Adventures in the Utilidor

So I made it safely into Orlando Tuesday night, stayed in a hotel for the night, and checked in with the Disney College Program on Wednesday morning. And I mean MORNING. You get instructions from the program before you arrive saying that you can check in between 9 and noon. Reasonable, right? Wrong. The first person in line got there at 1 AM. I was told if I wanted to get into one of the good apartments I had to get there really early. I got in line at 6:30 AM and it was still dark. Needless to say I was not pleased. Not to mention that I had to get in the back of a giant line. So that happened and I did not enjoy it. Nothing should be aloud to happen before the sun comes up.

Then I signed some things and they let me and my roommate, Morgan, request where we want to live. We ended up in an three bedroom apartment in Patterson Court. The other four girls have been at the program since earlier in the summer. The apartment is very nice, especially in comparison to the conditions I've been living in at 400 for the past two years. The complex is beautiful. There's a clubhouse, a gym, and a pool on the property. And palm trees everywhere of course.

Next they printed us ID's and sent us off to the casting building. The outside of that building is painted like the argyle socks Walt Disney used to wear and the inside is like a giant maze with golden Disney statues on giant pillars and pictures of a lot of happy people all over the walls. The first thing that happened upon arrival at this building was they told all of us our "roles" or where we would be working. I am working in the Magic Kingdom on Main Street USA West, which I believe is the Emporium. I pretty excited about it. Hopefully it will be super magical... but really.

The past couple of days have been pretty slow. I couldn't go to the parks because I didn't have my cast (staff) ID yet. There was a lot of lounging, pool, gym, and generally just getting myself situated here. This morning I attended a class called Disney Traditions that all CPs attend. It was really long and early. I had to be on the bus by 6:45 this morning to go to Disney University. We learned about Disney history, values, procedures and what not. The best part was a walk we took through the Magic Kingdom.

We entered through the Utilidor, the hallways that are directly under the Magic Kingdom... super sneaker. I got a little emotional as we walked down Main Street because it was my first time in the park on this trip and I just really love this place. I know it's a little cheesy, but I really cannot wait to be a part of it all. I also got this cool name tag today:

Pretty official, right? And it's got some Tribe pride too! I will definitely keep everyone updated with the rest of my costume. I believe I receive that on Monday. Preview: it includes grandma dress shoes and black hosiery. I also have heard some rumors of brown plaid... GET EXCITED! So I'm off to the outlets to buy my grandma shoes!

Have a magical day!
Jess