The Darling Family June 2011: A Last Minute Budget Vacation

[2Tiggers]

I am so excited to read another one of your trip reports!

I rarely read the trip reports and I just stopped over to see if there was anything that sounded interesting and there you were...

Well, I guess I will be on the trip report threads again for awhile.

My favorite of your TR's was the beach club one. This will be fun!

 

[Angies1274]

Are you going to do a PTR?

I think so....still not sure though. If I do I probably won't start it until I am much closer to the trip. I don't think I could think of enough things to talk about this far out.

Glad you were able to make it to SWW! Loved looking at all your old pics!! Such great memories! Oh and I know what you mean about Pizza Planet. I'm glad to hear that there are other places to get pizza in DHS that are not quite so busy!!!

Bonnet Creek looks like a really nice resort...especially for the price! I would love the Lazy River!

 

[MagicShell]

The resort looks very nice. I think you made a great decision. Theme park view, wow!

 

[BookTrout]

I agree; what a view!

 

[dismagiclover]

Yay...another Darling TR! Bonnett Creek looks great. I also can't wait to see the 1 bedroom at OKW as we will be there shortly ourselves for the 1st time!

Yay to you for planning and organizing such a last-minute trip!

Hey Trish! You will love the 1 bedroom at OKW! It is so spacious! Pictures do not do it justice. The living area seemed twice as big as the other DVCs we've been in.

Bonnet Creek looks very nice. I think its probably a great deal when you've run out of DVC points and don't want to downsize to a regular room.

Thanks for posting all the pix. The pool looks great. I will definitely keep it in mind for when I need a "big room" to stay in. Cool theme park view.

Yummy smores!

We stayed at the Hilton Bonnet Creek which is just a regular room, but it's a nice regular room. (Pretty much just what you expect from a Hilton or Marriott.) Wydham Bonnet Creek is the timeshare with the 2 bedrooms with full kitchens. We may stay there sometime too, but to get the good deals from them you have to go through owners.

I am so excited to read another one of your trip reports!

I rarely read the trip reports and I just stopped over to see if there was anything that sounded interesting and there you were...

Well, I guess I will be on the trip report threads again for awhile.

My favorite of your TR's was the beach club one. This will be fun!

Thank you so much! You are good for my confidence, though I do feel like I should warn you. I don't think this report is going to live up to my previous ones. It was a good trip, but it wasn't like some of our other trips. (That beach club trip definitely ranks as one of the best.)

I think so....still not sure though. If I do I probably won't start it until I am much closer to the trip. I don't think I could think of enough things to talk about this far out.

Glad you were able to make it to SWW! Loved looking at all your old pics!! Such great memories! Oh and I know what you mean about Pizza Planet. I'm glad to hear that there are other places to get pizza in DHS that are not quite so busy!!!

Bonnet Creek looks like a really nice resort...especially for the price! I would love the Lazy River!

I'll be keeping an eye out for that pre trippie. I was very happy to avoid Pizza Planet this trip. That place is always a madhouse! And that lazy river was pretty heavenly!

The resort looks very nice. I think you made a great decision. Theme park view, wow!

We were all pretty pleased with the resort! Wendy still talks about how comfy the beds were.

I agree; what a view!

The view was fabulous! I just wish there had been a balcony to sit on.

 

[dismagiclover]

We were up bright and early; had a quick breakfast in our room, and made the short drive over to Epcot. We arrived around 8:40 and there were quite a few people already lined up at the turnstiles. I scoped out the situation and noticed a turnstile to the far right with no line and so I headed over and started my own line. It took a few minutes, but pretty quickly people moved over and there was a full line behind us. I love that little trick. Just look for the empty turnstiles because they open all of them. Anyway we were one of the first in the park and headed up to the area where they do the opening show and rope drop. Here we are literally at the rope.

The characters came over and gave us high fives.

They did their opening spiel.

The rope dropped. We sent DH over to pick up Soarin fast passes and the rest of us went to say hello to our old friends. Here are the character connections pictures.

Michael and Pluto are special friends so they had a fun time catching up on Michael’s pin collection. (Though I must say I don’t think the Photopass photographer had the camera settings right this morning.)

Wendy was happy to see her BFF, Minnie. My boys won’t talk to the girl ones.

John had a reunion with his best duck.

DH showed up after his fastpass run.

And last, but not least our favorite Goof Ball.

After our fun reunion we headed over to our first ride of the trip. Any guesses?

 

[lynn46356]

I'll take a guess.......................test track. I know its usually ours after fastpasses to Soarin. Did you drive from your hotel or take a bus? Don't you love all the looks you get when you walk over to a empty turnstyle? We always get behind the people the people who have no clue on how to put their car in the machine or use the scanner! It drives us all crazy especially the DH.

