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If you can’t tell by now, this blog has taken a little turn to only Disney related travels, which honestly is fine by me. Animal Kingdom is one of my favorite and least favorite parks. My favorite thing to do in Animal Kingdom is the safari. The safari is so beautiful and fun. It becomes really sad when I can quote what the drivers are going to say next and yes I can do that. For future reference the first animal that you always see is the Okapi and they always say the same thing. They claim that everyone believes that the Okapi is related to the zebra because of its stripes but in all actuality it is actually related to the giraffe.

While the safari is very fun for at least me, there really is nothing else to do in Animal Kingdom except the dinosaur area and Pandora, the Avatar land. Pandora is always so full and the lines for the rides can reach over three hours. Flight of Passage, which honestly is the best ride at Animal Kingdom, always has the longest line. I suggest you get a Fastpass for that ride or most likely your whole day will be wasted on sitting on line.

The other issue with Animal Kingdom is that no matter what time of year you visit Disney, for some reason Animal Kingdom is always extremely hot. I don’t mean Florida hot, Florida hot I can deal with. It’s like ten degrees above. This might not actually be the truth but I promise that if you visit Disney, Animal Kingdom will be the hottest day of your trip. This is even exemplified by Animal Kingdom being the largest park which means that you have to travel even further distances for the minimal rides that are there.

While, I have been complaining about Animal Kingdom, I’m not lying when I say it is one of my favorite parks. While the safari really makes me smile, the one ride that my family and I cannot leave the park without doing is It’s Tough to be a Bug. This is more of a show than anything. It never has a wait and is right under the Tree of Life in the center of the park. As I have nicknamed it, Bug’s Life is probably not what you expected me to say makes the park a must have but it really is. The first time that I had the pleasure of seeing Bug’s Life, I started crying because I was scared and was carried out by my mom. If that doesn’t tell you that you need to experience It’s a Bug’s Life, then I don’t know what will.

Disclaimer: It’s Tough to be a Bug is not a scary ride at all. In all actuality, do not waste your time experiencing it if you need to finish other rides. Bug’s Life will always be there with no line. The no line means something, it means that Bug’s Life can wait. Remember for every one of you, there are over one million ants. Before you exit this article, make sure the bugs can leave first.

When you think of Disney, you probably think of Magic Kingdom. You think of Cinderella’s castle lighting up the night, or at least that is what I think of. I picture walking down Mainstreet USA and being stuck in the crowd trying to take pictures at the castle. Mainstreet USA , if you were wondering, is the street you walk onto when you walk into Magic Kingdom. I remember as a child when we would park in the lot that my dad used to say that by the time we walked into the park we have gone on two rides, the tram and the monorail. That is one of the funniest things because as a child I actually believed that this was true that the monorail was an actual ride. However, we are not talking about that today, we are talking about one particular restaurant in Magic Kingdom, Tony’s Town Square Restaurant.

Tony’s Town Restaurant is nothing special. It is themed after “Lady and the Tramp” meaning that it is an Italian restaurant. Shockingly, Magic Kingdom doesn’t have the biggest selection of restaurants for families as picky as mine. I pick out the restaurants for our trips, so I assumed that everyone liked Italian. I wish I knew how wrong I was.

We got to Tony’s and had to wait about twenty minutes which isn’t horrible but it wasn’t great after being at the park the whole day. We ordered and everything was going fine and dandy until my little sister who was eleven at the time decided that she could not use a fork or a spoon and could only eat with her fingers. Obviously, that is not appropriate and my mom did not approve. My mom thought that if the pasta was cut into smaller pieces my little sister would just eat it with a spoon. Oh how wrong she was. My little sister agreed to have the spaghetti cut but then immediately changed her mind after the pasta was cut. This resulted in my little sister having what I like to call a major hissy fit. She refused to eat her food and said that it was all ruined. This went on for way longer than I would have liked but eventually it was resolved. We were able to convince her to eat the meatballs that she previously refused to eat.

Based on my experience, Tony’s is not a place that I would recommend. However, if you are looking for good Italian food in Magic Kingdom, Tony’s is a great option. Hopefully for you, my little sister won’t be there lurking in the corner complaining about my mom cutting her spaghetti.

