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

[timandlesley]

Lesley, did you end out getting the work issue all sorted out? What a bummer on your vacation! I had no idea that Remy was there! How fun. Lauren sure looks happy about it. What a curly haired little cutie she is.

Yes, stress gone, all sorted out thank goodness : ) Yes, Lauren loved Remy - thanks, you are too sweet : )
Lesley

 

[alice325]

Wow, you're going so fast I'm having trouble keeping up! Epcot is my favorite park so I loved reading about your first Epcot day. We loved the KP missions too. I tried not to read everything about the Japan mission because we didn't end up with enough time to do that one. We did five out of seven. Can't remember the other one we missed. Actually Sophie and Chris did Mexico together so I missed that one too. Had to take Abby on a promised shopping spree in Mouse Gears. Honestly I would have rather done the KP mission. I love shopping too, but not as much as an almost-13-year-old. And after a while it all starts to look the same to me. But both the girls were happy so that's what matters.

I think Chefs and Rose and Crown are the TS that we still haven't eaten at yet in Epcot. Chefs looks really pretty. Too bad Remy won't be there by next summer - unless they decide to go ahead and keep him there.

And I've never seen characters out in America either. That was awesome! The girls weren't as into the characters this year as usual. We passed by a few with pretty short lines that they didn't want to wait for. I made them get the White Rabbit at MK and Alice at Epcot because that's my favorite. Wonder why?!!

Sorry about work problems too. I intentionally didn't check email or call family much while we were there. I didn't want anything to ruin the magic. Checked it after we were back at Chris's parents in Atlanta and had a work email I didn't want to read. At least it didn't ruin Disney!

Alice

 

[Nicole786]

I know how work problems and the slight suggestion you may be let go can plague your mind, it would have ruined my day too. So glad you have a supportive family an your night ended positively!

 

[jmamom]

Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying your report, and your kids are adorable. So sorry work problems invaded your vacation, that stinks! Glad you had friends to cheer you up! Kim Possible looks fun, I'm sure my son will be addicted too. That is such a sweet story about the CM at Haunted Mansion, I bet it really helped her get over being scared. What a brave girl for even trying it in the first place!

 

[Wonders10]

Hi Timandlesley family!

I think I may have posted at the beginning of your pre-trip or one of your other trippies, but for the most part I am a lurker...But I am just loving reading your report. Especially this one. It's making me want to see and do WDW in an entirely different way. I might not be able to stay 18 days (lucky ducks) but just taking that time to really soak everything in and remember that you are on vacation and it isn't all about running from ride to ride, etc. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[vamassey1]

I just hate it when real life intrudes into my Disney Bubble. Meeting up with Diane and her family was the best way to bring your bubble back. On our second day in the park, while on the safari ride I got a call from Woman's hospital. They wanted me to come back in for another mammogram on my right side. Of course when I told them it would have to wait a week since I was in Disney they said fine and don't worry it was probably nothing. Kind of hard not to worry when you get that call.

Your day had lots of ups and down but it ended on a good note. The girls enjoyed KP too but we only got 2 missions done and almost walked out the park. We would have done more on the second day but the girls were given a choice and choose to complete their passports and masks. Your kids shopping is so cute. My oldest 23 love the Japan store. He drools over everything in there too so I'm sure Luke will be drooling for many more years. Both of my girls would love Lauren parasol. Tim had the right idea using it to help with the heat. I saw several people doing the same thing.

 

[codyvt]

Lesley -

YUCK about the bad work news. I HATE when real life invades vacation time. Hope you got it all worked out.

The Kim Possible missions sound like great fun. I'm sure my son will enjoy them. How did you learn about them?

Also, can you explain to me - because I seem unable to grasp the difference -the difference between the regular Disney dining and the Deluxe dining? I'm trying to figure out if Deluxe is worth it. We are going to WDW for 20 days in a few months (with a cruise at the end so 16 days at WDW) and just want to get some opinions on it.

Thanks and keep the report coming - you are cracking me up!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Poor thing - sorry it was YOU that had tears in the Magic Kingdom! Glad to hear it worked itself out but no fun to deal with it at the happiest place on earth. Tim is surely a keeper!

Glad to hear you liked Plaza so much! I finally was able to change our MNSSHP dinner ADR to the Plaza and I'd been checking every day. We look forward to eating there - yum!

