As the sun tucked itself to bed under the faraway mountains, a full moon rose above the horizon, reflecting the light of the sun that bathed the whole park since dawn broke. Across the dimly-lit lake, the silhouette of Aztec temples, Japanese pagodas, French towers, Italian fountains and Australian totem poles carved niches to create a breathtaking landscape. The trees that lined the numerous walkways now became a huge blot of ink floating in mid air. From above the elevated area, a mass of people can be seen encircling around the bay down below, noisily waiting for the all-day anticipated event. Some are hurriedly buying snacks to munch on, with the idea of wanting to satisfy not only their eyes, but also their palates. Laughter from small children rose above the common babel as they played tag with one another, with the smiles on their faces being evidence of happiness and glee.

Everything became dark now. The tall, colonial-style lampposts that once illuminated the vast expanse of water one by one faded into the twilight, leaving only the hypnotizing glare of the moon as the sole guide of the night. I only realized then that I was uncontrollably shivering, with the biting cold literally penetrating my jacket and gnawing on my skin. Suddenly, a slight chill swept past the sea of shivering blue, yellow, black, green and red, mimicking the shimmer of the Mediterranean. My heart pounded wildly, with every beat echoing across the lake, not knowing what would happen next. Further down, the clamor settled, although the feel of electricity in the air intensified. Then, tiny dots of light all at once came to be where the throng was standing, all pointing in the direction of the lagoon.

I did not know where I was. From the looks of it, I could have been in the overpopulated Far East, among a national festival crowd in Central America, a market square in Scandinavia, or perhaps squeezed between hordes of devotees waiting to cleanse and purify themselves by the banks of the Ganges. In the center of my young mind, thoughts dashed back and forth, some of them clashing into each other, trying to make sense of the strange place I apparently landed in. What had happened to all the thrill rides, advanced pieces of technology and robot animatronics I was interacting with just a few minutes ago? Maybe a powerful wave swept through the entire park like an eagle diving in on its prey, destroying all hints of reality and realness, revealing underneath a hidden world of nature, beauty and fantasy where anything can happen.

Sources:

goflorida.about.com

www.whatsonwhen.com

www.mouseplanet.com

www.disneyfrontier.com

Suddenly, I saw a spherical figure slowly light up and make its way towards the center of the water. Eventually, it lit up so radiant and clear, spinning on its foundation, that I finally recognized that it was the earth. It was then that the oohs and aahs became audible, as the audience was agog with such a mesmerizing sight. Have I been floating all along in the never-ending stretch of the cosmos, staring down at the world? Those bursts of light, are they just faraway turbulent galaxies that have stars dying and forming every second, resulting in a chaotic spectacle of luminescence? All of it seemed so real yet I knew I was dreaming and imagining everything I had just seen. Somehow along the way, the extravaganza of color and sound blurred the line between reality and fantasy.

At that instance, I knew where I was: in a place where anything can happen, where dreams do come true, and where imaginations come to life. I was, after all, in the happiest place on earth.