TimandLesley's November TR No Kids/No Judging! TONS of pics -FINAL DAY pg. 9 1/2/11

[KristEn87]

Great update! Hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas!

I'm not 100% positive, but I believe the streetmosphere guy you have your picture with is the same guy that I talked with while waiting for Block Party Bash to start back in 2008, he said he was familiar with Cincinnati and actually worked in entertainment at Kings Island.

Thought that was kind of cool

Can't wait for more!

Kristen

 

[brookelizabeth]

Aren't those Osborne Lights amazing?!?! Pictures cannot truly encompass everything that is there, it's so breathtaking. I hope to go back within a few years to experience it all again. Great job on finding the purple cat too! Was he by Jack Frost, the snowman??? Did you ever figure out who Jack was?

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year!

 

[kaysmommie]

Hi Tim & Lesley. Finally caught up on your trip report. Been so busy with Christmas. Looks like you all of you enjoyed trip. I think everyone needs to go at least without the kids. DH and I had the best time on our Anniversary last December. Osbourne Lights are just amazing aren't they? I did not know about the purple cat, thanks for sharing that. Even though it was brief it was great to meet you guys in person. Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[Kinley'sMom]

Enjoying your report! Looking forward to more!

 

[timandlesley]

Oh WOW! FANTASTIC update!!!! The pictures of
osborne lites are incredible!!!! We missed this wonderful
attraction on our nov trip because we couldn't be two
places at once. It was opening night for both
osborne lights and MVMCP and we went home the next
day so we had to choose one!! maybe next time!!
Seeing the Christmas decos at Disney is the most
magical experience ever,soooooo amazing! LUV it!!!

Glad you enjoyed the update, yes the lights are amazing! That's a tough choice, but I'm sure you had a blast at MVMCP!

So glad you got to take in all of the Osborne lights... and even go on the scavenger hunt for the cat. I've never heard of that one! You are so right.. pictures can NEVER do it justice (even though you got some fabulous shots!). It's just so magical!!

We also LOVE the walk to the studios from BWV. I'm so happy to hear how much you love the location... that's the #1 reason why we love that area so much!

The picture Diane caught of you holding Tim's beer is ADORABLE!!!

Sounds like a wonderful, wonderful day!

The hunt for the cat ws fun! Yes, the location was amazing. Thanks, I love that picture too, captures the fun of the night

Wow! I love the pics. I've just about got the fam talked into going in Nov so I'm loving your tr. Sounds like you had a wonderful time at the dancing lights!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Hope you get to go next November, you will love it!

Hearing you describe the "flipping of the switch" and seeing the light made me misty. It is truly an incredible sight.
It brings me back to my trip last year and seeing them "live" for the first time.


Love drunk Tim's shout out!!! Don't we all get a little "loud" when we drink?

Yes, his shout out was HALARIOUS!

What a wonderful update! You take great photos. Now you have me so extremely excited to see the Osborne lights in 10 days!!

Gad you enjoyed it, bet you are enjoying them now, HAVE FUN!!

All the light pictures are making me want to go during Christmas time more and more!!

Me too but this time with the kids!

I completely agree with you. You have to actually see the Osborne lights to understand the true beauty. There are nothing like them!

Great update. You and Tim seem like such a fun couple!

Such fun, loved them! Thanks, we do have a great time!

The Osborne Lights are awesome, and I totally understand how you can get overwhelmed by the magnitude! So amazing. We loved it last year, our kids thought it was incredible. You'll enjoy making that family memory I am sure!

Re the stumble walk home, um yeah... been there we have! FUN times it seems, though! AND I love your "hint" at what is to come, Queasy, huh? hmmm.. it doesn't take a math major to figure that one out...

Glad you all clearly had a wonderful time together!

Yes, they are so amazing. Fun times indeed!

Glad you got to enjoy the lights. They are truly magical!

Thanks!

The Osborne Lights are spectacular. It is so beautiful.

I agree!

