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

[ellajeansmom]

Wow, I go to the cottage for a few days and by the time I get to checking into TRs you've not only started but you're on page 6!

Belated welcome home, I'm sure you had a great time and I can't wait to read all about it! It is however past my bedtime , so I will get caught up tomorrow!

 

[dismagiclover]

Lol yes that would be even sweeter Maybe you should find a way to get DH's work to transfer him to Florida

I would love to move to Florida. Unfortunately DH works for the government and that is here in Washington DC.

Never even thought of that; I was thinking rides.
Uh oh...
Woo hoo! So nice of the CM to let the kids get the characters they wanted!
I really hope you were able to get the pic!

The CM was really nice to go out of her way with the APs. And you'll know soon the result of the photo. I'm hoping my CD shows up today, but even if it doesn't I'm going to try and get an update up later.

Woohoo for getting your APs! The CM went above and beyond to get them printed with just the right character. That's one of the reasons I love Disney.

I can hardly wait to see the pictures of Old Key West!

It's true that Disney seems to be one of the few places left where employees don't seem to mind going out of their way to make guests happy Old Key West is a lovely resort. You may have to wait a while for pictures. I don't think I take many until later on in the week.

Wow, I go to the cottage for a few days and by the time I get to checking into TRs you've not only started but you're on page 6!

Belated welcome home, I'm sure you had a great time and I can't wait to read all about it! It is however past my bedtime , so I will get caught up tomorrow!

Don't worry. Trips to cottages are definitely excused absences from trip reports. Glad you made it over.

 

[jmskinner]

I'm a little late, but joining in. The train sounds so cool. Too funny about the wine.

OKW is beautiful, haven't been able to stay there, but did make a quick visit to see friends there.

And Congrats on the AP's. Maybe they will have a special event for AP holders on your next trip.

Looking forward to hearing more, especially HP!

 

[dismagiclover]

I'm a little late, but joining in. The train sounds so cool. Too funny about the wine.

OKW is beautiful, haven't been able to stay there, but did make a quick visit to see friends there.

And Congrats on the AP's. Maybe they will have a special event for AP holders on your next trip.

Looking forward to hearing more, especially HP!

Good to see you in these parts. The HP stuff comes at the very end of the trip so I guess you're going to have to stick around for a while

 

[dismagiclover]

The storm was fast approaching as we headed toward the Photopass photographers by the front gate. In fact one of them already had her umbrella set up and open. We hustled over and the photographer had time to snap a few shots. I didn’t realize it until I looked at the pictures once we were home, but I looked like I’d spent the night on a train. Every time I see the pictures I wish I had a brush to pull through my hair. The kids, however, still look cute. Mussed up hair and all.

Notice the dark cloud quickly approaching.

We then headed out of the park for the tram. I saw a couple of lightening bolts and the thunder was rumbling. We hopped on the tram and I was just hoping the rain would hold out until we reached the car. Well it didn’t. It came all at once while we were on the tram. This was one of those storm where the rain blew in sideway so we were soaked before we even made it to our stop. Also figures this would be the day we were on the very far end of the row from the tram stop. So once we got off we had about 100 yards to the car. I told the kids it was a practice run for our January races and we were off. The rain was coming sideways. We were lucky that it was at our backs, not our fronts. So by the time we made it to the car our backsides were absolutely soaked. Our fronts not near as bad. Luckily we were wearing crocs and flip flops so our shoes were just fine. I laughed pretty hard as we all piled into the car. Michael didn’t think it was quite so funny.

He’s a bit wet. And that is his dry side.

So the question was where to head to now. That picture was taken at 3:13 and we’d still not received a text with our room number. Our original plan was to head to Goods to Go (OKW’s counter service) and get ice cream. Remember the promise I’d made about getting ice cream back at the hotel. That presented a potential problem in the pouring rain. There is no indoor seating at Goods to Go. So I did some quick thinking and we decided to hit up Artist’s Palette, the counter service at Saratoga Springs. We headed over and parked the car, but it was still pouring rain. We were already soaked so we made another run for it. We arrived at Artist’s Palette and the kids all had their first Mickey bars of the trip. This picture turned out blurry, but you can still tell how wet we all were.

