One of the biggest questions leading up the beginning of your Disney College Program is where am I going to be living? Figuring out your living situation can be incredibly stressful once you factor in how many people you want to live with, what sort of atmosphere you’re looking for, and what arrangement will best suit your particular needs. Thus, I present to you the opinions of a few former CPs on their apartment complex experience during their program, in the hopes that it will help you narrow down your list of pros and cons.
Obviously, everyone will have very different ideas of what will make them most comfortable, so I tried to cover a variety of complex/apartment size combinations. The girls I talked to—yes, I did only talk to girls, so guys who are reading this, I apologize—lived in 3-bedroom apartments with 5 other roommates, which doesn’t cover a ton of ground. So I have also included a few of my thoughts about the veeeery small apartment I ended up in for my CP extension, along with my former roommate’s thoughts about our veeeery large living situation (8 people!) so you can hopefully get an idea of the extremes as well.
Q: Which apartment complex did you live in, how many roommates did you live with and how many bedrooms/bathrooms were there?
A: On my first CP, I lived in Vista Way with 5 roommates in a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment. On my second CP, I lived in The Commons with 5 roommates in a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom apartment. – Kelsey
A: On my CP, I lived in Patterson Court with 5 roommates in a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom apartment. – Beth
A: On my CP, I lived in Chatham Square with 7 roommates in a 4-bedroom, 2 ½ – bathroom apartment. – Carrie
A: On my CP extension, I lived in Chatham Square with 3 roommates in a 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment. – Ashleigh
Q: What did you like about your apartment?
A: In Vista Way, my closet was huge and we had a giant window in the living room that overlooked a pond! My bedroom also had a corner that was two windows and it really let in the light. In The Commons, my bedroom had a giant bay window! We had a giant patio! It was all wood flooring so it made cleaning a lot easier! It was also really nice because the stairs to get to our apartment were inside! Our apartment also had our own washer and dryer in it. – Kelsey
A: It was very spacious in Patterson Court. I didn’t feel like I was cramped in there with 5 other girls, especially in the kitchen and the bedrooms. My roommates and I shared some things like milk and bread, but we each had our own food items and the kitchen was big enough that we could store it all. The rooms were also roomy enough that I didn’t feel cramped with my roommate. We also had enough closet space to fit both of our things. – Beth
A: The best part about living in a 4-bedroom apartment in Chatham was the fact that it was so big. Even though there were eight of us, it didn’t feel like we were constantly stepping on each other’s toes. – Carrie
A: The living area of the 1-bedroom in Chatham was fairly large, which was nice, and there was a lot of seating in that main area. The kitchen was also fairly roomy and we had a good amount of cookware and dishes, despite the small number in our apartment. – Ashleigh
Q: What did you dislike about your apartment?
A: In Vista Way, it really needed to be renovated. They were working on it but unfortunately hadn’t made it to mine yet. Some of the bedrooms were tiny and we only had two bathrooms so I shared a bathroom with three other people and that was quite chaotic. The bedrooms had carpet still and it was kind of gross and needed to be cleaned. In The Commons, my room was a lot smaller than the others so our bathroom was a lot tinier. I just wish the rooms were more similar in size. – Kelsey
A: My apartment was in the back of Patterson, so the walk was longer. It was also closer to International Drive so we could constantly hear cars, trucks and buses driving by no matter what time it was. The bathroom door in my room also got jammed twice, both times before I had to go to work. My roommates somehow got it unjammed while I was at work but it made it very inconvenient. – Beth
A: The lack of showers—eight girls and two showers was frustrating. Someone was always taking one when you needed to, and it was overrun with toiletries. Also the lack of storage for food—two fridges was not enough for eight people. A second pantry also would’ve been nice. Since girls eat a lot of food and drink a lot of alcohol, it would have been nice to have somewhere to keep it all. – Carrie
A: My biggest complaint was—I’m sure you can guess—the lack of space, both literally and figuratively. There wasn’t enough cupboard, drawer, or closet space to house the clothing and food of three girls who like to shop and eat. There also wasn’t anywhere you could really go if you needed to be alone. As an introverted extrovert, I like my alone time, and since we all shared every room in the house, there wasn’t anywhere I could go to get some space. As well, the closet was in the bathroom, which made it difficult to get ready if another roommate was showering.
Finally, I had to deal with the top bunk of the bunkbed, which wasn’t as completely horrible as it seemed (although climbing up that thing after a long day was rough), but I didn’t like the fact that there wasn’t anywhere for me to comfortably sit in the room. The other girls could flop on their beds but I was kind of stuck sitting on the floor until I decided it was time to climb the ladder to bed. – Ashleigh
Q: What did you like about your apartment complex?
A: In Vista Way, it was honestly fairly quiet most of the time. The central bus location was there so catching a bus was super easy. It was also within walking distance of a lot of stores! The Commons was tiny which made for a more quiet atmosphere overall. The pool was super nice and The Commons has The Grid which has great milkshakes. – Kelsey
A: In Patterson Court, I liked how close we were to things like laundry and the mailbox (which is not true for every apartment building, however we were lucky). I also liked that Patterson was still close enough to Chatham that we could easily walk to the buses. I personally didn’t mind not having a bus stop but others disliked it. There was one bus driver—thankfully it was the bus that I took to work—who would ask if there was anyone from Patterson and would actually drop us off there. – Beth
A: I felt Chatham was pretty well maintained, and considering the situation it was fairly quiet. My apartment was right by the bus stop so it could get loud at night when people were getting back from work, but other than that it was really quiet. – Carrie
Q: What did you dislike about your apartment complex?
A: In Vista Way, there wasn’t really much I disliked about the complex itself. There were a few occasions where noise was an issue from buses or other CPs but it really wasn’t bad there.
A: In The Commons, my building was right by security so we could hear every bus or person that came into the complex. You learned to tune it out but it was definitely a bummer. – Kelsey
A: I didn’t have any major complaints except that Patterson felt weirdly laid out and my building was so far away from the front gate and the pool. The computer room was also not very convenient but since we didn’t have a printer in the apartment, I had to use it for printing off things like my resume for auditions. – Beth
A: In Chatham, the laundry rooms suck, as they are very dirty and expensive. Other than that I don’t really have any complaints about the complex. – Carrie
About the Authors:
Kelsey Baumgardner is currently working in PhotoPass in Magic Kingdom. Prior to this role, she completed two College Programs, one in 2015 in Merchandise at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Stroller Rentals, and another in the spring of 2017 in Attractions at Peter Pan’s Flight and “it’s a small world” in Magic Kingdom. She graduated in 2016 from California University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Graphic Communication. She is hoping to stay with Disney PhotoPass after the end of her CP with the hopes of one day working for Yellow Shoes Creative Group! You can find Kelsey on Twitter and Instagram at @kfbaumgardner!
Beth Felerski completed her College Program in 2015 on the Spring Advantage program working as a Quick Service Food & Beverage Hostess at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. She is currently a senior in her final semester at Bowling Green State University majoring in Musical Theatre with a minor in Dance. She hopes to return to Disney and Orlando in the spring or summer of 2018. You can find Beth on Twitter and Instagram at @iAmBethF!
Carrie Gantz completed her College Program in the spring of 2017 in Custodial at The Marketplace at Disney Springs. She is currently getting her Associate’s in General Education at Cape Fear Community College. She doesn’t plan on going back to Disney to work but she does plan to continue to visit all the time! You can find Carrie on Instagram at @carebears_world!