No offense to Rhode Island but it isn’t a place that I imagined that I would visit. My little sister does Allstar Cheer which is pretty much just competitive cheer but it has a fancy name. One of her competitions was in Providence and for some reason I decided to go on this trip. We drove over three hours to arrive in Providence and it was not what I was expecting. Truthfully, I thought there was nothing that happened in Rhode Island, so I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived in a bustling city. We got lost on these one way streets trying to get to our hotel. We finally arrived to our hotel and we got a free upgrade so we could look at the building that sat across from the hotel. The building turned out to be the Rhode Island State House.

We decided that we must visit this building since we were there. There was a hill that cut off the building and the sidewalk and either you could skip the sidewalk and walk down the hill or go all the way around the bushes to the very end and walk your way back. Of course, I was not going to waste an extra three minutes and walk around the hill. My little sister went first and it was all fine, she successfully navigated the hill. Next it was my turn. I took my first step and slid all the way down the hill. I got mud all over myself and literally there was no reason for me to fall down an at most ten feet hill. I was wearing leggings and the mud was so noticeable that I had no idea how to hide it. I know realistically I could have just walked back to the hotel and changed but I was committed to seeing the monument.

I just happened to be wearing a Penn State shirt and trying to pull it down over the massive stain when someone just happened to yell ‘We Are’. At that point, I was beyond mortified with my luck. After falling down a hill and trying to make sure that no one noticed the massive amount of mud on me, someone had to be a fellow Penn Stater. My plan was to ignore and pretend nothing was happening but my family would never stand for that. They decided to yell Penn State back and tried to egg me on to finish the cheer.

Providence is one of those places that I never expected to visit but I would actually recommend to everyone to visit. It was such a lovely place to see. Don’t get me wrong I barely did anything there but go to a cheer competition but it was excitedly nonetheless. If anyone was wondering my sister’s team got 3rd out of fourteen teams. Rhode Island is now one of my favorite states because of this trip and everyone should visit at least once to truly understand why Providence is actually one of the cutest cities in the world.

 

For this excursion, I am taking us all the way back to 2009. It was the end of fourth grade and my teacher Ms. Burke just announced that our class was going to Universal. To explain why we were going to Universal, we have to take another step back. Throughout the school year we had a reading area. Ms. Burke would sit on a chair and we would all gather around her and listen to her read. Her favorite series was Harry Potter so, we ended up starting the Sorcerer’s Stone. To be fair it took us half of the school year to finish this book because she would only read one chapter at a time. I was very impatient though, so of course I went to the library and checked out the Harry Potter series and got to work.

Ms. Burke decided that to celebrate the class’s love of Harry Potter that she would graciously pay for all of us to go to Universal. She paid out of her own pocket to allow the class to visit the Harry Potter World that is in Universal. The only thing that we had to pay for was these shirts that said Ms. Burke’s fourth grade class that was $10. At the time in fourth grade, I was very short. I could not have been more than 4’4″. The reason that I remember this is that we were paired into groups based on our height. That means that I was paired with another girl, Jillian, that was too short to go on all the rides. That didn’t stop me though. I discussed with Jillian about how we would get around the problem of us being too short. In my head this was an easy fix. We stuff our shoes with socks.

I committed to this idea very early on. Our class took a bus to Universal and all stormed to the Harry Potter section. We all went on this ride together and let me tell you, nine year old Nicole did not enjoy the huge spiders. After our class split up, we encountered the first ride that we were actually too short for. That didn’t stop me, I knew that I was tall enough. I walk up to the measuring pole and I waited a solid minute before the attendant said I was good. Now all we needed was to see if Jillian pulled it off. She walked up and she didn’t even come close to the height requirements. What I was unaware of at that time, Jillian didn’t stuff her shoes with socks because her mom was our chaperone and she didn’t want to risk getting in trouble. Mind you, I was now a nine year old, walking like an idiot, that couldn’t go on any rides because my partner was too short. Don’t get me wrong, I still had an amazing time but it instead included the younger kids rides and looking through the shops in the Harry Potter area. I will forever be grateful to Ms. Burke for being one of the nicest ladies out there and picking my class to take to Universal.

Have you ever done something to prove a point? Well, I have. At the end of my senior year of high school, my friends and I went on a field trip to Millburn, NJ. Let me tell you, there is nothing in Millburn, NJ but it was still an exciting adventure. It all started with me joking around in biology about how we should go to Millburn to prove a girl in our class wrong. It was completely a joke but it developed into a true excursion. As we continued to joke about it, it took a turn to me seriously driving to New Jersey for a day adventure. Mind you, I had never driven on a parkway before and I was completely onboard to driving two hours to this random town in Jersey. Of course at that point, I wasn’t going to admit to not driving on a parkway so I committed to driving.

