Tim and Lesley Year of Million Compromises/TONS pics- 8/5 help me pg. 164!!!

[medicgirl911]

Hi Lesley,
I have just spent hours reading your pre trippie, and I absolutely love it!!! You have a such a beautiful family and I love all the pictures! We have a lot in common, I am almost a teacher (graduating in December) AND we will be at Disney at the same time as you!!!! Here is our plan:
June 17 - MGM - Hollywood and Vine
June 18 - Blizzard Beach - Chef Mickey's
June 19 - Magic Kingdom - CRT
June 20 - Typhoon Lagoon - Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show
June 21 - Epcot - Alfredo's
June 22 - Animal Kingdom - Downtown Disney???
June 23 - Magic Kingdom - Crystal Palace

May be we will cross paths on some of those days, I have never met a fellow DISser but that is probably because I havent been to Disney since I found the DIS Keep up the great work with the pre trippie, I love it!! We got 83 DAYS until we leave (we are driving so we are leaving the 15th)

Runs over to check your trip report!

 

[timandlesley]

You know, it all works out in the end. Glad to hear you 'hung' in there!



I agree...pocket the extra. I am sure there are a few things you 'need' around the house or save it...just incase you have a bad quarter/semester that doesn't pan out like you want it too.

We loved FQ! I liked the 'small' feeling of the resort. The food court is not Crazy...busy (at least in compare to other mod's and value that we have been too). As you mentioned, the pool is very fun for kids (and grown ups too). PLUS we were always the 1st stop on the bus. You do have to sit through 5 more stops at POR, but you always get a seat on the way to the park and on the way home, you always get off 1st. There were times when we just went straight to the parks and skipped POR all together

Thanks so much, I am just so excited for all of the positive POFQ comments, makes me want to go check it out more and more
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

Hi Lesley,
I have just spent hours reading your pre trippie, and I absolutely love it!!! You have a such a beautiful family and I love all the pictures! We have a lot in common, I am almost a teacher (graduating in December) AND we will be at Disney at the same time as you!!!! Here is our plan:
June 17 - MGM - Hollywood and Vine
June 18 - Blizzard Beach - Chef Mickey's
June 19 - Magic Kingdom - CRT
June 20 - Typhoon Lagoon - Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show
June 21 - Epcot - Alfredo's
June 22 - Animal Kingdom - Downtown Disney???
June 23 - Magic Kingdom - Crystal Palace

May be we will cross paths on some of those days, I have never met a fellow DISser but that is probably because I havent been to Disney since I found the DIS Keep up the great work with the pre trippie, I love it!! We got 83 DAYS until we leave (we are driving so we are leaving the 15th)

We do have a lot in common, VERY COOL, glad you found us. We will be at MGM on Father's Day together, maybe our paths will cross, be sure to say hello if you see us!!!!
Lesley

I had Cinderella's Coach as my cake topper. But my cake cutters and our toasting glasses were Mickey and Minney!!

That is cool. We had the toasting glasses and cake cutters too, it was hard to find back then, now you see it everywhere. Must say I wish I got married in the days of Disney Weddings, I would have done that for sure, oh well.
Lesley

Lesley,

I have a question for you about TGM. Once you suscribe to it (for $20 or so, right?), how long are you a member or able to check out his website? Thanks for your help!

Nikki

TGM lets you keep your subscription about 6 months (I believe) after you return from your trip and then it expires. When you want to renew it you get a discount, it only cost me 16 bucks this year .
You are quite welcome

 

[timandlesley]

Wow, thats great that you have some extra money for your trip!! Scary there for a second though. I think you are definelty making the right decision to stay at POFQ. The extra cushion will be nice, and maybe an extra nice souvenier for your Disney room hrmmmm????

The chef's thing in the Land sounds super cute!! Those would be adorable pics!! Lauren sounds like Mackenzie, she is a bit shy and slow to warm up around adults as well. School has really helped ease that some, but she is definetly not one the chatty kids who will talk to any adult in ear shot thats for sure!

I agree, definitely an extra something for the Disney room!!!!!
I agree about the chef's thing at the land, yeah Lauren can be really shy at first, we'll she how she does. If I prep her enough she should be o.k. - hopefully!!!
Lesley

 

[medicgirl911]

I agree, definitely an extra something for the Disney room!!!!!
I agree about the chef's thing at the land, yeah Lauren can be really shy at first, we'll she how she does. If I prep her enough she should be o.k. - hopefully!!!
Lesley

After I posted that I was hoping it was you who had mentioned having a Disney themed room. I was worried I had read it in someone elses TR!

