Meeting Mikey
I’m now able to check a mark off my list of things to do and that would be to meet one of my online friends.
So last year after my Disney trip I was searching around on instagram for cool Disney pictures and came across what I thought was a really cool picture of a guy jumping in the air in front of Cinderella Castle while #disneybounding as Peter Pan. So naturally I started following @dinosoar13 or as I call him Mikey on instagram and shortly after we became twitter friends and began talking every once in awhile. Going forward a few months we ended up exchanging numbers and began texting quite a bit and ended becoming pretty good friends. He kept wanting me to come visit but the timing never worked out but finally around the first part of July he told me he was going to be going to training to become a flight attendant in September so I decided that it was time to head down to Orlando to visit my online friend and who could pass up a Disney trip. So plans were made and the Journey to Orlando began during the second week of August.
So arrived in Orlando and I was really nervous, I am in general a very shy person but knew I needed to face my fears because I felt a great friendship was just ahead. So myself and Michael ended up actually hitting it off pretty well as we got settled at the hotel the Portifino Bay at Universal Orlando. It was such a nice hotel very classy and upscale and great themeing all around. So the first evening we headed over to Universal Studios which ended up being a pretty fun night. It was my first time at the Universal Studios park and the first thing we ended up doing was the Rip Ride Rock It roller coaster.
Now a side not to this is I do not do roller coasters and to that point in my life had only been on one roller coaster.
So we were in line and I was having a mild panic attack as we approached the point of getting on the ride then it was to late for anything as the ride began its journey to the top. Ahhhhhhh it was a crazy ride but I’m so glad that I ended up facing my fear and just doing it. We continued across the park checking out the recently opened Simpsons area which was so cool and OMG they have the biggest doughnuts and thinking back I should have gotten one. We took several pictures in the Simpsons area and this was just a preview of things to come as we both knew that we LOVED taking pictures. In the end the evening was such a fun one and had so much fun hanging with my friend and conquering my fears of roller coasters that being said the Rip Ride Rockit ended up being my favorite ride of the night.
On our second day we headed to Disney on this day we had made the decision to #disneybound, myself as Mickey and Mikey as Pinocchio. So this was like any other Magic Kingdom day filled with fun and excitement. Our first character interaction was chip and dale and we ended up getting a really cute picture as well as a fun picture in front of Cinderella’s Castle. It’s Orlando and it rains and on this day it was no different except it rained right before the Celebrate a Dream come true parade. So that parade was cancelled and the rainy day parade took its place which was pretty cute to see with the umbrellas and rain boots and jackets. After that it was time for more rides and Disney fun. We concluded the evening with the Electric Light parade and fireworks.
The next day it was all about Islands of Adventure we got up early to head to Wizarding World of Harry Potter which is such an awesome place to see if you love the movies. After Potter me and mikey ended up riding the Dr. Seuss Red Fish Blue ride now the lady told us how to do it and not get wet and well she lied we got wet. We ended up riding basically every ride within the first three hours including the Jurassic Park ride twice and the Popeye ride like 10 times. We were drenched but it felt so good and we were having soooo much fun. That afternoon we headed back to the hotel for some fun pool time where we just lounged around all evening. That night we ended up watching Despicable Me while laying down in the pool. It was such a fun relaxing night with a friend.
The final full day was a mix of heading to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. Myself and Blake headed over and enjoyed some Festival of the Lion King as well as the Finding Nemo musical. After that we decided to head on over to Hollywood Studios where we did the Backlot Tour as well as Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster. All those rides were the first time for both myself and Blake and we both enjoyed all of them so much. We ended our day doing something really cool and that was learning how to draw Mickey Mouse. This was alot of fun and even though my Mickey is not perfect Blake did a pretty good job catching the look and feel of the mouse. As the evening drew to a close we headed on over to Epcot where we met up with Mikey and his boyfriend Justin. This was the first time to meet up with Justin and I very much enjoyed getting to hangout with him as we did a quick trip around the world before catching a wonderful firework show “Illuminations”.
A side note this is where I first became aware of my dopelganger Bradley Lourenco we briefely chatted on Facetime as both him and Justin had been talking. We have now since become friends as he now becomes my first Canadian friend.
In looking back this trip aside from being so much fun also changed my life in alot of ways. This trip allowed me to face my fears and to go after them and to overcome them. I in general am a shy person so going head first into hanging out with someone I met online allowed me to overcome some of my shyness. I also was fully able to face and overcome my fear of roller coasters and actually enjoy them. In the end this trip when I look back will be a turning point for me and my life and where I go and how I pursue things. This trip changed my life in many ways I never would have ever expected. Some of the changes intitally bad but in the end will most likely turn out good. I think the best thing to come out of the trip was that Mikey who had been my twitter/instagram friend became someone who I now consider my best friend. Who thought it was possible to make a best friend from online but we both get each other and support each others in our endeavours.