Florida Trip

A few weeks ago, our PLP flight 9 class went on a field study to Orlando, Florida for 9 days. This trip was a part of the unit we were working on based around the question of what Draws us to Imaginary Worlds. What better place to experience an imaginary world made real than the happiest place on earth DISNEY WORLD!!

 

This is a class photo in front of Cinderella’s castle

If you want to read more about the unit that we were working on which was based around what Draws us to Imaginary Worlds you can look at my Wonder post or Alice essay blog post

Before we went to Florida we were each assigned a video project about how one certain ride answers the question of what Draws us to Imaginary Worlds. We first started off this project by choosing a ride from any of the four parks in Disney World. I chose Soarin’ Around the World, a ride located in Epcot. After choosing our rides, we then went on to make a story outline for our video to follow so we would be prepared for shooting when we went to Disney. As well, we went into more detail by making a storyboard showing an outline of every shot and camera angle and what would be happening during each scene. This would give us a guideline to follow and make the video easier to make when it actually got to the day of filming and editing.

Here is the story outline:

Here is my storyboard:

After planning and organizing our video in class, we were starting off on our field study bright and early at 4:30 am where we met at the Vancouver airport. This was the longest PLP class trip we have gone on together.

Arriving in Florida we were all super tired but ready for the days ahead. The following morning when we woke up in the morning we would be going to Magic Kingdom, the first of the four parks built in Disney World. When we arrived at the park everyone was very excited for the magical experience ahead. As a whole class, we first went on the newest ride at the park called Seven Dwarfs; a mine train that was a super fun ride as it told a story while having the thrill of a roller coaster. Afterwards, we broke into smaller groups and went on a bunch of rides like Splash Mountain.

This is a photo of my friends and I on the Jungle Cruise
The following day, we spent the day at Universal Studios, which had a totally different feel from Disney World. It gave a different appearance more like a town or city instead of a theme park but I would say both places were equally fun. At Universal Studios we went into Harry Potter world, which was so cool, as it felt like you were transported to a different world when you turned the corner. We also went on some nerve-racking rides like Rip Ride Rocket, which started off by going straight up and then, went upside down. This was probably my favourite ride of the trip.

Class photo in front of Hogwarts in Harry Potter world.

The next day we had a break from the long days full of rides and waiting in long lines of Disney World. We went to the Merritt Island animal sanctuary where we saw and learned about different animals in the sanctuary such as alligators and a bunch of different types of birds. It was a nice break compared to the previous two days where we had to get up early and went to bed really late.

Photo featuring  Mimi at one of our stops at the sanctuary.
The following day we went to the Ron Jon Surf School where we learned how to surf. It was my first time surfing so it was super cool as I actually got up and caught a few waves, which I didn’t think I would do.

After a few hours, we headed off to NASA for astronaut training which taught us about different materials used in building the spacecrafts and foods eaten in space. Most exciting of all was we got to go in a shuttle simulator which spun each of us round and round for about 15 second which was nothing compared to the amount of time the astronauts have to be in these simulators. We also had the opportunity to climb an antigravity wall, which made you feel as if you were weightless by using the same amount of weight on the other side of the climbing wall to simulate what it would feel like in space. Finally, to end the astronaut training we got assigned roles in the take off of a flight, which we were able to successfully land.

This is one of the simulation flights we did.

During the second day of NASA, we visited the NASA visitor centre where we were able to go on an exclusive tour of the launch rooms and meet an actual astronaut who had gone into space.

During a lunch he talked about some of his missions into space. On top of all that we got to talk to him, ask him question and also take a photo with him.

Photo with the astronaut.

One of the other important days while we were in Florida was when we went to Epcot which was the park where Soarin’ is located. This was very important for me to get pictures while we were there. The one problem was when I went to film the ride we weren’t allowed to as it would interfere with the ride or something so I couldn’t get any footage of the ride. But I was able to take a lot of photos around the park and during the waiting for the ride.

Here is the first draft of my video:

After finishing the first draft, we partnered up and watched each other’s videos to see what we could improve on. I received some great feedback about how to edit my video.
Here is the feedback:

My video ended up being too long and I didn’t need to include anything about the essay so after taking the feedback here is my second draft:

Overall, this was a super fun trip and I really learnt a lot about Disney and how my ride specifically draws people to the imaginary world. I can’t wait until the next PLP field study and what it has in store for our class.