It Is Time. Check-In: Part 2

After walking to Walgreens and Wendy's for snacks (right across the street from the hotel), we got in line outside of the security gates at Vista Way (where they have check-in, also across the street) at 1:30am. Why we were up that early is explained in Part 1. There were already around 20 people in front of us! Luckily, we were able to sit on a nice little ledge as opposed to the sidewalk a few feet down the way.

Left to Right: Kaila, Kristen, Casie, Brittney, Emily, Me, Caitlin

Hobo Status

I don't want anyone to get me wrong, I was extremely excited that check-in was finally here, but man was I exhausted! And it was only 1:30! I had been up since 9am that morning, and we still had 5.5 hours to go of sitting outside. Surprisingly, the first 2-3 hours weren't too terrible, probably thanks to my lovely caffeinated starbucks refresher drink. By the time 5am rolled around, a lady with a clipboard started handing out sticker name tags for all of us in line. Then, she moved us all up closer to the inside of check-in because the line was getting too long. This time, there wasn't a nice little ledge to sit on. 5-7am might have been the two of the longest hours of my life, not to mention it strangely got really cold all of a sudden during this time. Our once chatty crowd turned into a group of sleepy zombies trying to stay warm.

Line at 5am, and it wraps all the way around to the left!

Line at 7am

This sign gave me chills!

7am could not have looked any sweeter at this point. We were FINALLY led to the beginning of check-in!

Thankfully, since we were so early to line up, we didn't have to wait in the endless line of people to actually start the process. The first thing we did was verify all of our personal information on computers, and then we recieved these little beauties! 

Next, we were split up by last name A-L and M-Z. In previous years, you had to wait to take a bus to the Casting building to find out where you're located, but they changed it so you find out right away! I reached the end of the my line, and as most of you already know....

I'M WORKING IN EPCOT!!!!!!!!! 

More specifically, the World Showcase area!!!!

So my location is behind Future World, at all the different country pavilions!

Which if I were to work in Epcot, this was the EXACT area that I wanted! I'm still in shock. There are 24 resort hotels, 2 waterparks, 4 main parks, and 1 Downtown Disney where I could have been placed! When I told my interviewer I wanted Custodial as my 1st choice role, I thought the 4 main parks were the only options for me to be assigned. But I found out later that Custodial could be put anywhere, which caused me some anxiety to say the least! I was just DYING to be put in any of the 4 main parks, but to get one of my top two choices!? I really don't know how I got this lucky. I wish I knew who my interviewer was in person so I could thank them! One theory is that someone else in custodial mentioned they loved working in Animal Kingdom because they're a Zoology major, so maybe my interviewer put me in the World Showcase area because I'm a Political Science major? I'll never know...

After we got our role assignments and went over apartment rules, we get to the housing assignment station! And guess what? We got a Chatham 3-bedroom (6 people) just like we wanted!! Couldn't have asked for a better start.

Then we registered our cars (if we had them), got our housing ID's, and signed more paperwork, and hopped on the first bus to the Casting building! There was a cast member who had a microphone on the bus that got us all pumped up, told funny jokes, and Disney trivia. He even said he met his wife during his college program on the bus to Casting! I was sitting next to Cat, so I can't say that we're going to have the same story.

On the bus!

The Casting building itself is awesome. It has the same doorknobs as the one in Alice in Wonderland, golden statues of disney characters, and giant photos of the parks throughout the building. During casting we got our orientation schedules, background checks, fingerprinting, and MORE paperwork! I was concentrating so hard to enjoy being in that amazing building, and not falling asleep against the wall like some of the people behind me.

Photo Cred to Cat!

Doorknobs from Alice in Wonderland

Inside Casting

All of the cast members who worked the check-in process were SO helpful and friendly, and they would ask us all questions like where did you get placed?, what time did YOU get in line?, where are you from?, etc. The whole process was extremely organized and efficient.

After check-in was over, I struggled through the rest of the day while taking a couple trips from the hotel to the apartment to unload stuff, going grocery shopping, eating lunch, and unpacking. But I was SO happy at the end of the day to finally be settled! The apartment is BEAUTIFUL and even bigger than I expected! I was up for a total of 37 hours, which was the longest day of my life. Literally!

Here are some photos of the apartment from yesterday, but I'll have more to come once we've added a little more!

Roommates + Kristen!

Our building!

Caitlin's and my room!

Chatham Pool

Mickey's Retreat (right across the street!)

We all have Traditions this Thursday, a 4 hour orientation-class about working at Disney, and then after that we can start going to the parks for free!!