PDD (Post Disney Depression) and some Post-Disney Reflections

My time at Disney was- dare I say it-magical. I met so many friends. Had my first real relationship. Gained a lot of good experience, professional and otherwise. I got to freakin' live at the most magical place on earth for an entire year. It was amazing to not live with feet of snow and spend an hour or two at a park whenever I wanted. College wasn't always amazing for me, and Disney wasn't without some bumps here or there, but I truly was able to find myself and I was the happiest I had been in a long time.

That being said,  the first two weeks home I was really depressed. I was missing the warmth (it's been a cold summer in Michigan. When I first got home there were very few days above 80, but it has been a bit warmer the last week or so.) I was missing my cubicle at Maingate. I missed logging into SIMBA and seeing the weekly reports being updated. I missed modifying my Starbucks/DLR 60th forecasts. I missed my apartment at Falcon Square. I missed my friends. I missed (most) of the roommates I had had during my year in Florida (all 8 of them). I missed DAK. I missed the rides. I missed the resorts. I missed hearing the Sandhill Cranes calls. I missed running around Independence. I missed so many things. 

I had applied for a few positions and hadn't gotten most of the positions. When I found out that I hadn't gotten the one I was most hopeful for (and would have kept me at Maingate Merchandise) I cried. I cried a lot. I honestly felt like my dreams had been crushed. During the weeks since the bad news, I've actually had a few more interviews, including what would be a dream job for me. I found out I didn't get one position, but there is still one I am waiting to hear back on. I think I will still be really disappointed if I don't get the position, but I am beginning to be okay with staying in Michigan. If I don't get this position I might cry, but I have come to adopt the mentality that a few of my old Presenter friends who left Disney have said: Disney isn't going anywhere anytime soon. So if I don't get the position, right now I am going to hold of on applying to more Disney positions and look for some jobs around Metro Detroit. Then once I pay off loans (and maybe get sick of being at home) I can always go back with the added experience. 

I think all ex-Disney CMs should have that mentality: Disney isn't going anywhere. It's going to be there for the foreseeable future, whether or not it is just for a visit or if it is there to stay. 

That being said, fingers crossed for some good news in the next week or two. :)

More PI Blogs

So I'm awful at blogging, but I am really good at googling. Therefore, I have updated the "Other PI Blogs" page to include some newer blogs. I try to only include blogs where people were good at posting semi-regularly throughout their internship (I know. I know. Ironic, since I am awful). If you know of any others or want yours included, let me know and I'd be happy to add it to the list.

I would promise to be better at blogging, but that is super cliche for bloggers and it rarely happens. I'll try, but for now, check out some other awesome Disney folk and maybe I'll have exciting news coming up. fingers crossed!

Eggstravaganza

Right around Easter there is a fun event called Egg-stravaganza which is basically an Easter egg hunt around the World Showcase at EPCOT (there is actually a version over in California, too). What you do is buy a map with stickers. It is really reasonably priced, especially for Disney! Then you go around the World Showcase to find the eggs and place the correct character egg in the country it was hidden in. Then you go back to a shop and you get a prize (you can actually get the prize without finding the eggs, but what is the fun in that?)

 I really wanted to do the event and heard that it was really popular in the past and last year they sold out of the maps. Therefore, my roommate Allie and I decided to go on the first day it was offered. So we met at EPCOT after work and the park wasn't too awful since it had been raining so a ton of people had left. 

We had a ton of fun talking and looking for the eggs. We really struggled with the first two in Mexico and Norway, but once we knew what we were looking for we found the rest pretty quickly. I stopped in America to get some food from the smokehouse (a pulled pig slider that was delicious) and Allie got some food in France. After we found all the eggs we headed to the Port of Entry shop to redeem our prize. We got to chose from a selection of eggs that had characters on them. I was looking at the Thumper, Goofy, and White Rabbit eggs, and ended up going with the Thumper one in the spirit of Easter (there was also a Tink, Pluto, and Mr. Toad to chose from). I don't think the cast did it completely right since I had read that we were supposed to participate in the "shell game," but it was the first day so perhaps didn't know exactly what to do and figured it out as the week went on (they were even tallying off which eggs people chose when I think they were supposed to be ringing into the register). 

It was a ton of fun to spend the end of the week and I totally recommend it. Here are some pictures form our adventure.

