Are we finally sailing? The Disney Difference Sep/Oct 2016 it's a wrap!

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Hello. For those that don't know me my name is Polly. I appear on the boards as Paula but all my family and friends call my Polly. I would love you to join me on my now completed trip to WDW and a week b2b cruise on The Disney Dream.

A little background. I live in the UK with my fabulous wife Jo. We have been together for 20 years and married for 10. We are Disney mad and as such it's rude not to be DVC owners. We have a little add on issue. When I sign into DVC member website our contracts have more .1 .2 extensions than I have medical conditions. How I wish they would say which contract home resorts they were... Is that SSR? No.. Doh... Move onto the next one... Numbers mean nothing to me!


Ok so faces to names this is us last year .... We went at Christmas. It was fabulous. ( Jo is on the left me on the right..I am sure you could have worked that out! )




Jo my dear wife is the managing director of an IT company in North London. She is also my carer so she is very busy! She is the most wonderful caring person you could meet. I pinch myself that she is with me.

I am disabled with multiple health issues but I don't let this stop me. Or I try not too! Sadly it has been a very trying period for Jo and I. I have been hospitalised 4 times of late and on one occasion fighting for my life. But I made it through that night Jo at my side on 5 drips and Jo telling me how we would see that Cinderella Castle again! But I just got discharged and was delighted to be home when that night I fell and fractured my hip.... Do not pass go... Miss a turn... One operation and dynamic hip plate later they let me out again! So after many many hard months of rehab ....I did get to see the castle!

We also adore the cruise line but have cancelled a few due to the above. This vacation is also a result of those. We had one booked at Christmas and although we did go to WDW we did not go on the cruise due to health risk for me. I was still too fragile. Disney with the help of our TA Kerry at Dreams Unlimited allowed us to rebook our cancelled cruise at Christmas which was a result of a cancelled cruise the May before... We rolled it into a back to back conceirge on The Dream 3 nights followed by 4! Disney did not have to do this. We were out of the cancellation window. We were thrilled. The theme of this thread is the Disney difference! Kerry at DU was amazing too.

Here is what we did. The vacation ran from 17th September - 2nd October 2017

1 night All Stars Movies - 17th September
5 nights Saratoga Springs - 18th September - 23rd September
7 nights back to back cruise The Disney Dream - 23rd - 30th September
2 nights Villas at Grand Floridian - 30th September - 2nd October

Thank you for joining me. I still can't believe we made it!

 

[franandaj]

Signing on. Will be back to read. It's late here!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Signing on. Will be back to read. It's late here!

Thanks for joining. It is late there! Sorry we missed you by a few weeks or so. Maybe next year!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Pulling up a pew as well.

 

[Disneymadhouse]

Getting ready to read

Claire xx

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Pulling up a pew as well.

Lovely! Welcome PIO!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Getting ready to read

Claire xx

Glad to have you onboard Claire xx

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Day -1

It's Friday 17th September. We like to stay at the airport the night before just to start the vacation off on a relaxed tone. Who wants to be stuck in traffic getting stressed about a flight? Jo drives around our busy roads all week. she doesn't need any more stress.

Jo had today off work. Whilst we were away we were having some new kitchen flooring replaced. Our tiles had cracked due to a previous flood. We were getting a vinyl type flooring this time to make it easier for my walking frame and softer in case I fell. Which I do tend to do! Jo was just clearing out some cupboards to clear the kitchen to allow the workmen a clean room to do the work. There may have been some curse words... I kept a low profile. There was a smash noise. Then some words not fit for family viewing.

As the packing was already complete Jo could load our mini van. Then Lisa the lady looking after our shih tzu Huey kindly came around to pick him up in the afternoon. He was having a vacation himself. He loves it there with Lisa abd her kids. This is Huey




You know they say owners look like their dogs or are alike? Well Huey and I are alike. He is to fall very ill during our trip. He is a constant patient too! Suffering from kidney issues all his little life. But more on that drama later.


So keys to neighbours, instructions to feed fish, pick up post and all that jazz. Check and double check windows and alarms , car loaded just about all fits in! We are on our way. Emergency stop.... Forgot the disabled badge... Rinse, lather and repeat. Phew that was close.

First stop is Virgin Atlantic twilight check in. You can drop off your checked in bags the night before which is super handy. Just carry on bags then in the morning. It was empty so this process should have been fast. But we had that helpful guy. You know the one that is real sweet but is so slloooowwww. Like the Zootopia movie.... You are thinking might as well check me in for my return flight now...

Then we were on our way to the Premier Inn Gatwick for the night but not before stopping at McDonalds for dinner! Burgers and Fillet o fish's, shakes later we were at the hotel. A quick nightcap at the bar and then in bed watching some rubbish on the TV far too excited to sleep. But 5 minutes later doing a darn good impression of two people fast asleep.

Next... Flight day...

 

[Disneymadhouse]

Great start!!

Claire xx

 

[PrincessInOz]

Huey is sooooo cute!! He must take after you.

 

[Flossbolna]

I am here! Thanks for the bat signal!

How wonderful that you indeed got to return to see Cinderella Castle despite the scares and finally go on that twice cancelled cruise!

And your dog is such a cutie!

Sorry for the slow airport person - but maybe that's why he is working the twilight check-in. Gives him all night to get the customers checked in.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I am here! Thanks for the bat signal!

How wonderful that you indeed got to return to see Cinderella Castle despite the scares and finally go on that twice cancelled cruise!

And your dog is such a cutie!

Sorry for the slow airport person - but maybe that's why he is working the twilight check-in. Gives him all night to get the customers checked in.

Welcome! Thanks for joining. Thank you for your kind words. Lol re airport person!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Great start!!

