And just like that, we come to a halt. The doors gracefully glide open, giving us a clear view of the baby blue lake. As we disembark from the monorail, we follow the crowd and haste towards the baggage check. One by one, person after person, we make our way past to the next entrance. This time, it was for real. Anxious, the crowd becomes. With a whiff of the sweet candy-coated kettle corn, we turn towards each other with smiles reaching from ear to ear. The projected sound of laughter bounces from person to person like a bee pollinating from flower to flower, only this was a hundred times better than a bee.

Squeezing our way past the gates, an appealing sound catches our ear. Louder and louder, it becomes. Several heads were turning in every possible direction until finally the source was spotted. Clean and shiny metal instruments are unveiled within the perimeter of the entrance. Such luscious music with a familiar tune captivates visitors about. Intrigued with the rhythm, flashing lights emerge from within the audience. Spectators begin to stir up small conversations amongst themselves. “Wow, they are absolutely phenomenal,” was the main gist that was trending. By now everybody had hurdled over towards our general area. After a couple of minutes had passed by, the crowd applauded the musicians respectfully, and unlike any other magical moment, it all must come to an end. The crowd begins to disperse off into various directions leaving my posse no other choice but to proceed onward. It can only get better from here, we agreed.

With the intention of high hopes for the day, the first thing we notice is the captivating scent of vanilla, which eventually guided us through Main Street, USA. We venture out accordingly to ensure that we inspect every souvenir store, and manage our time wisely so we get the opportunity to ride on all of the attractions. However, there was only one ride in particular that had to be ridden first. Speeding up the pace in our feet, we haste towards what appears to be a gigantic and white circular building. Observing its structure, I begin to question the thought process of how anyone could think of an ingenious plan for the building to be so uniquely designed, but aside from that thought, I had not even realized that I was within two feet of the end of the line. I start by taking a deep sigh as I step forward claiming my spot in the line.

The wait time, however, to actually get on the attraction was a nightmare. Tick-tock, tick-tock, seconds were escaping by and still not a single person had inched up in line. Miraculously, after ten minutes of waiting, one of the employees dashed to the side of line and started to regulate traffic, which helped speed things up a lot quicker.

From where we were standing, there was a clear view of the people loading on and off of the coasters and the only sounds audible were the handle bars being ricocheted upward, giving the former riders enough room to exit from their seats. One foot out, then the other and finally the gates jolted and swung open giving new passengers access to the seats.

Now, we were the first people in line. My heart felt like it was skipping a beat. The pounding in my chest was surreal; I could not breathe properly. Big sigh, little sigh, as my friends and I advance into the coaster that was waiting in front of us. At first, I struggled trying to insert the seatbelt into its buckle, in fear that coaster would immediately launch without me being securely strapped in. As I see one of the employees trotting my way, I manage to get buckled up. Then, out of nowhere, the sound of another coaster comes rushing up behind us, slowly coming to a complete stop. Suddenly, people begin to fly past us, for it was our coaster that was moving, which only meant that it was our turn next.

In this moment, I felt completely and utterly ready to conquer this ride once more. I planned to make this summer one of the best ones yet, and to start my day off on one of the most popular rides in the country, it was more memorable than I could ever imagine. Sidetracked, I realized I was no longer sitting upright, rather, at a forty-five degree angle yet still moving at a constant speed. Nothing was visible; it was pitch-black. My heart rate began racing and pounding through my chest; it was unbelievable. When the coaster had begun to gradually slow down, only half us were now sitting upright waiting for the big drop. However, the other half of the people, were stuck in the same position forty-five degree angle. Knowing exactly what was about to happen, I calmly seal my eyes shut in three, two, one…