My Apartment

So I moved in to my new apartment on Monday and it's already a very different experience than last year, could be worse but it is making me miss my old Patterson apartment and roommates. I got my last choice for housing, a 2 bedroom in The Commons. I still picked it because typically this housing is reserved for International Program participants and was only opened to everyone this year so I thought it would be a great way to meet people from all over. When I found out I got my last pick I asked if it was because I picked alcohol allowed apartments, I said I would live in an alcohol prohibited apartment if it meant living in Patterson. Unfortunately she said it goes based off of what you submitted and your departure date so this is what I got.

My issue with The Commons is that I'm paying more for a place that pales in comparison to Patterson. Patterson opened in 2008 and is very clean and modern. The Commons opened in 1998 so it has parts that are run down and it's older looking. The people living in our room before us did not take care of it at all. Disney stresses that you can't hang things on your walls, they give you a cork board and that's what you're supposed to use. These people had stickers EVERYWHERE and they left all this residue. There's Love You on my wall, a crown, Have a Nice Day on the back of our door, and even stickers on the light switches. I didn't even do this in my room when I was 6. There a pin holes in all the walls and it's just left it in a bit of a mess. Our roommates who were already here said they were supposed to come and repaint it but clearly they never did.  We do pay the extra money because we have a washer and dryer in the apartment so that means you don't have to use public ones like the other complexes and pay money for it. Still, I'd rather walk to do laundry and pay $1.25 a load.

It is important to know that you can submit a report when you get here. When the apartment team comes to do an inspection they check for things (so how they missed all of this is beyond me) and will fine you if it's not reported. So the afternoon we arrived I went to the front desk to ask for the paper to fill out. You just list any problems with certain areas of your apartment. For example I mentioned the residue and pinholes in the wall, our broken blinds, and the fact that there are stickers in the living room that also may leave residue when coming off. So what this does is show housing hey, they walked into this problem so when we notice it on inspection, it's not their fault. Just make sure to do it withing 24 hours of arriving. 

It is what it is. I say it could be worse because my roommates are all really nice. The girl I live with is actually doing the exact thing I did last year, baking for the Polynesian. I also have a roommate from Italy and Japan. But, I'm also the youngest in my apartment. I'm 21 and the other girls are 25 and 30. I do wish I had people closer to my age because it's easier to get along. But I did meet some really nice people at check in and haven't even gone to work yet so there's still more opportunities. And I still have all my friends from school down here as well. Like I said, could be worse!

So I've had some people asking to do a post on housing and while our place is still a work in progress (getting some more cleaning stuff today) but this is what we have to work with so far:

 My bed. If you're flying, don't come down with bedding. It saves room in your luggage. This bed in a bag and pillow cost me less than $35 all together.

 See, Disney gives you a cork board to put things on! I collect Disney pins so this is a great place for me to put them :)

 Our closet, smaller than Patterson but easily doable. Each closet comes with lockers for each roommate but you have to provide the lock.

 Our bathroom, bigger than Patterson because it has the sink area inside as well. We plan on getting some rugs for it today for the purpose of a rug and for a splash of much needed color! Us ladies think about these things!

 The bathroom also comes with a mini closet! Something I do like that Patterson didn't have. Great place to store your toiletries, makeup, medicine and your toilet paper stash

 Our room

 Looking out to to the dining area/kitchen from our room

 The reason why the Commons is more expensive is because there is a washer and dryer directly in your apartment

 Our living area. The TV does not come with the apartment. Yes, that is a Christmas tree and stickers. Beyond those blinds is a little patio

 The Kitchen

 More of the kitchen

 Looking out from our room. The first bedroom is on the left

Walking into the apartment. You can see why my first impression wasn't the greatest

Housing and Bingo!

