Goodbye, Megan

This is a hard post to write - my roommate Megan, who some of you may also know as one of my best friends on this program, left this morning to return to Texas and end her college program. Megan's managers granted her an early release from her program because she had a lot of things she needed to get done at home before she left to go back to school in the beginning of August. I've known Megan was leaving early for a while now, but to be honest, it still hasn't really hit me that she's gone. I'm still expecting her to come home from work later on tonight and ask me about my day! It's sad that I had to say goodbye to such a great friend and a wonderful person, but honestly, the two of us are so close that I know there's no way that this was actually goodbye.

To celebrate Megan's last day, my other roommate, Allie and I agreed to spend the day with her doing the 4 park challenge. Unfortunately, I had to work in the morning, so I only made it to three parks, but it was still a great last day! We went to Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom, met lots of characters, went on all of Megan's favorite rides, and ate a nice dinner at Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet!

We came home, helped Megan finish packing, and then said our goodbyes last night and early this morning. I was so sad to see Megan go, but as I said before, I know I will definitely see her again. I'm excited for all of us to move on to the next chapter of our lives, but it's extremely sad to close this chapter. I've made lifelong friendships on this program and I know for certain that these people have changed my life for the better. Megan, I miss you already and you are forever in my heart of hearts.

As I say goodbye to lots of people and places around Disney World, the lyrics to "We Go On" in Illuminations stick in my mind:

"We go on to the joy and through the tears, 

we go on to discover new frontiers, 

moving on with the current of the years, 

we go on moving forward now as one, 

moving on with a spirit born to run, 

ever on with each rising sun, 

to a new day we go on."

Spring vs. Spring Advantage

If you're considering applying for the DCP or even if you're just curious about the application process, a huge part of the experience is applying for spring vs. spring advantage (or fall, fall advantage). The spring advantage program runs from January/February - May and the Advantage program runs until August. Basically, the difference is that spring advantage DCPers work during the summer months.

For me personally, I am so glad that I am doing the spring advantage program. I am not in any way ready to leave Florida yet, and I feel like I have so much left that I still want to do! However, I have a lot of friends and coworkers that feel differently. Some of my friends who are doing the spring program wish that they had extended and were staying longer. Others who are doing spring advantage wish that they had only done spring, because they are ready to leave now. I honestly think that your job has a lot to do with your happiness and wanting to stay or leave early. I love my job, my coworkers, and all my friends here, so I am so glad that I am staying for a few more months. I have some friends though, that hate their jobs, and thus are wishing that they had only signed up to do the spring program.

The one thing I will say about doing the spring program is that you have the option to extend your program through the summer. Basically, if you have a good record card, you will probably be given the opportunity to extend. Additionally, with that extension opportunity you can stay in the same job or you can switch jobs, which is also a nice incentive.

I recommend the spring advantage program because I don't think 4 months is long enough to be here for! However, I do have friends that would say differently, so my best advice to all of my readers is to do whatever you think is best for you. Take into consideration all of your options, and then decide how much time you want to spend in the happiest place on earth (:

New Roommates

The fateful day finally arrived when we received a notice on our door on a Thursday afternoon that we would be having new roommates move in on Sunday morning. As you can probably imagine, it was a little bit of a disappointment for us, as we were really hoping we wouldn't have new people move in until after our program was over. Nevertheless, the letter said we had to clean and make our rooms ready, so that's exactly what we did. We made arrangements in the bedrooms and kitchen for our new roommates and we had a cleaning crew come early Sunday morning to clean and sanitize the furniture. We also had a new (additional) refrigerator installed and more lockers come into our closets.

On Sunday morning, our new roommates, Sam and Emily moved into our apartment. I have to admit that I think we lucked out. Both seem like really nice girls and we've worked through the awkwardness of adding two more people into an apartment quite nicely. Sam was actually one of our friends old roommates! Both girls extended their programs, and Sam will be starting at the Contemporary as a concierge and Emily works at Art of Animation in Quick Service Food & Beverage.

The one downside to having two new people move in during the middle of the program is all of the additional stuff we have now! We have two toasters, another TV, way more decorations, and a lot of other things we wouldn't have doubles of if we had been able to talk about things beforehand! We are making it work though, and have managed to find places to put everything that the 6 of us own.

I'm excited to see what the summer holds for me and all of my roommates. I hope that we can enjoy the remainder of our program, and I know for a fact that we will all enjoy the $25 deduction in our rent starting next week!

Siesta Key Beach Trip

On my day off last week, some friends and I went to the beach! We drove the two hours down to Sarasota, Florida and went to Siesta Key Beach, which is one of the nicest rated beaches in the country! It was BEAUTIFUL, to say the least. We woke up early in the morning, packed up all of our stuff, and drove to the West coast of Florida. We were able to soak up the sun in the white sand beach, swim in the Gulf of Mexico, enjoy the warm Florida weather and spend time with one another! If you ever are in Florida, I highly recommend checking out the beaches. Siesta Key was a great way to decompress after a crazy work week (even though I got a nasty sunburn) and I got to spend time with a lot of great people!

