The Annual Pass Bonus Trip April/May 16. Updated 8/23

Awww me toooooooo so sad but not long till October!

Such a bummer we will miss each other but yes, bonus trips are awesome! And it's only a few months till October!

I'm so excited to do it, I'm slightly worried I'm not gonna be able to eat but it will be worth it!

I've only seem good things... Apart from people who took little ones and it cost them a fortune...

Thank you! One more sleep

Highs and lows

Well we have been home almost a week and I've not really found the enthusiasm to write this. Not because the trip was awful - far from it! But because while I was away my brother was taken ill and died the day we flew home we also got the news that my aunt's cancer is back and has spread and has now become terminal. Along with my other aunt who had the same news just before we went (admittedly I'm not as close to that one but still my only 2 aunts). Sy's Nan died shortly before we went away and her partner also died while we were away. So I'm sure you can understand why it's taken me till now to find the head space!

So tbh those are pretty much all the lows right there. A couple of other niggles but nothing I would call a low exactly.

Due to all the stuff going on back home we ended up cancelling a few of our adrs, including the beach club afternoon tea - I'm pretty gutted about that one tbh!

Another little low was understandably I was quite poorly while we were away, just stress related with everything going on. Meant I had to call it a day a few times on the trip.

We had a very meh meal at outback which was a shame. Food wasn't cooked to order and server was a bit rubbish. My chicken was so over cooked I couldn't cut it let alone chew it, but I didn't send it back as we were in a rush. Just won't go back there (other than to get a wallaby darned).

May the 4th weather was rubbish, it poured with rain all day and we froze, we were doing a dapper darlin event so we were all dressed up and freezing lol. But it meant TSM had just 10 mins wait and we rocked up for the Star Wars fireworks 5 mins before they started and got a great view, so every cloud has a silver lining!

Sy bought a DVC Magic band and it was damaged, it took a bit of hassle to get it sorted. They didn't have anymore in the blue so he had to go back over to AK on the last day to get it. Not really a low but a little niggle.

That's the low/niggles list. Now onto the highs.

There are so many!

Spending time with such lovely people, Vicki and Mark, Jackie, Carrie and Mark, Louis, Lea, Debbie and her family. Our American friends Lorraine, Liz and Nicole. Disney foodies Randy and Marranda. A special mention of course for Ali, we had such a great time hanging out together! Feel like I'm missing my right arm now we're home and at opposite ends of the country

Vero beach has gotta come pretty high in this list, I LOVED it there! It didn't even matter that they were doing loads of work around the resort. It was stunning. I really cannot wait to go back there. I'm even toying with trying to fit it in when we go in October.

The pirate dinner at vero was very cute too, sad to hear it might be stopping. Goofy and Donald in their pirate outfits posing for pics and having a dance off! What's not to love?

DVC Mother's Day brunch, it was really good! I went not knowing what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. Though the queue to meet the incredibles was crazy, 45 minutes poor frozone had no queue at all. Food was yummy too! The brunch led onto another special moment of the trip. We were told we could take the floral centrepiece from our table but knowing it would die we found a mother to give them to and wished them a happy Mother's Day. I love spreading the joy. Later in the day I went to meet tigger and pooh and when I came out someone had tied a balloon to my scooter (it was a bad health day). It made me cry <3 proof that karma does exist.

We had the BEST meet and greet with the Ugly Sisters. We were periscoping the meet and they went crazy for it! We must have been with them 10 minutes or longer, they were fabulous!

Club villain. I so hope they extend this. I didn't eat anything cause there was nothing i could eat but it was still worth it. The Queen of Hearts was something special, she was horrified that I had a white rose in my hair hehehe. I didn't realise there would be a bit of a show as well, the singer and dancers were very good

Our first MK day we were chatting with some manager type CM's about what a great day we were having and they gave us some any use Fastpasses so we found some strangers and made their day by taking them on splash with us

Getting a dance with Pluto at Garden Grill. I told him he was my favourite and so he danced with me! It was so sweet <3

Being the last people out of MK one night! We had gone into chat with Louis who was working at guest services and when we came out everyone else had left. Never been the last out before so it was pretty special.

Coronado springs, it was a lovely resort I'd have no problem staying there again. We even got 2 towel animals!!! DVC never get them...

The Boardwalk, it's such a beautiful resort. Though I did miss staying at AKL, we went for a quick visit on our last day (as I didn't feel like going to a park after the news) and it really felt like going home. All the VIP's for the Invictus Games were staying at the Boardwalk so there was a real buzz around the place.

Getting a signed picture from David Doss! He's a Disney artist who was meeting at the art of Disney store in Epcot. We have a few of his pictures, we both love his style. So I met him and bought another picture to have signed for Sy.

Meeting Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh! It was the little character spot between Canada and the UK that they sometimes open up. There were others there but all that I'd seen before so I ran to rabbit. We dug up some pretend carrots together.

The last night we stopped by the front desk to find out if we could get a late check out. We got talking with the 2 people behind the desk (it was late and no one else around) and I told them about my brother being in hospital and going to die, chatting about his children etc. The next morning we had a message on our phone saying Mickey had left something at the front desk for my niece and nephew. They had left them a plush Mickey and Minnie. As I mentioned that morning he did die so I sobbed when they gave them to me. It was so touching, and not at all expected.

