VISTA WAY AND THE COMMONS PROS & CONS | DISNEY ACADEMIC EXCHANGE PROGRAM ADVICE SERIES

*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*

Hey there, pals!

A very happy 2021 to you all! I know the start of this year has pretty much been identical to the majority of 2020, but there most definitely is light at the end of the tunnel! A little life update: I have started my final semester at university! It's crazy to think that I'm near the end of my university degree, but I most definitely have learnt a lot about myself and the industry in which I wish to pursue my career in. Although university can be stressful at times, it's always great to open up my blog and type away once again!

I'm kicking off 2021 by continuing with my Disney Academic Exchange Program series and this post is about deciding which complex to live at for the duration of the Disney (International) College Program. At the time of publishing, they're four housing complexes: Vista Way, the Commons, Chatham Square and Patterson Court with one other currently under construction called Flamingo Crossing. This post is going to be dedicated to the first two existing Disney College Program housing complexes which are Vista Way and The Commons.

Without any further or do, I will start off with the housing complex that I know the best because I lived there for my Disney Academic Exchange Program, which is:

Opening in 1987, Vista Way typically houses the International College Program participants (Cultural Exchange Program, Cultural Representative Program and Academic Exchange Program). After living in Vista Way for the best part of nine months, I can definitely say that I know a thing or two about the positives and negatives of living there.

Complex Apartments and Facilities

Each apartment at Vista Way houses 4 or 6 people and all of the bedrooms have two single beds. Unlike the other existing Disney College Program housing complexes, the 6-person apartments at Vista Way do not have exactly one bathroom assigned to each bedroom. One of the bedrooms has an en-suite bathroom and the other two bedrooms share the one remaining bathroom.

All of the apartments at Vista Way each have a communal kitchen and living area, with some kitchen items provided. These items are a dishwasher, pots and pans, plates, bowls, cups and cutlery.

Twin bedroom

Around Vista Way, there are a number of designated smoking areas, as well as a number of facilities. The facilities at Vista Way are:

• 24/7 study and computer room

• Front desk

• Basic gym facilities

• 2 swimming pools - the only existing housing complex to have two swimming pools

• Basketball court

• Volleyball court

• Pavilion - my introduction with Central Michigan University was held at the Vista Way Pavilion

• Mail room

• Education classrooms

Laundry

At Vista Way, there are three laundry machines and three tumble dryers on the ground floor of every building. You do have to pay by cash or debit/credit card to use the laundry and drying machines. From memory, I think it's around $2 to use the laundry machine and around $1.50 to use the tumble dryer.

Location

Highlighted in yellow, Vista Way is situated on State Road 535 and is the furthest away from the other existing housing complexes (Chatham Square, Patterson Court and The Commons). However, I'd say that Vista Way is the closest housing complex to the Walt Disney World Resort - the other side of the Interstate 4 (I-4) freeway by the Lake Buena Vista label on the map below is Disney Springs! Vista Way also has plenty of parking spaces all across the housing complex, so you can bring your own/rented car for your program.

Bus Transportation

The bus transportation hub is located at Vista Way, so all bus routes stop here unlike some of the other housing complexes, which is incredibly convenient for wherever your work location is!

How Much Does it Cost?

All rent prices are automatically deducted from pay checks each week, so you don't have to worry about when rent will be deducted from your debut or credit card. Please note that all rent prices are accurate as of 2019-2020:

6-person, 3-bedroom apartment: $111.00

4-person, 2-bedroom apartment: $120.00

Although Vista Way was not my first choice of housing complexes to stay in, it was actually a pretty decent place to live during my Disney Academic Exchange Program. So, putting everything together, plus my own personal experiences of living at Vista Way, here's my review of living at this housing complex:

Next up is:

I would say that out of all of the current/existing Disney College Program housing complexes, the Commons would definitely be the smallest in size. Nevertheless, it is still able to house many Disney College Program and Disney International College Program participants.

