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

[MagicShell]

I have never been a huge fan of Toontown, but I can certainly understand why it would be special to you and Wendy. That was such a sweet story. I'm glad you got to say goodbye.

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

What a sweet story! That is such a great memory for Wendy to have. Thank you for sharing that.

 

[dismagiclover]

I need to stop reading your report at work, because this is the second time you made me tear up and people are gonna think I am crazy!! What a bittersweet moment!

Just tell them you got something in your eye or maybe that your allergies are bothering you

Oh, what a sweet memory. You had me in tears!

It is a great memory!

Okay, so I just finished reading the installment and I'm dabbing my eyes at work and a client came in. I had to make up an excuse that I took a drink of my coke and it went down the wrong way. Otherwise, they would have thought I was nutso.

What a wonderful memory that Wendy has of the personal tour she was given by Minnie. Those are the Disney moments that we always treasure.

We had a similar one when Hunter was three. We walked over to Camp Minnie Mickey and Goofy greeted us, took Hunter by the hand and introduced him to all of his friends. Hunter swears that he remembers that day.

Didn't mean to make trouble with your clients Love the Hunter moment. I've never heard about them doing anything like that at Camp Minnie Mickey anymore. So you just must have lots of extra pixie dust that day. (I'd love to see pictures of a 3 year old Hunter.)

Aw, what a wonderful Minnie-house update! It's so nice that Wendy (and you) will always have the memories of that special day, even once the house itself is gone forever.

I'm kind of glad that I never had a reason to get attached to Toontown (i.e., no kids), so now I don't have to be sad that it's gone.

I was a bit behind...


CP breakfast > MK morning show. It's simple math, there's no arguing with it!

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A lesson learned, perhaps?


Much as I wasn't crazy about the weather, that certainly was a January perk! I'm a bit nervous for April...it's going to be soooooo much busier than I'm used to!

Isn't the new Pooh queue fabulous? I'm so happy with their new approach to lines, in general -- I hope they keep it up!

I probably would have never been that attached to Toontown either if it hadn't been for the Minnie experience. It really is just a glorified Meet 'n Greet. The crowds will definitely be a lot larger in April, but the weather will be better too. I guess it is all a trade off. Honestly though I prefer June when the weather is totally predictable and I can go swimming (even with the crowds.)

 

[dismagiclover]

aww how sweet! I still remember when they just to have the little buildings that looked like shops! We will all miss the houses

I wish they could find somewhere else to put the houses. Maybe somewhere over in HS. It wouldn't be too tough to theme over there. It makes sense that the movie stars would want to be close to their work, right?

Speaking of marathons, I just spent a large portion of my rainy weekend reading all (!) your trip reports. Very enjoyable reading.

I made my first trip to WDW this past May and have been dying to get back ever since. Of course, now I'm pregnant and due in July, so I have to live vicariously through others' trip reports.

I'm caught up now and ready for more.

Wow I'm impressed. That is quite a marathon reading all of my reports. You now know more about our family vacations than my mother does Congratulations on your upcoming little one! Now you'll have even more of a reason to get back there and make some incredible memories!

I have never been a huge fan of Toontown, but I can certainly understand why it would be special to you and Wendy. That was such a sweet story. I'm glad you got to say goodbye.

I actually don't like FL Toontown near as much as the one in CA. It is so much better themed and immersive out in Disneyland. So yes I'll miss it, but I'm excited about what is to come!

What a sweet story! That is such a great memory for Wendy to have. Thank you for sharing that.

It really is a great memory for Wendy. And luckily she was old enough that I think she will always remember it.

 

[dismagiclover]

Let’s move on from the nostalgia of my last update to something a bit more educational, shall we? I didn’t post this in my last post because it didn’t quite fit, but one of the rooms I really paid attention to in Minnie’s house was her art studio. I’m an Art History teacher and I can’t believe I’d never really examined this room before. Why? Because it is full of allusions to famous paintings. So I thought it would be fun to do a little comparison of Minnie with some of the Great Masters. Away we go.

First one of my all time favorite artists, Johannes Vermeer.

Minnie's interpretation.

Next we have some Greek pottery.

Minnie's version.

Some Rodin.

Minnie's Thinker

Edward Hopper

Hopper Minnie Style

Gainesbourgh's Blue Boy

Minnie's Blue Duck

Norman Rockwell's Self Portrait

Minnie's Self Portrait

Whistler's Mother

Minnie's Mother

Kind of fun for an Art Historian So after we left Minnie’s house everyone wanted to ride Barnstormer. I sent them off for a ride and took a few last pictures of Toontown. This was one of those moments that I would have liked to have a nicer camera. Here is what I took.

