I Remember... First Vacation for ENG 1010

Irrational fears are difficult to explain, mostly because they’re not rational.  When I was a child, I was deathly afraid of witches.  I’m not sure where or when the seed was sown for this fear, but it matured into a full-fledged phobia.  I remember using the bathroom and opening the door before I flushed the toilet so I could more easily evade the witches escaping from the gurgling toilet.  With a little luck, my cat-like reflexes and a lot of running, I avoided the toilet witches every time.

During my struggle with this phobia, my family decided to go on vacation to visit my Grandparents in Southern California.  During this trip, my parents thought they would “treat” us kids with a trip to Disneyland.  I had never been to Disneyland before, but I knew what it was and my anxiety began growing.

By the time we reached the gates of Disneyland, I could barely contain my excitement and I’m sure my anxiety exhausted my parents before we’d finished walking the distance from the car to the gate.  We visited all the typical attractions, The Tiki Room, The Submarine Ride, Space Mountain, It’s a Small World, the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean.  We even met Donald Duck and saw Michael Jackson’s Captain Eo in 3-D. 

Then we visited the Snow White ride.  Snow White might seem like an innocent and romantic story, but the story also has a witch.  Riding in a small vessel, in a confined area, in the dark and having the thing you’re most afraid of jump out at you is a terrifying ordeal, even if you are sitting next to the comfort and protection of your father.  Somehow, I made it through the ride but not undamaged.

I was traumatized for the rest of the day.  Suddenly all of the rides lost their appeal.  Between this traumatic experience, my ever growing anxiety and the heat of the day, the Spinning Tea Cups was a bad choice for the next ride.  I threw up and hated Disneyland for a long time after.