By the time we finished up it was almost 4:00 and we still hadn’t gotten our text. So I decided we’d just head over to the check in at OKW and ask if our room was ready. We drove over and the CM at the front desk had no problem giving us our room number. We never did get a text. I don’t know if they had the wrong number or what, but who knows when our room was actually ready. Anyway we headed to room 2410 which was in an absolute fabulous location. It is considered the Hospitality House area, but was actually across the bridge behind the Hospitality House. It was very close to the bus stop and just a hop skip and a jump over to the pool and the restaurants. Perfect location. We parked the car right outside the villa (a nice perk at OKW.) We walked in and saw this.

Our home for the boys and I for the next 7 days. They are in the process of refurbishing the rooms here and this wasn’t refurbished. I knew that going in though. They haven’t gotten to the Hospitality House area yet. I didn’t mind at all. The room was spacious and relaxing. We had a kitchenette and plenty of space, plus a lovely private patio where I spent quite a bit of time reading in the evening. (I read all of Eclipse while I was there.) So we changed out of our wet clothes and spent a bit of time settling in. It didn’t take long and the kids were soon itching to check things out. Plus my parents would be arriving via Magical Express very soon. So we headed over to the check out the Hospitality House area. By this point the rain had mostly stopped. We stopped in the shop to where I saw the first souvenirs of the trip. I’d seen this mug on the DIS before I’d left and knew it was a must get. (We are the Darling Family after all.)

I also saw a set of Darling Family pins that were adorable. So I decided to become a pin collector. Here is my lanyard by the end of the trip. The pins included in the Peter Pan set were the Peter Pan, Wendy, John and Michael, and Tinkerbell pins. The other two I picked up later.

After browsing the shop, we walked over Olivia’s to check out the menu. We had an ADR there that evening. Then we walked over to the community center to check it out. We spent lots of time in the community center this trip. My kids love it and for our family that is one of the best perks of the DVC resorts. This evening the kids pounced on the Connect Four game and played a couple of rounds.

Sometime during this period I talked to my mom who told us she was at the airport headed to the Magical Express area. We’d used our DVC points and reserved my parents a room for the night at OKW. I was excited to show them just a bit why I love Disney World so much. They had been to a couple of the parks before, but they had never seen any of the resorts. My mom was beyond impressed even before she got on the Magical Express bus. She couldn’t believe she didn’t have to worry about luggage and could just leisurely stroll down to catch a waiting bus. My dad was a bit more skeptical He was worried about actually getting the luggage they were leaving behind. Anyway once my parents had arrived and checked in they gave us a call and we headed right over to meet them. Of course the kids were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa. They live clear across the country so we usually only see them once or twice a year. After hugs and profuse gratitude from my parents for booking the room for them we headed to dinner at Olivia’s, the table service at Old Key West. This isn’t a dining report so I don’t have many food pictures, but here are my thoughts. It was a comfortable laid back place though it was a bit on the loud side. The best part of the meal may have been the pineapple bread they brought at the beginning. Yum! I had the pork chop and found it quite good. For dessert I tried the Key Lime pie and really enjoyed it. It didn’t have that normal key lime kick which was actually a nice change. Everyone else enjoyed their meal too and Wendy insisted I take a picture of her pasta.

I don’t know if you can tell, but they are in Mickey shapes.

So after dinner we walked my parents over to their room which was not in the hospitality house section. It was way over in building 22 which was just across the golf course from our building. There was no way to walk across the golf course, however, so it was a bit of a hike to their room. That was when I became very glad we’d reserved the hospitality house area. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed OKW so much if I’d been that far out from everything. After finding my parent’s room (which looked exactly like ours) we left them there for a break and told them we were heading to the pool if they wanted to walk down later. Then we headed back to our room to get on our suits. We made the short walk to the pool where these happy dolphins greeted us.

