I'm talking about a post that's long overdue and I always meant to write about it but I never came to it, apparently.
For those of you that are still lost, I'm talking about Disney.
Quinceañera+Best Friends+Disney World+Spring Break= Best Time Of My Life :D
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Once upon a time, on the fifth of March, ten children from the Abbey finished their exams and boarded a plane to the happiest place on Earth: Disney World. Their names were Lilly, Lauryn, Maya, Claire, Sean, Caellum, James, Mike, Ellie, and Sophia. Along with them came a lovely little family by the name of Kerr.
On said plane, Caellum, Claire and Maya decided to sit together, while Mike, Ellie and Sophia sat together, and Lilly , Lauryn and Sean took the next row. James Briand sat all by his little self and did not mind one bit.
Needless to say, Claire and Maya quickly fell asleep across one seriously unfortunate Caellum. The plane ride was lovely (thanks to our human pillow). After a fair amount of dicking around, the crew jumped onto a bus and squealed in their seats (at least I did) 'til their hotel, All Star Music, came into view. All eleven children (this included the tiniest Kerr, Emma) scuttled to find some dinner before making their way over to their cozy hotel rooms.
It was only a matter of time before everyone realized it was midnight, therefore, it was now Maya's fifteenth birthday.
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Day One
Okay, I'm switching back to first person now XD
This was the start of the greatest day of my life.
Papa Kerr asked everyone to come out of their rooms and into the hallway (they were all right next to each other, anyway) and we were all thinking--at least I was thinking--that it was meant to be just a normal check-in meeting. Instead, I was met with all of my favorite people singing Happy Birthday to me in their pajamas. I couldn't keep from bringing my hands up to my face, afraid I was going to cry. I turned to my left and there was Claire, filming this precious moment and I couldn't thank her--or anybody else--enough. I was met with hugs, and smiles, and lovely birthday wishes. But then it was time for bed. There was no doubt it was gonna be a great day.
Breakfast was... eventful to say the least. I was branded a wand and tiara (courtesy of Mama Kerr) and I definitely felt like a princess the rest of the day :) We boarded the bus that was headed to Animal Kingdom, where a whole pile of strangers sang Happy Birthday to me, again, causing me to turn bright red. The bus lady sounded like Roz from Monsters Inc. It was kinda scary.
Upon arriving at Animal Kingdom, the crew took hold of Everest, my all-time worst fear since I'd last been to Disney five years prior.
We went on it twice.
Lots of screaming prevailed. I still have no clue how I didn't manage to break Caellum's hand.
Next, we went on Dinosaur. Twice. (We're not gonna make it! We're not gonna make it!) Claire sure struggled with that one... XD :*
Then on our way to It's Tough To Be A Bug, we heard it. That's right.
The Circle of Life started to play in the background, and that could only mean one thing.
Caellum and Mike took it upon themselves to hoist me up into the sky like some newborn divinity and Claire decided to document it XD Just normal, everyday things.
It was just after this that I received my glorious Birthday Pin from Papa Kerr <3 Thus commenced the many congratulations and such from strangers and the like ^_^
We all decided to go on the safari and on our way out, we bumped into one of the most lovely people I have ever met. His name was Hetisani and he was a young man from South Africa in his twenties. He started to talk to us about following our dreams and humanity and Nelson Mandela. "I am because you are, and you are because I am," he had said. We are all people because of each other. And that was the most valuable lesson I learned on this trip.
After our ten minutes of enlightenment, we headed off on our own to get something to eat, only to meet up again to watch the glorious performance of The Lion King (basically my favorite Disney movie ever) <3
Then we decided to ride the River Rapids--my favorite ride ever--and being the Catholic school students that we are, we sang the Pater Noster all the way up the slope XD Other people must've thought we were crazing for chanting Latin prayers at the top of our lungs, but we didn't mind :)
By then it'd gotten late, and we were now soaked in water, so we thought it best to go back to the hotel and freshen up before heading out again to see Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba.
