2010 Mom's Panel Results along with lists of Round 2 & 3 Participants

[Donna]

Hey everyone. Those of you that follow me on twitter and facebook may have seen my tweet earlier about some really bad news in our family. I figure with all the support I've gotten here it couldn't hurt to share what was going on here. DH lost his job today. Things have been really tight already around here and we are definitely not in any position to be without income at all. However, I have faith that everything happens for a reason and something will come through for him. He's been networking and starting his search from the time he came home today. Any extra thoughts or prayers you could send his way would be so very appreciated. Thank you all...

oh zanna, sorry to hear this. I know when I lost my job in 2002,, you wonder what now...somehow it works out. One door shuts, another opens and you find that you are better off.

 

[5fromabove]

Hey everyone. Those of you that follow me on twitter and facebook may have seen my tweet earlier about some really bad news in our family. I figure with all the support I've gotten here it couldn't hurt to share what was going on here. DH lost his job today. Things have been really tight already around here and we are definitely not in any position to be without income at all. However, I have faith that everything happens for a reason and something will come through for him. He's been networking and starting his search from the time he came home today. Any extra thoughts or prayers you could send his way would be so very appreciated. Thank you all...

I'm so sorry, Zanna. I'll be keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

ZANNA So sorry to hear your news. I will be thinking of you all and hoping something turns up. It wasn't so long ago that we were in the same position and while it was scary for a bit it all worked out ok so fingers crossed its the same for you. Here's a traditional Irish blessing for you-just to speed you along to better financial times-hope it helps!
May the road rise up to meet you and the wind always be at your back.

 

[Twende]

Amanda, ohamanda, is our person of the day today (Friday).


Introduce your family, your likes, dislikes, jobs, or whatever you want to talk about. Then we can all ask you a few questions and you can spend the day answering us.


Today is Day 4 in the countdown to Reveal day!

Todays general question is:

Today we are going to discuss Hidden Mickeys. Tell us when you first learned about them, where your favorite one is located, and then share something special about finding hidden Mickeys


My special question for Amanda is: I see you do Operation Christmas Shoe boxes too. Do you find that you add many Disney themed objects to your boxes? This year our area has gone to pre-printed boxes that we must fill instead of our own shoe boxes or plastic. They are too small for my liking but I am trying to conform!

Kathie, Suzannah, Kaylene, AmandaNC, Marc, Dannee, Jonas, Gloria, and Sue. of you are welcome to answer too you know.



Suzannah, I am sorry to hear about your DH's job. I understand completely! My DH lost his job almost two years ago now and although he is now employed he is underemployed and working at multiple minimum wage jobs instead of one descent job. The economy in our area is very bad and normal jobs are just not to be had right now. I pray your DH has better fortune with his job search!

 

[DisneyJo]

Zanna I'm so sorry about your husband losing his job, I hope he finds another very soon

 

[PartyOf5]

Zanna I'm so sorry about your husband losing his job, I hope he finds another very soon

Same here, Zanna. I can't wait for this economy to get better - it can't come soon enough.

And congrats to you all for completing your phone interviews! The final phase is a waiting game so enjoy your time in the waiting room! Good luck to you all!

 

[seallenz]

Zanna, I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's job! Keeping my fingers crossed an even better opportunity comes his way soon!

 

[magic2go]

Today is Day 4 in the countdown to Reveal day!

Todays general question is:

Today we are going to discuss Hidden Mickeys. Tell us when you first learned about them, where your favorite one is located, and then share something special about finding hidden Mickeys

Kim, I'm not sure the first time we heard about Hidden Mickeys (I'm too old to remember!) but the best memory of spotting one is for the one in Big Thunder - at the end of the ride, on your right, there are gears on the ground that make up an awesome hidden mickey. This was the first good, and unexpected, one that I spotted on my own - without a guidebook or clue.

We also have a family tradition built around HMs - the first person in the family to spot a new hidden mickey chooses the first ride at the next day's park. It keeps the kids busy -- and eliminates any fights over who rides what first! Plus, that means I can sometimes work in my favorites first thing in the morning too!


Most amazing thing about making it to round 3 (twice!!) is absolutely the fact that out of so many applications, my writing really spoke to someone and made them want to talk to ME!! ME!! It really is amazing to think that out of the Disney community - incredibly knowledgeable, caring, wonderful people - that I could be a representative for you all. That's pretty darn amazing (and humbling!!) to me!! Its hard to explain why these interviews make me (us??) so nervous - but I think its because I realize its such an honor to be chosen, and such a Dream to give just a little bit of the joy we've experienced at Disney back to others.

PS meeting so many supportive, amazing people in this process is HUGE bonus too!


Zanna, I'm so sorry to hear about the job loss. I too wish all the best for you and your family. I hope it all works out soon...

 

[dsiind]

For those who did not know (and why would you), Zanna's hubby is an AWESOME technical author, who at one time wrote for the company that I work for.

