We haven't been able to stop and take stock the past few days since we arrived in Orlando, it has been a mush of Disney characters, waiting times, fast passes, buses and those devil machines named handheld closed captioning devices. Disney World advertises as one of the most accessible places for people with additional needs and we have experienced some of promise, in the deaf context. My experience of deaf access in Disney has been up and down, with points where I wanted to scream and shout at the most highest manager I could find for being so clueless to a deaf person's needs and there have been times where I find myself smiling with pleasure at the interpreters ability to feed through information so purely. There have been positive and negatives but the majority of the cases, I have found that Disney have only just dipped their toe into the pool of understanding what a deaf person's needs consist of. From across the board, the contact with staff has shown us that Disney still have a lot to learn.
The closed captioning hand held devices were the spawn of the devil that first day. To anyone who doesn't know what a closed captioning machine is, go educate yourself. No I am joking, I had no idea what they were either. They are a small brick like device with a large screen and a strap you put round your neck and headphones that could amplify the sounds through a T- loop system, if the person has enough residual hearing. Any voice- over or dialogue is beamed to this device at the start of each ride you go on and therefore, the deaf person can access the speech and sounds of each ride.
We arrived fresh faced and bushy tailed, handed over the deposit, filled in the form and then went excitedly to the first ride. An hour later we were back at the pick up point at Guest Relations, slightly less bushy tailed and exasperated. It had cut out half way through 'Stitch's Great Escape' in the pitch black. We returned to the land of air conditioning, colourful sketches of Mickey Mouse and badge pinned, patronising staff members. So after trekking across the park, we were met with the most patronising woman I have ever met. We explained the problem and then she did the thing I hate, she spoke directly to me and ignored Alison, I politely asked her to talk to Alison as I was simply the voice and she turned round, bent over and started explaining in baby talk in a high squeaky voice that sometimes if you press the device to close to your body, the signal stops. Hello?! How are you supposed to read the thing if it is pressed into your cleavage? Clueless. Absolutely clueless. 
We swapped the devil machine for a new one with full battery after talking with a apologetic but clueless Portuguese staff member, who had English as his second language. It took AGES, at one point, he had me trying on the earphones and asking if they worked, I politely took them off and then said they were un-needed, he blinked took this in and then finally swapped it. We took off again hoping this was the last of our troubles with the box of frustration. Nope, it was not be be. Around four hours later we were unknowingly stood in a loonnnngggg queue for the haunted mansion ride, when we found out the darn thing had died again after being in the bottom of Alison's bag after not a single use. I was about ready to chuck it into the lake but we asked a staff member what could be done and if there was a lot of speaking. Yes there was a lot of voice- over for this ride and he couldn't do anything other than give us fast passes and send us back to Guest Relations. So, back off we went to the fast becoming very familiar section of the park, this time fuming. We asked for an interpreter and we told that a staff member would come out who knew sign language. Ha. The gentleman that came out was very willing but maybe had his level one three years ago. Alison's signing was beyond his level and he couldn't fully articulate what he was trying to put across. The only thing he could do after losing more than two hours of precious park time flipping backwards and forwards to Guest Relations was give us another working captioning machine and three fast passes, which was nice. We took the fast passes to make up for lost time but this didn't make up for the inconvenience of having to come back to the main entrance twice.
Disney World offer interpreted shows on a schedule, with a team of interpreters moving across the four parks to interpret specific events each day. Either three or four events were interpreted each day at singular times and you cannot choose which. We met three female interpreters and three male, each in different combinations each day, normally working as co- working pairs. The first interpreter we met was named Brian on the Jungle Cruise ride and Brian was really good at his job. We arrived at the attraction, found the staff at the podium and asked for an interpreters. Sometimes, the staff picked up the sign for interpreter straight away but most looked confused, stuttered and I had to voice it. I was surprised at the five members of staff we met who picked up the sign straight away. We were allowed in through the disabled entrance to find our seats at the front to be able to see the interpreters. Brian bounced over to our group, asked if we were deaf and then continued to ask our names and where were from etc, as is typical etiquette for an interpreter to introduce himself before starting interpret. Brian wanted us to know before hand that the jungle cruise ride relied on a lot of English word play and he would try to translate the puns as best as possible. This made me wonder why they didn't create their own piece, made for the deaf people, incorporating deaf aware jokes connected to the Cruise. Yeah, I know I am dreaming. Brian was really fantastic at trying to interpret the English puns into something that was visually accessible, twisting together signs and using his incredibly acute facial expression to express that the signs had a jokey element. I could see him sweating as we went round the jungle cruise loop, arms flying as he tried to keep up with explaining the puns as they obviously went over the deaf groups head.
At 2.30pm, we headed to Liberty Square to see the interpreted parade (sorry- Disney's 'Festival of Fantasy'), which was cancelled. Flipping fantastic but it was nice chatting with the interpreters before hand, discussing theatre companies that work through the medium of sign language around the US. For this, another lady had joined Brian as his Co- worker, who introduced herself as Amy. We found Amy later at the interpreted performance of 'Monsters Inc, Laugh Floor', this time she was joined by another man named Logan, I think. I know his sign name was two 'L' hand shapes crossed across the body. The pair worked together brilliantly, role shifting between the two characters and portraying the characteristics of the monsters on screen. I now know the sign names for 'Mike Wasowski'- always handy. Again though, most of the puns were un- translatable into ASL because of their reliance on the English words sounding the same but the interpreters tried to put across the jokes the best they could, which was worth something. They were obviously well practiced and knew each other well and both were good for different reasons- Amy for her skills in ASL and L----- because of his acting and facial expression.
Disney in itself was enlightening, if this was the most accessible company out there then I dread to think what the standard of deaf awareness is elsewhere. Most of the staff needed deaf awareness training quite desperately and it doesn't take much to learn the sign for 'toilet' in ASL or for 'interpreter'. Looking at a person when they are speaking or signing should be common knowledge. However, one of the best parts of Disney for me, was the interpreting. It blew my mind to see the high standard that the interpreters worked at and how they didn't just stand there and sign, they acted the characters movements on stage, role shifted two headed monsters, ab-libbed seamlessly the inclusion of the audience and some how managed to encompass a whole cast of characters into two bodies. They have set a very high bar and I hope one day I can reach the same level.
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