Thursday, June 11, 2020

WDWCP97 Journal - Looking Back

I wrote so much. So much nonsense. So many unimportant details that make me laugh. So many details that I can read and only I know what they really mean. I left out A LOT. There are so many memories I have that just can't fit in a small book. 

This is definitely a period in my life I hope to never forget! Sure, my family wasn't exactly happy about me leaving to the opposite side of the country, but in no time at all I had created a new family. 3101 will always be an important number to me. We had tons of ups in that apartment, and when we had downs.... Oh boy were they intense!! We don't all talk anymore, but that's to be expected. Marcy and I are not at all friends anymore, and haven't been in well over 20 years. Zaira and Danielle seem to have vanished. Nobody knows where they are. I did bump into Danielle in 1998 when she was working as a frog in Disney's Animal Kingdom, but when I called her to meet up for Pleasure Island that night like she asked - she was impossible to find. Sarah came to Oregon for Spring Break once, and I feel like there will be a time we do meet up again. Brenda, Luis, Maria and Sarah are all my Facebook friends - so I get to keep tabs on them to this day!




When I got back to school I had NO friends. Missing the Fall term made me the weird one that moved into the dorm for Winter term. Everyone had established their friendships already. I left Orlando January 4, 1998 and went straight to my dorm room in Oregon. I left a place filled with people wanting to meet and network, and suddenly I lived where people didn't even say hi to me. It wasn't a great transition. However, being an only child that loves being alone, I soon adapted to life in my room.... and MANY hours on the phone with Vinny! And letters! We didn't have e-mail, so I hand wrote letters to my fellow CPs. There are so many people from that program that I keep in touch with via Facebook. It is pretty much THE reason I still have a Facebook account. 

You may notice I did a lot of writing down of who I saw and where. That's what was important to me. Not the actual work - because come on, I wasn't going to college to have a career as a Quick Service Restaurant Hostess. Meeting people from all over the world, learning from them and making new friends was what I was taking home with me.


Back to Florida - 


I left out a lot when I wrote my journal because I just didn't have room to write it and it didn't seem huge at the time. I spent a lot of time alone when I wasn't at work, especially prior to Vinny. I listened to a lot of music in my room. I danced and sang to Starlight Express in our apartment ALL the time. Without things like cell phones, internet, cable TV, well, you get creative! I was always at Downtown Disney. The Virgin Megastore was my home away from home. I got lost in the sea of imported CDs, greatly adding to my still growing Alanis collection. Vinny and I did so much when we weren't at work that didn't make it in the journal - like our failed trip to find Little Lake Bryan - the Disney Cast Member Only lake. Heck, I never even wrote about our new roommate Amy. Honestly, I didn't know much about her. She was there for 2 weeks, but she seemed pretty cool. She really liked makeup. At Christmas she had an insane amount of gifts from her family to open - it was all makeup!

Our life hours were crazy! It was a running joke that CP stands for Closing Person - and that was totally the case for me. I'd work later in the day until closing. So if we did do stuff at night it was VERY late at night. It was just always the norm for us. Another joke is Every Paycheck Comes On Thursday (Epcot). Those paychecks were needed and sooo tiny. I was sick one week and my paycheck was $7.00. Not kidding. We were paid every Thursday, and those of us on the College Program had $60 automatically deducted from our paychecks to pay rent. We had washers and dryers outside of our apartments that we shared with the whole building, so quarters were important. Laundry was something you tried to not have to do too often. Heck, a lot of times I wore my pajama pants to work (less laundry?). I mean I was just up to get on the bus, get to backstage of the Magic Kingdom, put on my costume, work, and then back in my pajama pants to go home. I probably didn't do this once Vinny was in the picture! 

Life with Vinny was a total blast! The best! He never made it to Oregon. We never got a dog. But we also always stay in touch. Our story isn't over, it just evolves. I think we've always had each other's backs and that's pretty darn awesome! I could go on... but I will just keep it between the two of us.

I'm so glad I did this internship. I loved it so much I did it twice! (The 2nd was nothing at all like this, sadly.) Disney is officially in my blood. I got a  Disney tattoo that I absolutely love. It is mine. It has a lot of meaning to me and is exactly what I wanted. I have a ring that I have worn every single day since shortly after my program. Vinny wanted to buy it for me on Main Street, but we were Disney kids without cash on hand that night. I found it at the Disney Store once I moved home. Its been on my finger ever since. On my desk in my house is a photo from my birthday in my saloon girl costume at the Castle. My Mouseters Degree is framed and displayed in that room, as is my 25 Years of Magic poster. Everything I bought, I still have. I always take care of my "toys" - and my souvenirs from this experience are priceless to me. 

But most important are the memories. The friendships. All the things we did together. The ups. The downs. The things I learned.  It is crazy how much you can take away and apply to your life after spending a term working in a theme park!

Just because my 1997 life is coming to an end, for now, don't think that means this blog is closing up Disney shop. I did say I liked it so much I did it twice! I have oodles more I might have to share!


~ See ya real soon!~ º0º

And now I leave you with this.....

Can take the girl out of Disney, 
but can't take the Tubthumping out of the girl - even in 2019!




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Thanks for reading my little blog, your comments rock my compression socks!! ºoº