timandlesley
<font color=darkorchid>The tag fairy may not but t
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2004
Hello Disers.
We are the timandlesley crew and we just returned YESTERDAY from a 10 day/9 night stay at the Wilderness Lodge (Woodsview room) with 10 day hopper passes and DELUXE DINING (Yum Yum and double Yum)
We had a LONG pre-trip report going that you can find here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1588381
But it got up to 117 plus pages and I was afraid it would be shut down so I am starting this brand new.
So . are we ready for this trip report to begin??? I just couldnt wait another minute and wanted to start tonight.
So . away we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had a 6:25 a.m. flight from Columbus and we live closer to Cincinnati so we decided to stay the night in a hotel by the airport.
So on June 8th our Disney adventure officially began, bags were packed and we headed up to Columbus around 1pm to check into the hotel. It was GREAT having that day to relax and gave us an extra jump on the vacation.
I had to laugh, Tim was taking a while upstairs before we left and as he was upstairs and the kids and I were waiting on him Lauren (our 4 year old princess) went to the stairs and said Daddy .. are you FEAKIN HECK READY!?!?! Too funny!
Once at the hotel we were told the only shuttle they could put us on (due to pilots on other shuttles) to the airport was at 4:30 a.m. YIKES!!!
So . the alarm went off at 4 a.m. on June 9th:
We got to the airport no problem and whizzed through security, gotta love no lines in security!!!
Tim needed his coffee and we were all starving so luckily there was a Starbucks open.
Here is Tim waiting in line for us:
A happy Lauren dancing at 5 a.m. in a Starbucks because we were going to DISNEY BABY!!!
After our bellies were full of coffee, juice, fruit, and bagels we headed to the Southwest gate. It was our first time flying Southwest but we got on exactly 24 hours before and got the A boarding section. (Southwest doesnt assign seats, you get a place in line, either in the A, B, or C boarding group, it was interesting but worked out fine for us.)
I was so excited, but exhausted at the same time;
The plane had rows of 3 so I sat with the kids and Tim was across the isle from me. The kids were great on the plane except for Luke had some trouble with ears popping.
Here are my two babies on the plane ride:
Tim was seated next to two girls who had just graduated high school and were meeting up with friends to stay at the Beach Club. They were super nice and Tim had some good laughs with them. When we landed I was in the bathroom with the kids and they spotted me and asked if we knew how to get to Magical Express, of course I said sure follow us. They joked about how they were now new additions to our family.
Here they are when we got to the Magical Express line:
Here is Luke greeting the first Disney Cast Member we saw WHAT A PLEASANT SIGHT!!!:
At this hour there was NO ONE in line for the buses and we got on right away.
We headed to Wilderness Lodge. I was on cloud nine. It was before 9:30 and we were in Orlando headed to the Lodge, I couldnt believe how time was flying. We had a lunch at Askershus scheduled with the princesses and I was originally concerned we wouldnt make it but now it was going to be NO PROBLEM!
Here is a happy Luke on the bus:
Isnt that just the best feeling!
Before I knew it we were pulling into our favorite place, the Wilderness Lodge. Here is the view from my window:
Here are Tim and the kids walking up to the gorgeous lobby:
We had discussed who should check us in. Tim wanted me to do it but I remembered his good luck with our room requests in the past and I didnt get what we wanted last year when I checked in so I left it to him. I told him, we want Woodsview, Magic Kingdom side 4th-6th floor would be ideal, and we were asking about Flag family too.
Here is Tim at the desk, boy was I nervous:
While Tim was checking in the kids RAN to Humphrey to rub his nose, its their way of knowing we are at the lodge and the vacation has officially begun:
Well, Tim walked over and told me our room was not ready (no surprise there) and we did have Magic Kingdom side, (Awesome!) 3rd floor. Not too shabby. For those of you who havent stayed at the WL or are considering in my opinion after 3 stays there, Woodsview Magic Kingdom side is THE BEST location. You are in a quiet area overlooking otter pond, with a monorail view and you can see (a little obstructed but you can see) the MK fireworks from your balcony. The elevator goes right down to the foodcourt and the pool, it is such a perfect location. We were happy with that. UNFORTUNATELY we were not able to get Flag Family (we were Flag Family 2 years ago when we last stayed at the Lodge). The CM told Tim they had given it away that morning. Bummer, but thats o.k. Were in Disney, pretty much got a great room location and we were off to Epcot.
