The Darling Family June 2010 Trip Report: When are the Parents Showing Up?11/5 New TR

Jumping in. All caught up, thanks to the lovely links...
Have a great trip and look forward to more when you return.:thumbsup2


KIM
:welcome: I'm glad you like the links! I always like those in trip reports I read too.

Aww...so sorry that Ohana's wasn't what you hoped it would be. We loved our breakfast there but haven't tried dinner yet. We are hoping to someday. That bread pudding sounds really yummy!!:goodvibes

Hope you have a great trip!! Can't wait to hear more when you get back!:thumbsup2
I loved Ohana's breakfast too. We ate there later in the trip. Dinner I guess is just not for us.

Have fun visiting your family!
We did have some fun times with all the family!

Have a great trip!!!

Amanda
Thanks! The trip was a bit too eventful for my tastes! I'm glad to be home!
 
Omigoodness what happened? :eek:

Glad to have you all back safe and well :hug:
 
Yikes I can't believe how scary that must have been for you guys and how tragic for that family on the loss of their son.

Glad you guys all made it back safe and sound and looking forward to your nextj update
 


That's scary, so glad your family is ok and sorry to hear about the one climber that lost his life.
 
Oh my, that sounds like quite the experience. Glad you're all OK and yay for being back on the DIS!
 
Yikes I can't believe how scary that must have been for you guys and how tragic for that family on the loss of their son.

Glad you guys all made it back safe and sound and looking forward to your nextj update

That's scary, so glad your family is ok and sorry to hear about the one climber that lost his life.

Oh my, that sounds like quite the experience. Glad you're all OK and yay for being back on the DIS!

Thanks to all of you! It was scary, but it made me realize how much I really do love that DH of mine:love: He is definitely a keeper and I'm glad he's still with us! An update is coming right up!
 


Our wake up call came early again and we were out the door at 7:15. Where we were headed? We had an early breakfast at Crystal Palace. We hopped into our car that was sitting right outside our door (love that). We pulled into the Magic Kingdom parking lot before 7:30. We were one of the first 10 cars in the lot. It seemed so strange that I actually took a picture as we walked to the TTC. Our car is next to the end on the right.

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We jumped on the resort monorail. (The direct one doesn’t run that early in the morning.) At 7:47 we were here

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What a lovely sight! I never tire of it, and I especially love the Magic Kingdom in the morning. The knowledge that a Magic Kingdom morning lies ahead just can’t be beat. They still weren’t letting in the breakfast line so we sat on a bench for a few minutes. Michael had the camera and took this shot.

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They started letting the breakfast people in and at 7:54 we were walking down the street.

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As you can see the idea that it is an empty Main Street at 8:00 am is a bit of a myth. There are always plenty of people heading to breakfast at both the castle and Crystal Palace. Plus I think the Bibbity Boppity Boutique opens at 8:00 as well. However, there are definitely fewer people than at other times of day. Of course I can’t pass up this opportunity to get a photopass shot. The photographer was great and these are some of my favorite pictures of the trip.

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We finished up with the Photopass and headed to Crystal Palace to check in for breakfast. Here is a bit of a tip I’ve learned through the past couple of trips. Don’t worry if you don’t get that coveted 8:05 reservation. It really doesn’t matter. Our reservation this trip was for 8:15. The one for our previous trip was 8:20. Both times we checked in around 8:00. I took this picture of the boys at 8:03.

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We were seated immediately after and were the first table seated in the right side of the restaurant. So at least in my experience seating is based more on check in time than ADR time.

Up next: Time with our Hundred Acre Woods Friends
 
First of all, I'm so happy to hear your family made it back safe and sound. But, I'm so sorry to hear of the other climber. That must have been so scary for all of you.:hug:

Now...on to the update. Aww...there is nothing like a Magic Kingdom morning!:cloud9: Love all your photopass pics...especially the ones of the three of you!:goodvibes Can't wait to hear all about your breakfast!:thumbsup2
 
I had to double check your pic of the TTC parking lot, and then remembered you weren't there same time as us. My DH did the 8:00am Richard Petty and the parking lot looked exactly the same as that one in your pic.

I need to try an 8:00am ressie some time. Still shocked at how many people were walking down Main Street, I would be a little disappointed.

Love the photopass pics!
 
First: Very happy for your family that your Hubby is fine. I read the article and it does sound like a terrible experience. Prayers for the family that
lost their loved one.
Second: Your TR is wonderful.
 
What a great update--the photopass pictures are great! I am surprised about how many people were on Main Street that early!
 
Oh my goodness - I'm sure that's not the relaxing trip you were expecting!!! I'm so glad he's ok! Scary stuff!!! I hope your DH has fully recovered.

Love the Photopass pictures - you really got a good photographer! Yes, I know the streets aren't empty when you're there early, but like you said it's much closer to that than it is during normal park hours. ;) It might make a difference as to when you arrive, too. We got there a little after you that day, it seems, and most of the crowd had made its way through already.

Glad you're back, and everyone is (now) safe and sound! :goodvibes
 
Here is a link to what happened.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hTa4EQvvW-sfManwMAM1sE4qGqXgD9H4CL480

I'm so thankful that all of my family made it back, but it is tragic that one climber didn't. They all have harrowing stories to tell.

Omigoodness that is just too scary and sad :( I am so glad that you guys are ok though :hug:

Great update, not too bad a crowd and I guess like you say people are heading straight to their reservations when they are let into the park, but from your PP pics it looked like it dispersed quite nicely :)
 
Glad your DH is ok! How scary!

Love your photopass pictures, they turned out great!

Can't wait to hear about CP. I :lovestruc that place!
 
First of all, I'm so happy to hear your family made it back safe and sound. But, I'm so sorry to hear of the other climber. That must have been so scary for all of you.:hug:

Now...on to the update. Aww...there is nothing like a Magic Kingdom morning!:cloud9: Love all your photopass pics...especially the ones of the three of you!:goodvibes Can't wait to hear all about your breakfast!:thumbsup2
It was a scary day. The photopass pictures of the 3 of us are my favorite of the trip. They represent the fun us "3 kids" had together:goodvibes

I had to double check your pic of the TTC parking lot, and then remembered you weren't there same time as us. My DH did the 8:00am Richard Petty and the parking lot looked exactly the same as that one in your pic.

I need to try an 8:00am ressie some time. Still shocked at how many people were walking down Main Street, I would be a little disappointed.

Love the photopass pics!
So I guess the parking lot always look like that at 8:00 am. Crazy, isn't it? The crowd did disperse pretty quickly. That was just the initial burst when they let everyone in. I bet by 8:15 the street is probably pretty empty.

First: Very happy for your family that your Hubby is fine. I read the article and it does sound like a terrible experience. Prayers for the family that
lost their loved one.
Second: Your TR is wonderful.
Thank you. I'm very happy DH is fine too. He's away on business this week and I'm just anxious to all be home together. I do feel for the family that lost their son. Just devestating.

What a great update--the photopass pictures are great! I am surprised about how many people were on Main Street that early!
I love the photopass pictures! That was the initial burst of people when we entered. They dispersed pretty quick.

Oh my goodness - I'm sure that's not the relaxing trip you were expecting!!! I'm so glad he's ok! Scary stuff!!! I hope your DH has fully recovered.

Love the Photopass pictures - you really got a good photographer! Yes, I know the streets aren't empty when you're there early, but like you said it's much closer to that than it is during normal park hours. ;) It might make a difference as to when you arrive, too. We got there a little after you that day, it seems, and most of the crowd had made its way through already.

Glad you're back, and everyone is (now) safe and sound! :goodvibes
DH is pretty much recovered, though he still has some numbness in his leg. Hopefully it resolves itself. I'm just happy he came back, so the numbness doesn't bother me at all. It might bother him a little though:) You're right about arrival on Main Street. It's just the initial burst they let in. After that it is more of a trickle and more like an empty Main Street.
 
Omigoodness that is just too scary and sad :( I am so glad that you guys are ok though :hug:

Great update, not too bad a crowd and I guess like you say people are heading straight to their reservations when they are let into the park, but from your PP pics it looked like it dispersed quite nicely :)
It was scary, but for us anyway it was a happy ending. You're exactly right about the crowds. (I'm not even sure I should use the word crowds because there really aren't many people there.)

I'm so glad your DH is ok. How terrifying!
Love the pics! Just wonderful!!!

Amanda
Thank you. I'm glad DH is OK and I love those pictures too:goodvibes

Glad your DH is ok! How scary!

Love your photopass pictures, they turned out great!

Can't wait to hear about CP. I :lovestruc that place!
The update on CP is coming right up!
 