 

[dismagiclover]

I'll take a guess.......................test track. I know its usually ours after fastpasses to Soarin. Did you drive from your hotel or take a bus? Don't you love all the looks you get when you walk over to a empty turnstyle? We always get behind the people the people who have no clue on how to put their car in the machine or use the scanner! It drives us all crazy especially the DH.

We have a winner Test Track it is. We drove from the hotel. When we have our car we usually drive unless we're going to the MK. It is faster than the buses. I do love going to the empty turnstyle. It is funny to see people's reactions. Some are obviously annoyed like somehow we butted in line. Then there are the people that are trying to decide if they will follow us or not. They always seem to think it's a risky proposition. It never takes long for the line to form behind us though. Makes me feel like an expert

 

[lbuzz52]

joining in!
you had a rather ambitious travel day!
Mickey and Minnie are so cute in their star wars gear!
Bonnet Creek looks amazing for the price!

 

[dismagiclover]

joining in!
you had a rather ambitious travel day!
Mickey and Minnie are so cute in their star wars gear!
Bonnet Creek looks amazing for the price!

I'm glad you're here. I love the Disney characters in their Star Wars outfits. Goofy and Donald have cute ones too! Bonnet Creek really was a steal. Basically on property and deluxe quality for less than a value!

 

[dismagiclover]

We were heading to our first ride of the trip: Test Track! There was a bit of a line, but it wasn’t going to get any shorter so we hopped in. Here are the boys.

We waited maybe 15 minutes. During the wait Wendy wasn’t doing too hot. She was starting to feel sick. We were just about to enter the preshow area when she said she needed to leave. Wendy and I rushed out the exit door and the boys headed into the preshow. (The CM said we could come there and skip the line when we came back.) Wendy sprinted to the nearest bathroom and by the time I caught up with her she was already in a stall getting sick. Poor girl. She came out and we went to a bench by the Test Track exit to wait for the boys. I began to question Wendy trying to figure out why she was sick. I discovered that she hadn’t had anything to drink since the previous evening. As part of the budget plan we ate breakfast in the room and I’d had the kids just fill up their water bottles in the hotel sink. Wendy did not like the flavor of the water and didn’t drink any. No fluid in Florida in June leads to dehydration. Dehydration leads to nausea and that is what we had. So I went to a stand and bought Wendy a fruit slushy hoping she could get some fluids in her. (Side note. It was a strawberry fruit slushy and was very tasty.) The boys came out. They had enjoyed their Test Track ride. I told them Wendy’s current status. We decided to carry on and hope she felt better after getting some liquid in her. Next stop was Mission Space.

Not surprisingly Wendy wasn’t feeling up to this. So Wendy and I plopped down outside the exit to wait for the boys. Wendy wasn’t feeling any better. In fact the slushie was making her feel worse. I was chatting with the woman next to me when all of the sudden Wendy jumped up and sprinted for the bathroom again. Uh oh. Things were not looking good. I followed her to the bathroom and yes she had gotten sick again. At this point I realized she probably needed to go back to the hotel, lay down someplace cool and slowly try to rehydrate. So once the boys came out of Mission Space we discussed what to do. Obviously the boys saw no reason to head back to the hotel. They were enjoying their Epcot day. DH kindly offered to drive Wendy back. The boys and I could stay for a while and then we would ride the shuttle back in the afternoon. We were hopeful Wendy would feel better and we could all come back for the evening. (DH really wanted to ride Soarin.) So Wendy and DH headed back to the hotel. I felt bad for Wendy and really grateful to DH. The boys were happy as clams. Last summer we’d spent 4 days at Disney World with just the boys and I. They were more than happy to try and replicate the fun we had that trip. So we continued on our way. Next stop.

A ride in a clamshell

Then we headed over here.

I felt a little guilty using the Soarin fast passes that DH had obtained for us and couldn’t use. Soarin is one of his favorite rides. Here are the boys goofing around in line.

As you can see they were having a grand time. After Soarin they wanted to head over for a ride on Figment. I like this ride. Never a line. Afterwards we spent some time playing around in the exit area.

For Michael most of the morning had just been killing time. He was waiting for his single most important must do on this trip. That must do would be available at 12:00. The time was finally here. Where did we go next? (And if anybody guesses I’ll be really amazed.)

