Check-in Day

Hey everyone! Today is my 4th day of my second DCP and I wanted to update y’all on whats going on!My check-in date was June 9th and I received an email notifying me to arrive between 8-9 a.m. at Vista Way. I am lucky enough to have my car during this program so I was able to drive over to Vista which was fantastic if I do say so myself. Anyways, when I arrived I could tell that Disney Internships have definitely tried to make the check-in process easier and faster which was fantastic. I started off in a general line where you receive a name tag and your planner guide for the DCP that has all of the answers you have questions to regarding your program, housing, work, etc. Then we separated into two lines by last name; in these lines you received your work location. I will be working at Adventureland/Liberty Square Attractions, yay for Magic Kingdom! I then got in a general line where we were notified where we would be living. Before arriving I found roommates on the DCP Facebook page again. There are 6 of us and we were trying to live in a 3-bedroom at Chatham Square with no triple occupancy. We have been placed in a 4-bedroom at Chatham Square with no triple occupancy instead. Meaning there are 8 girls with 2 to a bedroom. Housing was able to keep the 6 of us together and added to girls to the mix. I have already met all 7 of my roommates and I definitely believed I lucked out with these girls. Following our housing assignments we took pictures for our housing ID’s, mine looks terrible, received apartment keys, and were given our training schedules with a Cast Member explaining to us what to expect from our schedules and what we need to do to ensure everything works out smoothly. The final steps of check-in were confirming your direct deposit for paychecks, filling out an I9 form, listening to a spiel from Internships Education, a CentraCare speech, and finally waiting to go to Casting. Everyone receives a time to attend Casting, my time was at 10:30 which was about 50 minutes later so I just hung around the Vista Way pavilion until the Casting shuttle arrived. Once I arrived at Casting several CP’s and I were ushered into a line where we received a folder with some papers/documents and were asked to verify some information we provided. I also received my lovely name tag because I won’t be attending Traditions — where you usually receive your name tag — because I am still an active Cast Member. After receiving that folder they ordered a background check. I was then led to the next step which is receiving your work training schedule, which consists of your orientation days. Since I was an active CM they had to call someone for my training schedule because it was my entire on the job training schedule instead of the first few days because I had already completed some of that training. After a little bit of seeking they found my schedule which told me my actual attraction I’ll be working. I’m excited to tell y’all that I am going to be a Pirate! I’ll be working at Pirates of the Caribbean which I am completely ecstatic about! It’s definitely on of my favorite rides and I believe it will be awesome to be part of the crew there for the next several months.Anyways, I then met with a trainer and Casting CM to confirm my I9 information and explain to me my schedule. It was pretty quick and easy. My final step was I9 submission/verification; however, mine was already on file so they didn’t have to do anything for me. I finally got back to Vista Way after a little over an hour at casting, and headed straight to Chatham Square. I got all my stuffed moved in, got my parking decal, and grocery shopped! Overall it was definitely a far smoother check-in day than my first program was. I am now living with all of lovely roommates, we headed to DTD last night for a girls night and had fun there! And I will likely start my training tomorrow as long as my drug test results come back in time. And that’s about it for now, y’all have a magical day!

DORMS

It is a DCP update! My second program starts June 9th, which means in 11 days I will be a CP again! I am not nearly as nervous as I was for my last program, which is really nice. I feel far more prepared for the program this time around. And since my College Program is almost here, Disney sent me an email regarding housing!

Disney utilizes a format called DORMS (Disney Onsite Resident Management System) to speed up the check-in process. This is the first time I have used DORMS in its full format. For my first DCP in Spring 2013 everything was done on check-in day, and when I extended my program I had a quick form to fill out in DORMS regarding where I wanted to be placed in regards to my new apartment. However, this time it was far more detailed.

I received my DORMS email on May 27th but didn’t fill it out until today, May 29th, because not all of my roommates had received their emails regarding housing and their housing ID’s. This was important because we all wanted to room together we had to wait until everyone had their roommate ID’s so that Disney and Lincoln Properties will hopefully room us all together.

