As soon as I walked in, I immediately regretted it. Cobwebs were dangling off broken chandeliers and spooky music hummed in the background. Dim lights gave the room an orange glow, and everything looked like it came straight out of a horror film. Standing in line made it worse because I could see more shadows. For once Disney World was actually scary. But I couldn’t turn back now.
The line slowly crept further and deeper into the room, until we were finally in front of our seats. My older brother smiled at me, and I smiled back. We rushed to get to the front and sat next to each other. At the click of my belt I knew I was going to prove him wrong. I could ride the Tower of Terror.
“Too scared?”, I remember him taunting as we stood in front of the ride. Just moments before, when my palms were sweating and my legs were wobbling at the thought. The castle looked even more terrifying at night, with only the words “Hollywood Tower” glaring back at you. Of course I accepted his challenge. Everything about Disney had been magical, so maybe I could use that magic to be brave.
The doors behind us suddenly slammed shut, and I gulped hard trying to keep myself from crying out. Then, slowly, we began moving up so high that I felt my stomach leave me and fall. My brother leaned over to me and whispered, “When I say ‘now’, hold my hand”.
Once we reached the top of the tower, all feeling of regret and fear slipped away. For a few seconds I could see all of Disney from fifty feet up in the sky. Colorful lights splattered the ground like little stars. I had never seen this much earth before, and I was mesmerized. Everything was so beautiful and twinkling as if two skies filled with stars were touching and becoming- “NOW!”
I snapped my head to the side and he grabbed my hand quickly. We fell, and the stars became a blur. I knew I was dying, that the ride had broke and we were falling. But suddenly it jerked to a stop and we sped back up. I saw the world beneath my eyes again before quickly falling. It felt as though my soul was left dangling in the sky while my body was being dragged back to earth.
My brother held my hand up high with his. I was laughing while he was shouting. I knew if it weren’t for him, I would’ve never gone on this ride and stayed somewhere below with my Dad, too scared. I would have never seen the world. At that moment, I wasn’t so mad at him anymore.
We ran out of the building with warm cheeks and hearts still beating fast with adrenaline. We were still giggling and making fun of everyone’s faces captured during the ride. Our faces in the photo looked the best, because instead of screaming with fear we were screaming with laughter.
Disney was the greatest vacation I ever went on because I felt the magic and saw what it could do. I’ll probably never ride the Tower of Terror again though, not because I’m scared, but because I don’t want to ruin this special moment I shared with my brother. He showed me not to fear the world, but to embrace it. l know truly that Disney’s magic made me brave.
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