Here we were seated first in the entire right side of the Crystal Palace restaurant and we immediately headed up to the empty buffet. I helped the boys get their food and went back to get them settled. Then I went and collected my food. I had been a bit worried about the logistics of doing buffets without DH, but it worked out just fine. It helped a lot that the buffet was still pretty empty. The food was fresh and tasty and there was plenty of it. It was the normal breakfast fare, but I love breakfast food so I always enjoy this breakfast. Michael was so happy to see fresh raspberries and I’m pretty sure he ate more than his share. We asked our waitress to take care of our check right away so that we would be sure to make it to rope drop and she had no problem doing that. She actually probably appreciated it because her section still wasn’t full so she could take care of that before she got busier. So anyway it was 8:20, our plates were full and our check was all taken care of. Perfect time for the arrival of some old friends. First up was Pooh.

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He was immediately followed by Eeyore.

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Then we had a bit of a break and I heard the table next to us talking about being at Islands of Adventure the day before for the Harry Potter opening. Since we were planning on heading there the next week I had to ask them about it. They had crazy stories about the massive crowds and the incredible waits. They said they never even got anywhere near the Harry Potter section. They were told the wait would be several hours just to get into that part of the park. And they had arrived around 7:45 am.:scared1: I was really hoping it would be a bit calmer by the time we got there. (Stick around and eventually you'll find out.) The other thing I noticed about this time was a large group of tie dye clad folk. I knew from our PTRs that Jen and Shelley’s clan was going to be at Crystal Palace that morning and were planning on the matching shirts. I was pretty sure it was them, but didn’t want to scare their family with a crazy stranger walking up announcing we were DIS friends.:eek: Jen did pass by during the parade and recognized me (which was pretty impressive because she didn’t have the advantage of all the matching shirts.) We said a quick hello, but didn’t have time for any more right then. Eventually Piglet showed up.

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Then finally Tigger.

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John wanted to bounce with Tigger so they all bounced together.

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So it was 8:40. Our tummies were full and all the characters had stopped by. Perfect breakfast and now it was time for our exit. We had a rope drop to make.:cool1: Time for a bit of background about the hopes for this rope drop. Several trips ago Michael and I had a special Mommy/Michael breakfast at Crystal Palace and got out early enough to make it to the castle rope drop. This is the rope drop for Fantasyland on the back side of the castle. There had only been a few families there that day and the CMs were pretty relaxed. So 3 year old Michael sprinted across an empty Fantasyland and made it first on Dumbo. This is Michael’s favorite version of the Dumbo Dash. So when asked what he wanted to do this trip Michael said, “I want to win the Dumbo Dash.” I knew this would be a very tricky order. First of all I wasn’t sure where the Fantasyland rope drop was going to be. Sometimes they close off the castle and make you go around. Also he won his first Dumbo Dash in January. This was late June. He would definitely have more competition. And though I was hoping to be one of the first seated in Crystal Palace I knew I couldn’t count on it. In addition when we did our Crystal Palace breakfast the previous summer our server was very poky about bringing the check. So I knew all the stars would have to align for this wish to come true. Things were looking good though. We headed out of the restaurant and through the castle where we found this.

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An empty rope.:yay: There were a few people scattered around waiting, but none of them seemed to be concerned about “winning the Dumbo Dash” so I felt our chances were pretty good.

It was 8:53 when the boys decided to take the rope drop matter into their own hands.:rotfl2:

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Whoops. The tape somehow came off the rope and I couldn’t get it reattached. I tried to tell a few CMs, but no one seemed to care that the rope had already dropped. The boys were really giving themselves every advantage. ;)

9:00 finally arrived and we were off. Suprisingly the competition was quite weak and we had no problem reaching Dumbo first. (Our closest competitor had to park a stroller.) The boys were very proud of themselves and were cheering like they had just won an Olympic Gold Medal.:lmao: Here we are first in line.

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Now we had to decide how to ride. Both boys wanted to ride by themselves, but the CM said Michael was too small. So Michael had to ride with me, but he could pick his Dumbo and John had to get in the one behind us. (This was for picture purposes.) John was not very pleased when he wound up in this color.

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Do you think maybe Michael did that on purpose?:rolleyes: So we had the first ride of the day over Fantasyland.

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I could see over the construction fence and should have taken a picture. Really all it looked like they have done so far is push some dirt around. So the morning had been an incredible success so far. What was up next?
 
Oh my word, I am so very happy to hear that your family made it out okay. I have said a prayer for the family of the young main who died. It's times like that that make you really appreciate your family.

Hooray for winning Dumbo Dash!
 

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