I checked in on January 8. At Casting, we were told to change our mailing address on The Hub within 72 hours in order for our Main Gate passes to be mailed to us at the proper address. I had Traditions on January 11 and had my first day of training on January 12. We weren't given access to The Hub until the second day of training, January 13 - which is when I was first able to change my address.
Long story short, I spent weeks trying to use my Blue I.D. to get into the parks (which they told us we would be able to do until out Main Gates arrived). Every time I tried to use it, I ran into trouble.
The first time I visited a park was at Hollywood Studios. They wouldn't let me in and told me I had to go to Guest Relations to get a special ticket to enter the park and would have to do this every time I entered a park until my Main Gate arrived.
After Jon had Traditions and got his Blue I.D., we decided to go to Epcot. Doing as I was originally told, we went to Guest Relations outside Epcot and I told the guy the story about what had happened at the Studios. Then this *complete* snot of a Cast Member told me something along the lines of, "Yeah, since it's a new pass it hasn't been activated yet, we're not going to be able to let you into the parks tonight. You'll have to call this number for the office in Celebration and get it sorted out. ...Blah Blah Blah... I'm a complete snob... That was a complimentary ticket that they've been having to give out and you only get one..."
To which I replied, "So, why is everyone else on the College Program with me getting into the parks with no problems?" And he basically just kept telling me I wouldn't be able to get into the parks. Me and Jon then walked over to the turnstiles and they didn't even scan anything, they just waved us on through.
We went to Animal Kingdom once using our I.D.'s and they also didn't make any trouble for us. The I.D.'s wouldn't scan, and they just let us on through. Same thing at Magic Kingdom.
After I realized that all the other CMs on the College Program had already received their Main Gates, we called the office in Celebration to ask where ours were. They told me that mine had been sent to my permanent address, which is my parent's house. I had asked my parents numerous times if they had received anything from Disney and they never did. So the people at the office said they would send another set to my mailing address at no charge (which they should have done to begin with).
The second time I went to Hollywood Studios using my Blue I.D., the exact same thing happened. The woman told me that since it was after the 2-week period that they allow Cast Members to use their I.D.'s to enter the parks, they wouldn't be able to let me in. I went to Guest Relations and told them my story from beginning to end and how I was currently waiting for my new set to be sent in the mail. The girl at Guest Relations was really annoyed that they wouldn't let me in and asked if I remember who I had talked to. She seemed to know who it was and gave me a ticket that would be good for a few weeks until I got my Main Gate.
Finally, this past Monday (February 10), I went to the Main Gate office in Celebration to pick up my passes. Everyone I talked to about my situation just told me to go here and they would print them right out. I really wish I had done this sooner!
I went in-between my classes that day. It took forever to find a parking space. Once I went inside, I showed security my I.D. and asked how to get to the Main Gate office. It's on the 8th floor of 200 Celebration Place in Celebration, FL.
It's a small waiting room with a window that you talk to people through. Once you get in there, you have to sign in on a really confusing touch screen computer that isn't really a touch screen. Then you have to wait to be helped. Then you have to fill out a form on another computer, saying what you need, how many guest passes you're entitled to, etc. They didn't even ask any questions. I just did all of that and they printed them right up and handed them over to me. I could have saved a whole lot of stress and anxiety by doing this a lot sooner.
So, if you live off-site while on your College Program - don't hesitate to go pick up your Main Gates! If you live in Disney housing, I think pretty much everyone's got sent to the office of their apartment complex. But this was a lot of trouble to go through when I could have just gone and picked them up at any time.
So glad I don't have to worry about getting into the parks anymore! (...After an entire month of my program has passed.)
