A Daring Day at Disneyland
The crowd hustled and bustled as Mom and I sauntered toward Space Mountain. The smell of popcorn filled the air and my feet were already exhausted. “Got our fastpasses?” I ask.
“Yep!” she replied. The flock of butterflies in my stomach swirled around. I shuddered. “You know,” lectured Mom, “It doesn’t really have a loop.”
“Yeah,” I replied, “but I’m still afraid.”
“You’ll be okay. Don’t worry!”
We were at Disneyland. It’s 2005, and I’d just turned nine. My mom’s brown hair, brown eyes, and a shining smile all looked down at me and she told me, “You’re going to be fine.” But I wasn’t sure. I’ve been to Disneyland before, and I’ve been on some of the smaller rides like Thunder Mountain and even Splash Mountain, but this was my first BIG coaster. From what I’d heard, it’s a pitch-black towering terror with a monstrous 200 foot drop and a gargantuan loop that goes to the top of the dome’s gigantic roof. Boy was I terrified.
There I was, the three-and-a-half foot kid who hasn’t even reached his double digits in age yet, versus the heart-stopping dome of doom that loomed menacingly before me. But I need to stand up. That monster needs to know that this kid ain’t goin’ down without a fight; at least, not without a fight against me and my mom.
Fear clutching at my chest, Mom and I stepped in line, her first of course. The building was futuristic, with a slight present-day look to it. Some astronauts scattered across the ceiling which read, “Space station 17”. “Fastpasses?” the line manager said.
“Here you are,” Mom replied while flashing our passes. We were in! The line went quickly for the first two minutes. We zipped by a space repair station, and I watched as a fake space shuttle flew across the supposed “skylight” on the ceiling. Then we got stuck. Stuck just waiting… and waiting… and waiting. I saw one of the ride’s shuttle cars zoom by. It looked like it was going sixty miles per hour! I’m doomed I thought. My hand gripped the cool metal railing and my stomach did a back flip. “Carson, you’re going to be fiiiine,” said Mom, irritably.
“Gosh! Stop pestering me Mom! I know I’ll be alright, but that won’t stop me from FREAKING OUT every time a coaster goes by!” I yelled.
“Yeah, but it will make me annoyed with all the people staring at us,” she answered. I looked around and saw all the faces of people, short, tall, fat, and thin, looking at me. Then I whispered sarcastically, “No, they’re just looking at you because you’re funny... funny-looking” Mom glared like a bull preparing to charge.
The line looked shorter. Now we had reached the metal section where spacesuits lined the walls, in glass cases of course. I looked around frantically and thought this is the final part before we reached the boarding area! My mom fixed her gaze on me once more. “Carson!! Get a hold of yourself! You can’t just freak out every time you notice we’re further ahead in line! We’re going on the ride, you promised me!”
“Okay, okay,” I whispered. I knew she was right. I moved forward a bit and took a deep breath, then another, and another. I could do this, I thought, yeah, this’ll be easy, like taking candy from a baby. So naturally, I ran ahead and grabbed on to another metal pole and hysterically started muttering to myself, “I’ll probably fall out, and then they’ll have to find me, and they won’t because it’s pitch-black, and they will have to shut down the ride, but they won’t because it will be bad for business and then…”
My mom, normally very calm, frowned at me once more and walked over. “Carson, stop spacing out. We have to get on the ride.” She said fiercely. Wait what? I thought, whoa, back up the truck… But before I could say a word she shoved me onto the coaster and slammed the lap bar onto my lap. “Um, uh, don’t you think, I uh, should, uh, and, um,” I mumbled, but the ride was off. “WELCOME TO SPACE MOUNTAIN!!” A voice screamed from the speakers on either side of my head, “YOU’LL BE ARRIVING SHORTLY BUT PLEASE BE SURE TO FASTER YOUR SEAT RESTRAINT AS WE LOWER THE INVISIBLE OXYGEN DOME.” I figure I’d go deaf, but once again, the ride continued before I could protest. Some lights flashed slowly, and the ride clanked up the hill. A spaceman murmured something about a “T” and “minus ten”, but what does that mean? The voice whispered again, statically, “Nine… eight” and more lights shot off from random areas. It was getting darker! Now I know what the countdown means! I gazed frenetically for an exit, an escape. “Six… five” the voice said. Now I could barely see my hand in front of my face! The voice continued, “Three…”
Oh no! Here it comes! I thought.
“Two… one…” the voice finished. I could feel the roller coaster tilt. What would happen now? It dropped. Here it came! I had only one thought in my head…
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! This was amazing! The wind whipped through my hair and my fear crumbled like a cracker. I couldn’t tell if we were going to drop, swoop, dive, turn, or shift through the darkness. The ride’s exhilarating music blasted into my ears. I glanced forward with a grin and a flash exploded in my face! What had happened? Did the ride break? But no, we pulled into the station and I realized that the burst was from a camera. Mom and I strolled down a corridor into the room with all of the televisions. I saw our face! I looked just like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween! “That was astounding,” I told Mom. I was just about to ask if we could go again when the line wait sign flashed to ninety minutes. I peered at Mom again. I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t feel that exciting, turning, lashing ride again. But I had conquered my fear. Although I was not even four feet, and the Space Mountain dome was 200, my fear could tower over it like a skyscraper to a mouse. I told Mom about going again and she responded simply, “Well, there’s always next time, right?” I laughed.
“Of course, but next time we’ll get more fastpasses.” I added.
“We’ll see about that,” she replied. I already envisioned myself swooping down the drops and coasting up the hills. This would never become boring, Disneyland is amazing!
Finally, I had overcome my fears. No longer do I tremble in the shadows of the beast that is Space Mountain. No longer do I gasp as we enter its forbidden lines. And no longer do I struggle to escape from the death grip of its safety restraints. At last, I can enjoy its turns, and swerves, and dips. Space Mountain still remains my favorite ride ever.
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