Claire xx

Thank you!

Huey is sooooo cute!! He must take after you.

How kind thank you so much.

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm here thanks for the bat signal! great start. Yes, the airport guy does sound like the sloths, too funny.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I'm here thanks for the bat signal! great start. Yes, the airport guy does sound like the sloths, too funny.

Welcome friend Pam! Lovely to have you join me. You may see yourself mentioned later!

 

[Pinkocto]

Welcome friend Pam! Lovely to have you join me. You may see yourself mentioned later!

Wouldn't miss it!

 

[LuGeo]

Hi Polly. We followed your advice and registered here. It's George and Luanne, your "stalkers" from the cruise. Looking forward to following along.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Hi Polly. We followed your advice and registered here. It's George and Luanne, your "stalkers" from the cruise. Looking forward to following along.

Welcome! So great to hear from you. Special mention for you guys later! Thank you for joining.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Day 1 flight day

September 18th Saturday

We woke up excited today had finally arrived. We had some cereal in our room we had brought with us. I love my sugar loaded cereal so get use to this theme! Jo likes cheerios or a less sugary cereal. I love items banned in the EU like Fruit Loops. Give me more sugar than the EU say I am allowed lol... I am looking forward to this in America! We showered and then headed to the terminal.

We went straight to security, they let me through in my chair without going into the scanner. They pat me down pointing strange Star Trek like devices. I passed whatever they were testing for and Jo came through the scanner. Clearly not looking for sugar... But one of our bags was missing from the end belt and we were told it had an item in it needed an extra check. Whooppss.. I had left a liquid eye drop bottle in my bag which was not in liquids clear bag they give you. Doh! I had become that person you raise your eyes too... Didn't she see the 50,000 signs? Despite how many flights now? Jo's expression was priceless.

After apologising for my very existence we moved on. Jo wanted to get some Clarins products and a new swatch for my birthday which was coming up on this very trip. Some (bleep) had stolen my watch in hospital. God bless the NHS. Stealing items whilst you fight on life support...

I looked at the swatches but then pan camera right ... a baby g watch caught my eyes. So I settled on that in pink.

Here it is. What I liked is a button changes the time zone so I can have it on NY time or London. Saving me changing it GMT - 5 for Florida. It also had a stop watch you know for all that running I do and a light.



Our flight was at 13:00 and we needed to be at the gate for 12:00. We decided to have a bite to eat before getting on for fear we might not see food for another whole hour...

We went to Pret a Manager and I destroyed a tuna sandwich and Jo had a cheese baguette. It was very nice. Being British I also downed a cup of tea because again I might not see a proper cup of tea for a while...

Soon we were boarding VS15 and settled into Premium Economy seats. We use Virgin Flying miles to book these flights. The flight took off on time and I watched the movie Jungle Book twice which I thought was amazing. Jo watched it also and enjoyed it. She then played Frozen on her iPad.

The time went fast, quick, quick, slow. Actually the food was nice so we had second lunch thank you very much. I was starting to enjoy eating again. The week before I had my feed tube removed I had in for 6 months. I did not like that at all. I have an autoimmune disease which affects my digestive system, joints, liver and eyes. I attack myself you see! So I take strong drugs to prevent this but it doesn't always work. Recently my digestive system took a hammering and my weight with it. So the feed tube was a necessary evil. You can eat with it in between feeds but if you eat anything hard or chewy it gets stuck a and I couldn't swallow it. So my gummy bears were left in their packet for months unloved.....a true crime. I adore my candy.

I have a goal on this vacation to gain lots of kilos! So I am on a see food diet...

Soon we landed in Orlando and it was a clear afternoon. It was about 5pm. By the time we got through immigration ( we were glad to be in the accessible line holy moly that line was longer than the day the Mine Train opened ) and got our bags I was hungry again. McDonalds was calling us from the food court...

Fed and watered we went to the Magical Express and waited for our bus for our first night at All Star Movies. I booked this to save disney vacation points as we arrive so late it seems a waste! I got a good deal on a preferred location and I like trying different resorts.

All Star Movies is cute. We really liked it. In fact we preferred it to Art of Animation. We found the Mermaid rooms were in another county compared to the food court. We had a lovely room. We were in the Fantasia building. We both said we would stay there again in a heartbeat. Such good value for a value.








Next.. Day 2 get that rental car, move to SSR and meet some friends.

 

[Flossbolna]

But one of our bags was missing from the end belt and we were told it had an item in it needed an extra check. Whooppss.. I had left a liquid eye drop bottle in my bag which was not in liquids clear bag they give you. Doh! I had become that person you raise your eyes too... Didn't she see the 50,000 signs? Despite how many flights now? Jo's expression was priceless.

Oh, I did this recently, too!! I was soooo ashamed! We took a train to the airport and I had packed a water bottle with the intent to drink it on the train and then take it with me empty through security. Who forgot everything about this water bottle by the time she got to security?? Me of course. I was sooo embarassed. Luckily it was not busy at the airport, so no big hold up. The nice security guy showed me my water bottle and was nice enough to ask if I wanted to drink the water. I did that - it was a reusable bottle that I did not want to throw out! He was impressed how quikly I could down half a litre of water!

We went to Pret a Manager and I destroyed a tuna sandwich and Jo had a cheese baguette. It was very nice. Being British I also downed a cup of tea because again I might not see a proper cup of tea for a while...

I love Pret a Manger! One of my must dos when I am in the UK (and I haven't been there in such a long time...). And on the tea comment!

nice watch!

I have a goal on this vacation to gain lots of kilos! So I am on a see food diet...

I hope Disney food helped with gaining kilos! It always does that for me, even when I try to acchieve the oppsite...