The Darling Family June 2011: A Last Minute Budget Vacation

[Queenofallthings]

Ohhhhh I want to stay at OKW so bad!! Those pictures are gorgeous!! Maybe next time??

 

[MagicShell]

Wow I was very behind on your report. But, that just means I got to read several updates at once! I'm glad Wendy got to go back to Epcot for the evening. I love the laughing picture at Garden Grill.

OKW looks very nice. I have never even seen it. Spending an evening around a Disney pool with a refillable mug sounds so nice right now.

 

[JolllyHoliday]

OKW looks so laid back and relaxing. I would like to stay there one day.

 

[firecracker725]

That room looks fantastically huge.

 

[dismagiclover]

OKW looks lovely! We liked SSR when we stayed there but hated the transportation. I imagine OKW would pose a similar issue - unless I can continue to convince Tom that renting a car is important!

Amanda

Both times we stayed at OKW we had the car so we only took the bus to the MK (to avoid the TTC.) We probably wouldn't stay there if we didn't have the car. Riding buses can get old.

Ohhhhh I want to stay at OKW so bad!! Those pictures are gorgeous!! Maybe next time??

I know you love SSR so I'd guess you would love OKW too. They are both very relaxing. OKW has a casual Bob Marley kind of vibe to it. (In fact they play Bob Marley in the main area.) We really do love it there. Definitely consider it for your next trip. Those villas will blow you away size wise.

Wow I was very behind on your report. But, that just means I got to read several updates at once! I'm glad Wendy got to go back to Epcot for the evening. I love the laughing picture at Garden Grill.

OKW looks very nice. I have never even seen it. Spending an evening around a Disney pool with a refillable mug sounds so nice right now.

I'm glad Wendy's issues got resolved quickly. And she made sure to hydrate herself the rest of the trip! OKW is really nice. It's very different the hotel like resorts. Much more like condos, and it's really spread out. We've always stayed by the Hospitality House and we've loved it.

OKW looks so laid back and relaxing. I would like to stay there one day.

You should definitely consider it. OKW really is an underappreciated resort.

That room looks fantastically huge.

The room was huge. I think it was over a 1000 square feet. You really could live there. (Not with 3 kids, but if was just DH and I we'd do fine.)

 

[dismagiclover]

I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but we had been in Disney World for three days and had still not stepped foot in or even had a glimpse of the Magic Kingdom. Pretty unbelievable. But the day was finally here! It was our Magic Kingdom day! The kids and I at least were really excited. (DH doesn’t’ always give the Magic Kingdom its proper reverence.) The other thing we hadn’t yet done this trip was ride the Disney buses. After a quick breakfast in the room (We’d brought cereal from home and bought milk the night before) we headed out to the bus stop. The bus pulled up promptly and by 8:20 we were on our way. Can you sense the boys’ excitement?

Here is the rest of the Darling Family. We look a bit more tired.

We were in the park by about 8:40. Yay! We were in time for the morning show. I just love the Magic Kingdom opening show. No matter how many times I see it, it always makes me grin ear to ear. It just lets me know I have a Magic Kingdom morning ahead of me and it doesn’t get any better than that. Here are a few pictures of the show.

The Magic Kingdom was open! What were today’s plans? DH, John, and Wendy had big plans. Wendy and John were going for their first ride on Space Mountain! Pretty exciting stuff. Michael, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling quite ready for Space Mountain yet. So he was sticking with me and we were doing the Dumbo Dash. For those of you that haven’t read my previous trip reports, I’ll give you a little background. I’m pretty good at the Dumbo Dash. In fact, I’m better than pretty good. I have actually won the Dumbo Dash not once, but twice. That is right. I have been first in line for Dumbo two times. (And if you count Disneyland I’ve won it 3 times.) However, we knew we would not win the Dumbo dash on this day. All the stars have to align perfectly to win (and you have to have a before park opening ADR.) So today we weren’t going for a win. We just wanted a respectable showing. (Like maybe 2nd or 3rd round of the day.) So anyway we were off. Michael knows how to do the Dumbo Dash. He knows we walk very briskly up Main Street and knows this is not rose smelling time. (In fact I think I do the Dumbo Dash faster than I go up Main Street during the actual Disney races I’ve ran.) So we are hoofing towards the castle. The blood is pumping. The adrenaline is flowing. And then I saw the cutest thing. One of those things that made me smile and I had to stop to take a picture. Tianna and Naveen were walking across the hub heading for their Meet and Greet. (This isn’t the cutest thing.)

