Day to Day In Vista Way

Me, Michelle, and Stephanie outside of the Vista Way Apartment Complex. (More Picture below)

One my first program in 2011, I lived in the Vista Way Complex. This is the oldest and (I think?) largest complex of apartments that the DCP participants live in. Vista is considered the "Party Complex". It has 2 pools, a fitness center (small - treadmills and a few weight machines), basketball courts, and its own bus stop inside the complex gates. At the time I was there, they had just started renovating them, but my apartment was definitely old and "worn in" to put it lightly. It is definitely a lively complex! People were always out and about because there are a lot of places to eat and shop at in walking distance. These included Applebee's, Wendy's, Walgreens, Chik-fil-a, and Starbucks. The Walgreens was definitely convenient! 

At the time of the program, I was 19 so I lived in a 6 person, Wellness apartment. Disney has two options for rooms: Wellness and Non-wellness. The Wellness housing means that there is no alcohol allowed in the apartment and so Non-wellness is a 21+ apartment. Anyone who is under 21 at the start of the program will automatically be put into Wellness housing. However, those participants 21 and over can choose to be in Wellness or Non-wellness. Also, should someone in a Wellness apartment turn 21 during the program, they have the option to relocate to a Non-wellness apartment if they choose. One of my roommates turned 21 about half way through our program, but we all got along so well that she didn't want to leave our group. She was just not allowed to bring any alcohol into the apartment.

Now, even though Vista has a "party" reputation, I did not go out much and I still enjoyed my time there. The only time that it was a bit of an annoyance was when it was Wednesday or Sunday night. Wednesdays were karaoke night at the Buffalo Wild Wings in a plaza on one of the bus routes and Sundays were industry night at House of Blues (Cast members over 21 with a Disney ID were not charged cover). These nights were BIG nights for everyone to get out and have some fun! I had my far share of B-Dub and HOB nights, but if you chose to stay in on one of those nights, you would hear everyone coming back from the busses at 3AM. My apartment was also right next to the bus station so I'm sure I heard way more than some parts of the complex did, but it did get loud and obnoxious at times! I completely suggest that everyone on the program experience these two nights while they are in Florida! Anyone can go even under 21 (just can't drink). Find other "must do's" on my Disney College Program Bucket List (under construction at the moment).

I am very glad that I was able to experience Vista Way as my first complex living at the DCP. However, this time around I plan on living in anything but Vista. Vista has a lot to offer someone that lives there, but I will definitely be having a car again this time around so I don't need the conveniences of so many places within walking distance. There are many people that I know who preferred being in Vista and that awesome! As they say, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and that's just not Vista for me.

Pictures from my apartment:

Our Beds (You can't hang anything on the walls, I just didn't know at the time these were taken)

Bathroom - our room was the one that has a bathroom in the room. The other 2 rooms had to share a bathroom.

Pool #1 across from our apartment.

One sink was outside of the bathroom with a nice built-in shelf for cosmetics.

Kitchen.

My bed. Again I did not know at the time that we weren't allowed to hang things on the walls.

My car (the silver one) parked right outside our door.

View from the front door of our apartment to the bus stop.

Dining and some of the living room.

Closet (There was another side that looked the same for my roommate)