Can I ask what shoes Lauren is wearing in most of the Epcot pictures? It looks like Tim has a pair as well - are they a certain type of Crocs? I like how they're flat and cover a good portion on the top of the foot.

Your pictures are simply adorable. The picture of Lauren and Remy in the background is a prize winner and the picture of Luke checking out the Pokemon is a classic!

Heather

 

[timandlesley]

Wow, you're going so fast I'm having trouble keeping up! Epcot is my favorite park so I loved reading about your first Epcot day. We loved the KP missions too. I tried not to read everything about the Japan mission because we didn't end up with enough time to do that one. We did five out of seven. Can't remember the other one we missed. Actually Sophie and Chris did Mexico together so I missed that one too. Had to take Abby on a promised shopping spree in Mouse Gears. Honestly I would have rather done the KP mission. I love shopping too, but not as much as an almost-13-year-old. And after a while it all starts to look the same to me. But both the girls were happy so that's what matters.

I think Chefs and Rose and Crown are the TS that we still haven't eaten at yet in Epcot. Chefs looks really pretty. Too bad Remy won't be there by next summer - unless they decide to go ahead and keep him there.

And I've never seen characters out in America either. That was awesome! The girls weren't as into the characters this year as usual. We passed by a few with pretty short lines that they didn't want to wait for. I made them get the White Rabbit at MK and Alice at Epcot because that's my favorite. Wonder why?!!

Sorry about work problems too. I intentionally didn't check email or call family much while we were there. I didn't want anything to ruin the magic. Checked it after we were back at Chris's parents in Atlanta and had a work email I didn't want to read. At least it didn't ruin Disney!

Alice

Hey Alice, sorry I'm going so fast, we leave for Grand Haven on Friday and I'm trying to get a lot done before we leave because when we get back I'll be in school getting the classroom set up before i know it. That's funny about the Alice and Wonderland characters, I can understand why for sure. I wish I didn't have to check email while traveling, but I am teaching courses so I must - but it didn't ruin Disney, just for a bit!
Lesley

I know how work problems and the slight suggestion you may be let go can plague your mind, it would have ruined my day too. So glad you have a supportive family an your night ended positively!

Thanks Nicole, yes it was nice to have a supportive family and friends to get me out of my funk.

Just wanted to say I'm really enjoying your report, and your kids are adorable. So sorry work problems invaded your vacation, that stinks! Glad you had friends to cheer you up! Kim Possible looks fun, I'm sure my son will be addicted too. That is such a sweet story about the CM at Haunted Mansion, I bet it really helped her get over being scared. What a brave girl for even trying it in the first place!

Well, thank you so very much for taking the time to post. Glad you are enjoying things so far, yes, your son WILL get addicted. That CM was amazing, wish I had her name!

Hi Timandlesley family!

I think I may have posted at the beginning of your pre-trip or one of your other trippies, but for the most part I am a lurker...But I am just loving reading your report. Especially this one. It's making me want to see and do WDW in an entirely different way. I might not be able to stay 18 days (lucky ducks) but just taking that time to really soak everything in and remember that you are on vacation and it isn't all about running from ride to ride, etc. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

Well, hello! I am glad you took the time to post again, glad you are enjoying things so much - yes, it was a whole new way to travel for us, more changes coming up for sure!

I just hate it when real life intrudes into my Disney Bubble. Meeting up with Diane and her family was the best way to bring your bubble back. On our second day in the park, while on the safari ride I got a call from Woman's hospital. They wanted me to come back in for another mammogram on my right side. Of course when I told them it would have to wait a week since I was in Disney they said fine and don't worry it was probably nothing. Kind of hard not to worry when you get that call.

Your day had lots of ups and down but it ended on a good note. The girls enjoyed KP too but we only got 2 missions done and almost walked out the park. We would have done more on the second day but the girls were given a choice and choose to complete their passports and masks. Your kids shopping is so cute. My oldest 23 love the Japan store. He drools over everything in there too so I'm sure Luke will be drooling for many more years. Both of my girls would love Lauren parasol. Tim had the right idea using it to help with the heat. I saw several people doing the same thing.

Oh well that phone call is just terrible, sure hope everything was o.k. when you got back. The KP missions do take a lot of walking but they are fun.
Lesley

Lesley -

YUCK about the bad work news. I HATE when real life invades vacation time. Hope you got it all worked out.

