Been There, Done That and ThenSome:Timandlesley Do Disneyfor18days!11/2 TR IS UP!pg79

[timandlesley]

O.K. ladies and gentleman, get ready for the Disney ride of your life, the timandlesley crew just returned from 18 days- yes you heard that right – 18 DAYS IN DISNEY!!!!! We had the time of our lives, experienced Disney in a whole new way DVC style and saw and did so many things we just can’t wait to share all of our great times with you.
So, buckle up your seat belts, move over and fill in all available spaces and keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle at all times, it’s gonna be a GREAT RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(If you are JUST joining us, better late than never………….. you can find out more about our trip by checking out our pre trip report here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2010967
Introduction-/Day before our Disney Adventure:
We purchased DVC this past year at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Traveling are myself (Lesley), my husband Tim, Luke (8) and Lauren (5). We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House booked for 7 nights/8 days with deluxe dining and Saratoga Springs resort (with our developer points) for 9 nights/10 days
So our adventure begins on June 20th 2009. Luke had spent the night at his grandma’s house, our beloved Golden retriever Mickey was dropped off at my parents house, house was locked up and we hit the road to Indianapolis where we would be spending the night- our flight left Indianapolis on June 21st so we did park and fly at a hotel there.
We stopped and picked Luke up on the way to Indy (he sure would have been upset with us had we left him behind)! We grabbed a quick lunch at Wendy’s and completed the 2 hour ride to Indianapolis. We were already on a Disney high. Thank God for the iPhone – on the way we were able to check in for our Southwest flight – got section A boarding – WOO HOO!
We checked in, relaxed, checked out the pool and just had fun being in a hotel knowing our adventure was beginning:

We had plans for a Dis meet with Susie (Sooze on the boards). I called her to let her know we had arrived and were excited to meet her and the kids for dinner at Red Robin.
We met her for dinner around 5:30- we got a bit turned around thanks to our GPS so ended up running late for dinner – I felt bad but we made it there as fast as we could. Dis meets are so strange because you already feel like you are best friends with someone you have never even met. We instantly hugged one another and were excited to finally meet one another face to face.
Here are Susie and I:

Tyson and Shae were there and were as cute as their pictures. Luke and Tyson hit it off quickly and started being silly together:

And Lauren and Shae became fast friends:

Shae was so adorable talking about Illuminations, I wish I could have videotaped it but in her cute little voice and hand motions she made a ball and said “there is the earfff (earth) and it opens up and then THERE IS FIRE!!!” ADORABLE!!
We started talking about how we wish we could be going together and the kids were joking asking if we had room in our suitcases and I said “sure, we’d love to take you along we could poke airholes in the bags or something” and then Susie said “Oh, so you want to take them with you???” and she gave us a FLAT TYSON and a FLAT SHAE!!! YEAH!! Such fun. Here they are posing with their flats:

Tim and the boys had fun talking Yankees and iPhone applications at dinner:

Here is a group photo of us:

What a great family – we had such fun meeting them and were excited to take Shae and Tyson with us to Disney (well the flat versions anywayJ ) It was great meeting Susie, can’t wait to meet her other half (hi Matt) someday and hopefully we’ll experience Disney together one day now that we both own DVC.
Well, after we said our goodbyes we headed back to the hotel on a Disney high. The kids were in rare form, here they are sprinting up and down the halls around 11pm in their underwear (don’t ask/don’t judge : )

Then we experienced one of those you try to get a great night sleep sleeps before Disney but your so excited you have a hard time sleeping sleeps – you know what I mean??? Well, it was that kind. What was nice this year is that we didn’t have to get up super early since our flight wasn’t until 2 o’clock. We woke up at our leisure – it was Father’s day so we wished Tim a happy Father’s Day (we had given him his gifts before we left Cincinnati due to the largeness of the items for his Yankee room, etc.- and his begging to get them early : ) We enjoyed the nice free breakfast buffet in the lobby and called our fathers to wish them a happy Father’s day too. Here are the kids in the lobby ready to head to the airport:

Does she look excited to go to Disney or what!?!

