What to Do: Your First Night

The magic can start the very first night of your program if you want it to! You wont' get your ID for the parks on check-in, but your housing ID gets you on the bus and that can take you to non-park area of Disney property to give you that first dose of pixie dust to start off your program!

You will get a break between check in and casting to bring all your stuff to your new apartment. I pretty much just dumped it and left to go back to Vista to be with my dad until he had to leave. Casting for small groups is quick and once you're through there, you're done and free to do what you please. This is a good time to put you pictures on your cork board, unload you toiletries and put your clothes in your drawers, start settling in!

But, what do you do after?

Grocery Shop
If the buses are still running, you can use this time to go to Publix or Wal-Mart to start loading up on your first set of groceries and picking up any odds and ends such as your bed linens if you didn't bring them with you and anything you forgot. Some things to keep in mind as you grocery shop during your DCP:
     *Buy reusable bags. I had about 2 bags for Publix and 2 bags for Wal-Mart. You can also buy refrigerator reusable bags to hold your dairy and frozen food. It is much easier carrying 2 or so fabric bags than 5 plastic bags. Plus, you won't have to worry about bags potentially ripping on you!
     *You can buy a caddy. If you don't want to physically carry your bags, put them in a rolling caddy, You can't take them on the bus but the bus driver will pop open the storage underneath.
     *Circulars. These will help you see what's available and at what price for the week, they even include coupons.
     *Rewards Programs. Publix already gives you automatic discounts but it's always good to scope out if where you shop has a frequent shopper card or some type of rewards or points program.

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Resort Hop. See Wishes! at the Polynesian!
Hop on a bus to a resort! This is a really good idea if you're location is in a resort, it gives you a chance to go and visualize it a walk around before you even get to training. and they are great photo opportunities! If you go to one of the monorail resorts (the Polynesian <3, the Grand Floridian, or the Contemporary Resort) you can ride the monorail and hit up 3 in 1 night! and if you go to my beloved Polynesian, you can watch Wishes! from the beach on your very first night! Resort hopping is one of my favorite activities, I'll definitely post more about it later!

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Downtown Disney

This is what I ended up doing because my roommates who had been there since January invited us to go see The Lorax at the DTD Disney theater. I kept falling asleep not because the movie was bad (it was rather cute!) but because the seats were so comfy and I was so tired! If you've never been to DTD before, it's the closest you can get to  WDW experience without going into the parks. You can dine at great restaurants (Earl of Sandwich would be a good one for your first night!) and you can shop at countless stores, you can even pick up some pins to start trading! You can even get Disney treats! It's a lot of fun to walk around and give you that reality check of "gee, I'm really here!"

I've always said you should do something everyday of your program whether it's work (obviously!) or making memories at the parks, don't just lounge around. and what better way to kick it all off than your first night!

Don't forget to leave your questions in the comments sections and rate the posts!