Complex Apartment and Facilities

Each of the apartments at the Commons either have two single beds or one single bed and one bunkbed in a bedroom, depending on the number of people living in the apartment. Unlike Vista Way, each bedroom is assigned to a bathroom, so a maximum of two or three people would be sharing one bathroom, compared to Vista Way which can have up to four people sharing one bathroom!

Now I have been in one of the apartments at the Commons, and in my opinion, these apartments are the most spacious especially the communal kitchen and living area! The kitchen area appears to have plenty of storage and it already has a dishwasher, pots and pans, plates, bowls and cups.

Across the Commons, there are a range of designated smoking areas and a number of facilities all within a close range of each other because the apartment complex is so small. The Commons includes:

• 1 swimming pool

• Gym facility - most attractive of all the existing housing complexes

• Small computer room

• Front desk

• Hall - sometimes hosts some housing activities (e.g. grocery bingo) and education classes

• The Grid (convenience store) - I actually bought some bedding sheets from here because I had difficulties sourcing my bedding package, which was supposed to be at Vista Way by the time I checked in for my Disney Academic Exchange Program!

Laundry

The most unique part about the Commons, compared to any of the existing Disney College Program housing complexes, is the apartments contain a washing and drying room! What's even more of a perk is that it doesn't cost anything extra to use the washing and drying machines.

Location

The Commons (highlighted in green) is part of the existing housing complexes which are situated in the Little Lake Bryan area - see map below.

The Commons is just a 10min drive from the Walt Disney World Resort, but also has stores that are a walking distance away - both Publix (a grocery store) and the Orlando Premium Vineyard outlets are a 20min walk from the Commons! Furthermore, the Commons is just a short walk from the other Little Lake Bryan housing complexes, so that's convenient for hanging out with friends if they live at Chatham Square or Patterson Court and for attending housing events!

Bus Transportation

The Commons does have a bus stop near the main communal building, opposite the entrance. The majority of the bus routes stop here, including all of the park buses, the Disney Springs and Typhoon Lagoon route and the Walmart, Post Office and Publix route. However, the Blizzard Beach and neighbouring resorts route and the Disney Springs resort area bus route do not stop at the Commons. Therefore if you were to live at the Commons and need to take the Blizzard Beach route or the Disney Springs resort area route, you would have to walk about 10-15mins to the Chatham Square bus stop.

How Much Does it Cost?

All rent prices are automatically deducted from pay checks each week, so you don't have to worry about when rent will be deducted from your debut or credit card. Please note that all rent prices are accurate as of 2019-2020:

1 bedroom, 2 person - $200.00

1 bedroom, 3 person - $128.00

2 bedroom, 4 person - $141.00

2 bedroom, 5 person - $121.00

3 bedroom, 6 person - $134.00

4 bedroom, 8 person - $128.00

So, what's my verdict of the Commons?

I hope this post provided some insight and help in deciding which housing complex to preference before doing the Disney College Program. Obviously this post was based on my housing experience from July 2019 to March 2020, and so the housing complexes may have changed by the time you are reading this. If you are reading this one year, five years or 10 years after publishing and the housing complexes have changed since this post was published, I hope you enjoyed reading this post and learning about what the Disney College Program housing complexes used to look like nonetheless.

As always, if you have any questions about the Disney College Program housing complexes or any of the topics I have covered so far in my Disney Academic Exchange Program advice series so far, please use the contact form or my social media links to get in touch with me. I'll be more than happy to answer your questions the very best I can!

Thank you so much for reading and have a magical day!

-Hannah

DISCLAIMER: this blog is my personal experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program (DAEP) 2019-2020 and may not reflect everyone’s experience. Other programs and future participants on the DAEP may have slight adjustments to their programs that may not be featured in any of my blog posts. That being said, if you do leave any questions, I will try to answer them as best as I possibly can 😊