 

[lynn46356]

What a bummer for your DH and DD! That's a miserable way to start the day isn't it. Our middle son has problems with the heat also along with motion sickness. I remember on our very first day at Epcot (ever) we picked Body Wars (yes that was a long long time ago) as our first ride. He went on but suffered for it the rest of the day. Oops. Nothing is worse than a child not feeling well on vacation. Great for the rest of you that you were still able to enjoy the day. Hope she didn't take long to feel better again. Oh and I bet you watched her fluid intake like a hawk the rest of the vacation.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I didn't even realize that you had a trip report going. I blame it on the fact that we were preparing for Lacey's wedding. I'm guessing the boys were ready to go see Duffy the Bear!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Great report! I hope Wendy is feeling better real soon!
As far as for what Michael is waiting for, I'm going for some type of WS entertainment. I think the WS Players start around noon? Not sure who else does?

 

[Missyrose]

I'm joining in from nearby Northern Va.! I hope Wendy isn't down for the count for too long. Bonnet Creek looks beautiful, no wonder it so beloved on the Orlando board. Can't wait to read more!

 

[chattadisser]

Ok, I'll guess....Kim Possible? Can't wait to see if anyone guesses right. I hope everyone gets to spend the evening in EPCOT together, it is no fun being on vacation and getting sick!

 

[MagicShell]

Poor Wendy. I hope she felt better soon. Your husband was super nice to take her and let you stay. Mine would have done the same. Of course he is the one who handles that type of sickness. I can't deal with it and not get sick myself.

 

[Shannon84]

Hi there!! I am glad I found this TR, I enjoyed your marathon one from January...I think I am going to try and do the full next January myself...so maybe we will run into each other at all the race stuff!!

I am really impressed by the resort you were staying at during the first part of the trip, who knew that it was there and so nice, I sure didnt!!

I am sorry to hear that Wendy was getting sick though

 

[dismagiclover]

What a bummer for your DH and DD! That's a miserable way to start the day isn't it. Our middle son has problems with the heat also along with motion sickness. I remember on our very first day at Epcot (ever) we picked Body Wars (yes that was a long long time ago) as our first ride. He went on but suffered for it the rest of the day. Oops. Nothing is worse than a child not feeling well on vacation. Great for the rest of you that you were still able to enjoy the day. Hope she didn't take long to feel better again. Oh and I bet you watched her fluid intake like a hawk the rest of the vacation.

It was a bummer that Wendy got sick. Unfortunately we deal with the motion sickness thing too. (Michael.) I definitely made sure she drank enough through the rest of the trip. She was making sure she did too. She didn't want to miss another Disney day!

I didn't even realize that you had a trip report going. I blame it on the fact that we were preparing for Lacey's wedding. I'm guessing the boys were ready to go see Duffy the Bear!

Hey Lisa! I just started this report so you didn't miss much. I noticed you have a report going. I need to get over there and catch up. I haven't been DISing much this summer, but now that the kids are back in school I'll have more time for it! And Duffy is a very good guess. You know my boys well.

Great report! I hope Wendy is feeling better real soon!
As far as for what Michael is waiting for, I'm going for some type of WS entertainment. I think the WS Players start around noon? Not sure who else does?

I wish it was some of the WS players. I haven't seen enough of those. I'm hoping to see more this January when I go with just DH. My kids haven't been too interested in most of them.

I'm joining in from nearby Northern Va.! I hope Wendy isn't down for the count for too long. Bonnet Creek looks beautiful, no wonder it so beloved on the Orlando board. Can't wait to read more!

We're almost neighbors (well kind of.) Bonnet Creek deserves the reputation it has on the Orlando board.

 

[dismagiclover]

Ok, I'll guess....Kim Possible? Can't wait to see if anyone guesses right. I hope everyone gets to spend the evening in EPCOT together, it is no fun being on vacation and getting sick!

Good guess. I love the Kim Possible missions! How is the training coming for the Princess? I'm running the Half in January so I need to get serious about training.

Poor Wendy. I hope she felt better soon. Your husband was super nice to take her and let you stay. Mine would have done the same. Of course he is the one who handles that type of sickness. I can't deal with it and not get sick myself.

It was very nice of DH to take Wendy back to the room. He really is a keeper!

Hi there!! I am glad I found this TR, I enjoyed your marathon one from January...I think I am going to try and do the full next January myself...so maybe we will run into each other at all the race stuff!!

I am really impressed by the resort you were staying at during the first part of the trip, who knew that it was there and so nice, I sure didnt!!

I am sorry to hear that Wendy was getting sick though

Hey old friend! It's great to have you here. Are you running the full this coming Janaury? That is awesome! Good luck! I'll be there for the half. It would be super fun to run into you. I'm thinking about heading over to the Boardwalk to cheer on the full runners on Sunday. If you're running it I will keep my eye out for you.