Done.

With some serious thought and prayer, I've rescinded my application for the year-long program at Epcot at Walt Disney World in Florida.

It is with a heavy heart that I have decided that I will not be going back, that I will not have the freedom and time to just sit in front of that castle again by myself and not have somewhere else I need to be.

But, I think that going would just put off the inevitable for another year - eventually, I need to grow up. (Note, get older and get a career going... not actually become more mature. That probably won't ever happen!)

And so, I guess this is where the blog officially ends.

It was good while it lasted, and the dreams will keep going.

Stephanie

Going back.

Five weeks after leaving the most magical place on earth, I've submitted my application to go back.

For a year.

That's right, a year long journey into humidity and heat and an opportunity to spend many more days sitting in front of that castle.

It is still undetermined as to whether I could, would, or would be willing to go; depending a lot on whether they accept me, what else I'm doing, whether I'm going back to school, and whether or not I'd miss home and the people I love here too much.

But the application is in!

Here we go!

Things I learned.

This summer was the most fantastic journey I've ever been on. I cried like a baby when I got there and when I left, both because I loved it there so much. I met Mickey and Belle and Beast. More importantly, I met fellow Canadians, Mexicans, Lithuanians, Europeans, Australians, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese. People from all over the world united by an enormous love for all things Disney.


Things I learned while working at the happiest place on earth:

- Every workplace is less glamorous than you think it will be.
- Pointing with only one finger is rude, and its extra magical to use your whole hand.
- Nova Scotia is next to Russia, and English is not our first language.
- People do stupid things.
- You're never too old to be young.
- Space mountain is terrifying with the lights on.
- Lifelong friends can be made through a mutual love of sitting on the ground in the rain.
- The grey stuff is, in fact, delicious.
- Dealing with heat and humidity really is just mind over matter.
- 50 Frenchmen can't be wrong.
- Hakuna Matata means no worries for the rest of your days.
- Safe-D begins with me.
- Encouragement gets you so much farther than anger.
- Mexican cooking smells and tastes incredible.
- Mexican culture is social and loud.
- Tower of Terror is terrifying, but also oddly fun.
- You can make friends with anyone just by smiling as asking how they are.
- Once a cast member, always a cast member.
- Wishes do come true.
- I am capable of anything.

And so much more. Thank you to everyone who made this summer more than wonderful and an absolutely magical time!

Thank you.

Every day for 75 days I have written a post. Every day for 75 days I have written down the boring, the exciting, the happiness, the sadness, the friends, the rides, the wonder. And every day for 75 days, I knew that you would be reading.

Some days I wake up and re-read the post from the day before just to make sure that 3am-exhausted-can't-keep-my-eyes-open Stephanie has not mistakenly written that the roller coaster went up in flames or something equally ridiculous. Some days I didn't feel like writing one at all; all I wanted was a cup of tea and my bed. So on those days I made some tea, got in bed, and wrote anyway.

This blog was important to me so that I never forget what I did and who I met and how much fun I had. So that I remember every minute of every day of this adventure. But I wouldn't have had the motivation to do it if I didn't have people that were expecting to see it every day!

So thank you! Thank you for believing in me, for loving me, and for being interested enough in my life to want to know what I'm up to and how I'm doing. This summer was the most amazing of my life, and I couldn't have done it without your support.

So I know that my parents and grandparents come here to look every morning, but I don't know who the rest of you are! If you read my blog every day, every week, or only looked at it once over the summer, please leave a comment so that I know who you are!

Thank you for everything!

 Love, Stephanie

I will be back.

Today started out with an early trip to Magic Kingdom - of course. Where else would I spend my last day?!? I traveled there with Eduaro and Ornella; new friends from Mexico and France that I worked with all summer. We went to Be Our Guest from brunch, because I knew it was one of the things I wanted to do once more! I had the french onion soup and one of those delightful triple chocolate cupcakes! Ornella had never been, even though she's a fan of Beauty and the Beast; and she's french and said the french food was quite good, so I'll go ahead and trust her on that!

We shopped around in Belle's Village Shop for a few minutes after that, while I waited for Emily to arrive. When she did, I said goodbye to Eduardo and Ornella and promised that if I was ever in France or Mexico, I'd look them up. :)

Emily and I went to Storybook Circus tent to have our grad ears personalized! Instead of getting "ICP 2013" like most of the folks did, I actually put "Class of 2013" since I missed my real graduation! Once they were finished, we wore them with pride for the rest of the day!

