Disney College Program: DORMS

I JUST finished filling out everything on the DORMS website! I am so so so excited now! As promised, I will go into detail about DORMS.

DORMS is how the participants of the DCP pick their housing and flatmates. You may choose to go random or you may pick who you live with (although nothing is 100% guaranteed). To link with your roommates, you must get their roommate ID numbers that are enclosed in the two emails provided. ONE person must go into DORMS before the others. After the said leader fills out DORMS, an email will be sent to each flatmate asking to confirm the rooming arrangement. After everyone fills out their DORMS, the process is complete! It was a very simple procedure!

These lovely emails came through this morning:

The second email came in less than two seconds after the first email, however, in the email it states the second email may take several hours to arrive.

 This is what the first email looks like, it just goes over some important points about filling out DORMS. You may see "you are eligible to link with up to 5 other participants" in that third bullet point. Either there are no 4 bedroom options for our arrival date, or if you're put into a 4 bedroom, Disney may put you with randoms. I'm not sure. Usually you can link with up to 7 other people.

 

 Yay, finally linked!

This time around, DORMS is a little different. The rooming preferences now look like this:

 

These were the preferences we picked!

You rank your preferences from the top (being first choice) to the bottom (being last choice).

Each arrival date may have different housing options. These were the options available for my arrival date and they cannot be expected to be the exact same for the other arrival dates.

After finishing up everything in DORMS, you'll receive your boarding pass! PRINT THIS OUT YOU NEED IT FOR CHECK-IN!

 

So, overall, DORMS was very easy to fill out. All but one of our flatmates received our emails, but after a quick call to recruiting, she was able to get her roommate ID to link with the rest of us! 

If I hadn't made this obvious already: I'M SO EXCITED! I can say I leave for Florida NEXT WEEK. That's awesome and crazy! Check-in is in 13 days and I leave in 10 days! I'm almost in the single digits!

"See Ya' Real Soon!"

I don't have much to update on, but I received this lovely email earlier today!!!

A few short days...more like 13! Wow, that's CRAZY. 13 days until I start this wild ride. I saw an old picture I had that said 123 days, I swear, it seems like yesterday when it was that far away! I'm still really nervous, but I think my excitement has finally taken over the nerves. I began packing about a week ago, but only filled one Ziploc Space Bag (these will save your life, especially if you're flying like I am). Yesterday I did a lot more packing and a lot of planning. I made a little calendar for the next 13 days of what outfit I'm going to wear what day so I know what I can pack and what I have to leave out until last minute. I already have my outfit planned for check-in day, is that weird? Considering we can't wear tank tops for our ID photos and I don't want to change, I picked a shirt I absolutely love and always seems to photograph well. It's a little silly to care about something like that, but it just gives me more to plan out until I leave.

I'm expecting to get the DORMS emails tomorrow since the August 4th arrivals received theirs last Tuesday. Fingers crossed! I've been waiting for those emails with bated breath. It turns out DORMS is a little different this time around. There's a list of all the available rooming options and you have to pick the ones you're interested in. You're not guaranteed those, but they try their best. I'm terrified our group's options won't be available. I'll be sure to update when I finish the process!

Until then, au revoir!

Meetup and More Waiting

This past Monday I met another girl who is doing the DCP! We've been talking for months now and a few weeks ago we realized we only live three hours away from each other. So we picked a town halfway between the two of us and we got to hangout for a few hours! We had a really random day but it was so fun and I'm so glad I got to meet her! She was super nice and funny and I'll definitely be hanging out with her in Florida!

More waiting. It seems like most of this program consists of waiting! The August 4th arrivals received their DORMS emails a couple of days ago and I am now anxiously awaiting mine! DORMS is the system Disney uses to pick roommates and apartment complex preferences. You're not guaranteed anything, but they certainly try their best. I'll try to remember to screenshot some things and give more info. on DORMS once I get the email. I'm the designated team leader for our group of six, so I'll be going into the system first and sending the other five girls their request. Hopefully nothing goes funky and there won't be any problems!