Super smart guys like him (he married Z after all!) are always in high demand, and I bet he will have them lining up!

Good luck you guys!

 

[ohamanda]

Amanda, ohamanda, is our person of the day today (Friday).


Introduce your family, your likes, dislikes, jobs, or whatever you want to talk about. Then we can all ask you a few questions and you can spend the day answering us.


Today is Day 4 in the countdown to Reveal day!

Todays general question is:

Today we are going to discuss Hidden Mickeys. Tell us when you first learned about them, where your favorite one is located, and then share something special about finding hidden Mickeys


My special question for Amanda is: I see you do Operation Christmas Shoe boxes too. Do you find that you add many Disney themed objects to your boxes? This year our area has gone to pre-printed boxes that we must fill instead of our own shoe boxes or plastic. They are too small for my liking but I am trying to conform!

First of all: I'm sorry I don't know how to do the multiple quote thing so...sorry if this is a huge post...

Let's see...I'm Amanda. I'm 32 (for real?!) and have been married for 11 years. I have 2 kids Lydia, 3 (who we've called SNOW since she was in the womb...our last name is White...) and Asa, 1 (who we called baby pirate since he was in the womb!).

I've been a sahm since my daughter was born but before that my husband and I were children's pastors at 2 churches---one of which we helped start in Celebration, FL. It was a dream come true to live in the shadow of the Mouse. I miss it immensely! I mean, every single one of our friends were Cast Members, we got to do all the special "local" stuff and living in Celebration was like living in Mickey's town anyway! (Any Celebration residents out there? It felt different last time I visited...it was so crowded!)

Now we live in ATL which is our hometown and I have to admit, I'd never want to live anywhere else!

Hidden Mickeys: I can't remember the FIRST time I saw one, but I do remember when we were little my brother and I went on one of the kids' tour/field trips at Disney. Mine was the entertainment one (omg. I thought I was so famous and it is STILL one of my favorite memories. I have the book they gave us and I think it should be a vintage collectible!) but my brother went on the Hidden Mickey tour. When he came back from that one, we thought we were Disney Insiders b/c we knew so many Hidden Mickeys!

My very favorite one is the one in Hollywood Studios that you can only see aerially---and is now partially obstructed by the hat. I love it b/c you can see Mickey smiling up at you from the park map!

Operation Christmas Child: Oh, I'm so glad you asked this question b/c I HAD so much fun doing this! (Not to pimp my blog, but if you are unfamiliar w/OCC, please check out my post: http://*******.com/ohshoebox it is such an amazing organization. I am so happy we were involved this year!)

And uh...YES we put Mickey themed stuff in our box. Mickey is kind of a magnet to us...or vice versa! Anyway, they have some SUPER cute Mickey stuff at the Dollar Spot at Target right now---vintage-y looking Mickey/Minnie/Donald mini notebooks w/that 3D moving image on front and some lanyard pens to match. (Not to mention there was tons of 50% off stuff at the Dollar Spot, not Disney but still!)

And I just wanted to add that altho' I felt like a blabbering idiot in my interview, this is still one of the coolest experiences I've ever had! I'm with the others--I can't believe someone at Disney wants to talk to ME! So, even if I don't make it (*sob*), I'm so excited that I've had the chance to be involved!

a

 

[ohamanda]

Hey everyone. Those of you that follow me on twitter and facebook may have seen my tweet earlier about some really bad news in our family. I figure with all the support I've gotten here it couldn't hurt to share what was going on here. DH lost his job today. Things have been really tight already around here and we are definitely not in any position to be without income at all. However, I have faith that everything happens for a reason and something will come through for him. He's been networking and starting his search from the time he came home today. Any extra thoughts or prayers you could send his way would be so very appreciated. Thank you all...

Praying for you & hubby, Zanna!

a

 

[C&G'sMama]

Hey everyone. Those of you that follow me on twitter and facebook may have seen my tweet earlier about some really bad news in our family. I figure with all the support I've gotten here it couldn't hurt to share what was going on here. DH lost his job today. Things have been really tight already around here and we are definitely not in any position to be without income at all. However, I have faith that everything happens for a reason and something will come through for him. He's been networking and starting his search from the time he came home today. Any extra thoughts or prayers you could send his way would be so very appreciated. Thank you all...

I just wanted to send you . I am koolaidmoms DP and have been following the whole journey for you all. Please know there's another person out here thinking of you and praying for you. My brother in Boston lost his job a couple of months ago, but the same thing as your husband he's right at it. SIL took at PT job and is loving it. It's funny how things work out.

 

[ZannaLand]

For those who did not know (and why would you), Zanna's hubby is an AWESOME technical author, who at one time wrote for the company that I work for.

Super smart guys like him (he married Z after all!) are always in high demand, and I bet he will have them lining up!

Good luck you guys!

Doug...I am floored, thank you for those kinds words (about both of us!) Thank you all for your support, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I am still so grateful and amazed by the wonderful people I've met here and on twitter as well. I really and truly appreciate your good thoughts!

