*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*
Hey there, pals!
Mardi Gras was in full swing and I got to go and see the celebrations at Universal with a great friend from the moon of Pandora. At Universal, there was a parade dedicated to Mardi Gras with different themed floats where team members and Guests could throw bead necklaces at the parade viewers! And let me tell you, I collected LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of beads… in total, I caught over 30 bead necklaces!!!
This week, I was fed up with my long Hagrid hair. With the Florida humidity increasing rapidly and my hair constantly getting tangled up from the heat, I decided to chop a large portion of it off! It was a bold move, especially as I have never been the kind of gal to opt for short hair. But, it needed to be done! I had absolutely no idea that there was a hair salon on the corner of Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom and one of my closest friends from the moon of Pandora was also considering a hair change. So, we decided to go to Magic Kingdom together to get our hair cut and have a fun day at Magic Kingdom too.
I was very nervous to cut off a big chunk of my hair, but I am so glad that I did get eight/nine inches removed because my hair feels lighter and more healthy. Plus, it was a very decent price too for a dry cut, considering I have really thick hair! My dramatic haircut was completely ADORED when I returned to the moon of Pandora to begin the Pandora Conservation Initiative’s (PCI) mountain banshee studying.
My friend and I did some of our favourite rides in Magic Kingdom, as well as explore some of the hidden wonders in the park. Did you know that you can do a pirates treasure map scavenger hunt to win complimentary Fastpasses for Pirates of the Caribbean? No, I didn’t know that either! My friend and I did these interactive treasure maps for about 15 to 20mins and we had completed all the requirements for the complimentary Fastpass while there was a pirate invasion at Pirates of the Caribbean.
Also, we got to explore the latest developments on Tron, which looks absolutely awesome and I am gutted that I will not be able to see the finished work during my program. However, my friend and I did spot some test seats outside the construction area, so we decided to take some photos for the lols. I do apologise for how atrocious I look, but the reality of trying out these ride seats resulted in me smacking my own back with the restraint and my friend just so happened to capture my exact facial expression!
Once again, things were majorly crazy at the PCI! As well as having the same reoccurring problems that I encountered last week, for some of us in the scientist group dedicated to conserving the flora and fauna of Pandora, we were faced with some new challenges that were not mountain banshee (dragon-like creature) related. Nevertheless, all the PCI technicians handled the unpredictabilities of running an experiment super well, while creating magical moments. I had a Guest (Traveller) approach me with a query and it was clear the Traveller was distressed and did not know what to do or what the possibilities were with helping them out. Whilst I was chatting with the Traveller, I discovered there were additional needs that needed to be accommodated. Despite the insane line that I had of Travellers enquiring about their rite of passage, I could really create an emotional connection with the Traveller from a personal perspective. In turn, the Traveller thanked me for being an ambassador to other people with additional needs that they can do anything when they put their minds to it, exactly the same as a normal human being.
The whole coronavirus situation has taken the world by storm… literally, the majority of the world have/have had some form of stay at home order in place! This affected the Walt Disney World Resort and its operations. A decision had been made that all of the Disney theme parks were closing for a minimum of two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak. As a result, Guests began to cancel their vacations and the PCI had a significantly lower number of rite of passage celebrations carried out than normal. To be on the safe side and prepared for the worst possible scenario of being locked down in my housing complex with no bus transportation system to the grocery store, I decided to stock up on supplies (similar to what I did in preparation for Hurricane Dorian).
However, I did not expect things to unfold the way they did. And quite possibly I had the worst possible news…
March 14th was the day that my whole Disney bubble effectively burst. I could see groups of Pandora Conservation Initiative (PCI) technicians sobbing all around me, so I knew that whatever I was about to hear was going to crush my heart. I discovered from Dr Stevens and Dr Ogden that my Disney Academic Exchange Program had been suspended, along with all other Disney College Programs and Disney International College Programs. This meant that I had to return home to the UK three months sooner than planned and only had four days to do it in.