Oh and btw, they do vow renewals at Disney.....

 

[jblb1020]

Hello! I read your trip report and it was great! I have to say our families are very similar! I have two children (daughter just turned 4 last weekend and my son is 6) I LOVE EVERYTHING DISNEY! We go to disney every year and just last year we bit the bullet and bought Disney timeshare to save us money in all of our future trips. WE also love the Wilderness Lodge and my husband and I are going to Disney in June without the kids for a long weekend just to relax and no plans of doing the parks (as of right now). We also booked POFQ and I can't imagine staying anywhere but the WL. Although I have heard great things about POFQ and since its a short trip that is suppose to be inexpensive we will be staying there unless of course I get some discount code before we leave. Looking forward to your next trip report!

Here is a picture in Feb of our family on the Disney Cruise! You will have to try that next its wonderful!

 

[timandlesley]

After I posted that I was hoping it was you who had mentioned having a Disney themed room. I was worried I had read it in someone elses TR!

Oh and btw, they do vow renewals at Disney.....

Yeah, it was me, there were pictures earlier in here that showed them from Tim's wish days. I know, I get the trip reports mixed up sometimes too.
I've actually looked into the renewals, it will be Tim and my 10 year anniversary next year and we are planning a trip by ourselves (now that will be a GREAT TR) but the renewals are like 15000, we just don't have that kind of dough, maybe for our 25th!!!!
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

Hello! I read your trip report and it was great! I have to say our families are very similar! I have two children (daughter just turned 4 last weekend and my son is 6) I LOVE EVERYTHING DISNEY! We go to disney every year and just last year we bit the bullet and bought Disney timeshare to save us money in all of our future trips. WE also love the Wilderness Lodge and my husband and I are going to Disney in June without the kids for a long weekend just to relax and no plans of doing the parks (as of right now). We also booked POFQ and I can't imagine staying anywhere but the WL. Although I have heard great things about POFQ and since its a short trip that is suppose to be inexpensive we will be staying there unless of course I get some discount code before we leave. Looking forward to your next trip report!

Here is a picture in Feb of our family on the Disney Cruise! You will have to try that next its wonderful!

Boy we do have a lot in common, thanks for posting, you have a beautiful family. Tim and I are going without the kids next summer for our anniversary, and I CAN'T WAIT, should be so fun. We haven't been just the 2 of us since our honeymoon. I actually priced the cruise for the two of us for 4 nights and it would be cheaper than staying Contemporary Tower Magic Kingdom view (where we want to stay for our anniversary. ) But Tim doesn't want to do it, he wants to experience the parks "kidless". I DO want to try the cruise though, it looks SO fun, but being a teacher and only being able to travel at peak times it is like 6500-7000 for the 4 of us to do it.
Thanks for posting , glad you enjoyed the TR!
Lesley

 

[daisy_77]

Just had to share. We've had a rough week here because I had more classes cancel last week and I've been stressing nightly over bills, we even (GASP) thought (of course BRIEFLY) about having to cancel Disney. Needless to say it has been very stressful here and I was worried about us making bills, etc. etc. Well, I was scheduled for FOUR courses and a mentorship today which will equal about 2000 more for June/July than I had budgeted for I AM SO EXCITED. Of course when I called Tim he said "can we do WL now". I ran the numbers and it is a 1200 difference so I told him "let's just be happy with the extra money, try a new resort which I'm getting excited about trying and just be happy with what we have instead of spending it on WL and pinching pennies" You do agree right Diser's??

Lesley

That is great news, Lesley! I think that having extra money is ALWAYS a good thing, especially at Disney!
POFQ is a really pretty resort! I am sure you all will not be disappointed!
BTW-thank you for all your updates! I am living vicariously through you since I have so long until we are back at WDW again.

 

[pierresgirl]

Lesley- I just read all 30 pages of your pretrip and am hooked! We stayed at POFQ last March and really enjoyed it. We're going in Sept for 3 days then the 4 day cruise. We are only doing 1 day at the parks though, ds and me in MK and dd and dh in TL. I am already thinking about next years trip and how I can swing the free dining and will sign up for TGM. I'll tell him you sent me!

