The Darling Family's Endless Summer Vacation: August 2013 New 1/24
- Thread starter dismagiclover
- Start date
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
Welcome! The theming at the Values is really fun. We're a family of 5 plus we own DVC so we've never stayed there before, but I wouldn't hesitate to stay again. The Dopey plans are pretty much insane. I'm going to be doing a lot of running over the next few months. You should look into the Disney races. They really are fun. I'm glad I was able to introduce you to the ducks playing baseball. On the other side of the tennis court is an angry Donald because he wants to play tennis and his nephews are messing around with the baseball. It really is cute.
The marathon plan is mostly just insane. Hopefully I survive it without any permanant injuries. I too want to be floating around in an empty WDW pool. We can always dream.
I'd actually kind of forgotten about the TV photo until I ran through that section that morning. As soon as I saw the TV I remembered the photo and decided to bring the kids back to replicate. The 10K really did fill fast. I think it is a smaller race, plus it seems much less intimidating for first time racers. I've run the 5K before and it is a fun race because over half of it is in the park. On the other hand, character lines at the shorter races are insane so that is a downside.Isn't the themeing at the All-Star's wonderful? We stayed at Sports last summer for a quick trip and it was all so cute. Love the photo in the TV. That would be a photo-op that I might make a special trip for each time just to document the changes.
I have to give it to you for signing up for the Dopey, that is a lot of training dedication!I wanted to do the 10K but didn't get registered fast enough. Who knew the 10K would fill in one day? I think the 5K and 10K would almost be more fun because more of the race is in the parks and less highway time.
Can't wait to read more!
Christine
Thanks for joining in. I loved the straight through drive. I'm trying to talk DH into doing it on our December trip, but I'm not having much luck. Yay for cruising! On our cruise I tried to go running a few times, but it did get a bit boring just running in circles around the boat. Are you doing any of the January races this year?Love your report so far, Jenny! You guys are very brave for driving the whole way through in one day. Sounds like it was definitely worth it.
Great pictures at the Music TV, so cute!
Good job keeping up with the running while on your trip! I can't wait to hear about your Dopey experience. I'm cruising on Sunday (!!) and am hoping to run a few times during the trip...we'll see if that happens!
Welcome! Happy to have you along for the ride.I'm in for you TR.
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
We hopped in our car and made the short drive over to Arts of Animation.
We were all very excited to stay at this resort and were blown away as soon as we walked in the lobby.
This is such a great place with so much detail. We were very impressed. We got checked in and were excited to hear our room was ready.
Before we headed for our room we made a stop in the food court to pick up our mugs and use up a snack credit. I opted for the pesto bread Id read about on the Disney Food Blog and it was yummy.
The kids all got smoothies with their credit which they also enjoyed. It was a nice little snack that would hopefully tide us over until dinner. We then headed to our room in the Little Mermaid section. Even before we entered the room we were impressed.
We all loved this room. So many cute details! I didnt take any room pictures, but here are a few I took from the AoA picture thread.
The room was the same size as All Star Sports, but seemed so much nicer because of the theming and of course everything was almost new. After oohing and aahing over the room for a bit we changed into our suits and headed out to check out the pools. Which pool do you think we headed to first?
We were all very excited to stay at this resort and were blown away as soon as we walked in the lobby.
This is such a great place with so much detail. We were very impressed. We got checked in and were excited to hear our room was ready.
Before we headed for our room we made a stop in the food court to pick up our mugs and use up a snack credit. I opted for the pesto bread Id read about on the Disney Food Blog and it was yummy. 
The kids all got smoothies with their credit which they also enjoyed. It was a nice little snack that would hopefully tide us over until dinner. We then headed to our room in the Little Mermaid section. Even before we entered the room we were impressed.
We all loved this room. So many cute details! I didnt take any room pictures, but here are a few I took from the AoA picture thread.
The room was the same size as All Star Sports, but seemed so much nicer because of the theming and of course everything was almost new. After oohing and aahing over the room for a bit we changed into our suits and headed out to check out the pools. Which pool do you think we headed to first?
WildernessExplorer04
Future DCP
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2013
Recently discovered your TR and I love it!
