The Darling Family's Endless Summer Vacation: August 2013 New 1/24

[Ariel484]

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?

Good luck convincing your husband! Think of all the extra Disney time you'd be getting...

Yay for cruising indeed! Did you do the Castaway Cay 5K during your cruise? I did and didn't pay enough attention to the course map when the Cast Members were reviewing it beforehand...made a wrong turn and ended up running 3.7 miles instead of 3.1. DUH! I also did a treadmill run the morning before so I'm pretty proud of myself for actually sticking to it for once.

No races for me this January. We'll be there for Wine & Dine and the week before Marathon Weekend - a non-running trip! We really need one of those. I'm planning on Dopey in 2015 though, so I can't wait to hear about your experience. Hope your training is going well!

 

[Nora03]

Hi Jenny
The Darling family is absolutely "darling"! I found your trip report awhile ago and have read some of your other reports, including the MNSSHP report where your family dressed up. What a good sport your DH is! Next time you need to get into a Tinkerbelle costume. You could easily pull it off!

Congratulations also on your marathon runs! Amazing. You seemed to do it with ease.

I clicked on your Alaskan cruise link, but discovered that it wasn't actually a link. Would love to read about that trip too, but I'm grateful that you have written so many reports, so no worries. I hope you all enjoyed the gorgeous scenery in Alaska.

Looking forward to reading more.

Nora

 

[burly]

Hi, I love your trip reports. I'm in!


KIM

 

[dismagiclover]

Don’t worry about the pace of the TR..gives us all something to look forward to and we won’t 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 aren’t 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

You were right about dinner! Be Our Guest was fun. The food was good, not great, but good. Really that is all I ask of Disney food. We are in a theme park. The diapered babies is an art tradition that really takes off during the Italian Renaissance (16th century.) Basically they are descended from the tradition of Cupid from the ancient Greeks and Romans. During the Renaissance they are often used just as sort of decorative elements in paintings. They are actually called putti. If you google that term you'll find examples of images of them. Often they are nude and they sometimes have wings. The ones in Be Our Guest aren't nude because they wouldn't be very Disney. Anyway, there is your art history lesson for the day.

Good luck convincing your husband! Think of all the extra Disney time you'd be getting...

Yay for cruising indeed! Did you do the Castaway Cay 5K during your cruise? I did and didn't pay enough attention to the course map when the Cast Members were reviewing it beforehand...made a wrong turn and ended up running 3.7 miles instead of 3.1. DUH! I also did a treadmill run the morning before so I'm pretty proud of myself for actually sticking to it for once.

No races for me this January. We'll be there for Wine & Dine and the week before Marathon Weekend - a non-running trip! We really need one of those. I'm planning on Dopey in 2015 though, so I can't wait to hear about your experience. Hope your training is going well!

I am having a hard time convincing my husband to drive straight through at Christmas. His concern is that we may hit bad weather or bad traffic. Plus it will get dark so much earlier so we'd be driving for longer in the dark. All very good points, but you know I'll keep trying. We actually did the Alaska cruise so no Castaway Cay 5K for me. If I ever cruise the Caribbean I'll definitely plan on it though. Sorry about that extra .6 miles. It just meant you didn't have to feel guilty about the extra Mickey Bar though. Good luck in the Wine & Dine. I'm actually thinking about doing that race in 2014. Enjoy the non running trip. You won't have to do anything but have fun!

Hi Jenny
The Darling family is absolutely "darling"! I found your trip report awhile ago and have read some of your other reports, including the MNSSHP report where your family dressed up. What a good sport your DH is! Next time you need to get into a Tinkerbelle costume. You could easily pull it off!

Congratulations also on your marathon runs! Amazing. You seemed to do it with ease.

I clicked on your Alaskan cruise link, but discovered that it wasn't actually a link. Would love to read about that trip too, but I'm grateful that you have written so many reports, so no worries. I hope you all enjoyed the gorgeous scenery in Alaska.

Looking forward to reading more.

