When I hear the words “Terror Mountain”, it reminds me of the first time that I went to Disney Land. Along with the trip came along something that changed my life forever. The first time I went to Disney Land I was at the age of 6 and about 3’8 tall, and exited. I couldn’t wait to ride the supposedly incredible rides, but back then I didn’t know what these rides looked like or how big they were. Little did I know, once I walked over the bridge and through the castle gates my life would be changed forever.

The sound of drifting water and an occasional splash were the only sounds I could hear. I opened my eyes, but could see nothing. I felt around with my hands roughly brushing against something hard and cold. “What could this be?” I thought to myself. I examined the object with my hand, running my fingers along the surface. A sharp piercing pain shot threw my hand as I drew back my hand from the mysterious object. I intentionally brought my finger to my mouth and began to suck on it. As my tongue ran along my finger I felt something foreign, something that didn’t belong. I withdrew my finger and examined it with my other hand. As I slid my hand over my finger I ran over something sharp. But the instant my hand ran over it I knew what it was, a splinter. I drew my finger to my mouth and yanked he splinter out with my teeth. Now I knew what the object was that I just ran my hand against, it was wood. As I ran my hand out to touch the wood, the ground that I was on lurched to the side. “What had just happened?” I said to my self confused. I tried to get back on my feet but the ground beneath me swayed. “I must not be on solid ground,” I thought to my self. I tried to get back up again but the ground did the same thing, but this time I heard a splash. “Oh no,” I said, “I’m on a boat! HELP!” I cried out, but there was no answer. As I pleaded for help the boat lurched forward, with incredible speed. As the boat got faster and faster, I felt around the boat looking for some thing to grab on to. As I struggled, a white light formed in front of me quite a distance away but approaching rapidly. Now at a faster pace, I searched the boat with my hands, but as I got closer to the light, a louder sound arose then the rushing water came to my ear. I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t want to find out. Finally, I found a notch in the wood and put my hands in it. I was holding on for dear life. The light was really close now, as my hands started to tremble I increased their grip. A few seconds later, the boat flung itself into the light.


