Adventures of the "Moms" Panel

[Tollerwalker]

It's both the beauty and agony of a forum like this. . . all those without a response "know" that the liklehood of their being chosen is slim . . .but never without hope before you actually hear no!

I have always been an overly optimistic person. I still keep checking my email. Who knows, maybe my server was down! Or they are sending out a second batch of emails! Selectively ignoring the fact, of course, that other emails have been flooding in...

I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else. ~ Winston Churchill

 

[poohmomof5]

I know it doesn't help much . . . but lots of others share your disappointment, and here's a

That is so darn sweet! I can't thank all of you guys enough for lifting my spirits today! Walt would be proud!!!!

My littlest just turned 4 and we had such a super night together, it really washed away most of my sadness. She made her own PB&J sandwich and poured her own milk and hugged me so tight, it was awesome! I sure do enjoy those little things!!!! I kept picturing the Mickey balloon popping up behind her.

Then she was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and she turned to me and said...no joke..."I know Mickey loves us mommy". That made my heart sing!

Night all

 

[WoodysRoundup]

I think it's also important that they contact all the "yays" before the "nays" because if for some reason something happens, and one of those "yays" drops out for whatever reason, then they can pull someone back in from the "nays" to fill that newly vacated spot without having already told them no . . .

It's both the beauty and agony of a forum like this. . . all those without a response "know" that the likelihood of their being chosen is slim . . .but never without hope before you actually hear no!

You have every right to be disappointed, but moving on to the 2nd round itself is HUGE so you should be very PROUD...you were a needle that was noticed in a haystack! There were tens of thousands (myself included) that did not make it that far.

I know it doesn't help much . . . but lots of others share your disappointment, and here's a

Thanks for the ...very much appreciated tonight!!! Here's another one for all those not moving on!

I also thought of the same logic you mentioned regarding not telling the "nays" in case a "yay" dropped out. However, I'm not sure if that makes sense. Last year (if I remember correctly), there were 24 round 3-ers. Even if one (or a few) dropped out, they were still only choosing 12 panelists. Following the same logic.....This year there had to be at least 24-32 round 3-ers so if one or more dropped out, they'd still have plenty to choose from!

At any rate, I think a lot of luck was involved. Also, who knows what the "hot buttons" were for each "judge"! It must have been really hard for them to choose without really getting a true picture of each candidate. I wish a 500 word open essay was part of the application process. I'd feel better getting turned down if I felt they really "knew" the Disney me!

I know that all those moving on are extremely qualified and will do a great job. I wish you all the best of luck and much joy! We're cheering for you!!

 

[mousemommamegan]

At any rate, I think a lot of luck was involved. Also, who knows what the "hot buttons" were for each "judge"! It must have been really hard for them to choose without really getting a true picture of each candidate. I wish a 500 word open essay was part of the application process. I'd feel better getting turned down if I felt they really "knew" the Disney me!

I know that all those moving on are extremely qualified and will do a great job. I wish you all the best of luck and much joy! We're cheering for you!!

I couldn't agree more . . . I missed the deadline last year, so I was so very excited to apply this year....I had a hard time getting all I wanted to say for each part in 100 words or less. The biggest surprise was when I clicked submit, that was IT! I expected that when I hit submit another form would pop up to let me review my answers as well as gather statistical info about me, so I was really surprised when my trigger finger clicked submit and my application really heigh hoe'd on it's way!

The problem with letting us write more is that they then have to read more . . . a daunting task as it is...oh well. . . there's always next year!!

I for one am at least having oodles of fun right now . . . I am sorting through the photos on my Photopass CD that just arrived today!

 

[Princess Sophie]

I will lie to myself if I dont admit that Im feeling very sad today. I keep telling myself that it was REALLY difficult to be chosen because Im far away and logistics may be harder to handle in my case and lots of excuses, but the truth is I really wanted to be part of that special group of people with such dreamy task.

The good part is that I feel comfortably sorrounded by all your nice thoughts and THANK YOU FOR THAT!!!

 

[jojo14]

Hang in there everyone! I received my email way after everyone else saying I made it to the next round!

 

[Snowwhitebelle]

Hang in there everyone! I received my email way after everyone else saying I made it to the next round!

ooooooooooooooo, a Canadian, good luck!!!!!

 

[cdotla]

Yay! A Canadian! Go JoJo14!!!

