College Program Parents Thread...

[DCPmom2014]

Our company has a program called Best Doctors that gives recommendations for you. My DD lives in Orlando and was looking for a psychiatrist and one that they recommended was Dr. Sheallah Palmer. She hasn't actually seen her, but I thought I'd throw it out there for you.

Thanks for the recommendation. I looked up Dr. Palmer. Looks like she is a family practice doctor. My daughter needs one of those as well.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Hi there: My DD is starting DW DCP in 2 weeks. We are traveling from NYC and trying to figure out what she will need in her apartment. I have a few questions for those parents who have kids that went through the program already.

1. Are they allowed a TV in their room - or just the living room?
2. Did any of your children put lifters on their beds? If so how high can you raise it?
3. What is the first day like? How long do we get to move her in? Will we be able to see her much or will she be in meetings most of the first day.

Thanks for any information - we are just trying to get everything ready.

 

[Goofy4WDW1964]

Hi there: My DD is starting DW DCP in 2 weeks. We are traveling from NYC and trying to figure out what she will need in her apartment. I have a few questions for those parents who have kids that went through the program already.

1. Are they allowed a TV in their room - or just the living room?
2. Did any of your children put lifters on their beds? If so how high can you raise it?
3. What is the first day like? How long do we get to move her in? Will we be able to see her much or will she be in meetings most of the first day.

Thanks for any information - we are just trying to get everything ready.

They are allowed a TV in their room but I don't believe there is cable hookup in the bedrooms. My son took his for several reasons: To use in the main living room, to put in his bedroom to use with his Xbox for games and movies, and, as a spare in case the person who had the main television terminated and left.

He did not put risers on his bed, so I can help you with question number two.

Our son's first day consisted of check in, which took a couple of hours. They do have things for parents to do at Vista Way, the check in location. There are meet and greets with other parents and opportunities to get information. After check in, some students went directly to Casting. Our son did not have Casting right away. He had his Casting and apartment meeting the next day. He called us after check in and we followed him and one of his new roomates to their apartment. After a quick tour, we went ahead and got all of his stuff carried into his apartment. He had already made arrangements with his roomates for them all to go to the store that night. We made a list of things that he needed for us to go and get. We made a quick run to Wal-mart, dropped the stuff off back at his apartment and then went to our condo to rest. He stayed at his apartment.

Each students schedule will vary depending on what check in time they are assigned and when they have Casting. You will have to do a little playing it by ear. But, you shoud have plenty of time to mover her in and to spend with her. She will be going to Check-in, Casting, apartment meeting and getting to know her knew roomates and surroundings. But you should have no trouble working out time to spend with her.

 

[Praise2Him]

Thanks for the recommendation. I looked up Dr. Palmer. Looks like she is a family practice doctor. My daughter needs one of those as well.

I'm sorry! My DD misunderstood and gave me the name of the family practice doctor that she did see. She really likes her!

Here are the recommended psychiatrists (that she hasn't seen):

James Roderick Hundley - Winter Park
Dennis E. Platt - Orlando
Ryan C. W. Hall - Lake Mary

Hope that gives you something to go with

 

[DizMom11]

My Daughter checks in 2/2. I am debating leaving on 2/4 or 2/5. Will she have no use for me after 2/4? lol

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

They are allowed a TV in their room but I don't believe there is cable hookup in the bedrooms. My son took his for several reasons: To use in the main living room, to put in his bedroom to use with his Xbox for games and movies, and, as a spare in case the person who had the main television terminated and left.

He did not put risers on his bed, so I can help you with question number two.

Our son's first day consisted of check in, which took a couple of hours. They do have things for parents to do at Vista Way, the check in location. There are meet and greets with other parents and opportunities to get information. After check in, some students went directly to Casting. Our son did not have Casting right away. He had his Casting and apartment meeting the next day. He called us after check in and we followed him and one of his new roomates to their apartment. After a quick tour, we went ahead and got all of his stuff carried into his apartment. He had already made arrangements with his roomates for them all to go to the store that night. We made a list of things that he needed for us to go and get. We made a quick run to Wal-mart, dropped the stuff off back at his apartment and then went to our condo to rest. He stayed at his apartment.

Each students schedule will vary depending on what check in time they are assigned and when they have Casting. You will have to do a little playing it by ear. But, you shoud have plenty of time to mover her in and to spend with her. She will be going to Check-in, Casting, apartment meeting and getting to know her knew roomates and surroundings. But you should have no trouble working out time to spend with her.