We had it all planned, we were going after school ended but before graduation. We had about a two week period to figure out when we were going. We ended up going two days after school ended, June 18. I did practice driving on a parkway, the morning of with my mom, who was not completely on board with me driving to New Jersey. Once I picked up my friends at around 10:00 AM, we were on our way. It was about a two hour drive to Millburn and as we were pulling onto Wantagh Parkway, I prayed for a successful entry. I didn’t kill us and we did make it to Millburn in one piece.

After we got there, we didn’t know what to do. We were in this random small town but we decided to get lunch. We stopped by Oscar’s Deli, which was a random deli on the side of the road. They were selling shirts that said Oscar’s Deli and we all bought one to remember this stupid idea. There was a sign on the road that said Millburn, so we stopped at it and took some pictures. It not only said Millburn but also ‘#Bestsmalltownaround’. It was on the side of a building and honestly was just the most random thing to have in this town.

As we were leaving, we drove past the high school and there was a sign that said “Live the life you have imagined.” I found this quote really fitting for the end of our high school days and why we went to Millburn to begin with. Millburn wasn’t actually about proving someone wrong, it was about having one last adventure before high school officially ended. I will always hold Millburn close to my heart because it represents the closure of my childhood but that there was still adventures that waited for me.

One of my favorite places in the world is Disney. Disney World in Florida is my family’s vacation spot. We visit at least once a year and since we once lived in Florida I have been there more times than I can count. The calmest park is Epcot. Epcot is always the least crowded and easiest park to hit all the attractions. My family has a set plan for when we get there. We always get fast passes for Test Track, Mission Space, and Spaceship Earth. We always get to the parks moderately early, usually around 9:00 AM.

Right when we walk in, we head to The Land which encompasses Soarin’ and Living with the Land. Depending on the line for Soarin’, we either go to Living with the Land or wait on the line. Soarin’ always has a long line but we try to always get on line at the most effective time. Living with the Land has been made my favorite ride in Epcot because for some reason every ride that is boring has been deemed my favorite ride. While I do enjoy Living with the Land, it is definitely not my actual favorite ride. That spot has been taken by Test Track which is where we hit next using a fast pass. Even though we would have a fast pass for Test Track, it usually still takes about twenty to thirty minutes because of the line and creating your car. After Test Track, we use our second fast pass of the day and head to Mission Space.

Mission Space is one of the rides that have two choices. Either you can go on the green or orange path. Green is easier and less intense while orange is the more intense side. My family usually does the orange but if my mom goes with us we do the green because she hates all types of rides. After this, we run to the Frozen ride which is in Norway. Norway is a part of the World Showcase and it is in a different part of the park. The Frozen ride is actually the same ride as the old Viking ride. Honestly, I enjoyed the Viking ride more but the Frozen ride is still enjoyable. The only difference between these two rides are the decorations, so honestly it is not a big deal but the Frozen ride definitely draws a bigger crowd. Walking back towards the entry, we walk into Mexico.

Inside the pyramid of Mexico, there is a giftshop, restaurant, and a ride. This ride never has a line because most people don’t know about it. My family calls it The Three Amigo Ride but that’s not the actual name. The actual name is Gran Fiesta Tour starring The Three Caballeros. That is a handful so we reduced it to the Three Amigos. If you ever don’t want to wait on a line in Epcot that is where I suggest you go. The other ride that usually doesn’t have a wait is Figment. Figment is one of the kid rides that Disney provides and it has your imagination brought to life by Figment, a bouncing animal. After this, we head to Nemo and then finally have lunch/dinner at The Coral Reef. This usually happens around 2:30 to 3:00 depending on our reservation.

The Coral Reef is a beautiful restaurant and inside of it there is a glass wall that looks into a tank. The best seats in the restaurant are right up against the tank because you can spend the whole time looking at the fish, turtles, and sharks. The only ride that we haven’t hit yet is Spaceship Earth, the huge ball at the entrance of the park. We put this at the end of the day because we pass it as we are walking out. Epcot is one of my favorite places in the world and I find it truly funny that I have an exact plan for my day at Epcot.