The kids headed immediately for the slide and proclaimed it great fun. I sat by the side of the pool and watched. It was getting dark and I like pools best when the sun is shining. After a few minutes my parents showed up and we spent an enjoyable hour or so watching the kids swim and chatting. Around 9:00 I pulled the kids out of the pool and said goodnight to my parents. Wendy especially had a big day ahead of her. The next day was her cruise. I was hoping to get a couple of hours of park time in before we left for the port. We headed back to our room and settled in for our first night on Disney Property and the sweet dreams that came with it.

Next Up: Would we make EMH at Hollywood Studios?

 

[Charlefours]

Did you have problems parking at all when driving to the parks? It is something I am really considering for the early morning and perhaps for our MNSSHP night.

It is surprising how popular Soarin' still is all these years later. It is one of my favorites and one I am looking forward to taking DD on in September.

for having APs!!

Cute mug! OKW seems like a great resort. It is one I would want to try someday.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Love the mug!

Love the pictures that show how wet you all were, for those of us that have been caught in those storms, we can relate

Your room looks beautiful, I really want to stay at OKW, it just screams Florida and I love that!

 

[ellajeansmom]

As promised I am now all caught up! Everything sounds great so far

I'm glad the train worked out for you, that in itself sounded like a fun adventure!

Love the pic of the kids at the aquarium, and good for you for just taking it easy - it would have been tempting to squeeze a whole bunch in with Wendy leaving the next day.

Did you rent the DVC points from someone you knew or through one of the boards? You may remember that I would like to do that at some point, so I'm interested in how it worked out for you.

Looking forward to more

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Yes, that was the same storm!! I was lucky enough to spend it in our hotel room with Haley and Will, but Shelley, Sue, Mom, and my aunt all got SOAKED. Mom and Aunt Dee actually headed back to the room to change because their ponchos did them no good at all in the sideways rain! I'm glad you didn't get any wetter than you did!

I swear we had the same color scheme back in 2000 at OKW. But it sounds like your location was awesome! We were off a ways from the hospitality house, which could explain why we never made it there after checking in. I'd like to have a patio/balcony to read on if we end up renting DVC for our next trip....

Great start to your trip!

 

[Angies1274]

Great update!! Aww...poor Michael. He didn't look too happy to be wet, did he? I don't blame him though! We felt the same way at Epcot last August. It looks like those Mickey bars made everything better! OKW sounds great!! I'm glad you got such a good location! And I love the mug you picked up!! So cute!!! Can't wait to see if you make to EMH at Hollywood Studios!

 

[Stefy]

Love the mug, v cool and v fitting for you guys

Aww bless Michael, he does not look impressed does he Bummer that you got caught in that rain.

I am thinking that you made it for EMH at DHS

 

[letstalkboutdisney]

Great date. Can't wait to hear more.
How perfect for your family is the mug! How cute!
Love the pins. My kids haven't gottten into pin collecting yet.

 

[dismagiclover]

Did you have problems parking at all when driving to the parks? It is something I am really considering for the early morning and perhaps for our MNSSHP night.

It is surprising how popular Soarin' still is all these years later. It is one of my favorites and one I am looking forward to taking DD on in September.

for having APs!!

Cute mug! OKW seems like a great resort. It is one I would want to try someday.

Parking at the parks was super easy! In fact except for the MK it was more convenient than riding the bus. The tram takes you right to the front and you're not dependent on waiting for the bus. The morning we had an early character breakfast we even drove to MK because I didn't want to be late. That was a bit more complicated because you have to take the monorail or boat, but still wasn't bad.

Love the mug!

Love the pictures that show how wet you all were, for those of us that have been caught in those storms, we can relate

Your room looks beautiful, I really want to stay at OKW, it just screams Florida and I love that!

That is what I like about OKW too. When I'm in Florida I like knowing I'm in Florida. That is actually one of the reasons I like the summer trips too. We've been at Thanksgiving and in January and I don't really like having to pack sweatshirts and jackets. I like when all we need is shorts and t-shirts.

