My sister, Jen, had migrated towards the East, moving from our growing town in Texas to the tourist streets of Orlando, Florida. She worked as an employee in the college program Disney hosts, allowing my family to enjoy their amazing amusement parks. It was the perfect place to be back together again, the most magical place on Earth; Disney’s Epcot. The entire day we spent going to great shows broadcasting things I had never seen before, most of which were in 3D or an actual interactive ride. With being thrown around as the “first astronaut to land on Mars”, making a video game starring my siblings and myself, and taking multiple pictures with Disney characters, my family and I were ready to take a walk around the world.
I had never seen anything like it before. With only a few strides I could be witnessing the bonsais of China, or the elaborate sculptures carved into Italian buildings. My nose could never get used to the always changing smells of different cuisines, and my mouth never closed out of amazement. Hundreds of foreigners passed me, with their different accents and languages, wanting to see how Americans viewed their country and portrayed them through the buildings and restaurants. It was then that I realized Disney World really was a place that the world came together, not just my sister and my family for a week vacation.
We sat behind a chained railing in what was the mirror image of China, and reserved our seats for “IllumiNations”; the firework show. To my right there was an Italian family, enjoying their time in America, and talking about how the water tasted different. They drifted between English and Italian, making it hard to understand, but I got to hear the beauty of the language spoken originally and crisp. As the sun went down, it left a silhouette around the huge ball that with-holds “Spaceship Earth”, and allowed lights to automatically come on in every country around the lake.
Lanterns shot on by themselves, and a man came on every intercom to inform the park about the firework show. When he was done explaining, he blew into the microphone, and all of the lights went out. Fire bellowed from the water off of ships, fireworks lifted in perfect time with the music, and burst with the harmony. It definitely surpassed any Fourth of July fireworks that my hometown had ever attempted. A metal globe floated out into the middle of the lake, illuminated against the rest of the light show, and had images of children, animals, and Disney characters playing on the different regions of the world. The metal globe opened itself from the top to reveal the finale of fireworks, and I couldn’t believe I was witnessing something I had always wanted to see.
We walked away that night with a whole day of new experiences that brought us closer together. Smiling at my nephew on top of my brother’s shoulders, my sister with her arm around my mom, I knew that it was a night that every person in Epcot would never forget.
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