When I woke up this morning I woke up for the first time in my new bed in my new apartment. I know you might hear from some people that the Disney beds are uncomfortable but I sleep like a baby! The day after your check in is usually pretty relaxed, you can do some shopping either after your check in or on day 2. Day 2 consists of a housing meeting in the Commons Clubhouse. They go over the do's and don'ts of living in Disney Apartments such as do have open communication with your roommates but don't bring in illegal substances, pretty basic stuff. They also highlight some of the housing events that you can experience during your stay such as Grocery Bingo, Pool Parties, field trips to surrounding areas, and everything you can think of!

Today I actually met up with one of my friends from school and my roommate and went to my first Grocery Bingo! This is a very popular housing event (the line snakes around the building!) because if you get bingo, you get free groceries! And we're not talking a box of cereal but a reusable bag filled with groceries and a laundry bag with some cleaning items! Today's theme centered around High School Musical, what team!?

 

The room fills up so get there early!

Did I win? Of course not.

The Bingo is run by Disney Events cast members and they keep it fun and themed. We had your standard classic and black out bingos but we even did H for High School Musical and T for Troy Bolton while HSM music played in the background. They will let you get up and stretch in between and throw out free goodies into the crowd like sun shields for your car, mouse pads, and ID cases. 

We had a lot of fun but because we didn't win, I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow!

Disney Housing Selection and Rent Amounts

I did my first program last year and I'm already starting off doing something new that the program has introduced. Last year, everything with housing was done on arrival day. If you wanted to live with certain people you had to wait in line with them together and then select your housing (or whatever was available was given to you) at the housing table part of check-in.

This year, Disney has started the housing process before you even board the plane (heck, if you're like me it's before you even started thinking about packing!) About 10 days before your arrival date, you will receive 2 emails from Disney housing containing a code and a temporary password to register for housing within 72 hours. To put into perspective, my arrival date is July 8th and I received my email yesterday, June 25th.

With the code and the password you can select preferences for the Disney apartment complexes or D.O.R.M.S: Disney Onsite Resident Management System. From here you have to fill out a little bit of information such as your contact info, an emergency contact and any specifications you need made for you apartment in regards to marriage, drinking age, and special needs accommodations.

From there they give you a list of the apartment complexes and their rental rates. Disney will take out rent for you apartment every week. So when you get your weekly paychecks, that number is AFTER rent has been taken out. The rates for this coming program are as follows: 

Vista Way:                    

2 Bedroom: $96          

3 Bedroom: $86      

                                       

The Commons 

1 Bedroom: $105

2 Bedroom: $105

3 Bedroom: $93

4 Bedroom: $93

Chatham Square 

1 Bedroom: $101

2 Bedroom: $101

3 Bedroom: $91                               

4 Bedroom: $91

Patterson Court: 

1 Bedroom: $101

2 Bedroom: $101

3 Bedroom: $91      

There are 2 persons to each room, if you have a 1 bedroom you will share it with 1 other person but if you have a 3 bedroom you will share your room with 1 person but have 4 other roommates for 5 roommates in total. To put rent into perspective, my rent for a 3 bedroom in Patterson last year was $89/week. Also, figure a week averages to 4 weeks a month. A fully furnished 3 bedroom at Patterson with bus transportation will cost you $364 a month and I was just paying $400 a month to live in an unfurnished crap house, I would take Patterson any day!

Once they cover the charges, from there you can pick preferences. I stress that they are preferences because housing cannot guarantee anything til day of  but having these preferences ahead of time gives them the chance to work around them. You can select your top 3 choices in regards to which complex you want and then your top 3 choices for room size. I picked: 1) 3 bedroom Patterson 2) 4 bedroom Chatham and then 3) 2 bedroom Commons. Once you pick a size, you can't pick that size for your next preference otherwise I would have done 3 bedroom for all of them. If you don't have a preference you can let housing pick for you!

You can also pick roommates for you as well. I was told I can pick up to 1 roommate with the guidelines that they needed to have the same arrival and departure date as me. I just opted for random!

