The Darling Family Takes on Marathon Weekend: Jan at the Boardwalk Villas

[wdwgirl03]

Aww, last full day?? Looks like it was off to a nice start though. We were thisclose to going to CP for breakfast but in the end decided to go with Chef Mickey's.

 

[txmomto1]

Great updates. We love Crystal Palace breakfast too, and always try and go there on our last day before we leave for the airport.

BTW, your inspiration had me start the couch to 5K program this week. I completed week 1, and tooK a minute and a half off my mile by the end of the week. I won't tell you the actual time, I'm sure you'll say, are you sure you aren't walking the whole time?

 

[Stefy]

Coral Reef must be one of those hit and miss places. I haven't seen the new menu for Le Cellier. I need to check it out. It's DH's favorite place so we will probably try to hit it next January.

It looks scrummy and a little bit more upscale, I guess more in keeping with its Signature upgrade.

Great PP pics at the Character Spot, Minnie is so cute

Loving the CP pics, is not a bad breakfast spot I have to admit and you get to see Pooh Bear and the gang.

I've never noticed those column details in the castle before, they're v cute

 

[kcandbella]

Love all the character and Main Street pics!

I can't wait to try CP breakfast this time around. I'm going to try for 8:05. I really want those empty Main Street pictures!

I'm thinking that if Michael got that sword out again, you will definitely need to take that kid to the casinos when he is 21! Because that would be a VERY lucky boy!

 

[Queenofallthings]

I don't think there is anything more special than early morning at the MK...there is something about walking down Main Street with hardly anyone around that is truly magical! Great PP pics .... I can't wait to hear about that sword......

 

[DrMomof3]

Unfortunately I don't think I'll ever get DH back to CP after our lunch experience there. It's too bad because I thought the food was pretty good.
My kids tried the sword for the first time on our January trip and I'm sure it'll become a regular thing now...

Amanda

 

[MagicShell]

I was way behind but I have a good excuse. We have been at WDW. I love all the pictures you got with your medals. Very cool. I too love CP breakfast. We were lucky and got in without an ADR this trip.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Last Disney day already??? How does the time go by so quickly?? Thanks so much for sharing. Your family is just too cute!

 

[mom2rtk]

Poor John... But how cool for Michael! And you did a great job capturing it for posterity!

 

[Angies1274]

Love all the character pics!! Glad you enjoyed your CP breakfast! I love being at MK before the park opens. Unfortunately, our CP breakfast didn't go as well as I had hoped but we loved dinner there! I think we will give CP another try on our next trip. The puffed french toast really is so yummy! Aww...poor John...but I can't wait to see if Michael can do it again!!

 

[norybell]

Oh ny goodness, if Michael pulls that sword out again, I'm gonna freak out!

I just had my first CP breakfast this January, and I finally understand what all the fuss is about! Characters aside, the food is sooooooooo yummy! I'll admit, I just may have made myself a solo breakfast ADR there for my upcoming family trip in April. I know no one else will want to get up that early, but now that I've done it once, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to skip it again!

 

[dismagiclover]

What great photos!!!


I love CP breakfast too. We eat breakfast there at least once per trip. Then I sometimes also eat lunch or dinner there but not often. I enjoy both lunch & dinner but can't give up breakfast. Occasionally we'll have a late breakfast if we want to have breakfast on an EMH morning but I have to say I don't like this as much. I find if you don't have an early sitting you have to wait to get seated and then often have to wait to see all the characters.

We've never tried a later breakfast. I'm not sure if I'd like it as much either. Part of what I love is that early walk down Main Street plus I wouldn't like waiting around for the characters.

Hey there! I haven't read a thing yet, but I saw "Darling family" and had to hop aboard. I remember "when are the parents showing up" and how I laughed myself silly. So here I am again! Can't wait to get started, and, since I should be doing laundry right now... I'll get starting reading the TR right away! -stace

Welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy this report as much as my summer one. Though I'm sure you noticed by now our focus was a bit different.

nice update again!!!

I ate at CP for dinner (first time every) and we though it was okay. Our table faced the castle which was awesome and the characters were good too. Most of them came back twice even. The food was eh. Our salads that we made were good and a few other things but my friend and I agreed that CM was better as far as food but the restaurant overall wasn't bad but I'd like to try the breakfast sometime!

I generally don't like dinner buffets near as much as breakfast buffets. I think it's just harder to mess up breakfast foods. Even at Disney we tend to stick to breakfast buffets (though I have to say we liked Biergarten and Boma is very tasty as well.)

Aww, last full day?? Looks like it was off to a nice start though. We were thisclose to going to CP for breakfast but in the end decided to go with Chef Mickey's.

The last full day has to come at some point, right. Don't worry though. I'll drag it out

Great updates. We love Crystal Palace breakfast too, and always try and go there on our last day before we leave for the airport.

BTW, your inspiration had me start the couch to 5K program this week. I completed week 1, and tooK a minute and a half off my mile by the end of the week. I won't tell you the actual time, I'm sure you'll say, are you sure you aren't walking the whole time?

That is great news! There will be good days and bad days with running. The secret is just to keep going. It's about one foot in front of the other! Keep me updated on your progress. I'm very excited for you!

It looks scrummy and a little bit more upscale, I guess more in keeping with its Signature upgrade.

Great PP pics at the Character Spot, Minnie is so cute

Loving the CP pics, is not a bad breakfast spot I have to admit and you get to see Pooh Bear and the gang.

I've never noticed those column details in the castle before, they're v cute

We love the Character Spot. We've gotten lots of great pictures there over the years. I love all those Disney details. I never noticed them much either until I started hanging out on the DIS and seeing everyone's pictures of them. Love it!

