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]

Originally Posted by DrMomof3

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.

Originally Posted by Queenofallthings

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

Originally Posted by JolllyHoliday

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.

Originally Posted by firecracker725

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]

Originally Posted by 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!!

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

Originally Posted by 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

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by dismagiclover

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!