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

[praisehisname]

So glad you enjoyed your Ohana breakfast. That was definitely one of our favorite meals. Like you, I LOVE breakfast food, and I appreicate the family-style serving. What a great afternoon around the pool you had. It's so nice to have a friend that you can be relaxed with and your kids get along so well.

 

[carissanboys]

Of all the character meals we've done, breakfast at 'Ohana has been our favorite. And I totally agree, I find hanging out with Liz to be very relaxing too.

 

[belle8306]

The boys look like they were having a blast in their pirate gear. The photopass pictures turned out great. I love the Poly. The waterfall area is so peaceful.

 

[dismagiclover]

I'm totally loving your trip report! It's making me SO excited for our trip. Glad to hear a good report of the Garden Grill. This will be our first time there. We eat reasonably healthy at home (nothing crazy but I do try to serve a vegetable every night! ) and I like that the food is a bit healthier than the Disney norm.
Your pictures are fabulous!

Amanda

I think you'll really enjoy the Garden Grill. It is so much more relaxing than most character meals. No juggling the kids plates and having to keep taking them back to the buffet. I can't wait to hear your report!

I think instead of dinner next year at O'Hana's we'll definitely do breakfast! I'm with you...I love a good breakfast, I would much rather go out for breakfast than dinner, the rest of the family don't agree with me though

That is probably because you have a teenager. I haven't met a teenager yet that doesn't like to sleep in Still you should definitely try Ohana's breakfast. It's worth getting up for!

Love the pics of your pirates at Epcot. Made for a much different photo opportunity, especially the sword fighting.

Too cute about Michael being worried the characters would be scared. That is sweet.

Sounds like you had a nice relaxing day at the resort. It's funny how after spending all that time picking out the best resort, we don't take the time to enjoy it.

It's true I haven't seen many shots of pirates fighting in front of the Epcot ball I've really come to appreciate just hanging out at the Disney resorts. They are beautiful places.

Great updates Glad Dale came along in the end and it seemed like he was very entertaining

Love the PP pics and you and John look so cute as well. Isn't PP just the best

Not liking the sound of the Poly being hectic, but then DF says its always like that because of all the popular restaurants, glad you liked Ohana Best Friends. How was the food and did they refill quite regularly?

You know how I feel about PP. I think I'm going to have start a PP Anonymous one of these days to get me over the addiction It's probably only the area around the restaraunts that is hectic at the Poly. I bet once you get out in the resort it is much more relaxing. I've seen photos of those Poly hammocks and it can get much better than that! The food at the breakfast was yummy and they brought as many refills as we asked for. My boys aren't big eaters so I think we only asked for refills on the bread.

Aww, you guys look awesome in all your pirate gear! That picture of the three of you is great! Too funny the stepmother and stepsisters didn't like it though.

Pirate's League was worth it just for the pictures! The stepmother's reaction was funny. Actually the stepsisters liked the boys quite a bit. They were a bit flirty which the stepmother didn't like. I'm sure she has higher aspirations than pirates for her daughters

 

[dismagiclover]

So glad you enjoyed your Ohana breakfast. That was definitely one of our favorite meals. Like you, I LOVE breakfast food, and I appreicate the family-style serving. What a great afternoon around the pool you had. It's so nice to have a friend that you can be relaxed with and your kids get along so well.

The Ohana breakfast may just turn into a must do. It is always great to hang out with Liz and her boys

Of all the character meals we've done, breakfast at 'Ohana has been our favorite. And I totally agree, I find hanging out with Liz to be very relaxing too.

You lucky girl! You get to hang out with Liz the whole Marathon Weekend. We had such a great time last year and you will have a blast together this year!

The boys look like they were having a blast in their pirate gear. The photopass pictures turned out great. I love the Poly. The waterfall area is so peaceful.

The pirate getups were tons of fun. We got so much attention! That lower lobby of the Poly really is peaceful, especially compared with the madness of the upstairs area!

 

[carissanboys]

You lucky girl! You get to hang out with Liz the whole Marathon Weekend. We had such a great time last year and you will have a blast together this year!

I'm really looking forward to it. When the boys and I visited her in NC last year, we really didn't get a lot of time to relax and chat so it'll be nice to have some alone time.

 

[dismagiclover]

I'm really looking forward to it. When the boys and I visited her in NC last year, we really didn't get a lot of time to relax and chat so it'll be nice to have some alone time.

It is a completely different experience to go to Disney without kids. So much more relaxing. Though you'll be running 13.1 miles so I'm sure you'll get plenty tired out!

