Patterson Court The New Disney Building

where in relation to the parks are the complexes...
and how long is it on the bus to the parks roughly?

 

ok do you have google earth or type into google maps vineland ave,fl. the bus trips depend on your location, the bus back from magic kingdom takes forever... or it feels like it, they are about 20 mins away on the buses

 

Yes, if you go to google maps - type in Little Lake Bryan, Orlando, Florida 32821 and it pretty much puts you right at the Commons and Chatham, right by Lake Ruby. The Commons is on Gables Commons Drive and Chatham is on Chatham Manor Blvd. From there the parks are on the other side of the #4 freeway. If you follow Int. Dr. S. (down) and then over onto World Center Dr./Pkwy (536), it turns into Epcot Center Dr. - you should be able to find Epcot from there - and it will give you an idea where the parks are in relation to the residences.

 

some of the buildings at patterson are already finished, some are just starting contruction but they plan to still have it opened at the end of may. it's going to international program participants, international culinary program and careerstart program people. Basically everyone who lives in commons and chatham. vista will still be used for the college program.

There's been such an overspill at the commons that they desperately need the new place open anyway! It looks nice though.

And also, right across from the commons there's now (opened at the turn of this year) is a car park for the premium outlets. a quick walk through that and you get the mall and it's good court so it's really convenient.

They're also building something across from little lake bryan's int'l drive entrance. Not got a clue what it is yet, it's hard to tell. Hopefully something cool and not more random housing stuff. The whole area is just going to continue to be developed though.

 

In the presentation last weekend, they told us that us internationals could live at all the complexes now! Not just commons or patterson court....

 

That's not good news. It wouldn't be fun to be at a different complex than your friends... I'd like to be able to have them visit/visit them after 1am!

 

It's not that bad! I had friends at all 4 complexes (including treehouses) and we worked it out just fine. You can always meet up somewhere outside the complexes...like Wendy's..... I think they're open until 2am.

 

ok i'll have to have a look at google maps...i jsut thought it was strange how ive been to florida so many times and never noticed these buildings?!

 

When I had my interview last week, I asked my interviewer abpout the new complexes, and she told me there was also gonna be built a new one by carrabas, next to the Commons.

 

ok had a look on google maps...downtown disney is relatively close to the complexes then. epcots the closest park then?

 

where are the complexes themselves? What is within walking distance of them all?

 

Yeah, Downtown Disney is really close, I usually walked down there, took about 30 minutes. The closest park i Epcot, with MGM (hollywood studios) right next to it, literally within walking distance. Magic Kingdom is the one farthest away.

The complexes are pretty much directly east of WDW. You have the Premium Outlets a five minute walk away (from the Commons).
Pulix and that little shopping area is about 15 minutes away, again from the Commons.
Walmart is a bit further. Not within reasonable walking distance.
Vista is right next to Wendy's, a gas station, Walgreens and Benigans. Which is a huge plus for living at Vista.
Vista is about a 20 minute walk from Commons/Chatham. On the way you'll find Carabas, an excellent italian restaurant, mm mm.

 

In that case, I hope I am in the Commons as that means I will be in an area that I kinda know as that is always around where we have stayed when we have gone to Disney World. It also means that I will literally be a 5 minute walk from where my parents are staying when they come in the middle of August. I am so exited now, only visa to sort and then I am on my way ;D

 

ive heard the buses can be pretty nightmarish...are they really that bad or do they come at bad times?

 

I only ever had one problem with the bus and that was when it didnt turn up at Vista because it was stuck in traffic so i had to wait for the next one which was also late so I ended up being very very late for work.... but that was it.

I have heard other people say they had bus problems... i think it really depends which route it is... the drivers usually stick to a certain route so the E bus (studios) was always pretty good.

 

One time on my way to work (I worked at Epcot), the bus driver must have been stoned or something, as he forgot to make a turn and ended up going to magic kingdom instead.
Other than that and some minor other incidents, American Coach (the company which provide the complexes with transportation) works pretty fine.
Dynamic, which manned the buses before American Coach, had buses that actually caught on fire a couple of times.

 

Well it sounds like these bus trips can be quite an adventure.
About how long does it take to walk to Epot? Or is that just way too far? In that case how long is the bus ride?

 

That's waaaaaay yo far. And there are no sidewalks/walkways at all, only highway. So no way of getting there anyway.
If you drive yourself, it takes about 7 minutes. The bus takes closer to 30 mins. A bit shorter from Vista, as that's the last stop. And a couple minutes longer from Chatham, as that's the first stop

 

It would take you a while to walk to EPCOT, i mean you could go via DTD but its still quite away after that.. its quicker and safer to get to bus. That only takes 10 minutes to get there (depending on traffic)

 

Yeh sorry I meant 10 minutes from Vista