“Welcome to Magic Kingdom” read the sign at the front of Walt Disney’s famed theme park that was visited on Friday, February  7 by 50 of Coral Gables freshmen. On Friday morning, all of the freshmen scheduled for the trip were waiting with drowsy eyes and a bit of anticipation. The freshman field trip to Magic Kingdom, which included a 4 and a half hour drive from Miami to Orlando and back, commenced at 5 in the morning and ended at 11 that night.  The morning drive included sleeping, talking amongst friends, and 2 movies that the freshman sponsor, Mrs.Noval, had brought along.

“The morning bus ride was a blast! Some of us thinking we would fall asleep for the whole ride were clearly mistaken, because we were clearly entertained, either by the movie, Man of Steel, or just by all the friends we had with us,” freshman Albany Muria said.

By 10:00 am the freshman-filled bus pulled into the Disney parking lot with excited faces. The freshmen quickly ran from the bus and into the park, separating into groups with a mindset to have ridden everything and returned to their meeting place by 6:00 pm. 

With a long list of attractions, many freshmen were unsure where to start so they spread out in search of the shortest lines. Even with long lines and cold, rainy weather the freshmen managed to have a fun and exciting time. With temperatures between 45 and 68 degrees, those wearing short sleeves were jumping up and down to stay warm.

Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom is split into 7 different regions all filled with attractions for visitors of any age: Main Street U.S.A., Tomorrow Land, Fantasy Land, Liberty Square, Frontier Land, and Adventure Land. Students rode countless rides ranging from “It’s A Small World” to the well-known Space Mountain. The freshmen even had the opportunity to experience pirate adventures on Pirates of the Caribbean, childhood stories on Winnie the Pooh, and relive moments of history in The Hall of Presidents.

The park consists of rides separated into their consecutive region.For example, in Tomorrow Land, many freshmen enjoyed the twists and turns of Space Mountain or the fast-paced shooting action of Buzz Light Year’s Space Ranger. On the other hand, some Gables students traveled to Frontier Land in order to climb aboard Thunder Mountain Railroad. Unfortunately, freshmen could not enjoy ALL the wonders Magic Kingdom had to offer, for the famed Splash Mountain was under construction. In other areas of the park, some smaller attractions, like Aladdin’s Magic Carpet or the Tomorrow Land Speedway could be found.

“I had not been to Magic Kingdom for so long. When I entered the park, I felt like a kid again and the rides were still so exhilarating,”freshman Sydney Scanlon said.

After the thrills of the park, all of the weary high schoolers piled into the bus for the long ride back to Miami. As the bus traveled, many of the students began to doze off. Those that were awake rotated between recounting newly made memories with each other, watching “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, and listening to music. 

“The trip was better than I expected because I had a large group of friends with me, and due to that we were always laughing and having fun,” freshman Mark Braun said.

Finally, by 11:30 pm the freshmen arrived on campus where their parents were waiting to return home. Whether you prefer the future, past, or make-believe, Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom wraps all of those into one for a thrilling experience which the freshman Class of 2017 got to witness first-hand!