Thank you so much for your response. We will use the TV in the living room. I also wanted to make sure that we would have enough time to move her in - we have to leave the day after check in. We are all so excited about our DD being in Disney World.
Thanks!

 

[HopperFan]

Hi there: My DD is starting DW DCP in 2 weeks. We are traveling from NYC and trying to figure out what she will need in her apartment. I have a few questions for those parents who have kids that went through the program already.

1. Are they allowed a TV in their room - or just the living room?
2. Did any of your children put lifters on their beds? If so how high can you raise it?
3. What is the first day like? How long do we get to move her in? Will we be able to see her much or will she be in meetings most of the first day.

Thanks for any information - we are just trying to get everything ready.

My DD has been there since Aug DCP and extended to stay until May. She is in Commons in a 2 bedroom and just found out they are moving her to Vista this semester. Not thrilled but at least she knows her roommate (one of her workmates this semester).

1. They can have TV's in the Living Room or Bedroom and both have cable. She did not take her tv because her roommates had theirs but now she needs one so she just bought a small one for the bedroom. I texted her to verify and she said yes they had cable in the bedroom.

2. She bought risers and attempted to use them but they actually cracked and one broke under the weight of the bed. She immediately removed and threw out. She has not had major space issues. The closet is walk-in, she has small chest and nightstand and took a plastic drawer unit.

3. Her first day may have been unusual because she met and picked her roommates in advance. That Monday morning she drove and picked up all the girls at their hotels so they could check in together. We did not see her the rest of the day. They all moved in together and then went to Walmart together. She didn't want help (honestly we weren't even going to Orlando with her until we decided to go to the beach the week before and just drive her car, then fly home from Orlando). She came back to our hotel because all of them were going back to stay with their families and she wanted them to all stay their first night together. The next day she only had a half day of things to attend so she came back to our hotel, napped and then we went out for dinner and fun. We left the next day but by then they were in full day activities. The four roommates had some activities together and some split up. You just won't know their schedule for those first few days until they actually check in.

 

[Goofy4WDW1964]

My Daughter checks in 2/2. I am debating leaving on 2/4 or 2/5. Will she have no use for me after 2/4? lol

It really depends on your daughter. Each person's child is going to be different.

When we took our son down in August, we found a really good deal on renting a condo for seven days so we went ahead and stayed down there for a week. We told him it was up to him to contact us if he needed us for anything once we got his stuff moved in. We spent most of the week by the pool at our resort. We did have our son pick one day that fit into his schedule to go and spend the day at one of the parks with us. We even let him decide which park.

We found what worked best for our son was to let him know that we were available but left it up to him to decide. We knew that he was going to be busy with moving in, getting to know his new roomates, new surroundings, etc. That is what seemed to work for him.

There is no right or wrong way to do this. Get lots of opinions from other parents and apply what you feel will work for your daughter. One thing that is consistent is that there are unknown variables that will alter your plans somewhat and you will have to do some playing by ear.

Most of all, enjoy the experience.

 

[dizagain]

My Daughter checks in 2/2. I am debating leaving on 2/4 or 2/5. Will she have no use for me after 2/4? lol

I flew down with my DD last June. I went with her to check-in and hung around in the parent area. She went straight to casting so I went back to hotel for a bit and then picked her up. We moved her into her apartment and then made a huge Wal-Mart run. Once we had all of that settled, I left for a bit and then took her to dinner. She stayed in her apartment that night and the next morning I took her to breakfast and we said our goodbyes. She had a housing meeting that day and I flew home. She lived in an 8-person apartment and I think 2 girls had parents stay longer. They were busy and having fun getting to know each other. I hope your DD has a wonderful experience- mine definitely did!!!

 

[sammielynn]

My son checks in Feb. 9. We are leaving home on Jan. 29 for the drive down. I will be flying home on Feb. 1. He will be staying at my condo in Orlando. He hopes to stay at my condo during his program. Anyone had issues being allowed to stay off-campus? He is over 21.

 

[jenniy122]

My son checks in Feb. 9. We are leaving home on Jan. 29 for the drive down. I will be flying home on Feb. 1. He will be staying at my condo in Orlando. He hopes to stay at my condo during his program. Anyone had issues being allowed to stay off-campus? He is over 21.

When he gets his DORMS paperwork all he has to do is check off that he's living off campus. He'll still get an id at check in that will let him in the complexes for classes or events, but he won't be able to use their transportation or stay the night with friends.

 

[DCPmom2014]

I'm sorry! My DD misunderstood and gave me the name of the family practice doctor that she did see. She really likes her!