Anyways, once I logged into DORMS I filled out info regarding whether I was planning on living in Disney housing, if I needed an ADA accessible apartment, if I was bringing a car, and other basic questions. Since I will have my car this program (THANK GOODNESS) I filled out some extra info regarding my vehicle. After that I signed and submitted some housing forms, including: housing rules, alcohol policies, rent prices, and vehicle rules. 

Following the forms I was asked if I was ok with the roommates that had been selected for me. DORMS asks that every roommate group has one roommate link every roommate up together on their form with each persons housing ID’s and then select preferred housing arrangements afterwards. Once one person finishes this DORMS will send every roommate who had been linked to the apartment an email stating they had been connected to these people: [insert roommate names here]. Every participant also has the option of going random in terms of roommates or unlinking themselves from their roommates (this will remove you from your roommates who you had grouped up with). Following my confirmation of my roommates DORMS displayed the preferences our group made in terms of housing. For complexes, in order: 1. Chatham Square, 2. Patterson, 3. The Commons; and for apartments: 1. 3 bedroom, 2. 4 bedroom, 3. 2 bedroom. There are 6 of us at the moment and we are hoping to avoid triple occupancy so cross your fingers for us, and I’ll let y’all know where we are placed!

Anyways thanks for reading guys I’ll update y’all again when the days get closer and my second CP starts!

Check-in Day!

Hello all!!! Well it is official I have moved into my new apartment and am part of the Disney College Program! It is two days after check-in and it was definitely interesting! So let me get into what we did…

            My suitemate Katie got to Vista Way at 3.50 in the morning and was I believe the 6^th group to be there, which is crazy! My roommates and I all got there from around 5-6 a.m. and we all hung out in line. Unfortunately, one of the girls who was supposed to room with us backed out at the last minute; so we had 5 girls instead of 6.

            They said that check-in would start at 9 a.m. but they let us into Vista Way at 7, and we probably began check-in at 7.20 or so. Our first station was double checking that all of our contact information was correct, once we finished that we got our program guides that had stickers telling us when our housing meeting would be. My roommates and I will be going to our meeting tomorrow at 1 p.m.! Then we were led to a new station. They had two areas: one for last names A-L, and the other for last names M-Z. This is where you find out where your location will be! And I found out that my location will be in…. wait for it….

FANTASYLAND!!!!!!!!

I jumped up and down and was so excited! This was my dream to work in Magic Kingdom as a Disney Cast Member! My dream is finally coming true! :D

Anyways, after that excitement you arrive at a table where they tell you and about 5 other people what the basic housing rules are and what the major things that can get you kicked out of the program are, i.e. drinking under age. Then you go to the housing station! We were hoping for a Chatham 3 bedroom, and that is the main reason why we were there so early. Thankfully, they had some left! So we got a 3 bed at Chatham! Woot woot!!!! Then you get your key, sign forms saying you understand how much you’re paying for the apartment every week and that you will not drink, and at the end of that station you fill out all the forms for a car if you brought one. I didn’t bring one so I didn’t need to go to that station. Then you get your housing ID photo taken, and I believe it is also used for your main gate pass. They go over the Disney Look and make sure you are following it before your picture. Once they take your picture you get your ID immediately afterwards and are led outside the building to a table where someone will discuss the Disney look again, specifically for Traditions. Once you let them know you understand you head to the last booth which talks about the education opportunities you can take part in and what not. After that you wait for your assigned bus to casting, Katie and I were lucky enough to get onto the first bus to casting at 8.30!!!

            Once we got to casting, which is an absolutely amazing building by the way, we were directed to several different areas to complete all of our new hire info. This includes: background checks, finishing I9’s, signing more papers, and getting your training schedule. One of the DCP recruiters whom was helping out said that casting can take as little as one to four hours. Thankfully I finished at around an hour. When all was said and done, I was finished with everything for check-in by 9.50 a.m. Which I thought was awesome, so it really does pay off to get their early!

