Timandlesley's ROAD TRIP TO DISNEY!! ARE WE THERE YET!?!6/28 TR is up, link on pg.47!

[Trentmom]

Looks like you got a lot of nice buys

I love that golden one of Laurens...so cute


Looks u guys had a ton of fun in the snow.

Hope you got another snow day too



How cool about your parents magical moment. Never seen the mayor before..How cool

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I thought I already posted yesterday, but I guess not - guess I'm getting old! I listened to your review - great job Lesley, and congrats on the $75! How fun for your mom and dad to be the 100th customers! You should have let them think you have connections! I'm glad you had a good time in Gatlinburg - love the shirts!!!

 

[kaysmommie]

Hi Lesley,
I guess you started this while we were at AKL. We loved it there !! It's on our list for a future trip as well, but we want to try Beach Club first. Our dates in June are right before your's and Diane's missing you all by 4 days.

Anyway Glad you had fun in Gatlinburg. Wish we had planned a meet with you and Heather, would have been fun. We might need to go to Disney outlet this weekend, seeing all the good deals on shirts you got. Hope you are still enjoying all the snow you have been getting. Cute pics thanks for sharing. Congrats on the giftcard!!

Nichole

 

[timandlesley]

VERY COOL!! You do have a lot of snow there,
we got our 13inches last wk. Its snowing right now but
we are only supposed to have a few inches this time around.
Fingers crossed ya get that call and the day off tomorrow!!!!
Neat experience for your parents..gotta love those special
diz moments

Yes, lots of snow, I think we ended up with around 12 inches total, it was crazy for us. I did end up getting yesterday off, I was back to work today but the kids got another day off. LUCKIES!!!

Disney magic is the best

That's a lot of snow
I hope you get your snow day!

Yes, gotta love Disney magic, I did have a snow day yesterday so that was nice!

Pixie dust for a snow day for you tomorrow!!! Looks like the kids had a great time sledding!

Great Disney outlet purchases!!! I will expect to see all of them in the summer pictures this year.

Thanks, I did get my snow day it was nice. Yes, soooo wish I had a Disney outlet closer! Yes, they will be in pictures this summer for sure

Great purchases, snow fun and Disney magic! This update has it all!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

I love all the shirts you got at the Disney outlet! Great deal!

Sounds like your parents had a fun trip; they got a lot of stuff done!

Denise

Thanks. Yes, they had a great trip, love how they are becoming Disney lovers too!

I'm glad I came acroos your ptr.....I read your last one and it was so much fun. We are going in June too, but are leaving on the 15th. Good deals on the shirts - I love when my disney store has a great sale - I wish I had an oultlet around here.

Glad you came across it too! We have NO Disney store anywhere close to here so this outlet was a HUGE treat!

GREAT update!!! I LOVE all of your Disney Outlet purchases! What a SCORE that was!!! I can't wait to see your Gatlinburg pictures!!! Any issues with spiders this time? I am so glad to see someone else with the snow and not us!! You truly look like you had a blast sledding!! Enjoy your snow day today and STAY WARM!!!

Yes, it was a total score. I'm glad we got the snow for a change too. Nope, no spiders this time ; ) : )

You are brave...I cannot stand the snow. My husband and the kids' nanny are forced to take the kids out playing in it! They love it, though, so they don't mind.

Sounds like they had a fantastic time in Disney! Great suggestions and it seems like they saw some of the best parts of those parks.

I had fun with the kids in the snow. Yes, my parents had a great trip which made me happy ; )

Hope you get your snow day!! What great Disney magic for your parents. And what a nice way to take you all along with them by getting your top 4 lists. Very cool!

So jealous of all your purchases at the Disney Outlet... wish we had one here.

Have fun in the snow!!

I did get my snow day so that was nice! I wish we had a Disney store close to us too.

Well you got your day off! I bet you were a lot happier to get that call than I was!

Your trip plans sound great, can't wait to hear more!

YEAH!!!! I sure did! Tim wasn't happy that I went back today and the kids had another day off, poor guy. He's REALLY hoping they go back tomorrow, they certainly should.

