The last minute bargain trip - May 2013

I'm working on it today, hopefully have it up by tonight

Aww thank you, they did take a good while to make, I have been making them for a couple of months (I would get stuck on a bit and need my mum to help me lol), they had a little boy but they didn't know the sex so everything in the nursery was brown and cream

Those luggage tags are take 4, you don't want to see the first 3 the first didn't even resemble Mickey Mouse lol

Travel Day

Woke up at 7:30am with the alarm, don't ask me how I slept as I was so excited! We bounded out of bed, Sy grabbed a quick shower while I got dressed. Once we were ready we made our way down to check out. Check out was easy and the front desk called a taxi for us. We had barely sat down to wait and he was there and ready to take us. It was a bit disconcerting as he didnt set his meter :-S I did ask as soon as I noticed how much it would be and he said PS13 which sounded about right to me so was less worried then.

Once we got to the airport we headed for check in to pick up our boarding passes (you cant get them the night before with Thomson) and headed through security. The security guy was really miserable, we were listening to him moan at people while we were in the queue and once it was our turn to go through he gave me a stern talking to as one of my liquids was over 150ml, an honest mistake! It was Sy's deodorant and I didn't even think that it would be over 150ml as it was so small, but I got told off I know its for our protection, and I'm glad he took it off me as I would hope he would take it from everyone who had done it, but I didn't need the telling off, especially as I made it very obvious that it was a mistake and apologized straight away.

First job when we were airside was to get some drinks, Thomson don't give you any (other than tea or coffee with food) so I wanted to have some to save buying them on the flight. We then went to find some breakfast, we decided on Jamie's Kitchen. I really liked the look of the place and the food looked appetizing. Sy ordered the Half Monty (and by the size of it I cant imagine anyone being able to finish a full monty!) whilst I had a croissant, my stomach was in knots and I couldn't think about food really. We both really enjoyed our breakfasts.

After we had finished we made our way to the gate and Sy went back to get some flight socks as I had forgotten to pack ours (maybe if I had some help packing I might not have forgotten )

We boarded last as we were at the front of economy, while we were waiting a family kicked of with the staff who were manning the gate, they seems to have 3 pieces of hand luggage each and were being told that they were going to have to pay for it. It didn't really help my nerves. There was a lot of shouting and security were called. Before long though our seat number was called and we boarded. We boarded fairly late compared to what its normally like with Virgin, but we still left on time.

Once airborne the Captain came over the intercom and introduced himself - he also said we would land about 45 mins early, yay!

Before long the stewards were coming round with the food trays, choice was steak and ale or BBQ chicken, obviously I had the chicken, what did surprise me was so did Sy! It was okay and I ate most of it which is saying something for me as I'm such a fussy cow I then got my trusty iPad out to watch the films Sy had put on there, along with some episodes of Smash and Glee. I watched al of the things on there pretty quickly, and then I was BORED. I know most people get bored really quickly and the last half of the flight goes faster but I am the opposite way round, I can keep myself busy for the first half of the flight but by the time it comes to the second half I am like a small child...

This was the point I started to get bored, notice the time to destination bit...

I managed to occupy myself a bit playing games on my iPad and calling Sy rude names for not putting more films on it. But the flight was all worth it cause it got us to Orlando in one piece! When we landed Sy got the things out of the overhead lockers, they aren't lying when they say things move, my handbag fell out and landed on the girl behind us oops. Sy tried to catch it but made it worse and it ended up on her head, she was okay though we made sure. I was quite glad it was Sy who opened it and not me.

Immigration was so quick, we were at the front of the plane but even so, we were through in about 10 mins. Sy got carted off to a room while I went to wait for the bags, unfortunately our bags were the last off, they even stopped the belt when they were only half way round as there were so few bags left on it. Ah well.

Alamo was a little walk from the airport, why did it have to be the furthest car rental? I hadn't bothered to do the save time but I wish I had, the guy who 'served' us gave us the hard sell. I told him that we wanted to car we had booked and no upgrade, this was my 12th trip to florida and I know the car I want, he then went on to tell us that we would feel unsafe and intimidated in the car we had booked as all of the other US cars are so much bigger! Is this what Alamo are stooping to? To tell first timers that they will be unsafe in the hope that they will upgrade?! Luckily as I have been so many times before I told him where to go he then went onto try and sell us a satnav, I asked what he thought 12 visits meant he really peed me off. We weren't given the option to bring the car back full, just gave us a charge for the fuel. We did however find the nice guy outside who shows you to your car grade, Sy asked him if he would 'take care of us' and gave him $20, he turned around and took us to a nicer row of cars and Sy chose a bright orange dodge, it was very sporty looking.

We were then on our way to the hotel. We found it very easy after a 45 min drive from Sanford (I miss MCO!). We were staying in the Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista. It was fine for a hotel, and good for a budget hotel which is essentially it was. We checked in and were given loads of coupon books and a voucher to walk over to the ticket sales desk to pick up our 'free information booklet' I wouldn't bother but there was a guy at the door who pointed us over to them and I didnt want to seem rude so went, they tried to talk us into having a timeshare talk, just what you want when you check in to a hotel. Classy they really pushed it to us and felt like we couldn't say no until I told them if we buy a timeshare it will be Disney and no one else

We then went in search of our room. It was nice. I had seen enough pictures online of what the rooms liked like and it was just that, only it was 2 small doubles and not a king (we had asked for a king). So a quick call down to reception and we were told there are no king's available for that night but one would be available from tomorrow onwards so we were sleeping in 2 beds tonight and I couldn't unpack my favourite thing to do once we check in anywhere is unpack.

Some pictures of the room.

So as I wasn't unpacking we decided we would go out somewhere instead... and where would we go on our first night in Orlando? Well Magic Kingdom of course!

We hopped in the car and headed there via a back route, we got a bit lost and ended up past the MK parking lot so we headed to the Poly and asked if we could park there for a few hours, showed them our annual passes so they knew we weren't just trying to avoid the parking charges and the guy on the gate said sure we can We got the monorail there.

Ahhhhh, I'm home

We wandered down Main Street and made our way into Tomorrowland, we decided to ride the Peoplemover.

After a quick view over Tomorrowland we decided we would walk back down Main Street and try to get a Tables in Wonderland* card. Annoyingly we didn't have any I.D. with us so we couldn't buy it, and we had an early ADR the next morning so we would have to come back early to get it.

We caught the boat back to the Poly and got a Dole Whip from Captain Cooks.

We were hungry so whilst we sat eating our ice cream we were deciding where to head for dinner lol, who says you cant eat dessert first while on holiday? We settled on Outback and the only one we knew how to get to was along the 192 so we made our way there. Our server was called Danielle and she was FAB! One of the best servers we had all trip. So attentive without getting in the way, really chatty and friendly. She even told us all the days she would be working over the next 2 weeks to come back and see her We ended up giver her more than 20% tip. We had the same that we *always* get to eat here. Sy had steak and coconut shrimp and I had the bacon, swiss chicken burger. Both were scrummy. Sy got a Sam Adams beer, he was very happy.

Sy's plate was missing his sweet potato but it was on its way.

I was eating way too late for me after such a long day and so I felt a bit dodgy after dinner, we had planned to go to Walmart on the way home but we decided to just get back to the hotel (which was good in the end as we couldn't keep anything cool the next day once we check out of the room).

Once back we hit the hay, completely shattered.

Tomorrow, Grand Floridian breakfast followed by more Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

oh well if you insist.....

Day 2

After a long old travel day you would think that I would sleep in wouldn't you? I don't really suffer the usual jetlag that everyone speaks of travelling from the UK, however this trip I woke up at 4am, 5am, 5:30am and then again at 6am when I gave up trying to get back to sleep. Sy was still sleeping next to me. I crept round the room and went to the AC unit to adjust the temperature, we obviously set it too cold last night. While I was bent over fiddling with it he grabbed a handful of my bottom I jumped out of my skin! He said it was my fault for it being right in front of his face haha. He also got a slap

We Skyped home to both of our parents to let them know we got there safe and then got dressed. We packed up our things and headed down to check back out of the room. We left the luggage in the luggage store room which was warm, I was glad we didn't get to Walmart last night as we certainly wouldn't have been able to keep stuff cool enough in there. It also wasn't very safe, I was wary of leaving our bags in there but Sy said they would be okay, and knowing I tend to go a bit far worrying about stuff I decided to chill out and agree with Sy.

We headed out for Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast, we valet parked and got the monorail over to MK to get the tables in wonderland card, just as we were walking over they started the Rope Drop ceremony so we stood and watched it, it was a bit earlier than the park was due to open so we hadn't expected to see it, but wow, I totally cried! How have I never made it to this before? After it finished we headed over to the guest services outside of the park to get our tables in wonderland card, it was getting close to our ADR so the girl offered to call over to let them know that we were on our way which was nice of her, I don't think we need have worried though as it was half empty once we got there. The monorail back to GF took aaaaages. We went to all of the other resorts first and then we had to wait at some of them for further clearance, I was starting to feel a bit sick from lack of food.

