When you’re chatting to people through this application process you really get to know them and you realise how well you get along with people. So we decided to try and organise a meet-up after we’d all had such a fun time meeting each other at the pre-screen and f2f interviews.Now this is a very difficult task to organise as no date will be good for everyone. So we set up a poll and took the initiative and went for the one which was suitable for the majority of us. We decided Manchester on the location as its relatively central to where our group were OR it had excellent transport links like the airport, train and coach station so it meant anyone could get there.
So I went researching possible hotel options and found that hotels for 10 were working out expensive and because we’d need multiple rooms it might become unsociable when later on at night we’d have to go off to our own rooms. So i found a set of apartments which the penthouse apartment slept 8 and worked out ridiculously good value. It cost us each just over £40 for two nights staying in a penthouse apartment.
So a couple of days before sadly Sarah had to cancel because she couldn’t really afford to come which is fair enough which meant our numbers were down to 9 but the weird thing would be that i would be the only one of the 9 who didn’t have a date. Everyone would obviously be really excited talking about their dates and i was worried that i’d feel left out but I needn’t of worried as everyone was fantastic.
I travelled across by bus and train and arrived at manchester around lunchtime and met up with some people in the station and sat drinking cocktails some of the others whilst we waited for everyone else to arrive. Before too long we realised we would have to move on otherwise we’d be bankrupt before everyone else got there! So we moved to Wetherspoons for cheap cocktail pitchers and when everyone finally got together we headed towards our hotel and we found a gorgeous penthouse apartment which had a lovely view of manchester.
We freshened up, dumped our stuff and headed out for some food at Hard Rock Cafe. We had some gorgeous food and more cocktails then decided to grab some snacks and drinks and head back to apartment for a nice chilled out night in. We made cocktails (some more visually appealing than others! haha) and sat and watched Tangled. We all were singing along and started playing drinking games and by the time the credits were rolling we decided to get ready quick and head into manchester centre for an impromptu night out! Sadly Rebecca wasn’t feeling too well so our second apartment (a two person on the floor below) was ideal because it meant we wouldn’t disturb her when we came back in. We had such a good night out especially as it wasn’t planned!
The next morning we had a chilled out lie-in and then sadly Rebecca decided to go home because she still wasn’t feeling well. So the rest of us had a lovely day in manchester shopping and chilling out. We then grabbed some food to cook back at the apartment and line our stomachs for round two that night! We weren’t sure what we wanted to do/where to go but after chatting to the receptionist at the hotel we headed to a bar which had offers on cheap cocktails then we moved onto a place called 5th Avenue and it was just what we needed! Cheap drink, cheesy music and plenty of space to dance! So much crazy stuff happened including carrying on the party back at our apartment after the club had closed. The security for the hotel came up and told us he didn’t mind us partying but to keep it in the living room so it wouldn’t bother other residents. He also shifted our check out time an our later to give us an extra hour sleeping which was lovely! haha. I have never had such a crazy fun mental night out and i genuinely cant believe I got on so well with these guys. When friends would ask who i was going to manchester with and i said a group of people I applied for a job against they would give me confused looks as it should be competitive but it isnnt. And even though this break made me want this opportunity even more so that i can spend more time with this fantastic bunch of people. If i don’t get offered a date at least i’ve been blessed meeting these people and i’ll go out to see them in florida on holiday! haha
Katylou's Disney CRP Adventure 