We wandered and met up with Kevin - a friend of Emily's from work. Emily had a fastpass for Peter Pan, and so while she did that, Kevin and I did Philhar Magic! He'd never done it, and clearly I was going to do it before I left! It was brilliant, and Kevin thought it was quite good as well!

When we met up again, we all headed to Tomorrowland and all of us got fast passes for Space Mountian... except that Kevin had to go to work during the return time, and Emily needed to go back to housing during the return time. So I got theirs as well as mine!! We hopped on the people mover (Kevin thought it was pointless. Emily and I told him to shuttit) and it was wonderful. After that, I left to head to Epcot for my final goodbye!

I got on the monorail and had a whole car to myself; so I enjoyed the sights and the air conditioning and the view of the Epcot ball as we arrived. One at Epcot, I didn't do very much - a little bit of shopping in Mousegear, went to the Italian pavilion via the boat to get a souvenir for Mom and took a picture with Snow White for Tanya! I tried to find a couple coworkers to say final goodbyes, but I needed to go back to MK to use the three Space fast passes. I sighed as the Epcot ball faded in the distance as I took the monorail back. It was a wonderful park to work in!!!!!

I arrived back at MK and headed right to Space. Not only did I have a fast pass, but I was a single rider, so I got pulled to the front of the line for both of the first two fast passes... by the same cast member. She thought it was awesome that I'd managed to get more than one fast pass from a friend. The third time, I asked to wait to have the front seat - my favorite spot on my favorite ride! So worth it :)

When I got off the rain, the rain was pouring! Because what kind of day trip to Disney would it be without a massive thunder shower?! :) To get out of the rain for a bit, I headed to Main Street where I spent a couple hours in and out of the shops and enjoying the atmosphere of Main Street USA! Emily and I met up again when she got back and spent a few more minutes making sure we weren't forgetting anything important that we'd wanted to buy. Any last minute souvenirs? No takers? Okay, we were off to Liberty Square! We found a couple girls from Emily's work that she said goodbye too, and then met up with Ellie and Mandy and Mandy's friend, Tim. They were eating supper at Colombia Harbour house, but almost as soon as Em and I go there, they left to go do Haunted Mansion. I didn't mind, it gave Emily and I some time to hang out - Thunder was closed today so we skipped Adventure- and Frontier-lands all together, instead going back to Fantasyland by way of the Tangled tower and just strolling slowly through the streets. As we approached Tomorrowland, we decided that we had time to do the people mover once more!! So we jumped on that, enjoying the sight of the electrical parade in the distance. When we finished, we found Mandy, Ellie and Tim again for Celebrate the Magic - they didn't care if they were close to the castle... but I did!!!! Tim came with me and we watched it from right up close. Wishes too! Em, Mandy and Ellie watched from pretty far to the right, but I had a perfect view right up front... and I cried like a baby. We were next to a family who's little girl had never been to Disney before. She was probably 6 or 7 and dressed like Ariel, and when she saw me crying, she started to too!

I sobbed. As soon as the Hercules song started, I was done. And then when it ended I went over to the rest of the group and they started crying too. I said goodbye to Ellie and Keshia and Mandy and Tim and told them to look me up if they were ever on my side of the country. Then I left to find Natalie and we cried too.

All I can say about Natalie and Emily is that I wouldn't have been able to ever leave my apartment if they didn't live in my province. Saying good bye to Em was hard enough and we're form the same town. As in, I'll see her when I'm back in the city. I was so blessed and lucky to meet such wonderful people.

Natlie left to go do Space once more with her roommates and I went to find a spot for the second CtM... The plaza was practically empty and I sat, by myself, right on the pavement right in front of the castle. I composed myself... and started to cry when the lights went out. Aka, before the music even started!!!!! I cried through the whole thing, tears streaming down my face and barely able to breathe.

When it was over, I wiped my face and just sat there, memorizing every inch of that castle - and promising to be back. I left via the middle of Main Street. The lights and the sounds and the smells and the castle... I will be back.

 I got home via the bus, saw Andria on the bus, booked a cab for the morning, and finished packing. I said goodbye to Marlenn and Sam, ate Emily's chocolate ice cream and went to sleep.

The memories begun, they never stopped, and they will be with me forever. I can't wait to be back.