            Now the fun part of the day… my mom picked me back up at Vista Way and we drove over to Chatham. I had to stop by the clubhouse because the check-in station did not have our key yet since our room just became available, this should have been a huge clue. I walked into our apartment and it was extremely dirty. It smelt disgusting, the bathrooms were filthy, the dishwasher in the kitchen stilled had dishes in it and the fridge was gross. In other words, not what I was expecting; neither was my mom. We just assumed that we would have to clean the apartment ourselves, so we went to Walmart and bought all of my groceries and some cleaning supplies. When we came back some of my roommates were there and said that we were given the wrong apartment because this one hadn’t been cleaned yet. This led to us: changing apartments, them not having anymore 3 bedrooms available and then suggesting we take a 2 bedroom and 1 bedroom apartments, or move to a new complex, and finally just send a cleaning crew to the original apartment immediately.  Once we came to that decision I left the apartment for a few hours and when I came back it was clean and no longer stank! Yay!!!

            By the end of the day I was unpacked and in my new apartment with my lovely roommates! We had some people come over and played apples to apples! So overall, it was a great, long, and stressful day! If any of y’all have any questions about check-in please let me know J

Done and ready to go!

I did it! I packed everything I’ll need into 2 suitcases, a carry-on, and a moving box! I leave early tomorrow morning, and I’m pretty psyched. I’m not freaking out yet or super anxious just ready to get there! So you guys, the next time I update you I’ll be in Florida! Thanks for everybody’s support and love, and if you could pray for safe travels and strength I would appreciate it. :D

Crazy!

You guys, I am packing. Let me give you time to have that sink in. *tick tock* …

Ok that’s enough time. I’m packing to move to Disney World!!! Oh my gosh, this is crazy! I feel like my life is just waiting for me. It’s in my grasp, I move in 4 days and check-in is 8 days away! I’m just going to say that I feel like just two weeks ago I interviewed for the program, and here I am packing. Whoa. Just, whoa.

Disney Email!

So yesterday a lot of people, including myself, got and email from Disney that gave a broad explanation of housing costs and roommate matching. So this year instead of using roommate matching online, they said that you will find or meet (if you have not already found a roommate) on your check-in day. This doesn't really affect me because I have already found all of my lovely suitemates and roommate! However, if you are one of the people who want to be surprised or just don't want to look for someone before you get down there, then this could be an issue. A lot of people without roommates are worried because they don't want to have twice as many items as they need (i.e. 2 tv's, 2 toasters, 2 coffee machines), and won't be able to get to know their roommate beforehand. So if you want to know your roommate and coordinate with them before check-in date, I would highly reccomend searching for someone on Facebook or Tumblr. Search anywhere you may think there are roommates available!!!
Another item on the email was when you can arrive. Disney says, "please do not plan on arriving prior to 7am as you will be turned away". If previous years are any indication then security will not turn you away if you arrive befor 7 a.m. HOWEVER, Disney has a new security company and Spring 2013 will be their first check-in so it is somewhat iffy on whether or not they will allow you to wait before 7 a.m. So I guess we'll have to wait and see what they do on the first arrival date.
Finally, what is probably the most important item of this email is, drum roll please.... Housing Prices!!!! Disney has given a pretty broad idea of what housing prices will be this coming semester. But here is what they have sent.

Chatham Square 1BR - 4BR $91 - $101	The Commons 1BR - 4BR $93 - $105
Patterson Court 1BR - 3BR $91 - $101	Vista Way 2BR - 3BR $86 - $96

These are weekly rates, and the higher the rate the fewer the bedrooms. The prices for this term have gone up. This is most likely because minimum wage has been raised from $7.67 to $7.79. Yay for a $.12 pay raise!!!! Just kidding.... Anyways, with this raise in prices, a lot of people have begun to consider switching their preference to Vista Way (which is great for me, the less competition the better!). And because all the DCP kids needed some new info and rumors to cling onto, several people are wondering if Disney will now allow us to live in the Commons. Ever since the Commons opened they have been strictly for International College Program students. However, the ICP kids apparently have a different website for all of their information, so everyone is wondering why those prices are on our website. So people are speculating on whether or not Disney is opening The Commons to all DCP's or if it is still strictly closed off to ICP's, like it always has been. Now let me just make it clear. At the moment everyone is welcome to visit The Commons! You just cannot live in them unless you are an ICP.
So I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens on check-in day and go from there! I've only got 39 days you guys! So excited :D