It was July, 2001. I was just about to turn seven years old and my family decided to take a vacation to Universal Studios in Orlando. It was going to be me, my mother, my sister, and my grandmother who were going on the trip. We were sitting in the car, our bags were packed and in the trunk, patiently waiting to be brought with us to Florida. We couldn’t go anywhere until everybody was in the car and, as usual, my grandmother forgot a few things. So, we waited for what seemed like an hour until she came out and put her things in the trunk.
“Shotgun!” she yelled.
We all screamed out loud with laughter, as did my grandmother. I don’t know why exactly we were laughing. Maybe it was because it was completely obvious that she was going to sit shotgun, because she was obviously older than my sister and I, and my mom was driving. Or maybe it was because it was just funny to hear something that most kids come out of an adult’s mouth.
As we pulled up to the airport, my mouth dropped in awe. I had never seen a building that was so enormous. Suddenly, I heard a deafening roar over my head. My heart jumped, but was quickly calmed when I realized that it was just an airplane flying over us. When we finally got onto the plane, I was really excited. It seemed huge to me, like what a human looks like to an insect. My mom sat me down by the window. The chair was so huge that it practically ate me, although it was so comfortable, it felt like a cloud.
Once the plane landed and we were checked into our hotel, my sister and I just passed out onto the beds. The next morning, we took a taxi and went to Universal Studios. My jaw dropped once again. It was like everything from my childhood suddenly became real and came together all in one place. I was smiling as much as an overweight child would if Candy Land came to life before his eyes.
By the time it was midday, I had already ridden most of the rides. However, I knew that my lust for fun was not fully satisfied. As we were walking through one of the sections of the park, I noticed a ride that really caught my interest. It was the Spiderman 3D ride.
“Mom! We need to go on that ride!” I bellowed.
“Alright, let’s go,” she said.
The ride was pretty great. The 3D effects were cool, and the story was like watching an intense action movie. However, the funniest thing happened as we were exiting the ride. We put our 3D glasses into the collection bin, and then exited the ride. My sister and I both had huge smiles on our face. The ride made us smile so much, I honestly thought my cheeks would split in half. However, one person did not exactly enjoy the ride.
“I didn’t find it all that great. I think there was something wrong with it,” my grandmother said.
My sister and I turned to look at her, and immediately started bursting out with laughter. My mom gave us a look and then turned to look at my grandmother. She smiled and put her hand over her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.
“Ummm, mom. I think you forgot something,” my mother said, pointing to my grandmother’s forehead.
My grandma looked up. That’s when she realized that she was wearing her regular glasses throughout the entire ride and had her 3D glasses on her forehead. She also realized that when we all put our 3D glasses in the collection bin, she accidentally put her eyeglasses in. She ran back, found her glasses, and put her 3D glasses into the bin. We all laughed hysterically.
“I’d really like to see what that ride was supposed to be all about,” she said.
So, that being said, we decided to go on the ride again. It was fun to experience the Spiderman 3D ride a second time (or, for my grandmother, the first time).
“Wow. That really was great!” my grandmother said cheerfully.
We all smiled, walked out of the ride for a second time, and continued on with our journey through Universal Studios.