Looks like you guys had a great time in the snow. Love the Disney purchases from the outlet ... can't beat those deals. A little Disney magic for your parents. I have never heard about a visit from the Mayor, that was very cute.

One of my firends at work just got back from Disney and brought me a Minnie coffee mug. I am sitting at work drinking out of it. It's a amazing a little bit of Disney magic brightens the day.

We did have a great time in the snow. The Mayor strolls around sometimes on Main Street, he's hard to catch. Yes, my co worker came back last week and brought me a necklace, so sweet, makes you smile for sure!

Wow, look at all that snow! Hope you got another snow day today! We have snow today as well, but we're on our february break!

Loving your PTR, and can't wait to see your pictures from Gatlinburg!!!

Pictures from Gatlinburg will be uploaded soon, we'll work on it.

Are you as sick of the snow yet as we are here in Virginia? We got 17 inches the week before Christmas (which melted) then got 20 inches a week ago and then another 4 on top of that! Now that it's all supposed to start melting, we get to look forward to icy roads. We broke records here in VA & DC area too! But I am SO looking forward to spring. Your kids looked so cute playing in the snow!

I wish they had kept the Disney store here where I live (well more importantly so I could still work there part-time I was with them for about 6 months and then they closed it down and There is one about 15 miles north of where I live but I never found it the last time I was up there. Loved all the t-shirts you got! You scored big time

What a fun trip your parents had! Am glad they made it home safe and sound

Not quite sick of the snow YET, but I will be soon. My back IS killing me from shoveling with Tim yesterday though. That stinks about your Disney stores, all of ours closed down too.

I'm glad your parents are having such a great time!! That is a neat picture.

And score for your shopping purchases! Sweet!

I just love reading your TRs/PTRs and so count me in as along for the ride!!

Yeah, they had a great time in Disney but said it was freezing. Glad you came along for another ride!!!

Hmmmm, I may have to make a trip to Gatlinburg just for that outlet store! You got some great stuff.

What a great magical moment for your parents! That is the stuff that keeps up all hooked! Glad to hear they had such a good time and enjoyed all your recommendations. I made a similar list of must-dos for a friends who recently went to Disney for the first time. You forget how many "must-dos" there are until you try to narrow down a list like that for someone. You picked some great stuff though!

Can't wait for your Gatlinburg pictures! We have GOT to get back up there sometime soon!

It'd be worth the trip to the outlet. Yes, that stuff definitely keeps us hooked on Disney, now them too ; ) Gatlinburg pics coming soon, gotta upload them.

 

[timandlesley]

Looks like you got a lot of nice buys

I love that golden one of Laurens...so cute


Looks u guys had a ton of fun in the snow.

Hope you got another snow day too



How cool about your parents magical moment. Never seen the mayor before..How cool

That golden one's was Tim's pick, it's his favorite too, it is cute. I got another snow day, the kids got TWO more, LUCKIES! The mayor is hard to spot but he's on Main street quite a bit, although every time I've seen him he's swarmed by people.

Hi Lesley,
I guess you started this while we were at AKL. We loved it there !! It's on our list for a future trip as well, but we want to try Beach Club first. Our dates in June are right before your's and Diane's missing you all by 4 days.

Anyway Glad you had fun in Gatlinburg. Wish we had planned a meet with you and Heather, would have been fun. We might need to go to Disney outlet this weekend, seeing all the good deals on shirts you got. Hope you are still enjoying all the snow you have been getting. Cute pics thanks for sharing. Congrats on the giftcard!!

Nichole

Hi Nichole, glad you guys had a blast at AKL, saw your pics on Facebook and wanted to be there with you. Bummer you miss us by a few days this summer. Yes, Gatlinburg was fun but a bummer we had to cut the trip short by a day. Yes, definitely make a trip to the outlets, worth the trip!
Lesley

I thought I already posted yesterday, but I guess not - guess I'm getting old! I listened to your review - great job Lesley, and congrats on the $75! How fun for your mom and dad to be the 100th customers! You should have let them think you have connections! I'm glad you had a good time in Gatlinburg - love the shirts!!!