An empty Disney pool sounds super relaxing and very appealing.
I can't wait to read more about your Disney adventures!
An empty Disney pool sounds super relaxing and very appealing.
I can't wait to read more about your Disney adventures!
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
Welcome. That pool was amazing! Wish every pool could be as relaxing!
We liked AoA. I'll get to more soon. I'm actually kind of dragging this day out because I'm still waiting on Photopass pictures, but I'll get something more up in the next few days.
crepemyrtle
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2013
I got so excited when I read that y'all were driving straight through. Is that weird? Anyhoo - joining in for the TR and can't wait to hear/read more.
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
Well we were excited too when we decided to drive straight through so I don't think it's weird.
Happy to have you here.
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
Welcome! Glad to have you.
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
We were off to the pools. First we hit the Cars area and were impressed before we even hit the pool.
For the second time this day we were the only ones in the pool.
We had no problem getting a cone cabana.
Once again we had a fabulous time in our private pool at Disney World. This time we even had lifeguards. In fact at one point there were three lifeguards. One for each kid. I mentioned that fact to one of the lifeguards and he said, “Yep. Safest pool on property.”
Eventually another family came, but it was still fabulous. Even the soundtrack was themed. Lots of songs about driving cars. We still wanted to check out the rest of the resort before dinner, so we hopped out of the pool. Before we went over to the Nemo section we stopped for a few photo opportunities in the Cars section.
Michael cracks me up in those goggles.
Disney really hit it out of the park with the details at this resort. I loved all of these bumper stickers.
We then headed over to the Nemo pool. There was a very different vibe over here. The place was rocking. Lots of people, loud music, and a pool party complete with games was in full swing. The kids thought it was great. I preferred the relaxing vibe over at the Cars section, but not everyone wants to just sit by the pool and read a book.
In fact judging by the popularity of the Nemo pool, most people want to be where the action is. I didn’t pull out the camera here, but here are a few pictures once again from the AoA picture thread.
After spending time dancing and partying in the pool we headed back to our room to get ready for dinner. We walked through the Lion King section on the way. There are lots of fun details here too.
The kids kept talking about coming back sometime and staying for a longer time. I think that would be fun to do. If DH was with us we would have to book a suite and I would definitely choose a Lion King or Cars suite. Too much noise and action in the Nemo section for me. Our original plan had been to swim in all three pools, but we never made it to the Little Mermaid pool. We had to get ready for dinner. For Wendy this was the most highly anticipated dinner of the entire trip. Any guesses on where our ADR was?
First we hit the Cars area and were impressed before we even hit the pool. 
For the second time this day we were the only ones in the pool.
We had no problem getting a cone cabana.
Once again we had a fabulous time in our private pool at Disney World. This time we even had lifeguards. In fact at one point there were three lifeguards. One for each kid. I mentioned that fact to one of the lifeguards and he said, “Yep. Safest pool on property.”
Eventually another family came, but it was still fabulous. Even the soundtrack was themed. Lots of songs about driving cars. We still wanted to check out the rest of the resort before dinner, so we hopped out of the pool. Before we went over to the Nemo section we stopped for a few photo opportunities in the Cars section.
Michael cracks me up in those goggles.
Disney really hit it out of the park with the details at this resort. I loved all of these bumper stickers.
We then headed over to the Nemo pool. There was a very different vibe over here. The place was rocking. Lots of people, loud music, and a pool party complete with games was in full swing. The kids thought it was great. I preferred the relaxing vibe over at the Cars section, but not everyone wants to just sit by the pool and read a book.
In fact judging by the popularity of the Nemo pool, most people want to be where the action is. I didn’t pull out the camera here, but here are a few pictures once again from the AoA picture thread.
After spending time dancing and partying in the pool we headed back to our room to get ready for dinner. We walked through the Lion King section on the way. There are lots of fun details here too.
The kids kept talking about coming back sometime and staying for a longer time. I think that would be fun to do. If DH was with us we would have to book a suite and I would definitely choose a Lion King or Cars suite. Too much noise and action in the Nemo section for me. Our original plan had been to swim in all three pools, but we never made it to the Little Mermaid pool. We had to get ready for dinner. For Wendy this was the most highly anticipated dinner of the entire trip. Any guesses on where our ADR was?
chattadisser
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2010
I really need to try and get over to AoA during our next trip to see it. Everyone has said how amazing the themes are.