There was a family taking a picture with the castle in the background. What did Tianna and Naveen do?

They snuck into the picture. I loved that! What a fun moment for that family and what a great memory. Love those little things that happen at Disney! Anyway no stopping for pictures of us with the castle. Here you see Michael on a mission.

As we headed for Dumbo I got my first glimpse of the Beast’s castle. I managed to snap a quick picture.

We made it to Dumbo in really good time. I’m happy to report that even though we didn’t win the Dumbo Dash we did make it on the 2nd round of the day. Here is Michael. He was pleased with the results.

Another guest offered to take a picture of us together. I must say Michael is heavy these days.

Here is Michael on the ride.

Fun as always. I really think I will miss riding Dumbo right in the heart of Fantasyland. I don’t think it will be quite the same when it flys over a circus tent. While we were on our ride we spotted the rest of the family heading our way. I was excited to get their report. What did Wendy and John think of Space Mountain?

 

[Queenofallthings]

That update brought the biggest smile to my face! Everyone looks so happy...I find so many people loose sight of how lucky they are to be there....not all of you!! Love it!!

I love how they jumped into that picture...that's one of those memories that family will talk about for years!!

 

[Shannon84]

How cool to have princess tiana sneak into your family picture!!

I always try to make MK be my first park of the trip, otherwise I go crazy wanting to go there

 

[dismagiclover]

That update brought the biggest smile to my face! Everyone looks so happy...I find so many people loose sight of how lucky they are to be there....not all of you!! Love it!!

I love how they jumped into that picture...that's one of those memories that family will talk about for years!!

You are right about how happy we all were to be there! I do worry that my kids don't realize how lucky they are to have all of these trips. I never want them to become routine or old hat. We really are lucky or blessed or whatever word you want to use. I try hard to get my kids to understand that. Anytime they tell me life isn't fair, I shoot back with, "You are right about that. And you definitely win when it comes to the fair scale." They have learned not to tell me life is unfair

How cool to have princess tiana sneak into your family picture!!

I always try to make MK be my first park of the trip, otherwise I go crazy wanting to go there

I loved the sneak up! I don't know how the mom kept from reacting when she took the picture. I would have started laughing for sure.

 

[okw19]

Great updates! I'm glad you loved your villa We stay in a 2BR and it is HUGE! It's so nice to be on vacation and not feel crammed together in a hotel room.
The kids look so happy. I can't wait to take DD on her first trip.

 

[dismagiclover]

Great updates! I'm glad you loved your villa We stay in a 2BR and it is HUGE! It's so nice to be on vacation and not feel crammed together in a hotel room.
The kids look so happy. I can't wait to take DD on her first trip.

A 2 BR at OKW must feel palatial! I had heard how much bigger OKW was compared to the other DVC, but until we stayed there I didn't really understand what people meant. Plus it is less points than the other resorts. Gotta love it!

 

[dismagiclover]

Michael and I headed over to get the Space Mountain report. The verdict? The line was too long and they got fast passes for later. A bit anticlimactic, but I was glad they hadn’t waited in line because now we could get on with the fun. Next stop was a must do for the Darling Family.

This picture was taken on our October trip (thus it's dark), but you get the idea. Then we headed over to Winnie the Pooh. The queue here is now so much fun. Love this picture.

And notice the photo pass photog in the background. Pretty awesome if you have a Photopass problem. Here are the shots she took.

The queue here may be more fun than the ride these days. Next we went for a spin on some teacups. Actually everyone went for a spin except me. I took pictures.

They got going pretty fast. Glad I missed it.

We’d finished up everything we wanted in Fantasyland so we headed over to Frontierland for a ride on Big Thunder.

Next up was Haunted Mansion.