The Map

Allie and I with our maps and our prizes

A few of the eggs that we found: 

Looking at Places to Live

I have loved living in Falcon Square. It is nice not having to worry about paying rent, safety, I've had great roommates, etc. But I especially love the area of Independence. So I've been looking and it is actually pretty reasonable to rent homes in this neighborhood. All of the outdoor stuff is taken care of, cable and internet are included, still have access to the pools and gyms (which I honestly haven't used yet...). So I think that if I end up staying in Florida I would like to see if I can find roommates that would be willing to stay here. I'm open to moving elsewhere, but I just love the serenity of the neighborhood and not being in a super touristy area. Well, I guess now I just have to keep getting my name out there, cross my fingers, and hope that I can find a way to stay down here, because I love working for Disney, I love my job, and I love the people. At least now I have an idea that it could be reasonable to stay in this area. :)

Sandhill Cranes around one of many of the ponds in Independence

Fun Group, Fantastic Day Part 1: Hollywood Studios

Nick and I met up with Mike, his sister Allison, and his friend Hannah for a fun day at the parks. Nick had a long night out the night before downtown with his roommates so I ended up driving since he wasn't up for it. Hannah had never been to studios or epcot so it was fun to do things with someone seeing the parks for the first time. I also love going to the parks with people who know a lot of fun facts about the park, so hanging out with Nick and Allison was a ton of fun.

We got to studios and headed to Starbucks to get some drinks and get food for nick. It was crazy seeing the park without the sorcerer's hat. I was skeptical about the park without the without the hat, but it really was nice theming without it so I hope they don't ruin it by constructing something annoying there or else I might miss the hat again. We finished the goods and headed over to start at the great movie ride. it was a fun one. we got got the western robber scene which was fun since it is not done all the time. Then we got stuck in the final scene. Our guide showed us her favorite starts which was funny. We started to move but got stuck again partway through the doorway so the other guide started if you want the car to move clap your hands.

no hat!!!! no way! There's been a theater back there?!?!!

Then we headed over to Rockin' Roller Coaster for our fast passes. Then they had reservations for 50's prime time. I got a chicken Caesar salad. I love milkshakes but wasn't hungry enough to get one. I finished my salad so I got a clean plate sticker. Nick only got onion rings and didn't finish so he only got half a sticker. Nick treated me so we agreed I would buy dinner (but I forgot...). 

You could say that we enjoyed it

After lunch we were walking by Indiana Jones and there was a show starting soon so we decided to go. We had a few minutes before our fast passes started so we walked by the Cinderella carriage on Streets of America. There was a super long line so we didn't wait for a picture but we did run into Nick and Mikes friend Spencer who I had met at the 4th of July. Afterward we headed to our fast passes at Star Tours. To end our trip at Studios we headed over to Tower of Terror so Hannah could see how it was different from California (which was fun since she didn't realize it moved forward). 

Wait?!?! this ride moves forward AND is random!?!?!

The End of an Era

Finally returned my costume today. It only took me a couple of weeks past my last shift as a presenter, but I finally did it. (which is kinda sad since I literally drive by the DAK costuming building everyday to my new job...) I think I was partially putting it off planning on taking a last picture in my costume, especially since I never got one with the hat. Well, I still never got one with the full costume + hat, but here is a picture I took with the hat before I turned it in. 

It was a sad day to officially be done with my explorer gear (especially my WE slider) but also glad to be done with the extra stuff in my small closet at the same time.

Super Bowl Sunday

I slept in today since I stayed up so late. I took a shower, did some laundry, and reorganized some of my stuff since I am moving out of Megan's apartment this week and back in to Falcon Square. I was going to head to Studios again, but by the time I was motivated it wasn't going to be worth it. I also took an online assessment that I had received on Friday that I needed to have complete before Wednesday. It was only supposed to take 40 min but ended up taking about twice that. We will see if anything comes of it later this week. Megan came home during the assessment and went out again to do some errands or something. I also bought some spinach artichoke dip to eat while watching the super bowl but I can't figure out how to get the TV to work so I am just typing this while watching Malcolm in the Middle on Netflix before I fold my laundry and heat up the dip to eat. 

I guess Mike and Amber ate lunch with Nick at Studios, so this is the second weekend in a row they have hung out (last weekend they went to Universal) so I might see if they might include me in the future. Now that I am going to have normal weekends off I need to find some new friends (since most of my old ones left already :'( ) so hopefully I can become friends with my new roommates so I can have more people to do stuff with. I have been good with these restful weekends but I am ready to do some more stuff in the future.