A Grumpy Service Announcement: Do you Suffer from PDD?

Do you find yourself daydreaming about your past trip to the Disney Theme Parks? 

Do you feel like something is missing from your life after coming back to reality? 

Do you find that the world seems a bit more dreary after your luggage is unpacked and you are sleeping in your own bed? 

If so, you may be suffering from PDD (Post Disney Depression).

PDD is a highly debilitating condition that causes it's sufferer to have trouble snapping back into reality and waste large amounts of time daydreaming about past trips to the Disney Theme Parks.

But don't worry folks, this condition has a cure.......

I have found that after returning back from a Disney vacation (either Disneyland or Walt Disney World), that it takes weeks for me to recover and accept the fact that I have had to leave the parks.

I find my mind drifting back to the fun I had and it isn't helped with the many photographs I have to sift through and the wordy trip reports that I put together for my find blog readers.

I have found that after MouseFest the condition is much worse.  This may be due to the fact that there was a much more intense fun during MouseFest. 

During MouseFest, I was able to enjoy the time with old friends like Tim Devine and the ImagiNerds (George and Andy) and new friends like Will and Jaclyn.  I was also able to meet people that I had only previously known through e-mail (Jeff and Lou) and people that I have only communicated with via comments on blogs (Jessica).

I'm not trying to minimize my experiences at the Disney Theme Parks with my wife and her mom and her husband (our usual touring buddies when going to Disneyland), but when you compile a group of people who all share your love of Disney and a love of a good time, you create a different kind of magic. 

Being the geek that I am, I didn't have a lot of friends when I was growing up.  I was the odd one in the pack and that, as many of you may know, isn't an attractant for acceptance.

I am a very intense person.  Some would label me as a Type A personality.  My job is a deadline driven profession where I take success very seriously.  I haven't met a deadline I didn't want to beat.  My personal motto that I apply to my working world is one from Walt Disney himself, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible".

When I step within the realm of a Disney Theme Park, I try to leave that person at home.  I try to be carefree and fun.  I take tons of photographs and enjoy great food.  I borrow Lou and Jeff's wayback machine and emerge as the person who loved Disney as a kid.  I try to wander the parks as the kid who used to view The Haunted Mansion through the fingers of his hands that are firmly clasped to his face but insisted on riding it over and over again.

This is a person who is rarely visited and was almost lost forever until my lovely Enchanted Rose forced my hand and insisted we take our much needed honeymoon to Walt Disney World in 2006.  A power play that I have never regretted.  She unlocked a part of me that had been lost for a long time.

But, I find that person doesn't go back into his box very easily when it's time to come back to reality.  It's hard for me to juggle my responsibilities as a Type A hardworking machine and keep the fires stoked that are ignited while I'm on vacation.

So, I've spent the past week just staring at my computer trying to think what to blog about.  I just didn't want to have to think about writing about Disney because I just didn't want to have to think about what had just transpired.  I didn't want to have to admit that it was over.

For this, I'm thankful for the daily phone calls that I've gotten from Tim to just chat.  I'm happy that Will called to wish me a Merry Christmas today.  I had lost track of time while vegetating on the couch because my wife had to work and I was alone on Christmas.  I appreciated that I got Christmas well wishes e-mailed to me by many of my new friends.

So, what is the cure for Post Disney Depression?

Besides time, the cure involves ensconcing oneself in what caused it in the first place.  Diving into the various Disney forums, blogs, and podcasts that feed our desire to go back to the parks.

For some people, the cure may be the hair of the dog that bit them.  That would involve exposure to Disney Magic. 

This may be by putting a Disney DVD into the player.  It may require cracking open one of the may Disney books out there such as the Disneyworld Trivia Books (volume 1 and or 2) or any of the many books showcased and reviewed by George and Andy on ImagiNerding (George could quickly rattle off a long list of books that could help bring someone out of PDD). 

Heading over to The Magic in Pixels and perusing Tim's photo albums may help.  Or it may require a new trip to a Disney theme park (easier said than done, huh???).

For people who get to go annually, like myself, the cure includes counting down to the next trip.  This time a heretofore unplanned trip this summer involving a reuniting of several of my friends back at the parks.

People like Lou, who get to take frequent trips, probably have a much less pronounced bout of PDD because they possess a much more readily available supply of a strong dose of medicine in the form of the highly touted "research trip".  But, I'm sure they still have a period where even they need a boost to get them over the hump.

So, my blogging friends, be cognizant of those Disneyphiles around you and look for the signs of PDD.  They just may need your help to snap out of it.

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