What I Did on My Space Vacation
by Isabella A. Millman
It tools six months of selling Martian rocks door-to-door, but I finally saved up enough for my dream vacation - The Disney Star-Cruise Liner Adventure to Saturn! When I boarded the Star-Cruiser, the hostess gave me a spacesuit with a picture of Mickey Mouse. I was finally on my way to visit Saturn and its moons!
It was a long trip to Saturn. Fortunately, they showed a lot of Disney movies in the ship's auditorium. Unfortunately, I had already seen all the Disney movies. I couldn't wait to get to Saturn.
As the Star-Cruiser approached Saturn, an announcement came over the intercom saying the first stop was Titan. The spaceship docked at the foothills of the Sierra Titans, a mountain range that is one hundred miles long and one mile high. Since I was in my spacesuit, it was a difficult climb to the summit. It was a good thing Disney put elevators on the mountain. The bad thing, though, was there were gift shops at every stop! I went to the gift shop at the Summit Level and bought some skis.
The view of Saturn from the summit was beautiful. You could see the rings and a shepherd moon. I just stood there and marveled at the incredible vista. Finally, I put on my skis for a quick trip down the slopes of frozen methane. I had a choice between the beginner slope Goofy; or the advanced slope - Donald Duck. I picked Donald Duck because it had a ramp near the bottom. Titan's gravity isn't the same as Earth's, so I floated for a mile. What a blast! I went back to the Star-Cruiser for the next port-of-call, Hyperion.
From a distance, Hyperion looked to me like a huge sponge in outer space. When the space ship landed, I saw a lot of bouncy castles. It was fun to bounce in the bouncy castles because you could bounce so high and take forever to float down! I heard an announcement that it was time to leave for our last stop on our itinerary - Mimas.
As we approached Mimas, I expected to see the big crater that covers one-third of its surface. I was surprised to see that Disney had covered the crater with a giant glass dome. There was a painting of Mickey Mouse on the top of the dome smiling at us. Underneath the "Happiest Dome on Mimas", Disney had filled in the crater with water, making a beautiful ocean with rocky beaches. We docked at the spaceport and quickly found ourselves on a real ocean port! The best part was that a genuine pirate ship was sitting at the dock waiting for us to board her. We went on the Always Midnight Cruise on the artificial ocean of Mimas- the ultimate Pirates of the Caribbean ride! As we moved through the ocean, the water spray was hitting me in the face. Above me, the rings of Saturn looked close enough to touch. Saturn itself and the moon Dione dominated the view. I felt like I was on a ship in a bottle-with a really great view!
As we headed back to Earth, I looked at all the pictures I had taken. This vacation was well worth the price tag. When I got back to Earth, I knew I had to save up for the next vacation I read about in the Disney brochure - Disney's Pluto Theme Park on the planet Pluto. Huh, I guess it's a small world after all.