Once we were back at GF we walked through the lobby and saw a bride getting pictures taken, she looked gorgeous. I would love to renew our wedding vows there one day. At GFC we were seated right away, our server was good.

We both ordered the usual, American breakfast for Sy and French toast for me. I didn't enjoy mine today as they put so much powered sugar and cinnamon on it (I HATE cinnamon!) but it ate enough of it. Sy loved his though We used our TiW card which includes an 18% tip.

This was mine once I'd scraped most of the cinnamon off

Once we finished we headed again back up to the monorail to make our way back to MK.

First thing we did was hop on the train and do a full circuit round the park this has become somewhat of a tradition of ours on our first day.

We then wandered down Main Street and got a spot for the Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it parade, we put on some sun cream while we waited. I just LOVE this parade (as you will probably already know if you've read my other reports). Sy refuses to dance though so we usually just stand to the side and watch everyone else boogie on down - one day I'll have him dancing, I'm working on it

After the parade we wandered into Adventureland, stopping on the way to use the restroom. We decided we needed a drink and we were right by aloha isle so we got in the queue, and you cant queue up here and come away without a dole whip! So we got one of them as well to share we stood and ate the dole whip away from the yukky smoking area (why don't they put the smoking areas more out of the way? You get a cloud of smoke free with your dole whip here!). I was admiring the flowers and a duck sat right in the middle of them happily sunbathing Once we finished the dole whip (I may have eaten most of it, I couldn't possibly say...) we made our way to the jungle cruise. Our tour guide was called Robert, excuse the blurry picture of him.

He was very funny. Afterwards we headed to Pirates but there was a 15 minute queue and as its all inside (so no quick way out, meaning I would have to fight back against the queue to get back out again) I didn't want to risk trying to do it today, in case I wasn't well. So we decided to get more food! Like we hadn't eaten enough today yet We stopped by the DVC stand to make an appointment for next week and then I found the elusive Liberty Market and got a baked potato I have been in search of this for years but never got round to finding it. We then went into Columbia Harbor House for Sy to get a tune sandwich. We really enjoyed the food we sat there for a little while after eating (there were plenty of tables for other diners or we would have left to free up the table), as I was feeling a bit dodgy I did feel better for the rest though

We then went to Mickey's Philharmagic, for years I never went to see this, I didn't even really know it was there! Its such a good show.

It was getting later in the day by now so we decided to head back toward the hotel so that we could unpack properly and have a little rest. We stopped on the way for more photopass pictures and in the art of Disney shop along Main Street. Found the perfect present in there for Libby and Ben but Sy said he wasn't sure they would like it so we decided to think about it and see what else we find on the trip (I would come to resent Sy for this later in the trip when we cant find the picture again!!). We got the boat back to GF to collect the car. We waited an age for the boat as the first one that came and unloaded passengers was having problems and going out of service, we decided that by the time the monorail made it all the way round to GF we may as well just wait for the next boat, we weren't in a rush. It was a busy boat though by the time the next one came and the queue got longer.

We picked up the car, tipped the valet guy and headed back to our hotel, stopping on the way to get some drinks. When we got back to the hotel they checked us back in but then there was a problem and the girl when off to get the manager (Scott) and talked in hushed tones. Uh-oh. What's going on? He comes to explain that the guy who was checking out of the room we had been assigned is having a late check out, he's a driver with a school trip and the school coordinator had forgot to book this with them so it was only arranged that day. So where does that leave us? He asked us what our plans were and I told him, to check into our room and unpack and shower, I think he was hoping we would say we were going out and that we would come back later but I wasn't about to do that we unless absolutely had to, I really just wanted to relax in our room, unpack and chill out. The hotel was fully booked so he spent a good 10 minutes juggling the rooms around to get us a room now with a king bed. I was very grateful to him. The second room was pretty much exactly the same as the first but with a king bed.

Once we were unpacked and I was showered again I was feeling much happier We then headed out of the door to Epcot. When we got there we went to get our annual passes changed to the new plastic cards - much better idea than paper annual passes. We had the choice of Donald or Goofy on the cards so I got Donald and Sy got Goofy. We then got the boat over to Morocco and walked round to America to get a seat for ELO flower power concert. Now I must confess, I have zero idea of who ELO are, yeah I've kinda heard the name before but Sy even played me a few of their songs before we left home and I didn't know any of them apart from one used in a recent advert. They were good but didn't really get the crowd going much, Sy enjoyed it though

We then wandered round to Italy for our ADR in Via Napoli. We were half an hour early, they said we could wait there but couldn't seat us any earlier which was fine by us, yet as soon as my bum touched the seat we were called. We were led to a room off to one side, it was very nice and much quieter than the main dining room.

We were brought some breads while we mulled over the menu. Sy ordered arancini to start but forgot to take a picture before he'd eaten it all, tut tut! I wish they did these without meat in, I tasted a bit of one and it was divine.

We then got the prosciutto e melone pizza to share. It had rocket, melon and prosciutto with cheese and no tomato " yay! I had half without the rocket and melon, but it also turns out that I don't like prosciutto... and they don't skimp on the toppings either, so there was LOADS of it.

I didn't really enjoy my meal I only ate 2 slices - but that was down to my poor choosing and not Via Napoli as a whole, we have eaten here twice before and I've loved it.

We paid and made our way out of the park at a leisurely pace. Whilst we were walking out Illuminations started, so we picked up the pace a little not wanting to get caught in the rush to get out after.

Once back at the hotel I totally crashed out. Sy had a shower, went and got ice etc and I didn't even stir! I then did wake up when a group of people old enough to know better were shouting outside our room they were stood out there with drinks, they were obviously just having a good time and didn't think about other guests so I ended up putting my head out and gesturing for them to quiet down a bit - they weren't speaking English so I wasn't sure they would understand if I just asked outright, but they knew what I meant and looked sheepish, it was obviously a genuine mistake. I did go straight back to sleep and didnt stir until 6:30am the next day.

Day 3

Woke up at 6:30am, played with my ipad until 8 and then woke Sy up, I was starting to get hungry! We had a little job to do this morning, we needed to get Sy a new pair of crocs, cause silly wife left them at home... again maybe if I had help with packing... we stopped to get a McDonalds breakfast on the way, Sy just had to have a McGriddle, Sausage, Egg, Cheese sandwiched between 2 pancakes with maple syrup in. I'm still not convinced lol. After eating we got to the Vineland rd outlet mall at 9:10, nice and early. Only problem was the shops didn't open until 10am. Doh! So we went round the corner and found a Publix. We had a wander round, getting a few more drinks while we were there and headed back for 10am, just as they opened the doors. Sy quickly found some he liked, $20 on sale. They are nice but boy they are bright, between his yellow crocs and the orange car, he could be seen from space!

We didn't go to any other shops as we want to get to the parks so we got back in the car and made our way to Epcot. Our first ride tradition took a slip today, we usually head straight to spaceship earth but the queue was mahoooosive so we decided to give it a miss for now. We popped into the art of Disney shop and found the picture I wanted to get Libby and Ben again but now Sy said he didn't want to risk it getting damaged so we couldn't get it right now... hmmmmm. We also found a picture that I want for us too

We then went to ride test track.

I hadn't really read much about the update as I wanted it experience it a bit like a newbie I wasn't keen on the new ride aspect, though I do think it now fits better within Epcot. I liked designing our car though

We then headed to Soarin' it's a true favourite of mine and never fails to give me that 'I'm home' feeling.

Afterwards we were feeling a little peckish so we made our way to the French bakery. I wanted to try out the new napoleon (why, Disney? WHY change perfection?!). I also got a ham and cheese croissant served 'warm' or not really warm it was quite amazing how they managed to burn the top of the croissant while keeping the rest of it stone cold...
The napoleon was good though but no where near as good as before. Sy got a baguette and an apple pastry thing.

Whilst Sy was in the queue near to paying I went to get a table but saw a man with his wife in a wheelchair, he was trying to push her and hold the tray of food so I took the tray for him and helped him find a table they were very grateful. Cue warm fuzzy feeing inside

After eating we decided to get the boat to HS. We stopped on the way to watch some street performers. I have never seen them before, but they were very, very good.

We hopped on the boat and headed to HS Just as we got off the boat the heavens opened oh dear. We headed inside and walked up the shops as far as we could and then decided we would go to starring rolls for a drink. And I couldn't help but get another napoleon - just to compare you understand this one was better, much more like the old one in the French bakery

When the rain had stopped enough to wander round we made our way to the Movie Ride, another tradition of first ride it was weird this time though, we had a male driver but a female gangster! Never had a girl before.

We then went on Toy Story Mania, Sy won of course. I have a theory as to why men are better at that ride than women, it involves the firing action used We had a wander round and caught the end of Mulch Sweat and Shears before making our way back out again.

