My family and I recently took a vacation to Disney World, and if you know me then you know I’m a Disney fanatic. My family hasn’t been to Disney World for more than one day since I was in the fourth grade and my sister was in kindergarten. If you’re trying to calculate it in your head, she starts college next week. This vacation had been a long time coming.

I started to love Disney more when I went to college. My roommate’s family were members of the Disney Vacation Club and had their name on the bricks when you walked into Magic Kingdom. They showed me what a true Disney vacation ought to be, and I wanted to show my family that experience.

I had planned for weeks. I got our fastpasses for the newest rides at Animal Kingdom, a park that up until December I had never even seen, I made us reservations for dinner at Hollywood Studios, and I planned a breakfast so my sister could finally meet Piglet. Everything seemed to be planned so perfectly.

My parents picked me up in our RV and we began the eventual seven hour car ride to Orlando. At some points it seemed more like the Griswold family vacation than a Holloway summer trip, but it’s what you make of it. The RV mirror was dangling off, which caused for quite a delay at the Advance Auto Parts. My dad left the window down and a bee flew in and stung my mom’s head. There were two car crashes and more rain than one could imagine. We left Bainbridge at 5 p.m. and arrived at the Fort Wilderness around 12. I told myself to just smile; tomorrow would be a magical day.

The next day truly was a magical day. My mom is scared of most rides; she said scary drops cause paralysis in her face; my sister and I laughed at her dramatics as we pulled her onto the brand new ride that opened in May. It was called Avatar Flight of Passage. Riders are supposed to sit on the back of a bike type thing and be simulated into the world of Pandora, where they ride on the back of a Banshee. I rode next to my mom and couldn’t have been more proud. She was oohing and aahing and said it was her favorite ride, we even did it again before the park closed that night. My sister got to ride Mt. Everest with me and did her first upside down roller coaster in Hollywood Studios. I have the pictures to prove it. We enjoyed delectable treats from around the world in Epcot. I highly suggest the macarons in France. We met Alice from Alice in Wonderland in England, and heard all her stories about learning lessons from her sister. My dad got to design his own car at the Chevrolet Expierence sponsored ride, Test Track. Even with the exhaustion at the end of the day, everone was all smiles.

It was the best feeling to see my family enjoy Disney the way I had learned to enjoy it. They even said they couldn’t wait to return. Disney is truly where dreams come true, and I can’t wait to show that magic to my future family one day.