<p>I was wondering how many folks are moving in on the various days. DS is going over on Thursday, and we'll head over Friday night to help him settle in.</p>
<p>Anyone doing the "College 101" seminar?</p>
<p>We expect to arrive around noon on Thursday. Pickup the key, take a quick load up and unload a few totes so we can repack some loose stuff in the car. Then bookstore, bank, and a couple of stops at the WalMart and Circuit City for a bit of shopping. Then go back later after the Chaos has subsided a bit and help her with what she doesn't want to handle herself.</p>
<p>We are going to overnight (I suspect she will sleep in the dorm) and then will go back early in the Morning to catchup on anything that got missed. Then head back to Ft Myers.</p>
<p>I don't know what the situation will be? We have lots of experience in dropping kids off for college, but not sure what the elevator, parking, distance to walk situation will be at UCF. Generally I approach it as expect the worst and you usually won't be disappointed.</p>
<p>Forgot yes, she is doing the Saturday Morning Class.</p>
<p>Our older son is going to drive over with DS and help him get stuff in, etc.
I figure they'll go grocery shopping once he's in the apartment and has access to the refrigerator. I have lots of family in the Orlando area, so they'll be on hand in case of any problems, and they will probably want to feed the boys on Thursday night. DS#1 will either stay with them or camp out with UCFson. We'll come over on Friday night, and stay with family. UCFson is also doing the 101 on Sat. morning, so we'll be shopping on Sat. afternoon for anything else he needs.</p>
<p>The Honors College has a reception Sun. afternoon, so we'll go to that, then head to Gainesville to check out DS#1's new apartment, then head home. Whew! We are in the St. Pete area.</p>
<p>At this point DS is planning to check in and get his key on Thursday, and we'll probably take a load with us at that time -- the essentials. (His essentials and our essentials are probably two different things ... <g>) Anyway, I want to get a feel for the room so that we can figure out if he has underbed storage without getting those feet lift thingies and can he fit a bookcase or an extra chair, that kind of thing. Plus, since we haven't been in the Towers, yet, we're not even sure how the common room's set up. I figure Thurs./Friday will be shopping sort of days. Could use advice about sharing refridgerator space with others, etc ... and food budgets. He'll have a small fridge in his room, one we had on hand, but I guess they'll have to figure out the whole "hmmm ... I bought the milk and yet I didn't get any of it to drink" kind of problems. We're going to the honors college reception, as well. Don't know about the Sat. thing, as DS hasn't mentioned it even existing. :)</g></p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>It was mentioned at Orientation. DS did NOT mention it. But DS#1 had some issues with making the adjustment from high school to college, so we signed DS#2 up for this. Figured it can't hurt.</p>
<p>DS#1 has shared a fridge space the whole time. The kids figure it out. They are pretty good about deciding to buy stuff together and share or buy their own food, etc.
A good sharpie to write on stuff that is NOT to be shared is a good idea. It also helps avoid the "when did we open this spaghetti sauce" issues.</p>
<p>We haven't seen the towers either, but one of DS's roommates is moving in today (band camp) so will have a lot of stuff there by the time DS arrives. So I think the 2 stage move in will work out well, and by the time we leave on Sunday, he'll be all set.</p>
<p>As far as the budget goes, we are going to be generous this year, hoping that not feeling the need to work will translate into excellent grades. If that doesn't work out, we'll cut back and he can get a part-time job. Right now we're thinking about $90 a week for food and misc. Since he'll probably eat with family (and bring home leftovers) at least once a week, this should be plenty.</p>
<p>We are going with less per week like $30, but no food needs to come out that and D has a bunch of flex bucks.</p>
<p>Kids can always spend money, but it seems like pretty much everything on campus is taken care of so it's only off campus stuff that will require spending.</p>
<p>We have a three drawer plastic affair here that we will know will fit under the bed, we made sure of that when she was at orientation and we were able to pack all those drawers with stuff for the trip. We may also get a small lockable footlocker thing also to go under the bed.</p>
<p>We signed her up also for the 101 course @$45 it seemed like a good thing to do. She will be at the Saturday Morning Session. I don't think it would be a waste for anyone. On Friday she will be spending the day with new roomates and some established friends at UCF over at Universal. It was a little disapointing as the student tickets at UCF are very reasonable $39 vrs what you can get elsewhere, but the ticket office is closed until the 20th :-(</p>
