One hundred and fifty six seniors arrived on campus at approximately 4:30 a.m. on March 13 and boarded three buses for their annual three-day graduation trip to Orlando.

“I had been looking forward to Grad Bash since freshman year, and as it got closer my excitement kept growing. I couldn’t wait to spend three days with my best friends in Disney! It was one of the most amazing experiences high school brings and went by way too fast,” senior Johanna Deluca said.

After a four hour drive, the seniors arrived at Universal Studios, where they also had the option to enter the neighboring park Islands of Adventure. With dozens of rides to choose from, students ran from one attraction to the next; popular attractions included The Incredible Hulk, Popeye, and The Amazing Spider Man. At 6:30 p.m, the seniors then headed to City Walk just outside of the amusement parks to enjoy a class dinner at Nascar Sports Grille.

“Knowing that this was our last dinner as a senior class is really bittersweet. Although I’m really sad that I would never be on a class trip with the people that I’ve known for four years again, I know we are all moving on to bigger and better things. It’s comforting to know that we will always have these amazing memories together no matter what the next chapter in our lives is,” senior class treasurer, Natalie Crespo, said.

By 9:00 a.m. the next morning, the seniors were anxiously waiting for the gates in Magic Kingdom to open. Magic Kingdom, also known as “the happiest place on earth,” is the oldest theme park in Disney, but remains the most popular.

“Disney has always been a big love in my life. I grew up watching the old Disney Channel with all the old characters, and as a kid I would almost go every year with my family. There’s always something going on and there’s much attention to details. Everything in the park is thought through and I love that,” senior Paulina Picciano said.

Once 3:45 p.m. rolled around, seniors once again boarded the bus to return to the hotel room. While in their rooms, seniors ate pizza and prepared for the Cirque Du Soleil show they would be attending later that night. This is the first year that the seniors go to Cirque instead of their annual stop at the Blue Man Group show.

“Ms. Suarez and I saw that Cirque was ranked high in a list of best attractions in Orlando and a lot of our seniors had already watched Blue Man Group so we worked with our budget to make it fit. It was really unique and the class was really pleased with the change,” senior class president, Cole Scanlon, said.

After two action-packed days, the Animal Kingdom theme park, home to the infamous roller coaster, Mount Everest, marked the last day of Grad Bash. Nostalgia was evident as the seniors arrived on campus, lifted their index fingers, and sang, for one of the very last times, their Alma Mater.

“When we all came together to sing the Alma Mater it felt incredible! My experience at Gables has been a great one, and I think that it’s amazing that the senior class was able to come together and demonstrate the love for our school. Many times you have classes that are divided into groups, but this year’s senior class is one large group. We’re family,” senior Christian Diaz said.