The last high has got to be that we have only 150 days till the next trip in October!

Thank you everyone for your kind words.

Well I've toyed with not doing a trip report for this trip, I've gone back and fourth about it since I came back really. It didn't feel right after what happened somehow, but then I thought what better way than to bring a bit of sunshine into a sad time than talking about our trip to WDW?

The day before

The day before was slightly more relaxed than usual in that Sy had taken the day off work. Usually we fly towards the end of the week with Sy working the day before we fly so I end up doing all the last min jobs that need doing (like last min packing, emptying the bins etc) but this time we were flying on a Tuesday as it was PS50 each cheaper and after all, this trip was supposed to be a budget trip

We were both up at 8am too excited to sleep. I even managed to have a shower and wash my hair (I never usually have time to wash my hair the day before, it's a long process lol). We finished the packing and I snapped a quick picture of all the luggage... Some of it was our overnight stuff for tonight and Sy's work laptop but the rest is ours :-/ seems a lot seeing as most of our clothes were already in Orlando with Carrie and Mark!!

We did the last few bits of cleaning up before leaving our house at 2:15 with Tink in tow. We were dropping her at the cattery on the way. She was not impressed with us! She told us off all the way there lol.

(The wind noise was from me holding the camera right in front of the vent)

After dropping Tink off we popped into see my mum as she's only round the corner. I take Tink quite a way from ours because the cattery came highly recommended and it's half a mile from my parents so mum can go in and see her for us while we are away.

We left mum's at 3:30 and made the journey round to Gatwick straight from there, we usually stop in at Sy's parents first but we wanted to just get rid of the cases first. I had a look online and I thought it said we could drop the bags off 24 hours before the flight but I was wrong, it was only from 5pm. And there was already a queue! Never seen it so busy, clearly the trick is to go later in the evening. Twilight took ages cause there was a problem with our seats. We had booked and paid for seat plus, which is basically buying an extra seat in economy so you can spread out a bit. We had been booked into seats but they hadn't blocked off the seat next to us so someone was sat in it. They did eventually move us to further back but because there was no manager there for twilight the girl couldn't permanently block off the extra seat with us, this was a bit annoying! She did give us fast track security for the next day though which was nice of her. We finally left the airport at 5:50. I gave virgin a call from the car to explain the situation and that we were going to have the same problem coming home and they were able to completely block off the extra seats, phew. The ground staff in gatwick aren't official virgin staff so there was only so much she could do.

Still smiling!

We made our way to Sy's parents house which is about 15 mins away on the country roads. At theirs we printed off the last few things we needed, things we had forgotten at ours. Sy's mum made dinner, we had roast chicken and veggies followed by fresh mango and mango sorbet, was yummy! We got an early night soon after finishing as we were having to be up earlier the next morning having been bumped from the later flight to the early one.

*not connected to this trip report but thought I'd share with you my current view while I'm writing this...

Pretty nice huh? It's currently my last day in Cyprus where I've been for the week with my friend Jane. I'll miss the pool and sunshine.

I totally thought of you when I pulled my fingers out this morning, after reading Amy's and you nudging her to get a move on

Day 1 - travel day

The alarm went off at 7am this morning, not that we actually got much sleep mind you - too excited! I mean does anyone ever get much sleep the night before flying to Florida?? We quickly showered and got dressed and by 8:10 we were leaving the house like excited little children

Selfie in the car on the way, Sy's lovely dad was giving us a lift.

At the airport we had to quickly stop by the check in desk and then made our way through to premium security. It was nice to have and we were through quickly but tbh I'd never pay for it, but then ask me again when I'm in a queue for 45 mins and I might change my mind hehe

First stop once through was to buy a boots meal deal for me in case I wouldn't eat on the plane (Sy got one too). We then went to find some breakfast, we settled on pret. I had a croissant, my usual go to breakfast; I'm not a huge breakfast eater. Sy had a hot sausage muffin which he said was really good. My croissant was still warm so it was extra yummy.

Breakfast of champions haha

Afterwards we went for a mooch round the shops, I'd been eyeing up a new bag in Ted Baker but sadly for me (and luckily for Sy's creditcard) they didn't have it. Boo! We then decided to go down and wait at the gate, we were actually the first there.

There was a little delay before they started boarding us, which meant we were a bit late taking off as well. We made up some time in the air though so it wasn't too bad.

Our flight was pretty jam packed. Virgin usually have 2 flights per day but because it was out of season and a Tuesday they had merged the flights into 1 (hence us getting bumped to the earlier flight). I was very pleased we booked the extra seat so we could have a little more space, there weren't many spare seats at all.