We got to the airport with tons of time to spare. We enjoyed lunch in the beautiful new Indianapolis airport – it really is nice now- WOW!

When we were waiting for our plane I got a call from my grandparents nursing home- for some reason they mixed up the emergency contact information and had my cell number down instead of my dads (it’s my dad’s parents). Well, my grandmother had been rushed to the hospital and they didn’t know if she would make it – I had to track down my parents to tell them who in turn rushed to the hospital. It wasn’t a good way to start things off and I couldn’t help but worry what would happen if she did pass away, fortunately that did not happen though.
Here is a happy Lauren when our plane arrived:

Lauren and I sat behind Tim and Luke on the plane:

Shae and Tyson really enjoyed sitting with Lauren on the plane:

Lauren enjoyed having someone to talk too : )
It was a smooth flight, I just love the Southwest flight attendants, the songs the lady was singing about if we were to crash and hold onto your neighbor for a floatation device, etc. was HALARIOUS! She also had quite a ditty when we landed about Orlando- she had everyone rolling – such fun- I just love Southwest (there, plug over : )
We landed in Orlando and were SO EXCITED TO FINALLY BE THERE. We landed at 4:30 and breezed through the Magical Express (lack of) line:

And we were on the bus and gone by 5:00

We pulled into Animal Kingdom Lodge and we were all just giddy, couldn’t wait to be welcomed home for the first time, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL RESORT. Every picture I have seen of this place has been beautiful but honestly not one single picture I have seen could do this gorgeous resort justice, it is AMAZING and I am so thrilled to call it home.

Tim and Luke were so excited to be there, they instantly fell to their knees chanting “Disney”!!! and kissed the ground:

Funny,funny boys – hey, Disney does that to us, I’m not gonna lie : )
Our first view of the lobby:

I had checked in online so our check in was quick and easy. Here is the check in desk:

Before we knew it we were on our way to our room.
Here it was!!!!

I LOVE how in this resort with DVC you stay in the same resort as everyone else, just the DVC logo on the door separates you but you get the same amenities as everyone else, LOVE IT!!! We booked a standard view savannah in Jambo House- standard view is a pool view and it was beautiful!
(continued in the next post)

 

[timandlesley]

Here was the bed:

Kids and Tim exploring and going on the balcony for the first time:

Enjoying the view:

Here was our beautiful view!

We were already in love with the resort. We had a prime location close to the “hub” of the resort so a short stroll/elevator ride to any restaurant, gift shop, buses, etc. LOVED IT!!!
More room pics for ya, here was the kitchenette:

LOVE the double sinks!

Here is the bathroom:

So it’s safe to say we were in love with our room…………………. Well……………….until the kids said “where is our bed”, we had to explain to them they were sleeping on the pull out couch – then they were not pleased and THEN we had to have the “do you realize how fortunate you are to be in Disney for 19 days when most kids would kill to be here for one week” speech – point taken, we were off to the parks!

It’s such a great feeing that first bus ride to the parks, the feeling of Disney transportation for the first time in a trip – ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
We headed to Hollywood Studios, we were SO excited to get to the park and ride some stuff. Our excitement was hindered though when the line to exchange for our Annual passes was super super super long, seemed to take forever. On the positive side I noticed these cool Mickey’s on the window while we were waiting:

Here is Tim talking to the guy about what characters you get on your annual pass (we had talked to Sooze about this and she told us Matt got a princess on his so Tim was hoping he’d get a masculine character on his).

IT WAS HALARIOUS the way the CM presented the passes to us, he put them all face down, went on and on about exchanging them if they were lost, yada yada yada (knowing Tim was dying to see what character he had). Then he flipped them over and presented them to us one at a time saving Tim’s for last and he got MINNIE MOUSE!!! : ) : )
We were in the gates and running, so good to FINALLY BE IN A DISNEY PARK!!!

