Hello everyone!

A few weeks ago my school's music department went on a trip to Disney World, Florida. It was a huge trip for us - the biggest the department's done in a while, if not ever - so needless to say we were all pretty excited. Our band and choir were scheduled to play in Epcot, so we were all suitably pumped.

As I was sitting on the plane, I opened the in-flight shopping magazine (because they're just too hilarious to pass up!) and inevitable saw a Star Wars item. That was cool enough, and I pointed it out to my friends, and then it hit me...

Wait... Star Wars... Disney World... STAR TOURS!!!!

I smiled widely and my friend said to me, "It's not that exciting Kyle. It's just a toy."

So I told him that I just realized I was going to be able to go on Star Tours, something I've wanted to do since I first read about it here on sw.com. He's been to Disney upwards of 25 times, so he proceeded to tell me, "It's not that good, actually..."

"Whatever. I'll enjoy it, you watch."

So when the time came for our group to pick which park we wanted to go to on the first day (after our performances), we all (thank goodness!) agreed on MGM (now Hollywood Studios), where ST resides.

We went right there first, and there was literally no line - we walked right on. Camera in hand, I sat down and buckled up, turned the flash off, and the ride started! I took a bunch of pictures of the screen and of my excitement, and then about halfway through my camera screen went dark and "Change Battery Pack" flashed upon it.

Naturaley I snatched my friend's camera out of her hands and continued snapping! The ride itself was awesome, as expected, and even when we got off the hallway was really cool, where I continued to take pictures (and when I say take pictures I mean meticulously document the entire thing... let's just say over 6 days, 2 days travel, I took over 1200 pictures).

We then spent nearly an hour in the store, trying to decide what me and my friend (who is also a fan) would buy. I ended up with a black and white stormtrooper shirt and some mini SW/Disney crossover figures, and my friend got a lightsaber (his first).

Overall, it was a glorious hour and a half, despite the near-tragic camera incident. I was so happy I got the chance to go on the ride I've been waiting to for so long!

In the words of a familiar robot, "Thank the Maker!"

May the Force be with you, Always!

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"A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons."
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu