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

[dismagiclover]

The Marie meet was hilarious!!!!

How disappointing that you couldn't use the FP at ETwB and then to get dissed at the princesses too! Glad the CM there hooked you up.

The Marie meet was definitely a fun one! It was a bit annoying to get dissed by the special fastpass twice, but it worked out OK because of the great CM.

 

[dismagiclover]

We headed over to Town Hall for our princess Meet & Greet. I’m happy to report that this time we finally got in! We didn’t have to wait too long and we were soon escorted in to the room with the princesses. The boys were not excited about this at all. In fact, here is a photo showing you exactly how they felt.



Oh the challenges of having a sister. First up was Rapunzel. This was Wendy’s first time meeting Rapunzel and she immediately wanted to talk hair with Wendy. So they had a discussion about hair care. (I am not kidding.)





I decided to hop into a picture.





The boys, however, did not want to meet Rapunzel. Here is John as Wendy and I were chatting with Rapunzel. (Michael had the camera.)



Next up was Aurora.





I loved her new dress. So pretty. She really wanted Wendy to bring her princes to meet her. (She was under the misconception that John and Michael were some sort of royalty.) They declined the opportunity for a chat. (I wish I could say they politely declined, but it was probably rather rude.) The Photopass guy took pictures of them anyway.





I tried to cover for the boys’ rudeness by posing for a photo with the lovely Aurora.



Last up was the beautiful Cinderella.



Her and Wendy had a bit of a chat about shoes.



Here is Michael’s version of that shot.



Once again the boys refused to meet the princess, but I stepped in for a picture.



And with that we were done with the princesses. The boys were very happy about that. Wendy was happy too. She loved the meet and greet. (To be honest one of the reasons I think she loved it so much was because it was such torture for her little brothers.) Where to next? (If you’re paying attention you already know.)

 

[DisneyJo]

Oh I love the photos of the boys at the Princess meet, so funny

How cute that Wendy chatted about hair and shoes

 

[chattadisser]

Wendy is as tall as Rapunzel! How did that happen??? Good to see the boys were being boys, no way are they getting a picture with a princess! Torturing your sibilings is one of life's great pleasures!

Christine

 

[dismom9761]

great update
love the princess interaction

 

[RGirl]

Aww - what a great princess meet! Too funny about the boys.

 

[norybell]

I'm so glad Wendy got to have lots of girly fun with the princesses! John and Michael are too funny. How many years do you think I have to sneak princess meets in before Simba starts to hate it?

 

[dismagiclover]

Oh I love the photos of the boys at the Princess meet, so funny

How cute that Wendy chatted about hair and shoes

Wendy always has the funniest chats with the princesses. Style of some sort is usually the topic of choice.

Wendy is as tall as Rapunzel! How did that happen??? Good to see the boys were being boys, no way are they getting a picture with a princess! Torturing your sibilings is one of life's great pleasures!

Christine

I really did notice how tall Wendy has become during this trip. She used to always dream of growing up to be a Disney princess, but before you know it she will have grown up too much! The boys really do crack me up with the princesses. I wonder if at some point they will think of them as pretty girls and show a bit more interest. LOL

great update
love the princess interaction

Thanks! Gotta love princesses!

Aww - what a great princess meet! Too funny about the boys.

Those boys are always good for a laugh!

I'm so glad Wendy got to have lots of girly fun with the princesses! John and Michael are too funny. How many years do you think I have to sneak princess meets in before Simba starts to hate it?

You still have a good 6 or 7 years until Simba starts to rebel. John lasted a bit longer than Michael in his toleration, but I think that is because Michael was reacting to John. So when John started not liking them at around 7 or 8 Michael followed suit even though he was only 5.

 

[dismagiclover]

After leaving the princesses we just walked right back over to where we’d just been and hopped in line to go see Mickey. We had fastpasses so it didn’t take long before we were meeting our favorite Mouse. (He isn’t Wendy’s favorite mouse. She likes Minnie more.) The boys especially were very happy to see him again.






Wendy jumped in.



Then I joined the fray.



Mickey requested a dance with Wendy.



I love this picture. The Minnie Ears just make it perfect.



Then Mickey took picture with his bud, John.



Then with Michael.



I love this picture too. It just kind of exudes the joy and magic of Disney that kids experience. Michael insisted I needed a solo shot so here it is.



Mickey is always such a gentlemen. After that fun meet we decided it was definitely time to head out so walked to the exit. There was a family with a little girl right in front of us. She was probably around 6 or 7 years old. She refused to go through the turnstile. She just planted her feet and wouldn’t move. Her dad had to literally push her through and then he picked her up and carried her. She started sobbing her heart out and said, “I just don’t want to leave. I just don’t want to go.” I seriously teared up. (And I’m tearing up now just remembering it.) We all know that feeling. I have it every single trip no matter how long I stay. I never want to leave.
Anyway as we walked out I decided we were going to try something new. Instead of riding the monorail back to the parking lot, I wanted to try the ferry. Believe it or not, I had never been on the ferry. So that is what we did. It was basically empty and it was a lovely ride. Here is Michael enjoying the scenery.



After disembarking we headed back to our car. We were headed to check in for one of our DVC stays. Anyone want to take a guess on where we were heading?

 

[wiigirl]

Cute pics!

 

[norybell]

Aw, I love the Mickey pics!

