Continuity mistake: In the episode when Cody is teaching the class cooking, in the scene where Bailey and Woody agree to work together, Zack is pictured at the snack-bar on the right, but then he appears from the left and speaks to a lady.
Continuity mistake: In the episode when Cody is teaching cooking, while Bailey and Cody are talking about the other students, behind Bailey there is a man with a striped shirt. Between shots not only does he disappear and reappear, but later in that same scene behind Bailey he is seen coming down the stairs.
Chosen answer: One: Zack doesn't meet Maya until after the movie. Two: There are 2 possibilities. The first one, the steps might worn off after they got to the ship. and the second answer, London said she talks to animals since she ate them, it never worn off.
Zack definitely met Maya before the movie takes place, SPOILER in the final episode when they break up Zack says they've been together for 3 months, and not only does the movie take place during spring break which is less than 3 months from normal graduation, but also their graduation date gets moved up since the ship got sold.
The movie is set between the last two episodes; they had already met.