Nora

I loved that Halloween trip! My DH really is great. That was probably his favorite trip ever. He just loved being Peter Pan! I actually had a Tinkerbelle costume I was going to wear, but I'm not 18 anymore. Trust me everyone is glad they didn't have to look at pictures of me in it. You've given me an idea for entertaining myself while I wait for the Photopass CD. Maybe I'll do some flashback trip within this trip report. You know just show you some highlights of those trips I didn't write reports for. I'll get working on that.

Hi, I love your trip reports. I'm in!


KIM

Welcome! I'm glad to have you.

 

[chattadisser]

You were right about dinner! Be Our Guest was fun. The food was good, not great, but good. Really that is all I ask of Disney food. We are in a theme park. The diapered babies is an art tradition that really takes off during the Italian Renaissance (16th century.) Basically they are descended from the tradition of Cupid from the ancient Greeks and Romans. During the Renaissance they are often used just as sort of decorative elements in paintings. They are actually called putti. If you google that term you'll find examples of images of them. Often they are nude and they sometimes have wings. The ones in Be Our Guest aren't nude because they wouldn't be very Disney. Anyway, there is your art history lesson for the day.

Thanks for the art history lesson. I have mostly seen them with wings looking more "Cherub" looking and thought that it may have something to do with guarding the home that they are in. I never knew that they are actually called putti. An art histiry class would be really interesting to me now, when I was in college...not so much. I just need you to tour a few museums with me!

Christine

 

[RGirl]

Joining in!

Holy cow! Your drive down was HARD CORE! I love it!!!

What awesome pool time you had. And I love all the pics from AOA - it's so fun to see pics of this new resort.

Dang! That was loooooooong wait for your APs. I'm glad they were able to hold your BOG ADR and that you ended up enjoying your meal there.

 

[dismagiclover]

Thanks for the art history lesson. I have mostly seen them with wings looking more "Cherub" looking and thought that it may have something to do with guarding the home that they are in. I never knew that they are actually called putti. An art histiry class would be really interesting to me now, when I was in college...not so much. I just need you to tour a few museums with me!

Christine

Art history is a subject that is pretty interesting, but I don't know how useful it is at making a living so it probably isn't too big of a deal that you missed it in college. LOL

Joining in!

Holy cow! Your drive down was HARD CORE! I love it!!!

What awesome pool time you had. And I love all the pics from AOA - it's so fun to see pics of this new resort.

Dang! That was loooooooong wait for your APs. I'm glad they were able to hold your BOG ADR and that you ended up enjoying your meal there.

Welcome! I was pretty impressed with our endurance on the drive down. I think it granted me some bragging rights. Our pool time was awesome. That is one of the great things about summer trips. You can swim anytime of the day. (Except when the 4:00 thunderstorm comes through) The AP thing was a bit annoying. Luckily our trip was so long that by the end of it, it was all a distant memory.

 

[dismagiclover]

Since I'm still waiting on the Photopass CD I thought I would give you a mini trip report of our Alaskan cruise last summer on the Disney Wonder. Needless to say, it was awesome. This will mostly just be a photo flashback. We were so exicted that this would be our home for a week.



Minnie was there to welcome us.





First stop was lunch. The boys loved the food on the cruise.



Bye bye Seattle. We just ate and Michael has an ice cream cone.







The Sail Away party





The boys were the only ones in the pool on Day 2. It was not good swimming weather.



Koda and Kenai from Brother Bear. (We love that movie.)



Formal Night







Stay tuned because the best is definitely yet to come

 

[RGirl]

Oh, I am loving the Alaska cruise pictures!!! We did that cruise last summer too - wasn't it wonderful???

 

[dismagiclover]

Oh, I am loving the Alaska cruise pictures!!! We did that cruise last summer too - wasn't it wonderful???

The cruise was awesome! I went over and browsed your report of that cruise and it brought back so many great memories! Oh how I'd love to do another cruise! Hopefully someday!

 

[chattadisser]

Love the cruise pictures! I would love to do the Alaskan cruise but we're thinking we need to wait a little longer for everyone to be a little older (well, the girls, not the adults) . That also helps in the saving department too.

Was this your first cruise? Cruising in general only mildly interests me but going to Alaska would definately seal the deal!

