Aaron's Disney Adventure Begins

Sunday, amid Tropical Storm Fay, we headed out to Orlando with Yahoo Map in hand. Aside from torrential rains in Tallahassee it was a pretty easy drive and I didn't get lost once.....that day. Tallahassee had some serious flooding, there was water halfway up the trees on the sides of I-10. Somehow it mostly missed Pensacola but there were several large tree branches in my yard when we got back home so maybe we just got out of town in time.

The hotel charged my bank card twice for the room charge and the bank didn't credit it back until after we got home, that definitely put a damper on things while we were there. Aside from that and the sucky internet service, the hotel was about five minutes from where we needed to be so things weren't all bad.

Hanging Out at the Hotel

Day one, check in time. There were tons of people there and Disney had it all very well organized. They stole our children and made all of us to to another spot where 'parent' things were set up. The kids went through an assembly line to get checked in, housing choices were settled and background checks were done. At the parent zone, you could listen to speakers giving information on what to expect, sign your new 'cast member' up for direct deposit and grab a bottle of water or coffee. Water was definitely needed, it is freakin hot in Orlando! Pensacola feels nice and cool after being down there. Tori would straighten her hair and by the time she got to the van from the room it would be all curly again. The heat is draining and we were all pretty much exhausted the entire time.

Next we were off to drop Aaron off at the housing meeting and got very very lost. Somehow I made it back to where we needed to be in time and Aaron went in to learn what to do and not to do in his new apartment. After the meeting it was time to check out his new digs and move in. He landed a one bedroom in Chatham Square with one roommate. The apartment complexes are all gated and you must have ID to get past the gate. It's really secure and made me feel much better. We moved his stuff in and headed out to gorcery shop. We loaded up on canned goods, peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, apples and ramen noodles. Oh and cereal, lots of cereal. Aaron found wasabi beans and was extremely happy. Brandon tried to steal them but he failed. The apartment has a dishwasher which we have never had so Aaron had no clue what the dishwasher tablets were for. Too funny. By that time we were exhausted and went to find food. Hint: take food with you, everything, and I mean everything is expensive when you are staying that close to Disney. Aaron stayed at he hotel with us until the day we left.

Day two, time to find out where they would all be working. It's the luck of the draw. They go through a line and are given the next sticker in their category on the extremely long list of stickers and that is where they will be working. They are not employees, they are cast members and they don't have a job, they have a role in the show. Aaron will be at the All Star Music Resort during his stay. He was happy with it, it's inside, in air conditioning. Much better than outside in the heat all day. After that was taken care of he had the rest of the day free so we wandered around the gift shops in Orlando. Tori was mortified at the alligator heads and dead baby sharks in little glass jars that were being sold. I thought she was going to stage a protest. Needless to say, the people who sell these are on her shit list.

Day three, Aaron had to be at 'Traditions', where they learn the history of Disney, talk about work ethics and generally get them psyched for their stay. We waited around with him at is place until it was time for him to catch the bus. He walked around to the bus stop and as we drove through the gate Brandon snapped this shot of Aaron, not looking at all like Aaron.

Brandon and Tori are sad, Molly keeps sleeping on Aaron's bed and I keep finding ferrets wandering around the house now that Tori is taking care of them. I can tell you that you never get used to children leaving home. I go into denial and tell myself that they will be back, seems to work long enough to figure out a new routine. A lot of the parent talk around there was about how happy they were that their 18 yr old was finally out of the house, I think they're all crazy.