We decided to get the bus back to Epcot so that we didn't have to walk through to get to the car, yup we were that lazy lol.

Once back at the hotel we went for a swim and generally relaxed for a little while before long though we started to get hungry so we decided to head to the restaurant next to our hotel - Kobe.

The food was AMAZING! Cant recommend it enough. We hoped to head back there later in the trip but just didn't get round to it, we will be back in September though We sat at the hibachi grill with another family though I couldn't tell you their relationship, they were 2 women and 2 children, one of about 12 and 1 of about 16. They were friendly but not as friendly as when you sit with other people at Teppan Edo. I chose the chicken and Sy the shrimp. We started with the onion soup (Sy ate mine) and then a yummy salad with a sweet dressing on, before the chef came out and started cooking.

Our bill came to $42 before tip which included 2 soft drinks. What a bargain! We were stuffed. After we waddled back to the hotel all I wanted was a food coma but as it was only 9:30 I tried to force myself to stay awake by reading, unfortunately I got stuck into my book and couldn't put it down. I read it till I finished it and that took me past midnight, whoops! It did force me to sleep in a bit later tomorrow though

I don't think I'm dedicated enough to get up early just to ride TSM lol, but I do have the game for the Wii at home so maybe it's lost some of its appeal cause I can go home and play it?
Kobe really was amazing, we will go back for sure. In fact I can't stop thinking about it, I've been googling teppanyeki places at home, there's 2 in London but they are super expensive and London is still a fair drive from us. Think they may be one a bit closer though but it's unclear if its still there or just an old website, must go investigate!
I'm working on more today but I'm supposed to be working today ill try to get as much up as possible though

Really? We have never had a girl before. I thought it must be a new thing, but obviously not then she was a bit pants though, I want them to really commit

Oh purpose I hope hehehe

Awwwwww I love you I don't agree, but thank you for thinking it! xxxxxxxxxxx

Day 4

Woke up at 9:30am after reading too late the night before, that's more like it! We are very much night people so like to stay in bed in the mornings usually so that we can stay up later in the evening. We decided to get dressed and skip breakfast as we were still full from the night before, and head to Animal Kingdom for 10:30.

We stopped to get a few photopass pictures and then headed to Its Tough To Be A Bug. Cue the embarrassing photos of us wearing the glasses...

We then went to ride Dinosaur, love this ride - it always makes me jump even when I know its coming! We always ask for a front row seat so we don't get thrown around as much, but we didn't have to worry today as they were sending the time rover's round empty. We decided we should probably get something to eat now as it was 11:30 so we went into Restaurantosaurus as we could use our TiW card here to get 20% off. Chicken breast nuggets for me and chicken sandwich for Sy.

We also skyped home to say hello while we were in there, as there was good wifi signal.

Sy really wanted to ride Everest, I wasn't sure it was a good idea after eating but we compromised, I would ride Everest if he rode Kali twice (I didn't want to get sick and he didn't want to get wet). I was right, Everest wasn't a good idea. Blurgh! But then Kali made it worth it I love that ride, I think water rides are my favourite

Notice the colour of the crocs!

As we were soaking wet we decided to head back to the hotel for a swim. But we couldn't leave just yet without going on Safari!

Outside the Safari I was on facebook while Sy used the bathroom and I noticed a new post on the Disney food blog about some *amazing* fruit juice that they serve in tusker house and boma but they also sold it at a kart right new where we were stood, and it was served there FROZEN! As I don't really drink alcohol, I am always on the look out for some exciting drinks that are kid friendly. So once I saw that, that was it, we were off to find it! And here it is

I know what you're thinking, it doesn't look frozen. Well, that's cause its NOT! I had just paid a huge amount for what tasted exactly like Um Bongo. Sy was happy though, he likes Um Bongo. I was super disappointed, ah well.

We then made our way out to the car, stopping on the way for a picture...

Finger fail!

Once back at the hotel Sy realized his belt had stained his light yellow Ralph Lauren poloshirt, noooo! So that means I had to get it in the wash straight away and as I was doing one set of washing I may as well do some more. Once I finally had enough tokens (stooooopid token machine!!) I set 2 loads to wash, went for a swim and then came back and stuck them in the drier. And after all that, the stain didn't come out All that washing took ages longer than it should have done, so we had to quickly get changed and ready for our ADR in Planet Hollywood. I know this place gets a lot of stick and not so great reviews but we haven't been since our honeymoon in 2009 so we wanted to give it another go, we did enjoy it back then but didn't think it was all that amazing.

