聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Going through old CDs is basically like going through a time capsule. Finding old one-hit wonders is hilarious enough, but it鈥檚 even more fun to find old bands you used to listen to. I have a kind of mentality regarding music that means I didn鈥檛 just pick the songs I liked off the radio. Once I found an artist I enjoyed, I would insist on hearing every song from every album he or she ever produced.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 One of these artists was a singer known as Five for Fighting. I had compiled a pretty extensive track set consisting of his songs when I was younger, and I found an old CD with his song Disneyland on it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I haven鈥檛 actually gone to Disneyland, but I have in fact been to Disneyworld a few times. It鈥檚 the spot of quite a few of my favourite memories, especially of my late grandmother. In fact, most of my favourite memories of exploring the park involve my family members.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For example, during our second trip, we decided in lieu of getting a hotel room to rent a small condo with enough rooms for myself, my father and mother, my sister, and my aunt and uncle, as well as their two kids. It was big enough that it began to feel like a second home, and considering the fact that we were lucky enough to be there for three weeks, we were often doing household chores like cooking and laundry.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It was common for my sister, my aunt and I to fold the newly dried laundry, and we鈥檇 often put on the TV for background noise. Once, our little cousins were in the living room while we did so, and thus changed the channel to some Disney original film about time travel. It was probably close to the stupidest movie we鈥檇 ever seen鈥� but somehow, after that, every time it was on, our aunt would call us into the living room and we鈥檇 all sit there folding clothes and watching the movie while complaining about how dumb it was.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As for my grandmother, we invited her to come with us to Disneyworld to encourage her to travel while she still could. She spent most of the day putting around on a scooter taking pictures, seeing every show, and basically 小蓝视频 the typical tourist. She even went out and bought her own autograph book so she could meet all of the costumed characters and mascots in the park. Of course, on this grandmother鈥檚 side of the family, there is an unfortunate tendency to take the most straight-faced pictures. We had to remind her every time we stopped for photo ops to 鈥淪mile, dang it! You鈥檙e meeting Mickey Mouse!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Funnily enough, it was when we were in the grocery store that we saw her the most excited during the trip. While my aunt and father were discussing the shopping list, she practically ran over to them, holding a package of Velveeta cheese. 鈥淒o you know how much this is in Canada?鈥� she yelled at the both of them. She apparently thought she was committing highway robbery with how cheap her cheese was, and was overjoyed about it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Meanwhile, while my family members were getting excited over shows and particularly good deals, I鈥檝e always been the adrenaline junkie. My main mission when going to Disneyworld was to enjoy every ride it was possible to go on. I rode every roller coaster, and would often pick my favourites to ride more than once. I could really only convince my mother to go with me, though, as my sister was afraid to ride any tall roller coasters, and my father has an inner ear problem that left him out of commission after riding something as simple as The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There were still some rides, however, that even bested me. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a particularly creepy ride, with its set-up as a haunted elevator teleported into a ghostly world. Of course, the constant plummets of the elevator didn鈥檛 help matters. In one part of the ride, your car is transported not up or down, like a usual elevator, but sideways, going through a hotel room hallway as it suddenly starts distorting and you鈥檙e plunged into darkness. We sat there for several incredibly long seconds. Everyone was waiting for the ride to drop us again. I, whether it was in some attempt to show how tough I was for a preteen or just to stop myself from wetting myself, loudly proclaimed, 鈥淚鈥檓 not scared!鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Everybody in our car laughed, and then screamed as we plummeted to our 鈥榙oom.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In Tampa, which is only about an hour outside of Orlando, the theme park Busch Gardens promised many exciting coasters to amuse me, but not as much to amuse my sister. In some attempt to cheer her up, I invited her onto one of the roller coasters. She thought this was a stupid idea, but my mother and I were pretty confident there was nothing to worry about. It was just a wooden coaster, after all. Those can鈥檛 be as fast or as tall as other roller coasters. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!鈥� my mother insisted.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That was a mistake. We only had to get up the first hill, with a drop of 91 feet, and stare down at the little tiny ant people to realize this was a mistake. On top of that, the coaster was actually going 82 kilometres per hour, and this intense speed made the tracks shake. I am pretty sure my sister would have yelled death threats at me if we weren鈥檛 busy screaming our heads off.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Still, as much as the park is said to be the 鈥榟appiest place on Earth,鈥� I think the happiest part for me is reminiscing on the time I shared with my family.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥 still want to go back, though.
