It Is Time. Check-In: Part 1

I have officially checked in to the Disney College Program and could not be more relieved/happy/excited that I'm here!!

Since so much has happened the past couple days, I decided to split up my posts between before check-in, and the actual check-in day. The reason I'm overly detailed is so I can remember as much as I can when I look back on this!

My dad and I drove 9 hours from New Orleans to Orlando last Saturday. (pictures of New Orleans are on facebook woo!) We picked up my roommate Caitlin from the airport and we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and walked around. Might I just say, the Downtown Disney here (compared to California) is HUGE!!! There is so much to do, it has an indoor virtual arcade, a "dine-in" movie theatre, bowling alley, tons of themed restaurants and shops, lego store & sculptures, even a circ de soleil show! It's located on the water kind of near the parks, but you don't have to pay for a Disney ticket or anything to go.

The next day, Cat and I met the rest of our roommates! Emily and Kaila, plus Kaila's college roommate Kristen, came to our hotel in the afternoon and of course what do we do to hang out and kill more time? Downtown Disney. Casie was driving from North Carolina all day and we met her back at the hotel around 9pm. Last but not least, we picked up Brittney who flew in from Ohio at 11:20 and we were finally all together for the first time!

As a side-note, you can choose to either meet roommates on facebook (there's an unofficial "dcp roommate survey" that people fill out and post on the groups) or go into check-in and be assigned random roommates. The only criteria of choosing roommates ahead of time is that they must have the same arrival date and departure, and they MUST be with you during check-in when you select your housing preference. (which is why Kristen unfortunately couldn't room with us because she is doing the Spring Advantage program which means she stays an extra 3 months over summer and has a different departure date.) I'm so happy I found my roommates ahead of time because we all get along really well!

There are three housing complexes to choose from: Vista Way, Chatham Square, or Patterson Court. Vista is the oldest, but it is also the cheapest, closer to the parks with a bus stop, and known for being "the most social". Chatham is right next to Patterson, and nicer than Vista (Patterson being the nicest since it is the newest). They are right next to an outlet mall and Mickey's Retreat which is the cast recreation area and also has a lake where you can rent paddle boat/kayaks for $2! However, Chatham has a bus stop and Patterson doesn't.

Vista Way

Chatham Square

Patterson Court

My roommates and I all agreed that Chatham was our first choice since it's nice, the rooms are supposed to be big, and has a bus stop. However, we all knew getting Chatham would be no easy feat. The Disney e-mails say that check-in starts at 9am, but they have been letting people in at 7am. According to the dcp facebook groups, if you don't get in line before 3am, you can kiss Chatham goodbye as one of your options. The week before, people posted that they were in line at midnight to get Chatham! But we knew that one long night would be worth having a great apartment for the next four months.