Originally posted by Wilt Dasney
As for that article: I doubt its veracity. First of all, CPs are normally all assigned to an apartment at the same stage of their program (i.e., all of your roommates will start at the same time as you, in most cases), so that bit about the apartment being a mess, with Dorito's on the bed and a ring in the tub on the kid's first day, made me raise my eyebrows.
About the apartment issue. When we got to Vista, we were asked how we wanted to be placed. Smoking, non-smoking, drinking, non-drinking, all Brazilians, different nationalities. I asked for a full-American non-smoking home and got it. So there I was, beginning of December, with 5 Americans who had gotten there in June or something and were leaving early January. When they left, they made me pack and move to another place. They actually crammed all Brazilians inside 2 or 3 buildings. If you think Brazilian groups at WDW are bad, you should have seen this slum. But I digress. When I got to my new room, the "previous owners" were still there. THey were smoking, dropping ashes and putting out cigarettes on the carpet, spitting, there were actual fist-sized holes on the walls, a broken bad and broken sofas. We were told by Vista management to leave our luggage there and go out for the day. When I returned, the PRETENDED to have cleaned the place. SO I went to the clubhouse and DEMANDED a full fix. They actually changed the furniture and the carpeting, and fixed the walls. But the place still stank.
My point is, it can happen, you know?
As for the program, I was a Custodial (duh) and not only had wonderful roommates, I also had wonderful across-the-hall and downstairs neighbors. Some of those people I still talk to regularly, I even phone some of them on special occasions. My managers were awesome, and one particular trainer (Custodial Rick, from Forintierland) turned me into the Disney freak I am today. The guy had this incredible Pixie Dust aura around here, you could just tell he was proud to be a CM, he talked as if he knew Walt personally and he made me feel good about what we did, specially in the beginning when I still wasn't sure messing with garbage would be a fun way to spend 2 months.
Now would I have enjoyed the program if my roommates sucked and I got stuck inside a kitchen for 2 months? Probably not. That's why I think it's hard to judge the "program" as a general experience. You get handed lemons and you gotta try to make a good lemonade. I came back with the feeling my lemonade was pretty darn good.