<p>We won't be spending as much time there, but will be back the next weekend to straighten out any loose ends. We will probably get most of the food at the super WalMart when we are over there as basically it's just Soda, oatmeal, noodles and snack food.</p>
<p>Since the dining hall in the Convocation Center won't open until Jan., we decided NOT to get a meal plan at this time. So the $$ we give DS will go for groceries (cooking in the towers apartment), fast food or other meals on campus, and misc. We'll see how it goes. We can adjust up or down if we need to.</p>
<p>We'll see how much he ends up eating on campus. I have a feeling that the meal plan will be worth it once the dining facility next door opens up.</p>
<p>We're also not doing the meal plan as the convocation center dining hall won't be open. Being local, DS knows he won't starve <g>, and he cooks simple meals which he much prefers. He's like PBJ, mom ... so much better than a big meal. So, we'll give him a montly sum that he can divide into flex bucks or cash as he pleases.</g></p>
<p>Zebes</p>
<p>Some thoughts, from a students perspective. Just moved into Lake Claire today. Have a wedding to attend out of country during official move in dates, so they let me move in early :) </p>
<p>-I'd expect it to be busy on move in day. You might have to fight for a parking spot. It'll really help to know where your room is exactly, and maybe go ahead and park a car there while someone else goes for the key. Getting the key is painless, just go to the "center" for your dorm and tellthem your name, show them your ID, sign something and whammo you've got your key. </p>
<p>-underbed storage and the lifting things. Online, it just says "no lofts," but in the manual left in the room for you to read (pretty thin, and has some good info in it), it says "no lofts or bed risers of any kind, like cinder blocks or bed blocks." Off came my bed riser block things....I don't want to get in trouble for breaking a rule where they can clearly see the offense if my door is open. :) Plenty of other things to get in trouble for. (what ifmy power cord is actually six feet one inch long? ;) </p>
<p>-It's hot in Florida. I don't know what times the move in is, the the earlier the better, or if you can wait until after about 6pm, it cools off. From 10am till 6pm it's an oven out there. I think most of you are from Florida and know this.....but in my case I ended up chilling in the room with AC on putting things where they needed to go as my family schlepped everything else in for me :) </p>
<p>-Not sure if any buildings have elevators. Lake Claire seems to have stairs. Fortunately, I'm on the first floor. I'm a scuba diver, and those tanks are heavy to haul up a flight of stairs! If your boxes are very heavy....I don't know about all of the dorms on campus, but it seems like most have stairs.</p>
<p>Good info, I think we are on the same wavelength. We have almost everything in clear plastic totes and a official movers dolly we got from a friend. We can stack 5 of these totes on top of it for a single trip. I'm thinking there will be no parking spaces so best to off load enough to make room in the car to go do some local shopping, grab lunch and come back later. By then it should have cleared out a bit.</p>
<p>Yes your right this time of year it is an inferno, I remember last years summer college trips and it being 98 at 11:00 at UF and then off for a brisk 1 1/2 hour walk.</p>
<p>I think due to ADA requirements that all upper stories have to be elevator accessable. Especially Libra where there are multiple stories.</p>
<p>It does seem like a bummer that with all the construction they have had on the towers that the current meals situation with regards to the closness of the dining halls is so far. They probably think that taking the bus to lunch was an OK temporary solution. The kids in the academic village have a better situation with the closeness of the dining hall and the wellness center.</p>
<p>I'll be able to give everyone a good assessment of how well the meal plan and flex bucks work. I think the eating places on campus are pretty accessable and suspect I'll just stop on the way to or from class maybe used more than we suspect it will.</p>
<p>We figured out this morning that his designated parking spot for The Towers was in the wrong parking garage, so we went over and switched that out. Glad we noticed it before we got there. Regretably, they don't enforce designated spots on the move in days so we know that won't work as easily as it could have. Shucks! <g> Just got back from supply shopping ... only first trip and we may be bancrupt by the end of the week. As I was explaining to my husband on the phone just now ... we forget how much of the stuff he just can't take with him, i.e. our 3-hole punch, because then we wouldn't have it at home. We haven't bought any of the storage stuff. Figure we'll do that on Thurs/Friday after we see the room. Not sure about groceries, except as an initial investment because I don't know how he and his roommates plan to handle this. I just informed my son I don't want to be financially supporting four instead of one so pay attention if things are constantly getting borrowed and not returned, or if one person NEVER seems to have pencils, pens, paper, bread ... LOL. I like your idea Ray w/ the plastic totes. I may grab several of those that we could load up and see if I could get more of a mover's dolly from someone than just the hand truck. Appreciate the idea! And thank you JaJaWarrior for the student POV information. Every little bit helps! </g></p>
