The highlight of Disney World would definitely have to be Magic Kingdom.
You can never miss it. This is the theme park that brings back childhood nostalgia. The details, the rides, the balloons; everything brings back memories of being a kid.
After visiting Hollywood Studios, my mom and I visited Magic Kingdom. The park was superbly packed and it was beastly hot, so we didn't go explore much. We only rode a couple rides, and took pictures.
We didn't stay very long, so we decided to come back the following day. When we first visited Magic Kingdom, it was too hot to walk and there were too many people. Ironically, on our last day, it was so cold and rainy that there was no one there. Oh, the joys of Florida weather!
Most of the rides were closed due to the bad weather, so we rode Small World. It's much smaller compared to the one at Disneyland, but it was much less of an asylum. They at least hummed the melody instead of constantly singing the same lyrics.
We took advantage of the non-existent crowd and decided to get some photo-ops with princesses. I am a huge fan of the Disney Princesses: I genuinely believe I am secretly one. (Kidding) When we got to the princess place, there wasn't a line so we took as much photos as we could.
I absolute loved how the characters made me feel like a princess. They were very charming, and sweet to everybody. Aurora asked me where I'm from, and when I said 'Anaheim', she flipped out and told me stories about her palace at Disneyland. I felt like I was 5 again.
After seeing the princesses, the weather got worse so we decided to head back to our hotel.
The Poncho-shot
Stick around. There's more adventures lurking around the corner. :)
On our second day, my mom and I woke up very early and headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We swiftly ate breakfast and arrived just before the park opened.When we arrived, the streets were practically empty. It was a perfect opportunity to take as much photos as we possibly could before it got too crowded.
Morning mirror shot with mom photobombing in the background!
While we were walking to check out some rides, an announcement came over the P.A. and said that Disney was holding an audition for their American Idol Experience. It's a show that is exactly like the real American Idol. They hold auditions and choose 15 guests to sing at one of the showtimes, and the audience gets to vote who they will put through to the "finale."
As soon as my mom heard the announcement, she dragged me over to the Audition Center and convinced me to try out. At first, I was a little hesitant because I was very unprepared. In the end, my mom was able to persuade me to audition.
I did not want any photos.
The process was long. I had to audition twice before I got to perform. On my first audition, I got to choose my song and I had to sing it acapella. I didn't have a lot of time to choose it, because as soon as we entered the building, we were led to a room with the casting director. I chose to sing "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys, since it was always a crowd-pleaser.
The Casting Director, Mark, kept writing and nodding as I sang. After singing a verse and the chorus, he told me that I made it to the next round.
They led us to this small hallway and handed me a list of songs to choose from. I had to pick two songs to sing to the producers. They also handed us an iPod to practice my songs with the backing tracks. I ended up singing Miley Cyrus's "The Climb" and "This is Me" by Demi Lovato.
After a short practice with the songs, it was finally my turn to audition for the producers. They were extremely nice; they cracked jokes, and asked questions to help me feel at ease. They handed me the microphone, and played the song. As soon as I heard the melody, I felt more confident and got into it.
After singing, they told me that I was going to perform at their 1: 15 show. We were supposed to come back at around 11:45 for hair, make-up and vocal coaching. My mom absolutely freaked out and got all excited, even though this wasn't the real American Idol.
We had a lot of time to kill before coming back so we went on rides. My favorite was Aerosmith's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. It starts off with Steven Tyler doing his well-known Rock and Roll scream, and then it shoots you at 60 mph. It was the BEST. RIDE. EVER.
After doing our rounds of rides, we had to go back to the studio to prepare for the show. I was the first performer so I had to go do voice coaching first. The voice coach taught me my blockings on stage, and polished my song.
After voice coaching, I did hair and makeup. The lady wanted my overall look to feel natural, and insisted that I leave my hair down. After a quick touch-up, I was ready to go.
We did a short sound-check on stage, and then it was showtime. The host came out and talked to us backstage, while the audience was being seated. As soon as the lights turned down, she went out on stage and introduced me. I walked on stage and saw a full house. It was honestly a nerve-wrecking experience.
But after a while, I felt less nervous. It felt empowering to be performing on stage.The crowd was cheering and clapping. It was so surreal and I felt happy.
In the end, I got 2nd place overall. This was the best experience ever. I was able to get through it with confidence. I also made friends with my competitors. Truly, this was one of my proudest moments.
After our amazing time aboard the Disney Cruise, our party hopped on a shuttle to Disney World Resort. It has been my dream to visit Disney World for as long as I could remember. So when my mom booked the trip and told me we were going to visit Disney World, I just screamed at the top of my lungs. I was super stoked to go, and visit the Happiest Place on Earth.
We only had 3 days to visit all four parks, and on our first day, we
arrived at our resort at 11 AM. We were really short on time. In order
to visit and experience all the theme parks, we decided to visit 2-3 of
them per day. Our day would start at 6 AM, and end at midnight. It was
really exhausting going to different parks, and catching the buses to
get there, but it was worth it.
Team Disney!
I love how everything has to be Mickey Mouse
On our first day, we went to Animal Kingdom. It was a little rainy and cold so there weren't as much people there. It was also off-season for Disney World, so wait times were 5-15 minutes long. I never
stood in line for more than 10 minutes! We went on a really good day.
It was lunch time when we came in, so my mom decided to have lunch while I checked out some rides around Dinoland USA. I rode this ride called Dinosaur, which runs on something similar to Indiana Jones at Disneyland. The only difference is that the central theme was escaping the meteor shower that hit the dinosaurs in the end of the cretaceous period. The ride was cool, and the special effects were mind-blowing. My mom rode it with me for the second time, and she absolutely LOVED it.
After Dinoland, the older kids and I went on Expedition Everest. Knowing Disney, most of its rides are "Disney-fied," and are geared towards families and kids. I was expecting a little roller coaster similar to California Screamin' or Space Mountain. I never expected Expedition Everest to be super thrilling. It was my favorite ride in Animal Kingdom and I just had to ride it three times.
Before we headed off to EPCOT, we rode the Kilimanjaro Safaris. It is like going to the zoo, and taking a tram tour around Animal Kingdom's private safari. There were a lot of animals to be seen walking around. There was even a giraffe that walked to our tram. It was cool.
The real Lacoste. hahahaha!
It's Nala!
At about 5 PM, half of our group went home while 8 of us went to EPCOT Center for some more night time fun. EPCOT was my favorite park at Disney World. The technology behind the rides was just mind-blowing. It was like walking into the future. My favorite among them would have to be Test Track. Guests would be able to make their own cars, and then compete against other riders to see which car is the most efficient. Our car got last place, simply because we just made it pink. It was so much fun.
One of my other favorite rides was the Nemo ride. It was really interactive compared to the one we have at Disneyland. The vehicle was similar to the Doom Buggy on the Haunted Mansion Ride, and it featured many robotic fish that was very life-like. It was so colorful and happy. It's great for kids, teens and adults.
To cap off the day, we watched "IllumiNations: Reflections of the Earth" at the EPCOT lake. It was this fireworks display that mainly talked about the Earth. The pyrotechnics were breath-taking. In the end, this gigantic globe came up and shot up fireworks all around the lake. It was marvelous.
I'm Andrea. I like to travel, to take pictures, and go on adventures. This is my travel journal, and I hope you enjoy living each adventure with me.
Peace out!
Posts
