Our Big DVC Anniversary Trip-Report September 13 *completed*

Working on the next update as we speak so hopefully that should go up in the next few days. I'm a bit ill at the mo, just a nasty cold but bad enough that i'm pretty much staying in bed most of the day so making good use of my time

Day 10

After my super early night I was awake at 8:30 this morning, but thankfully I was feeling about a million times better We had a little breakfast in the room before getting on the bus to Kidani to meet our DVC guide, Tim... He told us he would be there this morning if we decided we wanted to add on points at the Grand Floridian... I think by now you have guessed where this is going

Tim didn't know we were definitely coming but he was very good at making himself available so we could sign some papers and give him a big chunk of cash I wasn't really prepared for just how long it would take, we had already bought points at AKL but that was resale so we really didn't have a clue. Tim swapped places with a guy called Jose who went through all the paperwork with us. Unfortunately once we were half way through we realised that he had given us the wrong direct debit date and he was MOST upset that we wanted to the correct date that we had chosen, and he made sure we knew he wasn't pleased, that wasn't quite the DVC experience we were expecting... especially as it was his own mistake! He then didn't offer us the welcome home breakfast (we only knew about it cause Hayley and Gareth had mentioned it to us), when we asked Tim about it he said that Jose should have arranged it for us. Think that might have been payback for making him reprint the paperwork.

Once we were all signed and sorted we headed to Animal Kingdom, we had an ADR at Yak & Yeti that was coming up shortly. I have it on good authority in my notes that we drove over there, but I'm pretty sure we floated there We were walking on air all day!

We had a little time before our ADR so we went to watch Its Tough To Be A Bug. I love that show, though I do move my bum forward ever so slightly at some points I don't like things poking around my bum no matter what you may have heard hehehe

Afterwards we made our way over to Yak and Yeti, we didn't have to wait at all to be taken to our table, we were seated upstairs. Sadly this is one of the few places that doesn't accept the tables in wonderland card so no 20% off here but Sy was really keen to try it again after our first time. I thought my food was a bit meh whereas he really loved his so hence us coming back again. Sadly the service from our first time hadn't improved. We were left without drinks and then with empty glasses for a long time, and given our check before being offered a dessert, though we tell him to take it back as we wanted to look over the dessert menu

I had the bourbon chicken and Sy has the maple tamarind chicken, I couldn't decide between the 2 but I was soooo glad I have the one I did as I didn't like Sy's at all. Mine was nice enough, but nothing special. I had a virgin mango daiquiri while Sy had a diet coke, and we then decided to share a mango pie which was lush and the winner of the meal hands down!

I'm not sure how soon we will be back, maybe if it was included on the TiW card we might be tempted but at the moment its just a bit too pricey and the service too slack for us to want to return anytime soon, which is a real shame as I feel like AK is already lacking in good TS places. But hey ho!

We then got a good spot to watch the parade to let our lunch go down in the warm Florida air

After the parade we decided to head back to the room for a nap, all that excitement takes it out of you I'll have you know

Once suitably refreshed we headed back out to do a little shopping, its not like we had spent too much today or anything Off to the outlets we go! I wont bore you with all the many shops we went in other than to say we booked an extra bag to fly home with All bargains though The outlets were mobbed, not sure if it was cause it was the weekend but there were people taking up half the shop with bags they had abandoned! Crazy shopping! We didn't go that far, if we cant carry it, we don't buy it

After our marathon shopping sesh we decided we would get take out and head back to the room. Sy really wanted Steak and Shake however I wasn't feeling it so we just got Sy something for now, and planned to sort me out with something later on. Unfortunately Sy decided to drive home via Downtown Disney, on a Saturday evening, while all the building was going on... 40 minutes after getting his food we arrived back at AKL, luckily the studios had a microwave

Sy ate his food while I went off to do some washing, stopping on the way back to get some food from Mara.

Finally hit the hay at about midnight.

Tomorrow, HS and Maya Grill

Day 11

Hollywood Studios and Maya Grill

I was up at 8am due to Sy's snoring again, I got ready and let him sleep a bit longer. Once I did wake him up he refused to move with any sort of a hurry and we didn't leave the room until 10:30am, I was not impressed as I'd been up so long and been kind enough to let him sleep longer yet he wouldn get a wriggle on for me! I don't think I would normally have been so narked but he was waking me up every morning and during the night so it was wearing thin now

Considering we had been here 11 days by now and the weather was meant to be turning cooler, this was the hottest day yet, it was unseasonably warm and made me totally remember why I don't come in the summer months We launched from one shop to another for the air-con until we reached the Great Movie Ride, my favourite ride in HS We got the gangster experience.