When all is said and done you get to print a boarding pass to take with you to housing and 2 more forms of paperwork and bring with you to your arrival date. They also disclose that you will be turned away and told to come at a later time if you arrive to check in at or before 7 AM since housing quiet hours are in effect until then. Check in is normally either 8 or 9 until 12.

I know that was lengthy but I hope it was informative and answered some of your questions! This is new to me as well so I will do more housing follow up posts in regards to this selection once I actually check in in 12 days! Any remaining questions? Leave them in the comments below!

Q&A: DCP Housing

Patterson Court!

During my first program I lived in Patterson Court, room 6307 to be exact. That means I lived in building 6, on the 3rd floor in room 7. I really loved it, it felt so luxurious! I'm a small town girl from New Jersey who sees horses when I go for walks and lives for country falls and now I had a palm tree right outside my bedroom window, pretty surreal if you ask me!

I lived with 5 other girls, one of my roommates had to leave due to health issues about a month into my program so for a while it was just me and the 4 other girls. In your apartment you can live with people from all over the world doing different roles. I actually ended up living with 2 other culinary cast members who actually go to my school and I see them all the time which is really awesome. I had a roommate from Indiana who was a Great Movie Ride CM, one from Wisconsin who worked for Caribbean recreation and my roommate from Australia who did  Emporium merchandise and Coronado concierge.

So since we were a 6 person apartment we had 3 bedrooms. Each bedroom came with: 2 twin beds, 2 bed side tables, 1 mirror, and 1 dresser (3 drawers per roommate) Each room also had their own bathroom and large closet. Inside the closet are 2 lockers for you to store any valuables, you just need to supply your own lock. All you need to provide for your bedroom are your bed and shower linens.

*Tip* What a lot of people do is buy their linens when they get down there. You can buy a bed sheet set at WalMart and donate it to the Red Cross when you leave. It saves you room in your suitcase and you get to donate to those in need!*

I know it is a rather bad photo but this is what my little corner looked like. The room is actually really spacious, I shared it with my roommate from Australia who was great. You can't hang anything on your walls but you do get a cork board to fill up!

Aside from your personal room, the rest of the apartment is called common space. You have a kitchen, living room, eating area and patio.

The kitchen is stocked with enough cups and pans and plates and anything else you need to cook for the amount of roommates. For example, if a 2 bedroom apartment had 4 cups, a 4 bedroom would have 8, a 6 bedroom would have 12, etc. Included in the kitchen are:
Kitchen Appliances

• Refrigerator w/ ice maker
• Stove, oven, & microwave
• Dishwasher

• Assortment of pots & pans w/lids
• Mixing bowl set
• Measuring cups
• Cutting board
• Spatula
• Can opener
• Cutting knife
• Ladle
• Tea kettle
• Serving spoons
• Cookie sheets
• Dinner plates
• Salad plates
• Cereal bowls
• Drinking glasses
• Coffee cups
• Set of knives, spoons and forks 
• Kitchen wastebasket
• Recycling bin

 and if you're a culinary program cp like me you will have your knife kits too!
You obviously have to supply your own food. There are buses that take you to Publix (grocery store chain in Florida) and WalMart. Some other things you may find yourself needing: coffee maker, tin foil, cling wrap, and tupperware. You will also need to get dish washer detergent, sponges, towels/oven mitts, paper towels, napkins and sponges. When you first get to your apartment, see what you have and think about what you personally use at home and see if it is something you need to get!

There is also a dining area that will come with enough chairs for the roommates.

The living room in the open floor plan includes: a couch, chair, 2 end tables, desk table, and a coffee table.

The blanket was my roommate's so that obviously isn't included! Those couches are surprisingly comfortable after a long day of work or going to the park! You also get a jumbo cork board to hang up any calendars or memos. What did we hang up? A sombrero.

You also get a patio! You can look out and see all the palm trees and take your chairs out there. 

