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

[disneyfan61]

Great update Tim!! Cannot wait to read the rest!!

 

[jwwi]

Tim,
I loved your Epcot update, and I really don't even like that park. The kids sure look like they enjoy the CP, not sure it is a great idea to have them running all over in the heat, but they don't seem to mind. Suntan lotion and Water, ick, I hate when things like that happen.

 

[ladybugmom]

What a fun read!! You remind me of my hubby with all of the sarcasm--hilarious!!!

 

[momof2cutegirls]

So the part about the grandma perfume...

I agree that a bunch together is very over whelming, but Lailia...the Norway perfume...rocks! You would dig it if your wife Would wear it. Great Christmas gift!

 

[timandlesley]

Keep up the good work...LOVING it!

Thanks!! I had so much fun filling in for Les.

TIM....GREAT job!!!! You rock! Keep those updates coming.
Thanks for taking the time to share it, writing these TR's are
time consuming but you have so many fans counting on the
finish of your adventures!

Woo hoo!! Thanks for the encouragement!!

Great job, Tim!

Tell Leslie I hope school is settling in!

Thanks, I will tell Les.

Great update!! I like your writing style Tim, the gasoline pants cracked me up!!! Can't wait to read more!


Melissa

I love being goofy and putting my spin on things.

Great job!

Thanks!!

Great Update

Entertaining as always

I how in awe Luke looked while watching the Candy lady

Boy did it look hot there. I bet those frozen cokes really hit the spot

I know, the kids loved the candy lady!!

Enjoyed hearing all the details about your trip! I remember it being really really hot on the 5th, too! We high tailed it out of MK for our trek home but it was a sweaty one and the humid haze was thick! MK was dead, too! Everyone must have slept in really late on the 5th! Great post with some funny side comments

Thanks!! It was so stinkin hot, we are all crazy for Disney!

Tim you are too funny. Really enjoyed the read.
Hope the stress levels are coming down for Lesley. Did you guys decide on halloween costumes yet?

Thanks! No, not any ideas yet.

Great update! Your writing style is very entertaining!!!! Looking forward to more!

Glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned.

Great job Tim, you are hilarious.....

Well thank you!!

Great update Tim! I was at Lauren smelling like 5 grandmas hugged her! (I think it was 5) Your description of the Candy Lady was really funny, too!

I'm glad you had a great day in spite of the Monorail accident. I thought about you guys when I heard about it. So sad.

I'm looking forward to more of the "Tim Report!"

Thanks, Lauren smelled so strong from the perfumes. She loved it though.

Great update Tim!! Love the way you have wrote it!

Kieran was really upset that he didn't get one of the candy's made by the lady in Japan - she is totally awesome! fingers crossed for next time though!

Can't wait for the next installment.

Carreen
xxx

Thanks!!!!

Great update! Tim, you crack me up. I literally had to clamp my mouth shut so I wouldn't bust out laughing at work multiple times.

It looks like another fun (but stinkin hot) day! Sorry your vacay buddies had to leave. It sounds like a fantastically relaxing evening. I can't wait to try a KP mission after reading about your family loving them so much!

Don't get in trouble because of me!!!! Glad you had a good laugh!!

LOL! I'm seriously laughing out loud! Not a good thing at work!

I don't know what is funnier, people bursting into flames or beating your children with pillows!

Great update! Sounds like a great day and even greater family night at the hotel! So fun!

Can't wait for more!

Too funny, glad you are loving it!!!

What an absolutely hysterical update!!! Great job, Tim!!! I can completely identify with how hot y'all must have been -- it felt very similar when we were there a few weeks before. Love the visual of people bursting into flames!

You have to stay clear of those people bursting into flames.

Hi Tim...Thanks for the update.

It's about time... Just Kidding!

Great job!!!

You're welcome!!

Tim,

Thanks for continuing your trip report. You did a great job with the update. I was almost able to feel how hot it was thanks to your vivid descriptions. You are very funny.

Thanks so much!!!

Flies dropping from the sky and people bursting into flames.....

Watch out for those flies!! Thanks!!

Great update! You have a wonderful sense of humor~
Looking forward to reading more...

You people are too nice, keep it coming!!!

Great update, Tim! You are hilarious! Love the T-O-U-R song. July must be the month for them. I know we saw bunches of them there a couple years ago, but none the past two years when we've gone the middle of June.

Okay, I'll give you "Norwegiany," but not so sure about "ridalicious."

Hope Lesley's getting settled into the new school year.

Can't wait for the next update.

Alice

Thanks, Les is still adjusting to school, but it will get better.

I just found and read this TR (and your previous one) the last couple of days. I have to applaud Tim for his last episode....I was laughing out loud! Waiting for more!

Keep on laughing, it makes you feel good!

Great job Tim! I def. laughed multiple times especially the description of Lauren smelling like 25 Grandma's. Can't wait to read your next update!

Good old Grandma perfume, smelly love!

Great update Tim!! Cannot wait to read the rest!!

It's coming very soon!!!

Tim,
I loved your Epcot update, and I really don't even like that park. The kids sure look like they enjoy the CP, not sure it is a great idea to have them running all over in the heat, but they don't seem to mind. Suntan lotion and Water, ick, I hate when things like that happen.

They ran around and had a great time!! What, you don't think we hydrated them?? Thanks for the support!

What a fun read!! You remind me of my hubby with all of the sarcasm--hilarious!!!

He must be one heck of a good looking guy!!!

So the part about the grandma perfume...

I agree that a bunch together is very over whelming, but Lailia...the Norway perfume...rocks! You would dig it if your wife Would wear it. Great Christmas gift!

I will have to look into it!! Thanks!!

 

[ampc3]

I'm glad there was some down time around here I finally got caught up! It's been so hard for me to keep up with everyone! sounds like it was an amazing trip and soo much fun to be with friends!

 

[Lil'DisneyMom]

Great job with the update Tim! Looks like it was another great day!!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Tim, we love Wipeout in our house too! I knew exactly what you meant about the "big balls". Great update! Sorry that day was hotter than ever!

 

[timandlesley]

Well guys, things are NOT slowing down for me at all and probably won’t this school year but heck……….. I MISS YOU GUYS! Thank you soooooo much for your support! So I wanted to give you an update so we can wrap this trip up since we leave for Disney in 38 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here ya go:
Day 16 July 6th 2009
The alarm went off at 7:30 this morning, I was beginning to realize our days were dwindling and I wanted to soak in every moment. Tim’s knee was still killing him so he stayed behind and the kids and I headed to the bus stop to be at Magic Kingdom for rope drop.

We were the ONLY ones on the bus at the first few stops and only picked up a few people at Springs. That’s the difference of staying at a DVC property, not many people seem to get up for rope drops.
We got to MK just in time for the opening ceremony, YEAH!!!

A CM bent down and gave the kids pixie dust to throw when they opened the park:

Time to throw it!

Here is Lauren ready for the day with pixie dust in her hair:

Then we were in with the crowds:

We headed immediately for Fantasyland and as we rounded the corner we saw this lovely lady standing there all alone so we met her acquaintance:

Fantasyland was empty (just the way I LOVE it : )

Since our times in WDW were slowly coming to an end I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish on this day. Believe it or not, the kids and I had NEVER ridden Dumbo, so that was first on the list:

Dumbo first thing in the morning with no line is the way to go! It was such a gorgeous morning, the sky was clear and I was just soaking it all in:

The view from our elephant:

Lauren and I on the ride:

What a wonderful ride. There’s nothing quite like riding above Fantasyland with the castle in clear view on a beautiful summer day. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I can just feel it now! : )
After that we headed to Winnie the Pooh that was next on our list:

The lack of line was still in our favor so we walked right onto our honey pots.
What a fun ride!

After bouncing with Tigger in our honey pots we wanted to ride Peter Pan one more time. Lauren dashed ahead of us (typical):

Here’s Luke in his best Peter Pan pose:

We all squeezed into a boat together and enjoyed the ride:

We had gotten all of those fabulous rides done in less than 20 minutes, the lack of lines were definitely in our favor. So after our trip to Neverland we were ready to experience Small World, Lauren sprinted ahead to her favorite ride:

Happy girl in line for her favorite ride

Me and my baby in the back of the boat (thumbs up from me because we have the boat to ourselves)

Being typical Lauren she danced her way out of the building after we were done riding:

Continued in next post

 

[timandlesley]

That’s my girl : ) After we had dominated Fantasyland we decided to head over towards Frontierland. The kids tried to pose but poor Lauren wasn’t tall enough:

So she wanted to be photographed here instead : )

We had never run into Davy Crockett style Donald so we were excited!

Then we wanted to Fast Pass Splash Mountain but it was closed- BUMMER. So I walked over to Thunder Mountain Railroad and got fast passes and we headed over to Jungle Cruise to see what the standby line was since we hadn’t been able to ride that yet this trip. It was only a FIVE minute stand by :

I was REALLY digging the crowd levels! We walked right on:

I just love this ride. I love how it was Walt’s idea, the slap stick jokes, and how it makes me and the kids smile while riding it:

By this point in the day it was getting HOT. The sweat was dripping off of us during our journey, the kind of nasty sweat that when you stand up to get off of the ride your backside is all wet. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww! : )
It definitely warranted the Tiki Sprayers:

It was at THIS POINT that I realized I had LEFT OUR FAST PASSES FOR THUNDER MOUNTAIN IN THE MACHINE- OOPS! So no TMR for us on this day, oh well we forged on.
We headed to the castle for the Dream Along with Mickey show, the kids and I had never seen it and today was going to be the day. We were right in front of the castle with no one in front of us and a CLEAR view,

What a GREAT show!

I looked over to my right during the show and saw these two deaf interpreters WORKING IT!:

I thought it was so cool they had them at the show, I had never noticed them before.
After this incredible show (we all loved it!) we turned around and got a spot on the curb for the Celebrate with Mickey parade that we hadn’t seen yet. This was just PERFECT timing for both the show and parade and our spots for both just couldn’t have been better. Unfortunately the heat was unrelenting but it was worth the sweat we poured. Here came the parade!

Here is Luke enjoying the parade:

It is such a fun parade to watch and get up and dance with. Luke got up and danced in the middle for a while, SUCH FUN!!!
After that we were SPENT from the heat and starving so we wanted to head over to Pinnochio’s Village Haus for lunch in hopes to watch the small world boats as we ate. We stopped at the water fountains first:

We got a perfect table by the window and the kids loved waving to all of the boats below:

After watching Small World for the half an hour while we ate the kids wanted to ride one more time, so we headed downstairs to board our boat,

Fortunately the line was very short as we entered and it was less than a 5 min. wait.

 

[timandlesley]

As we excited the ride the line had REALLY grown, GOOD LORD!

After that I still had one more thing on my list, to ride Cinderella’s Carousel, we hadn’t done that yet this trip as well. We searched for Cinderella’s horse with the bow on her tail but we couldn’t find her.
This is one of my favorite pics of Lauren from the trip:

Luke (his father’s child OBVIOUSLY) enjoyed his horse ride a little too much, I love how Lauren is totally oblivious to what is going on behind her:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE riding Cinderella’s carousel. I find myself just starring into the distance and just soaking it all in. The thoughts of “if I could just close my eyes and open them when things get stressful in life and end up RIGHT HERE everything in life would be just fine” race through my head. One of those warm and fuzzy Disney moments for me:

After our wonderful ride Luke was BEGGING to see the talking garbage can in Tomorrowland (Push) that Lauren and I had seen without him so we trecked in this HEAT over to Tomorrowland (this just goes to show how much I LOVE my son, because it was MISERABLY hot).Unfortunately Push was not there. A desperate Luke asked a nearby CM when he makes appearances and they said there was no set schedule and couldn’t give us any idea as to when he would return. So we forged BACK towards Main Street. We stopped for a few shots:

Tim took a photo of me like the one below 10 years ago when we honeymooned in Disney (although I was MUCH cuter and skinnier back then (such is life : ) Luke wanted to recreate this shot for me that he had seen in our photo album:

We headed back to the bus. As we left the exit we could see a bus in the Saratoga Springs Spot so I mustered up all of the energy I had left in my hot and tired body and we SPRINTED to catch the bus, JUST IN TIME!
Here is a shot of Lauren downing her water to give you a sense of how hot it was:

We headed back to the room for naps and showers to get ready for a night at Epcot. Shae and Tyson had spent the afternoon lounging with Tim in the room:

Here we are all neat and pretty:

We headed to the bus stop. Lauren took the opportunity to bring her umbrella since rain was in the forcast (and because she ADORED her new souvenier):

On the way there the weirdest thing happened on the bus. There was this family of four who got on and they had Styrofoam drinking cups. They sat by us in the back of the bus. I looked up and the bus driver had walked back there and was in their face demanding to know what was in the cups. They said “Sprite” , he said “YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T HAVE ALCOHOL ON THE BUSES!” They said “no, it’s Sprite” , he rolled his eyes like he didn’t believe them and stumbled back to his seat to drive. I couldn’t believe it and the people seemed agitated, rightly so : ) Well, onward to Epcot!
Our family in our favorite Disney park:

We had reservations for LeCellier but they weren’t for another 45 minutes so we had some time to walk around and explore on this lovely night.

Tim went inside some of the stores in Great Britan to get something for his parents, while he was shopping the kids and I were fortunate enough to see my favorite World Showcase performance “Knights of the Round Table”
If you haven’t seen this show, YOU MUST! The audience participation and the actors/actresses in it make you laugh from start to finish, LOVE IT!

Everyone (who has seen the show) all together now…….”RUBBISH!” and “Holy Grail, Holy Grail… UGH!” with a high kick : )

After this wonderful entertainment we headed to check in for LeCellier, I had pretzel bread and a mushroom filet calling my name.

We were seated in the back in a booth, much better than the seats Tim and I had together earlier on in our trip.

Tim getting lost in a forest of pretzel bread:

Tyson was really enjoying the pretzel bread as well:

The food was amazing as always. Here was the kids steak:

And here was my mushroom fillet (I know it’s sad, but many people have one food in their lives that they think of when they have weak moments and if they could access it they would EAT THE HECK out of it at that moment in time, THIS IS MINE)

Here’s Tim’s steak:

As you can tell we had a great time at this meal:

 

[timandlesley]

Then it was desert time, the kids enjoyed the build your own sundae (for about the 10th time in the trip). I had the chocolate whisky cake, it was yummy:

Tim had the maple cream brule that he loves:

We literally had to roll ourselves out of the restaurant and we tried to walk off our meal around the world showcase (I SO wanted a drink but couldn’t fit it in – now that is FULL!)
We got to see Off Kilter:

That is why I LOVE Epcot so much, you get to stroll from country to country, experience their music, culture, food, etc. it just doesn’t get any better than that!
The kids suckered us into one more Kim Possible mission because this would accomplish Luke’s goal of getting ALL of the missions done in the entire World Showcase (so for the record, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED):
His final mission was in France

</SPAN>
This was a fun mission that had a lot of interactive things. Here are the kids enjoying the mission:

</SPAN>

</SPAN>
At one point you had to stand in a spot and look up at the Iffle tower and it took your picture:

</SPAN>
Then the picture showed up on your phone, PRETTY COOL (it did this in the Norway mission too)

</SPAN>
As the mission was wrapping up it started to sprinkle so Lauren was happy she had brought her handy dandy umbrella:

</SPAN>
The rain stopped as soon as it started and we got to enjoy France:

</SPAN>
Tim enjoyed some coffee:

</SPAN>
Then we headed toward the gate, on our way I spotted these two ducks enjoying the pavilion and I can honestly say I’ve never been more jealous of two ducks in my entire life. I want to be these ducks, look at the view you would have of Illuminations every night J

</SPAN>
Tim and Lauren were ahead of Luke and I as we headed for the gate and they stopped at Spaceship earth and had decided we needed to ride it before we left, sure I’m game!