The boys hadn’t been on this since they were really little so they were quite nervous. I wanted to check out the interactive queue, but since the boys were hesitant about the whole thing we figured it would be better to just get it over with. I rode with the boys and the only time I could get Michael to open his eyes was the dancing scene. John enjoyed it though. He especially liked the ghosts in the car at the end. I think after the ride Michael regretted not opening his eyes for that part because John kept talking about how funny it was. Next we headed over to Pirates.

Fun ride as always. By this point the fast pass time for Space Mountain was up. Wendy was nervous. John was just excited! That first ride on Space Mountain is a big Disney moment! I couldn’t wait to see what they thought.

 

[Shannon84]

I cannot wait to see the new interactive queues so awesome looking!!

 

[kcandbella]

Hello my old friend! Awesome time on your 10K! My 10K time was closer to 70 minutes. The online printout should work just fine. I think there is a spot you take it at the Expo and they will move you up your corral. How has training gone? So exciting! I really want to hear about your race. Make sure to let me know if you do a trip report. I have never seen pictures of Duffy in his pumpkin costume. We went to the MNSSHP last year, but Duffy was only at Epcot. Do they move him over to the MK for the party. You are right that my boys would love that, but they aren't getting another Halloween trip anytime soon.

I am planning on doing a trip report, so I will let you know if/when I start it! Are you on Facebook? I am planning on updating on there, so pm me if you are and you can read the details as they happen! The training has gone pretty well, I did 10.5 miles a week or so ago and it felt good. I'm going to try to sneak in a 6 and an 8 before we leave, but we'll see! I am feeling fairly confident about finishing, not sure how quickly though! I am so excited to do my first Disney race, and I'm sure you understand the feeling, but how in the heck do they get you so excited about running so many miles?!?!?

We have a pre-opening ADR at CP this trip, so we are in it to win it for the Dumbo Dash. Your pics have me even more excited to go to MK~luckily I only have to wait 8 more days. Can't wait to see the new interactive queues in person!

 

[lbuzz52]

Wow- you guys were so patient with MK! I'm not sure I could have done that.
I 've never come across a photopass at the Pooh ride. Great shots in the Queue!

 

[MEK]

I didn't know the Dumbo Dash was actually a race! Good for you for acquiring such impressive statistics! Great pictures on and of the ride.

The rest of your morning looks pretty fun too. I am one of those crazy people who love the tea cups!

 

[dismagiclover]

I cannot wait to see the new interactive queues so awesome looking!!

You will love the new queues. They are awesome and they really get me excited for the whole new Fantasyland because I think they are a sign of what is to come there.

I am planning on doing a trip report, so I will let you know if/when I start it! Are you on Facebook? I am planning on updating on there, so pm me if you are and you can read the details as they happen! The training has gone pretty well, I did 10.5 miles a week or so ago and it felt good. I'm going to try to sneak in a 6 and an 8 before we leave, but we'll see! I am feeling fairly confident about finishing, not sure how quickly though! I am so excited to do my first Disney race, and I'm sure you understand the feeling, but how in the heck do they get you so excited about running so many miles?!?!?

We have a pre-opening ADR at CP this trip, so we are in it to win it for the Dumbo Dash. Your pics have me even more excited to go to MK~luckily I only have to wait 8 more days. Can't wait to see the new interactive queues in person!

I'll see you a PM with my FB info. You will do great! Disney races are so fun! I'm a bit jealous! I'll be there in January though and I still have lots of training to do. Sounds like I have some competition for Dumbo Dash Champion. I'll be impressed if you manage to win it! You read last years trip report though so you know all the tips.

Wow- you guys were so patient with MK! I'm not sure I could have done that.
I 've never come across a photopass at the Pooh ride. Great shots in the Queue!

It is pretty amazing that we waited so long to get to the MK. For most of my family Epcot is the favorite park so they didn't mind. I was chomping at the bit to get there though. I don't know why the photopass was in the Pooh queue that day. Maybe she was trying to get some shots they could use on the castle that evening.

I didn't know the Dumbo Dash was actually a race! Good for you for acquiring such impressive statistics! Great pictures on and of the ride.