I was beyond heartbroken.
As well as hug all of the other PCI technicians who received the same devastating news as me, the first thing I did was phone my Mum and tell her the heartbreaking news that I was coming home three months sooner than I should’ve been. While I was on the phone with my Mum, I was getting a lot of texts and Facebook messages from friends and family in the UK and the United States asking if everything was okay, if I was safe etc. – they had obviously discovered the news on social media. Once I got off the phone with my Mum after coming up with a plan of action to get me home, another immediate relative phoned me. Unfortunately, the conversation was cut short due to signalling problems.
After I had messaged my loved ones in the UK, I turned to contacting my friends in the United States. I was still in such an emotional state that my United States friends from fairy school and the PCI were both trying to calm me down, make me see how much I have accomplished throughout my entire program and that home was the safest place for me during these unprecedented and unique times.
I honestly couldn’t believe how much the Disney community rallied around to help those of us affected by the suspension – we had a number of exclusives put on just for the Disney College Program and Disney International College Program participants, plus the number of rooms I could stay in until I could get a flight home (including out of state College Program participants) and rides to the airport was incredibly overwhelmed! I'm so thankful to the people who reached out to me to offer support.
The day after I heard about my program’s suspension was my final day on the moon of Pandora at the Pandora Conservation Initiative (PCI) ☹ My final day at the PCI was incredibly bittersweet and the day concluded with my very last rite of passage on my own banshee.
Before I headed to the PCI for the final time, I had to visit the Disney theme parks one last time before they closed indefinitely. I chose to go to Epcot to see the Flower and Garden Festival – this was the last of the festivals and I really wanted to tick off all four Epcot festivals. It turns out the same friend who I went to Magic Kingdom with also hadn’t seen the Flower and Garden Festival, so we went together. While we were driving to and around the Walt Disney World Resort, there were cars that were stopping or slowing down unnecessarily. So, my friend and I beeped the car horn at these drivers in the same style as the tram drivers within the Disney theme park parking lots. Let’s just say, we got quite a few dirty looks from the other vehicle drivers!
As we pulled up to the Guest parking entrance for Epcot, I was given a little card that said ‘thank you for making magic.’ It turns out these Cast Members were giving out these cards to College Program participants as a kind gesture for the magic we created.
Whilst at Epcot, I rode Spaceship Earth for the last time during my program and the last time before the attraction’s major refurbishment. This ride was unique to all of my other rides on Spaceship Earth because my friend and I decided to listen to the on-ride audio in a different language. Despite our silliness, we could still recite the audio transcript pretty much word for word. Yes, I know, we were one of those people… We also walked around World Showcase to view the different topiaries at each of the pavilions, as well as take a step into the butterfly garden.
While I was walking around World Showcase, I discovered something very heart-warming, out of the ordinary and incredibly special that was said about me online. Now, if you follow the Walt Disney World Resort on social media (particularly Twitter), you may be familiar with the handle #castcompliment. This is where Guests can recognise a Cast Member for their Guest service or magical moment they created. And, a group of Guests did just that for me!
“#CastCompliment to Hannah on Flight of Passage!! We love self-timer pics & this one in the pre-show room was made even cooler because of her 🙌 She also gave us some fastpasses because of a technical difficulty which was SO NICE! THANK YOU!!”
So, I had a technical issue where one of the chairs in the Link Chamber was not connecting to the avatars properly and a Pandora Conservation Initiative (PCI) technician accidentally allocated the broken chair to a Guest (Traveller). Because of the location I was at within the PCI, there was no way to send the Guests back to reconnect with another avatar. Thankfully, I realised this issue early on and politely asked the Travellers if they wouldn’t mind staying in the Orientation Room with Dr Stevens, Dr Ogden and myself, while the rest of the group went on to connect with their avatar.
