting those little red line passes at Disney World became a passion for me this last year. If you have ever noticed if you have gone to Disney is that - in order to find out how long the line will take - they give someone a red card and start a timer. Then, the cardholder gives their pass to the person at the front of the line. The point I’m trying to make is that I felt so special when a Disney worker gave me a pass. We ended up taking a photo of me every time I got the pass, and we were going to count, at the end of our trip, how many I got. The total was about seven or eight.

Since we are a Disney family, we know how to Disney. You get up early and go, go, go, and you only take a break during the high peaks of people - midday. Which is nice because by then we are all tired, and ready to take a break. Then, we’re up and going until late at night. Disney World is a place where you have to maximize your time. One year we took extended family - on my dad’s side - and they ended up getting my dad a “Run like H---” shirt since we were always rushing from place to place.

One day we got up early and went to Hollywood Studios, where the three of us had the most complications. First, Tyler was tired, so he didn’t want to get up and go like usual, so he met up with us about an hour later. My mom and I went together to Hollywood Studios and  headed straight towards the new Toy Story ride. There was no way we could avoid it, there was a huge line, but I didn’t mind. When we finally got on the ride it was great, it was a shooting game, so we compared our scores at the very end. I can’t remember exactly, but Mom probably won.

Mom and I met up with Tyler at the Tower of Terror - a ride that I used to hate, but now I love. We finished off our day going through all the major rides at the Magic Kingdom. We also made it to part of Epcot. For lunch we had traditional fish and chips from a small shop, and we sat down by the side of a pond. Pretty soon we noticed fish coming up to the surface to see if we were going to feed them. After many puppy dog eyes from the fish, we conceded and threw in some bread, watching them eat it.

Fast forwarding to the end of the trip, it was time to board the plane and go back to Missouri. Instead of being sad, however, I felt an odd sense of contentment. My family, which had been slowly drifting apart, had just reunited over our short vacation to Disney World. I knew that we would be closer than ever when we went home, and I was ready for that.