Naaahhh, not getting old : ) Glad you enjoyed the review, thanks for the congrats. Gatlinburg was fun, pics to come.
Lesley

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Leslie:

So glad you had a great time in Gatlinburg. It is one of our favorite places to get away for the weekend. Tom and I were married there so it is extra special in that regard as well.

Your snow pictures are toooo familiar. I live in Georgetown and we had about another 9 inches to add to what is already on the ground. This winter is really giving me the blues! Luckily, we do have school tomorrow so DS can head back and I can get back to my job at the electric company.

Erika

 

[lmillercrew]

Finally joining in on the PTR. I'm not getting back to Disney any time soon, so I will live through yours. What fun to be planning another trip with Diane and family. It's good that you have met a friend who loves that place as much as you and Tim do.
We live in NW Ohio and have a lot of snow too. Personally, I'm ready for spring/summer. The snow is pretty when it's new fallen snow, but then it gets ugly and dirty. Glad you were able to go sledding though. I can't remember the last time I went sledding. Oh and happy no school!

 

[KristEn87]

Hi Kristen, yes, that is on the list to stay there in the future, that's what's great about DVC, you can experience something new whenever you want, can't wait! Does your husband follow Ocho Cinco's twitter posts? If he doesn't, he should, not only are they halarious but he is CONSTANTLY posting his exact locations so your husband would be sure to meet him. Congrats on your engagement. Hope Tim and Luke get to experience ESPN weekends next year!

Love the new Disney Shirts...I love the gold ariel one, wish it came in my size! I ordered some online 2 for 20 and the just came yesterday! I'm sad that all of our Disney stores are gone and that they closest one in Florence has closed or is closing.
He doesn't follow Ocho Cinco's twitters but I do, I find them quite amusing lol.
I have a question for you, were planning on trying to "drink around the world" do you have any drinks you would suggest that are good? We don't want to go too crazy, but are looking to have a few good drinks.

 

[timandlesley]

Leslie:

So glad you had a great time in Gatlinburg. It is one of our favorite places to get away for the weekend. Tom and I were married there so it is extra special in that regard as well.

Your snow pictures are toooo familiar. I live in Georgetown and we had about another 9 inches to add to what is already on the ground. This winter is really giving me the blues! Luckily, we do have school tomorrow so DS can head back and I can get back to my job at the electric company.

Erika

Hi Erika. Gatlinburg was fun, posting pictures tonight. This winter DEFINITLY has me dreaming of Disney!!!

Finally joining in on the PTR. I'm not getting back to Disney any time soon, so I will live through yours. What fun to be planning another trip with Diane and family. It's good that you have met a friend who loves that place as much as you and Tim do.
We live in NW Ohio and have a lot of snow too. Personally, I'm ready for spring/summer. The snow is pretty when it's new fallen snow, but then it gets ugly and dirty. Glad you were able to go sledding though. I can't remember the last time I went sledding. Oh and happy no school!

Welcome! Glad to have you back. Sorry Disney isn't in your plans in the near future but glad we can bring some Disney magic your way. Yes, we're hoping Diane and crew can join us, it's all hinging on their snow days and Diane's job.

Love the new Disney Shirts...I love the gold ariel one, wish it came in my size! I ordered some online 2 for 20 and the just came yesterday! I'm sad that all of our Disney stores are gone and that they closest one in Florence has closed or is closing.
He doesn't follow Ocho Cinco's twitters but I do, I find them quite amusing lol.
I have a question for you, were planning on trying to "drink around the world" do you have any drinks you would suggest that are good? We don't want to go too crazy, but are looking to have a few good drinks.

Yeah, those Disney shirts were great finds. Ocho Cinco's twitters are halarious, I loved his one about Tiger woods today : )
As for drinking around the world, the Margarita's in Italy and Mexico rock, I love the Grey Goose Slushie in France, The Tokoyo Sunset in Japan is the BEST!!!! I love the wines in Germany. Have fun! ; )
Lesley

 

[lmillercrew]

Well, I should say that DH lost his job the week before Christmas, and that we had already bought airline tickets to Hawaii. SO, we are going to Hawaii in July, for two weeks, and hopefully Disney next year.

