Everyone gets really excited about what they’re going to do their first couple of days in Orlando. You always see people talking about going to the parks and buying a bunch of merchandise and eating at a bunch of nice restaurants all in the first two days they will be there.
Unfortunately, these aren’t the most realistic or efficient goals.
When you first arrive to check-in, you are going to spend the majority of your day at Vista Way and the Casting building. I had an 8:00 AM check-in time in 2014 and I didn’t really get a chance to sit down and unpack at my apartment until around 4:00. You have a lot of paperwork to fill out, rules to listen to, and then you come home to an empty fridge and stuff to unpack and organize. You may end up eating out that first day just because there are no groceries in your place to speak of, but it may end up being wiser to pick up fast food or order a pizza or go out somewhere close by with your roommates or family (if your family decided to escort you on this journey). After all, you’re going to want to make sure you are comfortably situated before you do much else.
You’ll have usually about two days off before you have your Traditions class. This is an opportunity for you to get to know your roommates and get settled in. Usually the day before Traditions there is a mandatory housing meeting for everyone staying on property in which they just go over the rules and all the different ways you can be kicked out of the program for breaking housing rules. It’s important to attend this meeting and maybe take notes. There are a lot of things you can be kicked out for. A lot of people every single program get kicked out for underage drinking and they usually act pretty enraged over it. When they tell you that you will be terminated for underage drinking, they mean it. Also keep in mind that if you are over 21 and live in a wellness apartment, you cannot bring any alcohol into the apartment whatsoever. You can drink offsite, but if you’re drinking at home, you and everyone in your apartment can be terminated. If you’re in a non-wellness apartment and you have a minor who came over to visit and they get caught just holding a cup with alcohol in it, everyone is terminated. It may seem harsh, but Disney has a reputation to uphold. And it’s not like you haven’t been/won’t be warned. There’s more strict rules other than their strict alcohol policies that may seem a little unfair to everyone living in an apartment. During my program we were not allowed to have toy light sabers. This has changed, but they are still strict about a lot of other things like overnight guests (do not have them) and owning shot glasses (seriously. If you live in wellness, you can’t even have shot glasses in your apartment. It doesn’t matter if you’re just using them for decoration or as a container for things like bobby pins or something, if you have shot glasses in wellness, you can be terminated).
I also see a lot of people saying they’re going to go to the parks within the first couple of days and, to those people, I offer a bit of bad news. You don’t get your Maingate pass (note that the guest pass rules listed in the linked article have changed recently) for roughly 2 weeks. The good news is that, once you go to Traditions and receive your blue ID, you can get into the parks as a “guest” by seeing guest relations and showing them your ID and just explaining that you just finished Traditions and are waiting for your Maingate in the mail. Please note that, once you receive your Maingate, they will not give you park access using just your blue ID anymore. My roommates and I faced this probably once or twice during the program. They will tell you that you can buy a discounted ticket and maybe they will reimburse you. Just bring your Maingate. Also, adding to the bad news, you don’t go to Traditions until the Thursday of your arrival week. That means you can’t go to the parks for free for your first 3 days in Orlando.
However, what you CAN do is go explore Orlando. Get acquainted with where everything is. Figure out where the best stores are, which grocery stores are closest, go to the Florida Mall. You and your roommates can explore the city and have a really great time without going to the parks. However, if you just need your Disney fix right then and there, you could always check out the Disney store at the mall.
Your first week is going to be busy. You’re going to have a lot of unpacking to do, a lot of papers to sign, and a whole new world to get adjusted to. Don’t be afraid to just explore Orlando and take the couple of days you have off before training to just get to know your roommates and other people you encounter while waiting in lines and taking buses. You have plenty of time to enjoy the magic of Disney. Just take things one step at a time.
Photo credit: By Dom497 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Big Disney Dreamer 