Each year on Feb. 2, we mark Groundhog Day by the emergence of groundhog Punxsutawney Phil after its hibernation. If Phil sees his shadow, he will return to hibernation and winter will continue for six more weeks. But if he doesn’t, spring has arrived.
While the traditional story lives on, the holiday took a new meaning for me after I watched the classic 1993 “Groundhog Day” film starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell in which Feb. 2 repeats again and again for them in different ways based on their actions. Although the idea of a time loop slightly terrifies me, I certainly wouldn’t mind if I had to experience certain days over and over again — days that hold precious memories. If I had to choose one single day to be my Groundhog Day, I would select my final day on my family’s Disney Fantasy cruise: Dec. 22, 2018. My twin sister and I were 11 at the time, and life was carefree.
I’ve always been captivated by the enchanting and magical allure of Disney — where imagination knows no limits, fairy tales come to life and every moment feels like stepping into a storybook adventure. So when I heard that the Disney Cruise offered the full Disney experience for two weeks in the Bahamas (with slightly less congestion than Disneyland), I was eager to hop on.
The cruise was everything I could have imagined and more, with the dining options ranging from filling buffets to high-scale restaurants with characters parading around the tables, giving all the kids high-fives. There was always unlimited soft serve ice cream on the pool deck, and my twin sister and I spent several hours in the sun eating the frozen treat while watching Disney movies on the vast pool deck screen.
The food wasn’t the only memorable part of the experience. Although we didn’t care for the kids’ activities and crafting workshops, my sister and I kept ourselves occupied by running around the vast interior of the 2 million square foot ship, which resembled a giant, beautiful living room with grand staircases and Christmas decorations. At our young age, we were thrilled at having freedom to do as we pleased without parental supervision.
However, our escape from sunscreen lectures and their oversight backfired on us on our final day of the cruise. We woke up to find our parents missing, seemingly having left for breakfast without informing us. We immediately spiraled into panic as we had no way of contacting them, since we didn’t have phones. We first thought of calling an employee from the hotel phone, but neither of us wanted to speak to a stranger and immediately ruled it out.
Seeing as we had no other options, we decided to embark on a top secret mission to find our parents, knowing they were hidden somewhere in the overcrowded cruise ship.
We got dressed for our mission, put on our matching pink and purple jackets so we would be able to identify each other within the crowd and equipped ourselves with walkie-talkies supplied by the hotel room. We then slipped out of the room and took the elevator down to the main room, avoiding eye contact with everyone we encountered out of our “stranger danger” fear.
We began our treacherous endeavor, as we timidly went from restaurant to restaurant, asking if they had our mother’s name on their guest list. They all denied seeing our mother, giving each other concerned looks after seeing two little girls running around so frantically. A few of them even offered to take us to the captain to make an announcement for us. Looking back, that was probably the most effective and logical solution, but we were adamant on completing our mission without adult aid. We politely declined and continued on our journey.
As it was nearing lunchtime, we started to get hungry and decided that a quick ice cream break would give us the superpowers needed to help us find our parents. Dragging ourselves up to the pool deck, our eyes were assaulted by the blaring sunlight, but we ignored this distraction and continued to our goal.
However, my sister suddenly grabbed my arm and pointed several feet ahead of us. As it turned out, our parents were sitting comfortably on the beach chairs with ice cream cones in hand!
Outraged, we stormed over and began screaming our little heads off, until our yelling eventually turned into sobbing out of relief at having found our parents. They apologized profusely, explaining that they didn’t expect us to be up so early, as we had watched a movie the night before. My sister and I were reluctant to forgive them, but we quickly gave in when they promised we could eat ice cream for every meal that day.
Even though searching for our lost parents was terrifying at the time, it became a special memory of bonding and joy between me and my sister, and it’s a day I’d happily relive over and over — my very own endless Groundhog Day.