I hear you on the money thing, maybe the extra will pop up for me! Our tax return was about $1500 less than I thought it would be so I need to check it out again. It (the WHOLE return, ouch) has been earmarked to pay for the windows we got last summer so that will now bite into my Disney money. I am planning on getting the Disney Visa to pay for the remainder of my trip so that will give me 6 months int. free.

 

[timandlesley]

O.K., so my kids were invited to the MOST AWESOME party today. It was princess themed. It was my friend from college (who is like Martha Stewart) adopted little girls b-day party. I knew it would be nice, but it was incredible. The kids were all excited because it said to dress up so here they are ready to go to the

At the party, here is Lauren with the b-day girl. They had HAND SEWN this Cinderella dress for her, the pictures don't do it justice, yo ushould see this dress, the back of it was so detailed:

Here is the "thrown" for the b-day girl:

Then they sat down and had a small feast of princess punch, cheese cut up, pinneapple, carrots and dip, mini hot dogs rolled in croissant rolls, and teenie tiny sandwiches. They had these crowns for the girls to make:

They did the cutest games, from ring toss on a blow up castle they had purchased (my pics are too dark of this one), pass the frog, they read a frog prince story. Then they put lipstick on each girl: here is Lauren getting hers on:

Here she is kissing the mirror: (again dark picture- sorry):

I took a close up of the frog after it was kissed (very cute):

It isn't pictured here because it was too dark but then she said " do you want to go to the ball" we were escorted to their basement where they had hung sheets from the ceiling, you pull them back and there was a castle, stars hanging from the ceiling and all, dance music, the blow up castle,etc. the girls started twirling around it was so cute.
Then we came upstairs after a few games including pass the frog and toss the rings on the castle.
Then they said it was dessert time and came out with the most incredible spread. Check out these chocolate covered strawberries and white chocolate covered pretzels with sprinkles (THEY WERE SO GOOD):

Here is Lauren enjoying the feast:

They even made the cupcakes into tiny frogs:

Then she opened presents and we left. Both kids had a great time. Such a cute party with a princess theme that I had to share.
Hope each of you had a great day too!
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

That is great news, Lesley! I think that having extra money is ALWAYS a good thing, especially at Disney!
POFQ is a really pretty resort! I am sure you all will not be disappointed!
BTW-thank you for all your updates! I am living vicariously through you since I have so long until we are back at WDW again.

Thanks, I don't think we will be either. Glad you are able to live vicariously through us. I do through others when we aren't there too!
Lesley

Lesley- I just read all 30 pages of your pretrip and am hooked! We stayed at POFQ last March and really enjoyed it. We're going in Sept for 3 days then the 4 day cruise. We are only doing 1 day at the parks though, ds and me in MK and dd and dh in TL. I am already thinking about next years trip and how I can swing the free dining and will sign up for TGM. I'll tell him you sent me!

I hear you on the money thing, maybe the extra will pop up for me! Our tax return was about $1500 less than I thought it would be so I need to check it out again. It (the WHOLE return, ouch) has been earmarked to pay for the windows we got last summer so that will now bite into my Disney money. I am planning on getting the Disney Visa to pay for the remainder of my trip so that will give me 6 months int. free.

Sorry about your tax thing, I was PRAYING when I was doing my taxes it would cover the escrow we needed plus the disney vacation and fortunately it worked out. Good luck with TGM, you will love it. If you are overwhelmed PM me for some hints. How fun going on the cruise, I'm jealous!
Lesley

 

[solgent]

Hi Lesley

I enjoyed your post about the party. I love hearing about creative home parties. We have made those chocolate & sprinkle pretzel rods. They're easy, fun and yummy.

I'm so glad you didn't have to cancel your trip! That would have been awful. I think it makes sense to stick with POFQ. Maybe you can save the money towards a cruise someday! We are going to try a 3-day cruise next August. I feel a little bit crazy to be already planning and anticipating August 2008, but I am! Then I saw an article today in Money magazine that said that the happiness comes from experiences, not things, because people quickly get tired of things whereas experiences can be anticipated and then remembered again and again. So it turns out that the pre-trip report mindset is the secret of happiness!

Sara

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Hi Lesley!

I just finished reading your entire trip report from last June and your pre-trippie.