Love the Osborne lights. They are so awesome

Good Job finding the cat

That is hilarious about Tim's drunk shout out

Thanks on the cat congrats : ) Yes, it was so funny, wish I had it on tape

Wow, looks like a great night. The Osborne Lights look so amazing - we really have to see them some day!

I'm glad you are making such fun memories together!

It was a wonderful night, hope you get too, they are amazing.

Osborne lights is really awesome to watch. I have not seen them in a while so I am making a point to try and see them on this upcoming trip.

Great update. Your story at then end was funny. I totally can see it happening (and very much like an exchange that would happen in my family).

Yes, such fun, hope you get to see them.

Glad to see the update. Those lights look amazing, I sure would like to see them in person. BTW who are the Osbournes & why do they do lights?

Happy you enjoyed the update. Looks like someone already answerd your questions, interesting isn't it.

What a great night! I adore Modern Family as well, the writing is pure genius! You actually look a little like Claire!

Thanks, I'll take that as a huge compliment : )

You didn't think you were going to sneak in a trip report without me did you?? What a fabulous trip! The BW looks so nice and is in a great location! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!

No!!! Glad you found us, I'm a little light on my typical readers this TR, maybe everyone is getting sick of us : )

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

You're welcome!

Merry Christmas Tim, Leslie and family!

Thank you! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well

First off Merry Christmas to you, Tim, Luke,and Lauren. Hoep you guys had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Great pictures from Osbourn Lights! One day I will get there and I am sure it will be so magical when you get back there with the kids one day. Congrats on the kids saying their creed and getting the tip. Looking forward to reading about the rest of the trip.

Thank you, hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Thanks for all of your nice comments.

Great update Lesley ! Loved seeing the Osbourne Lights. Hope you and your family had a Merry Christmas.

Thanks, we did, hope you did as well.

Hope the Tim & Lesley fam had a wonderful Christmas!!

Thanks, we did, hope you did too!

 

[timandlesley]

Great update! Hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas!

I'm not 100% positive, but I believe the streetmosphere guy you have your picture with is the same guy that I talked with while waiting for Block Party Bash to start back in 2008, he said he was familiar with Cincinnati and actually worked in entertainment at Kings Island.

Thought that was kind of cool

Can't wait for more!

Kristen

Thanks, we did, hope you had a Merry Christma as well. Very cool, wonder if it was him!?!

Aren't those Osborne Lights amazing?!?! Pictures cannot truly encompass everything that is there, it's so breathtaking. I hope to go back within a few years to experience it all again. Great job on finding the purple cat too! Was he by Jack Frost, the snowman??? Did you ever figure out who Jack was?

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year!

Yes, truly amazing! It was a little Jack from Nightmare before Christmas that was in the same scene, it was very tricky.

Hi Tim & Lesley. Finally caught up on your trip report. Been so busy with Christmas. Looks like you all of you enjoyed trip. I think everyone needs to go at least without the kids. DH and I had the best time on our Anniversary last December. Osbourne Lights are just amazing aren't they? I did not know about the purple cat, thanks for sharing that. Even though it was brief it was great to meet you guys in person. Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Hi, glad you caught up with us. Wish we got to spend more time with you, you will see with our next update why we were sitting down and seeming a little "blah" when you an into us : ) It was nice meeting you though. Yes, they were so amazing. We had a great trip, couples trips are definitely an entirely different kind of fun!

Enjoying your report! Looking forward to more!

Thanks, I'll get this done before I go back to work on the 4th!

 

[mefordis]

Hey, Lesley! I am checking several times a day for your updates so you are NOT that light on your typical readers! Some of us are just reading without commenting! LOVE the trip reports and would NEVER get sick of them!

 

[timandlesley]

Hey, Lesley! I am checking several times a day for your updates so you are NOT that light on your typical readers! Some of us are just reading without commenting! LOVE the trip reports and would NEVER get sick of them!

