I am a strong believer that if you have to do something, do it with panache, with flair. If you have to go out, go out with a bang! My final evening at Disney and the leaving drinks that happened that night were no exception to this rule!

It all started with a couple of drinks with a couple of friends at my usual waterhole, Timmy Nolan's (where else?!). The couple of drinks did turn into a large a amount of drinks soon followed  by a rapid series of shots...

Sarah kindly came to Timmy's, hoping to bring me back home at some point. Sadly, that point never truly came and Sarah went back home alone and I did stay behind... Timmy's was followed by Sardos (yes, the home of the World Famous Porn Star Karaoke) and more shots...

The rest is a blur...

Until I woke up several hours later, in our family room, fully dressed, on our sofa, after a short night of sleep...

The best was still to come!

Sarah had everything planned and a typical Full English Breakfast was soon waiting for me (grease is the best cure to hangover). At this point, I realized that I was missing a couple of things, objects, devices, such as my phone, my backpack, my wallet and few brain cells... 

Last I remember, I was trying desperately to open the gate of our community using my Disney ID... To no success... Before that... not sure!

So I sent a couple of text messages to the team, trying to piece back together parts of the evening and find if anyone had kept any of my missing items...

First text back: "I have your phone". Second text: "You had your wallet at Sardos"... It was a start.

After I finished my breakfast, Sarah decided that I wasn't fit for driving and drove me to Burbank, for my last day at the Mouse House. Once there, I was reunited with my cell phone. On that phone, I had a text from one of the owner of "Timmy Nolan's": "Hi Cyril, we have your backpack. It is in the office. Come anytime to get it". So Sarah drove to Timmy's and picked up my bag while I was at the office, preparing for my exit interview. Then Sarah went to Sardos and retrieved my wallet. Most of my belongings were found. I was just short of one article, Mister P: one of my team members was MIA and hadn't shown up at the office. I knew he was alive as he had sent me text me at some point but no one knew where he had been since! 

Finally, (way) later that morning, a grey Mr. P. showed up and admitted that he knew things were not going to be that simple (and could turn ugly) when the bouncer at Sardo's gave me a hug at the door! The rest of his night (and some other team members) involved some long conversations with the big white telephone located in the small room that locks...

Yup, I definitely think I went out with a bang!

PS: To all of you who attended that night, thank you for a cracking hangover!

Dear office, I will miss you. You have served me well. I have spent way to many hours with you, days, nights, weekends, holidays, etc...

After 12 plus magical years within the "Mouse House", it is time for me to move on and start anew...

To all of my Disney friends, I'll miss you but do not expect to be totally done with me! Our paths will definitely cross again...

So first things first, let's come out clean with my little piece of news: After over 12 years spent working for the Mouse, I will be leaving Disney in a couple of weeks (applying the 2 weeks notice rule used in this country) and will be joining Turner, part of the Time Warner family of companies, home of TNT, TBS, TruTV, The Cartoon Network and CNN... 

It hasn't been an easy decision to take. Far from it. 

Come on, as far as I can remember things with great details, Disney has been part of my life. I Moved to the UK with Disney. I met some of my best friends through and at Disney. I met my wife at Disney. I moved to the US with Disney. My youngest daughter was born in a Disney ward. Even my nickname has been "Mickey" for as long as I lived in London and my current team feels more like family than anything else...

But this is now over...

After several weeks of discussion and agonizing decision making process, I finally came out clean and handed my resignation last week. Well, to be totally honest, I mostly sobbed through it when trying to explain my decision process (despite the help of some liquid courage) but in the end, I managed to pass the message and confirmed it on Monday after having been given a weekend to reconsider.

I have, since then spent the days in back to back, one on one meetings, announcing in person my imminent departure to my closest friends and colleagues and tried to think about a simple way to tell my 2 girls that Daddy no longer works with Hannah Montana and Cinderella, which is actually the hardest part of the story.

So dear Internets, there it is. It is now public. Done, dealt with, time for a beer and some Mexican food! 

PS: I am sorry for the couple of persons I know I have disappointed, despite their investment in me…

PPS: I might have missed a couple of people due to time zone differences...

 

 

keithbarrett:

Barely recovered from our "break" on Sunset, Sarah, Thia and I attended the annual summer picnic from Disney. Great afternoon of fun in a superb location (a park in the mountains at the back of Malibu) with as per usual now, our friends Arnaud & Steph and their 2 monsters, Naomi and Evan.

The afternoon was filled with games, slides, water games, foam games, bouncing games and more games!

Highlight for the daddies: The BBQ (I think that Arnaud had at least 5 huge beef ribs and 3 hot dogs).

Highlight for Thia: Definitely meeting IN PERSON Mickey, Minnie, Donal, Daisy and Pluto!

After all this, I now deserve a long night of rest before taking off to San Francisco tomorrow afternoon, for the Apple WWDC (stay tuned on Monday, I am hopping to post in real time the announcements made by Mr Steve Jobs himself).

Thia a juste reçu son invitation à la fête de Noël de Disney...
VIP et tout et tout! Mickey, Minnie et Pluto seront de la partie ainsi qu'une petite tonne d'activitées destinées à occuper nos chères tetes blondes pendant 2 heures!