Three Weeks...

In exactly three weeks from today, I'll be on a plane to Florida! Today I received another DCP email - one I didn't even know we were getting!

 I started packing a couple days ago, but I didn't pack much. Since it's summer it's not like I can pack all of the clothes I would wear in Florida - because I wear them now. I've got my bedding set aside along with some warm clothes. I'm using Ziploc Space Bags for all of my clothing and bedding, which cause extreme wrinkles, so I won't be completely packed until the night before I leave. I'm stressing out about packing; I'm afraid I'll forget something!

Disney College Program Apartments

A lot of people are curious about where the College Programmers live during the DCP. Disney offers on-site living for the CP and ICP and culinary program students. There are four different apartment complexes: Vista Way, Chatham Square, The Commons, and Patterson Court. There are pros and cons to each of these complexes and they're all a bit different. On the DCP website, it gives the following information about the living portion of the program:

As part of the Disney College Program, participants live in housing complexes located near the Disneyland® Resort or the Walt Disney World® Resort. Each complex features a variety of offerings to make participants feel right at home.
Here is our list of amenities included in the housing costs for every participant:

• Fully furnished apartment
• Kitchen appliances, utensils, and dishes
• All utilities, including water, electricity, and waste disposal
• Maintenance of the apartments
• Computer labs (Walt Disney World ® Resort in Florida only)
• High-speed internet access in all apartments
• Cable ready
• Each complex and apartment layout is unique. Amenities may differ between apartments.

Alternatively, some participants may have family near the Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resorts, or are already familiar with the local area may prefer to live off-site. Please note off-site participants are unable to utilize Disney Housing sponsored transportation.
Once a participant joins housing, they agree to stay through the duration of the program. See below for information on how to request to live off-site.
Disney College Program (Florida): Participants will have the opportunity to request off-site housing after receiving their offer to participate on the program.
Disney College Program (California): Participants should discuss their interest in living off-site during their interview, as they must make this decision pre-offer.

So let's take a look at the complexes!

Vista Way

Vista is the oldest of the four complexes and is often thought to be the most run down. However, Vista has been doing renovations on the apartments and many of them are complete and the apartments look nicer. Vista also has the party reputation. With that, though, you have to remember that just because you live at Vista doesn't mean everyone parties. Vista is also the cheapest of the complexes and is the only complex without any triple occupancy rooms. Vista is situated by itself and is a short distance (by car) from the other three complexes. Its location is convenient as it's by many different stores. It also has a bus stop which all of the buses stop.

Chatham Square

Chatham seems to be the most popular complex because it has a bus stop and is a bit nicer than Vista. It's in the middle when it comes to price. Many housing events are held at Chatham and many of the classrooms are also here. Mickey's Retreat is also across from Chatham.

The Commons

The Commons, up until Spring 2014, was only available to ICP students. The thing that draws everyone to The Commons is the washer and dryer in each room. Other complexes have to use a laundry facility in the complex and pay for laundry each time. Even though having your own washer and dryer may seem like free laundry, it's really not. The Commons is more expensive because of the washer and dryer. The Commons also has a bus stop, but not all of the buses stop here.

Patterson Court

Patterson Court is the newest - and argumentatively - the nicest of the complexes. There is no bus stop here, but the stop is a <5 minute walk to Chatham. Patterson Court has the reputation of being equivalent to a nursing home because that's where the "non-partiers" live. Once again, a certain complex doesn't determine the kind of people who live there.

So now that we've went over a brief summary of the apartments, we need to know how much they cost. Keep in mind that housing prices go up every recruiting season, however, the Fall/FA 2014 ones are as follows:

 I do not have any pictures of the insides of the complexes, but if you're curious as to what the apartments look like on the inside, head on over to YouTube and search for "Vista Way Apartments Tour" (and the other three) and there are plenty of video tours available!