How cute is that cone cabana??
Why would no one want to just sit and read a book by the pool?
Hmmm dinner guess??? Be Our Guest?? Thats probably just a stab in the dark there
Christine
For the second time this day we were the only ones in the pool.
How cute is that cone cabana??
We then headed over to the Nemo pool. There was a very different vibe over here. The place was rocking. Lots of people, loud music, and a pool party complete with games was in full swing. The kids thought it was great. I preferred the relaxing vibe over at the Cars section, but not everyone wants to just sit by the pool and read a book.
Why would no one want to just sit and read a book by the pool?
Hmmm dinner guess??? Be Our Guest?? Thats probably just a stab in the dark there
Christine
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
Excellent guess on dinner. You'll have to wait until the next update to see if you're right.I really need to try and get over to AoA during our next trip to see it. Everyone has said how amazing the themes are.
How cute is that cone cabana??
Why would no one want to just sit and read a book by the pool?
Hmmm dinner guess??? Be Our Guest?? Thats probably just a stab in the dark there
Christine
Wow! You've never seen the Cars movies! Just wait a few more years and you'll have them on repeat for Simba!
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
So we changed and freshened up for dinner and headed for the bus stop. We were on our way to our first park of the trip. Magic Kingdom, here we come! We hopped on the bus and I took a picture to document the ride for posterity.
Before we knew it we were walking through the turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom. (Though technically they arent turnstiles anymore. Now they are Mickey head thingies.) We stopped onto Main Street USA and I immediately began to grin. We made it! We were in my happy place. Everyone was really excited, but we needed to take care of some business before we went any farther. You may remember that we only had 1 day tickets attached to our package. That certainly would not do. We had much bigger plans than that for our Disney future. And those plans included Annual Passes for all. Yahoo! Multiple Darling Disney Family Vacations in the upcoming year. So we needed to stop by guest services and upgrade our tickets to annual passes. Should be easy peasy, right? Aahh wrong. It was not easy peasy. There was a short line and then we were talking to a kind and patient cast member. Good thing she was kind and patient because this transaction was a challenge. I wanted to pay for the upgraded passes with my Disney Visa rewards card and with a big stack of $50 Disney Gift Cards Id bought at Target. (I bought them with my RedCard so I could get 5% off.) Any remaining balance I was planning on charging to my room. This was challenging, to say the least, for the poor cast member. She called in multiple reinforcements. I am not exaggerating when I say I stood at the counter for an hour. The poor kids were dying. Here they were in the Magic Kingdom and they had to just sit on the floor and wait. Our ADR time arrived and they called the restaurant and asked them to hold the reservation. Finally they got it all figured out. I decided getting the 5% off the Target gift cards may be more trouble than it was worth. As an upside they gave us a fastpass good for any ride.
We finally finished and were on our way. We walked out of guest services into the pouring rain. We had ponchos . . . in the room. No time to wait out the storm. We were already late for our ADR. We also had no time for the first picture of the trip on Main Street. Even if wed had time, there were no Photo Pass guys hanging out in the rain. So we hoofed it up Main Street and to our destination, the Beasts castle.
That is right, Id scored one of those coveted reservations at Be Our Guest. (Note this picture was not taken at this moment though. You can tell because there is a sunny sky and the sky was not sunny at this time.) This was our first time entering the new Fantasyland. Id envisioned exploring a bit before dinner, but instead we walked as fast as we could through the torrential storm and headed to the check in. Check in is outside the castle and the line is not covered. Ahead of us were a couple of people that seemed to be arguing about whether they had reservations or not. One of them apparently had them for 2 hours later, but needed to eat right then because they had to get to the airport or something of the sort. Managers were being called, and the end result appeared they werent getting in. Anyway, all of this was going on as everyone else in the line was standing out in the downpour. Eventually we were called to the podium where we checked in and they told us we could head into the lobby to wait for our name to be called. We headed into the lobby and immediately felt that Florida air conditioning. That didnt mix well with the soaking wet. Needless to say we were a bit chilly. Eventually we were seated and appropriately it was right next to the windows where it is snowing. We definitely felt the chill. In fact we all ordered hot chocolate to start out our evening. That was probably a bit unusual for August. Wendy wanted a picture in here so we tried. Here is one with the flash.
