Personal Narrative: Walt Disney World

Walt Disney once said, “Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.” That quote is especially true when visiting Walt Disney World. In 2012, my mom, my sister Allison, my brother Ian, and myself traveled to Disney World for my fourteenth birthday. My sister had previously been employed in the Disney Parks, and had attained free tickets for her work there. For almost two weeks, we stayed in what’s said to be the happiest place on Earth, spending all of our time in the four parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and last but not least Epcot.

First, Magic Kingdom being the most famous of all parks, was just as a child would imagine it: full of life, dreamy, bright, and as the name suggests-magical.

We stayed in the hotel, Pop Century, where each part had various themed decades. We stayed within the 50’s themed side looking just as a retro 50’s hotel would look, ranging from the cheesy blue carpet with Mickey heads, to the matching bed comforters. Beyond our room, sat a bowling pin shaped pool, with a jukebox blasting classic 50’s tunes. From the hotel, we went to the park, Hollywood Studios, also famously themed 50’s-like, with vintage cars on display and the Twilight Zone, Tower of Terror. The Tower of Terror looming above all else, truly terrorizes the victims that enter, falling within seconds, multiples of floors, and sending screams of the unprepared victims echoing throughout the park. One of the defining features of Hollywood Studios is the building size model of notorious, Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat, sitting right in the center of the park. We also enjoyed the mind-blowing, riveting, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, that rapidly twists and turns, electrifying you to the core, while jamming to Aerosmith’s greatest. For my birthday dinner, we ate out at the splendid, Planet Hollywood, tasting a marvelously crafted feast. The place is decorated from head to toe with well noted props from various movies, such as the leading creature, Gizmo, from Steven Spielburg’s Gremlins. My birthday was a dream, combined with all the

The focal point of Animal Kingdom is the immense Tree of Life, covered with intricate, brilliant carvings of many animals, and sitting in the middle of a calm, misty moat surrounded by thick foliage. Animal Kingdom contained many rustic, genuine buildings built in the style of actual African structures. One of my favorite attractions at this extraordinary park was the grand, impressive, Expedition Everest roller coaster, thrilling the whole way through, almost as great as the real peak. Epcot has a huge globe in the center of the park, with many different countries around a vast pond. There was one store we went into several times, that had diverse types of soda from numerous countries, some tasting similar to our usual, bubbly, American pop; others were bitter, sour, or strange tasting. Each country of Epcot styled like the original land, sold their own, authentic, but common food from their country, as well as distinct, unique souvenirs. Both of these parks were as surreal as can be, and a masterpiece altogether, with their illustrious architecture making us feel as if we were actually in far away