It's All Happening

So I'm halfway packed and the apartment's halfway cleaned, which is halfway closer to hitting the road than I expected to be from the vantage point of earlier this morning. Leaving Anaheim kind of snuck up on me, like a thief in the night. As some of you may recall, my return to the US from Dunedin arrived after a several week countdown, and I was more or less ready to get the hell out of New Zealand (great as it was). This time, though, I have to say goodbye to Disneyland, which is always rough. When I walk out of work tonight and slip through the Cast-Members-only secret entrance, it'll be for my last time.

Maybe.

Yesterday was unofficially my "last," and by that I mean some of the good friends I've made here called in sick so we could head to Universal Studios for a taping of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, followed by running wild in Disneyland with a fistful of Readmission Passes (what you get when a ride breaks down and you're on it, which basically entitles your group to front-of-the-line status on any attraction of your choice, and what Attractions Cast Members pretty much get for free when they collect them from the sweaty clutches of greedy tourists during work). The line for Conan spanned 3.5 hours of my life, necessitated the consumption of 2.5 slices of pepperoni pizza, and allowed for a Scarlett Johansson sighting. The show was incredible; I sat right behind Max Weinberg and discovered what Conan actually sips from his coffee cup. Not water. Not coffee. But Diet Coke. Robin Williams as the first guest pretty much stole the show. Guy's crazy.

And Disneyland, as always, was magical. There really is no place else on Earth where you can wander through an utterly convincing jungle outpost and still hear the cacophony of Fantasmic entertaining 7,000 guests just down the path.


I'm not sure how any other job could ever manage to stack up against this one. Seriously. Office cubicle? Say what now?

Tonight's my last Splash shift. When I clock out at 12:30, I need to return my costume, my ID card, and my parking pass. I'll no longer be in the system. Am I okay with this? I suppose so. But the walk out is going to be a bit tragic. Tomorrow after my housing inspection I'm headed to Hermosa Beach for a day, then up to San Francisco for several more to visit Simone. Wohoo! I plan on being back in Bend around August 20 or 21, depending. Also, I know this last post kind of fell flat past the first few sentences, but I've got to get to work!




Narrator's voice: And so it was... the end of his Great Disneyland Adventure.