See Ya Real Soon...

I'm sitting here looking at this blank page and a million thoughts are running through my head. This post is probably going to end up being really long and it will probably take me forever to write, as I am flooded with emotions...

Let me start with New Year's Eve. New Year's is, by far, the busiest holiday at Disney (Christmas is the second busiest). Our leaders had spent five months trying to prepare us for this night, but I don't think there was really any way to prepare. I was scheduled to work 4p-3a that day, so before my shift Molly and I went to play in the parks together one last time. She wanted to see Beauty and the Beast one more time, which was perfect because I wanted to show request Jack at GMR once more. So we went to Hollywood Studios. We rode Star Tours, met Mike and Sulley, played in the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground, and of course saw Beauty and the Beast and rode GMR. We had so much fun!

Oldest kids in the play set, but we didn't care!

Riding the Great Movie Ride with Jack as our guide for the last time was definitely much harder than I expected. All the CP's had been talking about how sad they were about going home, but it hadn't really hit me yet. When I stepped out of that vehicle at the end, it became real. I realized that I wouldn't be able to go and show request Jack whenever I wanted to. I realized that he wouldn't be here anymore. We may not have spent as much time together down here as we had hoped to, but it was still nice knowing that if I needed something, he was here. It was nice to be able to see someone that I had known for more than five months. It became even more real when I told him bye and he answered with the classic line from the ride, "I'll see yas in chuweych (church)..." I just looked at him kind of puzzled, and he said, "I'll be there Sunday." I stood there for a few seconds and finally said, "...I won't be there..." We both realized that this was it for now. I definitely shed some tears after leaving Hollywood Studios. I am so so so very thankful that the two of us were able to pursue our dream of participating in the college program together! I can remember talking about it when we were just juniors in high school and it's still crazy to think that our dreams actually came true! I am so blessed by our friendship!

After leaving Hollywood Studios, I went to Epcot to get ready for work. After clocking in and getting our assignments, our leaders talked to us about how the night would go. We didn't clock in and out for our breaks to make things easier, but we had to take our breaks exactly on time because people were scheduled to cover our areas while we were gone. If we saw a trashcan that was full, we were supposed to pull it, even if it wasn't in our area. There were a thousand custodial cast members working that night and the park was very close to capacity. I know that at one point, Soarin' (Epcot's icon attraction) had a four hour wait. I was assigned to the restrooms right at Spaceship Earth (or the big golf ball) and when I got there I had a line pretty far out the door. I never asked anyone for sure, but people probably waited at least fifteen minutes to use my restroom. I literally stood there for hours directing people to open stalls and trying to keep the floor semi clean, the place smelling decent, and the paper products stocked. The nice thing about it was that MOST people were not angry about waiting in line, and MOST of them were in a good mood. Of course there were a few grumpy guests. I think the worst part of the whole night was that they gave out hats and horns. Why anyone would want to give 85,000+ people horns is beyond me. Thankfully, we all survived the night. Our leaders let us watch the special New Year's Eve fireworks from our areas. They were phenomenal. This was the last night that all the CP's would be working together at the same time, so we had to get a picture. One of our non-CP coworkers decided that he wanted to be in the picture as well...

After we got off at 3am, we all decided to go to IHOP, because what else were we supposed to do at that time of night?! Haha. The next day was our official last day of work and emotions were high. Our coordinators and leaders were so generous to us. They didn't assign us break times and told us that we could all meet up at 9 o'clock and watch Illuminations together. After the fireworks our closing manager, Dee, ran up to us and told us that we were all going to do "the wave," where we wave goodbye to everyone as they exit the park. After that we quickly closed our areas. The night ended with Willy giving a speech over the radio, followed by Ron singing a song he made up to the tune of "Proud to be an American." We had to turn in our pan and brooms, which was bittersweet. One of our sweet coordinators, Bexaida, gave us all fanatic cards. We took pictures, then all the people that got off at 10p walked back to cast services together. We turned in our costumes, cleaned out our lockers, and then we all just stood around...no one could take the step and walk out the door for the last time. We finally made it outside. Most of us were hanging out after the others got off at 11p, but we said our goodbyes just in case...