As promised I am now all caught up! Everything sounds great so far

I'm glad the train worked out for you, that in itself sounded like a fun adventure!

Love the pic of the kids at the aquarium, and good for you for just taking it easy - it would have been tempting to squeeze a whole bunch in with Wendy leaving the next day.

Did you rent the DVC points from someone you knew or through one of the boards? You may remember that I would like to do that at some point, so I'm interested in how it worked out for you.

Looking forward to more

We renting the DVC points from someone I found on the boards a while back. She rented me the reservation for my January trip and so we just used her again. I may use her again in the future. Renting points is definitely a way to save some money. For the weekdays our room ended up only costing $108/night and that is the total. No taxes added on. No way Disney would give me a room at OKW for that price in June.

Yes, that was the same storm!! I was lucky enough to spend it in our hotel room with Haley and Will, but Shelley, Sue, Mom, and my aunt all got SOAKED. Mom and Aunt Dee actually headed back to the room to change because their ponchos did them no good at all in the sideways rain! I'm glad you didn't get any wetter than you did!

I swear we had the same color scheme back in 2000 at OKW. But it sounds like your location was awesome! We were off a ways from the hospitality house, which could explain why we never made it there after checking in. I'd like to have a patio/balcony to read on if we end up renting DVC for our next trip....

Great start to your trip!

That was quite the storm. I actually love summer storms. As long as you don't go inside after you're all wet it isn't even cold. I was having the time of my life, but I'm not sure my kids felt the same way. I'm sure that is the same color scheme at OKW. They are in the process of refurbishing right now, but we stayed in an unfurbished room. I don't think they've changed it for quite a while. I didn't notice any excessive wear or tear though.

 

[dismagiclover]

Great update!! Aww...poor Michael. He didn't look too happy to be wet, did he? I don't blame him though! We felt the same way at Epcot last August. It looks like those Mickey bars made everything better! OKW sounds great!! I'm glad you got such a good location! And I love the mug you picked up!! So cute!!! Can't wait to see if you make to EMH at Hollywood Studios!

Michael can definitely be a bit moody, and he's not afraid to let his feeling show. It is amazing though the power of Mickey bars to cheer up the grumpiest soul

Love the mug, v cool and v fitting for you guys

Aww bless Michael, he does not look impressed does he Bummer that you got caught in that rain.

I am thinking that you made it for EMH at DHS

The mug really is cute. I actually liked getting caught in the rain. Makes for fun memories

Great date. Can't wait to hear more.
How perfect for your family is the mug! How cute!
Love the pins. My kids haven't gottten into pin collecting yet.

Beware of the pin collecting bug. My kids love it and it isn't the cheapest hobby.

 

[floydfamily4]

Just read your report (via links which I ). What a blessing for the grandkids to have such a special memory with their grandparents and something to look forward to. Also, how cute are your kids!! Thanks for sharing and can't wait to hear more!

 

[praisehisname]

Can't wait until your CD arrives so we can see the picture!

I love the looks of OKW, and would like to stay there someday. But I'll be sure to request the Hospitality House area so we don't have the long trek!

Glad you had a nice evening with your parents!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Great update. Its horrible that the rain didnt hold off til you got in your car.

 

[belle8306]

We got soaked by that storm too! We were doing OK until it started raining sideways! I love that mug! Pin trading is a lot of fun. My DH has really gotten into it. I love how relaxing everything looks at OKW. Reading on the balcony sounds wonderful! I really enjoyed Eclipse.

 

[BippityBoo]

Oh my goodness!! I am so sorry that you guys got stuck in that rain What a GREAT mug that you bought!!! It is so fitting for you and your family!

Can't wait to read more

 

[micheleq]

Also hopping aboard! Looks like better weather than January huh? lol...

Congrats on the APs I bet they are Tyvek like the tickets you get from Undercover Tourist. Much more durable than the credit card ones. DD5 still plays with our tickets from 12/08.

We'll be at YC (CL! Yahoo for the Monster pin!) from 10/24-30th, when are you going in October?

Looking forward to hearing about your trip!