Walt Disney World!

I bussed down from North Carolina to Florida which was needed but a big mistake. The trip itself took 20 hours, 20 very long hours.
From NC I went to Greenville, South Carolina and had a 5 hour layover there. Now, Greenville is a nice place but the area I was in was sort of sub par and it was as hot as anything! I had time to kill so I ended up spending most of my time in Walmart and then went out to search for food. I then spent the remainder of my time at Zaxbys, which is basically really good KFC, and later walked back to the bus station. I absolutely looked like a homeless person: I was carrying my walmart bags and my backpack down the side of the main road, with my Nike track suit pants rolled up to my knees, sweating, aimlessly walking around and singing to myself under my breath to pass the time... No shame.
I then made my way down to Atlanta, Georgia where the bus station was located in the most dodge block I have ever seen. If I am not mistaken, there was a prison across the road. I had a 3 hour layover there but I was not going anywhere! I then headed through a few more towns and stops but they were all short lived, until I finally made to to Orlando at 4.45am.

I Facebook Messaged my Canadian friend Amir, who was picking me up, to let him know I had arrived but I saw that he hadn't been online for 9 hours, I began to worry... I knew his phone would only work on Wifi as he was as much a foreigner as I was, so I did my best to stay calm. I waited an hour and still no reply. I then Messaged a mutual friend of mine and his, who was thankfully awake at 6am on a Saturday, and asked him for Amir's parent's numbers as I had no way of getting hold of them and the number Amir had given me for his mother was incorrect! We finally got a hold of the numbers and I texted them both as it was still so early and I didn't want to be rude.
I was freaking out a bit at this point but luckily the station had wifi and I skyped my parents, asking for advice. Nothing like mom and dad! They calmed me down and set be back on track by reminding me that it was early, they had probably overslept, that I was safe, I had the hotel address and that I could probably get a cab there if push came to shove. I was not going to be stranded, which was my main concern. I hung up with my parents and there was still no reply from either of the texts so I decided to call the numbers. Of course, my phone is out of airtime.
I go over to a public phone and use the last of my coins to attempt to get hold of someone and, of course, the phone swallows the coins. I'm beginning to loose my cool.
I go up to a station security guard, almost in tears, tell him what has happened and ask if I could please use a phone to make a call. He was very sympathetic and took me to his office.

Both of the numbers rang through and I awkwardly left a message on each line, asking if someone was coming to pick me up. I then sat in the station with no answers for another hour until, finally, my phone rang! It was Amir's dad, I breathed a sigh of relief. He informed me that he wasn't with them, and that the family wasn't even in Florida yet but that he had called the hotel and informed them that I was coming so I could check in before the family. I was so grateful to have an answer and a plan moving forward! I thanked him profusely for his help and hopped into a cab.

I arrived at Vacation Village and it was beautiful! I went up to my hotel room and just relaxed! At this point it was 1pm and I hadn't slept in goodness knows how long! I took a well-deserved nap and an amazing shower when I woke up!
The family arrived at 6pm.
I was expecting Amir, his mom and his brother but had no idea that there were also the twins and another family with them! It was great! I was introduced to everyone and helped them all unpack the cars and get settled. Let me break this down:
There was Amir, the oldest brother at 19 and one of two people I had actually met before. There was Sandra, his mother, Asad his brother of 16 years old whom I had also met before in Canada, and the twins Ateef and Areef who were 13 and full of crazy antics! The adjoining room was filled with a grandmother, a mother, and 3 "kids" aged 23, 19 and 14. Basically it was a bunch of youngsters and 3 adults in 2 rooms for 5 days. We all headed out to Pizza Hut for a midnight dinner and then collapsed into bed.

