Disney Check-In...

Monday morning brought our first actual encounter with the Disney program. We met at one of the complexes called The Commons, we went in, handed some of our forms and our passports over, and received our welcome packets which let us know where we would be living for the next year!

I found out I would be living in Vista Way, the oldest complex and the one with the party reputation, and that Rachel would be living in Chatham Square. So all of a sudden we were swept off to different areas, and that was that. We were alone to discover our new homes.

Lucky for me I found one of my roommates as I was exiting the first meeting and it was one of the girls I had met on the flight over from Auckland. Without really discussing it we decided to share a room, and we aimed to get there quickly and claim the one with the en suite. We are in a 3 bedroom, so there are 6 of us. And so far we all get along so that's a bonus!

After arriving at our apartments we were free to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the day, so we made a trip down the road to Applebee's for lunch where I got something called "Potato Twisters" thinking it would be like curly fries. It wasn't. It was potato crisps twisted up. The sauce was good though. We then continued on to Dollar Tree which may quickly become my new favourite place. Unlike in NZ dollar stores, everything there is actually $1. Winning!

After this we hopped on a bus to every new Disney Programmers must-do. Walmart. It was MASSIVE! Think two Warehouses and a supermarket shoved together. We had no idea what was going on, but managed to pick up some bedding and a few necessities. 

As we were leaving Walmart we heard the tell-tale thunder that meant a Florida rainstorm was on its way, we hopped on the bus and managed to get our stuff upstairs into our apartment before it started pouring down, ruining our plans to go out for dinner. But we were all pretty tired so we accepted it and just hung out instead. At about 11:30pm we had a knock on the door, and a somewhat tipsy american guy came in to introduce himself, he ended up staying for a couple of hours. He knew nothing about New Zealand and was then bombarded with facts and questions about America. Poor guy.

Tuesday we had an afternoon welcome meeting so we took it easy in the morning, going out a couple of times to buy a few more things. I can't quite get over the heat here. Every time you go outside its like walking into a wall of thick hot air. It's insane. 

We ended up having an early night as we were all exhausted. Only Claire and I were woken at what seemed like 4am by some loud drunken people next door. We were all ready to be pissed off and report them... until I looked at my phone and it was only midnight. Oops.