Other amenities that come with your apartment include:

• All utilities, including water, electricity, waste disposal
• High-speed Internet access in all apartments (additional information below)
• Local phone service and one central phone
• Centrally located laundry facilities
• Maintenance of the apartments, including pest control
• Onsite security
• Cable television hook-up
• Computer labs
• Wireless Internet Lounge, Clubroom Thirteen501
• Swimming pools
• Weight rooms
• Tennis, basketball and racquetball courts
• Fully furnished apartment
• Bedroom 

I think on this next program I will either try for Patterson or Chatham. I'm still debating about whether to live in a 21 and under or 21 and over apartment. I am 21 but Disney is so strict with alcohol I keep thinking of the pros and cons for both

Either way, you could give me a cardboard box to live in if it meant being back to work for Disney! Don't forget to leave questions in the comments and suggestions for future posts in my housing series!

Home Sweet Home-The Individual Complexes

Get ready for a long but informational post! This will not cover every detail to housing, this is a first post in a series related to housing. To see all posts labeled 'housing' click on the Housing tab to the right. Leave any additional housing questions in the comments and I will address them in my next housing post!

Coming up in the housing series I will cover: rent and how it is paid, what furniture and items are included in the apartments, transportation, clubhouse functions, hurricanes,alcohol, what to bring and what not to bring, inspections and the White Glove test, and a further look into the interior of a Patterson Court apartment, where I lived the first time!

On to the first post in the housing series: The Complexes!

You won't really need  real estate agent to sell the fact that while participating in the Disney College, Culinary or International Programs that you will have a castle in your backyard. At your fingertips you will have all 4 theme parks, Downtown Disney, 2 water parks and all the resorts, right there. People save up for years to be able to spend a week in the place that you get to live. Some have only seen Cinderella Castle in a postcard or commercial but you can see it anytime you want, I use to get a glimpse every night on the ride home from work.

But what about where YOU live? I personally would make do with a cardboard box if it meant being back working for Disney but thankfully, they give you a bit more wiggle room (and structure!)

You have the choice of 3-4 Apartment Complexes (clicking on this link will take you to the official DCP page with access to a video tour!):

Vista Way (clicking on titles will take you to the source of the picture)

Vista Way is the oldest complex of the apartments but also serves as the central hub. This is where you will come to check in on your arrival date. This complex not only houses 40 buildings but also the Disney Service Center and Disney Learning Center. and Education office Amenities here include a tennis and basketball court, fitness center 2 pools, educational classrooms, security, a clubhouse, and the main bus hub. Like all the complexes you must enter through security. There is a mail area in the clubhouse and laundry rooms on the ground floor of each building. The Learning Center also has a computer lab.

Chatham Square

Chatham is a short drive from Vista Way. Chatham Square houses a fitness center, education classrooms, volleyball courts, tennis courts, a pool and a clubhouse in addition to its 30 buildings. Like all the complexes, you must enter through security. Mailboxes are broken into sections throughout the complexes and laundry rooms are located in designated buildings. The clubhouse also houses a computer lab. Chatham has a bus stop that is shared with Patterson Court outside of the clubhouse.

The Commons

This complex is commonly used to house those on the International Program (listen to all the different languages and accents!) It is not always a stop on the bus route but you can ask to be dropped off there if it is not. It houses 29 buildings, a tennis court, clubhouse, fitness center, pool, and the Disney Housing Operations Programs Office (this will be where your housing orientation is held after your check in, and also Grocery Bingo!) Like all the complexes, you must enter through security. Mail kiosks are located at various buildings and there are laundry machines in each building. A computer lab is also located in the clubhouse.

Patterson Court

Patterson, is the smallest complex with 16 buildings, and is also the newest. Patterson is located across from Chatham and shares their bus stop. Like all the complexes, you must enter through security. Patterson has a club house, education classrooms, fitness center, and pool. Mail kiosks are broken down throughout the complex. There are also 4 laundry areas located throughout. The clubhouse also houses a computer lab.

In a future post I will discuss rent, how it is paid, what it covers, and what your apartment will come stocked with when you arrive. Don't forget to leave your questions in the comments!