 

[dismagiclover]

The storm was still going as it came time to head to our ADR, but I figured a little water wouldn’t hurt. We knew from Day 2 that we weren’t going to melt. So we hopped in the car and headed back to Epcot for dinner. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? I just love Epcot’s dinner choices. It was still raining as we made our way to the Living Seas. That’s right. Tonight’s dinner was at the Coral Reef. This was a first for us and I was excited. We checked in and waited a few minutes for our name to be called. I was very excited when we were shown to our table. Here are the boys enjoying the view.

Woo hoo! We were seated right next to the tank. It was great. I don’t know how well you can see it, but there is a shark swimming by in this picture.

This sting ray was with us through most of dinner.

We all loved it. It’s amazing how soothing a giant fish tank can be even though the restaurant itself had a pretty high decibel level. The food was also excellent. I had the salmon and it was very tasty. A nice change from all of the buffets and fried food I’d been eating. For dessert I had the Chocolate wave and it was so delish! The boys enjoyed their food as well even though they both had pizza. Michael was feeling healthy and had yogurt and granola for his dessert. He insisted on a picture.

Final verdict. We really enjoyed Coral Reef. Could be partly because we had such an awesome table, but the food was really good too. I’m not sure why it gets such bad reviews here on the DIS. Would we eat here again? We have a reservation for the whole Darling Family in January! (Wendy saw it on Full House and is insisting we go.)

So after our yummy meal we headed back out. I was hoping the storm had passed and it was mostly gone. There was still some drizzle coming down, but nothing that required ponchos. Once again we had arrived at Epcot late in the day so fastpasses for the biggies were all gone. That was all right though. One of the things I love about Epcot is that there is lots to do that doesn’t involve rides. First stop after dinner was one of our Epcot favorites. The Character Connection. I just love this Meet ‘n Greet. One line in air conditioning and cartoons that leads to all of the Fab 5. Whoever came up with it was genius. So we stopped in. The line was a bit long. We probably waited around 25 minutes, but the boys didn’t mind at all. They love those old cartoons. First up Mickey Mouse.

The boys loved showing the characters their pins. And the characters love it when they see themselves on the pins.

Next up was Pluto:

Michael has quite a nice Pluto pin collection and Pluto was properly impressed.

Next up was Minnie. It’s a bit strange to meet Minnie without Wendy around. It was a time we all missed her a bit. Minnie and Wendy are BFFs that go way back, but Minnie was happy to see us too.

She really liked my shirt.

Coming up next: A sweet reunion where you’ll all see John’s tender heart.

 

[carissanboys]

Awesome table at Coral Reef! I go back and forth on trying that restaurant. I've heard both good and bad reviews. I'm not a huge seafood lover so that probably affects my decision too. Maybe one day...

Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[praisehisname]

We liked Coral Reef, too. When we ate there they were still doing the diver messages, and we got them to wish DD a happy birthday. It was so cool! Love the pics of the boys with the characters; you got some great shots!

Awesome table at Coral Reef! I go back and forth on trying that restaurant. I've heard both good and bad reviews. I'm not a huge seafood lover so that probably affects my decision too. Maybe one day...

When we ate there, I got the steak and loved it! So you don't have to get seafood.

 

[Stefy]

Glad you enjoyed Coral Reef, I am with you on not getting why it gets a bad rep. Its a cute little restaurant, food is great and looking into the tank whilst eating is awesome!

Loving the PP pics Esp the pin showing ones.

 

[DrMomof3]

Glad you liked Coral Reef. There was a very funny podcast review of Coral Reef a few years ago which was quite negative. I'm sure anyone who heard that has stayed away!

Amanda

 

[Angies1274]

I'm so glad that you enjoyed your breakfast at Ohana's! We loved it too!! I like the family style meals so much better than the buffets. It's much easier to have the food come to you than have to juggle your plate and your child's as well.

Coral Reef looks so cool and I would love to try it but DH doesn't care for seafood. Maybe if the boys and I ever get to take a trip...just the 3 of us, we'll give it a try.

Love your character pics....so cute!!

 

[dismagiclover]

Awesome table at Coral Reef! I go back and forth on trying that restaurant. I've heard both good and bad reviews. I'm not a huge seafood lover so that probably affects my decision too. Maybe one day...

Glad you enjoyed it!