The rest of your morning looks pretty fun too. I am one of those crazy people who love the tea cups!

You aren't alone in not knowing about the race factor in the Dumbo Dash. In fact I think my boys may be the only ones that know about the competition

 

[dismagiclover]

So DH, Wendy and John headed off for Space Mountain. I asked Michael what he wanted to do while they were riding. He suggested the People Mover and I was happy to oblige. I love this ride. It is just so relaxing and there are always great views. Here is Michael.

I tried to sneak a peak at what was happening over in the old Toontown, but I couldn’t really see much. We missed Toontown this trip, but I told the kids we’d be able to go to Toontown in Disneyland and that it was even better. After our ride around Tomorrowland we met back up with the rest of the family for their report. What did they think? Well John loved it. He wanted to go again and proclaimed Space Mountain his new favorite ride. Wendy, on the other hand, didn’t have such a favorable review. She said it was OK, but complained about feeling cramped in the ride vehicle. I had to laugh at that because Wendy can still squeeze into a child size small. She couldn’t have possibly been that cramped. I think she is just not much of a thrill ride lover and those cars aren’t the most comfortable thing so that is what she focused on. Anyway at least for John, Space Mountain was a huge success. And this made DH very happy because while I don’t mind thrill rides, they aren’t my favorite thing about Disney World. So slowly DH is grooming a thrill ride partner in John. DH says they are going to give Expedition Everest a try next trip. Anyway it was getting close to lunch time and we had an ADR. (Remember we are on Deluxe Dining for 1 day so we get three table service meals.) We headed across the hub and I coerced the family into taking a castle picture. (We hadn’t taken one yet this trip.) Here it is.

Lunch was here.

I had never had the lunch menu here. We came here for dinner once when the characters were still here and I’d eaten lunch here once when the Crystal Palace was closed and characters were here for all 3 meals. I liked the all you can eat turkey dinner OK, but I was excited to try the lunch menu. It didn’t disappoint. I ordered the pot roast.

It was yummy! The dessert was even yummier.

I don’t remember what anyone else had, but we all enjoyed it. It was a nice cool break in the middle of the day. However, we were ready to get our ride back on. First stop after lunch was Splash Mountain (at some point DH had gotten fast passes for all of us.) Neither Wendy nor Michael were too keen on this ride, but I didn’t feel like sitting out with them. (I love Splash.) So I made them all go. The wait in line was kind of fun. The 2 guys in front of us were big Disney fans. They knew where all the Hidden Mickeys on the ride are and promised to point them out to us. So throughout the ride they would point and yell back to us. It was cracking me up. They are in the front of the log. We could have been in the front, but none of the kids wanted to ride in the front. These guys were more than happy to switch with us. Here is the ride picture.

John loved it. Michael liked it all except the big hill. Wendy tolerated it. After Splash Mountain we headed back over to Fantasyland for a couple of rides. First was Small World.

Wendy is now old enough this ride bores her to death. I remember the days when this was her absolute favorite and totally mesmerized her.

Oh well. Times change. Michael is still young enough that he likes it. It was one of his requests this trip so that is why we did it. (Before we left I asked each person to give their top 5 requests for each park and tried to work them in.) After Small World we headed to one of my Magic Kingdom requests.

I just love this show. I just can’t help but smile all the way through it. And the best thing to smile about? Our Magic Kingdom day wasn’t over yet.

 

[Angies1274]

Great updates!!

My boys can't wait to meet Phineas and Ferb! It looks like a fun meet and greet!

Aww...your Garden Grill pictures turned out so cute!

Love all the pictures of OKW! It looks like a beautiful resort! Yay for the opening show at MK! Sounds like you had such a fun morning! I can't believe we still haven't done the People Mover. It looks so relaxing!! Definitely next trip.

Can't wait to hear more about your MK day!!

 

[MagicShell]

Glad to hear that your husband is grooming a thrill ride partner. It is so much fun to see your child having fun on thrill rides. I hope my 9 yr. old son will be much more brave next time we go. My husband daughter and I all love the thrill rides but it will be so much fun to all go together!

Philharmagic is one of my favorites as well. I could watch it many time a day.