Now, for some godforsaken reason, Claire and I thought it'd be a marvelous idea to go swimming even though it was super freaking cold (it'd only been one day and we were already acclimatized haha). It only took me a second to notice she didn't have her Magic Band on her (like our room key, but a bracelet). I didn't really think much of it until we got back to the room and I was met with streamers and balloons and decorations all over with a banner over the bed saying "Happy Birthday". I fell for their surprises. Again. The wonderful Mrs. Kerr put it together and I couldn't have been more happy :) (props to Claire for almost ruining the surprise XD I still love you)
It was almost time for us to head out, so we did ourselves up real nice and made sure to take lots of pictures before making our way to the bus that would take us to Downtown Disney. While walking to Cirque's tent, we passed by various talented street performers, all of whom played some of our favorite jams: Wagon Wheel, Hallelujah, No Scrubs, I Want It That Way, among others :)
Cirque was unbelievably overwhelming in every sense of the word. It was beautiful, and big, and bold, and daring, and impossible to put into any more words than that. All I can say is the filmed version is nothing like it is in person.
I was so tuckered out by the end of their performance that poor Mike had to serve as my pillow on the bus ride home (or hotel, whichever). No words were needed to say it was the best birthday ever.
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Day Two
Then commenced one of the longest days of our lives.
We got up earlier than usual to go back to Downtown Disney in order to have an up close, backstage tour of Cirque du Soleil. It was super impressive. We all learned how to use Diabolo's. Sean was surprisingly good at it.
We came back to the hotel to rest and prepare for the super long day ahead of us. That's right. Disney's magic hours in Magic Kingdom is definitely an experience. Go with your best friends. You'll have fun.
We jumped from ride to ride, hardly ever stopping to catch a breath. Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain (fuck you Briar Rabbit), Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Carousel of Progress (There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow), Stitch's Great Escape, Peter Pan (the ride is roughly 30 seconds and we waited over two hours in line), Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Light Year, Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World (with the guy waving furiously at us over the headboard), and then the Tea Cup Party.
Gosh, that was one of the trippiest experiences I've ever been in. Let's just say, fitting two grown male teenagers, and two grown female teenagers into one tiny tea cup was a bit more than cramped. Nonetheless, Caellum, Mike, Claire and I all managed to spin, and spin, and spin, and spin, 'til we couldn't walk straight anymore.
After that, most of the night was a blur. I was growing sleepier by the hour and couldn't remember the rest of our excursions. All I know is that C gave me several piggyback rides that night, and I managed to fall asleep on top of Mike more than once.
The last thing I remember is fireworks.
And then I draw a blank.
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Day Three
The next day, we were all bound for the wonderful world of Epcot.
First of all, C and I were unintentionally twinning. It was kinda cool.
C, Claire and I wandered off to Canada, where we watched Martin Short give me vertigo on a Circle-Vision 360º screen. It was an experience.
Later, after we found the others, we went on Mission to Mars, which wasn't nearly as traumatizing as I remembered it (I was Pilot. Every time.). After we ate, we went on Spaceship Earth, and I tagged along with C. The stargazing view at the end is my absolute favorite. It's truly breathtaking.
Then we headed over to drink different Coke products from around the world. The Beverly was the most revolting thing I'd ever tasted in my life. C, I despise you for liking it.
Eventually, we wandered over to Test Track to make some sick cars (Gotta go zoom!). It was SO fun. Then we went on a kiddie Nemo ride called Seas. Coming out of it, Caellum decided to make me want to hate him more, so he spewed the longest on-going pun I've ever heard in my life. Despite my laugh attack, I was not happy -_- We got ice cream before heading back to our hotel (it'd been a pretty hot day and we were tired out). It appears, I had two more laugh attacks though (a side-effect of my fatigue), one at dinner and another at the pool.
Laughing is exhausting, lemme tell you that.
Before I knew it, I was sound asleep.
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Day Four
This was to be the last magical day for all the other chill'uns (excluding CC, MnM, meaning Caellum, Claire, Maya and Mike).
We were to spend the day at Hollywood Studios. It was sweltering hot.
James spent most of the day hopping over fences and doing the exact opposite of anything a sign said. But that's unimportant.
First was the Great Movie Ride. Apparently we were already hungry, so we decided to get food at Pizza Planet (yeah Toy Story!). The truly wonderful thing about this idea–the eating, I mean–is that we were going to do it right before getting on the Tower of Terror. What a splendid idea, right? Needless to say, I'm claustrophobic, get really bad motion sickness, am afraid of the dark and afraid of heights, so of course I decided to get on the Tower of Motherfucking Terror.