“Cody?...Cody? are you awake?” My mother asked, nudging me slightly with her hand.
“Ahhhhhh!” I screamed, as I flung myself from the bed.
“Cody what’s Wrong?” My mom said quickly.
“I had a bad dream,” I told my mom.
“Oh, come here honey” My mom said in a sympathetic voice, and then hugged me. “You need to go get dressed so we can head off to Disney Land, ok?” She said still hugging me.
“Ok” I said as she released me from her grasp, I then skipped over to my clothes and got dressed. I was done before both my mom and dad.
“Come on mom and dad, hurry up!” I stated excitedly
“Ok, ok, we’re almost done.” A few minutes later they emerged from their room all dressed and ready to go. “We’re finally on our way,” I thought to myself. As I stepped out of the room.
As we pulled up into the Disney Land Parking lot, I stared in awe. The baby pink and blue castle gleamed in front of me like a newly polished pearl. When the car came to a complete stop, we all hopped out.
“Are you ready?” My mom asked.
“Yes, I’m ready,” I replied. We started off for the castle.
I skipped in joy on the cobble stone path smelling the aroma of popcorn.
“I’m finally here!” I said, as my parents struggled to keep up.
“Slow down Cody!” My dad said “It won’t disappear.”
“I know, I know.” I replied as we headed off towards the center of the park. A few minutes later, we reached a big circle with food, drink and candy stands all over the place. I stared around with a bright smile on my face, looking every direction. Smiling and laughing children passed by with their parents, swabs of cotton candy in their hands. The sun shining radiantly from above gave everything a soft glow. It seemed so peaceful. My eyes ran everywhere, from an old couple sitting on a bench sharing an ice cream cone, to kids running around aimlessly from their parents.
“Do you want to go to that ride over there Cody?” My dad asked. I looked over to where he was pointing. My eyes widened and my smile grew bigger.
“yeah dad, that would be really fun!” I replied enthusiastically
“Ok, lets go” My dad said. We were off to the first ride. Once we arrived at the ride, I stared in amazement. It was a big mountain with an opining at the top, liquid gushing out in the form of a water fall! I jumped with excitement.
“It looks so cool!” I said aloud.
“Yes it does,” My mom replied back. We were off to the line for the ride.
“Awww… come on the line is HUGE!” I said with disappointment.
“It’s alright Cody, it will pass by faster than you think…here get on my shoulders, then you can tell me where we are in line.” Said my dad.
“Ok!” I said, as he lifted me onto his shoulders. The view was awesome! I could see over everyone. But the excitement didn’t last very long because the line didn’t seem like it was moving.”Agggggg,” I thought to myself “This is taking so long.” Then my vision started to blur and my eyelids became heavy, as sleep took me for a graceful dance.
As the boat got faster and faster, I felt around the boat looking for some thing to grab on to. As I struggled, a white light formed in front of me quite a distance away but approaching rapidly. Now at a faster pace, I searched the boat with my hands, but as I got closer to the light, a louder sound arose then the rushing water came to my ear. I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t want to find out. Finally I found a notch in the wood and put my hands in it. I was holding on for dear life. The light was now really close now, as my hands started to tremble I increased their grip. A few seconds later, the boat flung itself into the light.
I woke with a start.
“Cody?…Cody? where are we?” Asked my dad, as I looked up groggily, “How long had I been asleep?” I wondered. As I looked up, a smile grew on my face.
“We’re almost to the front!” I said with excitement.
“Alright, here we go” Said my dad as he lowered me off his shoulders.
“Hello, and welcome to Terror Mountain,” said a speaker loudly “The attendant will help you board the boat, but please keep your hands and feet in the boat at all times.” Then it stopped speaking with an loud Click! A boat came into view from around the corner, as so did the attendant. My mom, dad and I, all boarded the boat which was wet, and really uncomfortable. The attendant started to speak, but I wasn’t paying any attention, I was staring in fear at the big black cave in front of us. The attendant then stopped speaking, and gave the boat a little shove, which made it head slowly towards the dark cave. As the boat glided into the cave, my fear grew. There was something about this darkness, that made me uneasy, but what was it. The boats nose lifted up with jerk, and started to clime up at a slow pace.”I know what it is!” I said to myself, I know what this darkness reminds me of! My dream. This darkness, it’s like I’m living my dream. I began to cry.
“What’s the matter?” My dad asked.
“I’m scared,” I replied.
“There’s no need to be scared, me and dad are here with you,” My mom said “And if you don’t over come fear in life, then you won’t grow stronger.”
“Ok, ill try.” I said while sniffling, I put my hands on both sides of the boat. It was exactly how I remember it from my dream…Wait! I felt some more along the edge, looking for the same notch I found in my dream. After a few seconds passed, my eyes widened. I couldn’t believe it, right were my hand was, I felt a notch. I placed my hand in the notch, as I did, the boat stopped climbing upward, and the nose fell with a big splash! All was silent for a few minutes, the boat was gliding at a slow pace. My ear twitched, that sound, is from my dream. Water under the boat began to pick up pace, ramming the side of the boat with incredible force.”AHHHHH!” I yelled, as the boat sped up even more. Then straight in front of me, a white light appeared not to far away, taunting me, with a horrible roar. The same sound that arose, and overtook the noise of the rushing water in my dream. My eyes began to squint from the brightness of the light. The roar was so loud, it seemed like my eardrums would break. And for a split second, everything went quite, then the boat sped into the light. The nose of the boat tipped downward at a surprising speed. Water sprayed upward along the side of the boat. I looked around, and saw that we were falling down a waterfall, but was there a waterfall on this ride?
Once we arrived I stared in amazement. It was a big mountain with an opining at the top, with liquid gushing out to form a water fall!
Then, it occurred to me, “The Water fall at the top of the mountain!” I said to my self, the boat started to shake, as we plummeted down the mountain with the guidance of the waterfall. I could hear my mom and dad screaming. But not in a frightened way but a exultant scream, a scream of joy.
“WAHOOOOOOOOO!” I yelled, as we raced down the waterfall. Although my clothes were all wet, I didn’t care, I was happy. I had overcome my fear, and I did feel stronger. Not in a physical way, but it was a feeling in my heart. That feeling seemed to discharge an amazing amount of courage through my body. It was like, I wasn’t afraid of what would happen next. The feeling was incredible. The boats speed slowed, and in no time, the boat was at the bottom of the waterfall. The boat slid around the corner, to reveal the place were we had gotten onto the ride.
“Wow…That was fun mommy and daddy lets do it again!” I said impatiently.
“Ok, ok, but be more patient, we haven’t even gotten off the boat yet.” My mom and dad said simultaneously. We all stumbled off the slippery boat, to begin the voyage once more.


How this event changed my life is that it taught me to face my fears, and how to overcome them no matter what. This event was the building blocks for who I am today. Overcoming your fears gives you an incredible, undefeatable, strength. Courage, which is the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action. I have faced many more of my fears since that event, and many more fears will come into view. I will have to overcome, conquer, and defeat that fear. But in till then, I will be waiting.