It's hard to believe this is actually happening.
Sunday, around 10am, my family began helping me to load up all my things. Despite some initial doubts, we fit it all in the two cars, and by 10:30, we were Orlando-bound. After a stop for lunch, we arrived at Downtown Disney around 3pm, ready to stroll around. Unfortunately, it was SO HOT, that it wasn't really a successful outing. We checked into our hotel, caught our breath, and got ready for dinner.
For dinner, we had reservations at The Whispering Canyon Cafe, in The Wilderness Lodge. After struggling to find it, we arrived 20 minutes late for our reservation. However, we were still seated pretty quickly, with a waitress who's voice was so loud and squeaky! You had to hope when she came by, she wouldn't be near yiour ear!
The food is "all you care to enjoy", and was delicious. My personal favorite, was the White Chocolate Salted Caramel Cheesecake, it was super yummy! I'd prefer not to spoil the experience and the gimmicks for anybody else, but I will say that's a loud, fun, upbeat restaurant, and I'd really recommend it. It was a nice spot for our last family dinner for a while. (Also, the hotel that it's located in is awesome!)
After dinner, I went back to the hotel, to pick up Alyssa, Brittany, and Brittany's friend Brandy (who, with her dad, drove her down to Florida). We tried to make it to The Polynesian, where a lot of DCP participants were planning to meet up to watch Wishes from the hotel's beach. We could see bits and pieces of it while en route, but we ultimately were too late and missed the show. We settled for some resort hopping along the monorail line.
We explored The Polynesian, The Grand Floridian, and The Contemporary. The Contemporary was surprisingly plain (except for housing Chef Mickey and The Wave), but the other two are themed so beautifully! Even though it wasn't our original plan, we had a lot of fun just wandering around property.
Check in day arrived in the blink of an eye. I woke up at the crack of dawn, and walked across the street from our hotel to Vista Way Apartments with Brittany and Alyssa, to meet up with my roommate Brooke (Kim Possible!) It was so wonderful to finally meet her after months of chatting, and for all four of us to be together!
The food is "all you care to enjoy", and was delicious. My personal favorite, was the White Chocolate Salted Caramel Cheesecake, it was super yummy! I'd prefer not to spoil the experience and the gimmicks for anybody else, but I will say that's a loud, fun, upbeat restaurant, and I'd really recommend it. It was a nice spot for our last family dinner for a while. (Also, the hotel that it's located in is awesome!)
After dinner, I went back to the hotel, to pick up Alyssa, Brittany, and Brittany's friend Brandy (who, with her dad, drove her down to Florida). We tried to make it to The Polynesian, where a lot of DCP participants were planning to meet up to watch Wishes from the hotel's beach. We could see bits and pieces of it while en route, but we ultimately were too late and missed the show. We settled for some resort hopping along the monorail line.
We explored The Polynesian, The Grand Floridian, and The Contemporary. The Contemporary was surprisingly plain (except for housing Chef Mickey and The Wave), but the other two are themed so beautifully! Even though it wasn't our original plan, we had a lot of fun just wandering around property.
We also snagged this Mickey balloon from the monorail, which was pretty sweet!
Check in day arrived in the blink of an eye. I woke up at the crack of dawn, and walked across the street from our hotel to Vista Way Apartments with Brittany and Alyssa, to meet up with my roommate Brooke (Kim Possible!) It was so wonderful to finally meet her after months of chatting, and for all four of us to be together!
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| From Left to Right: Brooke, me, Brittany, Alyssa |
We were early enough that we were close to the front of the line. We were given our apartment assignment, and we were so pumped to confirm that we'd been placed together, in our first choice, a 2 bedroom in Patterson Court.
We were then given our location assignments. This was something everybody has been super anxious about, as we've known our roles, but not where we'd be working. When I was given my role, and my coordinator said "Old Key West, concierge". I was unsure. I'd heard of it, but wasn't very familiar. Once I looked more into it, I was ecstatic. It's a 4 star luxury resort, that looks just like Key West. Old Key West Resort is so beautiful, and I am so excited to start on Saturday! Brooke will be a photopass photographer in Magic Kingdom, Alyssa will be a photopass photographer in Hollywood Studios, and Brittany will be working merchandise in World of Disney, in Downtown Disney.
After check-in, we hopped on a bus to Casting. Casting is where we were fingerprinted, and filled out some basic new hiring forms. It's a pretty cute building though!
Once I was checked in, I hopped on a bus, and headed back to Vista Way, where I walked back to the hotel to meet my family. I rallied the troops, and we were off with all my things to begin moving in.
Walking into our apartment for the first time with Brittany was so exciting. It really is a pretty sweet place. Unpacking was a looming, daunting task, but there was really a place for everything, and at least in my case, I found I had room to spare. Probably a good thing considering I've got a Disney discount coming!
The first picture is coming in through the front door. The door with the "2" above it, is Brittany and Alyssa's bedroom and bathroom. Immisitely to the right of the front door is a door to Brooke and my bathroom, which has an adjoining door into our bedroom. There is also another door to our bedroom from the living room.
Once we were all back from casting, and unpacked, goodbyes were said. Saying goodbye to my family, even just for this short while, was the hardest thing I've ever done. I get sad just thinking about it now. I miss my parents already.
Later that evening, it was just the four of us roommates. We originally had big plans to attempt the kitchen sink. (I personally think we need more than four people, don't you?). However, as it got later, everybody was clearly tuckered out, so we decided to postpone it for later. We hung out, made some quick and easy dinners, and just caught our breath from the whirlwind of a day.
I'm up before everybody else this morning (surprise!), and will probably start making some mickey waffles soon. My Housing Meeting is at 11:00 today, and the girls' is at 1:00. Afterwards we will probably head to Universal Studios and get some rides in, with our annual passes, before we all get so busy. Day one was crazy, but I'm excited to see what day 2 has in store for me!
Walking into our apartment for the first time with Brittany was so exciting. It really is a pretty sweet place. Unpacking was a looming, daunting task, but there was really a place for everything, and at least in my case, I found I had room to spare. Probably a good thing considering I've got a Disney discount coming!
The first picture is coming in through the front door. The door with the "2" above it, is Brittany and Alyssa's bedroom and bathroom. Immisitely to the right of the front door is a door to Brooke and my bathroom, which has an adjoining door into our bedroom. There is also another door to our bedroom from the living room.
Later that evening, it was just the four of us roommates. We originally had big plans to attempt the kitchen sink. (I personally think we need more than four people, don't you?). However, as it got later, everybody was clearly tuckered out, so we decided to postpone it for later. We hung out, made some quick and easy dinners, and just caught our breath from the whirlwind of a day.
I'm up before everybody else this morning (surprise!), and will probably start making some mickey waffles soon. My Housing Meeting is at 11:00 today, and the girls' is at 1:00. Afterwards we will probably head to Universal Studios and get some rides in, with our annual passes, before we all get so busy. Day one was crazy, but I'm excited to see what day 2 has in store for me!
Officially a Disney resident!
xoxo
