*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*
Hey there, pals!
So, the time had come for my sister and I to head home from our absolutely magical trip to Florida. 10 days had absolutely flown by and it only felt like we had landed a short while ago...
My sister and I woke up early and immediately started packing all of our belongings into our two suitcases. We had planned to pack all of our belongings in our own cases, so that I could make the journey to my work area much easier. However, we had a bit of a nightmare... my suitcase weighed in at 21kg, which was plenty within our baggage allowance. But, my sister's weighed in at 27kg! She had all the spare drinks and suncreams in her suitcase!!! And so, we were transferring items back and forth to even out the weight in both suitcases - it was like ping pong with who's case with over the limit and who's was under. After housekeeping knocked on our door to ask if we were leaving, as well as ditching a few snacks and drinks, we finally got both cases comfortably under 23kg!
The checking out time of Sonesta ES Suites was 11am and we were informed last night that our transfer back to the airport was going to be at 2pm. As a result, that left my sister and I with three hours to chill and entertain ourselves at the lobby. My sister did find this Harry Potter themed escape room on her iPad and that really did keep us pre-occupied for the vast majority of the time we were waiting. I must admit, we weren't very good at it and needed a lot of the clues! However, it was good fun. In between the escape room fun, my sister and I spent some time scrolling through our social media feeds.
Sure enough, the transfer was bang on time and my sister and I had this huge mini bus to ourselves. I'd forgotten just how manic the drop off/pick up point was at Orlando International Airport... bless the mini bus driver, he just decided to block one of the lanes completely just to quickly offload my sister and I!
Once inside, the airport check in and security were once again pretty straight forward. I decided not to pack my crochet projects in my hand luggage, so my sister and I were both all clear this time around. But, getting through TSA security took soooo much longer than any other airport experience I've ever had! I think we waited a solid 30-45 minutes just to get through!
While we were waiting to board our gate, my sister went to grab some lunch and a couple of water bottles from Starbucks. She came back in floods of tears because there wasn't any eaterias in our gate area that catered for vegans... So, the poor thing had to go hungry until we got on the plane. As well as being hungry, I think my sister was worried about her travel sickness for the flight home and an element of sadness about leaving Florida once again. I tried to comfort her as best as I could while I was tucking into my grilled cheese toastie. I couldn't help but feel bad for my sister not being able to eat anything without having to feel poorly...
Soon we were airborne and my sister and I had a challenge of trying to spot Universal and Walt Disney World from our plane window. I couldn't see either, but I swear I saw what looked like the start a tornado out of the corner of my eye! After doing some googling soon after arriving in the UK, it turns out I was correct! It was definitely a news headliner for sure!!!
The first couple hours of the flight home were alright: I watched a movie and had a really nice tomato pasta for dinner. However, the remainder of the flight was one of the most turbulent and uncomfortable I have ever been on! There were multiple times where we had to put our seatbelts on because the turbulence was bad. Even the cabin crew had to walk around and check that everyone had their seatbelts on! We had to fly to 41,000ft just so we could take our seatbelts off and the cabin crew could safely carry out their duties. In the end, I think every passenger on our flight was grateful when the plane hit the ground again... My sister didn't get much sleep at all and I got about four hours on and off. So, we were definitely feeling the fatigue and were in need of a nap!!!
Our parents greeted us at the arrivals of London Gatwick airport and the billboards were displaying tributes to HM Queen Elizabeth II, so it was definitely a bizarre atmosphere to come back to. I did immediately ask my Dad what the vibe was like in the UK and he admitted that it was a bit strange.
A little side note: after the state funeral, life has pretty much returned to normal with our monarchy!
Our parents treated us to a pastry breakfast and a cup of tea/coffee from Costa Coffee and my sister and I got to tell them the start of all the magical stories from our Florida trip.
After a few hours sleep (and a few tears shed) in the comfort of my childhood bedroom, it was time for me to head back to my work area. I had dinner with my loving parents and sister and they all waved me off as I began the long drive back to my house in the north of the UK. I definitely drove slower than I would normally do for a long drive because I was most certainly feeling the effects of jet lag and tiredness! It was a pretty straight forward four hour drive and my parents had loaded me with a picnic of sandwiches, sugary treats and other snacks to keep me going.
And just like that, I was back in my work house and had unpacked all the magical memories. 24 hours later and I was back to work with a new goal of saving up money for a house of my own and more travel money so I can wanderlust to Florida again, as well as other places across the world ✈️🌎
I will always remember that it's never a goodbye, it's a see you real soon!
Thank you so much for reading my Walt Disney World September 2022 trip series on my blog! I hope you have all enjoyed reading my adventures as much as I have enjoyed writing about them. It just goes to show that if you put the dedication in after your Disney Academic Exchange Program, you can still keep in contact with your long distance best friends and experience the magic all over again...
That leaves me with one final thing to say:
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 😊
Comments