Just wanted to let you know that I am a UOP online graduate. I received my MBA in December '05. As soon as I was finished with school, I discovered the DIS and instead of writting papers in my free time, what do I do? Yes that is right, surf the Dis boards.

I am also a Tour Guide Miker. This will be our first time using TGM and I glad to read so many positive reviews. I really feel like it will be money well spent. My sister-in-law laughs at me every time I tell her my plans. She thinks I am nuts and I need to go with the flow and not plan out everything. I totally disagree. What can I say, I am planner.

Anyway, I just wanted to say Hi!

 

[jenr812]

What a fabulously fun party! Thanks for sharing!

 

[dddisrunner]

Hi Lesley! You post the most adorable pictures! Luke and Lauren are such cuties! Ironically today was my DS birthday party he will be 7 next week! I want to post pics but don't know how Is it hard to do? I don't know if you saw my prior post but I'm so glad you didn't have to cancel your trip I don't know what we would do with out one of your trip reports to look forward too

 

[daisy_77]

Thanks for sharing the pics from the party! What a creative friend you have to come up with all those great ideas. Your kids look so cute!

 

[srandsr76]

We are staying at WL in Sept for the first time and I am so excited! I am glad to hear that you have enjoyed it in the past.
Cannot wait to hear more!

 

[timandlesley]

Hi Lesley

I enjoyed your post about the party. I love hearing about creative home parties. We have made those chocolate & sprinkle pretzel rods. They're easy, fun and yummy.

I'm so glad you didn't have to cancel your trip! That would have been awful. I think it makes sense to stick with POFQ. Maybe you can save the money towards a cruise someday! We are going to try a 3-day cruise next August. I feel a little bit crazy to be already planning and anticipating August 2008, but I am! Then I saw an article today in Money magazine that said that the happiness comes from experiences, not things, because people quickly get tired of things whereas experiences can be anticipated and then remembered again and again. So it turns out that the pre-trip report mindset is the secret of happiness!

Sara

Thanks, I am glad we didn't have to cancel too, it's funny Tim said "the people on the Dis would KILL you " . I read your quote about money magazine to Tim and we both loved it, that is how we live our lives, for the EXPERIENCES!!!!

Hi Lesley!

I just finished reading your entire trip report from last June and your pre-trippie.

Just wanted to let you know that I am a UOP online graduate. I received my MBA in December '05. As soon as I was finished with school, I discovered the DIS and instead of writting papers in my free time, what do I do? Yes that is right, surf the Dis boards.

I am also a Tour Guide Miker. This will be our first time using TGM and I glad to read so many positive reviews. I really feel like it will be money well spent. My sister-in-law laughs at me every time I tell her my plans. She thinks I am nuts and I need to go with the flow and not plan out everything. I totally disagree. What can I say, I am planner.

Anyway, I just wanted to say Hi!

Wow, a UOP graduate, wonder if I had you in courses, I started with them in 03'. I understand about the dis obsession, I would often surf while grading papers to give my mind a break.
Glad you enjoy TGM. and glad you found the report!
Lesley

What a fabulously fun party! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Jen, glad you liked the pics.
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

Hi Lesley! You post the most adorable pictures! Luke and Lauren are such cuties! Ironically today was my DS birthday party he will be 7 next week! I want to post pics but don't know how Is it hard to do? I don't know if you saw my prior post but I'm so glad you didn't have to cancel your trip I don't know what we would do with out one of your trip reports to look forward too

Glad you liked the pics, happy b-day to your DS!!!! I use photobucket for my pictures, you download them to their site and then there is a link you copy and paste into your posts, easy once you get the hang of it, took me a while to get the hang of it! Glad you enjoy the report!
Lesley

Thanks for sharing the pics from the party! What a creative friend you have to come up with all those great ideas. Your kids look so cute!

You are quite welcome. Yes, I roomed with her for a year in college, she has always been SUPER creative, her parties are always out of this world, just had to share some pics from this years since it was princess themed.
Lesley

We are staying at WL in Sept for the first time and I am so excited! I am glad to hear that you have enjoyed it in the past.
Cannot wait to hear more!

Have you read my last years TR?? There are TONS of WL pics, including us being flag family in that report, if you haven't, click on the link below to my original TR, it will get you all excited for the WL! I'm a little jealous, I must say!
Lesley