CP Parents

[timkeller]

Our son is currently a Spring Advantage CPer. He is a dedicated student and a hard worker. He is having the time of his life.

One of his recent comments was "Dad, I knew it was going to be good, but it is 100 times better than I thought it would be."

I'd be glad to answer any parent questions about our experience.

 

[windycitymom]

Thanks for offering to answer some questions...My son will be doing the Fall Advantage 2011. If he gets sick and needs to see a doctor, is there one within walking distance? will he need to take a bus? He won't be bringing a car.

I was concerned about food shopping, but was happy to read that there is Publix grocery store within walking distance.

I'm flying down with him to get him settled, but he'll be flying back on his own. If all his stuff won't fit in a suitcase or two, which carrier is better to use to ship his stuff?

Is what he earns enough to live on? or do you send him extra?

We are thinking of visiting him Thanksgiving week. Is that considered a black-out week?

Any other tips that you can provide would be great!!

 

[Practically.Perfect]

CPs usually get scheduled after everyone else gets to pick their shifts, so the chance of him getting much time off during thanksgiving is probally low. I'm not sure if it's a black out, but I assume it would be busy then.

I made enough a week to pay rent, buy groceries and still have some left over. I didn't have anyother bills and I was fine living on what I earned. If you have a lot of other bills to pay if mught be more difficult, butif not and you budget what ou send and don't go crazy, you should be fine.

 

[disneymegs]

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the weeks that CP's get the MOST hours, unless he requests off a few days THE MINUTE HE GETS A HUB LOGIN! It's hard to get a request granted as a CP, but there is a chance if he does it immediately on the Hub. Do you mean block-out for his main entrance pass to get you into the park? It could be, but it's not posted yet on the Hub. Just remember he has to be with you to get you in for free, which means he can't be schedule to work at that exact time. He has to be scheduled off normally or by request. He can't call in or he could be termed!

 

[ktrex]

I earned enough to pay rent (~$400/mo), buy groceries (~$200/mo), pay my car insurance (~$190/mo), gas (~$50/mo), AND still have fun and pay for other things, and I still saved about $1000 over the time I was there. I also worked at Animal Kingdom, where days are shorter (I went home at sundown).

As long as he doesn't request days off all the time (seriously, I don't understand everyone getting the day off to hang out together when you would have been together at work..) and is smart about spending money, he'll be fine. You really shouldn't have to send money, and if your son/daughter asks, look critically at their spending.

 

[timkeller]

It may be tough for you to spend a lot of time with him during Thanksgiving.
As other posters have said, the holidays are a very busy time for WDW and all CPers. My son has been working MK shifts of 12+ hours during Easter and Spring Break.

The week after Thanksgiving is usually much slower and would allow you to see your son more.

As far as medical care goes, my son was "seen" by someone at WDW but needed to go to an ER. Please check your insurance coverage before your son goes. Make sure it has coverage in Florida and for his student status. We had to make a bunch of phone calls to get it covered by our insurance.

Financially, I agree with what the other posters are saying. You should not have to send money if he is not paying for gas and car insurance. My son has a car there, but rides the bus to work most times.

It will be a great experience for him. When does he start?

 

[Wishes Count]

Thanks for offering to answer some questions...My son will be doing the Fall Advantage 2011. If he gets sick and needs to see a doctor, is there one within walking distance? will he need to take a bus? He won't be bringing a car.

I was concerned about food shopping, but was happy to read that there is Publix grocery store within walking distance.

I'm flying down with him to get him settled, but he'll be flying back on his own. If all his stuff won't fit in a suitcase or two, which carrier is better to use to ship his stuff?

Is what he earns enough to live on? or do you send him extra?

We are thinking of visiting him Thanksgiving week. Is that considered a black-out week?

Any other tips that you can provide would be great!!

I earned enough money to do pretty much what I wanted. Looking back I could have saved more if I didn't go out to eat almost everyday and stayed away from the outlet malls. My parents bought me groceries the two times they came down.

I shipped my stuff via FedEx and the boxes were in awful condition when they got to my house in PA. The one side had been ripped open and they were taped all together. They looked like they had been dragged behind the truck all the way to PA

There are several walk-in type clinics, but I'm not sure if the buses go there. I know the one had some sort of van that would pick up guests from the hotels but I don't know if they would come get a CP. I had a car and I ended up taking my roommate there twice, so if he can find someone to take him it isn't really that far.

 

[Traveliz]

When my daughter was a CP she had a class that was on Thursdays and her regular days off always turned out to be Thursday and Friday. She was actually off Thanksgiving day and the day after....very odd I know. But it can happen.

Liz

 

[Dreamstuff]

I did the fall CP and had every holiday off. It was just the way I was scheduled. I didn't mind of course!

I got Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween and New Years.


I think I was that strange and lucky rarity.

 

[TinkStitch]

I earned enough money to do pretty much what I wanted. Looking back I could have saved more if I didn't go out to eat almost everyday and stayed away from the outlet malls. My parents bought me groceries the two times they came down.

I shipped my stuff via FedEx and the boxes were in awful condition when they got to my house in PA. The one side had been ripped open and they were taped all together. They looked like they had been dragged behind the truck all the way to PA

There are several walk-in type clinics, but I'm not sure if the buses go there. I know the one had some sort of van that would pick up guests from the hotels but I don't know if they would come get a CP. I had a car and I ended up taking my roommate there twice, so if he can find someone to take him it isn't really that far.

I shipped stuff home USPS & the boxes were destroyed by the time they got to Wisconsin. The box that was in the best condition was my media mail box with all my books & dvds (i was taking online classes, so I had several books.)

Centra Care is down the road from Vista & they have vans that will come pick you up & take you back to the apt. It's an urgent care-type place, but they make appointments, so if you think you're gonna need to go, get up early & make an appointment so you're not sitting in their waiting room all day. (I did that once with a friend & its not fun.)

 

[windycitymom]

Thanks everyone! My son arrives June 6 for the Fall 2011 Advantage program.