Here are the recommended psychiatrists (that she hasn't seen):

James Roderick Hundley - Winter Park
Dennis E. Platt - Orlando
Ryan C. W. Hall - Lake Mary

Hope that gives you something to go with

Thanks so much! Has she made an appointment with any of them yet? We called one doctor in the Davenport area where she is living and not even a call back after three weeks! Wish I could find a younger, female psychiatrist - most appear to be older males!

 

[sammielynn]

When he gets his DORMS paperwork all he has to do is check off that he's living off campus. He'll still get an id at check in that will let him in the complexes for classes or events, but he won't be able to use their transportation or stay the night with friends.

Thanks. Will he get his DORMS paperwork when he checks in?

 

[jenniy122]

Thanks. Will he get his DORMS paperwork when he checks in?

10-12 days before check-in.

 

[poison ivy]

So excited for all the new DCP candidates checking in for Spring. Good luck to everyone!

My Daughter checks in 2/2. I am debating leaving on 2/4 or 2/5. Will she have no use for me after 2/4? lol

As others have stated it's really debatable as to how much time you'll spend with her once she checks in. The first two days are flexible. The most they'll have is a housing meeting at some point. They typically have one day off prior to Traditions.

We stayed for the week and enjoyed the parks and resorts as a vacation, but we rarely saw our son. He was hanging out with roommates or in training.

Here's my son's first week schedule.

Week 1 Schedule

Day 1 – Check In (housing ID/housing keys/vehicle registration) (Mon)
Day 2 - Housing Mtg.
Day 3 - OFF
Day 4 – Traditions
Day 5 and 6 - Work Training etc...........

We were leaving Day 6

 

[goofy4tink]

Quick question...my dd, a college junior, is planning on applying next year, for the fall program right after graduation. She has a very good friend who is there now, just starting her program. Her friend has a car..mom drove them down and is flying home. My question...is a car really helpful down there? My dd doesn't drive all that much at home. She's a very nervous driver. So, not sure if we would be comfortable with her having access to a car in such unfamiliar areas. Any advice from those of you who have been down this road?

 

[AnnaS]

My daughter did not have a car for the 8 month period she was there. She did drive at home and had an older SUV at the time at home.

She did fine with their transportation and on a few occasions, she would get a ride somewhere - not often and always chipped in for gas. Transportation takes them to work, Mall, Walmart, Post Office, etc.

 

[poison ivy]

Quick question...my dd, a college junior, is planning on applying next year, for the fall program right after graduation. She has a very good friend who is there now, just starting her program. Her friend has a car..mom drove them down and is flying home. My question...is a car really helpful down there? My dd doesn't drive all that much at home. She's a very nervous driver. So, not sure if we would be comfortable with her having access to a car in such unfamiliar areas. Any advice from those of you who have been down this road?

A lot of participants in the program don't have cars. There is complimentary bussing to/from work and to/from shopping; the mall; among other places (check the bus schedules). She'll have to leave much earlier to get to work but will be commuting with so many others in that situation it won't feel out of the ordinary. Our son didn't have a car his first program and none of his roommates had one either. It was an inconvenience when it gets crowded or they don't run on time, but nothing he couldn't manage.

 

[goofy4tink]

A lot of participants in the program don't have cars. There is complimentary bussing to/from work and to/from shopping; the mall; among other places (check the bus schedules). She'll have to leave much earlier to get to work but will be commuting with so many others in that situation it won't feel out of the ordinary. Our son didn't have a car his first program and none of his roommates had one either. It was an inconvenience when it gets crowded or they don't run on time, but nothing he couldn't manage.

Thanks all! Yes, dd is very familiar with having to leave plenty of time when using Disney transportation.... Now, fingers crossed she gets accepted. Otherwise, she may be out of luck...only gets that one shot.

 

[mousestruck]

Hi all. My son is currently a freshman at University of Florida and is planning to apply for the DCP this year for Fall Advantage and/or next year's Spring Advantage (as a sophomore). It has been a longstanding dream of his to work for Disney, and in fact, this was one of the reasons he chose UF - in hopes of optimizing his opportunities! (We live in NJ.)

The UF Business School requires him to take two 4-credit UF courses on-line during the program (while also receiving 4 credits for the internship by doing a few assignments). Naturally I am concerned about this, since he will be working full-time. Have any of your kids successfully taken school courses during the program? Were supervisors accommodating if he/she needed a certain window of time off to take an exam?

Any insight would be appreciated!