Arrival + One Year

Can you believe it? Can you actually believe it?
I certainly can't, and I'm the one living it.

So I know it's been a little while since I've written on here. To be honest, there hasn't been too much going on on the Disney front. Well, let me rephrase that. There has been stuff going on on the Disney front, like the Fantasyland expansion continuing, Harry Potter looking amazing, and Disney raising their one day, one park price to $82 (crazy).

But on a personal note, nothing much has been happening. Oh sure, I'm seeing Disney practically everywhere I go. I find antenna toppers or see Disney characters on clothing or on toys. For Christmas in July, my Dad got my Mom, sister, and I Disney window hangers. I've gotta find some time to paint Ariel. We also watched the December tape, and that was fun, and sort of sad, especially since I know I was feeling SO depressed the day my family had to go back home.

But have I heard from Disney regarding any job opportunities? No.
Have I looked into getting a job at Disney, either at the parks or somewhere on the west coast (or Canada, if I applyed for a position at Club Penguin)? No.

Besides watching the Disney Channel, surfing Disney stuff online, talking to Mail Order about my broken ornament (Lynn from the Christmas Shoppe in the Magic Kingdom called me today, asking me to leave a voicemail description of the ornament that broke and that they no longer carry - I appreciate them trying), and thinking about trying to get back to Disney for a vacation...there really hasn't been too much Disney stuff going on in my life.

Which is why today, and yesterday, and the day before that, and tomorrow, and two days from today, are super important.

Why?

Well today, exactly one year ago, I arrived in Orlando, Florida, with my family and two cars full of my crap. One year ago. Crazy, isn't it?

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of my family and I leaving to go to Florida. I'm still amazed at how quickly we made it down there, especially considering we didn't leave until after 11:00am, and still had to go to Meera's house to pick up my shoes. Randomly, I thought it was funny that I looked at my clock when I was leaving yesterday, and it said it was a little after 11:00am (maybe 11:30am?) and one year ago I had turned back and gone to the right of my house towards Gary to start on my way, while this time, I was going left of my house towards County Farm, all around the same time. Then later I realized my clock was still set on Eastern time, and that I was a little off, time-wise.

The day before that, the 9th, was Anjali and Orion's first anniversary. I still want to give them their ornament, but since Jill's not back in town, and Meera's is still MIA, well...it'll get there.

But this blog, however short it may be, is just about that day that I finally arrived at WDW. The day I first met Alex Scurlock and went to Planet Hollywood to eat with a bunch of other CPs.

I totally mentioned this on Alex's facebook btw.

I don't know, it's weird. I mean, the memory of that day is still pretty fresh in my mind, at least the Downtown Disney and Planet Hollywood portions of it. I remember, thinking about it now, about the drive down there and, I think, passing Dad when he turned off I-4 at one point. Was that also when we ate at that awesome Chick-Fil-A in Gainesville? Has to be.

I guess the thing that really strikes me right now is how, in thinking about those places, how new things seemed to be. And yet, months later, I'd be wandering around the hotels across the lake from Downtown Disney. Or I'd be driving up and down I-4, picking people up, getting my phone fixed, or just seeing what's around. Or that I'd be working at that really, really, really big World of Disney store for a week. Or having a delicious Ghiradelli sundae, or getting free chocolate, or eating at Earl of Sandwich. Or going to Earl of Sandwich AND Disney Quest for the first time with a guy that I'd meet on my first program.

I mean, thinking about that, it's so...weird. Like, I remember how new things seemed. How I was happy to be at World of Disney and seeing Disney stuff around me. And now I think about all the stuff I did there, how I went to Downtown Disney and worked there and drove those roads and parked by there, and got coffee creamer and a candy bar from the Hess across the street, that I KNEW those roads, both around Downtown Disney and Crossroads and multiple ways to get to Magic Kingdom, both on-property and not.

It's just weird. Like, and yeah, I know I'm saying like a lot, but like, if I was able to tell myself that day that this would all seem familiar, that I would know and do so much stuff in just this area (and that doesn't even compare to what I'd be doing on the rest of the property!), well, I kind of have to wonder what I would've thought of it. Because as I recall, my concerns that night were meeting Alex, seeing what she was like, trying to adjust to the other CPs, trying to figure out what I'd want to eat at Planet Hollywood, trying to figure out what time I could leave and how I could leave to go meet my family.

Maybe it would've been a little much to know I was going to explore that area a bit. That I was going to work at World of Disney. That I was going to be staying longer than the 4 1/2 months I though I was facing at the time.

It probably also would have been a little much to meet a slightly older version of myself. The after-the-college-program version of myself.

But it is funny, in a non-haha-but-still-haha sort of way, that back then, things were new and I was adjusting and facing all of these new feelings and locations and little challenges (what to order that isn't friggen expensive?? How loud does it really have to be in here?? Did that guy say he's Goofy? How do I get to know him??). And to think that I'd be doing all sorts of stuff in and around that area within the next nine months. And that, one year later, I'd be sitting at my Mom's computer, having lost weight and gotten almost all of it back, having tried a DQ blue-raspberry-dipped ice cream cone, having my Uncle Kenny in the hospital for a bleeding ulcer, and enjoying a day off from working on the first 3D live action film shot in Illinois.

Yeah, all that knowledge might've been a little much for that night.

But to be honest, thinking about this stuff makes me feel sort of sad too. Sad because I know that, back then, my family was going to be heading back home, and I wouldn't be going with them. Not for a little while.

But it makes me sad also because I'm thinking about Disney, thinking about what I did there, thinking about being on the college program. I keep telling my family that I don't want to go back, at least, not to work, at least, not to work there full time and permanently. And I know that going back, if I get the chance to over the next couple of months, it won't be the same as it was. For one thing, I'll have to rent a car. It's like I've already reached the point where all the stress and craziness and shit of being a Disney CP has become a little glossed over in my mind. Like, I know about the "fun" I had, trying to go seasonal for example, but now the whole experience is reflected in my mind as something I enjoyed...something I miss.

But, well, we'll see.

Meanwhile, some things never change, and Mom wants to get on the computer, so off I go.

I will say this, though. It's good to have these memories. It's good to think about these things. And I'm glad I'm celebrating this anniversary, and the anniversary of the other days as well.

And, on a fun side note, I downloaded a couple songs from iTunes yesterday. I got the "Hey Hey Mickey" song, the Mickey Mouse Club March piano song, and the remix of Topsy Turvy. In short, I've got a little bit of Mouse Gear on my computer now.

Awesome.

My Mom got to hear the "Hey Hey Mickey" song today. She's not a big fan :P

And she's telling me that some woman is suing Disney because she feels Donald groped her.

Yep, there's not a lot of Disney in my life, but I'm glad when there is.

Though I still think I don't want to go back there and work full time :P

Happy Arrival (day before CP arrival) Anniversary ^-^


P.S. - when tagging this entry, I realized, I never did get to a movie at Downtown Disney. Well, that's got to be taken care of!