Photo of me, all ear'd up.

The acceptance process was a flurry of paperwork, fees, and planning to pack for several months of Floridian life. Let's talk about that process of actually moving in - what needed to be done in advance and how busy those moving-in days can be.

Pre-Move-In

Let's take a step back for a moment and talk about all the things that needed to be done before I arrived. These included:

- Purchasing health insurance
- Paying Disney some "program fees"
- Paying a SEVIS fee so the government won't yell at me
- Applying for a police check
- Booking a flight
- Booking a hotel for the night before move-in
- Creating a massive packing list which I mostly followed
- Creating a binder filled with all the paperwork (and photocopies) I needed
- Finding roommates

Lucky for me, I had a friend to consult about all the paperwork (Zack) and was able to link up with two wonderful ladies I had met during my interview process to become roommates. Anything which I had forgotten to do, Disney would send a reminder email about. The planning process was a little stressful (especially with school still going all the way until May 14th) but ultimately manageable.

If you're considering applying for a program like this yourself, the one thing I recommend more than any other is to double-check your paperwork and collect it all in one place. The last thing you need is to get to the border and realize that you're missing one tiny sheet of paper that would have made your life easier.

Moving In

Actually arriving at my housing location (Patterson Court!!) was a multi-day affair. I set out on my journey to Buffalo with my parents and stayed the night at a hotel. Crossing the border into the USA was actually quite simple - we were told to pull over, and had to go inside to speak with an agent. I presented him with my passport and my DS2019 (a form Disney will mail you if you do this program) and I believe about $7. He placed an I-9 form into my passport and sent me on my way. This was one of the things I had stressed about - but it was honestly such an easy process. As long as you have your DS2019, passport and a few dollars, there's nothing to fear.

The next morning, my parents tearfully bid me farewell as I met up with one of my soon-to-be-roommates to fly to Florida! I had never flown Southwest Air before, so my nervousness about the program gained a new friend: nervousness about not knowing how the heck I pick a seat.

Eventually, this university graduate was able to figure out how to select a seat on an airplane, and it only took about twice as long as you'd hope. Joined by my new roomie, the plane took off from the Buffalo airport. It was a nice plane ride, spent alternately chatting with my new friend and listening to podcasts. It seemed to go by quickly.

We spent the night at Disney's All-Star Music resort (at the Rock Inn section). It was quite possibly the cutest hotel design I'd ever seen.

The All-Star Music Rock Inn

That first night we met up with our third roommate in Disney Springs, and only got somewhat entirely soaked by the rain. Thanks, Florida! Dinner at Earl of Sandwich was fantastic, and, to my surprise, almost reasonably priced! (Later I would learn that Earl offers a cast discount. I was very excited by the news.)

The next morning it was finally time to actually move in. A cab was summoned to pick us up at the All-Star. My move-in time was around 11:00, while the roommate I'd spent the night with was scheduled for past noon.

Before moving in, Disney doesn't let you know what your room type will be. As of that moment, I had no idea whether I'd be living with two girls or seven. I was anxious - I'd never shared a room with someone else. I'd lived in houses with other people, but not rooms. And the idea of being in a unit with eight total people was a real fear of mine - while I'm sure they'd all be lovely, that's a lot of people sharing a relatively small space.

The check-in process was short, but slow. They were somewhat overloaded with people when I arrived, meaning I had to wait quite a while after my time to actually check in. A picture was taken for my housing ID, I got a key and a program guide, and I was sat down at a tablet to discuss my I-9 immigration form. While checking in, I discovered that I would not be sharing my space with seven others - just two. The two girls I had linked up with were my only roommates.

Finally done the process (and with the stress of "what if I have seven roommates" off my shoulders), I began to kind of pathetically drag my two suitcases over to our apartment. It was time to unpack.

When I arrived in the unit itself, it was empty save for some suitcases. The third roommate had already arrived, dropped off her belongings, and ran off for some mandatory physical testing required for her role. The unit is spacious - a decently sized living room and a cute kitchen. The bedroom consists of a bunk bed as well as another twin.

The privacy to unpack was actually quite nice - I didn't feel rushed, and was able to grab the bed I wanted (the top bunk, because I guess I'm secretly a 10 year old). When the other girls joined me later, we all finished our unpacking and then headed out for a several hour Walmart trip. Food, home essentials, and the occasional home-non-essential were all purchased and then driven home in an Uber because we had far too many bags to bring on the bus. Dinner was a gourmet meal at the McDonald's inside the aforementioned Walmart. Truly the pinnacle of class.

Finally, it was all done. We were moved in. We had unpacked, we had food, and we were ready to begin our program.

But this post is already long enough. I'll have to leave the stories of wrong busses, drug testing, Traditions and training for another day.

Until next time,
Morgan 😊