Sunday, November 1, 2009

It all started with a Mouse, or in my case: A Duck!

My very first trip to Walt Disney World, and the very beginning of my journey to the Happiest Internship in the World! Enjoy! This is Part One =]

        On December 22,1998, Megan came home from elementary school and upon skipping up the driveway with her backpack in hand, entered her home and went on into her room to put her stuff down since she had made a few Christmas cards in class and did not want her parents to see them. She walked into her room where she saw a pair of shorts and a t-shirt sitting there with a Donald Duck stuffed animal on it. She was utterly confused, as it was far from shorts and t-shirts weather in the cold state of Md. As she threw her boots in her closet, she noticed her duffle bag was missing. When she walked out of her room, she called for her mom and all of a sudden, her mom and dad popped out of her bathroom behind her and said “Surprise!” as they placed one of the famous Mickey Mouse Ear hats on her head. They were leaving for Walt Disney World in just a few short hours! Her family would be there from December 23rd to January 2nd and would be staying right off property in one of the family’s timeshares.

Soon enough, her family (which consisted of her mom, dad and great-aunt as well as herself) left their home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for the long drive to Orlando.  Orlando is 904 miles from Mardela and it would take them about 15 hours of driving to get there. As they pulled out of their driveway, Megan waved goodbye to her pets, Blondie and Dagwood (don’t worry, the family was having an aunt come take care of them each day) and began to watch movies. They left home around 4 p.m. and would drive for about 6 hours and then would stop at a hotel for the night. The next morning, the family would leave the hotel and drive down into Fl. In order to prevent Megan from asking “Are we there yet?” questions every 5 mins, her mother gave her a ten dollar roll of quarters and each time Megan asked “Are we there YET?” she would have to give up a quarter. By the time they got to Jacksonville, Fl; Megan had used surprisingly none of her quarters. But between Jacksonville and Orlando(a 2.5 hour drive); she would use a whopping 13 quarters. Upon checking in at the timeshare, The family jumped into the pool and swam for a while before unpacking and getting settled in. They went to sleep early, as tomorrow was a busy day!

Early in the morning on Christmas eve, Megan and her family got up and got ready to head to the packs after a quick but filling breakfast. Megan’s mom would later recall that Megan could hardly sit still and was bouncing like a chicken with her head cut off! They would pile into the car and head towards The Magic Kingdom, with Megan bouncing in her seat with her Mickey Mouse Ears firmly on her head and Autograph Book in hand. You see, Megan’s cousin had done the Walt Disney World College Program the following year and had brought her back her very own autograph book with a big pen just for her trip. After catching the ferry across, and her father taking a photo of her face as she saw Cinderella’s Castle for the first time, She raced off the boat. Once the family had gone through the entrance, The four of them began the walk down Main Street. The next few moments would be the first and most special of many magical moments.

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