Pedro's Favorite Things Week: My Favorite
Disney Theme Park Memory
Since this week is all about my favorite Disney
things, I decided to do something for Thursday Treasures: highlight
my all-time favorite Disney theme park memory. As you may probably
know, last year I went to the Walt Disney World resort for the first
time in my entire life. Needless to say, it was a dream come true.
It was a trip that generated a lifetime of memories. And yet, one of
them stands out the most...
No, it isn't me witnessing Cinderella Castle for the
first time...
No, it's isn't meeting Mickey and Minnie for the
first time...
No, it isn't me winning the animator's drawing on my
first drawing lesson...
No, it isn't meeting Belle, aka my favorite Disney
Princess...
These moments are beyond awesome, and create one
amazing first trip to Disney story. So, which memory is my favorite,
then? Believe it or not... it is setting foot on Disney's Animal
Kingdom for the first time ever. I know that for many, Animal
Kingdom is the weakest park at the resort, and thus many people
often leave it out because they would rather go visit the Magic
Kingdom instead of learning about animals. Since I had plans later
in the evening, I decided to do Animal Kingdom first since that
tends to close a little earlier than the other parks, and doesn't
have as many things to do. So on a very warm Sunday morning, after I
had rested and unpacked my stuff, I headed down to catch a bus to
the park.

I finally arrived to the park, they checked my bag,
they scanned my finger and park ticket, I entered the park, and... I
stood there completely awe struck by it all. It was a really odd mix
of confusion, lack of direction, and astonishment. While hundreds of
park guests were walking right past me, some with crying kids, other
just as lost as I was, and others were just walking like it was
nothing. But I must have been that one guy that stood in the middle
of it all with his mouth wide open. At that point, I was no longer
in Puerto Rico, heck I was no longer in Orlando, I was at the Walt
Disney Resort, and I was engulfed in one of its many stories.
I kept walking past all the shops, all the signs,
and all the cast members, and I couldn't stop and be entranced by it
all. That was the start of a real experience, one that I wasn't
living out through the reports of other people, pictures, videos,
and podcasts, I was actually there. My feet were leading me through
this now very real park. It was a lot like when Dorothy enters Oz
and realizes that she isn't in Kansas anymore, and the bright colors
invade the film after many minutes of brown. Only now I was in the
middle of a wild animal story, and everyone looked and played the
part. I was even taken aback by the fact that cast members wished me
a happy birthday, all because I wore my button that day. And all of
that was topped by one thing... seeing the Tree of Life for the
first time ever.

When I finally saw it, my eyes blocked everyone and
everything out just so I could stand there and witness something
incredibly beautiful. It was the moment that made me realize that my
30 year dream was a reality now, and that it was a build up to
something much more spectacular. I was so taken by it that my heart
lead me to the attraction it housed: It's Tough to be a Bug. That's
when I made personal history and made that show the very first
Disney attraction I had ever experienced. It was a really great
moment of sensory overload as the bugs sang, sprayed stuff at us, we
were swatted, the spiders came down from the darkness and somehow
Flik assured us that everything would be fine in the end. I walked
out of that attraction with a huge smile on my face. Who cares that
a stink bug just farted on our faces? It was a preview of things to
come not just in that day, but in the rest of the week!
The day would then become a mix of really great
feelings. From absolute fear as I traveled back in time thanks to
the Dino Institute and facing the Yeti in Expedition Everest, to the
absolute joy as I met Pluto and Goofy in Dinoland, USA. I was so
excited to meet them, I actually called home and said, 'I am in line
to meet Goofy and Pluto! Isn't that AMAZING??' There is a saying
that goes like this: you never forget your first time. Yes, it was
fantastic how I experienced the other parks for the first time, but
my first day at Animal Kingdom remains to this day a magical
experience, hence why it is my favorite Disney memory of all time.