Dreams Do Come True

I have exciting news! I don't know if you have ever clicked on our about tab and read our bios, but at the bottom of my bio I wrote two things that I dream of accomplishing. I am proud to announce that one of those dreams came true! WE WENT TO DISNEY WORLD!! Eeekkk, I cannot explain how long I have anticipated writing this blog to you all! 

Okay, I am nineteen years old and have never been to Disney World. Amanda and Meredith know that I have an obsession with it even though I have never been before. We planned on going after I graduated in May last year, but Amanda got pregnant, so we decided to wait until her baby was born.  Secretly Amanda and Mer had been planning our mini vaca for weeks, but I honestly had no idea. It all became more of a reality when Amanda started asking for information that was irrelevant to work and told me to keep an overnight travel bag in my car. They finally gave me a hint that we were going to be going within this month (March), so at this point I am freaking out. Fast forward a little... Amanda invites Mer and me over for dinner and dessert Sunday night and they knew I wouldn't turn it down because we were going to be making poppy seed chicken, and I love that! She also asked me to stay the night because Meredith's mentor was coming in to work on things for summer camp and they wanted our imput.  Also, we would be up late talking about our upcoming purpose parties and events. Unfortunately, I woke that morning and was late to church because I was not feeling well at all due to my ridiculously horrible allergy issues. Nonetheless, I went to church and then went straight home to lay down and rest. I texted Amanda to tell her I wasn't feeling great and she told me to rest and don't stress it if I can't make it... I guess she was just trying not to blow her cover, which was smart. Then my mom gets home later that afternoon and is insisting that I go to Amanda's since I already told her I would and she starts packing a bag for me. I pulled myself together and headed for Amanda's around 4:45 p.m. Everything was pretty normal, we went to the store to gather ingredients, and started cooking and baking the night away. Once we were done eating, we sat down to relax for a bit and I received a text message from a name I had been longing to see. The one and only Mickey Mouse appeared on my screen! The message says, "Hello there friend! I sure hope your bag is packed. I can't wait to meet you! See you tomorrow morning! Love Mickey" I wish I could explain to you all the feeling that overtook my body. I was filled with joy and excitement. The only thing I don't understand about myself is when a surprise or something awesome happens to me all I can do is smile from ear to ear when most people jump for joy. It's weird, I know. Anyway... I turned to Amanda and Meredith and am like, "Ummm... did you send this to me?" And they both said no and that they don't know what I am talking about. I really didn't care who sent it, I was just absolutely thrilled that it was finally happening! Amanda told me our flight takes off at 6:00 a.m. so we needed to leave around 4:30 a.m. At that time it was 9:30 p.m. and I was so excited that I did not think I will be able to sleep. Finally, after creating my custom made Minnie Mouse shirt (thanks to Amanda's amazing art skills) and running to Publix for some travel items, I fall asleep around midnight. 

4:00 a.m. came just as early as I expected it to, but it did not put a damper on my excitement. Meredith and Niki (her mentor) arrive to pick us up precisely at 4:30 a.m. and it is pouring rain outside which only made the beginning of this adventure even more exciting/interesting. When we get to the airport it is still dark out. We eat a little breakfast, check in, and board the plane. The flight was not very long, but I am terrified of heights and thanks to my allergies, the pressure of being that high affects me greatly. My ears stopped up so bad that I literally could not hear Amanda who was sitting right next to me. It only took me blowing my nose, plugging my nose and trying to blow out of my ears, and yawning a million times to un pop them, but I did not care. The Florida air was warm and welcoming as we approached the Disney entrance where I saw the infamous "Walt Disney World" sign. Our first stop was Magic Kingdom where Amanda bought me my very own custom designed Minnie Mouse ears that I wore the entire day! I know I probably looked like I giant child with my Minnie Mouse shirt, Minnie Mouse ears, and 1st visit pin on, but honestly, I didn't want to experience it any other way. We turn the corner of Disney's Main Street and there it is... the most magical monument in all of Disney... Cinderella's castle. I was in awe.  The castle was the one thing I have wanted to see ever since I played with a mini version when I was younger. It was even more amazing than I imagined. 