The Kim Possible missions sound like great fun. I'm sure my son will enjoy them. How did you learn about them?

Also, can you explain to me - because I seem unable to grasp the difference -the difference between the regular Disney dining and the Deluxe dining? I'm trying to figure out if Deluxe is worth it. We are going to WDW for 20 days in a few months (with a cruise at the end so 16 days at WDW) and just want to get some opinions on it.

Thanks and keep the report coming - you are cracking me up!

Yes, with deluxe dining you get 2 snack credits per person, per day and 3 meals per day (they can be counterservice or sit down) per person per day. So you can do do sit down for breakfast, lunch AND dinner at 1 credit places. OR you can pay out of pocket for breakfst, sit down for lunch and a sit down for dinner at a deluxe place such as Narcosses, Hoope De Doo Review, Citricos, California Grill, etc. it is nice having that flexibility. At each meal with deluxe each person gets an appetizer, entree and desert. Tips are not included with either plan. Also with Deluxe each person in the party gets a free refillable mug to use for your stay.
With regular dining it is 1 snack credit per person per day. One counterservice meal per person per day and one sit down meal per day. At the sit down meal it is a main entree and a dessert, no appetizer. I hope this helps. We have enjoyed both dining plans immensely.

Poor thing - sorry it was YOU that had tears in the Magic Kingdom! Glad to hear it worked itself out but no fun to deal with it at the happiest place on earth. Tim is surely a keeper!

Glad to hear you liked Plaza so much! I finally was able to change our MNSSHP dinner ADR to the Plaza and I'd been checking every day. We look forward to eating there - yum!

Can I ask what shoes Lauren is wearing in most of the Epcot pictures? It looks like Tim has a pair as well - are they a certain type of Crocs? I like how they're flat and cover a good portion on the top of the foot.

Your pictures are simply adorable. The picture of Lauren and Remy in the background is a prize winner and the picture of Luke checking out the Pokemon is a classic!

Heather

Hi Heather, yes, Tim is definitely a keeper. Glad you were able to get the Plaza, I can see why ressies are hard to come by since it is so small. Yes, Tim and Lauren wear the "scutes" Crocs, they LOVE them!
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

Day 5 June 25th.
So we went down the elevator to Boma for our 7:30 reservation, it was INCREDIBLE. Here is Lauren waiting for our table:

Here is some of the delicious food we got from the buffet and the guava juice that was out of this world!!!

Here is a happy Luke enjoying his first Boma experience:

After our wonderful breakfast we headed to the bus stop around 8:25 headed for Hollywood Studios. We got there just in time for rope drop:

It was a pretty typically crowded Hollywood Studios rope drop morning:

We decided that Toy Story Mania was our mission this morning. We headed over there and the Fast Pass line was insanely long it was wrapped all the way down past the Ariel show stretching into the Playhouse Disney Show area. I saw the line for it and it seemed to be moving quickly so I told Tim to bail from that line and we’d just ride it standby. I was SHOCKED when I realized where the line BEGAN. I said to the lady next to me “THAT IS THE LINE”, it wrapped two times around by the BACKLOT TOUR:

Here is Lauren on Tim’s shoulders checking things out:

They had it posted that standby was 45 minutes but I was SHOCKED how quickly the line went and DOUBLY shocked when we went inside and they had NO TURNSTILES OPEN:

I just love the line here, and when it was fast moving, I sure didn’t mind:

Love this interactive guy:

We had definitely made the right choice, total wait time was less than 15-20 minutes, AWESOME. The guy in front of us was saying he wondered if Disney did that on purpose (not opening the turnstiles so the line appeared larger outside) to have the crowds disperse to other attractions – could be. . .
Luke and Lauren were ready to ride:

Actually this ride is such fun I would wait 40 minutes for it, it’s one of my new favorites, SUCH FUN!
I rode with Luke (and of COURSE I beat him : )

We all had a great time on the ride. After we were done Tim grabbed Star Tours Fast Passes and we headed toward the Animation Tour- we wanted to meet the stars from the movie UP. On our way we ran into the end of the High School Musical 3 Show which Lauren is a HUGE fan of (notice her outfit) so we checked that out:

Then we headed to AnimationStudios:

Sat through the cute show:

I’ve seen it a million times, I wish they would update this, I’ve seen how Mushu is created a zillion times, come on Disney – let’s do a more modern character here. . . . PLEASE!?!?!
Then we went inside and were super duper excited to meet the stars from UP, we are huge fans of DUG, the Golden retriever from the movie and we couldn’t wait to meet him and the gang. The kids and I got in line, it was long and very slow moving. Tim took some photo’s while we were waiting:

There’s our buddy Dug:

After about a 30 minute wait, it was FINALLY our turn!!!

