The day finally came! We woke up at the crack of dawn & Zach beat me to the car (he's usually the late one...) We arrived at Vista Way at 7AM and were in the first 20 people there. We waited on line outside the complex near the security booth and at around 7:30 they brought us in to the back of the complex to the Welcome Center where we stood on another line. There they handed us our program guides which are planners with all of the housing and program rules inside. They also gave us temporary name-tags.
After what seemed like forever but was really probably only 20 minutes max, they let us inside where there were a bunch of stations set up for us to go to. First up was the table where they tell us our working location.... I went before Zach because I was too nervous/excited to wait. The man asked me my name & role and then went looking for my name on his list. This was probably a 10 second process but let me tell you it felt like a year. "Okay Amanda... you will be working at Disney's Boardwalk Resort." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had tears in my eyes, this was a dream come true. The Boardwalk is my favorite place on Disney (as I said before) and is where my family stays every time we come down. Needless to say I was FREAKING OUT! Zach went next and found out he will be working at Disney's Pop Century Resort. He's going to have to do the twist every day as part of his job!
After this big reveal was the next big nerve-wracking hurdle...finding out where we would be living. We got sent to separate tables to find out. I was told I would be living in a newly renovated Vista Way 3 bedroom apartment which is exactly what I wanted. I collected myself and ran to find Zach who told me he will ALSO be living in Vista Way. This was where our nerves calmed down because DCP rules say that CPs can't be in any complex but their own after a certain time, so if we lived in different places we would be restricted on when we could see each other.
We were then sent to take our housing ID pictures (really...do ID pictures ever come out nicely), fill out our I9 forms, get our itineraries and learn about safety and the education opportunities offered to us. The whole check-in process took about 45 minutes to an hour during which mine & Zach's moms walked to Starbucks and then waited in the friends & family area they had set up where they learned more information about the program.
I had nothing on my itinerary for the rest of the day so I ran to find my mom so we could go see my apartment. Zach had to go straight to casting (which I was scheduled to do the next day) so I wouldn't get to see him until later.
I was thrilled when I walked into the apartment. There were brand new hardwood floors, a beautiful kitchen and TWO FRIDGES (let's talk about what's important here....) The best part though, is my apartment's location. It is right behind the service/education center and the pool is in our backyard as well as the gym (which I have yet to go to....)
I was the first one to arrive so I got to pick my room. I chose the bedroom at the front of the apartment next to the front door. The room would be shared with one other girl and we would also share a bathroom. The other rooms are towards the back of the apartment and have one bathroom between them. The other bathroom has a tub while mine only has a shower, but it is plenty big.
My mom, Zach's mom, and I moved all of my stuff into the apartment (a process that took maybe 20 minutes). I insisted that I would unpack all of my clothes alone later which is something I regret (I didn't get around to unpacking until Thursday...) Then one of my housemates came in and moved into my room. Her name is Alejandra, she's from Puerto Rico and she is super nice, I feel very lucky to be her roommate. Afterwards we went to meet Zach & bought Crepes from a Crepe Truck on the way.
When we got to Zach's room, one of his roommates Travis was already there. Zach decided he was going to share the room with him and we moved all of his things in. We didn't stay long though. We went to Walmart to do a big shop. I got a lot of groceries and some miscellaneous things that I needed. After bringing all of that back to my apartment the four of us went back to Saratoga Springs to get the rest of our things. Then we went to the Boardwalk and ate at the Big River Grill and had delicious burgers. Then it was time to say goodbye to our moms which was tearful and hard but both Zach & I were excited to be starting this part of our lives.
When I got back to my apartment all of my roommates were there and I got to meet them. There's Macy from Pennsylvania, Ari from Florida, Sherry from Mexico, and Julissa from Puerto Rico. We all chatted for a bit and got along instantly. I feel extremely lucky to have been placed in an apartment with them, it's a perfect fit. We chatted for a bit but turned in early because we were all exhausted!
Here are some pictures of my room/the common area of the apartment.
Woww, renovated Vista looks so nice!! I definitely wouldn't mind living there!! :]
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