Coral Reef definitely gets mixed reviews here on the DIS. There are so many great choices in Epcot that it's tough to try them all, but hopefully someday you'll get to Coral Reef

We liked Coral Reef, too. When we ate there they were still doing the diver messages, and we got them to wish DD a happy birthday. It was so cool! Love the pics of the boys with the characters; you got some great shots!

That is so cool you got a diver message! Too bad they discontinued that. I suppose it was too hard to meet all the requests.

Glad you enjoyed Coral Reef, I am with you on not getting why it gets a bad rep. Its a cute little restaurant, food is great and looking into the tank whilst eating is awesome!

Loving the PP pics Esp the pin showing ones.

It is interesting because there are places where the food isn't even close to as good that people rave about (I'm thinking of 50's Primetime.) I guess it's a matter of personal taste.

Glad you liked Coral Reef. There was a very funny podcast review of Coral Reef a few years ago which was quite negative. I'm sure anyone who heard that has stayed away!

Amanda

I wonder if that podcast review is when the bad reviews started. Maybe it was a plot by the podcast guys to make it easier to get ADRS

I'm so glad that you enjoyed your breakfast at Ohana's! We loved it too!! I like the family style meals so much better than the buffets. It's much easier to have the food come to you than have to juggle your plate and your child's as well.

Coral Reef looks so cool and I would love to try it but DH doesn't care for seafood. Maybe if the boys and I ever get to take a trip...just the 3 of us, we'll give it a try.

Love your character pics....so cute!!

Both Ohana's breakfast and Coral Reef were first time visits for us and both were great! In fact I have ADRs scheduled at both in the near future

 

[dismagiclover]

I need to start this update with a bit of a flashback. On our last trip to Disney World John and I snuck away from the rest of the family one evening (well we didn’t really sneak) and visited the Character Connections. John had on a Donald shirt and got tons of attention from Donald. He absolutely loved it and he holds a special place in his heart for Donald (especially Donald here at the Character Connections.) So he could barely contain himself as he greeted Donald again.

Poor guy is overwhelmed and doing his best not to cry. Of course he had to show Donald his pin collection. (By this point he’d actually picked up a few Donald pins.)

He eventually got it together enough to smile for the pictures.

He is such a sensitive soul. I really hope life doesn’t beat that out of him. Anyway last up was Goofy.

We headed out into the evening and I asked the boys what they wanted to do next. Innoventions was right there so we headed in. One of the first things we came to was a game called something like Be in Your Own Video Game. That is pretty much my boys’ idea of heaven so we had to play. It was actually pretty fun. They took a few pictures of us and then put us into our own video game. Here are some screen shots of it.

We could e-mail it so we sent it to DH, but he never received it. Oh well. Next game we ran across was the Piggy Bank game where we were supposed to save for a long term goal. My boys have been trained well and picked saving for college.

We added quite a bit of money to the piggy bank.

We almost reached our goal. If only it was so easy in the real world. Anyway we had a fun time in Innoventions that evening. Not very crowded at all and the boys enjoyed the new games. It was time to move on though. Anyone want to guess where we headed next?

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

No fair, you made me cry. And I don't even know you personally. That scene between John and Donald was so sweet. Those are the best moments and why we keep coming back.

Love your updates!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Wow! I was several updates behind (I just caught up with my own thread this morning.)

Let's see......what did I want to comment on?

Oh yeah, I loved the sword fight pictures. Boys will be boys and there's nothing better than a good sword fight between pirates.

I have never eaten at Ohana....dinner or breakfast. I have visited the Poly though and I have to agree, it does seem a bit "busy" all the time.

Glad to hear that you guys got to spend some time with your friends by the pool. I'm sure it was nice catching up with your former neighbors.

We love the Coral Reef. It's one of our favorites. You had a great view right there by the aquarium.

I agree with Planning fanatic mom, the pictures of John and Donald and your description made me tear up. How very sweet!

 

[praisehisname]

He is such a sensitive soul. I really hope life doesn’t beat that out of him.

Loved hearing about his encounter with Donald. I wouldn't worry about him losing the sensitivity. My 16-year-old was like that as a kid, and still is. He is way more sensitive to others' feelings than my daughters!

Anyone want to guess where we headed next?

Pure guess, but is it Illuminations? Or maybe Kim Possible?

 

[DrMomof3]

Love the Donald encounter. Such a sweetie!!!!

Amanda

 

[mermaid764]

It's great to hear such a positive review of the coral reef...makes me more excited to try this one for the first time next week.

That's such a touching story about your son and Donald and the pics from the character connection turned out great