Dug was HYSTERICAL. He would like you, pant like crazy and stick things in his mouth. They had a hose on the set and he went and put it in his mouth and looked at us just waiting to get caught, too funny- we were cracking up.

You can tell how much Lauren enjoyed it by her skipping away:

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!!

 

[timandlesley]

Luke wanted to pose by the “cone of shame” photo:

We then went into the giftshop there and Luke was THRILLED when he saw a lot of UP merchandise, he purchased this tshirt:

Lauren of course then wanted to spend some of her money so we went to the princess store by Ariel and she bought some rings and a Minnie Necklace.
Lauren and I wanted to do the Playhouse Disney show, the guys………….. not so much, so they went in search of the CARS meet and greet and Lauren and I waited for the Playhouse Disney show to begin. As we were in line Handy Manny strolled by:

Here is a happy Lauren waiting for the show to start, you can see her Minnie necklace:

It’s such a fun interactive show, such fun!
It’s the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, (come inside, it’s fun insideJ)

Sing along……………. Handy many!!!

Come aboard, we’re ready to explore, soarin’ through the sky, it’s LITTLE EINSTEINS:

Then the Winnie the Pooh gang:

Lauren had fun jumping and playing during the show:

Meanwhile Tim and Luke headed to Radiator Springs (Tim took these photo’s on his iPhone, they turned out pretty good doncha think : )

As Lauren and I were exiting the Playhouse Disney show Tim texted me and said he and Luke were at Brown Derby waiting on us for lunch, so we headed that way:

Tim and the kids waiting for our table:

Then we were shown to our table by a lady with NO personality:

A happy and hungry Luke waiting to get his eat on:

I was excited to try this restaurant, we had never eaten there before. It was a nice enterior, good first impression. They had head shots of TONS of celebrities lining the walls, Lauren was so cute, she said “why are we surrounded by faces???” I explained to her they were famous people and then she had fun trying to figure out who they were, here she is pointing to one of them:

Here are all the faces we were “surrounded by” : )

Lauren had caught a ton of streamers at the Playhouse Disney show, so we had fun decorating our hair with them as we waited for our appetizers:

Our waiter was pretty nice, but always seemed like he was in a major hurry so he didn’t stay at the table long at any given time. I am very happy with his appetizer recommendation though, he said the ravioli was to die for, he wasn’t kidding, it was AMAZING- sounds weird but it was different from anything I’d ever had and I ate the whole thing:

Tim had coconut fried shrimp (small portion as you can see) but he liked it:

Tim had Lauren cracking up at lunch:

For the Main dish Tim ordered a steak which came out draped in some sort of green veggie thing that he had to scrape off but once he did the steak was good;

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!!

 

[timandlesley]

Lauren had the meaty macaroni and broccoli which she enjoyed:

Luke had the grilled chicken breast, potatoes and broccoli and he liked it as well:

I had the salmon and it was yummy:

Then it was desert time, I was intrigued by the grapefruit cake since it’s been on the menu since the 1930’s so I gave it a try:

Let’s just say……………………………………… I WISH I HADN’T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YUCK!!!!!

Tim ordered the bananas foster which he liked a lot:

Overall it really was a good lunch, but in my opinion not worth 2 table service credits, there was nothing that made it stand out – this restaurant should be 1 credit each, especially compared to the other 2 credit options we experience on this trip (more to come) and Jiko which we had already experienced.
After lunch we headed to “Walt, One Man’s Dream”, we had never done it before:

It was wonderful! We really enjoyed looking and interacting with all of the displays, I was surprised at how into it the kids got as well.