Love all the character and Main Street pics!

I can't wait to try CP breakfast this time around. I'm going to try for 8:05. I really want those empty Main Street pictures!

I'm thinking that if Michael got that sword out again, you will definitely need to take that kid to the casinos when he is 21! Because that would be a VERY lucky boy!

Even if you get a breakfast a bit later you can get in to Main Street at 8:00. And they usually seat you based on check in time not ADR time. (At least that has been our experience. Michael and the sword should be up shortly.

I don't think there is anything more special than early morning at the MK...there is something about walking down Main Street with hardly anyone around that is truly magical! Great PP pics .... I can't wait to hear about that sword......

I'm with you about early morning at the MK. It is such a great feeling, plus there is the knowledge that you have a Magic Kingdom day ahead of you.

 

[dismagiclover]

Unfortunately I don't think I'll ever get DH back to CP after our lunch experience there. It's too bad because I thought the food was pretty good.
My kids tried the sword for the first time on our January trip and I'm sure it'll become a regular thing now...

Amanda

But you got to meet Rabbit at your CP lunch As you can tell I'm still a bit envious of that

I was way behind but I have a good excuse. We have been at WDW. I love all the pictures you got with your medals. Very cool. I too love CP breakfast. We were lucky and got in without an ADR this trip.

Welcome home! I hope Disney Depression isn't setting in too badly. How was the trip? I'm sure it was fabulous!

Last Disney day already??? How does the time go by so quickly?? Thanks so much for sharing. Your family is just too cute!

Disney vacations do go by quick! I"m just thankful for trip reports because they help drag the trip out longer

Poor John... But how cool for Michael! And you did a great job capturing it for posterity!

John has pretty much resigned himself to the fact he will never get the sword. He's OK with it.

Love all the character pics!! Glad you enjoyed your CP breakfast! I love being at MK before the park opens. Unfortunately, our CP breakfast didn't go as well as I had hoped but we loved dinner there! I think we will give CP another try on our next trip. The puffed french toast really is so yummy! Aww...poor John...but I can't wait to see if Michael can do it again!!

CP is like all restaraunts at Disney. Some meals are great; some are just OK. Sometimes I don't want to go back to favorites because I'm afraid the next time won't be as good. CP is one we keep on going back to though. It's mostly the walk down Main Street.

Oh ny goodness, if Michael pulls that sword out again, I'm gonna freak out!

I just had my first CP breakfast this January, and I finally understand what all the fuss is about! Characters aside, the food is sooooooooo yummy! I'll admit, I just may have made myself a solo breakfast ADR there for my upcoming family trip in April. I know no one else will want to get up that early, but now that I've done it once, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to skip it again!

I think a solo CP breakfast sounds heavenly. You can linger for as long as you like on Main Street and just enjoy the breakfast! I'm with you. I don't know if we'll be able to skip it again either. I haven't seen the MK opening show for several trips because I just can't give up the breakfast. All these tough choices.

 

[dismagiclover]

It was Michael’s turn to try for the sword. He was confident. He had done this twice before with no problem. He hopped up and pulled and . . .

It didn’t budge. This actually confused him quite a bit because the other 2 times he tried it came out so easily. I guess he was too much of a stinker on this trip to be king. Anyway we moseyed on over to Peter Pan to wait for DH and Wendy.

It was 9:37 and look how empty Fantasyland was.

There are definitely some pluses to January.

I was afraid that DH wouldn’t be satisfied with just the fast passes and that he’d decided to take a quick ride on Big Thunder. He was good though and didn’t. We all headed into what has become my favorite ride at MK and enjoyed our flight to Neverland. The kids wanted the Carousel next so we hopped on.

Then it was off to Winnie the Pooh. I was excited to see the new queue and it didn’t disappoint. Love the new entrance.

Everyone had a great time playing. In fact as we passed the CM she said she couldn’t figure out who was having more fun, DH or the kids.

This screen was really cool. You could rub away the honey and the characters were underneath.

The ride hasn’t changed at all. We all decided the queue is as fun as the ride. If this is a sign of what the new Fantasyland will be like then it will be fabulous. Tons of attention to detail. Next up was the Teacups. Just before we got in line, I saw this perpetually tardy fellow. He was kind enough to pose for a picture.

Then it was on to the teacups. I rode with Michael because he has motion sickness issues and so do I. DH rode with Wendy and John and promised them he would spin them as fast as he could. Here they are.

Here is Michael having fun too.

After we got off DH was having trouble walking in a straight line. I was just laughing. It was a little past 10:00 so we headed over for our farewell visit to Toontown. Stay tuned to hear how it went.

 

[DrMomof3]

We didn't get to ride Pooh and check out the new queue. Now I'm sad that we skipped it!
Tom won't ride the tea cups at all because they make him sick.

Amanda

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Great update! I must admit again how much I love the daily updates. It's like a bribe..if you go to bed, you can read Jenny's trip update in the morning!!

We loved the new Pooh additions too!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

This actually confused him quite a bit because the other 2 times he tried it came out so easily.

Ahhhh.... poor kid. I was really "pulling" for him.

So how cold was it that morning? I love the empty park, but it does look really cold.

 

[Stefy]

Great update Looks like a really fun morning in Fantasy Land I can't wait to check out the new Pooh queue, looks so cool

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

You have got to love an empty Fantasyland! I love the pictures of the Pooh queue. It looks like there was a lot of fun to be had.

I would have joined you and Michael in your teacup. I could ride coasters all day, but I am not a fan of spinning!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

The new queue looks really great! I can't wait to check it out!