Thanks so much, I truly appreciate that, the last update coming tonight, enjoy!
Lesley

 

[timandlesley]

So we were on our last full day of our couples only trip, we awoke bright and early with hopes to get to the Magic Kingdom opening. When we opened the door we found this sad package:

To say we were tired on this morning is an understatement. I went outside to get rejuvenated by the sun:

Another beautiful day in paradise!
We originally told Bryan and Diane to go on without us this morning and we’d meet up at the Magic Kingdom, when I called them they were headed to the bus stop, I told them we would be down shortly. I felt badly because shortly for us turned into a little longer on this slowly moving morning and they missed a bus and then called us, we NOW were on our way down, they ended up getting on another bus here we were looking tired at an empty bus stop:

Soon another bus came and we were on our way. I was excited to see the Magic Kingdom decorated for Christmas.
The pointsetta trees as you enter were pretty:

I started taking it all in and snapping some photos:

It was just beautiful. Tim and I stalked a photographer and got our first Christmas photo together on Main Street:

We were texting with Bryan and Diane at this point and we decided to meet up at Buzz Lightyear:

Tim and I rode together:

We both didn’t really have our A-game that morning, here’s Tim’s top score for the vehicle:

And mine:

Man……….we take this WAY too seriously : )

After that, Bryan mentioned going on Space Mountain, I just wasn’t feeling it on this particular morning, not sure if Tim was 100% either, but he went along. Diane and I went on the MUCH milder People mover:

Diane hadn’t had much for breakfast and was hungry and her number one vice in the Magic Kingdom is the popcorn, I think she could smell it as we zoomed along from up high, so as soon as our feet were back on Magic Kingdom soil she headed to the closest popcorn cart, happy Diane with her popcorn:

We met up with the guys, I could tell that Spacemountain had made Tim’s stomach a little off, he looked a tad green. Then we saw some people gathering around a talking garbage can, this made me miss the kids, they just LOVE push,:

We decided to stroll over to Jungle Cruise and on our way I snapped some more photo’s and soaked in the Magic Kingdom sunshine:

Here we are on the cruise:

After that we headed over towards Frontierland to eat lunch at Pecos Bills, it was a yummy lunch. Then we road Haunted Mansion. Riding Haunted Mansion was my request, I have never been able to ride it an enjoy it since Lauren is scared of the ride, so it was nice to be able to just sit back and enjoy it and notice the details. We found a bench to sit on after that and just people watch, as we were sitting there Tim was telling me how he just wasn’t feeling well and wanted to head back to the resort and chill. As we were having this conversation Nichole (kaysmommie on the Dis) strolled up with her two kids. It was nice to meet her and the kids, they looked like they were having a good time. We weren’t our normal enthusiastic and peppy selves so for that I apologize Nichole…..
So, we told Bryan and Diane our plan and we bid farewell and headed to Main Street.
We enjoyed some more shopping on Main Street on our way out and saw this:

I found a cute pair of Mickey slipper boots for Lauren for her gift and now I was on a mission to find Luke a nice gift and just couldn’t find any decent Club Penguin stuff. For those of you with kids who love Club Penguin, they have ZERO in the clothing department, I just don’t understand it. I spoke to a CM about it and she said they had some in a Downtown Disney store a couple weeks ago, so we decided to head over to Downtown Disney. I was excited because it was Festival of the Masters and I had heard about it on the Disunplugged Podcast and was happy to check it out. I stopped for one more Christmasy photo before leaving the Kingdom:

Bye Magic Kingdom!!!

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!

 

[timandlesley]

We decided the easiest way to get to Downtown Disney would be to walk over to the contemporary resort and hop on a bus there, so we took that pleasant stroll over and soaked in some more of that wonderful Florida sun (that I wish I was experiencing in Ohio right now):

When we got to the bus stop we noticed a TON of service dogs with volunteers in matching tshirts, I am a HUGE dog lover and we listened to them and talked with them. Turns out they train these dogs to be service dogs for Veterans, they are free to the Veterans. They take them to Disney and take them on every form of transportation (buses, boats, monorails, etc.). We got to share our Disney bus with these cute companions:

Those were just the ones directly In front of us, there were about 8-10 dogs on the bus, they were so cute and well behaved.
Before we knew it (time flies when you are staring at cute puppies) we were at Downtown Disney, it was PACKED!
I immediately started snapping photos of all of the chalk drawings, there were so many stretching all over the area:

Such incredible talent!