Bursts of Feelings

It's 1:27 a.m. right now and since I can never seem to fall asleep, I decided to watch AmypuddlesDCP's videos on YouTube yet again. Amy is easily my favorite DCP vlogger ever. After watching a few videos, I can't help but have so many feelings. These feelings are indescribable. There's feelings of longing, gratitude, excitement, joy, happiness, and so much more. I've been feeling really nervous and antsy about starting my program, but Amy's videos always cheer me right up. Amy, if you ever stumble across this, I hope you know how many of us you have inspired. So many of us hope to make videos as well as you did and to inspire the future seasons of DCP students. We are all very grateful you took the time to make your videos, they are loved by all.

Magic Bands and Passport

Today I received two very exciting and important pieces of mail! If you read the title, I bet you can guess what they were...that's right, our Magic Bands and my passport! My Magic Band is green and my mom's is pink (:

Today also marked 4 weeks until check-in. That's a scary and exciting thought. I started a bit of packing yesterday but there's not much I can pack right now.

Tumblr, Packing Lists, and More...

So I decided to make a Tumblr and then added a second account onto it. My personal Tumblr is: here, and my DCP Tumblr is: here. I still don't fully understand Tumblr, but I'm doing my best! Leave me your Tumblr links and I'll do follow-for-follow!

Also, please give me links to any packing lists that are helpful! Yes, I have my own packing list, but it's always good to compare to others'!

I finally finished my NH paperwork last night! I had waited to finish the last form - the W-4 - until my dad got home to make sure I filled it out correctly. I also received an email from Southwest last night saying our trip is right around the corner! I don't get to print out boarding passes until the day before our flight, which is stressing. Hopefully I don't forget!

New Hire Paperwork

Well, a couple hours ago I received these lovely emails:

I was so excited to finally get these documents - until I started filling them out. There's a TON of paperwork you have to fill out (online). I can't post any pictures of the Portal or the documents it contains, but I did take a quick screenshot of this: 

I got really giddy when I saw that. It feels official now, I'm going to work for WALT DISNEY WORLD. Aaaaah I'm so excited!!

The New Hire paperwork is exactly what it sounds like: paperwork for new employees. These are things like a W-4, emergency contact info, company policies, etc. It's a long and tedious process filling out the paperwork; it took me about an hour to finish most of it. I'm just about done, I only have the W-4 left and I'm waiting until my dad gets home to complete that.

Less Than a Month

As of yesterday, July 8th, it is now under a month until I move to Florida! I have felt completely terrified the last week of moving. It's a lot different going from 100 days until moving to just over 30 days. I'm über nervous but I still don't regret accepting my offer. I was extremely nervous to start college and I ended up loving the independence. I know this journey is going to be hard at first, but I know I can do it. It helps knowing there's thousands of other people my age going through the same thing as I am that understand how hard it is; there will always be someone I can talk with.

Since I'm now under a month until leaving, that means I get to do what I'm dreading most: packing. I'm honestly such a procrastinator when it comes to packing, I'll probably end up starting the week before I leave and have a few panic episodes along the way... haha oops!

I should also be getting New Hire paperwork soon, so that's exciting! A lot of August 4th arrivals have completed theirs and some September arrivals said they have received theirs as well, yet I haven't heard of any people with my arrival date that have received paperwork. Ah well, it will come soon!

Closer and Closer

It's already July; I can now say I'm moving to Florida next month. It's crazy how fast time is going. I leave for Florida in one month, six days. I check-in in one month, ten days. August arrivals should start seeing more emails come soon. New Hire paperwork should be here within the next couple weeks; the DORMS emails will probably come at the end of July. Until then, there's just more waiting.

Some random things:
Team USA just lost in soccer. I never got into soccer until the World Cup this year and now I'm sad it's over for us so soon. I'm really proud of the team - even though I don't know much about them - they played really well. I think I'm going to root for Brazil, France, and the Netherlands to win now.

I might redesign my blog. I've noticed more DCP bloggers start to use the same design I am, and me having a "I hate being similar to other people" tic, I've started looking at different possible looks for my blog. I'm not sure if I'll change it, I really love mine as it is, but I want my blog to stand out and be different.

If I don't blog before then, I hope everyone has a fun and safe Independence Day!