We walked up the stairs and they tried to make us have a picture even though we didn't want one, we had to be quite firm with them saying 'NO'. We had no intention of buying the photo nor did we want to be bothered while eating our dinner. This was the only bad part of the evening though. Once inside we were shown to our table, it was nice to see that the tables were a bit more spaced out than the one in Disneyland Paris.

Sy says I look evil in this picture hehe

We started with the tostadas, omg they were yummy! I have to admit, they were the main reason I wanted to come back here and they didn't disappoint.

Then I had a chicken burger topped with cheese and bacon.

Sy had the lasagna.

We were both really happy with our choice and decided that PH will be on the list again for the next trip. We had a great meal, our server was fab, we weren't rushed at all. And 20% off with TiW card, bonus!

We were back out by 8pm so had a wander round DTD, looking in some of the shops and watching them making some yummy things...

We decided to get an ice cream to share in haagen dazs " dolce de leche and sat watching the world go by outside. Once we finished we decided to stop by Walmart on the way back to get a few more bits. We had a proper mooch today, we found possibly the world's largest dog food bowl!

OMG what kind of dog would need a bowl that big?!

We paid and headed back to the hotel, it was starting to rain again (a sign of things to come?!) so we ran into the hotel with the little shopping we had, I don't cook on holiday so we only ever buy drinks and snacks.

We got ready for bed and watched TV for a while before sleep. The plan for tomorrow was to be Typhoon Lagoon but the weather channel says its going to rain all day, so who know?!

Day 5

Annoyingly woke up at 6:30 again, urgh! Thought we were past that after yesterday's lay in. I wrote up some trip report notes while Sy snored beside me, but before long I was bored so stuck the TV on low and looked at the weather forecast, as I said yesterday, the plan was for TL but looking at the weather, that was a no go Before long I was sick of listening to Sy snoring so woke him up - mean wife that I am

On opening the curtains it pretty much sealed shut the idea of TL, it was pouring down. Ah well. Plan rethink time! We decided on Epcot as there were lots of things to do inside. We got dressed, packed the ponchos and headed out the door, stopping at McDonalds on the way for Sy (I wasn't hungry).

The famous McGriddle

We got to Epcot for 10am and managed to do Spaceship earth today without a huge queue, yay! I'm not quite sure what happened to my face in the picture though :-/

Afterwards we got chatting to a couple who were on the ride behind us, they were so lovely. They were on their way home from Florida, they live 6 months of the year there and then go home for the summer. I cant quite remember where they called home though. We stood and chatted for about half an hour and swapped emails

We then decided to wander round world showcase to see some of the flower and garden festival, Sy also picked up a booklet and wanted to get stamps at the different stands... I could already see where this was headed. We stopped at Club Cool on the way.

We first went into the Butterfly Garden, it was lovely in there.

We saw this little guy wandering along on his own

We stopped in the UK pavilion in search of some characters, as they are often hidden out the back of the shops, sadly not today though.

We got chatting to 2 of the girls working in the shop, one from Ireland but I'm afraid I don't remember her name, it could have been Brodie? The other girl was called Anna from Newcastle, and she let slip that her mum is a Dibber! She couldn't remember her mum's username though so if her mum sees this, what a lovely young daughter you have, you should be very proud We stood talking to the girls for about an hour but then we had to dash as we were headed to Chefs De France for lunch. We have never been there before but I had been looking at the online menu and eyeing up the croque monsieur

Once seated, our server came to introduce herself and offer us some drinks. We both ordered a diet coke until she told us about a special French drink of orange juice and fizzy water called Orangina... YES! When we go to France I drink nothing else the whole time We both changed our drink from diet coke

Sy decided to have the set menu. He started with French onion soup while I just ate most of the bread we were brought, it was AMAZING. I will go back just for the bread.

Unfortunately next time I wont be going back for the croque monsieur It came cold the first time, and when it came back it was still fairly cold and didn't even taste very nice there are other things I want to try though so I'm sure we will go back one day. Sy got one too, and we got fries to share as well - they were very yummy and authentic

Sy then got the profiteroles for dessert, they were okay. He liked them but as I'm not keen on chocolate I wasnt a huge fan.

I was sad though, we saw Remy come round but the skipped out our end of the restaurant oh well. Maybe we will see him next time.

By now the rain was here to stay We donned the ponchos and headed out, getting the boat back to Future World and back to the car - I didn't dress very cleverly today, I was wearing a maxi dress and the bottom half was getting soaked so needed to go back and change.

We stopped on the way for me to get my dessert though, a Dole Whip! Woohoo!