 

[momabbate]

I love riding the ferry. Great decision!! Can't wait to see where your heading.

 

[heathsf]

Joining in!!!

 

[dismagiclover]

Cute pics!

Thanks!

Aw, I love the Mickey pics!

Thanks! Mickey is a classic.

I love riding the ferry. Great decision!! Can't wait to see where your heading.

I loved the ferry too! I'm definitely planning on riding during the Christmas trip. It may be one of our few rides because of the crowds! You shouldn't have to wait too long to find out where we're going. I'll post an update soon.

Joining in!!!

Welcome! Happy you are here.

 

[dismagiclover]

I was feeling the excitement as I drove to our next destination. We were headed to our home resort, the Boardwalk villas. We’d actually only stayed here once before during Marathon Weekend of 2011, but it still felt like we were coming home. I just love the Epcot resort area. That special entrance to World Showcase gets me every time. We had never had a car here, but I’d read a little bit about the parking situation and it sounded to be a bit of a pain. Most people suggested pulling up to the entrance and having the bellhops unload the car, but I didn’t have any cash so I didn’t want the bellhops touching the luggage because I had no way to tip them. Besides, I had three perfectly capable bell hops in the car with me. So we self parked and I intentionally chose a spot I thought would be close to our room. We’d reserved standard view and most of the standard view overlook the front lawn. We made the hike up to the resort entrance and checked in. We headed to our room and the first thing I noticed is what a great location it had. We were on lobby level just a few doors from the elevator. That meant we would not have to walk down the endless Boardwalk hallways. Yay! I thought it strange that we were on the right side of the hallway because it is the left side that looks out over the entrance and is the standard view. We walked in and first thing I did was head to the balcony to check out the view. Here is what I saw.



Definitely a pool view which is an upgrade. Yay! However, it didn’t take me too long to figure out this was a handicapped accessible room. There was no bathtub and an armoire instead of a closet. That was just fine with me though. Definitely worth it to have the view and location. They probably regularly give this room as a standard view. Then people feel like it is an upgrade and don’t mind the handicapped accessible aspects. After we checked out the room it was time for my little bellhops to earn their keep. So we headed to the car to get luggage. At this point I began to hate the parking situation at Boardwalk. Remember I’d parked by where I thought our rooms might be. This was at the end of the long hallways. Remember this was a 3 week trip so we had lots of luggage. Plus we’d even brought some groceries for breakfast and snacks. However, I was determined to get it all in one trip. Let me just tell you, that was some trip even with my three bellhops. I’m sure we were an incredibly amusing sight. At one point John actually fell down on top of the luggage that Michael was hauling. Don’t ask me how. Anyway, by the time we made it back to the room we were all worse for the wear. (Remember this is Florida in August and only some of the walk was through the long hallways.) I was also questioning my sanity. Why didn’t I just tip the real bellhops?

Anyway after that insanity we needed a dip in the pool. Especially because we could see it right outside our window. So we went for a refreshing swim. After a few hours in the pool we all felt reinvigorated and ready for dinner. We were at the Boardwalk villas so of course we headed over to Epcot. That is my favorite thing about the Boardwalk villas. It is just a leisurely stroll over to the World Showcase and then you have so many wonderful choices for dinner. Here are a few shots of our beloved Boardwalk. (These were taken on our January trip so the wardrobe choices were a bit different than you’d see in August.)

Once we arrived in Epcot we headed over to our dinner destination, but we had to stop for this Photopass opportunity.



Our dinner this evening was at a restaurant we had never tried before. Tokyo Dining. We still had 3 table service credits left and I figured this would be a good place to share credits. And it was. We all really enjoyed our dinner. The food was delicious and our view was awesome. We were seated right next to the window and could look right out over the Lagoon. We will be back. Here is a food picture with the bonus of Michael’s attempt at chopsticks.



After dinner I’m not sure exactly what we did, but it involved browsing the World Showcase. We probably went into the Japan store so the boys could check out the latest Japanese trading cards. We may have visited a few other countries that evening, but I don’t remember details. I’m sure we enjoyed it though. We always love our World Showcase evenings.



Before we knew it we were in our room and tucked snugly in bed. Another fabulous Disney day was in the books. Tomorrow we were going somewhere completely new to us. Any guesses?

 

[momabbate]

Your Boardwalk pics look great. I need to stay here one day. Micheal is looks really determined to use those chop sticks.

 

[norybell]

Glad you got a good view! (I actually really don't like pool views, myself, but I understand why lots of people do.) We stayed in the BWV in May and I really, really liked them, much better than the BCV (except for Stormalong Bay, of course). We were at the end of one of those super-long hallways, but we had a nice quiet view (of the parking lot kind of, but really more of the landscaping).

I've never tried Tokyo Dining...it's always on my list but never quite happens!

 

[AprilRenee]

I just saw the title and was like "I remember that family!!" Actually my 18 month old is being Peter Pan for Halloween and I was just thinking about your mnsshp report. lol
Excited to read all about your trip!

 

[DisneyJo]

Great view from your room and I was laughing at your description of your bellhops

Your meal sounded delicious and so convenient too

My guess is you went to DTD and up in the Characters in Flight!

 

[RGirl]

What a great Mickey meet - love the pics!

And the BWV!!!!! One of my favorite places on earth. I'm so excited to read about your stay there.