And of course I had a panic attack. Lucky for me, I was already strapped into my chair and the elevator doors had already shut, so there was absolutely no possible way for me to get out. Poor Caellum had to deal with me sobbing throughout the entire thing (except later I found out he just thought I was laughing -_-). Again, I'm pretty sure I was close to breaking his hand.
Anyway, after it was finally over, I ran out of there like there was no tomorrow, and didn't go on the next ride 'til Mike and Sophia managed to calm me down. We decided to go see the Muppet Show for a change, in which I fell asleep for the full thirty minutes. Not my fault. I was recovering from a traumatic experience XD
Next, we decided we should rev back up to the power rides, so we went on the Rockin' Roller Coaster (gotta go zoooooooooommmm!!!). It was AWESOME to say the least :) Then we went to the car stunt show which was mainly boring and predictable in my opinion. Poor Lilly got a headache afterwards so we took care of her a while before heading off to Star Tours, in which our two best idiots geeked out hardcore. Of course Caellum was chosen as the rebel spy. Of course.
After much geeking out, we were onto the next one, in other words, the Indiana Jones performance, which was cool as ever. That night, we all went to watch Fantasmic and the fireworks were insane.
So I guess it was safe to say we'd had a long day but it still wasn't over yet. When we got back to the hotel for dinner, we were struck by the employees in the cafeteria dancing the cupid shuffle. And so the obvious thing was to join them. Great fun, that was :)
Unfortunately, it was time for us to say goodbye to all the others, seeing as they'd all be leaving for home the next morning.
And so concluded our last scheduled day.
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Day 5 etc...
The next morning, we moved out of our hotel rooms and made our way over to Mike's place :) That day we were all a bit tired of theme parks so we spent the day by the pool and watched movies. Well, everyone else did. I may or may not have fallen asleep on top of poor Mike again, but yaknow, he should be used to that by now XD
The next few days taught me many things.
Firstly, that sharing a bathroom with six teenagers, specifically *ehem* the boys *ehem*, is more challenging than taking the SATs (by the way, I did not break the shower curtains -_-).
Secondly, that tucking Emma Riley Kerr into bed is 1,000% impossible.
Thirdly, that apparently I take up lots of space in bed. I refuse to believe that.
Fourth of all, Miss Costa's food is heavenly.
Fifth of all, I didn't fail Chem (we found out our Winter grades while we were there).
It was also a time of lots of firsts. Which included living in the same house as my best friends, sharing a bed with my best friends (again I do not take up that much space Caellum XD) and having my record longest laugh attack ever (roughly one hour and ten minutes). I'm pretty sure I got rock-hard abs that day, not gonna lie. I also managed to watch the first twenty minutes of Star Wars before falling asleep. That would be another record.
Anyway, it was extremely hard not to cry when it was finally time to leave. The entire ride to the airport, I was clutching Jay's hand as if my life depended on it. I was not ready to say goodbye or be done with the best vacation of my life.
Despite the fact that I was gonna see these guys in less than two weeks, I was gonna miss them so much.
Because we're family.
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I really feel like this trip brought us all closer, in more ways than one XD
In all honesty, I know I've mentioned this plenty of times already, but this was truly the best experience I ever had with you guys. And I'd give anything to be back there with you all now (including the ones who didn't get to go). I miss this so freaking much it hurts. I miss hauling each other out of bed in the mornings. I miss getting on people's nerves. I miss screaming on rides and giggling like a child at butterflies that passed by, because that is the magic of Disney.
Disney was able to bring us all back to a time where nothing but ice cream and sprinkles mattered, to a time where fantasy was our only reality, to a time where (excuse my cliche) dreams really did come true.
I'd give anything to be back in that land of newness with you.
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And if you've made it this far, I congratulate you. This was indeed a long post.
To everyone who went out of their way to make that trip special–thank you. So so very much.
I love you.
Here's to hoping we get to go on another wondrous adventure together!
Hasta la próxima,
Much love xoxo
Maya
P.S.: And remember kids:
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
And tomorrow's just a dream away
Now ignore me as I sing this to myself for the next six months of my life.
STOP THIS IS NOT ALLOWED
ReplyDeleteBUT I MISS IT SO MUCH
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