This is another adventure brought to you by my sixteenth birthday cruise. This time we are in the glorious country of Mexico. The original stop for the cruise was Cozumel but my family booked an excursion unbeknownst to us on mainland Mexico. While mostly all passangers got off onto dock people that were going to mainland Mexico were given a specific time to get to the other side of the boat. At this point, I was unsure of what our excursion intailed but assumed nothing of being told where to meet. We were then loaded onto this rinkydink boat and whisked away to Mexico.

Terror struck and it started pouring. There was a little cover over our heads but that did nothing to stop the torrential onslaught caused by the rain and wind. The plastic cover was flying all over and people were trying to keep it down. Nothing worked so by the end of this twenty-five minute boat ride we were soaked. When we got off of the boat, the ground was covered in rain. The excursion to the ruins was already canceled and I was worried that our trip to swim in caves would be canceled. However, it was not canceled and we were carted to a van with two other families. The ground was flooded and we could not see out of the windshield. I was terrified of driving in this rain and of having the van get stuck in the water. The van jerked and was able to pull through the water.

We drove for about thirty minutes and finally got dropped off in the middle of the woods. We were each given a life jacket and a helmet with a light on it. We were told specifically to not get the light in the water. Of course that means right away, I get this helmet soaked. I never got yelled at for this and the light still worked so I guess that it was fine. Now in this cave, there were bats flying around us and honestly at first I had no idea what they were and I wish that I never found out. My little sister asked what was on the ceiling and the tour guide said ‘You don’t want to know’. See the issue with that response is that it just makes you even more curious. After pestering him, he finally answered with bats. These bats honestly were not that scary but that didn’t matter, they were still bats. Every time one flew by I shrunk away.

Even though the bats were terrifying, the rest of the cave was so cool. It was so pretty. There were stalactites and stalagmites. There was a stalagmites getting formed right in front of us. There was water dripping down from the ceiling onto it. We explored this cave for over an hour. Afterwards, we were dropped off on a street with a bunch of giftshops and I was able to get my snow globe. It turned out where we were in Mexico was Playa del Carmen. Obviously, it was an unexpected change of events when we were boarded onto a boat from the back of the ship but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Have you ever been blood sacrificed at Mayan ruins? Yeah, well neither have I but I like to pretend that I have. I went on a cruise for my sixteenth birthday and one of the excursions that we decided to do was go to Xunantunich, which is Mayan ruins in Belize. I was so excited for this trip because I thought that it would be so much fun. So, once the tour guide mentioned that Belize was not a third world nation but a developing third world nation I knew it was going to be an adventure. We got to the ruins after an hour bus ride and a twenty minute walk up a mountain after having to get off the bus onto a platform that moved across the river. Once we got there, we climbed these steps that were about a foot each in height. I was so proud of finally getting to the top of this pyramid. The view from the top was so beautiful, we were able to see the whole landscape of this old city. There was so many other building that were their that we were able to explore. But that is not the reason for this story. The true story has just begun.

After climbing down this huge pyramid, having to be really careful not to fall we got to the gift shop. I walked in and didn’t really see anything that I liked so I was a little upset because up to that point I got a snow globe from each of the previous locations from the cruise. My little sister wanted a doll so we waited for her to get this doll, that I don’t think she looked at ever again but that’s besides the point. We were walking out of the store and there was a little step down, no more than 2 inches, I didn’t realize and I fell down and scrapped my knee. It was horrible, my knee was banged up so bad and then everyone was staring at me. Of course, it stung and I sat down on a bench and stared at my knee wondering what to do now. A really nice lady came up and asked, “Are you ok?” Of course being an embarrassed sixteen year old that just made it worse. At that point, I burst into tears and couldn’t believe that was happening. Then the tour guide came up to me and questioned what was wrong. I just looked at them like are you serious. The tour guide than went into the forest and brought back a leaf.

What would you do with a leaf? Probably not what this tour guide did. She squeezed it onto my knee. She physically smushed this leaf onto my leg and my knee became orange. Not just a little orange but it was stained for the rest of the cruise. At this point, I thought I was poisoned because that is what any rational person would think. In mid panic, we were loaded back onto the bus and they approached my mom with an incident report. It had a ton of questions but it was more like you are not allowed to sue us. They filled out most of the form for us but the one thing I remember was that a question was ‘What could have prevented this incident?’, they wrote ‘She could watch her step’. And that was how I was part of a blood ritual at the Mayan ruins and was sacrificed to the gods.

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