One day after helping the Magic defeat the Milwaukee Bucks and extend their home winning streak to eight games, Howard was invited to Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom for the grand opening of their latest attraction - Expedition Everest.

Touted as a perilous journey aboard a runaway train through the Himalayan mountains, Everest is a thrill-seekers paradise - complete with an 80-foot drop, foreword and backward movement and a frightening Yeti that appears to be a bit upset that intruders are disturbing his mountain.

Though his challenge on this day is to tackle Orlando's latest attraction, Howard's career through two seasons in the NBA has been anything but a roller coaster ride.

At the age of 18, Howard was selected No. 1 overall by the Magic in the NBA Draft - a position that comes complete with expectations some haven't been able to handle. But after a solid rookie season that saw him start all 82 games, finish with 12.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg and a runner-up spot in the Rookie of the Year voting, Howard's sophomore effort has proven he's one of the game's fast-rising stars.

He's raised his scoring average to 15.5, while chipping in 12.4 rpg - a statistic that trails only Minnesota's Kevin Garnett as the regular season comes to a close. He also ranks No. 3 in double-doubles, No. 7 in field-goal percentage and #17 in blocks.

A meeting with the NBA-leading Detroit Pistons awaits Howard and the Magic one night from now, but for a few hours, Howard can let his focus drift away from the game with a journey to the "Happiest Place on Earth".

This day is an extra special one for Howard as his family has made the journey to Orlando from their home in Atlanta. Howard's 17-year-old brother, Jahaziel and his friend, James, are along for the ride with his father, Dwight Sr. and mother, Sheryl, to join the party later in the day.

Playing such an important role in an American professional sport, it's easy to forget Howard is only 20 years old with his teenage years in the not-so-distant past. But a trip to Disney can make the kid come out in anyone - and such was the case with Howard.

His first task on this day was to put on the traditional Disney mouse ears. Standing on average a foot taller than the thousands of other patrons at Animal Kingdom, Howard and his gold mouse-ears are quite difficult to miss. Howard gives his best Flavor Flav, "Yeah, Boy!" as he dons the ears for the first time.

As Howard and Co. make their way through the park en route to the ride, he talks about other theme parks he's visited and how he's not always able to fit on the rides because of his size. He is assured by the Disney representatives en tow that it won't be a problem today.

Midway through the jaunt to the attraction, Howard gets his first glance at the large mountain that houses Everest.

"I'm a little nervous, but I'll do it," says Howard, shaking away any notions that he'd be the day's biggest visitor to head for the exit. "It looks pretty big, but let's do it."

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