The Day I'd Been Dreaming of: August 11th..

So Zane took me to the airport on Saturday afternoon, and I said my goodbyes to him and my friends and family that I was going to leave behind. This is probably the time in which I've learned I really suck at goodbyes.. Like to the point where I put them off and hope to never really have to give them, usually I'm running out the door and saying goodbye over my shoulder because I've put them off until the last possible second. So I'd said goodbye, I'd gotten on the plane from Salt Lake to Orlando, I'd landed at 1am and got picked up by my mom and Tim and went back to the hotel to rest. Sunday we spent the day getting everything in order for check in's on Monday and then I woke up and before I knew it, the day finally was here and it was time for me to check into Disney.
My check in time was 11-12 so I got dropped off and got in the first of many lines that I'd endure for the next 5 months. A few of my roommates with the same check in time were in line ahead of me, but because my last name is between A-L I got pulled to move up to a shorter line. From there I got my assignment for Disney: Merchandise on Sunset Blvd and Animation Courtyard in Hollywood Studios, my housing: Commons building 23, and my housing ID card. We continued through different sections talking about our upcoming schedule and the Disney Look, and then check in's were over. Kaylene and I met up at the end (thank goodness) and we both had Casting in an hour, from there we met a guy who also goes to our school and will be working in the same location as Kaylene, Matt. We all ran over to grab some lunch and then got on the first of many bus rides in this program that took us to the Casting building, the only place where you can find the Alice in Wonderland doorknobs! We went through more sections doing things like background checks and direct deposit checks, we played some trivia for College Program Pins and then we were taken back to the apartment complexes.
After Casting we found a few of our other roommates and went to go check out our apartment. After some switching around of rooms, Kaylene and I ended up getting to room together. My friend Andy, who I'd been talking to from the Facebook page for the last 3 months came up from Miami (since his arrival date wasn't for another week he was just visiting) came over at the same time my Mom and Tim got there so he got to help me bring my bags in and visit for a few before we all went separate ways.

They warned us that the first 2 weeks in the program are a little slow because of training and all the meetings we have to attend before we can start, and they were right. I left all my stuff and stayed in the hotel and with my family until my housing meeting the next day, and then it was time to say goodbye to them for a while since they had to get back to California. :[ The housing meeting was pretty typical in the sense of talking about being safe and discussing the rules of the complex. From there I went home to unpack and figure out what to do with the rest of our day before traditions on Thursday morning. Two nights of exploring Downtown Disney, some time trying out our complex's pool, enjoying the outlets across the parking lot, and unpacking is pretty much the extent of the next day and a half, killing time until Traditions.