Cool Mickey sculpture out of soap by the Basin:

Then we headed into the Toy store and World of Disney, couldn’t find ANY Club penguin stuff but did find a set of two light up sound Mickey Light Sabers that we brought home for Luke and he loved. I felt so relieved (he’s a hard age to buy for) that both kids were now taken care of. I went into the Basin to get some other gifts and by the register they had these big yellow bath bombs that were advertised as Mickey confetti bombs, in the description they said “will reign Mickey confetti in the bath”. I thought…. HOW COOL, the kids will love that surprise. (just to let you know, when we got home and tried them, not a SINGLE grain of confetti was visible, big disappointment)
After our shopping was done we enjoyed strolling around and looking at the various booths.

Epic Mickey had their own, Luke would have loved this.

They were demoing the game and the animation artists were there giving away free drawings:

There was so much to see, if you are ever in town during Festival of the Masters be sure to check it out. There were food and wine/beer vendors too, would make for a fun day. We had made dinner reservations at Big River Brew Works because we wanted to just chill outside in the sun on their patio and eat an outside dinner and relax outside of the parks. We called on the bus to see if we could make our reservation a little later, they then informed us “due to unforeseen circumstances we won’t be opening this evening” WHAT!?! (we find out what those circumstances are shortly).
So now we were scrambling trying to get a dinner reservation. There wasn’t much available. We ended up scoring a Yachtsman Steakhouse reservation and thought that would be a nice and romantic way to spend our last night. We quickly got out of our shorts and into something more presentable to head over to dinner:
On our lovely stroll from the Beachclub to the Boardwalk we found out why the Brew Works was closed:

Everyone together now…………. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were glad we were dining at Yachtsman instead!
We had never been in the restaurant before, so when we arrived we were surprised by the hanging meat:

We were quickly seated and began going over the menu:

The restaurant was lovely and the waitress was great. She brought out some yummy rolls, butter and cloves of roasted garlic to put inside them. YUM YUM DOUBLE YUM!!! These were to die for!

Us at dinner:

We had heard great things of the lobster bisque here and we both love lobster bisque so we ordered some:

That bowl was QUICKLY empty. No exaggeration when I say it was the best bowl of lobster bisque I have ever had, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
We both ordered some large steak, mine came with cheese potatoes:

Tim’s asked for sweet potato fries with his:

Dinner was out of this world. I was so happy we took the time away from the parks to enjoy this nice meal together, it was definitely memorable.
My belly was full and I was a happy girl:

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!

 

[timandlesley]

We headed back to the Beachclub hand in hand enjoying the gorgeous night together:

I couldn’t wait to get comfy clothes on and hang out with our friends on the Boardwalk. Tim being silly in the elevator:

I was SO thrilled to get our of my clothes and into some comfy sweats:

We met up with Diane and Bryan and enjoyed hanging out and being goofy on the Boardwalk together on our last evening of our trip:

We enjoyed chatting with our friends, and also enjoyed some of the performers of the evening, just love the overall vibe this resort has:

Tim challenged Bryan to a game of hoops:

They both did pretty poorly. In fact, the man standing next to me watching with his son said “There isn’t any talent to be seen her son, let’s go “ hahahhahaha, too funny. They had fun together though, so that’s what matters.
Diane and Bryan had a super early flight in the morning so we hugged our friends goodbye before we headed up to our room. We enjoyed our last evening at Disney. The next morning was bitter sweet. We had a wonderful time in Disney together, we now knew we could DO THIS without the kids, and we made great memories just the two of us. At this time we were ready to go home and see our babies. I woke up and looked outside and saw these words written in the sky:

How cool was that!!!! It let me know that the Lord would bring us safely home to our kids. We packed up that morning, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it the night before. I was happy to find out that Southwest now allows you to check your bags at the resort, so we used all the tags the Magical Express had left for us:

We slept in, enjoyed a leisurely morning in the room and took some farewell photos:

Tim was part of a shaving study that started the day after we returned home, so he decided to shave before we saw the kids, here was his new look in our farewell couple photo:

We took our bags down to Magical Express and sat outside at a table by the water and kicked back in our chairs, rolled up our sleeves and sunbathed on the beautiful morning until it was time to catch our Magical Express bus. Of course this NEVER happens to us but the flight was overbooked and they were offering insane free travel incentives to take a flight in the morning but we just couldn’t do that to the kids. We arrived safely home and got the kids from my mom and dad’s house and enjoyed a nice meal prepared by my mom and the kids (the kids had helped and were excited). We gave them their gifts and all was right in the world : )
We will definitely have to do another couples trip in the future. Thanks for joining us in another timandlesley adventure, I hope you enjoyed it. Next summer we have an exciting first cruise on the Disney Dream planned in June followed by our first stay at AKL concierge level. I don’t think I will be reporting on that trip so I can just soak it in and enjoy the trip.
Thanks again for reading and following along with us, your comments make it all worth it.
Until next time………………………
Tim and Lesley : )

 

[tiggrbaby]

Thanks for the TR. It's always nice to hear about your adventures. I hope your summer trip will be fab!

 

[Conniesaurus]

Great trip report! You seemed like you had a wonderful time! We are also staying at AKL concierge level for the first time. That will be in July! I've always wanted to try the cruise. You'll have to let us know how they both are. Enjoy 2011, happy new years.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Sorry your last day was a little "puny" but I guess it turned out great - and the relaxation was great - Disney after all!

What? No TR on your Dream cruise! I understand - just enjoying the experience is so important. Of course, if you change your mind, we'll all be here!

 

[dddisrunner]

GREAT TR Les! We had an amazing time with you and Tim...always guaranteed laughter! Those festival of the Masters drawings were incredible! Thanks for sharing those photos! We can't wait until June! I totally understand about the TR thing...been there! You have a huge following though and Im sure they will forgive one trip with no TR!

Diane

 

[psupple]

Thank you, as always!

 

[ortholablady]

Just found your TR and thoroughly enjoyed. Love all the Yankee and NY shirts. Are you or DH orinally NY'ers? I really love your t-shirt though, Peace, Love and Wine? A girl after my own heart! Where did you get that?

Did you love the BW? I love that Epcot area. YC is my favorite and my DS's who has taken many trips with me. DH is sadly not a big Disney fan. But he did buy me and DS AP for a few years till DS started college.

I am staying at ASMovies for a night in Feb with my brother and nephew and then staying at my brother's for a couple of days in Palm Bay and then I have 2 nights scheduled for the BW. Not sure if brother and nephew will come back to BW with me yet but that's OK as long as I'm able to walk into WS all is good in the world.

So nice that you could spend some time in the world with your DH. How old are your kids?

Love the Yachtsman Steakhouse too. Had a great waiter there last time. Wish I could remember his name. Went there in Nov. of '08 and were seated in a side room with a family with about 5 kids. I kept thinking the wife looked familiar. Husband had his back to me. At one point husband took the kids to the bathroom and realized who they were. Husband was Kirk Cameron and wife Chelsea Noble. I was excited. DS now 18 wasn't quite sure who they were.

 

[princessjv]

You are timely! We were at the Boardwalk whilst you were there. We left the same day. What fun an adults only trip looks! You defineatly got a great weekend. The weather was absolutely amazing! Sadly we dined at the Yachtsman and had a very different experience. I wanted to LOVE the bisque. I'm quite a fan... but the night we were there, I think the chef added a bit too much liquor. Bummer!

Enjoy your special trip this summer. I bet it will be amazing!

 

[Trentmom]

Those chalk drawings were amazing

Thanks for sharing your trip with us

Hope your summer trip is awesome.

We understand, I am sure doing TR after TR can be tiring

We will be here when u decide to do another

 

[ronnmel]

Great trip report! I'm glad you guys were able to enjoy the time without the kids, and do things you normally wouldn't be able to do with them (enjoy the Haunted Mansion, have a nice romantic dinner, etc.)

Also, those artworks look amazing!