Friday, November 17, 2006 - MYSPACE BLOG
I have finally fulfilled my childhood dream by going to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. My wish came true as I arrived there at the age of 32. The "kid" version of myself that still dwells in me was so overly excited and enthusiastic with glee. There was so much to see and walk around to. It's just too bad that the rest of my family wasn't able to enjoy this magical moment with me. Never in my wildest dreams would I realize that it had finally come to this because all of this felt so impossible before.
It had been a long time coming. During my younger days as a child, my hard-working parents weren't able to put a lot of time into fun and instead, incorporated the rest of their time off to in-house duties. Mom was working to-the-extreme at her seamstress job in the Naval Base getting some major overtime for the extra boost of income and Dad was overseas doing his supply-related duties halfway around the globe. With that happening, you might come to wonder what my brothers and I did for fun. Did we went out? Nope. We were at home messing with our G.I.JOE and Transformers toys and watching T.V. Life for us was kind of restrictive and we seldom spent the time socializing with the general public. We couldn't even go out much. Occasionally, we had some friends of ours come over once in a while, but that was still less the fun. There was no outlet, no escape - sometimes feeling no hope at all. Just utter boredom was more like it – until – Mom and Dad took us to Busch Gardens in 1983. That would be the last of the fun for a long, long time … By high school, I acclimated myself with others and did what they did – and that's to go out and explore. At that time, I felt very liberated and at times, rebellious. That was when I learned more about Virginia Beach with my friend Ariel as we went around and about – hanging with other friends. There were the clubs, the restaurants, the oceanfront, but there was still something missing: Disney World … My college years were more of the same and I became well aware of my surroundings within the community of Hampton Roads. I still didn't went out of state … Call me a late bloomer in traveling, but I'm glad to had fulfilled something during a certain part of my life. My parents seemed to be a little more lenient on me since one of my brothers went to the U.S. Navy doing his mission somewhere around the world. I finally took the initiative to go beyond by traveling to Florida in 1997 with a group of friends from the Filipino community. Then came Philadelphia and New Jersey. And the most complicated of all places to drive at: New York, in which I had the opportunity to meet my online friend there. I'll never forget how terrible traffic was. I thought that I'd never make it back in one piece with my Ford Escort (my car at that time). But still, no Disney World in sight!
Enter present day. It was time to make it happen. I couldn't skip past Disney World for another year of my life. A few months ago, my friend from my childhood and high school days (Ariel) had decided to help me achieve the feat of making it to Disney World for the first time in my life. He provided specific airfare travel & theme park information. Also, he got me hooked up with accommodations. All we had to do was plan this out right.
On November 10th, it came to fruition. I traveled solo and had no friends come with me aboard the jet plane. I thought it would be difficult at first because I was attempting to fly in a post 9/11-world in which I've never done – having to take off my shoes & personal belongings passing through the metal detectors (and the TSA agent monitoring to the greatest detail). The last time I flew on a jet was on November, 1998 and that was a long time ago. Ariel was with me during that time as we visited a friend in Tampa. That marked his first visit to Florida. But now, he's a Florida resident and is living well with his growing family consisting of his wife and son. This time, I was the visitor.
Man, did it felt good! I was out of Virginia and everything associated with it – gone from my memory temporarily. No one knew me, too (except for Ariel & his family). I was entering a whole new world. I kept looking out my friend's car passenger window seeing things I've never seen before. I said to myself, "Virginia's really missing out on everything." Lots of theme parks and hotels filled most of Orlando. There was just something great about it. The atmosphere was always alive.
Alive! Yes, alive!
That's just how good it was! Part of that equation was Disney World. This was now my definitive moment to enjoy what it had to offer. I didn't even know that Disney World was split into 4 areas consisting of: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Ariel's strategy was for the rest of us (me, him & his family) to visit 2 parks each day. I loved riding on the tram because it would've been a long, long walk without that mode of transportation.
I witnessed these there: Disney characters in a small parade. Live-action shows. Soap opera stars from the ABC network who were there for the Soap Weekend. Live animals active in their own habitats. A boat ride in which I saw toy-like props singing "It's a small world after all" in different languages from around the world. Racing cars to race near "Tomorrowland." The Hall of Presidents that features an "animatronix performance" of the past 43 presidents making them appear so animated and lifelike. The magic kingdom castle standing in all its glory changing colors during the evening hours. Seeing the world of the future riding through "Tomorrowland." Jon Secada belting out his Top 40 songs at Epcot … So much more, I can go on forever and forever.
All of the elements mentioned above - definitely worth the ticket and the time. Sometimes it felt like I was in a surreal world of sorts where everything was immensely full of "fun."
WOW!!!!!!!
I enjoyed it to the fullest and will always look back at this moment.
I'm looking forward to the sequel probably around early next year and hopefully my friends will tag along with me on the next adventure.
At least I know now that I have went to Disney World.
I've made history, for myself.
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