I passed the time on the flight watching a few films. I started with the Good Dinosaur followed by Sisters and finally The Intern. They were all ok films, I'm in no rush to watch any of them again soon though

The food was pretty rubbish, worse than I've found it in a while. Sy and I both had the Somerset chicken. Dessert was a salted caramel gu pot which was yuk (I forgot to take pics - sorry!). Afternoon tea came later, the crisps were now LEMON flavoured. What is that about?? They were seriously RANK! I am not a fan of lemon at all. It's ok though, they give you a mint for after so I quickly popped that in my mouth... Only they decided one lemon flavoured thing wasn't enough and they added lemon to the mint too that go spat out too luckily the chicken wrap was ok though plus I had the boots meal deal to keep me going.

Before we knew it we were arriving in Orlando international airport, the time really seemed to 'fly' by *thank you, I'm here all week*
We were about half way down the plane so there was a little wait at immigration, we quickly spotted Ali the other side of the glass waiting for her bag from the BA flight. We were arriving in Orlando around the same time so rather than Ali getting a taxi to Vicki's house (where she was staying for 5 nights) we said we would give her a lift.

Sy wasn't taken away due to his visa for once which was a nice change so it meant we were through and waiting for our bags in no time. Ali's bag arrived just as we got through immigration and ours were there about 10 minutes later, perfect timing! As we went through customs we were sent for a second bag screening, this as a first for me and Sy but Ali said it happens to her every time... I guess she looks dodgy hehehe

We went to get on the monorail over to the main terminal. Sy and Ali went up the escalator but I had to go in the lift. There was a monorail waiting as I arrived so I motioned to them from the opposite end of the platform to get on so they rode on one end while I was at the other. It reminded me of the time I came for a girly week with Jan when I arrived a day earlier, getting the monorail all on my own hehe.

We met up again the other end and made our way down to the car hire desk. There was a bit of a queue so we used the little kiosk to check in for the car. It took ages and then when it got to the end it timed out and told us to go to the desk! That was annoying. Luckily it didn't take long at the desk and we were soon on our way out yo choose a car. There actually wasn't many to choose from at all, we should have had a mid size SUV but we ended up with a people carrier, it was nice though and very comfy so can't complain too much.

Selfie in the car...

I put the satnav on and we were soon on our way to DISNEY!! Or more importantly to Coronado Springs where we would be staying for our first 5 nights. We've never stayed in a moderate before. Sy's only stayed deluxe but I stayed in all star sports last year on the trip with Jan.

I was pleasantly surprised by Coronado. I really loved it! We were the Cabana's section 9A, room 9273 which was a huge corner room. It was lush! I'd totally jump at staying there again. Ali was still with us as we decided we would come to see the hotel first. She liked it too

Of course we had to get some new purple magic bands, gotta complete the set (one in every colour hehe)

We unpacked a little bit, cause we had a fair amount of Ali's things we brought over for her (girl doesn't know how to travel light ) so Ali could take them to Vicki's house, and we had things we needed to take over to Carrie's house later.

Afterwards we were all a bit starving so we decided just to get a counter service here at the hotel. Ali and I walked over while Sy drove the car (so we could take Ali right after). The restaurant was empty which was half good and half bad - good cause it was nice and quiet but bad because it turned out the food had been sat under heat for a loooooong time. Sy had the burger while Ali and I both got the chicken tenders. Sy and I just shared a drink but I noticed on the receipt we had been charged for 2 so when we'd finished I went up and mentioned it at the counter, the manager came out and refunded it to the room. I mentioned to him that they might want to throw the chicken tenders away as they weren't very nice now (I didn't actually eat much of mine as they were so hard they were giving me jaw ache haha), he refunded them as well! I didn't say it for that reason, I ate half of them when I could have just returned them and asked for fresh ones (I was being lazy and I was starving which is why I didn't), but he insisted on giving me the money back. How lovely <3

When we were all finished we hopped back into the car and made our way towards Vicki's house. Vicky lives in Windermere so we got to drive through the Magic Kingdom gates.

We arrived 15 mins later and stopped in for a quick chat, we couldn't stay long though as we were heading over to Carrie and Mark's house. We made plans to meet at my French cafe the next day though for a proper catch up. We then made our way over the Carrie's. I had told Carrie before that we might be minging from the flight as we weren't sure we would have time to shower first, she had put a note on the front door that said "if you're a minging, don't come a ringing" laughed so hard when we saw that Sy had sneaked in a quick shower while I was sorting out Ali and Carrie's things from our cases so it was just me who was minging lol I still knocked though

We spent ages there chatting and cuddling the kitty's. We were scheduled onto a periscope line up, we had hoped to be back in Disney by then but we weren't so we ended up scoping from their living room! Oopsy! Too busy chatting and not paying enough attention to time - time flies when you're having fun as they say.

Mark had been making cookies so we were treated to warm cookies while we were there and we were even given some to take with us (they made a great pre breakfast snack the next morning hehe).

We left there and arrived back at our hotel for 10:45, quite impressive to still be awake seeing as it was 3:45am by then to us.

Quick snap of the bed before we practically fell into it, after a shower for me we were tucked up in bed by 11:30pm local time (4:30am to us, 21&1/2 hours awake!! Yikes)

It's not just you who has this obsession don't worry I love a good trip report

Daily emails hahahahaha
That's exactly why I thought I'd write it, god help me when I get past the first few days - I didn't take any notes at all after that