Here is one without.
Neither is very good. However, we were very impressed with the whole restaurant. The theming was great and the food was good too. We especially loved the soups and the cupcakes.
Wendy was a bit fixated on the diapered babies on the ceiling.
I teach Art History and tried to explain to her a bit about the tradition, but mostly she just thought they were funny. Later on in the trip we saw the scene from the movie and there were actually diapered babies on the ceiling. Wendy couldnt believe it. Anyway after we were done with our meal we stopped in the library for a brief visit with our host.
I dont ever remember meeting the Beast before so that was kind of fun. I think you can tell from this photo we were a bit worse for the wear from the before dinner torrential downpour. Anyway, during dinner we had discussed how to use our special fastpass. My vote was for Peter Pan. (Just for the record that is the correct vote for any good Darling.) Unfortunately, I must have been the only one who was being a good Darling this evening because I was outvoted. The kids wanted to use the fastpass to ride Buzz Lightyear. So we headed towards Tomorrowland. Here is a picture from that adventure.
We may have gone on a few more rides that night, but we didnt stay too late. We had an early breakfast the next morning so we headed back to Arts of Animation where we settled in for the night. Our first full Disney day was over. Of course it had been a great one.
Before we knew it we were walking through the turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom. (Though technically they arent turnstiles anymore. Now they are Mickey head thingies.) We stopped onto Main Street USA and I immediately began to grin. We made it! We were in my happy place. Everyone was really excited, but we needed to take care of some business before we went any farther. You may remember that we only had 1 day tickets attached to our package. That certainly would not do. We had much bigger plans than that for our Disney future. And those plans included Annual Passes for all. Yahoo! Multiple Darling Disney Family Vacations in the upcoming year. So we needed to stop by guest services and upgrade our tickets to annual passes. Should be easy peasy, right? Aahh wrong. It was not easy peasy. There was a short line and then we were talking to a kind and patient cast member. Good thing she was kind and patient because this transaction was a challenge. I wanted to pay for the upgraded passes with my Disney Visa rewards card and with a big stack of $50 Disney Gift Cards Id bought at Target. (I bought them with my RedCard so I could get 5% off.) Any remaining balance I was planning on charging to my room. This was challenging, to say the least, for the poor cast member. She called in multiple reinforcements. I am not exaggerating when I say I stood at the counter for an hour. The poor kids were dying. Here they were in the Magic Kingdom and they had to just sit on the floor and wait. Our ADR time arrived and they called the restaurant and asked them to hold the reservation. Finally they got it all figured out. I decided getting the 5% off the Target gift cards may be more trouble than it was worth. As an upside they gave us a fastpass good for any ride.
We finally finished and were on our way. We walked out of guest services into the pouring rain. We had ponchos . . . in the room. No time to wait out the storm. We were already late for our ADR. We also had no time for the first picture of the trip on Main Street. Even if wed had time, there were no Photo Pass guys hanging out in the rain. So we hoofed it up Main Street and to our destination, the Beasts castle.
That is right, Id scored one of those coveted reservations at Be Our Guest. (Note this picture was not taken at this moment though. You can tell because there is a sunny sky and the sky was not sunny at this time.) This was our first time entering the new Fantasyland. Id envisioned exploring a bit before dinner, but instead we walked as fast as we could through the torrential storm and headed to the check in. Check in is outside the castle and the line is not covered. Ahead of us were a couple of people that seemed to be arguing about whether they had reservations or not. One of them apparently had them for 2 hours later, but needed to eat right then because they had to get to the airport or something of the sort. Managers were being called, and the end result appeared they werent getting in. Anyway, all of this was going on as everyone else in the line was standing out in the downpour. Eventually we were called to the podium where we checked in and they told us we could head into the lobby to wait for our name to be called. We headed into the lobby and immediately felt that Florida air conditioning. That didnt mix well with the soaking wet. Needless to say we were a bit chilly. Eventually we were seated and appropriately it was right next to the windows where it is snowing. We definitely felt the chill. In fact we all ordered hot chocolate to start out our evening. That was probably a bit unusual for August. Wendy wanted a picture in here so we tried. Here is one with the flash.