Now, has anyone noticed one of the munchkins on GMR has a REALLY weird face, almost like he has had an allergic reaction to something? I managed to get a picture of him this time, he always makes us laugh! Totally rubbish picture but hopefully you can see what I mean...

Next up was of course TSM, I actually beat Sy on this one for once, if you ask him he will tell you his gun wasn't working properly, though I like to call it being a big baby cause I beat him for once!!

We then went over to Animation Studio. We watched a little show with Mushu in, the girl who was leading it was **SO** not into it, it was actually painful as there was no inflections to her voice, it was all monotone and very much going through the motions I've never done it before in Orlando, only in Paris but then its half in French so it was a shame not to get it in English done properly.

We then went to grab some lunch in ABC commissary, I wasn't a huge fan of the menu but it had air-con! There's no way on a day like today that I would be eating outside I had the chicken club which was very mediocre. Our lunch bill came to almost exactly what the bill came to the day before at applebee's which is where the comparison came from.

We then went to watch Muppets 3D. Has anyone ever noticed this sign?

I dunno what was up with me today but the love beads bit totally made me laugh... I mentioned it to my mum and she told me what love beads meant, unfortunately I only knew the dirty meaning... (I do wonder if they mean the same thing in America as they do in the UK??!!)

I was actually falling asleep inside the muppets so we decided we better make a swift exit, though we did make a quick stop on the way to get a take away Napoleon at starring rolls. We also managed to catch the end of Mulch Sweat and Shears.

Another weird moment, had anyone ever noticed that the guy on the keyboard looks a bit too Justin beiber in the early years to be believable in this band?? The others are all a bit alternative and rocky and he's all cleanly shaven and clean cut lol.

We got back to the hotel just in the nic of time, as a huge storm then hit which left lots of homes around Orlando without power.

I slept through most of the storm while Sy watched some tv, I woke up about 2 hours later at 6.30pm. We had to get dressed really quickly to make it for our ADR at Maya Grill. I love Mexican food and I cant find a huge amount said about this place online so I thought we would give it a go and see what it was like.

There were a LOT of people milling around, I think there must have been a conference on as there were lots of adults dressed smartly who all seemed to know each other. We zig-zagged our way through to Maya Grill to see a massive queue we joined it and before long we were checked in. It didn't take us long to be called for our table.

I had nachos as a main instead of a big main while Sy had fish tacos. Both were really scrummy! It was all a bit quick, our food came almost as quickly as our drinks did. The service was excellent though and I'm sure we will head back there sometime

We had tossed around the idea that we might head to MK for EMH but decided that I wasn't really feeling up to it. This is a decision that I have later regretted You see we had friends who were in Orlando at the same time as us, we had met up with Matt earlier in the trip when he did EMH on his own and tonight his wife Sue was doing EMH on her own and we were going to head there and meet up. We didn't actually meet up with Sue the whole trip, no real reason to it just with one thing or another it didn't happen and a week after they returned from WDW she died So yeah, I really regret not going to MK now

We were back at the hotel and in bed by 9pm, we were both feeling a bit sleep deprived, Sy was keeping me up with his snoring and I was kicking up and waking him all night to stop him... think we need to move up to a 1 bed so I can kick him onto the sofa bed lol

Tomorrow MK!

Awww I love Pluto, he reminds me of a few of my parents dog's over the years. Though I do always get confused as to why he walks on all fours on the TV but 2 legs in person, Sy says its society that has made him feel like he needs to conform

Trying really hard to feel better, I've not really moved from my bed all day, but I have Mary Poppins on to make me feel better :D

Awww thank you! 2 more days up now and the next is being worked on too

Disneydoc, maya grill is in Coronado springs it's worth a visit if staying nearby. It's one of the times I was glad to have a car cause it would be a total pain to try to get to relying on disney transport.

You should make Sy wear nasal strips for the snoring. My wife forces me to wear them.

It's funny what you said about the munchkin with the allergy- my wife said exactly the same thing.

To me "love beads" are the long, cheap beaded necklaces hippies of both genders wore back in the late 1960s. I know of no other meaning at all and have no idea what sort of "dirty meaning" they might have in the UK or anywhere else.

We have Yak and Yeti booked this spring. Do you think we should skip it and try someplace else? We've only done their counter service in the past.