Timandlesley’s how to win a dream in 10 days 11/15 NEW PTR UP!! pg. 94 has link!!!

[timandlesley]

Thanks Lesley! Would you mind to PM me the info on your deal? Thanks!

Diane

Sure will

loved reading your tr, it made work go by so much faster for a friday!!

Thanks, glad I could help

If you look at the DVC boards here on Dis... it doesn't look like the contemporary has been announced as a DVC officially yet.
At least that's what I got from it.

-nat

Bummer, wonder when, construction sure does look closer and closer.

"Thanks we are just thrilled. Do you usually get your reservations you want at the 7 month mark when not staying at your home resort? Anyone know when the Contemporary towers are going to open? Woudl LOVE to stay there."

We bought at Saratoga in 2006 but we have never stayed there. Last year we stayed at BCV and had no problem booking 2 studios. This year we are staying at VWL and also booked 2 studios with no problem but we go in August.

Thanks for the info!

YAY! AKL DVC! Good for you! I was wondering if you had DVC to begin with because you go every year it seems like! AKL is AWESOME! When we took our tour we got a chance to see those. Congratulations!

Thanks, we are so excited

That is such exciting news for your family! I've been trying to talk my husband into it for the past three years. We've gone six years in a row and have only stayed at a non-DVC resort one of those years. Rented points the other years. We went through the presentation last year and I still couldn't get him to say yes. I think it's time! That would be my dream-come-true! Can you PM me the info on the deal you got and maybe I can finally talk him into it. Thanks, Lesley!

Looking forward to your next update.

Alice

I will do that Alice!

Les,

Congrats once again on your anniversary!! What is Grand Haven, or maybe I should actually say where is it? I have heard many people talk about it, but don't know anything about it!! I am going to go over all the info with Tom this weekend about the DVC deal--wish me luck! Jen

Good luck!!! Grand Haven is in Michigan, it was actually ranked as one of the most family friendly vacation spots in the world two years ago. Great beaches, great pier, great shopping and dining we love it there!
Lesley

UPDATE COMING UP NEXT GUYS!!!

 

[timandlesley]

Alright so when I left you we were ending a nice night by the pool with drinks. The next morning we had an Epcot morning scheduled, no breakfast scheduled this morning so we used our deluxe dining as counter service credits, headed down to Roaring forks about 7:45 for breakfast outside. Here is Tim on this humid morning enjoying his breakfast
:

The ducks were harmless but they were everywhere, here is one of our breakfast friends:

But then these black birds kept ascending from the sky and swooping down they were really freaking me out, I abandoned breakfast and headed inside with a scared Lauren to finish up, it was hilarious for Lauren and I watching Tim and Luke fight off the birds, there was lots of screaming and flailing, made for a hilarious breakfast.
We headed to the bus stop by 8:25 for Epcot, got on a bus no problem and were at Epcot for rope drop. The goal was for Tim to get FP’s for Mission Space and meet up at Soarin’ and ride standby together. At rope drop I saw ampc3 (Annette) and we chatted for a bit, it was nice to see her again, she said their trip was wrapping up so they were doing parks commando style, at that moment I realized we still had time to go and to continue to cherish every moment, I felt badly for her that their trip was coming to an end.
The rope dropped and off we went!

I had never headed to Soarin’ at rope drop before, OH MY GOSH, what a scene. As we were entering I was thinking to myself, no way, we will wait forever by the time Tim gets here, Tim in his usual pursuit of the Dream Squad style called me on my call and said “you and the kids just ride I saw a whole bunch of Dream Squad members head to Soarin’. SURE, I would be happy too: ) So the kids and I headed to Soarin’ by ourselves:

The line was crazy but went fast. Here are the excited kids before boarding:

No Dream Squad for us but we did run into people later in the day who said they got Dream Fastpasses on Soarin’ first thing that morning, so we just missed them, Tim was right again ; )
After that Tim was waiting on us we ended up grabbing FP’s for soarin’ so Tim could ride with us later. The Living with the Land ride had no line and I had never been on it before and wanted to ride, so we jumped in line:

Tim and Luke on the ride:

This is such a cool ride, who knew Disney had all of these things growing back here, so cool!
Luke, reaching for some bananas: )

They even have baby alligators back there:

Pretty sunflowers:

I thought this was really interesting, they are the first in the world to grow tomoatos this way and are having great success with it. They said all of this fresh produce and fish they have in the Land exhibit is used in the restaurants in the Land- very cool (I learn something new EVERY trip- gotta love Disney)

Cinderella pumpkins, gotta love those:

