My Trip to Disney World Essay

The summer of 2013 was one of the best times of my life. Seeing Disney World through a seven-year-old’s eyes is something an adult can barely comprehend so here I am, writing this essay and putting it into words for you. Even though it was six years ago, I can still see the huge groups of people gathered around the attractions, and smell the corn dog, churro, and freeze-dried ice cream carts. I remember my first time visiting like it was yesterday.

It all started when, on my 7th birthday. All I wanted was a toy triceratops that I could call mine. I had already pictured it being blue and realistic, I would name it something strange like Peggy, and it would be my favorite toy forever. However, that never happened because my parents got me a robot t-rex instead. I was a relatively calm child so, instead of throwing a fit I accepted my toy and pretended like I enjoyed it.

After the days passed I began to forget about my anti-climactic birthday and instead I focused on the positive, there was only 141 days until summer, 101 days until Easter, and only 2 days until the weekend (my birthday happened to fall on a Wednesday that year). Eventually everything went back to normal and I became flooded with schoolwork, crammed with piano and gymnastics events, stacked to the ceiling in Girl Scout cookie orders, and overall overwhelmed.  

In return for a good attitude, tons of gymnastics and piano awards, the “top selling” Girl Scout badge, and an all- “a” report card, my parents promised me some time off. Initially, I expected my reward to be a scoop of ice cream at the nearby frozen yogurt shack or maybe a few nice new clothes. However, I was shocked when my parents told me to pack my things! I did, and after 30 minutes of hauling luggage into our packed Land Rover, we started driving. My parents didn’t tell me where we were going or when we would get there, so after about 2 hours I figured an ideal car activity would be sleeping for the remaining hour and a half with traffic. 

After a long, well-deserved nap, the car came to and unexpected halt. As I rubbed the sleepiness from my eyes and allowed the temporary blurriness to fade, I realized we were in a hotel parking lot; And not any hotel, a really, really nice hotel. In fact, this hotel was probably one of the nicest places I had ever been too, in front of the car stood revolving doors, men in all-black suits escorting cars, and just about the fanciest lobby I’d ever seen. To our right was a large decorative fountain with thousands of rusted pennies sitting in the bottom of it, and to our right was the hotel parking lot filled with lots of cars ranging from convertibles, to mini vans and everything in-between.

After entering the lobby, a serious-looking man at the front desk asked my mother, “Would you like us to bring up your bags, ma’am?” My mother agreed and suggested that she was tired from driving and wanted to eat lunch at the hotel. After enjoying 3 fluffy waffles and some yogurt at the 24-hour breakfast bar, my parents revealed that they had yet another surprise in store for me. To my dismay, after finally getting out of the car and getting some fresh air, I was quickly shoved back in as we started driving once again.

This car ride was shorter, it probably only lasted 15-20 minutes actually, but before we even arrived I knew where we were going. Large billboards signaled “Disney World, Where Dreams Come True” and “ Orlando Florida, Home To Disney and Universal Studios!” And plenty of people had Mickey Mouse bumper stickers and even license plates. My whole life, I had grown up seeing commercials for the new Harry Potter rides and superhero themed 3D roller coasters that only existed in the one and only Disney World. My heart skipped a beat is this really happening? It might seem silly to be so excited about a simple little field trip, but to seven-year-old me this was a huge deal. I had no clue what to expect, but as I saw the large Mickey Mouse shaped “Disney World” sign, all of my worries were washed away and replaced with exhilaration for what was to come. 

First off, we entered the front portion of Disney World where we bought some expensive cards with our names on them. The man at the register told us that those would be what would get us onto the rides and that if we lost them, we would have to pay for a new one to be able to ride anything. Afterwards, We travelled into the large open part of Disney that divided the four parks, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios.

My parents told me that Magic Kingdom was where all of the rides were, so naturally I wanted to go there first. After entering Magic Kingdom, we were greeted by some people who offered to take our picture for a “small fee” which my parents politely declined as we kept walking. Magic Kingdom was humongous! There were roller coasters, food carts, fancy restaurants, and plenty of people everywhere I looked. After showing a particular interest in the daunting roller coasters, my mom asked me if that’s what I wanted to head to first. I said yes, of course, and we began to look for a particular roller coaster that was the most appealing to me.

After a bit of walking, I found one that I thought looked fun. Space Mountain was its name,  and as we got in line I welled up with anticipation. I simply could not wait to go on my first real roller coaster in Disney World! Unfortunately we had to wait in line for about 2 hours, but the minute it was our turn in line my heart leaped with excitement. Everything was going to be worth it. They scanned my card and my parents hugged me, “Are you scared?” Mom asked, “no.”

I answered honestly. I sat down in the uncomfortable seat and the ride operator came around and helped me to buckle my seatbelt. I looked around and admired the amount of effort it must have taken to build something that would give so many people happiness. I took a deep breath, hugged my mom’s arm, and with a quick jolt, the ride started. 

There were plenty of ups and downs and at one point I couldn’t even tell what was going on because everything was so dark and all I could hear was people screaming. After the ride ended, I was helped out of my seat as I grabbed onto my mom shakily. My ears hurt from all the screaming and my head spun from being jerked around, but all in all, it was incredibly fun. Afterwards, we went to a fancy restaurant and I had $19.00 Mac & cheese (which wasn’t that great, but it still added to the experience). Eventually, after going on some more rides, we headed back to our hotel and got a good night's sleep after a long busy day. 

In conclusion, going to Disney World and experiencing my first roller coaster was an amazing journey and nothing can compare. I’m still not sure if it was worth all the money, but it was definitely something I won’t forget, and I can not wait to go back some time. I’m so thankful that my parents took me, and that I was able to go when I was younger and the magic felt more real. Also, I would love to share the little moments like these with people who are not as lucky as me so that they can feel the magic of Disney World too.