Here is one without.
Neither is very good. However, we were very impressed with the whole restaurant. The theming was great and the food was good too. We especially loved the soups and the cupcakes.
Wendy was a bit fixated on the diapered babies on the ceiling.
I teach Art History and tried to explain to her a bit about the tradition, but mostly she just thought they were funny. Later on in the trip we saw the scene from the movie and there were actually diapered babies on the ceiling. Wendy couldnt believe it. Anyway after we were done with our meal we stopped in the library for a brief visit with our host.
I dont ever remember meeting the Beast before so that was kind of fun. I think you can tell from this photo we were a bit worse for the wear from the before dinner torrential downpour. Anyway, during dinner we had discussed how to use our special fastpass. My vote was for Peter Pan. (Just for the record that is the correct vote for any good Darling.) Unfortunately, I must have been the only one who was being a good Darling this evening because I was outvoted. The kids wanted to use the fastpass to ride Buzz Lightyear. So we headed towards Tomorrowland. Here is a picture from that adventure.
We may have gone on a few more rides that night, but we didnt stay too late. We had an early breakfast the next morning so we headed back to Arts of Animation where we settled in for the night. Our first full Disney day was over. Of course it had been a great one.
Queenofallthings
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2008
Great pics of the Cars section....it wasn't opened yet last year when we were there, so we just hung at the Nemo pool!
I can't wait to try BOG! Your pictures are great!
I can't wait to try BOG! Your pictures are great!
norybell
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2009
Argh, an hour at Guest Services? Pure torture! It's nice that they took care of pushing back your ADR, though.
BOG seems like the perfect spot for a first night MK dinner! I'm jealous...I'm about to return for the second time since the place opened, but I always make the plans too late to get ADRs there. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get there eventually.
BOG seems like the perfect spot for a first night MK dinner! I'm jealous...I'm about to return for the second time since the place opened, but I always make the plans too late to get ADRs there. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get there eventually.
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
Cars was probably my favorite section. If we ever stayed in a suite that would be our request. BOG was fun. Definitely plan it for your next trip!
BOG was great, but it is a bugger to get those ADRs. I booked at 180 days out and even then the choices of time was really limited. We went for lunch later on in the trip and it was good too. So if you can't get in a dinner, go at lunch and realize you aren't really missing that much. Though you don't get to meet the Beast at lunch.
dismagiclover
Mrs. Darling: Mom to Wendy, John & Michael
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
Sorry this report is moving along so slowly. I've been waiting on the Phtopass CD to really get it moving. I'm in a share and it will probably still be a week or two before I get the pictures. So I'll put it on hold for now, but don't worry once I get the CD I will get this thing moving. I've already written up to Day 10. (Scary thing is that isn't even half the trip. Like I said this is going to be a long one.)
chattadisser
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2010
Dont worry about the pace of the TR..gives us all something to look forward to and we wont fall behind.
Oh my goodness an hour at guest services! You know you are not the first person to present that situation. Nice job on their part to call and hold your ADR.
Acck..I was right on dinner! It was a complete guess. I picked there as my girls want to eat there and there arent too many restaurants at WDW that they get excited about. How cute are those cupcakes? Glad to hear the food was good, reports have been hit or miss.
Every time I see the diapered babies I wonder if they are real people? What is the tradition?
Christine
Oh my goodness an hour at guest services! You know you are not the first person to present that situation. Nice job on their part to call and hold your ADR.
Acck..I was right on dinner! It was a complete guess. I picked there as my girls want to eat there and there arent too many restaurants at WDW that they get excited about. How cute are those cupcakes? Glad to hear the food was good, reports have been hit or miss.
Every time I see the diapered babies I wonder if they are real people? What is the tradition?
Christine
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