I walked in through the front door slinging my leather satchel onto the ground as I passed over the welcome mat below my feet, kicking off my worn down, white Adidas sneakers. Ignoring the fact that I have hours of homework to complete, I walked over and plopped onto our loft style sofa, snuggling up into the corner, covering with a hand sewn quilt made by my great grandmother. After getting comfortable, I decided that I wanted to turn on the television set, but I debated on whether or not I should because that meant I would have to get up. But something told me that I should turn it on, so I got up off the couch and clicked the power button on the side of our mechanical television set. I am extremely blessed to say that I even own a television set, but I guess hard work pays off, especially in my father’s case. As a businessman, you could say that my father makes pretty good money, but I also wouldn’t say we are wealthy. I am just fortunate that he makes enough money to keep our family financially stable.

After powering on the television, I stood and flipped between the ten channels that were available. Nothing caught my interest, so I went with the channel I always ended up choosing: the news. I walked over to my school bag, grabbed my independent reading book, and returned to the couch, plopping in the same spot as before. I opened my book and immediately got caught up in the plot, imagining everything as if it were a movie in my head. When it comes to a good book, I cut out the entire world around me, and I tend to get a little too involved. But for some reason, today, I couldn’t cut out the background noise of the television as well as I was able to before. Once I had gotten through about 30 pages, I noticed the faint voice of the news anchorman announcing breaking news.

“Breaking news ladies and gentlemen! We have recently been informed that a new amusement park, built by a man named Walt Disney, is going to be opening within the week, in Orlando, Florida. According to the inventor, “Walt Disney World” is going to be the biggest up-in-coming attraction for children and adults across the world!” As I heard these words escape his mouth, I couldn’t help but shut my book and fix my eyes on the black and white television screen. A new amusement park? Biggest up-in-coming attraction? Something is telling me that I have to visit this so called “Walt Disney World.” After thinking about it for awhile, I returned to reading my book and blocking out the world around me.

“Alice!!!” The sound of my name being yelled through the kitchen snapped me back into reality. “Alice!! Please come help me carry in the groceries!”I groaned as I stood up out of my warm, comfy spot on the couch. I walked with a hunched back and shoulders to over exaggerate to my mother that I didn’t want to get up to help her, but did anyway. “Hi honey,” she said grabbing three bags out of the back of our 1971 Ford Pinto. “How was your day at school?”

“The same as any other day, boring. I spent most of my time reading in class.” I responded with an uninterested tone. There is nothing more I hate than school, and when she brings it up, I try to change the subject as quickly as I possibly can. “Mom!!! Guess what I saw on the News today?”

“What? What did you see on the News today?”

“There is a new amusement park that is opening in Orlando, Florida this week. It’s called “Walt Disney World” and apparently the inventor insists that it's going to be one of the biggest attractions among adults and children in the world! Can you believe that?! He must be crazy.”

“Wow, that sounds pretty interesting. But to become the biggest attraction in the world? That would take a lot of hard work. What all is there to do at this new amusement park?”

“There are so many things and it looked like so much fun. I really wish we would be able to go to see what it’s like.” As I said that to my mother, I couldn’t help but think… It’s not like our family could afford anything like that anyway.

*2 days later* “Alice!” screamed my father from the living room.

“One second!” I said back, continuing to look for a snack in our pantry. After finding some goldfish, I walked out to the living room and noticed my father holding some papers in his hands.

“Alice honey, after your mother and I had a long conversation, we decided that we wanted to surprise you with something. We have noticed how hard you have been working in school, getting straight A’s and all, and considering I, myself, just got a raise at work, we have decided that we will be traveling to Orlando, Florida for the grand opening of “Walt Disney World.” I dropped the pack of goldfish I was eating, spilling them all over the carpet below me.

“What? You guys are joking right? There’s no way we would ever be able to afford something so extravagant.”

“Well, if you’d like we can cancel the trip and get our money back if you’re worried we can’t afford it,” responded my father, a smirk plastered on his face.

“No! No! No! I can’t believe this! Thank you so much!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Butterflies filled my stomach as I began to realize that I’ve never traveled anywhere, other than cities in my home state. I have never even been on an airplane before.

“So kiddo, begin packing your bags, because in exactly 24 hours we are traveling to Orlando, Florida. We’re going to Disney World baby!!!”