Luckily, these Travellers had no problems at all and I was even able to tell them a few facts about the PCI and mountain banshee studying that the technicians do, which they wouldn’t have gotten if they weren’t stuck in this situation. The Travellers also took a self-timer photo and I, of course, wanted to be in it with them to create a special memory for the Travellers and make the best of the situation. In addition to the fun picture, I gave the group of Travellers complimentary Fast Passes as an apology for causing any inconveniences to their day and a last-minute opportunity to make some magic, as I had found out about the suspension of my program just a few hours before this interaction.
My last day at the Walt Disney World Resort had a primary focus of saying goodbye to my fairy friends from the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Disney Springs before departing the United States. However, I had learnt that the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique had closed immediately until further notice… But, some of my fairy classmates were deployed around the Marketplace area, including the Pin Traders store. So, I decided to visit the Marketplace stores to see as many familiar faces as I could. When I arrived at the Pin Traders store, I only saw one familiar face and that was it! The former fairy classmate had told me that she was one of the few fairies in the area, some had already left and one was due in the evening. There were a couple of other Disney Springs friends that I was meeting, so we all got together to hang out and I was able to drop off the massive hampers that I had made in the morning, because I didn’t want any of the food items I had bought from crisis shopping at the grocery store to go to waste!
It did not take long before my friends at Disney Springs rallied around to make sure that I was holding up strong, knowing full well that I was concealing the tears, the heartbreak, the letdown and the questions I was hiding inside behind a fake smile. It did not take them long to wrap their arms around me like I was one of their own… It did not take me long to remember that I had a bunch of presents for my Disney Springs friends within the hampers I had made. Likewise, it did not take my Disney Springs friends long to remember that they had special send-off gifts for me. And, my Disney Springs friends repeatedly said how proud they were of me for everything that I had accomplished during my program. Tearfully, all I could respond back was “Thank you for changing my life” as I hugged them all goodbye.
The evening was spent with more of my former fairy classmates, who were not in the Disney Springs area, because they had organised a goodbye College Program party for fairies old and new. In the end, not many College Program fairies showed up. Instead, there were a bunch of former fairy classmates that I had the utmost of pleasures getting to know them and I knew quite a few were keen to say goodbye to me too. We played a bunch of party games with each other and ate a lot of food that different people brought to the get together – turned out to be a taco night with some sweet treats. I felt really blessed that I could cherish some more memories with my former fairy classmates one more time.
After completing my final bits of packing, which resulted in a total of three bags because I had too many tangible memories to take home with me, my final day in the United States on my Disney Academic Exchange Program was here. It was an understatement how much I was completely dreading this day to arrive. As I was checking out of my housing complex, I received my Mickey graduation ears for completing my program! It wasn’t exactly the way I had hoped to have graduated from my Disney International College Program, but it was a symbolic moment that I had, in fact, actually completed my program.
My anxiety about travelling solo was apparent, so when my friend came to my housing complex to pick me up, we drove to her place to chill for a little bit before heading to the airport. My friend knew how nervous I was, so she dropped me off super duper early to ensure that I had plenty of time to catch my flight. Throughout the entire car ride, my friend and I were sobbing and she just held my hand until we got to the airport drop off area.
With tears already streaming down my face, I said my final goodbyes and went inside the terminal to drop off my bags and collect my boarding pass – I had already checked in online the night before. Smart me did not pack a plug converter in my hand luggage, so I couldn’t charge my phone at the airport and my battery was running low. But to my surprise, one of my very first roommates was also on the same flight as me! Despite our differences, the courteous thing for me to do was to hang around with her, so that it could ease my anxiety a little as well as hers (and charge my phone!).
I boarded the plane and we were pushed back onto the taxiway, but we came to a sudden and unexpected halt. Wondering what was going on, I looked up and could see multiple crew members speedily dashing back and forth from the middle of the aircraft. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it because I thought they were doing their usual checkups before departure. However, I noticed that things were not okay when the plane turned around and went back to the gate. In summary, the plane had a fault in the heating/cooling system. While the maintenance teams were trying to fix the problem, they discovered other aircraft faults and this snowballed until the team realised that the work needed to be done to the aircraft was going to take more than just a few hours. Having already been evacuated from an overheated aircraft and waiting patiently in the cooler terminal building, the crew decided to cancel the flight and reschedule it to the next evening.