</SPAN>
Here are Tim and Luke in their Future World:

</SPAN>
I got screwed, they double d Luke instead of including me (don’t worry, I got over it : )

</SPAN>
The kids were super excited they could play in the interactive area and help the town save energy:

</SPAN>

</SPAN>
What a WONDERFUL, PERFECT, OUTSTANDING, AMAZING,INCREDIBLE,FANTASTIC,SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS DISNEY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, at the parks that is, the magic ended when we got on the bus. We had a driver named Fred. He was driving so fast he ramped 3 curbs even after people told him to slow down. One time he ramped one a kids head nailed the window and he started crying and screaming. He took off at one point and shut the door when people were standing up trying to exit the bus and they almost all fell over like dominos. At this point Tim and another guys said “hey, DUDE, you have people trying to get off back here and you’re taking off and they are falling down, open your eyes!” To which he said “You want to drive the bus buddy!!!” Oh man, our blood was boiling. At one point he came back to the unload a wheelchair which was right by us and Tim and the other guy calmly said “you need to slow down, you have kids hitting windows, people falling down, you are ramping curbs left and right” the guy got angry and defensive and kept saying “well, then you drive the bus! I’ve been driving longer than you’ve been living! I ramp curbs all the time, it’s no big deal, that ‘s what happens in these buses, everyone ramps the curbs.” GEEZ. The other guy kept saying “don’t argue with guests please Fred” but he kept it up.(bare in mind this was just a DAY after the monorail accident you would think Fred would be taking public transportation safety a little more seriously) Well, we were a LITTLE fired up by the time we got back to Saratoga and Tim and the guy headed to the front desk with the bus number and Fred’s name to report him. They did seem to take the complaint very seriously so I’m hoping Fred is no longer driving Disney buses. While Tim and the guy were up complaining about Fred the bus driver from hell the kids and I grabbed some snacks at Springs. Then we all walked back to the room and sack around 11pm.

</SPAN>

 

[Nicole786]

Wow what a crazy bus driver! But Im glad that didn't ruin your great disney day! I can't wait to be there in 2 weeks!!

 

[sharonW]

An update from Lesley, an update from Lesley!!
I loved it, take no offense tim, you did GREAT
while Les was away!! Wow, all I can say is you
guys have the BEST trips ever, I enjoy reading
each and every experience, the pictures are
awesome, all of them!!! Another trip soon, sigh,
hope your planning a TR on that one as well!!!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

What a great Disney day! Too bad it ended poorly with the CRAZY bus driver! I'll bet you made up for it the next day though, huh?

 

[Sooze]

Oh, Lesley... I am feeling SOOOO Swamped, like you. Can we PLEASE have the summer back?!!

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to do a generic reply to the past two updates.

First.. LOVE Tim's update... it is 11:23 at night, and I'm on the computer laughing out loud! It sounds like the heat was just BRUTAL! Glad you guys were able to have a good time in spite of it.

The Japanese restaurant looked wonderful. And how special that you got to share your last time with Diane and family. You all got to make some truly special DisMemories!

Thanks for squeezing in another update. I know how hard that is! (I did one tonight.. hence, the late hour) Cannot BELIEVE Fred the bus driver. I just can't imagine that really happening, but I don't know you to be a liar.. so I'm gonna go ahead and believe it!!

Hope things are going well!

 

[Trentmom]

Another great update as usual


It sound like you had such an awesome day.

I could not believe how big the line for Small World got within minutes...that is nuts



LeCellier looks so good


I can't believe what a crazy driver Fred was....am so glad they reported him

 

[tiggrbaby]

Great update!

I'm sorry to hear that school is still crazy-busy. Sometimes it does get better, but sometimes you just have to wait out the year!

 

[mefordis]

Great updates from both you and Tim! I'm sorry they are about to come to an end. Any chance you will do a TR for your Oct trip?

 

[PrincessPaczki]

Hi Lesley! Another great update. Thank you for sharing with us. I do have a question, which villa did you prefer, the AKV or SSV? Which one did you think had more room? We are on a quest for a DVC timeshare and are having a hard time deciding which one. Thanks for the answers.