Have Faith in Dreaming: Check-In and Move-In

Hello! Today has been as hectic as they get! I left the house at around 8:15 AM and it wasn't until 7:30 PM that I was able to sit down and eat something! But all is done, so now I'm better able to recount what the past few hours have been like.

Living in Orlando, packing isn't so much of a big ordeal. A few days ago I started putting books and DVDs in boxes and figuring out pictures for the frames I had. So yesterday all I really had to do was pack as though I was going on a long trip: clothes, toiletries and essentials. Well, instead of that I just created a new corkboard for my room as well as frame all the letters I got for graduation.

My newly designed corkboard

All the graduation letters I got =D

My haul of items to toss in my car... not at all organized! =P

So this morning I planned on waking up at 5:30 AM to finish so I could leave the house around 7:30 AM. Yeah, that didn't happen. 5:30 AM became 6:00 AM became 6:30 AM became 7:00 AM. So 7:00 AM came around and I still wasn't packed. Still, I was able to pack, shower, and load the car all in time to leave at 8:15 A.M. I had heard from several sources to get to Vista Way EARLY for check-in (they tell you to arrive between 9:00 AM and Noon). While originally my idea to get there around 8:00 AM, I later decided that it couldn't be awful if I only got there a few minutes before 9:00 AM. Boy was I wrong!

When I got to the check-in area at Vista they gave me a stick-on nametag and ushered me to a line (the first of many for the day). The lines all took me to meet and greet, paperwork, room assignment, housing ID, parking decal and casting bus time assignment. By the time I got through them it was 10:30 AM and I had one hour to drive over to my new home at Patterson Court and start unpacking my car.

This is where it would have been good to get to check-in early. My ideal living place, from internet research and personal preferences, was a 2 bedroom in Chatham Square. This would give me 4 roommates at an apartment complex with a bus-stop. Of the three complexes (Chatham, Patterson, and Vista) the absolute worst for my taste is Vista. This complex is known for partiers, old furniture, and a pool you're warned not to go in). When I got to the room assignment location, all bright eyes and smiling, the very nice employee told me I had a choice between a 3 Bedroom (6 roommate) apartment in Patterson, or a 2 Bedroom (4 roommate) or 3 Bedroom (6 roommate) apartment in Vista. None left in Chatham. Well, there was no way I was going to live in Vista, so Patterson it was!

The only reason I didn't choose Patterson in the first place was because I read it was a long walk to the bus stop. I've gotten off work feeling sore before, I didn't want to have to make the long trek to my apartment after a hard day at work. As soon as I got in my apartment, I loved it. The guard at the gate welcomed me home, and the one flight of stairs to the 2nd floor doesn't even feel like exercise! I got in my apartment, and no one was there! Out of 6 roommates, I was the first one to arrive. So, with only about 30 minutes before I had to leave to make the so-called long trek to the bus stop, I brought up the stuff that was visible in my car and staked out my bed. Soon I had to leave to go catch the casting bus, and no roommate had arrived yet.

The walk from Patterson to Chatham is no where near as long of a trek as some people seemed to think it was. Perhaps this is coming from a large college campus... for those from UF reading this, it's similar to the walk from the Reitz to the Florida Gym. Perhaps I just got lucky with my building's placement, but hey, it works =D

Waiting for the bus at Chatham was my first experience with the Disney College Program Bus System... ie, not on time and lots of waiting. But waiting 30 minutes for a bus was a great bonding exercise in meeting some new CPs. When we got to casting we waited in, you guessed it, another really long line. In this line we found out our work location. Just as I had thought, I'll be working Merchandise in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom! Some other roles assigned to those close in line with me: MK Custodial, Caribbean Beach Merchandise, Pecos Bills QSFB, Beaches and Cream QSFB (extremely jealous of this one!), Safari Attractions (also extremely jealous of this one!), and World of Disney Merchandise (I actually met several people with this role today).

During our 90 minutes at Casting we traveled through several lines for our role assignments, background checks, paperwork, and information about our training schedule this next week. Since I'm a current cast member, I won't have to complete Traditions. Instead, I got my long-coveted University of Florida Disney nametag today, as well as instructions on how to pick up my new ID. Sadly I have to return my old ID, so no more special photo ID for me =(

My new nametag!

A special note: during our Disney Look session several people were pointed out for having "unnatural" dyed hair. The rule is your hair must look natural, not actually be natural. One guy in my session was called out for have subtle blonde highlights, and others I spoke with are making plans to go buy dye at the store.

Once we finished at casting the day was ours to do as we please. We got back to the apartment around 2:45 PM and I was delighted to see that I had roommates! 4 of the 5 others girls had started moving in. The last girl, my roommate, accidentally had been in the wrong room up until about 8:30 PM. For a bit I thought I was going to be by myself tonight! I'll post more about my roommates once I let them know about my blog.

The rest of my day was spent unpacking, shopping (I only did food shopping for 2 days since I don't get paid til Thursday), and getting to know my roommates.