A Trip to Walt Disney and Much More in Florida

It was the spring of my tenth birthday and my parents had finally given in to my begging to go to Disney World. After putting aside a week or two for the trip, we packed our bags and began the vacation of a lifetime. We first searched the internet for the best rates on airplane tickets to Florida for a round trip ticket. We also bought tickets for a bus that would go from the airport and to the area with the hotels. The flight to Disney World seemed to be pretty short and it was an easy flight. The weather was good and we seemed to arrive in no time at all. When we got to the hotel, we noticed that several hotels were bunched together and each hotel has their own theme such as Sports or Disney characters. Right away, you could feel like you were in some place special.

The hotel was great that we stayed in. There was a giant pool for all of the tourists during the day and a basketball court to play. The hotel is specially designed for Disney tourists. All of your tickets for Walt Disney and other tourist places are bought through the hotel. Traveling to and from the sites was made even easier by tour buses that come around every ten minutes and pick up tourists without any charge. After settling into our hotel, the first tourist site that I visited was Epcot center. Now most people when they think of Florida don't even mention Epcot. However, after my trip there I can definitely see that it is a must see attraction. Epcot center is more than just a place for futuristic ideas, it is a place with inventions and a place to see the lifestyles of every culture. Half of Epcot Center is devoted to ideas of the future. They have interactive exhibits that blow the mind. For example, there was this car exhibit where new technology for making cars faster and safer was on display. Another car exhibit allowed children to race in cars on a designed speedway track like Go-Karts. There are also robots which are designed to talk to people and perform certain functions. It is truly a futuristic experience. They have a multitude of on site computers with programs on the future and what it will be like. I remember this one exhibit that allowed you to make your own paper. The guide would give you a contraption that allowed you to soak in samples of wet wooden pieces. These pieces would come together and when they dried and cool from being heated, would create a type of thick paper that you could write on. They also had animals in Epcot that you learned new and interesting fun facts on.

A great tourist attraction that they had was being in a movie theater and wearing 3-D glasses. We saw a show of Peter Pan in these 3-D glasses and it was so cool. It was like Peter Pan was flying right at you. There were also swarms of animals that with these 3-D glasses seemed to make the animals head right for you and jump out of your chair. I remember another unique exhibit in which tourists sat down in a chair and had to put a helmet on. There were a bunch of chairs in an enclosed room and when the lights when off the appearance of a space shuttle appeared. Tourists were strapped into the seat and with this helmet and a moving chair that rocked back and forth, felt like you were traveling through the galaxy.

The second half of Epcot, for those of you who love culture, is filled with different sections devoted to almost every culture imaginable. The enormous list of cultures included Italian, American, Chinese, Japanese, German, Scandinavian, French, Spanish, Mexican, Latin American cultures, Asian cultures and much more. In every little section you went into it seemed like you were stepping into a whole new world or country. It was like a little Italy or China town section. In each nationality section there were specially designed restaurants containing food from that country, people dressed in the customs and fashions from that country, and people spoke the language of that native land. We ended up eating in the Italian section which had amazing pasta and for dinner we are in Scandinavia for an all-you-can eat buffet. Dishes upon dishes were stuffed with all kinds of unique food of meat and fish and poultry.

The day at Epcot only got finer like wine as the day grew old. At night there was a fire works show which words cannot even begin to express how fantastic it is. You'll just have to see it yourselves. There is a giant globe that resembles the world continents that glows with different colored lights at nights as boats release giant fireworks that explode rapidly. The lake which is the center of Epcot lights up in this light show as everyone in Epcot stands still and gathers near the lake in awe of this amazing light show. Epcot was one of the most amazing places I have ever been to.

The second part of the trip was Disney World which most people really need two full days to see everything that Disney World offers. Walt Disney World is not just for children but there is so much for adults as well. Half of Disney World contains roller coaster rides such as one that had the entire roller coaster ride in th dark that scares the living daylights out of people. For anyone who doesn't like roller coasters there is so much more in Disney World. There is a ride in which four people are sitting down together in like a car. The ride is modeled after the Pixar character of Buzz light year and saving the galaxy. Everyone was given a laser shooter and had to shoot the villains that appear in the dark tunnel that the ride goes through. Scores are kept track of and most people get right back on line to do it again.

One of the annoying problems in Disney World is the excruciatingly long lines that people have to wait for. For some rides the wait can be an hour or more. However, not to worry, Disney installed a new feature that allows you to get a ticket that says the exact time that you can return to the ride and without waiting can go right in. This feature is brilliant and saves you much needed time to see the rest of the sites.

For the adults, there are shows to see involving Disney characters. The Disney company's t.v. channel ABC also shows previews of its new shows that are coming in the fall. Other shows such a Beauty and the Beast are shown. An attraction that was my favorite was the Indiana Jones show. A man dressed as Indiana Jones from the t.v. shows and books would act out scenes from the book such as his daring escape from evil villains. There were explosions and fake guns that looked real. The show also explained how some of the stunts get executed in a movie like how fire was created without harming anyone.

Finally, there are all of the Disney characters that walk around and interact with young children.

Disney land as the theme song goes, "is a place where dreams come true." It certainly lives up to its motto and its an amazing place. It is perfect for everyone of all ages, not just young children. I hope that one day you get a chance to experience the magic of Disney World.