Christine

 

[dismagiclover]

Love the cruise pictures! I would love to do the Alaskan cruise but we're thinking we need to wait a little longer for everyone to be a little older (well, the girls, not the adults) . That also helps in the saving department too.

Was this your first cruise? Cruising in general only mildly interests me but going to Alaska would definately seal the deal!

Christine

The cruise was awesome! It was our first cruise, but I hope it is not our last. I really want to cruise the Med, but if we do that it probably won't be Disney because of price. Alaska is absolutely beautiful! I have nothing but good things to say about the whole cruise. It might be good to wait for your daughters to get a little older, but Michael was only 7 and he loved it.

 

[dismagiclover]

Day 3 was Tracy Arm. We spent the day cruising the Fjord and were rewarded with a glacier at the end. We met with Disney friends along the way.













It was a bit chilly at times.



There is the glacier.





The view from the room wasn't bad either.



It was an amazing day!

 

[norybell]

Wow, Alaska looks amazing! I would love to go on a Disney cruise someday...DH doesn't really like the sound of cruising, but I bet I'll be able to talk him into it eventually!

 

[RGirl]

The cruise was awesome! I went over and browsed your report of that cruise and it brought back so many great memories! Oh how I'd love to do another cruise! Hopefully someday!

Oh, yeah, I am totally sold on DCL! I would go every year and more if I could afford it!

You got some great pics with the characters on your cruise!

 

[dismagiclover]

Wow, Alaska looks amazing! I would love to go on a Disney cruise someday...DH doesn't really like the sound of cruising, but I bet I'll be able to talk him into it eventually!

My DH never thought he would like a cruise either. The only reason he agreed to this one is because it was Alaska. He ended up loving it and not just the Alaska part. It is such a pampered way to travel.

Oh, yeah, I am totally sold on DCL! I would go every year and more if I could afford it!

You got some great pics with the characters on your cruise!

I'm with you. If I could cruising would definitely be an annual vacation. The character pictures from the Tracy Arm day are probably my favorite of the cruise.

 

[chattadisser]

Such beautiful pictures! I love all the pictures of the characters in their "Alaska" outfits!

I know if can be chilly in Alaska anytime during the summer, but what month did you cruise in? I think the colder temps might make it feel "more Alaska" if that makes sense.

Did you have a room with a veranda? It looks like in the picture with Michael that it is the large window porthole. I've heard positives about both having a veranda and having the large window. Some say, especially for Alaska and the sights to have a vernada, and others have told me to get the large pothole room for more interior room.

What's your thoughts on this?

Christine

 

[dismagiclover]

Such beautiful pictures! I love all the pictures of the characters in their "Alaska" outfits!

I know if can be chilly in Alaska anytime during the summer, but what month did you cruise in? I think the colder temps might make it feel "more Alaska" if that makes sense.

Did you have a room with a veranda? It looks like in the picture with Michael that it is the large window porthole. I've heard positives about both having a veranda and having the large window. Some say, especially for Alaska and the sights to have a vernada, and others have told me to get the large pothole room for more interior room.

What's your thoughts on this?

Christine

Our trip was in July and it probably looks colder than it actually was. Tracy Arm was the chilliest day because we went up by the glacier, we were on the water, we spent the day outside watching the scenery, and we weren't moving. On the other port days we were warmer, though we never were even close to hot. We had adjoining rooms with a porthole and we thought it was great. I'm sure a veranda would have been lovely, but there were always places available on deck to watch the scenery if we wanted to. Plus the kids liked sitting in the porthole. We'd probably get the exact same room type if we did it again. We ended up with two rooms with the porthole for less than we would have paid for all of us in one veranda room. The choice was a no brainer for us.

 

[dismagiclover]

On Day 4 we finally got off the boat! Today we visited Skagway. We went on a short hike and did a little river rafting. It was a great day!











Once we were back on the boat there were characters to meet.









As you can see, another great day!

 

[Kellyh123]

I have enjoyed reading your previous trip reports. We will be going to Disney on Halloween.

Reading your trip report helps to make the time pass just a bit faster until our trip.!!!

Thanks