 

[timandlesley]

Hi guys! Hope you are all enjoying your week.
In this update I wanted to talk a little bit about the Disney's Give a Day Get a Disney Day promotion.
We weren't planning on doing it but Luke came home with a social studies test packet about volunteerism and I thought it was a perfect learning opportunity. We logged on and found a great opportunity. There is a women/children's homeless shelter in Northern Kentucky and they need meals prepared for their 30 residents. It was hard finding something family friendly and this one fit the bill. We signed up to make the meal on February 21st (this Sunday). HOWEVER, they are forecasting MORE snow for our region so I just called to reschedule today.
HOW WE ARE USING THE VOUCHERS:
At first I thought we would just use them for the Fast Pass option since we already have annual passes. HOWEVER thanks to the Dis I discovered that we can use them TOWARD the purchase price of our Annual Passes, this will save us $269 dollars We will use the vouchers to get into the park our first day in Disney, then you take the used tickets (That day) to customer relations and we can upgrade them to our annual passes. SCORE!!! We are really looking forward to the volunteer opportunity and are excited about the voucher use as well.

So............. I promised you a Gatlinburg update didn't I???
Here ya go:
Tim and the kids picked me up from work on Friday and we hit the road. We were nervous because snow was forecasted in Gatlinburg. We didn't see ANY snow until we hit Gatlinburg and it was just a few inches mainly on the grass, PHEW!!! We checked into the Fairfield inn in Gatlinburg around 9:00, we got there in about 5 1/2 hours and that was with stopping for dinner.
I almost didn't include this picture, but I'm gonna. (I had a LITTLE wine to wind down) you can tell by the photo, and we unwound in the room watching the Olympics Opening Games:

The hotel was really nice, modern, clean (and only 94 bucks a night!) and the beds were SUPER COMFY!
Luke took this of Tim (MUCH more flattering than my picture : )

Lauren was fast asleep quick:

This NEVER happens when we are on vacation, but the next morning we slept in so late that we awoke to Luke saying "GUYS IT'S 9:30!!!", OOPS, we almost missed our free breakast. So we high tailed it downstairs for some free grub, it was pretty good. We came back up, showered and hit the town. The mountains were pretty and snow covered:

We found parking by the village for only 5.00. Tim and the kids headed to their favorite place:

They each picked out their favorite doughnut to eat. Then we hit the "Life is Good" store, they had a great clearance sale, everything upstairs was 40% off, I found a great shirt for my mom's upcoming birthday.
The kids hit the toy store, SO much to look at:

It was cold but we had fun exploring the Village area:

That phone booth reminds me of Epcot : )
Then we hit the Smoky Mountain Candy company, a favorite of mine (we bought some Taffy and Peanut Brittle:

Then we started walking around on the VERY crowded streets. I love this pic of Tim, I don't know what's funnier, him in the cut out or the lady looking at him like "What the HECK is he doing!?!"

A picture of the ski lift, a little too cold to endulge in that this trip:

It was very cold walking around and we had shopped around for over an hour so to give the kids a break (and an opportunity for me to find a restroom) we hit an arcade:

As you can tell, Luke takes his video games VERY seriously : )

I cherished the opportunity to rest my feet in a warm environment:

Then we had fun shopping around some more, Tim found some Yankee stuff in a sports store so he was a happy guy, here is Lauren while we were patiently waiting for him and Luke to come out of the sports store:

The kids found their favorite bear to pose with :

We had a good lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp:

 

[timandlesley]

After several hours of shopping around Downtown Gatlinburg we decided to head to Pigeon Forge because the Disney outlet was CALLING my name. Well traffic going to and from Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge is always a nightmare, but this weekend there was a rock slide that brought traffic down to one lane both ways which made this weekend CRAZY because each time it took us over an hour each way.
Here is a pic I took when we were stuck by the tunnel:

So we FINALLY got to Pigeon forge and hit the Tanger Outlets. Well, you know the Disney store was already a hit, it was AWESOME

This sums it up nicely:

That night we went to the Applebarn for Dinner, YUM YUM DOUBLE YUM!!!! If you've never been there and you go to Gatlinburg this is a MUST!
The next morning (Sunday) we checked the forecast and realized the we were going to get HAMMERED with snow late Sunday and all day Monday so we made the call that we needed to head home a day early which STUNK. Luckily the hotel had 11:00 checkout, so we walked next door to Flapjacks for a yummy breakfast and then packed up the room/car and headed BACK to Pigeon Forge. Luke had b-day money burning a hole in his pocket and he wanted to go to MagiQuest. OH MY GOSH this place is amazing!