The laboratory there:

After enjoying a brand new attraction (I highly recommend experiencing it if you haven’t) we headed over to the Living Seas. We did Nemo first:

I just LOVE this ride, sooooo cool, I can never get good pics though. Here are the Jellies:

When we got off the ride a Dream Squad guy was blowing bubbles from up above on the kids (we noticed lots of Dream Squad guys and gals equipped with bubbles this trip). Tim took a moment to enjoy ; )

Of course we let the kids have some fun in the bubbles too:

We headed over to the Turtle Talk show,here is Lauren saying hello to Mr. Ray before we entered the show:

As we entered the theatre we noticed FOUR Dream Squad members in the back, Tim and I were on edge the entire show hoping they would put vests on but they never did, SHOOT, must have been the next show – oh well. The show rocked as usual,
DUUUUDE this show is so much fun! We all just love it.
Luke wanted his picture inside of Bruce:

We then headed over to Mission Space, on the way we stopped and took this:

We’ll have to try and perfect that pose next year : )
The kids enjoyed a cool mister along the way – it was SUCH a scorching hot day.

Then we headed to Mission Space, we were SO hoping Lauren could get on THIS 44 inch attraction:

We choose green side (no spinning) for the kids sake………… o.k. for ours too : ) We’ve done the other side but it made me a wee bit sick so we opted for Green, here is Luke with his boarding pass, was he just a LITTLE bit excited !?!

I’m happy to report THEY LET LAUREN RIDE! I can’t even put into words what fun it was having all 4 of us in that rocket commanding together, what a cool thing! We had such a blast, Lauren loved it and Luke of course did too. What a FUN incredible amazing exhilarating (let’s see, need more adjectives) awesome, stupendis,supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ride!

 

[timandlesley]

Then we headed back towards the Land to ride on Soarin’ again, I was excited to ride it again, gotta love that ride!
On our way we stopped and had the PRIVLEDGE of seeing the Jammitors, THESE GUYS ROCK!!!!

We were all so into the show. Afterwards they said it was Jr. Jammitor day and gave the kids Jr. Jammitor stickers – very cool!

So we made our way back to Soarin’, used the FP’s and got on very quickly. We had the crappiest seats, all the way over on the left in row 1, we were on the bottom and far left of the screen so you could see where the screen cut off, horrible seats but still loved the ride. I was glad I had ridden it earlier in better seats. Here is a happy Tim and Lauren on the ride:

After Soarin’ it was time for our lunch at Teppan Edu, I just LOVE Japanese food and on this extremely hot day I was so ready for some air conditioning and a good lunch. Another reason why the dining plan really rocks!
Instead of trek across the World Showcase to Japan on this super icky hot day we decided to do something ELSE we’ve never done before and take the boat over. Here is Lauren at the dock:

I was happy to find out it drops you right by Japan, so it worked out perfectly. Then Vanna White (oh, excuse me I mean Lauren, I mean the girl poses so well) allowed me to take this picture of her in Japan:

We went to check in and OH MY GOSH! We hadn’t been since the refurbishment and WOW did they make this restaurant gorgeous, it is entirely new and breathtaking, we loved it.
Look at the sushi bar area, sooooooo pretty:

Luke in the lobby as we waited:

Tim went to the bathroom as we waited and he came out and said “Lesley, you are gonna think I’m crazy but those bathrooms are the nicest I’ve ever seen, you have to check them out”. Luck would have it of course Lauren had to pee so we went in. WOW, I know it sounds stupid but these really are pretty bathrooms, I should have taken a picture. All red and black and beautifully decorated and dim lighting, it really was beautiful. Lauren was sitting on the potty and cracked me up, she said “Mommy, I really like this place……. It’s so………. Japaney” so funny : )
We were then buzzed for our yummy lunch. Here is the new dining room:

Tim trying out the chopsticks:

We decided to order drinks, I got a Tokyo Sunset (pictured below) this drink was SUPER yummy, such a good flavor. I ordered the salad with ginger dressing (they give you a choice of dressings now which Tim was thrilled about because he hates ginger, I love Ginger. I was happy the salad was bigger than I remembered, I cleaned this plate, it was SO good:

I didn’t take any more pictures of the food or this meal because I felt weird with a couple sitting right next to us, so I for once put the camera away and enjoyed this INCREDIBLE meal. We had an awesome chef, she did a great job entertaining the kids, making onion volcanoes, etc. it was not only entertaining but outstanding food. I got the steak and shrimp and it was amazing. The kids and Tim loved their meals too. This meal was so good we considered bumping a future reservation later in the trip to go here again but decided against it, I HIGHLY recommend Teppan Edo, SOOOOOOOO good!!!
We headed back on the boat to Future World:

A hot and tired bunch on the bus:

As we got off the bus I decided to take a video of our trek from the bus to our room to show you why we love the WL so much.
ATTENTION ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER STAYED AT THE WL, ARE CONSIDERING IT IN THE FUTURE OR WILL BE STAYING AT THE WILDERNESS LODGE SOON- THIS VIDEO IS FOR YOU!!!!!