We headed for Tower of Terror (oh yeah baby)

Although Tim looks like the one scared in the photo, we soon realized that Lauren’s bravery from last year had shifted a bit due to her age and the stages our kids go through with rides in theme parks. She freaked out and didn’t want to ride. We talked her through it and got her on and she ended up loving it again – we knew she had loved it the previous 2 years but needed to get her on to remember it and she did- phew!
While we were in line I got a text from Diane (another Di ser – dddisrunner) asking if we had made it and what park we were in. I told her at TOT – they had Rockin’ Roller Coaster FP’s and were leaving and wanted to give them to someone who could use them- how nice!
When we got off the ride she was waiting there with Matthew and Eric. Again, another dis meet where I just felt like we were already the best of friends, I knew everything about her and her kids, it was great to meet her in person.

We had fun talking and planned on meeting up later in the trip.
We headed to our Sci Fi Dinner.

We were seated right away. I was bummed the burger wasn’t on the dinner menu (the only thing I can eat there that I think is decent). I asked our waitress about it and she said you can order it for dinner- so we did.
Here’s Luke enjoying the car:

Me and my baby in the car:

The kids enjoying their shake:

Tyson and Shae enjoyed it as well:

They really enjoyed the car:

I ordered it on my dining plan and gave it to the kids and took Luke’s drink which the waitress gave me a hard time for (geez). That was just the beginning with that lady. Tim ordered a shake that was extremely thick (more like ice cream). He asked for a spoon and the *****iness of the waitress came out full force “the end of the plastic straw is a spoon” she replied. You know those little straws with the teenie tiny plastic spoon like thing at the end (not at all what he needed to tackle this) so he again said “well, can I just have a real spoon please” and she said “NO, what do you think, this is an ice cream joint?” She literally yelled this, and she knew she did because then she tried to turn it into a joke and loudly said to us “look, these people in this car over here think I’m yelling at you!” (well she WAS- not a great start to Disney dining) – especially on Father’s Day. Well, she came back and was serving food to the car next to us about 5 minutes later and STILL didn’t bring the spoon, so the hope that she was joking faded fast. Tim said (loudly) “How about that spoon” and she said “oh yeah, I guess I forgot about that” (yeah right). She finally brought an un happy Tim his spoon:

Food came:

The burgers were pretty good and didn’t disappoint.
The waitress asked to take a photo of us in the car (obviously trying to redeem herself at this point for a good tip) and she took this awful picture of us:

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[timandlesley]

Well, after that dinner experience we decided to salvage the rest of Father’s Day and head back to the resort. We didn’t end up using the FP’s that Diane and her family gave us, decided we’d save them for another day. We took the bus back to AKL and enjoyed the lobby for a bit:

Then we took the very short trek back to our room:

I had called dining services at Animal Kingdom Lodge about 2 weeks prior to arrange for a Father’s Day surprise of Zebra Domes in the room as a Father’s Day surprise for Tim- they were supposed to deliver them between 8-9 while we were at the parks.
When we walked in I was thrilled our luggage was there – YEAH! But not so thrilled the Father’s day surprise wasn’t there – BOO!
But SUPER SURPRISED to see gifts from our DVC agent, sooooo sweet.

And these autograph books for the kids, which was AWESOME because both kids needed new ones:

So I had to call down to dining to ask about the Father’s Day surprise which unfortunately was no longer a surprise, no apology- but they said they would be up shortly with them. They arrived in about 5 minutes:

We enjoyed them- does anyone know what the peanut butter colored substance in the middle is??? Just curious and we couldn’t figure it out!
Tim started acting silly and giddy dancing around the room and saying “I’m DANCING. . .in DISNEY” . . . . “I’m clapping my hands………………….. IN THE JAMBO HOUSE”…………….. the list/actions went on and on and of course the kids joined in. We went downstairs and explored the arcade, saw Simba’s Clubhouse, and went to Mara to get our mugs. We put our feet in the pool for the first time and just enjoyed the resort. We went back to the room and called to have our water delivered ( I pre ordered 2 cases of water from Costco and had it shipped to our resort – best 15 dollars ever spent!). They delivered it right away and I stocked the fridge and we unpacked our clothes. I’ve heard people complain about the lack of storage at AKL but we thought it was great – I LOVED how you could slide the suitcases under the bed – I’ll compare this to Saratoga later in the TR, but let’s just say for now – we were THRILLED (geez, have I said that enough) with Animal Kingdom Lodge – man was it AWESOME to be HOME!!!!