The kids each got interactive wands (that they kept) and 90 min. of play time for 24.99 and Tim and I paid 5 bucks each to be escourts. I can't put this place into words other than to say it's SUPER interactive, like a treasure hunt of sorts. The wand knows you by name (which is funny, they had to pick a magi name and Luke's was dark syth and Lauren picked................ Magi Colada ) LOVE HER!
ANYWAY, it was so fun, you keep going on adventures and earning Magi awards and improving your ranking, etc. The kdis LOVED it, here are some pics:

It was one of those awesome attractions that you feel like you actually GOT your monies worth. The kids had so much fun figuring out the clues, finding the objects and waving their wands to interact and uncover the items, it was fun to watch and help them too, HIGHLY recommend this!
They get to keep the wands and anytime they go to a Magiquest it is just 10.99 for an hour of play now which is cool too!
After that we headed back to the outlets for some more shopping, I got some clothes, Tim scores some things in the Nike outlet then it was VALENTINES Day after all so we wanted to have a nice dinner before we hit the road. Ohhhhh, back track, I surprised Tim with a getaway for a few weekends from now (got a hotel booked and his mom to babysit, CAN'T WAIT!) Tim got me a dozen chocolate covered strawberries in a bed of roses, they were so beautiful and SO amazing, loved every one of them!!!
We ate an awesome dinner at the chop House (great food!) and then we hit the road. It took us about 5 1/2 hours to get home (made great time again) and we arrived JUST as the snow was beginning to fall. We were happy we made the decision to come back when we did, there was NO way we would have made it back on Monday in all that snow.

So......... that's the update for now folks, hope you enjoyed it!
-Lesley

 

[jwwi]

Looks like you had a great winter get away. Thanks for sharing. Do you think you will go to Universal to see Harry Potter? I'm sure the kids would love it.

 

[ladybugmom]

GREAT update!! LOVE the Tanger Outlets in Gatlinburg and especially LOVE the Apple Barn--YUMMY!! It looks like you had a wonderful trip!! So sorry you had to cut it short!

Sounds like Tim did a GREAT job on your Vday gift--roses and chocolate covered strawberries--perfect!! We got Ally's teacher some chocolate covered strawberries for Vday and she loved them!!

 

[Trentmom]

What a great volunteer opportunity and nice thing to do for those families. That is great you can use them to upgrade to your APs


Gaitlingburg looks like so much.

What nice gift you got Tim for Valentines. Enjoy.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Sounds like you found a great cause for your GAD, and a great way to use your vouchers! Your Gatlinburg getaway looks really fun - too bad you had to leave early.

 

[dddisrunner]

LOVE IT! GREAT update Lesley!! Your hotel looked GREAT! Maybe if "We are the World" was playing, you all would have woken up sooner and not almost missed breakfast! That picture of Tim is HILARIOUS, I LOVE the lady giving him the "crazy eyes"!! MAgiquest looks so cool, I will definitely have to look into that! Luke looks very intense with his boxing gloves on! I still can't get over how thin you look! Thanks for sharing all your pics. with us!

 

[LISAMWDW]

What a fun trip! You got some great things at the Disney Outlet! Congrats!

 

[DWGal210]

That picture of Tim is awesome. So great!

Looks like you had a great time - it stinks you had to leave early, but better that than get stuck somewhere.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

You really made me want to go to Gatlinburg now!! Sounds like you had a great time. We are planning to possibly go to Myrtle Beach this summer and if we do, I am going to check out the Magi Quest there for sure! We wanted to do it last year, but it was expensive and I just didn't know if it was worth it. Now I know! Thank you!