Once back at the hotel we fell asleep for 3 & 1/2 hours! Ooops! When we woke up again it was still raining heavily ah well. We decided to cancel our ADR for Coral reef and go to the Dine in cinema at DTD. We decided to watch 'The Big Wedding' it was so funny! Its not out here in the UK yet so we had no idea what to expect other than the picture and the cast (which looked fab). We bought our tickets with the annual pass discount ($22) and headed inside.

Sorry about the blurry pictures, I tool them on my iphone's front camera

The film was about to start to we had to make quick choices from the menu with limited lighting We decided to start with Potato Skins filled with cheese and bacon and spring onions, they were super yummy. Next I had chicken tenders, I didn't enjoy them at all. They had a funny taste to them they were like eating birdseye chicken dippers for a huge price. Sy had some chicken tenders with coconut and sweet chilli. He didn't mind them. Our bill came to $52 with 2 soft drinks. Quite a lot! This it the second time I've been here for this and both times I've not enjoyed the main, next time I'd probably just come and get a few starters to share, I still like the idea of a film and dinner The server came to get our check and then left, while I went to use the bathroom as the film was over. It was right over the other side of the cinema so I said I would meet Sy by the exit, but he wasn't there when I came out so I went to find him, he was stood outside our cinema room looking stressed, no one couldn't find our credit card! They did eventually come back with it. But it was a very stressful 10 minutes or so.

Afterwards we had a mooch around DTD and bought a new mat for Wilbur's food before the rain got the better of us and we head back to the hotel.

Huge ricecrispy cakes

And look at what we found! If they had women's Tee's with Gummie bears on I would have been all over them

We were in bed by 11:30pm and miraculously we fell right to sleep, even though we had that 3 & 1/2 hr sleep this afternoon.

Nooooo! just as we rediscover it! Ah man, we better make sure we go in September then. Thanks for the heads up it was full when we went though so it does surprise me, they are obviously making money from it.

I didnt all of the non alcoholic stuff i found was things like milkshakes, and i hate milk lol. I'm not giving up though

Hahaha I laugh every time I watch it too I have no idea what happened lol

We generally are smiley people, well I like to think we are anyway if we're not smiling then we're bickering lol

You mean you don't wake up hubby?! Don't tell Sy that he will be wanting to lay in too! Hehehehehehe

Day 6

Woke up today at 9am and on looking out the window felt thoroughly deflated, it was still pouring with rain oh dear. We were a bit stuck on what to do today so we decided to go for breakfast and decide while we were there. IHOP it was We were seated right away as the place was half empty.

I decided to break the norm and have French toast, oh how wrong was I to do that?! It was covered in cinnamon nooooo oh well. Sy had a breakfast that came with pancakes, he made a better choice than me. I'm really not doing well on the food front am I? I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with me (other than being just fussy lol).

Peach melba French toast

We decided that we would take a wander round the Premium outlets as the rain looked set to stay. We went to both outlets. We didn't really buy much as we didn't have the funds this trip though we did get a set of 3 cooling racks for me as I didn't have any don't ask how I've got by till now when I do a LOT of baking. Plus they were a total bargain at $9.99 for all 3. I also got a tee in the Disney shop that I had been eyeing up last year full price at $32.95, and paid $9.99 for it patience pays sometimes Sy also got a tee from the Disney shop and I bought an outfit for my niece.

We decided we would get a drink in the food court at the outlet at the top of I Drive, I went to Chicken now as it was the one with the shortest queue, we only wanted a drink after all. I paid with a $10 and was given a couple of $ back. Erm no, I need more change than that. The guy argued that I had only given him a $5 bill, yet he had rung it through as $10 as I saw it. He refused to give me the rest of the money back at first. I argued it with him until I went into my bag to find the receipt when he immediately gave me the rest of the money back with a sly smile on his face, I didn't even have to try and find it when he gave the money back. I would put a bet on the fact he knew all along I gave him a $10 and was trying to scam me out of the difference. Just the way he acted and gave me the money as soon as I went to look for the receipt. It made me SO cross, I was probably crosser than I should have been but imagine if they do this to all the tourists they get in, a nice little earner for them! Grrrrr! Rant over.

On the way back we stopped at Popeyes to get some take out oh how I love Popeyes. Its annoying that there wasn't one closer to us in LBV, I would have eaten there all the time. I had chicken tenders and a biscuit Sy had a chicken PoBoy.