...

As for the Hidden Mickeys, we too, love searching for them. I think the first one I heard about was the one in the underworld scene of the Great Movie Ride, where you have to turn back to your left to see Mickey's silhouette in a window above one of the warehouses. I remember hearing the story that there was a hidden mickey placed there by castmembers, then removed, then people missed it so much and asked about it that Imagineers put the 'official' one back in place. I just thought that was so cool and we began our quest for more Hidden Mickeys from that point on.

I especially love the comedic ones, like the mouse ears on the Viking on the Maelstrom mural and Mickey and Donald in hieroglyphics, also in the Great Movie Ride. Another favorite past time like I mentioned yesterday is searching for the total number of Hidden Mickeys painted onto the Grand Floridian gingerbread house each holiday season - some of those are tough ones! ºoº

 

[TraciLeigh]

Hey everyone. Those of you that follow me on twitter and facebook may have seen my tweet earlier about some really bad news in our family. I figure with all the support I've gotten here it couldn't hurt to share what was going on here. DH lost his job today. Things have been really tight already around here and we are definitely not in any position to be without income at all. However, I have faith that everything happens for a reason and something will come through for him. He's been networking and starting his search from the time he came home today. Any extra thoughts or prayers you could send his way would be so very appreciated. Thank you all...

Oh, Zanna....I am so sorry to hear this.

I will be thinking of you guys and sending lots of and

 

[ZannaLand]

I just wanted to send you . I am koolaidmoms DP and have been following the whole journey for you all. Please know there's another person out here thinking of you and praying for you. My brother in Boston lost his job a couple of months ago, but the same thing as your husband he's right at it. SIL took at PT job and is loving it. It's funny how things work out.

Thank you so much - that is so sweet of you. I hope your brother finds something soon too. I figured I'd give DH a month and if nothing comes up I will go back to work myself. Just don't want to get into something where I'd have to leave once he got a position or we'd need to switch to daycare which would negate my salary most likely. Thank you again!!

 

[TraciLeigh]

Todays general question is:

Today we are going to discuss Hidden Mickeys. Tell us when you first learned about them, where your favorite one is located, and then share something special about finding hidden Mickeys

Not sure when I first heard about Hidden Mickeys...and I have many favorites (I especially enjoy the HMs at Wilderness Lodge).

On our last trip (April 2009) my DD5 was very much 'into' finding HMs. We carried our book every day and on every ride she was searching for the HMs. By the end of the trip she had found some and had also started 'creating' her own HMs with food and other items at meals. Priceless.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Thank you so much - that is so sweet of you. I hope your brother finds something soon too. I figured I'd give DH a month and if nothing comes up I will go back to work myself. Just don't want to get into something where I'd have to leave once he got a position or we'd need to switch to daycare which would negate my salary most likely. Thank you again!!

Their youngest is 7 so day care isn't an issue and it's something she's been wanting to do. You got a little one.

So good luck to you and all of the 3rd Rounders for good news on Tuesday. How exciting for you all.

Since koolaidmoms didn't make it past round 2 this year we are being forced to help her do another year of research for next year. Oh well whatever we need to do to help .

Our field research will happen the first week of December with my brother (a dfferent one) and his wife. He's never been. We will experience POP for the first time.

As for hidden Mickeys. I am awful at spotting them. DP and DD are very good at it. We may have to take the monorail over to the GF to look at the Gingerbread House. I've seen it many a time but never have noticed the Mickeys.

 

[Suey12]

Zanna, so sorry to hear about your DH's job. Hope something works out soon for you both.

 

[ohamanda]

Just had to share...

I told my 3yo daughter I was talking to people on my computer about Disney. (She got up and started dancing...which is what she does everytime we say Disney...) Anyway, after her dance she said, "Mommy, are you going to be a Disney Mom?" Meaning, the panel, of course.

I said, "I don't know. There are lots of other moms out there. We'll see. I might not."

She leaned against me and said, "You're already a Disney Mom."

How cute is she?!!!

a

 

[Suey12]

Just typed a whole long post, and deleted it by mistake

Hidden Mickeys -

I LOVE these. As has been mentioned, the Wilderness Lodge has a great selection, and we always go and find them again each trip

For our last couple of trips (remember I'm from the UK and we only visit once a year/or every two years .... but the benefit of long distance travel is that we get to stay for longer, this year it was 16 days ... anyway I digress) I have devised our own personalised Hidden Mickey games, based on where I know we'll spend the most time.

I must confess that sometimes I just stare at a Hidden Mickey spot and just cannot see it for ages, then suddenly as if by Pixie Dust, there it is !!

Also, here at home, we see Hidden Mickeys all the time - even on tv - at the moment between some programmes there is a short piece of film (a few seconds long) with some children running along with balloons or huge bubbles in the sky above them, and there is DEFINITELY a mickey-shaped bubble right there in the sky. Time for an afternoon nap, I feel !!!!!