Goodbye Toontown. We’ll miss you, but hopefully Dumbo really does have a shorter line.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

OMGOSH! I never even noticed the art interpretations! This is what I love about Disney. The attention to detail is astounding!

 

[Stefy]

Wow I love that last update, with the art interpretations. Like most, have never noticed it myself either.

It's a shame that Mickey and Minnie's houses will be gone, was wishing they would find some way to keep them.

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

Thank you for the very enjoyable art history lesson. It was a fun way to start my day!

 

[burly]

Here's hoping that the expansion is so wonderful that we don't miss toontown.....

enjoying the trip report you marathoner you!

KIM

P.S. listening to disney music and the toontown theme just came on!

 

[mickeystoontown]

OMGOSH! I never even noticed the art interpretations! This is what I love about Disney. The attention to detail is astounding!

That's exactly what I was going to say!

 

[mla1977]

Wow! I love the photo comparisons. I've noticed some of those pieces, but you did an awesome job pulling everything together.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Oh dear...I went right into the ugly cry when you were talking about Wendy no longer being that little girl.....to think we will never see Toontown again made it worse too They always say the relationship between a daddy and a daughter is like no other (I have that with my dad) but I know you and I both have that special relationship with our girls....you're a great mom!!!

 

[Shannon84]

I loved your art lesson in your latest post, that was really cool to see the paintings and such with Minnie's version...thanks for posting that!!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Jenny, that has got to be the sweetest post ever about Wendy and Minnie's house! What darling memories! I'm so glad you all had the chance to see it one more time. We purposely spent extra time in Toontown as well this past February. So sad!

Loved the art history lesson!! I love all of the details in both Mickey and Minnie's houses. I really hope they find a way to incorporate them back into the MK somehow.

Great updates, love all the sweet pics!

 

[mermaid764]

What a touching memory to have of Minnie's house, while I am very excited for the new expansions it's sad to see toontown leaving

Your comparisons on the art pieces was really interesting, I remember taking that greek pottery piece in art history and had never connected it to the one in Minnie's house before, too neat!

Can't wait for more

 

[MagicShell]

Minnie's art collection is great. I had not noticed all those different things. They are too cute. I wonder what will happen to all those things.

 

[kcandbella]

Thank you for those art images! I love them. I would've never connected the pieces at Minnie's to those real works of art...that's really cool. Maybe someday you will be able to buy one of those Minnie interpretations on eBay (hoping they rescued them before they bulldozed the house)...start saving!

Your post about Wendy gave me goosebumps...kids growing up really is bittersweet. But through your posts I know how proud you are of her and it must be amazing to watch a sweet baby girl grow to the brink of her teenage years. Thanks again for sharing her story with us!

 

[SGcruiser]

Thank you for the art lesson. I wonder how many people have walked by those pieces of art and never realized they were Disney interpretations of masterpieces. We take for granted the wonder of Disney.

 

[dismagiclover]

OMGOSH! I never even noticed the art interpretations! This is what I love about Disney. The attention to detail is astounding!

I can't believe I'd never noticed them before either!! Disney really does worry about those details!

Wow I love that last update, with the art interpretations. Like most, have never noticed it myself either.

It's a shame that Mickey and Minnie's houses will be gone, was wishing they would find some way to keep them.

I'm hopeful that they will find somewhere to put them. I still think they would be a great addition to Hollywood Studios.

Thank you for the very enjoyable art history lesson. It was a fun way to start my day!

You are more than welcome! I always like talking art history.

Here's hoping that the expansion is so wonderful that we don't miss toontown.....

enjoying the trip report you marathoner you!

KIM

P.S. listening to disney music and the toontown theme just came on!

I do thing the expansion will make us forget Toontown pretty quickly. There will be a whole new area to explore!

That's exactly what I was going to say!

Great minds think alike

Wow! I love the photo comparisons. I've noticed some of those pieces, but you did an awesome job pulling everything together.

Thanks! It was a full post to put together because it was a bit different.

Oh dear...I went right into the ugly cry when you were talking about Wendy no longer being that little girl.....to think we will never see Toontown again made it worse too They always say the relationship between a daddy and a daughter is like no other (I have that with my dad) but I know you and I both have that special relationship with our girls....you're a great mom!!!

Sorry to send you into the ugly cry. The relationship between a daddy and his little girl is special, but I don't think it is any more special than the one between a mother and her daughter. I've told you this before, but I love the relationship you have with Jasmine. I hope that Wendy and I can keep that type of relationship as she grows.

 

[Stefy]

I'm hopeful that they will find somewhere to put them. I still think they would be a great addition to Hollywood Studios.

Ooh thats a good idea and they could give them a bit of a facelift too