I am happy to be able to say I arrived in Orlando safely and almost without hiccup, and already I can see that it is going to be a fantastic year!
The last 2 weeks before I left were pretty hectic. No matter how much time you have to prepare, it’s always sad when you get to the final goodbyes, and I couldn’t help but want more time even though I was desperate to get over here!
Some more good news though- a week before I flew out I passed my driving test, which is so nice that it’s now just done so I don’t have to worry about learning to drive again when I get home. My new license will have to be posted at home, and then Dad will have to post it out to me.
I flew out on the 29th October from Manchester airport. I had a nice mid day flight at 11:55, but it still meant that I had an early start as I had to drive up from Birmingham on the morning, after getting ready and doing the final bits of packing. Talking of which, packing was not as smooth as I had hoped for! I did a practice pack about a week ago so I could gauge how much my suitcase would weigh. I was under by a couple if kgs then, but when I packed on Monday I was well over, and so had to work out what I should be taking out. Looks like I did a bit too much shopping in my last 2 weeks!
My brother came along with me and my dad to Manchester which was great. The journey and check in were pretty smooth, though I had to do a little jiggling of stuff between suitcase and hand luggage to get them both underweight. I was expecting to check in and then go for a final coffee or sit somewhere to say goodbye, but there was NOWHERE to do this in my terminal and the check-in lady said I should probably go through straight away. I guess it was good as it meant I had less time to work myself up to the final goodbye, but there was still a little crying involved! Wasn’t as bad as when I left for Vietnam though- I think being used to spending time away from home made things easier, and to be honest I was getting so excited by this point that this was all really happening that I wasn’t as sad saying goodbye as I thought I would be!
I’d arranged to meet Kim and Tom, who I was flying with, after security which we did. We had some food in the airport before boarding, and the plane journey was the strangest I’d ever experienced because it was so so empty! Was fantastic though ad we got to spread out and move around no bother, and I can’t believe how cheap the flight was because the service and food was excellent. Journey took over 9 hours, which was quite long but not too bad, especially because it was comfortable!
Only hiccup was that when I arrived and went through immigration I got pulled aside to wait for like 20 minutes with no explanation, before having an interview as to why I was here. I knew I was obviously legal and supposed to be here etc., but it was still a little nerve- wrecking because I had no idea why I was pulled aside- and still don’t- but they let me through and then we got our pre booked transfer car (which I booked on the Mears website) to the Vista Welcome Centre.
Disney send you an email before you go with information on how to get to housing from Orlando International Airport and a voucher for a discounted shuttle. However, we flew into Sanford because it was much cheaper. There were no shuttles available, which meant that we had to privately rent a car. It was $150 so between three of us it was fine, but had I flew on my own it would have been very expensive!
I think stepping out of the airport started to make it more real, as we could actually feel the heat and the sun. The flight didn’t feel real, and it actually took a while for me to fully comprehend that I was really truly on my way to begin my adventure in Disney World!!
Check in was nice- first impression of the Disney staff is AMAZING as they manage to do efficiency and professionalism mixed seamlessly with friendliness and helpfulness. We had our pictures taken for our housing ID, and after s long flight I can tell you I look rough! I didn’t know this was when we were having ID photos taken, so would warm anyone else going to be prepared! Me and Kim got to be room mates like we requested, and got placed in Commons which is the one I really wanted because a lot of the UK people live here and we also get our own washer and dryer. The apartment is great, big and spacious, and we’re in a good location really near to the clubhouse and the bus stops. Me and Kim then did a Walmart shop, and let me tell you that place is bonkers. It’s huge and has everything you could ever want in there. We got some basic food, some bedding and a few other bits and bobs and then returned as it was all we could carry. By this point we were knackered so as soon as we got back we made our beds put away the food and then conked out at about 2:00am. And that’s local time, so with the time difference I think I was awake for about 24 hours! But then I feel guilty complaining about a long day, because when we met our room mates they said that had a 29 hour journey! They’re 2 really nice girls (we have a 2 bedroom flat, so 4 girls) from Namibia, so they had to take several transfers.
Next morning we planned to have a proper lie in before our first housing meeting, but we all woke up early- probably with the excitement. We had a wander around and I logged on to one of the computers to message home, as we didn’t have a router and I can’t connect my tablet to the internet via a cable. Our housing meeting was a million times better than I expected, the speakers were great and really made it fun, and everyone was willing to get involved. They asked a few trivia questions at the start- I got one right (location of other parks other than Florida) so I won a couple of prizes 😀 . It really got me pumped up and made me realise that this is actually happening! At the meeting we saw a couple of people that we had talked to on the facebook group and got chatting to them. I keep seeing people that I think I recognise still, but am not sure whether to say something or not, although the atmosphere is so friendly that you could probably start a conversation with most people. After the meeting we went back to Walmart to get more stuff, like a router-yay!- so now that the flat is feeling more full it feels more like home.
Then a couple of the UKers that have been here a couple of months, one of whom I met in the interviews, invited us out to get to know some people! So we met at the bus stop and went to Planet Hollywood in Downtown Disney where the food is amazing, and the to Raglan Road, an Irish Bar, for a couple of drinks. It was so lovely that people were willing to make an effort to welcome us and I had a great night with them. Only silly thing is because Disney have my passport and I’m still waiting for my driving license to be posted out I couldn’t drink as I don’t have any ID, but it wasn’t a massive deal.
It’s now my second full day. We had an immigration talk this morning, and had someone talk to us and check we were ok for the Disney look, which all went pretty smoothly. I just have a couple of hours break, so I thought I would update this as there has been so much going on already! Any nerves I had before coming have definitely disappeared, and I am so looking forward to everything that is about to happen!
Will try and update this again soon
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Emma's Disney Blog 