Then we headed into the theatre to learn more about Walt’s life:

It was amazing, our whole family really enjoyed it, gave me the chills and once again made me appreciate the Disney experience on a whole other level – WONDERFUL. If you’ve never gone in before, I highly recommend it.
Then we decided to stay for the parade since it was so close to parade time. I got the kids some popsicles to make them forget about the heat as we waited:

The parade was great as always:

Tyson and Shae hung out with Tim at the parade:

Time to SCREAM!!!!!

Then for some audience participation, at first both kids jumped right up:

But then Lauren got super shy and ran back over to us:

She was like this our whole trip, so strange because she has always been the outgoing one, she LOVES to sing and dance, does it constantly, loves cheerleading in front of people, it was strange. Oh well, Luke was super brave and had a great time dancing it up for everyone and Lauren loved watching him:

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!!

 

[timandlesley]

Here’s some video of Luke dancing (that he is mortified I am putting on here):

Then the floats moved towards the end of the parade and we had some Pixar characters come by:

Then they let the balls go and I was so excited that Tim snagged one for Luke and I got one for Lauren, YEAH! It helps when you know they are coming and look for them.
We headed for the bus stop after that, we were so hot and were ready to go back and chill. Here is Lauren on the bus with her ball from the parade:

And Luke wanted to go to the room and share his ball with Dug : )

After that we rested in the room for a bit, showered and headed downstairs for Boma for dinner. I totally forgot my camera in the room and to be honest, just didn’t feel like making the trip back up because I was HUNGRY. We REALLY enjoyed Boma for dinner – we ALL did. The kids found great stuff to eat, Tim loved it (which surprised me actually) and I LOVED it. I got addicted to their seafood gumbo and had two bowls of it, YUM, and they had this incredible salad out that I had two plates full of too. I told Tim if it was just soup and salad I would have been thrilled. But of course the other meats, rice dishes and DESERTS were out of this world. We had a great meal. Diane, Bryan, Matthew and Eric were dining there that night too and they brought their suits so the kids could swim together. We ran up to the room for the kids to get dressed and met them by the pool. THEY WERE SO SWEET and had goodie bags for each of our kids:

That was soooooooooooo sweet of them, and of course my kids were thrilled. They had fun swimming together:

The adults enjoyed adult beverages as we talked, it was so nice just hanging by the pool with our new Disney friends.
UNFORTUNATELY it started to thunder and lightning and they shut the pool down, so we went inside and said our goodbyes- they got the boys changed to head back to their resort and we headed up to our room. I have pictures of this but of course I’m not going to post them – but we were dying laughing when we went upstairs because Lauren was strutting around the room holding her parasol completely naked – I snapped a photo from the back for blackmail in the future : )
Overall it was a WONDERFUL day, and we were looking forward to another day full of Disney adventure tomorrow!

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

 

[srandsr76]

Another AWESOME update!!! I love how you break during the day and are able to enjoy the resort - when we are there I feel like I have to get it all in!!!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Another fabulous update! Boma twice in one day: WOW!!!!!

 

[nateryan]

Great Day! I now want to go to Walt's One Man Dream. I never knew what it was and my boys will hopefully be old enough to let me enjoy it....and them too of course. Good to know about Hollywood Brown Derby. I love your face with the Grapefruit Cake dessert....too funny! Great video of Luke...not need to be "mortified"! Nathan usually asks me in a tone..."are you going to post that on facebook?"

 

[bethk78]

Yay, another update! I've been checking every day and you're so fast, it's great! And still almost two weeks of the vacation left! Woohoo!! Love how you're still finding new things to do and try. Sounds so relaxing and fun. Can't wait to hear more about the Kim Possible missions.

 

[MegansMom]

What a great DHS day!!!! HOW AWESOME!!!!! I hope we can get some good chilling out time on our trip in September too!

 

[Jeanine3kids]

Great Update I see you enjoyed Boma for dinner I was trying to get my DH to go there since the last 3 days of our trip we will be at AKL But when I told him it was a Africian Restaurant he was like no way to spicy I am not eating there maybe I can try to convince him again.

 

[Trentmom]

Darn..had typed up a nice reply, but it got deleted

Anyway


Another great update

Lauren looked adorable in her HSM Musical outfit

Go Luke for getting your groove on

Glad to hear that boma breakfast was good. I plan on trying that on our next trip

Bummer on the grapefruit dessert. I hope tim shared his banana foster with ya

That is great kids got to swim together