Many of my UK and United States friends were asking me for updates, so I’m assuming that they were all shocked when they received my crazy text messages about what was happening. Fortunately, the friend that took me to the airport was on standby just in case anything happened and I needed to be picked up. This was lucky for me as the airline was sending people to a hotel that did not have enough clean rooms to accommodate the number of people on my flight.
After a good night’s rest, I woke up much more relaxed and calm about my situation than I had been for the last few days! It was almost like déjà-vu because I had to re-check in and re-collect new boarding passes. This time, I could see a group of Disney Academic Exchange Program participants so we all stuck together to make the process of getting home that little bit easier. We got the news that the aircraft was completely fixed, but then we heard a fire alarm go off while I was braiding another girl’s hair. The strange thing was no one was panicking or investigating into what had caused the fire alarm to go off. Soon enough, the fire alarm had silenced and our group went to the food court because the airline staff had given us a $15 food voucher. I had already eaten beforehand, so this wasn’t much use to me and I didn’t really have an appetite anyway.
*I should mention at this point I had only been eating food from Chick-fil-A for the last 24 hours*
As soon as our group arrived at the departure lounge, we had a look at the departure board to compare the information displayed with the knowledge that we already had – this was the same, except our flight was delayed. I instantly thought to myself ‘here we go again’… Just to add things to the mixture of drama for a plane ride, the terminal fire alarm went off for a second time while the other Disney Academic Exchange Program participants and I were waiting to board our plane. I boarded the plane and soon I was airborne with no difficulties. As the altitude increased and I could no longer see the coastline of Florida, I was relieved that the stress and hassle of travelling home in a short amount of time was going to be over in a matter of hours, but saddened at the fact that I have no idea how long it will be until I can see my Disney family again 😢
I only got about four-ish hours of sleep, but they were at one or two hour intervals. Soooo, by the time I had landed back at London Gatwick 23 hours and 5mins behind the flight’s original schedule, I was absolutely exhausted!
As soon as I saw my parents on the other side of international arrivals, I burst into tears straight away because deep down I knew my heart belongs at the Walt Disney World Resort with my newfound Disney family. The drive home from the airport felt long and weird… maybe that was because I was travelling on the left side of the road when I had got used to being on the right side? Anyway, while my parents were chatting with the neighbours, I went upstairs into my bedroom, curled up into a ball on my bed and completely sobbed *crying emoji* My mum came upstairs to find me in an absolute state and all I can remember was asking her to let me go back to the Walt Disney World Resort. I had made sooo many new friends from across the world who I considered my family now, gained so much confidence and overall been the happiest I had ever been for a very long time. My mum couldn’t help but feel sad and helpless because she knew she couldn’t grant any of my wishes and I knew that too.
That’s exactly how I felt with my Disney Academic Exchange Program, but I have absolutely no regrets in doing the program. Hands down, it was the most life-changing thing I have ever done.
That just leaves me to say, I really hope you enjoyed reading every single one of my Disney Academic Exchange Program updates. If you’re not up to date, go check out my previous update posts to read about my Disney story. If you are up to date, why not go back and re-read my entire journey all over again? I do have a few follow up and Disney Academic Exchange Program advice posts that I am currently working on, so be sure to stick around for when these posts go live. I am still posting on my social media pages so make sure you check them out too – links are at the bottom of the page!
Thank you so much for reading and have a magical day!
-Hannah
DISCLAIMER: this blog is my personal experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program (DAEP) 2019-2020 and may not reflect everyone’s experience. Other programs and future participants on the DAEP may have slight adjustments to their programs that may not be featured in any of my blog posts. That being said, if you do leave any questions, I will try to answer them as best as I possibly can 😊
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