And so happy for all of you Americans (and Brit!) who also made it onto round 3!

 

[Tollerwalker]

Go Canada!!

 

[mmounsey]

another MFL'r made it to the 3rd round! So far, that's 2 of the 3 that actually admitted it

 

[AngVen]

Hang in there everyone! I received my email way after everyone else saying I made it to the next round!

First of all, congrats JoJo!! Good luck in the next round

And second, when you say you got your email "way after" what exactly does that mean? Hours?

 

[DVCsince02]

CONGRATULATIONS ROUND 3 FINALISTS!​

​

​

10 AND COUNTING!​

CANADA (1)
jojo14

ENGLAND (1)
DisneyJo

UNITED STATES (8)
PartyOf5 - Connecticut
dsiind - Indiana
disneyslp - Georgia
5fromabove - Massachusetts
mom-2-sophie-n-aiden - Pennsylvania
Mindful Jodi - Massachusetts
beautygirlsmom - New Jersey
piratefreak - Illinois

All, please correct any misinformation.

Any other 3rd rounders lurking? Please come out and enjoy the party with us!

 

[round2mom]

I will lie to myself if I dont admit that Im feeling very sad today. I keep telling myself that it was REALLY difficult to be chosen because Im far away and logistics may be harder to handle in my case and lots of excuses, but the truth is I really wanted to be part of that special group of people with such dreamy task.

The good part is that I feel comfortably sorrounded by all your nice thoughts and THANK YOU FOR THAT!!!

I just had to respond to this, Sophie! I am right there with you - very bummed. But the good news is, we're still a group of people with a dreamy task - we get to plan our own trips (and in this economy, the fact that we've been in the last 12 months at all is a huge blessing) and we all have children that God has given us to share it all with. Someone posted something earlier here about Laura "living her dream", but I think for most of us, if we were to be honest, we already are, "living our dream." Just how I'm looking at it to make myself feel better. Hope it helps somebody! It helps me just to write it.

Jen

 

[beautygirlsmom]

Oh my gosh, I really hate to think of anyone who is not a finalist feeling sad. I think ANYONE who took the time and had the courage to submit an entry in the first place is an amazing person. When you meet someone new to Disney, and think of how overwhelmed they all seem at the daunting prospect of planning a Disney trip, you can all commend yourselves for having the ability to not only navigate a happy and successful trip to The World, but for being able to share your wealth of knowledge with others.

And it's like I tell my daughter, who was a competitive Irish dancer. She is a brilliant dancer, but some days, the judges are looking for a blonde instead of a brunette. It has nothing to do with her performance as a dancer - she is and always will be amazing. It has to do with what clicks with a certain judge. I feel confident that everyone who submitted an application to this process provided outstanding answers to the essay questions - but maybe the judges were looking for a blonde that day ;-)

And with SO SO many of you making it to round 2 - well, I think that says a lot right there. There were obviously so many excellent applicants to choose from, it may have just come down to one word or one phrase that just resounded with a particular judge.

You guys all TOTALLY ROCK!!!

 

[Dcanoli]

Oh my gosh, I really hate to think of anyone who is not a finalist feeling sad. I think ANYONE who took the time and had the courage to submit an entry in the first place is an amazing person. When you meet someone new to Disney, and think of how overwhelmed they all seem at the daunting prospect of planning a Disney trip, you can all commend yourselves for having the ability to not only navigate a happy and successful trip to The World, but for being able to share your wealth of knowledge with others.

And it's like I tell my daughter, who was a competitive Irish dancer. She is a brilliant dancer, but some days, the judges are looking for a blonde instead of a brunette. It has nothing to do with her performance as a dancer - she is and always will be amazing. It has to do with what clicks with a certain judge. I feel confident that everyone who submitted an application to this process provided outstanding answers to the essay questions - but maybe the judges were looking for a blonde that day ;-)

And with SO SO many of you making it to round 2 - well, I think that says a lot right there. There were obviously so many excellent applicants to choose from, it may have just come down to one word or one phrase that just resounded with a particular judge.

You guys all TOTALLY ROCK!!!

What a very sweet quote!

 

[jojo14]

First of all, congrats JoJo!! Good luck in the next round

And second, when you say you got your email "way after" what exactly does that mean? Hours?

Thanks so much everyone for your kind words and support! My email came at 5:35 pm yesterday, which I think was a few hours after some others.