So after that you can tell that my nap plans were FOILED. I was a little ticked at first because I wanted to nap SO bad but you heard little Lauren’s voice on the tape, how can you deny that “I wanna go to the pool!” So…….. I dawned my suit and headed down to the pool for one hour with Lauren. A pool party was going on which was super fun. They had hula hoping contests, here is Luke giving it a go:

Go Luke go! He did pretty good but got schooled by a ten year old girl:

Lauren just sticking to her inner tube:

Here are the kids in the pool, it was crowded!

Lauren didn’t seem to mind the crowds, here she is soaking up the sun:

After a LOT of peer pressure I even gave the hula hoop contest a try but failed MISERABLY, I used to be pretty good, but WHAT an embarrassing display, oh well, it’s vacation right!?!
They had dancing for the kids, limbo, prizes, etc. it was a fun time.
Here’s Luke giving limbo a try:

There was this one lady WAY to into the dancing, I mean I get down with my bad self, but OH MY GOSH this lady was taking out kids, going over the top dancing and hootin’ and hollering Tim and I got a good laugh, she’s the one on the left (sure hope she’s not a reader : )

Lauren and I headed up early and got a little snooze in before the boys came back and then it was time to get ready for dinner.

Tim is out DJing tonight so I don’t have access to the cool “Coming up on our next episode” t.v. thingy but felt it would be best to post without instead of keeping you waiting so I’ll just type it out for ya:

Coming up in our next episode:

Who needs the BBB?
That’s not the same Cinderella?!?!
A Dream is a WISH your heart makes!

Stay tuned…………………………
Next installment CLICK HERE: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26214742&posted=1#post26214742

 

[solgent]

Thanks for the update!

When we went to Boma we had a great meal but I also just the restrooms there! I took pictures of the light fixtures and the animal tiles! So I can totally understand your family's reaction to Teppan Edo. I think this level of detail sets Disney apart. I mean a couple of days ago I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, one of the world's premier museums, and the bathrooms could be anywhere. Very institutional. They could at least put up a poster!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Another great update!
Congrats on your DVC purchase!
Also, congrats on your 10 year anniversary. Today is my 10 year. DH had a softball game tonight but we had a great celebration last night.

Your Lauren is awfully brave going on those big rides. How old is she? My DD went on Splash, BTMRR, Test Track and Soarin last year and loved them. She does not want to try TOT but I was wondering about Mission Space. Like Lauren she is right at the 44" mark so I'm not sure if she would make it on.

Glad you liked Teppan Edo. We are trying it next month.

 

[Nicole786]

Lesley if its not to much i would also like to be PMed about this "deal" I feel like it might be a good investment since im at disney so often!

 

[moparop]

What a fun morning!! To be so close to the dream squad, but missing out... UGH!

Do you think there would be room for an extra highchair at Teppen Edo? We are eating there next month and are a table of 9 including our two year old. I'd really like to only be at one table

 

[scottny]

great update and pics

 

[Nicole786]

Just read the new chapter, great stuff! I love the WL video, geez i love that place, i really am tempted to stay there in august but i need to give AKL a try! But damn that video brings back so many memories!! When we were there we had a room right off the lobby on the 5th floor on the villas side, so you know how i appreciate being close, because we had a great location! It was woodsview but it you could see part of the overhang for the walkway to the buses...ok ok i need to stop talking WL before i switch! lol!

 

[timandlesley]

What a fun morning!! To be so close to the dream squad, but missing out... UGH!

Do you think there would be room for an extra highchair at Teppen Edo? We are eating there next month and are a table of 9 including our two year old. I'd really like to only be at one table

I'm sure they could put you at one table, you could easily slide a high chair in. It is such a good restaraunt!
Lesley

 

[welovedisney7778]

Congratulations on the DVC purchase!!! We've been members since 2006, and we LOVE it. It's so much fun trying out all the different hotels! I was wondering if you'd mind PM'ing me some of the details of this deal. We have family members that are interested in buying, and I'd like to know more about this deal before calling our guide. Thanks!!! I'm enjoying your trip report, its getting me super excited for our trip next month!!