We came back to the hotel afterwards and Skyped home, it was still raining. We didn't really want to go to a mall as it was quite depressing shopping when you cant really spend any money (I'll be making up for it in September ) so we were at a loss as to what to do and eventually decided on Epcot, there were still things to do inside that we didn't do yesterday. We got to the car park and sat in the car for ages, it was raining too heavily to get out and put the ponchos on! We would have been wet to the skin the moment we opened the car doors, and they were in the boot as they were still wet from the day before. In the end the rain wasn't letting up so we sucked it up and got out. We did get pretty wet just putting them on but hey, warm rain is still better than cold rain back home I think people thought we were mad on the way in, it was like swimming against the tide, everyone was leaving as we were arriving. We decided to head to innoventions first and we did the fire safety experience. The guy was SO camp who talked us through it, he was brilliant! He told us all afterwards that the teams had the closest score he had ever seen, the only thing separating them was someone clicking on the wrong thing once. Does he say that to every group though? I dunno, never done it before - I'm not sure if we will do it again either We then made our way over to the land while the rain let up for a little bit. We have never been into the Circle of Life before so decided to give it a go. It was empty - that should have been my first warning... but sadly we waited for it to fill up (well fill up might be stretching it somewhat, get 1/4 full might be a better explanation ) well it might be nice on a hot day for a rest and Ellen isn't working

Next up, Living with the Land, such an underrated ride! Love, love, love it

And of course as we were there, we just had to ride Soarin'

I look REALLY excited in this picture hahaha

We then decided to try Coral Reef for a walk up, it's a popular restaurant so we didn't hold out much hope but thought we would try as people may have left cause of the rain and cancelled their booking. And success! They could fit us in, we just had to wait 30 mins. Fine by us, and in usual Disney fashion as soon as my bum touched the seat we were called that was a quick 30 minutes. We were shown to a table almost next to the tank (there was another table for 2 between us and the tank). Yay!

Our server came over to introduce himself, his name was Rad. He was a fine server but not the usual Disney service. He was just a bit nonchalant, but as I said, he was fine.

The brad was brought out, it wasn't the same as last year, it was crusty last year but this bread was soft and tough, it almost felt like day old bread - had we not had a second basket the same I would have thought we got a dodgy batch.

I had the chicken but they had changed it from last year, its now served with tomato pasta so I asked for fries instead. When it was served the first set of fries were cold so he brought out another plate of them. Sy had the Salmon with stir fried veg " he LOVED it. He wants to go back just for them.

I was very sad to see the creme brulee had been removed from the menu, I saved room for dessert especially The chocolate wave was still there so Sy ordered that for him and I didn't have anything but once I tasted Sy's I kinda ended up having half... whoops he didn't mind though, lovely hubby

Just as we ordered dessert a family of four were shown to the table next to the glass but the next row across from us. They had 2 boys who kept climbing up to the tanks and standing up there shouting, and I really mean shouting " I think they were about 6/7 and 9/10. And then would you believe, when they got back down their parents made them keep getting back up! They wanted to take more pictures of them there, even when a server asked them to get down as soon as they went away again their parents got them to climb back up. This commotion was dominating the whole restaurant. Everyone was looking at them and they just didn't care at all. The dad was stood up taking pictures in the way of the servers, the boys were shouting the whole time 'SHARK!'. People at other tables were all turning to one another in disbelief. It felt very much like 'this is our holiday and we will act however we want, screw everyone else' attitude. I was glad we were nearly done, Sy wanted to have a quiet word with the dad but I wouldn't let him, they looked the sort that wouldn't give 2 hoots about turning round and thumping him. It really put a dampener on the experience for us. Had this been our first visit I don't know if we would be back, but thankfully those sort of people are in the minority and could be anywhere

We paid the bill and left sharpish, glad to be out. We decided we would quickly walk over to Test Track, and we rode it in the rain I made our car nice and girly again, much to Sy's annoyance

By now it was getting late and nearly time for Illuminations so we got a spot with spaceship earth behind us. Wrong spot. The wind blew all of the ash over us, it was getting in our eyes all the time and actually made holes in our ponchos! Afterwards we wandered back to the car, we were pretty cold by now, we were wet and there was no sun to keep us warm. Who would have thought you could be cold in Orlando in May?! We got back to the hotel and were in bed by 1pm, the aircon went off tonight, and I had to get my fluffy socks out to warm my feet up in bed

Thank you, glad you're enjoying

Oh wow, did you think he was good too? Other than picking on you

Awww thank you! I aim to please

Thank you xxxxx

ill have to remember that trick when he wants to lay in, ill tell him i'm off to a park and leave him in the room to sleep