The first part of our adventure began the next day at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom! It was great to be back and I surprised everyone, including myself, by having the park memorized from my trip there at 10 years old, and by knowing where everything was. It was great and everyone was very happy having me as their personal GPS. We had a fantastic day riding the classics such as Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Stitch's Great Escape, The Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Monster's Inc Laugh Floor!
The Laugh Floor was particularly fun, it's basically an animated, improvised stand up comedy show, and both Asad and I were featured in it! The highlight of the day was the incredible firework show that happens at Cinderella's Castle. It was a dream come true to see, as 10 year old Vicky could not say awake long enough to see it, and totally missed it.
During the day I had been texting Caroline saying that I wish she was with me, and before I knew it we had made a spontaneous plan for her to come join us!
She arrived the next "morning" at 2am and it was the best surprise ever! I could not believe that she bussed for 2 hours to see me! She had no classes for the next few days, just by chance, and her college in Gainesville was far closer than I realized, so it all worked perfectly.
We went upstairs and I introduced her to the gang!

The next morning I was in the best of moods, and we all headed out to Hollywood Studios! Again, I remembered most of the park but Hollywood Studios is not as ride orientated and more focused on entertainment. We headed straight for the Rock 'n' Roller coaster and the Tower of Terror! two of my favorite rides in the world. I recall my father bribing me with gifts to go on the Tower of Terror with him as a tot; it worked and I am still so happy that he managed to trick me! We ran around the park like 5 year olds, eating Micky Mouse Ice Creme and hitting rides like Star Wars Star Tours. We headed back to the hotel after dinner and the firework show and all hung out until bed time.

The next day, the family was heading down to Miami so Caroline and I made Mac 'n' Cheese for breakfast, then left for the Millennium Mall. We spent the day window shopping and went to lunch at Chick-fil-A. It was an amazing day somehow, so simple yet such fun. We went back to the hotel at about 10pm and watched movies till we fell asleep.

The family arrived back at 3am so we had a late start to the day, but headed to the Nike factory store which was right outside our hotel. I may have spent some money, maybe.
We then left for Epcot which is Disney's educational park. It features rides such as Spaceship Earth, Mission Space (which is a Spaceship simulator), and Test Track! It also features an around the world section which is basically a path that runs around a huge lake, that is divided into countries, each section being completely themed with shops, rides and restaurants. We took a trip around the world and decided to go home and have dinner there. We ended up have a spontaneous dance party, the parents in one room and all us youngsters in the other, it was such fun!

The next day was our last park-day and we spent it at The Animal Kingdom!
I was particularly pumped about this one as I had never been!
We walked straight to Africa, typical. Only I could go all the way to America, just to end up back in Africa!
It was really cool and very well done. There were shebeens everywhere and Kenyan music being performed on stage. We headed to the African Safari ride which was such fun. You get in a 4x4 truck, drive all across the "continent" and see real live animals. Its quite impressive! We saw Lion, Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra, Kudu, Flamingo and many more, more than you would ever see on a game drive!
It felt a little like inception: I was an African, in America, in Africa, with Americans and Canadians.
Then we walked over to Asia but on our way a huge storm came out of nowhere and we all scattered to get out of the rain. Thing is, we got separated and Caroline and I found ourselves seeking shelter in the line of the ride called Expedition Everest, which is an intense roller coaster up Mount Everest. We got to the front of the line and had our hearts broken when we were informed that the ride had been closed due to lightning, and that apparently, the storm had been seen past the Gulf of Mexico. We hung our heads and ran through the downpour to Dinosaur land USA for lunch. We ate our kiddies meals and waited for the rain to lighten up a bit, and when it did we ran back to Asia to see if Expedition Everest had opened up - it hadn't. We made our way over to Discovery Island, still in the rain, where we finally found the family and all went back to Dinosaur Land USA to find any ride still operating. We came across a miracle: dinosaur time travel was up and running, a kiddies ride but goodness was it amazing fun!
Last, but most certainly not least, we found the epic indoor ride that is "Dinosaur." You are in a 4x4 and on a team of scientists who are alive during the time of the dinosaurs. You have to drive around and find a certain Dino but as you are out there, a meteor shower hits! The adrenalin is intense and when the ride came to a close, we convinced the operators to let us go again!
We arrived back at the hotel, got changed and showered for our last dinner all together. We went to The Golden Coral which is an all you can eat buffet, and you know we ate that place to the ground. We went back to the hotel and passed out; we were all so full.
The next morning I got up early to take Caroline to the bus stop and said goodbye to my best friend again. I went back to the room, we packed the cars, went to breakfast then stared our road trip journey to Pennsylvania!