DAY 1 (PART 1) : Check-In

This morning I woke up freezing at 5:30 AM and went to turn the heat on in our apartment. As soon as I did that, the fire alarms started going off and it freaking TERRIFIED me. I was so scared. I immediately turned the heat off and after a few minutes, the alarms went off. I could definitely smell that smokey smell when you first turn the heat on after it hasn't been used for a while, but really?! That sets the fire alarms off?! There's no telling how many other people I woke up.

So. That was a great way to wake up on the morning of check-in.

I meant to get there at 7:00 (or a little before), which is when we were first allowed to start lining up. But with all the frazzlement of the morning, I didn't leave until 7:00. I got to Vista at 7:20 and there was already a line of people. I drove up to the gate and they told me I had to park in the parking lot across the street. Well, it was full. So I decided to park behind that Walgreens right there, hoping I would be back before I got towed or something.

They started letting everyone in as soon as I had driven up, so by the time I walked back up to the complex, everyone was already in line at the Welcome Center.

Entrance to Vista Way.

Where everyone was lined up before they let people in.

There were signs directing you where to go once on property.

Where you wait in line outside the welcome center.

What the line looked like when I got there.

On the way to the welcome center, I met a guy named Daniel from Puerto Rico who was doing Main Gate Greeter at the parks. I talked to a few other people, but I can't recall their names. One was from Boston and was a character attendant, though.

The very first thing they did at check-in was make sure we had our DORMS paperwork and the forms of I.D. we would need for the day. Then they gave us temporary name tag stickers.

The poles on the right were wrapped in Walt Disney quotes.

The poles on the left were wrapped in the names of the apartments and the components of the program.

My temporary name tag for the day!

After that, we waited in line some more and were able to pick up our program guides:

Pretty much everything from here on out revolves around your program guide, DORMS paperwork, and whichever forms of I.D. you chose to bring (I used my driver's license and social security card). You'll need to keep these things easily accessible for the rest of the day.

The welcome center has some cute pictures on the wall, so at least there's stuff to look at while you wait!

Walt Disney was such a babe in his early years.

The big names in Disney right now.

Once inside the welcome center, you'll be waiting in line to get your housing assignment at one of these kiosks:

On the back of your program guide, they'll circle which apartment complex you're in, how many bedrooms you'll have, and will write in which apartment number you got. I'm living off-site so they just wrote "OH" for "Own Housing" on mine and sent me on my way.

The next step is taking your I.D. photo. This photo will be used for both your housing I.D. and your Disney I.D. So don't show up to check-in looking haggard or anything.

Big picture of the room where housing assignments, photos, vehicle registration, and I.D. printing takes place.

After that, if you're living in Disney housing, you'll take your program guide to the next station to pick up your apartment keys and car decal (if you brought yours). I was sent on to wait for my I.D. to be printed.

Mine says "OFF" since I'm living offsite. If living in Disney housing, you'd have the initials of whichever housing complex you're in on there. (Not too bad of a picture, right?)

Once you get your housing I.D. you're sent back outside. You'll go to whichever table has your last name and then hand the person your program guide. They find your name, pull off a sticker, and put it on the back of your guide. This sticker is very important because it tells you where you'll be working!

Surprise! I'll be working at Disney's Pop Century Resort!

I think at this point, some people found out if they'd be having to do a drug test or not. I think their stickers were highlighted yellow if they had to. And I think lifeguards had blue highlighted stickers to indicate their swim test.

After that, you're given a sticker that tells you what time you'll be going to Casting. I got a 2:30 bus time. Then I was put into a group with a few other people and we all stood around a table with a recruiter who basically went over what casting and the next few days were going to be like (what to where, when to arrive, etc.).

Then we were sent to a Payroll table. As long as everything was filled out beforehand, you'll just be good to go and sent right on through to fill out your I-9. They have someone there to walk you and a few others through the whole form. Super easy.

Where you find out your work location, talk about the next few days, and go over payroll, I-9's, classes, and Safe-D.

Then we were sent to someone to talk to us about the classes that are offered. The guy talking to us was named Jeff and he is going to be my Guest Services teacher!

At this point, we're at the end of check-in! The last stop was a series of tents. We didn't go to the first one (not sure what it was), but the second one was about Safe-D. We were given little first-aid kits and a bookmark. The next tent was just them giving us a reusable bag with laundry detergent in it. We could also pick up some apples, oranges, and granola bars at this booth.

And that's it! Goodness, what a whirlwind. But check-in is a breeze compared to Casting! Overall, the entire check-in process took about an hour.