Going to Southern California, no one would think of packing an umbrella. Why would they? California is in the middle of a drought. When someone thinks of California, they think of baby blue skies and palm trees along the streets. But, of course, the weekend my family decided to visit Disneyland, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld is the weekend Southern California experienced what the local news called a “tropical depression. After driving five hours from San Jose to Los Angeles in a small Honda Civic, my mom, brother, me, and my three cousins – Harneet, Amrit, and Sonu – all rushed to get to the amusement park as fast as possible. We knew it would be a hectic day because the temperature was going to reach the upper 90s and it was the 60th anniversary of the happiest place on earth. We made our way around the whole park and because it was a special anniversary, the lines were longer than usual. It took approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes just to ride the Indiana Jones Adventure in Adventureland.
Standing in line for the rides was pure torture. People were walking around distractedly, with beads of sweat across their forehead and upper lid, fanning themselves with the Disneyland maps that were handed out at the front gate, hoping that the inadequate wind from their poorly made fans would cool them down at least a little bit. The blistering heat radiating from Main Street was obviously not helping any of the park visitors. No one could possibly imagine the cool, rapid downpour that would occur the next day.
When all six of us entered through the Universal Citywalk the next morning, it was obvious that it was going to rain. The early morning fog was sluggishly surrounding the famous Universal Studios globe fountain and all the nearby buildings. My family managed to make it to the lower lot of the park before it lightly started to sprinkle. We got in line for the Revenge of the Mummy, their busiest ride, and immediately after all of us got under the tarp covering the waiting lines, the rain went from a slow and steady pitter-patter on the streets to creating puddles in just a matter of seconds.
The rain was beating heavily on the tarp above us and people were scrambling to cover their phones and themselves. Because we only had one jacket and the tarp was not helping us stay dry, we all had to huddle under one small size jacket. A few minutes later, my mom decided to take off her shoes. “Why are you taking them off? ” | asked, puzzled. “I don’t want my suede shoes getting wet! They cost a fortune. There’s no way I’m getting them dirty,” my mom replied. Eventually, we got to the front of the line and rode the Mummy.
When we exited the ride and walked outside, we saw people walking around with bright yellow ponchos. When I looked closely, I realized that they had Minion eyes on them. Employees were selling them outside of gift shops for $14. At this point, we decided to leave. We had already ridden all the major rides and we were tired of the dagger-like raindrops hitting us constantly. We reached home at 4 o’clock and decided to relax for the remainder of the day. The next day, our final day in Southern California, would be spent at San Diego, specifically, the most controversial amusement park, SeaWorld.
It only took 2 hours for us to get to San Diego from Los Angeles. We got to SeaWorld fairly early and the day was postcard-perfect with bulbous clouds drifting hazily above us. From the weather that morning, we inferred that the day would not be as excruciating as both Universal Studios and Disneyland. We bought our tickets and proceeded to the Shamu Stadium. Five minutes before show time, gloomy clouds began to appear and I was praying that the day would not end up like the day before. After the show, my cousins and my mom wanted to leave.
My brother and I, however, wanted to ride the Journey to Atlantis ride. We got in line and just like the day before, it began pouring almost immediately. At this point, my family was tired of the rain and my brother and I were forced to get out of the line and into the car as soon as possible. When we were exiting, I noticed that the rain was pouring faster and faster, causing huge puddles in the parking lot. My cousin gave me her phone to put in my pocket and as we got closer to the car, I pulled it out.
Immediately, it fell into the puddle at my feet and I stared at the phone submerged in dirty rainwater, obviously ruined. I picked it up and ran to the car, trying to find rice as soon as possible but, by that time, the phone was long gone. After the horribly soaking experience in SeaWorld, we were all exhausted. My older cousin, Harneet, decided that it was time to go home. The ride home took about 7 hours and the whole ride there, everyone fell asleep, exhausted from the horrible but fun weekend we just had.