Sea World Trip

While we all love Disney World (obviously), it's occasionally nice to get off property and check out the many other things Orlando has to offer. This afternoon, my roommate, Megan (yes, we have the same name) and I had a "Megan day" and went to Sea World for the first time this program!

We both had a great time during our visit. Sea World is a very unique park, entirely different from Disney. We saw the Killer Whale show, the Sea Lion and Otter show, saw polar bears, dolphins, beluga whales, flamingos, birds, sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, and tons of other animals. We also had some cool experiences, such as feeding the otters and going on the two roller coasters there. The first one we went on, The Kraken, was crazy. We went upside down at least four times and went so fast! Megan and I thought that was crazy enough, until we went on Manta! On this roller coaster, you ride parallel to the ground and it is literally the scariest thing I have ever done (but so much fun)!

Being the animal lover that I am, I absolutely adored Sea World. I loved the shows, the atmosphere, and getting to see all of the different animals and learn more about them.

To say the least, "Megan day" was extremely fun and successful!!

Sea World Visit

Program Update #1

A lot has happened since my last post, so I wanted to make a general program update to let you know about all of the cool things that have been going on during my DCP.

First, I finally got to see the new Festival of Fantasy parade at the Magic Kingdom! It was amazing! It's great to see some of the new characters making their first parade debuts, and the floats are truly spectacular. The amount of detail on each one is enough to make your head spin! Here are some pictures from the parade.

The parks are definitely getting more crowded since it's spring break season, and with the crowds of course come a lot of changes at work. Almost every day we make a slight modification to the loading process at Nemo, which keeps things interesting! After all, Walt did say "We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

My friends and I have been planning a lot of fun days and activities, with the most recent being the Miley Cyrus Bangerz tour in Orlando! Five of us bought tickets to the concert in the Amway Center in Downtown Orlando. It was seriously so crazy (as expected with Miley) but a ton of fun and a great way to spend time together. 

In the middle of all of this fun, we've also had other issues to worry about, like passing the second round of inspections! We all cleaned for a couple of days leading up to inspections, and this time around we got inspected on the second day of inspections! I was in the apartment when they inspected us, so I got more of an idea as to what they did. Honestly, it was so quick. There were three people that came in, looked all over our apartment, and then told us if we needed to improve in any areas or if we were doing a good job. We passed with flying colors and got our 2nd White Glove Award! I'd say we are doing pretty well with inspections, well that, or the other apartments in the complex are just really dirty and gross...

Anyway, I have a lot planned in the next few days. I have a Meet & Greet tomorrow with my teacher to talk about how I should approach the rest of my program, an advising meeting with my Clemson advisor for next year on Thursday, my last two classes of environmentality and sustainability, and even some fun play time at the parks and resorts. Be sure to stay tuned for my posts in the next few weeks!

I hope everyone is having a magical day, and remember to keep on dreaming!

My Apartment

So, for those of you who are interested in the DCP housing experience, I thought I would share some pictures of my apartment in Chatham Square. There are 4 housing options for participants in the DCP. Vista Way, Chatham Square, Patterson Court, and The Commons. My roommates and I chose Chatham because it seemed like a nice middle-ground. There seems to be a lot going on, but it's never too crazy or loud. The apartments are also pretty nice (only minor issues) and the complex itself has really nice amenities, including a pool, fitness center, clubhouse, field, and laundry facilities.

I'm living in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, meaning that I have 3 roommates. It's a really nice size and I like all the space we have. Also, as a plus, I love all my roommates; we're getting along so well!!

If you have any questions about housing, Chatham, or the DCP in general, feel free to comment below!

My side of the bedroom!

Our bathroom

More of my bedroom

Our common area

Walk-in Closet

Living Room (and the attractive furniture they provide)

Dining Area

Kitchen

Fun with Friends & Housing Meeting

Before the DORMS system came out, the original plan was to have a 4 bedroom in Chatham Square, so that there would be 8 girls living together. When we had to split up, we all agreed to still meet and go out to dinner the second night of our arrival! So, my roommates and I met the other four girls (Angie, Melanie, Brittany, and Kate) at the bus stop and we all went to Downtown Disney for dinner at Planet Hollywood on Tuesday night! We had a really fun night, exploring Downtown Disney and then eating a really awesome dinner. We had a fantastic waiter named Tim, who performed the Single Ladies dance for us in the middle of the restaurant! We all also ordered fancy drinks in souvenir cups and had nice meals.

