Human imagination is a marvelous thing, and I have recently gotten the opportunity to travel to Disney World to see it brought to life. I started my magical journey very early on a Friday morning. Waking up at 2:30 really wasn’t that bad, adrenalin pumped me was really only thinking about walking out of that Orlando airport into 28-degree sunny weather. The plane right was pretty fun too. I have always liked planes, and I got the window seat for both flights! Once we landed in Orlando we were given our hotel rooms and we were given free time to do whatever we wanted at the hotel. Personally, I was tired, so I slept most of the evening.
The Florida trip was really exciting and action packed. We stayed for 9 days and always had something to do. The main reason the PLP 9 class went to Disneyworld was to work on a project. The driving question for this project was “what drives us to imaginary worlds”. We had to answer this question by choosing a ride at Disney World and then finding what draws people into imaginary worlds through it. I chose the Dumbo ride at the Magic Magic Kingdom park.
This was the main plan for the trip:
Feb. 3 – Travel to Orlando
Feb. 4 – Magic Kingdom
Feb. 5 – Universal Orlando
Feb. 6 – Merritt Island
Feb. 7 – Surf & Space Explorer Adventure
Feb. 8 – Kennedy Space Center
Feb. 9 – EPCOT
Feb. 10 – Animal Kingdom
Feb. 11 – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Feb. 12 – Travel Home
On the first day, we went to the Magic Kingdom. We got to see Whinny The Poo, we went on many fantastical rides, and we got to experience imagination. This day was really the most stressful and action packed day of the whole trip, which was really unfortunate for those who had to film video clips for their project. I was one of those people, and I can tell you I was exhausted by the end of the day. The filming process was actually really fun. I got to take some cool photos and video of my ride, and I even got to interview someone about imaginary worlds. I have definitely grown in my confidence since the beginning of the year, I am no longer to nervous to interview random strangers!
It took me a few days to edit my video after the trip, and unfortunately one of my friends lost the video footage for my interview, but I think the video came together nicely.
I will talk about the video project more in a later post.
On the second day, we went to Universal Studios, this day was the most fun day of the whole trip. The lines were extremely short, the rides were absolutely awesome, and it was one of the warmest days of our stay. One factor that made this day the best was Harry Potter land. This is a part of the park completely set out for Harry Potter’s world. Personally, my favorite ride at Universal Studios was the rip ride rocket.
The next day we visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. We saw some turtles, some birds, and the weather was so nice. Everywhere I looked there were trees and bushes, I really enjoyed this because I love to be in nature. Then we went on an airboat ride and we saw a lot of alligators! At the end of the day we visited the Ron Jon surf shop, it’s this huge warehouse that sells everything surf!
The fourth day was started with the whole class getting a surf lesson! We were all out on the water at the same time, I got a bit crowded sometimes, but it was a lot of fun. It was a really cool experience and I have always wanted to try surfing, I was surprised how easy it was to get the hang of it! Then we went to this really cool astronaut training lesson where we learned about space travel and the launch procedure of rockets. We even got to try an aerotrim, I’m surprised I didn’t feel sick afterward!
Continuing with the space theme, the next day we went to the Kennedy Space Center! This day was one of my favorites of the trip because I love space. First, we had a tour of all the different rockets used in space travel.
Then we went inside and saw the actual Atlantis shuttle! It was huge! The whole center was really amazing and it was definitely an awesome experience. After we explored the space center we went to go have lunch with an astronaut! This was a one in a lifetime opportunity and I’m so glad we went.
On the six days of our trip, we returned to the Disney world parks. This time we went to EPCOT. Here we took a workshop and learned all about how to be a global citizen, which means a person who is involved and engaged in the Earth’s communities. I learned about how I can apply myself to become a global citizen, and I thought it was a fun experience. Then we ate lunch at the Oktoberfest restaurant in the Germany part of the world showcase. The restaurant made you feel like you were part of the celebration, It was really fun.
On the last two days, we went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood studios. Animal kingdom was full of nature and life, and the lines to the rides were pretty short! My favorite two rides where Exploration Everest, and the wildlife tour where we got to see giraffes, gorillas, elephants and much more really cool animals.
Hollywood studios was our last main destination before we had the long journey home. Here we spent our day going on the Tower of Terror and doing another workshop on managing your personal brand. The workshop was fun, and I learned a lot.
The travel back was pretty boring, which was also pretty good because it gave me time to reflect what skills I had learned on this trip. The main question for the trip was how are people drawn to imaginary worlds. From the trip, I have learned that imaginary worlds live everywhere, from the airport to the magical Disney parks, to the restaurants, to even the hotels. I have grown as a person: being on this trip made me feel more confident. I have developed skills like how I can put my story out in the world and become a global citizen, and how I can manage my own personal brand. I really enjoyed this trip, and I learned a lot, I hope we can do another one like it soon.
See you next time.
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