Flamingo Life – Part 3

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Flamingo Life - Part 3

If you’ve made it through Parts 1 and 2, you know that Flamingo Crossings Village is a complex ecosystem—10,000 people with different schedules, backgrounds, and ideas about what apartment living should look like. Part 1 covered the challenges. Part 2 showed you why most CPs say it’s still worth it.

Yep, Flamingo has rules

Not because rules are exciting (they’re not), but because understanding them matters. When you move into Flamingo, you’ll receive a Resident Handbook and attend orientation sessions on check-in day that cover the basics. Some people pay attention. Some don’t. Some think the rules are more like “suggestions.” And for every rule Flamingo has, there are hundreds of residents trying to find new ways to break it, get around it, pretend they don’t know about it, or—the worst one—acting as if rules don’t apply to them because they ____________ (fill in the blank with whatever justification works that day).

Here’s what you actually need to know.

The Basic Rules of Flamingo

ALCOHOL

You can possess or drink alcohol in your apartment if you are 21 or older. If you’re under 21, you cannot possess or drink alcohol at Flamingo—period.

The “it’s private property, and it’s my apartment so I’m allowed to do what I want” argument doesn’t work. When you sign your lease, you agree to Flamingo’s rules and policies. One of those policies is: no alcohol if you’re under 21.

NAVIGATOR TIP: Years ago, the DCP had a rule that if anyone in the apartment was under 21, there couldn’t be any alcohol in the apartment at all—even if other roommates were 21+. That rule is no longer in place, but you still might hear people talk about it or try to tell you it still exists. It doesn’t.

SMOKING

Smoking is not allowed inside apartments. There are designated smoking areas around both the East and West campuses where residents can smoke.

PARTIES / Gatherings (# of people in the apartment)

There is a maximum of 10 people in an apartment at any time. That includes residents and guests combined.

DRUGS

Illegal drugs are not allowed at Flamingo, and that includes marijuana. Flamingo follows federal law, which means marijuana remains prohibited—even if you have a medical marijuana card.

WEAPONS

Weapons are not allowed at Flamingo. That includes obvious weapons like firearms and knives, but it also includes items like pepper spray and similar self-defense tools.

Some CPs will argue, “They can’t tell me I’m not allowed to carry pepper spray to protect myself.” But Flamingo absolutely does have the right to make that rule. It’s a private property with its own lease policies, and this is one of them. Disagreeing with the rule doesn’t make it go away.

GUESTS

*Guests refers to anyone who is not a Disney program participant. This is where things get a little more nuanced, so pay attention. If you bring a guest onto property—whether through the main security entrance or the parking lot entrance—you need to follow the security check-in process.

Guest departure times: Guests under 18 must leave by 11:00 PM. Guests 18 or older must leave by 1:00 AM

Outside guests are not permitted to stay overnight. That means if your friend, family member, or significant partner who is not in a Disney program wants to visit, they need to be out by the required departure time. However, other Disney program participants (CPs, Culinary Program participants, International Program participants, etc.) can stay overnight in each other’s apartments as guests. (There are rules about how many nights they can stay and for how many times a month).

NAVIGATOR TIP: If your guest parked in guest parking, there’s a good chance their car will get towed if they’re not out by 1:00 AM. Flamingo has been famous for towing cars starting at 1:01 AM. Don’t test it.

The REALITIES.....

Yes, there are rules, but thinking that Flamingo Crossings Village is full of rule followers? Pretty naive. Just check social media—specifically the CP-related Facebook groups. There isn’t a single day that goes by without someone trying to find a way to break the rules, asking for advice on how to break them, or making their case for why the rules shouldn’t apply to them. So here’s the reality:

Alcohol flows freely. Just being honest here.
Smoking, drinking, and partying are common—and it’s not just a weekend thing. Remember, this isn’t like a college campus that runs Monday through Friday with weekends off. People work all kinds of schedules, so “party nights” can be any night.
Overnight guests can be a common occurrence. If they’re program participants, it’s allowed (up to the limits in your lease). If they’re outsiders, it’s technically not allowed, but historically Flamingo has done very little to enforce this rule. Many CPs have reported that they’ve unsuccessfully tried to get Flamingo to respond to situations like “my roommate’s boyfriend has been visiting from out of town and is basically living in our room for two weeks now.”
Co-ed living complications. Unless someone opts into “Mixed Gender Housing,” apartments are assigned by gender. Many people (especially females) come in expecting to live in an all-female apartment but may soon realize that they could be sleeping in the same room with a male. In a 4×4 or 4×2 it’s not as big of an issue, but in a 2×2, one roommate doesn’t need permission from the other roommate to have a guy spend the night in their shared bedroom. That raises complaints not only about the potential awkwardness of the situation, but the reality of three people sharing a bedroom, bathroom, and shower that was already pretty cramped with two people.

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