I would love to go into detail about everything that happened, but I could write pages and pages and I don't want to bore you, so I will do my best to keep it short and sweet. In Magic Kingdom, we hit the main points of the park, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and all the others in between. One of my favorites though, due to the laughter filled experience, were the teacups! We had a blast on those taking pictures and cracking up. Next, we hopped on this awesome train-like transportation system called the Monorail and headed to Epcot. Epcot was super cool and futuristic. My favorite ride in that park was the Test Track, which we got off and got right back on. We ate dinner in one of the many countries Epcot portrays. Once we were done with dinner in Italy, we traveled over to Germany for some caramel covered goodies that smelt and tasted delicious. One of the many things that I find fascinating about Walt Disney's creations is that even in the countries there is great detail. The cast members (employees) are originally from the countries they are working in, accents and everything! Now that we are stuffed with yummy food, we head back to Magic Kingdom, but this time we rode a boat instead of taking a train or bus. Personally, I prefer this type of transportation to the others because it was at night and we had an amazing view of the beautiful castle that had changing colors reflecting off of it. We finished up the night around midnight or so with tons of laughs and countless memories. 

Tuesday morning I awaken to Amanda repeatedly saying my name from across the room. At first I didn't really realize it was real life because I thought I had set my alarm. I sit up and reach for my phone, but it won't turn on. I lean up and look over and I guess I was so tired that I plugged the charger into my phone, but not into the outlet. (What a dork, I know.) Anyway, I plug my phone up and start to get ready for the day of adventure ahead of us. We had breakfast reservations at this unbelievably beautiful hotel called the Grand Floridian at 8:15. Well, 8:15 rolls around and we were still in the room packing up and getting ready. Okay, that would be Amanda and I, Mer and Niki were set laying on their bed waiting on us... as usual haha. We quickly gather our belongings and head for breakfast and then on to our last 2 parks.  I was bummed because it was raining, but then Mer assured me that Disney goes on no matter rain or shine, so we had nothing to worry about. We head to Hollywood studios because most of the rides are inside. First we went to the Toy Story ride where I thought getting 93,000 points was a lot until we compared and Amanda, Meredith, and Niki all had well over 100,000. Next, we went to the Rockin Rollercoaster, which was my personal favorite.  It truly felt like we were in a stretch limo headed for Aerosmith's concert. I also think I loved it so much because it had twists, went upside-down, and was super fast! I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie I suppose. Next, we went on the Tower of Terror, which was so cool and pretty spooky. The way they built this ride was the coolest part to me. It really was a giant hotel and every aspect was well thought out and "old timey" looking. After we did a few other things (and got another delicious cream cheese filled pretzel), we headed for Animal Kingdom. Pulling into Animal Kingdom's parking lot made me laugh because looking at what you can see of the park it is all trees and then randomly there is a humongous mountain covered in snow. Which could only mean one thing, the Mount Everest ride. The Mount Everest ride is a close second favorite for me. It was fast and had lots of hills and turns and it was awesome! The Tree of Life was very cool too. It was a 3D showing about how "It's Tough To Be A Bug" and the special effects are incredible from the water squirted at you from the seats in front of you, to the bugs you can literally feel crawling underneath you (Fake bugs of course). So much happened during those two quick days that I know I am leaving out, but it could not have been more worth it.

Overall, I just want to give a quick shout out to Amanda, Logan, Meredith, and Niki for making this trip happen, I could not be more grateful. God truly has blessed me by allowing me to have people like you all in my life. Finally, being able to go to Disney makes for some incredible, bittersweet memories. Yes, I wish I could have gone when I was a child, but going as an adult has made me appreciate the detail, time, effort, and true meaning of Disney so much more. Disney World is more than I could have ever imagined it being. The imagination that Walt Disney and the other creators have had is extraordinary. It really is a place where all your dreams can come true. If you read this far, I would also like to thank you. Thank you for embarking on the adventure of my story and if you would like to write me, I would love to hear all about your first experience at Disney, too. As I wrap up, there is something I would like to leave you with. Don't be afraid to be a kid and experience life to it's fullest. Disney truly is magical and it brought out the inner kid in all of us and we are four adults. No one judged us or looked at us funny and even if they would have, it wouldn't have mattered because we were having a great time.

I know one thing for sure, my obsession for Disney World is 100% true now that I have actually been blessed to go and I cannot wait to return! 

Thanks for reading,