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ICP Kev · 04-03-2006

Hi everyone!

Well, as you may have heard, I'm neeeeeeeeeeew here (and loving the welcome, I must say!) and am soon to be a Walt Disney World Cast Member.

People were asking over on Tessa's thread to hear all about my story, so, being desperate to talk about anything and everything WDW (and having since exhausted the patience of just about everyone else...), I'm jumping at the chance!

So... firstly, methinks, a little about me!

My name's Kevin... I'm 19 and I'm from Ireland. I've been a total Disney fan since I was 7 and visited Disneyland Paris for the first time. The addiction didn't kick much till I was 13 and visited WDW for the first time. I was blown away by the Disney magic and decided I'd LOVE to be a CM some day. At the time, though, it didnt seem like it'd ever happen. I mean, CMs are those magical people and they're all American right? How little I knew

At 15, I took my first trip to Disneyland... In the lead up, I practically printed off the entire content of hiddenmickeys.org's fun facts section. I LOVED learning all the backstage tricks and such of Uncle Walt's original park. Of course, I had more or less learned the whole thing after reading and re-reading!

At 17, we returned to WDW. A lot had changed (some not necessarily for the better), but I LOVED it! On an e-ride ticket night, standing in Tomorrowland waiting for my parents to finish on Space Mountain, while watching Wishes (the "now let's all put our hearts together and make a wish come true" bit... what did I wish for? Can't say or it won't come true!), I decided I WAS going to be a Cast Member. From that moment on, I knew that becoming a CM was something I had to do, one way or another. In the summer after that trip, something happened. My thoughts nigh-on consistently turned to WDW. A friend and his family were off on a week-long break during the school term. To live vicariously, I ended up writing 5 pages of tips on what to see, do and where to stay. I also asked that the family bring me back a copy of Wishes' soundtrack on CD (And I'd pay them back of course!). They did, (though they refused payment after using my tips!)... And the rest, they say, is history. The Disney bug had come alive in me... I had become a Disney dork and nothing would stop me becoming a CM now!

Last year, we took a trip around Europe (Munich, Salzburg, Paris) and took in 3 nights, 2 days at Disneyland Resort Paris. While DLRP is nowhere near as incredible as WDW, it certainly tided me over. After that, there was no way back, I'm afraid!

During the hiddenmickeys.com phase, I had looked around for CM opportunities. All I could find at the time, though, was the US college program's site. I looked with extreeeeeeeeeeeeme devastation at that site for a few nights running-devastation caused by finding a line saying that non-US citizens were inelegible for participation. It seemed like the dream was over.

....

And that's where we'll leave that for a bit. (Don't worry, the next installment of my ramblings is coming soon...)

As for me, getting back to things... I'm in first year at the National University of Ireland - University College Cork studying for a BSc(Business Information Systems). I love the course, but it is SO hard!

I love Music, Theatre, Technology, Film (comedies, mainly... I don't go in for being scared witless or depressed... chickflicks tend to be right up my alley

), TV (same again... comedies are #1 again... though added to that can be things like Desperate Housewives, LOST [which I just cant understand unfortunately], and Star Trek [I like the optimism... it's along the lines of what draws me to Disney, I think]) and Scouting. I'm a Programme Scouter (Beavers) with Scouting Ireland. What that means, is that I'm a leader with the Beaver section (6-8 yr olds) of my local Scout group. There's something really cool about giving back to the community through the scouts. Looking at pictures of old camps and such, it seems like everyone I know was in that Scout Group at one time or another!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand now I've rambled on for a while... So we'll take a break... When we come back... the ICP journey so far!

Yay!

Kev

P.S. *points* ^ How like a US TV announcer was that? Yay!

04-03-2006	#1 (permalink)
ICP Kev Junior Mouseketeer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Physically? Ireland. Mentally? WDW! Posts: 15	Pre-Disney Disneyness (also... me!) Hi everyone! Well, as you may have heard, I'm neeeeeeeeeeew here (and loving the welcome, I must say!) and am soon to be a Walt Disney World Cast Member. People were asking over on Tessa's thread to hear all about my story, so, being desperate to talk about anything and everything WDW (and having since exhausted the patience of just about everyone else...), I'm jumping at the chance! So... firstly, methinks, a little about me! My name's Kevin... I'm 19 and I'm from Ireland. I've been a total Disney fan since I was 7 and visited Disneyland Paris for the first time. The addiction didn't kick much till I was 13 and visited WDW for the first time. I was blown away by the Disney magic and decided I'd LOVE to be a CM some day. At the time, though, it didnt seem like it'd ever happen. I mean, CMs are those magical people and they're all American right? How little I knew At 15, I took my first trip to Disneyland... In the lead up, I practically printed off the entire content of hiddenmickeys.org's fun facts section. I LOVED learning all the backstage tricks and such of Uncle Walt's original park. Of course, I had more or less learned the whole thing after reading and re-reading! At 17, we returned to WDW. A lot had changed (some not necessarily for the better), but I LOVED it! On an e-ride ticket night, standing in Tomorrowland waiting for my parents to finish on Space Mountain, while watching Wishes (the "now let's all put our hearts together and make a wish come true" bit... what did I wish for? Can't say or it won't come true!), I decided I WAS going to be a Cast Member. From that moment on, I knew that becoming a CM was something I had to do, one way or another. In the summer after that trip, something happened. My thoughts nigh-on consistently turned to WDW. A friend and his family were off on a week-long break during the school term. To live vicariously, I ended up writing 5 pages of tips on what to see, do and where to stay. I also asked that the family bring me back a copy of Wishes' soundtrack on CD (And I'd pay them back of course!). They did, (though they refused payment after using my tips!)... And the rest, they say, is history. The Disney bug had come alive in me... I had become a Disney dork and nothing would stop me becoming a CM now! Last year, we took a trip around Europe (Munich, Salzburg, Paris) and took in 3 nights, 2 days at Disneyland Resort Paris. While DLRP is nowhere near as incredible as WDW, it certainly tided me over. After that, there was no way back, I'm afraid! During the hiddenmickeys.com phase, I had looked around for CM opportunities. All I could find at the time, though, was the US college program's site. I looked with extreeeeeeeeeeeeme devastation at that site for a few nights running-devastation caused by finding a line saying that non-US citizens were inelegible for participation. It seemed like the dream was over. .... And that's where we'll leave that for a bit. (Don't worry, the next installment of my ramblings is coming soon...) As for me, getting back to things... I'm in first year at the National University of Ireland - University College Cork studying for a BSc(Business Information Systems). I love the course, but it is SO hard! I love Music, Theatre, Technology, Film (comedies, mainly... I don't go in for being scared witless or depressed... chickflicks tend to be right up my alley ), TV (same again... comedies are #1 again... though added to that can be things like Desperate Housewives, LOST [which I just cant understand unfortunately], and Star Trek [I like the optimism... it's along the lines of what draws me to Disney, I think]) and Scouting. I'm a Programme Scouter (Beavers) with Scouting Ireland. What that means, is that I'm a leader with the Beaver section (6-8 yr olds) of my local Scout group. There's something really cool about giving back to the community through the scouts. Looking at pictures of old camps and such, it seems like everyone I know was in that Scout Group at one time or another! Aaaaaaaaaaaaand now I've rambled on for a while... So we'll take a break... When we come back... the ICP journey so far! Yay! Kev P.S. points ^ How like a US TV announcer was that? Yay!