My Planet Hollywood Souvenir cup

All of us with our waiter

After a great night, my roommates and I came back and watched a movie and then fell asleep. Wednesday morning, I had a housing meeting over at the Commons, which is another DCP housing complex. The housing meeting is basically just where you go over the rules to living in the housing complexes. No weapons, drugs, threats, etc. It was all pretty basic, but they tried their best to make it fun and exciting for the participants. 

The housing meeting

After the housing meeting, my roommates and I went on a group shopping trip to Walmart. We bought a few things that the apartment didn't have (for me, it was baking sheets and tupperware). We also bought cookie dough so that we could bake later on! 

I cooked for the first time ever last night, spaghetti and meatballs! I was surprised with how well it came out, and quite proud of myself. Now I guess I have to learn how to cook other things... great. After dinner, we baked cookies, and then bagged them up and wrote little notes on the bags and went around our apartment building and delivered them to all of our neighbors! Most of the people we met were really nice and grateful for the cookies. It was an awesome way to meet people and let them know that we were looking for friends!

My first ever home-cooked meal!

To end the night, we took a walk around the complex and checked out the pool, fitness center, and clubhouse. It's a really nice area, and I'm really happy that we chose to live in Chatham. We also met some guys from our apartment building that weren't there when we originally delivered the cookies, and we ended up talking to them for a while and watching a movie with them!

Overall, it was a really great day. It's been really nice having all of this time to get to know my roommates better and we all seem to be getting along well! I'm so excited for when we can go into the parks for the first time together! Speaking of, I have my Traditions class tomorrow, and then start training on Sunday, so look out for more posts about those days!

Finding Roommates

So, you've been accepted to the Disney College Program, now what? Well, for me, the next step was to find roommates for the program! To be honest, this was kind of a tricky and stressful situation, so I want to let you guys know about my experience, and share some tips with you on how to pick roommates for your program.

First off, join the Facebook group for your program. Sure, there are some posts on there that you really won't care about, but there are other really helpful posts that can answer some tricky questions. Additionally, as acceptances start rolling in, people create groups for each arrival date.  Join this group too. I know it sounds like a lot, but you'll be thanking me later.

You have to understand, that while yes, there are thousands of students accepted into this program every semester, the number of potential roommates one can have is actually quite limited. First, you must live with the same gender. This means girls live with other girls and guys live with other guys. Then, you are further split by your age. People under 21 must live in wellness, which means that there is no alcohol allowed in the apartment. People over the age of 21 have the option to live in wellness or nonwellness, but it seems as if most people go the nonwellness route once they are of legal drinking age. Finally, you are split by your arrival and departure dates. You must check in and check out on the same day as your roommates. This is to make it easier for Disney to completely fill apartments for each program. Remember, when you check out, the next semester's participants will be checking in shortly after! So, while it may seem like there are tons of options for roommates, you have to remember that you need these three things in common in order for Disney to approve the match. For example, I looked for girls who were living in wellness and checking in on January 13 for Spring Advantage.

The next thing I recommend is to make a roommate survey. Usually people start filling them out as the acceptances begin coming in, so just copy someone's and change their answers to yours. BE HONEST! You will be living with these people for many months; don't just say something you think potential roommates will want to hear. If you are honest with yourself, you will most likely have better luck finding roommates who have similar tastes, interests, and habits.

So, after you've determined your criteria and filled out your roommate survey, the waiting game begins. People will start to look at your survey and see if you have things in common. Remember to also look at other people's surveys, you might find them before they find you! I remember being really stressed during the roommate search process, because it seemed like so many people had already found roommates. Just remember to be yourself, stay calm, and the right roommates will eventually come along!

I've listed some quick tips for the roommate search:

1. Join the Facebook groups
2. Create a roommate survey
3. Browse other people's roommate surveys
4. Decide which complex you are most interested in
5. Determine the amount of people you are looking to live with
6. Talk to everyone who seems interested; don't judge a book by its cover
7. Make sure that the things that are most important to you line up with the other person's personality/characteristics/beliefs. For example, it was really important for me to have social roommates who would respect the rules we set place in the apartment!
8. STAY CALM! Don't panic because it seems like everyone already has a roommate
9. Don't just message people and say "want to be roommates?" Can you imagine someone coming up to you on the street and doing this? You would be extremely creeped out. Take the time to get to know someone, ask questions about them and their life, and then, if you feel it's right, ask them to live with you
10. BE YOURSELF! I promise, you will eventually find people who like you for you, and who want to live with you. Remember, this is Disney. You will be meeting all kinds of different people from many different backgrounds; embrace it!

After doing all of this, I finally found roommates! The whole process probably took me about 2 weeks. I ended up finding 7 awesome girls (8 of us total) and we are hoping to live in a 4 bedroom apartment in Chatham Square. 

Good luck with your personal roommate search! I know it can be stressful at times, but just remember that you will be spending the most magical time of your life with these people, so take the time to make sure they are people you see yourself spending these moments with.

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Best of luck out there, and as always, keep on dreaming!!