<p>Zebes, paring down the list ... thank goodness!</p>
<p>The Totes we got were at WalMart, they have a top that latches and they were very reasonable, less than $10. Try to get clear as then you can see exactly what is inside.</p>
<p>I had a bunch of supplies left over from work, when I retired I left with a couple of boxes, somehow some punches, staplers and the like got mixed in.</p>
<p>Well, I don't see any elevators in my dorm...</p>
<p>My guess is that the Towers do have them, for sure. But Lake Claire, atleast my building, doesn't. The showers also have a lip, unlike handicap accessible showers. My guess is that there are some rooms/buildings in each community that do have full handicap accessibility, but that not every building does. </p>
<p>I don't even see sprinklers in my building, whichis wierd. What the heck is supposed to happen if the place catches on fire? Oh well.....</p>
<p>The good news about parking is that, according to the Parking Services people I talked to, it's not very enforced on move in week. Disclaimer: if you get a ticket, don't blame me :) I was able to park overnight on Sunday and pick up decal Monday morning without a problem or a ticket. </p>
<p>And it kind of stinks about the Convocation eating not open until Spring, but both places are on the "other side" of campus to me. If you draw a plus sign, Convo is at the top, Marketplace is at the bottom, and I'm on the side. But, it only takes a few minutes by bike to get to either.</p>
<p>According to my son's roommate, who moved in over the weekend, not all the elevators in Tower 3 were working, and there were long lines to use the elevators.</p>
<p>Some tips his mom had: bring a dolley and pack everything in boxes that can stack on the dolley. Bring water in a cooler - it's HOT.</p>
<p>Hopefully all the elevators will be working by Thursday, but the reality is that they are designed for normal daily use, not for all the residents to need to make multiple trips over and over again all day. </p>
<p>Good way to meet people - bring EXTRA water and share!</p>
<p>:-)</p>
<p>Mom2three, thanks for the info on The Towers. I'm almost at the point of telling DS to take two suitcases, one with clothes, one with personal items i.e. sheets, towels ... toiletries. Whatever we can carry up the stairs in one trip goes ... the rest waits until everyone else is gone over the weekend. Maybe we'll bring most of his stuff in on Sunday late afternoon and evening, after all the out of town parents have left. Hmmmm .... :)</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>Well the car is packed only took 45 Minutes and there isn't a spare bit of room. Good thing we bought a Murano this year. Right decison when we decided to buy printer and refig down there and other stuff. It would never fit. Of course she has way too much stuff, it will be exciting to see it go into the room??? I didn't think for example that anyone needs 15 pairs of flip flops.</p>
<p>Suntrust Card didn't arrive so well go with the UCF card link for the time being.</p>
<p>Heading out at 4AM from our NY summer home to Columbia SC, then expect to arrive at UCF around noon Thursday.</p>
<p>Hard to believe it's finally here, it's been a long time since the college visits last year early July.</p>
<p>--linking Suntrust to UCF card. If you lose the card, you pay both UCF and Suntrust. If you keep them seperate and lose a card, you only pay one place :) Your call, and espeically if the card didn't show up then link it for now but I chose not to link because I know I lose things sometimes. Of course, if you lose your entire wallet, the issue is moot. </p>
<p>Looking around today, the Academic Village and the Towers both have elevators (two elevators per parking garage) Unsure of Lake Claire still, but it's probable that their handicap accessible places are only on the first floor. Was going to look around to see if any building had an elevator, but got distracted by the practicing drumline.....:)</p>
<p>I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, arriving in Orlando in mid afternoon, playing a round of golf, sleeping at a hotel, and then getting up to move in Thursday morning. I'm hoping it won't be quite as crazy over at Rosen because there shouldn't be that many people moving in at the same time. I'm more concerned about making the drive down.</p>