 

[jwwi]

What a fun way to show everyone the WL, I have been lucky enough to stay there once. I can picture walking up to my room, instead of the coolness of the lobby, we were greeted by a warm walk. You see, we stayed in Feb, so the evenings were chilly. It is a beautiful resort. We could see the castle change colors at night from our room, and watch the monorail thru a break in the trees. It was heavenly.

Congratulations on purchasing DVC, that means we get to read more fun reports from your family for years to come.

Looking forward to the home edition of the BBB makeover.

 

[punkin413]

great installment! but i just have to comment on the one thing that i'm SUPER excited about......your clue....."a dream is a WISH your heart makes." i hope it's what i think it is!!!!

 

[NotSoEvilStepmother]

All right! An update just before I'm about to (hopefully) conquer Disney World. And what a great update it was. The video was awesome! We aren't staying at the lodge but we might drop in now that I see just how beautiful it is. And Lauren is a hoot. What a silly girl.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Well..................... we had a FANTASTIC trip to Gatlinburg, what a fun time with Tim's family, there were 22 of us in a large cabin, the kids had a blast and so did we. We enjoyed everything the area had to offer and had so much fun!!!
Well, thanks to Sooze and Natale we are (as of tomorrow) OFFICIAL DVC members!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had been talking to Sooze about it for a while and then Natale posted that deal and it was a win win, I couldn't believe it. Tim and I are THRILLED! We will be owners at AKL. The new village sounds incredible, the resort sounds awesome with it's own zero entry pool, water slide, water play area, lobby,restaraunt, pool bar, everything we love about WL plus more. AND it will have it's own bus stop so you don't have to trek all the way over to the main bus stop. WE ARE SO THRILLED!!! We ended up getting the 160 points for AKL and with that we get 160 BONUS FREE SSR points that we can use at any of the 500 resorts around the World, we think next summer we'll stay at AKL in our home resort for 8 nights and then head to Myrtle Beach and stay 7 nights FOR FREE using the bonus points, WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!
Thanks to all of you for your kind posts while we were away and those of you who decided to come out of "lurkdom" and post, we just love that. Now that we are DVC owners our family will have Disney memories to share with you all for a VERY long time!!!!!!
I will post an update tomorrow- promise!
Then I need to get some more out quickly to hold you over since Tim and I leave for our 10 year anniversary getaway on the 17th, busy busy busy, gotta love summer! Update tomorrow guys!!!
Lesley

Welcome Home! You are going to love DVC! You can stay in those deluxe rooms until you need an ECV to see the world! You'll be making those memories worry free with your kids and grandkids for years!
You will also love AKL! We stayed there and I loved, loved, loved sitting on my balcony and watching my friends the giraffes! Bring binoculars as there are lots of creatures on the Savannah, and they give you an educational sheet so you can look for and identify the animals! If there are certain animals you like best, ask for them when you check in - different animals are in different parts of the resort.

We love being able to stay at different resorts and use our points for either a few days, or the possibility to bank them and borrow them and get a Grand Villa for our whole family to stay for a week! We bought 150 pts at SSR in Jan 2006 and got 2005 points as well. We stayed at the Grand Californian at DL, then the next year had two studios at SSR with my DSIS, as well as a couple of nights Savannah view at AKL, and this year had a suite at the Disneyland Hotel, and in March we're staying at BWV! We wouldn't be staying on site at deluxe resorts without DVC! We are considering buying at the GCV at DLR since we live out West.

Loved your update! Lauren is so cute! I am sending you a PM. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us!

 

[AussieAngel]

What a fun chapter! Thanks Lesley!

Guess what... We decided to take your advice (which you gave me right back at the start of your report!), and keep our booking at Wilderness Lodge. We really were going to stay at POFQ, but then all of a sudden, DH and I both decided that we still really want to stay at Wilderness Lodge! So, we are still staying at WL! Phew!!!

I just loved your tour of the WL! Thank you! It really does look beautiful. And so does Tim's dancing at the end. Heheee.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Oh wow- now you are making me sooo home sick with the WL video. We are booked at the POLY with a 40% code, but now you are making me rethink. We loved the WL last year sooo much!

Good to try new things- right?!?

 

[pooksma]

Congrats on your new purchase. Great update.

 

[DisneyJo]

Great day and how cool that Lauren was tall enough for MS

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sigh, you are making me home sick with that video. Just a year ago we were walking those same halls.