 

[WoodysRoundup]

Oh my gosh, I really hate to think of anyone who is not a finalist feeling sad. I think ANYONE who took the time and had the courage to submit an entry in the first place is an amazing person. When you meet someone new to Disney, and think of how overwhelmed they all seem at the daunting prospect of planning a Disney trip, you can all commend yourselves for having the ability to not only navigate a happy and successful trip to The World, but for being able to share your wealth of knowledge with others.

And it's like I tell my daughter, who was a competitive Irish dancer. She is a brilliant dancer, but some days, the judges are looking for a blonde instead of a brunette. It has nothing to do with her performance as a dancer - she is and always will be amazing. It has to do with what clicks with a certain judge. I feel confident that everyone who submitted an application to this process provided outstanding answers to the essay questions - but maybe the judges were looking for a blonde that day ;-)

And with SO SO many of you making it to round 2 - well, I think that says a lot right there. There were obviously so many excellent applicants to choose from, it may have just come down to one word or one phrase that just resounded with a particular judge.

You guys all TOTALLY ROCK!!!

I think anyone feeling sad is just thinking of the "job" they might have had...that's all. I realize that it was awesome just to apply....whether we moved on or not, but human nature is to feel disapointed too!

I really appreciate your "blonde vs. brunette" logic regarding what the judges were looking for. I mentioned "hot buttons" in an earlier post and I couldn't agree more with you! No matter how qualified, they may have had one certain thing that resonated and it just came down to that......or blonde vs. brunette! And I still firmly believe that if we were all given the chance to write more or have that phone interview the outcomes might have been different. I used to be a corporate recruiter. What someone says on paper is often drastically different than what you get "in person". That is NOT AT ALL to take away from the QUALIFIED folks who are moving on. I'm just saying that some applicants definitely weren't represented to their fullest potential!

 

[AngVen]

Oh my gosh, I really hate to think of anyone who is not a finalist feeling sad. I think ANYONE who took the time and had the courage to submit an entry in the first place is an amazing person. When you meet someone new to Disney, and think of how overwhelmed they all seem at the daunting prospect of planning a Disney trip, you can all commend yourselves for having the ability to not only navigate a happy and successful trip to The World, but for being able to share your wealth of knowledge with others.

And it's like I tell my daughter, who was a competitive Irish dancer. She is a brilliant dancer, but some days, the judges are looking for a blonde instead of a brunette. It has nothing to do with her performance as a dancer - she is and always will be amazing. It has to do with what clicks with a certain judge. I feel confident that everyone who submitted an application to this process provided outstanding answers to the essay questions - but maybe the judges were looking for a blonde that day ;-)

And with SO SO many of you making it to round 2 - well, I think that says a lot right there. There were obviously so many excellent applicants to choose from, it may have just come down to one word or one phrase that just resounded with a particular judge.

You guys all TOTALLY ROCK!!!

Thank you so much for the wonderful words of encouragement. I'm not the least disappointed in myself, and I feel that I learned a great deal from getting thru to Round 2 this time. By the time next year rolls around, I just might be ready to try again

It's funny you know, there have been so many kind and supportive messages posted.... but the way you phrased it "resounded" with me
That's going to be my word of the day.... "resounded". It supports exactly what you were saying... just as someone's application stood out for a judge, your message stood out for me. Thanks again

 

[Caldercup]

Here is the blurb that I found via google in my quest for info:
]"Also, there were lots of people concerned last year when some unlucky members of the "no" group were not receiving emails -- they were worried that they were actually part of the "phase 2" group, but hadn't gotten an email.

It was discovered last year that the folks running the application process confirmed that they reached everyone asked to take part in the second round -- that they had, in fact, called or emailed them if they didn't respond pretty quickly to the "phase 2" email.

Hopefully, that tidbit will keep people from being concerned if they don't hear anything."

Heeeee! That was me -- I wrote that over on PassPorter boards to try and calm people down who were worrying that maybe they'd actually moved on to Round 2, but not received an email. From what we were told about last year, Disney did contact any of the people moving on who didn't respond to the "you're moving on to Round 2" email. If they didn't hear from them, they called the number in their Disney account profile.
Eileen

 

[Caldercup]

I was having a problem adding this to my previous post:

PS - there are two PassPorters who are moving on to Round 3 -- one is listed on the DISboards list (piratefreak) and there's another PPer who isn't. I'll remind her about this thread...
Eileen