I told the kids I would buy each of them autograph books before we headed to the parks (Lukes was full from last year and Lauren has never had one) so we headed to the Wilderness Lodge Mercantile shop and I got them both books. They wanted to trade pins so Lauren approached the CM at the counter. After she was done trading the lady said she was part of a little game and asked Lauren what her favorite Disney movie was. Lauren told her it was Cinderella and then the lady asked her some Cinderella question and she asked Lauren her name and then dumped a HUGE bag of pins on the counter and told Lauren as a part of the year of a Million Dreams she could have any pin she wanted for free. VERY COOL. We were 5 minutes into our vacation and Lauren had already won a dream. Here is the happy girl at the bus stop with her chosen pin:
We were OFF TO EPCOT!!!
When we got there after a LOT of debate in this family we ended up getting the double stroller for the trip. I KNOW I KNOW, I played into Disneys greediness, yada yada yada. I get that, I do. For me, when you are spending this much money on a Disney vacation what is stroller money. We bit the bullet and did it and I must say we were happy for it.
So .. when we got to Epcot Tim ran to Test Track to FP one of our favorite Epcot rides and I ran to get the stroller with the kids. Here is a self portrait of me and the ball :
After that we were kind of wandering around taking it all in deciding what to do before our 11:30 lunch reservation and the kids saw Figment. The kids and I LOVE Figment, for some reason Tims never been a fan, but we ended up doing Figment first!!! Gotta love that:
Happy kids watching intensely during the ride:
At the exit there are tons of fun things to do and we had fun exploring. I love how they updated the sound pad area:
Then Luke got to go up and test the camera
This lady is SO hilarious:
Tim had fun conducting (see Tim, Figment isnt that bad)
Then it was time for lunch and we headed to Norway. While I was checking us in Tim found the Kringila Bakery in Norway next door he was VERY excited ; ) He got some sort of desert with crème and coconuts on it that he said was awesome.
Here is Luke waiting inside Askershus for us to be called:
The kids were thrilled because Belle was in the lobby, she was their first autographs:
I love this picture:
I gotta tell you, I was excited for Lauren that this was our first meal but not so excited for us adults because I remember the food as just being o.k. last year. But I have to admit it was either that I was starving or the food has improved but we REALLY enjoyed this meal, it was yummy.
Here is a happy Tim after his trip through the buffet line (doesnt he look sexy after all that weight loss !?!):
Continued in next post.....................
We are the timandlesley crew and we just returned YESTERDAY from a 10 day/9 night stay at the Wilderness Lodge (Woodsview room) with 10 day hopper passes and DELUXE DINING (Yum Yum and double Yum)
We had a LONG pre-trip report going that you can find here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1588381
But it got up to 117 plus pages and I was afraid it would be shut down so I am starting this brand new.
So . are we ready for this trip report to begin??? I just couldnt wait another minute and wanted to start tonight.
So . away we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had a 6:25 a.m. flight from Columbus and we live closer to Cincinnati so we decided to stay the night in a hotel by the airport.
So on June 8th our Disney adventure officially began, bags were packed and we headed up to Columbus around 1pm to check into the hotel. It was GREAT having that day to relax and gave us an extra jump on the vacation.
I had to laugh, Tim was taking a while upstairs before we left and as he was upstairs and the kids and I were waiting on him Lauren (our 4 year old princess) went to the stairs and said Daddy .. are you FEAKIN HECK READY!?!?! Too funny!
Once at the hotel we were told the only shuttle they could put us on (due to pilots on other shuttles) to the airport was at 4:30 a.m. YIKES!!!
So . the alarm went off at 4 a.m. on June 9th:
We got to the airport no problem and whizzed through security, gotta love no lines in security!!!
Tim needed his coffee and we were all starving so luckily there was a Starbucks open.
Here is Tim waiting in line for us:
A happy Lauren dancing at 5 a.m. in a Starbucks because we were going to DISNEY BABY!!!
After our bellies were full of coffee, juice, fruit, and bagels we headed to the Southwest gate. It was our first time flying Southwest but we got on exactly 24 hours before and got the A boarding section. (Southwest doesnt assign seats, you get a place in line, either in the A, B, or C boarding group, it was interesting but worked out fine for us.)
I was so excited, but exhausted at the same time;
The plane had rows of 3 so I sat with the kids and Tim was across the isle from me. The kids were great on the plane except for Luke had some trouble with ears popping.
Here are my two babies on the plane ride:
Tim was seated next to two girls who had just graduated high school and were meeting up with friends to stay at the Beach Club. They were super nice and Tim had some good laughs with them. When we landed I was in the bathroom with the kids and they spotted me and asked if we knew how to get to Magical Express, of course I said sure follow us. They joked about how they were now new additions to our family.
Here they are when we got to the Magical Express line:
Here is Luke greeting the first Disney Cast Member we saw WHAT A PLEASANT SIGHT!!!:
At this hour there was NO ONE in line for the buses and we got on right away.