TRIP INDEX:
Day #1 - YOU JUST READ IT!
Day #2 Click here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=7
Day #3 Click here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=12 Then scroll down to the bottom of page 12 and when done there, click on pg. 13 for the rest of day 3
Day #4 Click here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=16 then scroll down a bit past comments to see Day 4.
Day #5 Click here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=20 then scroll down a bit past comments to see Day 5
Day 6 Click here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=24 then scroll down a bit past comments to see Day 6
Day 7 Click herehttp://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=30 then scroll down a bit past comments to see Day 7
Day 8 Click here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=34 then scroll down a bit past comments to see Day 8
Day 9 Click here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=38 scroll down a bit past comments to see Day 9
Day 10 Click here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=43 scroll down a bit past comments to see Day 10 Tim and Luke's morning click here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=45 scroll down a bit past comments to see Tim and Luke's Day 10 morning
For Day 11 Click Here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=33079196#post33079196
Day 12 Click here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=51
Day 13 Click here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2224335&page=54

 

[vamassey1]

Yah the report is started! I'm going back to read now.

 

[daisy_77]

Amazing start guys!

Wow, your room looks beautiful!

Bummer about the poopy waitress at Sci-Fi. She sounds like she hates her job. She really needs to get over it or find a new place to work.

I love your pics!

Can't wait for more.

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in on the 19 days of fun!!!!

 

[pooh'smate]

Love your tr already. We are staying at AKL when we go in Nov/Dec so I am loving all your pictures.

 

[vamassey1]

Wonderful start! I'm sorry about your waitress. We had a bad start too. Our first meal was at Coral Reef. I was taking my sister and niece for their first trip, first park and first TS meal. Thank goodness things got better after that one.

Love those Disney smiles!

 

[purplepeg]

OMG you make it hard to live up to your excellence! What a great start to your trip
Love the flat Tyson and Shae!
So glad you had two Dis meets!
Hope the waitress didn't get much of a tip! How rude
Love the room pictures and the view! We're in a standard view 2 br when we go in 31 days! Can't wait to see and hear more about the resort!
Thanks for sharing so much and so many pictures
Can't wait for the next installment

 

[mickeystoontown]

I wanna join in! It looks like you guys are off to a fantastic start! Looking forward to reading more.

 

[Jeanine3kids]

LOVE LOVE LOVE your report so far lesley.

Jeanine

 

[IluvXU]

You have no idea how excited I am to see the AKL studio there. Love your view and cannot wait to hear all about it... I just wish we had a DVC trip planned already!

 

[dddisrunner]

Now THAT is dedication! GREAT start! LOVE the Red Robin pictures! I laughed out loud at Luke in his undies, too funny!(Hi Luke!) That pic of us is pretty good considering how stinkin hot it was that day!!!

 

[disneyeeyorefan]

Woo Hoo for trip report starting.

 

[momtotanmanandraerae]

So glad you are home and already started your report!!

AKL looks amazing! I can't wait to stay there one day...great pics!

 

[shannon47142]

Wow!!Great startAll of you look so happy, but especially Lauren!! She also looks sooo grown up!!
Hopes for continued safe travels!!

 

[nateryan]

Yay! The TR has started! Can't wait to hear about your 19 days!!! AKL looks awesome! I need to stay there, heck, I need to visit!

 

[bballbabe]

Loving the TR I can't wait to read more!

 

[ctmomof4]

Unbelievable.. you guys are already starting the report before you are even home!!! Well since I started your pre-trip report I have ordered the Disney vacation DVD just to take a peak.... so I am looking forward to reading your reviews about it... Have not received it yet in the mail... Looking forward to more wonderful writing... this is so exciting!!!!

 

[DisMomme]

WOW what a difference a year makes. I can't believe how grown up Luke and Lauren look. I'm so glad you all had a wonderful time. for a safe trip home.

You have been so great keeping us updated throughout your trip and now you've started your trip report before you're even home!!!! I love reading all your reports. Thanks for being so dedicated!