My best friend for the past five months

Clocking out for the last time

Group hug

Later that night, most of us hung out together. We played just dance, watched a movie, and just talked. We reminisced on the first time that we met each other and shared memories. Each time someone got ready to leave, we would all get up and hug them because we weren't sure if we would see them again. We made plans to have lunch together the next day and go to the parks that night, but everyone was also trying to do the things they wanted and pack. 

During this crazy and emotional time, Chuck, Christy, Miles, and Will Dodd were in Orlando and they came to my part of the city and took me out to lunch. I have been Ms. Christy's baby since I was practically a baby! She taught me in summer music camps and later on in life I had the privilege of assisting her with musicals. They are such a sweet family and I really appreciated them taking time out of their busy week and going out of their way to see me. 

From there, I went straight to lunch with my custodial family. We enjoyed eating together and when it was time to leave we all said goodbye again because, of course, we didn't know if it was our final goodbye. Since everyone was leaving the next morning (Friday) and my second program didn't start until Monday, I decided to go home for the weekend. This was a very last minute decision, so last minute that all the cheap flights were booked. I was going to fly home Thursday night but there were no flights available. Luckily for me, Ryan (one of my CP coworkers) goes to school at Clemson and he was going straight there from Orlando Friday. He was generous and let me ride with him. So Thursday afternoon I helped him pack up all of his stuff. I had more goodbyes to say to my roommate, Lauren, and her mom, as well as my sweet friend from class, Brooke. Later that night, I went to Epcot and met up with some of my CP custodians. We had intentions of staying together, but everyone had things that they needed to do. We saw Illuminations, and then after saying goodbye to them for the last time, Luis and I decided to quickly go to Magic Kingdom to meet some more custodians and see the fireworks. Oh my goodness. The atmosphere at Magic Kingdom after Wishes ended was so sad. A ton of CP's were there, and they were all crying. The Guests were so puzzled and confused about what was going on. We saw Celebrate the Magic (the castle projection show) and rode a few things. Then it was time for me to say my final goodbyes, so that I could get back to my apartment and pack. 

Let me just stop right here and say that never in a million years did I dream that saying goodbye would be so hard. I came to Disney expecting to have fun, but I never thought that I would grow so close to the people that I worked with. However when I think about it, it makes perfect sense. They really were my family here. We spent at least six and half hours a day working together, five days out of the week. We were all so unique that we just fit. We clicked. We worked well together. Even our managers and coordinators told us that we were one of the best groups they had had. It's crazy to think that we went from complete strangers to best friends in just five months. Needless to say, my life was changed because of these people and I'm going to miss them terribly. 

The next morning Ryan and I packed his car and got ready to head for Clemson. Before I left, I went and said goodbye to Molly. Saying goodbye to her was just as hard as saying goodbye to everyone else. She was my park buddy. When I had a day off, I could always count on her to go to the parks with me. We never got tired of it. I never thought that the girl behind me at check-in who knew that there were gnats in South GA would become one of my best friends. I'm going to miss her and Meghan, her roommate, so very much!

After nine and a half hours in the car, Ryan and I finally made it to South Carolina. We learned a lot about each other in those nine and a half hours, and there was never really a dull moment. Haha. When we got off at the exit to meet Mama, it was time to say the final goodbye and it was just as hard as the rest. However this definitely wasn't goodbye for us; we live too close not to see each other!

I enjoyed relaxing at home on Saturday and Sunday, and I'm so glad that I came home. I definitely didn't expect all those goodbyes to be as emotional as they were, and it would have been hard to spend the weekend alone. Due to the weather, my flight back Sunday night was cancelled and rescheduled for Monday night, then it was delayed for an hour and a half...I was supposed to be back Monday morning. Thankfully I was able to contact my custodial leaders and they assured me that I wouldn't be punished. I finally made it back to Orlando. 

I can't say enough how hard it was to leave all the friends that I made during my program! I am so thankful to have met each one of them and truly believe that they all will do great things in the future. I hope and pray that this really wasn't goodbye for us and that we will be able to get together sometime, somehow in the future. So this wasn't goodbye, it was just see ya real soon...