The Post-DCP Depression

This is a phrase that gets flung around the Internet constantly; whether it's post travel, Christmas, summer, concert, or any other major event, the idea of a massive comedown after something overwhelmingly exciting and good has come to seem inevitable.

If you multiply the feelings you have over one incredible event and imagine experiencing one of those everyday for months on end, you have the DCP, which is why the post-DCP depression has become something infamously hard to handle.

For many participants, ending their program means heading back to school. That was me last year, with a quick turnaround between arriving home and starting classes again meaning I daydreamed my way through the first few weeks imagining I was back in Magic Kingdom eating a Mickey pretzel, or working outside Hollywood Studios's Chinese Movie Theater. I indulged in these memories whilst wearing a variety of Disney merchandise, but slowly slipped back into the routine of reality.

However this year, that's not the case. My degree is finished and I'm no longer in the September-June education cycle I've spent the vast majority of my life comfortably trapped in. I don't honestly know what's going to happen next or where I'm going to be, which is something I'm trying to think about as exciting rather than scary.

This lack of uncertainty probably makes me the perfect candidate for post-DCP depression, but this year I'm determined to not allow that to happen. It's unavoidable that I spend far too much time flicking through the photos I took or rewatching videos I made, but what I'm trying to do is focus on how fortunate I was to have those memories whilst also remaining present in the moment to make new ones.

I was exhausted when I came home, living in a sort of daze where it felt like my program didn't really happen, but the box stuffed with merchandise in the corner of my room confirms otherwise! However decent English weather is definitely aiding the transition as I come to realise that life can be pretty sweet (and even magical) outside of the Disney bubble, but even if it's not, that doesn't have to personally drag me down.

No matter how much we want it to be otherwise, Disney is not real life. The happiness we create is temporary, the stories we tell are false, and it's merely a space to get away from reality rather than changing it. Like all my friends, we completely disassociated ourselves from "the news" when we lived in Orlando, being shipped to and from the parks in buses and remaining ignorant of anything that happened outside of them.

However that didn't mean it wasn't going on, and that negligence to current events is something I'd scorn in any other situation. The DCP provided me with a few months free of worry (other than how I'd pay for the next character breakfast or possibly get a Flight of Passage fastpass) and I loved that. Despite this, I'm not someone who wants to have life pass her by whilst she indulges in whimsical fantasies and pretends everything else isn't happening.

Post-DCP depression for the most part is caused by reality hitting you in the face, and sadly that's unavoidable if you wish to remain informed on the wider world. However aside from that, for me at least, there's so much back home worth smiling about. For example I no longer have to pay $5 for an ice cream, all my family are a maximum of 20 minutes drive away, I get to catchup with old friends as well as make memories with the new ones, which involves taking trips and discovering new places, and seeing where their reality is based.

Most importantly, leaving Disney does not have to mean leaving behind who you were at Disney. It's a mindset that really you can choose to take with you anywhere. Disney simplifies everything, making it easier to be happy, but the true test is seeing how that stacks up when faced with uncertainties and possible pain or heartbreak.

So yes, allow yourself to be sad as you arrive back home, but also don't get bogged down in thinking that the DCP was the best thing to ever happen to you and nothing will ever top it; if you think that, your approach to everything becomes unavoidably negative and there's no hope for happiness going forwards. Do you really want your life peak to be at the start of your 20s and working minimum wage?

So welcome back to the real world; they're (sort of) happy to have you even if you're not. There is life after Disney, and really it can be whatever you make it.