Welcome back guys and hello from Florida. This week I officially started my 2nd Disney College Program here at the Walt Disney World Resort and I couldn’t be more excited. On Monday, I moved into my apartment at Vista Way here at Disney Housing and right now I am currently gearing up to officially start training very soon!

The first week here on your program is all about setting up your apartment, meeting your roommates and making new friends, and getting a lay of the land of your new home before you start training for your role. Since we have this first week off to adjust to our surroundings, many participants are looking for different things to do to pass the time. So to help those who may have just started or about to move down here for their CP and are looking for something to do their first week here I’ve compiled a list of 10 things you can do the first week here on your Disney College Program.

---

1) Resort Hopping

One thing that a lot of participants do during their first week is to go explore the Disney resorts. I’ve touched on this before, but Disney is home to some of the most well-themed resorts around and it’s so much fun to explore every one of them. If you are looking to do this, I highly recommend the following resorts clusters, as you can visit more than one resort on the same day because they are easily accessible to one another.

Click here for a more in depth look at these different resort

• The Magic Kingdom Resort Loop
• The Boardwalk Resorts
• Pop Century and Art of Animation Resorts

• 

• 

• 

2) Complex Tours

Another really fun thing to do is to check our your complex and get to know what is where! Do a lap and see what facilities are where as well as the optimal route to get to these places.

Some key things to check out are the

• Pool
• Gym
• Service Center
• Laundry Facility
• and the Bus Stop

If you really want to get adventurous too, go check out these features at other complexes!

3) Housing Events

One thing that I HIGHLY recommend taking advantage of during your program is the housing events. These events are put on by the Disney Programs Housing staff and are for all program participants. Most events have free food, prizes, or other surprises in store so take advantage of the swag that these things bring!

Such events include

• Welcome Event
• Grocery Bingo
• Pool Parties
• Housing Field Trips
• and more!

One of the biggest things that first week that many participants look forward to is the Welcome Event. Each big arrival group gets its own fun-filled theme filled with character meet and greets, pizza, a photo booth, and other fun photo opportunities. So grab your roommates, neighbors, and friends from housing and make it a plan to check it out!

• 

• 

• 

Some tips to find out more about these events include

• Picking up a Communicator by the service center
• Checking out the weekly housing email
• Following Disney Housing on Twitter & Instagram

4) Disney Springs

Another fun thing to do with roommates or a group of friends is to take the Disney Housing buses to Disney Springs. This shopping and entertainment district is FREE to explore and wander about and is a great way to spend the day or night. There is honestly so much to see and do at Disney Springs that everybody in your group will find something that sparks their interest.

5) Outlet Malls

One great thing about where the Disney Housing complexes are is that they are conveniently located to some great outlet stores. In fact, the outlets are so close to housing that if you cross the street from the Commons and cut through the parking structure you are already there. These stores are easily accessible from Patterson, Chatham, and the Commons, however, if you live in Vista Way you may need to hop on a Disney bus and get off at the Commons before embarking on this trip. Some cool outlet stores here include the Disney Character Warehouse, Nike, Vera Bradley, American Eagle and many more!

6) Other Attractions

Orlando isn’t called the theme park capital of the world for nothing. If you are itching to go to a park while you have the week off, look no further than some other theme parks here in the area.

Some places you can visit include

• Sea World
• Universal
• Islands of Adventure
• Volcano Bay
• Gator Land

While I didn’t do it this year, I took advantage of getting a FL resident discount on my Universal AP last year and went a lot with my roommates. This is something a lot of CP’s opt into getting while they are here on the program and I suggest looking into it if you like thrill rides and don’t want to spend all your off time at Disney.

7) Go out to a Bar (21+)

Something exciting that I’m looking forward to this program is going out and exploring the Downtown Orlando nightlife. This area is home to many different venues and are host to thousands of tourists and locals alike. There is even a party bus that can pick you up outside of Disney housing and bring you to your destination and back home again. I suggest looking into this on the Facebook groups about this if you are interested in that.

Some popular bars in the area include

• Chillers
• Independent bar (iBar)
• Aero Bar
• Señor Frog’s
• Cowboys

8) Go see a movie at the AMC in Disney Springs

Another thing that you and your roommates can do is to head over to Disney Springs and go see a movie at AMC. This movie theater is particularly nice because it also as the dine-in theater option so you can order food & drinks right from your seats while watching a movie. Since this is the only full week that you’ll have off on the program, I advise taking this opportunity to go check out a movie that you’ve been dying to see while you still have the same days off as your roommates.

9) Start Making a Bucket List

While you are settling in and exploring more of your new home you may get some ideas of things you want to do later on in your program. Whether that be eating at a certain restaurant on property or doing a behind the scenes tour, I HIGHLY urge you to compile a list of all the things you want to do while here and make yourself a DCP bucket list. That way if you are ever bored you can look to the list for some inspiration and perhaps plan something special around one of your must do’s. This is a great way to see and explore more of the parks and resorts and it serves as a memory of your program.

If you need inspiration check out my first programs Bucket List here and my current programs Bucket List here.

10) Roommate/New Friends Bonding

Alright, the last and one of the biggest things you should do while on your program is to hand out with your roomies! These are the girls (or guys) that you’ll be living with for the rest of your program. So plan an outing with one another so you can get to know each other better.

Some ideas of roommate outings include

• Make a roommate dinner
• Go out to dinner
• Movie marathon
• Play basketball/tennis/VB at your complex
• Go to the pool
• Decorate your apartment
• Do all of the Top 10’s with them!

So those are my 10 recommendations for those of you looking for fun things to do their first week on the program. These things can also be done by current program participants, however, since us first weekers don’t have park admission yet these are some things easily obtainable to us newcomers.

Let me know down in the comments below if anything should be added to this list for first weekers to know about!

Until then, Keep Moving Forward

-Kacey