Some of you may have heard that I have a slight affinity for Disneyland. Well, for Disney in general. Although I try to pretend to be a normal member of society (ha), anyone who knows me knows that it’s in my blood. So yeah, we have a Disney-themed Christmas tree every year. We go to Disneyland several times a year. We’re the couple who went to Disney World and on a Disney cruise…before I even got pregnant with our son. We have a Disney timeshare. We’re the ones who will tell you why you shouldn’t put off a Disney vacation for “when the kids are older” or because it’s “too expensive.”
A few months ago I heard about something called the Walt Disney World Moms Panel, which is an online forum where "moms" (some are moms, some are dads, and I believe there’s even an aunt) answer questions and offer advice about family vacations to Disney World. Then I heard that applications from who those who specialize in Disneyland were also being accepted this year. I did a little happy dance because Disneyland + writing + social media = my dream come true. (OK, I didn’t actually dance since I was at my desk at work, but you know what I mean. It’s like when people type “LOL” to mean something is funny even though they are really just sitting there like :/.)
The day the application window opened, I typed out my 100-word responses to a couple questions and clicked “submit” without a lot of fuss and didn’t give it much thought after that, knowing that over 20,000 panel hopefuls would also be throwing their (ear) hats into the ring.
One Saturday a few weeks later, DH, DS and I were in the car when I absentmindedly scrolled through my email on my phone. A subject line caught my eye: “Congratulations! You made it to Round 2!”
Ummm, what? I opened the email (which was adorned with lovely shades of pink and blue, reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle) and confirmed that I had, in fact, advanced to the next phase of the selection process. I read it out loud to DH, giddy as a schoolgirl. From what I’ve heard, about 200 people make it to Round 2, so about 1%. Dude. Even Harvard has a larger acceptance margin than that, as my sister pointed out.
A couple days later I was up at 5:55 a.m. to log onto the WDW Moms Panel website and see the next set of questions. This is significant because almost nothing can get me out of bed before 7 a.m. I was THAT keyed up.
Last Thursday night I sent off my Round 2 application—two more short essay answers and a 60-second video of myself (after 20+ swear-word inducing takes, one which included me saying “pissy dust” instead of “pixy dust”) describing my favorite Disneyland memory. Since then my thoughts have been consumed with the panel. I’ve not been this focused on a 2-week wait since we were trying to conceive. I’ve been so preoccupied (read: stressed) that my chin decided to explode with acne for the first time in almost two years. Greeeeat.
Luckily I have some fabulous trips coming up to soften the blow of an impending rejection email. Very soon I will be at “the happiest place on earth” (where else?) with some of my favorite people, including the lovely Valeri, and then off to paradise for my annual meet up with my SM4L, Emma!
Whatever happens next, I’ll feel proud and honored to have made it as far as I did.
…And, um, please remind me I said that when I’m over here sulking next week. ;)