We headed to Wilderness Lodge. I was on cloud nine. It was before 9:30 and we were in Orlando headed to the Lodge, I couldnt believe how time was flying. We had a lunch at Askershus scheduled with the princesses and I was originally concerned we wouldnt make it but now it was going to be NO PROBLEM!
Here is a happy Luke on the bus:
Isnt that just the best feeling!
Before I knew it we were pulling into our favorite place, the Wilderness Lodge. Here is the view from my window:
Here are Tim and the kids walking up to the gorgeous lobby:
We had discussed who should check us in. Tim wanted me to do it but I remembered his good luck with our room requests in the past and I didnt get what we wanted last year when I checked in so I left it to him. I told him, we want Woodsview, Magic Kingdom side 4th-6th floor would be ideal, and we were asking about Flag family too.
Here is Tim at the desk, boy was I nervous:
While Tim was checking in the kids RAN to Humphrey to rub his nose, its their way of knowing we are at the lodge and the vacation has officially begun:
Well, Tim walked over and told me our room was not ready (no surprise there) and we did have Magic Kingdom side, (Awesome!) 3rd floor. Not too shabby. For those of you who havent stayed at the WL or are considering in my opinion after 3 stays there, Woodsview Magic Kingdom side is THE BEST location. You are in a quiet area overlooking otter pond, with a monorail view and you can see (a little obstructed but you can see) the MK fireworks from your balcony. The elevator goes right down to the foodcourt and the pool, it is such a perfect location. We were happy with that. UNFORTUNATELY we were not able to get Flag Family (we were Flag Family 2 years ago when we last stayed at the Lodge). The CM told Tim they had given it away that morning. Bummer, but thats o.k. Were in Disney, pretty much got a great room location and we were off to Epcot.
I told the kids I would buy each of them autograph books before we headed to the parks (Lukes was full from last year and Lauren has never had one) so we headed to the Wilderness Lodge Mercantile shop and I got them both books. They wanted to trade pins so Lauren approached the CM at the counter. After she was done trading the lady said she was part of a little game and asked Lauren what her favorite Disney movie was. Lauren told her it was Cinderella and then the lady asked her some Cinderella question and she asked Lauren her name and then dumped a HUGE bag of pins on the counter and told Lauren as a part of the year of a Million Dreams she could have any pin she wanted for free. VERY COOL. We were 5 minutes into our vacation and Lauren had already won a dream. Here is the happy girl at the bus stop with her chosen pin:
We were OFF TO EPCOT!!!
When we got there after a LOT of debate in this family we ended up getting the double stroller for the trip. I KNOW I KNOW, I played into Disneys greediness, yada yada yada. I get that, I do. For me, when you are spending this much money on a Disney vacation what is stroller money. We bit the bullet and did it and I must say we were happy for it.
So .. when we got to Epcot Tim ran to Test Track to FP one of our favorite Epcot rides and I ran to get the stroller with the kids. Here is a self portrait of me and the ball :
After that we were kind of wandering around taking it all in deciding what to do before our 11:30 lunch reservation and the kids saw Figment. The kids and I LOVE Figment, for some reason Tims never been a fan, but we ended up doing Figment first!!! Gotta love that:
Happy kids watching intensely during the ride:
At the exit there are tons of fun things to do and we had fun exploring. I love how they updated the sound pad area:
Then Luke got to go up and test the camera
This lady is SO hilarious:
Tim had fun conducting (see Tim, Figment isnt that bad)
Then it was time for lunch and we headed to Norway. While I was checking us in Tim found the Kringila Bakery in Norway next door he was VERY excited ; ) He got some sort of desert with crème and coconuts on it that he said was awesome.
Here is Luke waiting inside Askershus for us to be called:
The kids were thrilled because Belle was in the lobby, she was their first autographs:
I love this picture:
I gotta tell you, I was excited for Lauren that this was our first meal but not so excited for us adults because I remember the food as just being o.k. last year. But I have to admit it was either that I was starving or the food has improved but we REALLY enjoyed this meal, it was yummy.
Here is a happy Tim after his trip through the buffet line (doesnt he look sexy after all that weight loss !?!):
Continued in next post.....................
wow....you guys really did have some pretty princesses. the kids are getting so big - you guys are gonna be in trouble in a few years from both the boys and the girls! 
we experienced some poopie smell at epcot one day too! you'll see later on in my TR. weird! i hope the "fireworks with friends" teaser means you guys finally saw wishes!
Love the pics! Your babies are so big now. Can't wait for more. 
Can't wait to read more and can't believe you have the first installment up already
