Marathon Weekend 2018

I never got to WDW when I was a child and even though this was my second trip to Disney with my parents when I was an adult, it is my favorite dad memory. Our second trip was for my 2nd ever marathon, but my first Disney marathon in 2003. My folks and in laws and DH came to cheer me on. I missed seeing everyone stationed. DH was at the start, never saw him. My in laws were to be in MK, never saw them. My folks were outside AK. I knew they would be there. That was about mile 16. I was injured going into the race and at that point felt pretty bad. I spotted my dad first, am lucky he is a tall man, then mom. I shouted at them and Dad gave me a high five. I really needed it at that point. For the record, my in laws and DH were at Epcot and the finish never saw any of them. I only saw my folks that one time.
 
My Dad isn't a theme park fan (he doesn't love being in crowds), but we did go to Disneyland a few times growing up. What my Dad does love is movies, and we watched lots of the classic Disney movies growing up (anything with Hayley Mills or Fred MacMurray were particular favorites). He always knew so much about the filming of the movies or the actors in them, and I loved hearing his laughter and seeing how much these movies delighted him!
 


Today's question: What is your favorite Disney related memory that includes your father or includes you as a father with your kids?

Happy Sunday! I don't really have a single favorite Disney memory, but my Dad passed his love of Disney to me. We went to Disneyland Paris a few times when we were small (as we lived in the UK, and when the park first opened, it was very reasonable for UK residents), and then our first trip to the USA was to see WDW and the other parks. I think it was important to him that we experience the magic at a young age, and I've clearly never outgrown it.

So I am very grateful to have been Disney-indoctrinated by my Dad, whether it be through trips, the films or books! Shout out to my Mom, who also believes a house isn't home without some Disney decor. ;)
 
I never went to Disney with my dad. He was always working, so him getting away was really tough. I still remember a trip, though, to Niagara Falls with him, right before my brother was born. We were on a boat and got really close to the falls, itself. That view, wow!

I did take my girlfriend's kids to Disney a couple years ago, and it was a blast! My best memory there was The Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party on New Year's Eve. Being there as a family, along with thousands of other people, and being able to watch the best fireworks show on the planet to ring out the year!
 
ATTQOTD: I went once with my Dad to WDW many, many years ago, but honestly don't have many specific memories of the trip. :(
 


ADR day is fast approaching and I'm still not sure what parks I plan to do on what days and where to eat. This uncertainty is NOT like me. LOL

I'm pretty sure I want to do a Tiffins ROL package and equally sure of Victoria and Alberts on marathon night for a celebratory dinner. Otherwise I just have a list of restaurants I think I want to eat, but no clue when. I'm debating a Brown Derby Fantasmic package since we've not seen that show in several years. I want Via Napoli likely on Friday night before the half. Really wanting to try Homecomin and Paddlefish at Disney Springs but not sure when to fit those in. Kona for breakfast one morning. Was thinking of trying out The Wave for lunch one day. And then have a few others I'm debating on. I have more restaurant desires than I have time. :D
 
ADR day is fast approaching and I'm still not sure what parks I plan to do on what days and where to eat. This uncertainty is NOT like me. LOL

I'm pretty sure I want to do a Tiffins ROL package and equally sure of Victoria and Alberts on marathon night for a celebratory dinner. Otherwise I just have a list of restaurants I think I want to eat, but no clue when. I'm debating a Brown Derby Fantasmic package since we've not seen that show in several years. I want Via Napoli likely on Friday night before the half. Really wanting to try Homecomin and Paddlefish at Disney Springs but not sure when to fit those in. Kona for breakfast one morning. Was thinking of trying out The Wave for lunch one day. And then have a few others I'm debating on. I have more restaurant desires than I have time. :D
Definitely do the Tiffins package. Homecomin is also amazing!
 
I only went on one trip to WDW with my dad. I don't have any particularly special memories of that trip. I do have lots of memories of DH and my girls that make my heart smile.
 
Happy Sunday everyone! As always Sunday's are for Disney but this Sunday is also for Father's.

Today's question: What is your favorite Disney related memory that includes your father or includes you as a father with your kids?

My father only went to Disney twice. Both trips were later in life with my wife, the grandkids and me. Unfortunately, while he enjoyed the trips overall, they were both most memorable for the wrong reasons.

We rented a van for the first trip and all drove down together from Charlotte. Just as we reached the Florida/Georgia line he got a phone call that his father had passed away. He and my mother ended up having to find flights from Orlando to New Bern, NC and back in the middle of the trip. Needless to say it was not the Disney introduction I had hoped for him (and my mother).

The second trip was right at Christmas time a couple of years later and he had just been placed on an experimental chemo drug for his breast cancer. The side effects left him with sores in his mouth. We all went to MVMCP together and he was having a hard time finding something that he could eat with the limited choices during the party. While the rest of us went to Pinocchio Haus, he and my mother went over to the Winnie the Pooh ride and started talking to the CMs at the refreshment stand there. After telling them what was going on, they brought him a chocolate milkshake and told him “This is from Tigger” and refused to let him pay for it. To this day, that’s one of my favorite examples of pixie dust.

I am sad that he never got to experience a Disney trip in its full glory without a cloud of some kind hanging over it.
 
Too many memories with my Dad and Disney to name just one, we bleed Disney!

ADR day is fast approaching and I'm still not sure what parks I plan to do on what days and where to eat. This uncertainty is NOT like me. LOL
Oh gosh I haven't even thought about it, we haven't done an ADR in the last few trips but want to do Via Napoli maybe this trip. I hate being tied down and pre planning so may just wait and see if there's anything when it's closer.
 
This uncertainty is NOT like me. LOL
I totally get the struggle. I am travelling with my Dad and his wife, who is lacto-ovo-vegetarian but can not eat gluten. It is really making my decisions very hard. Plus she has never been to Disney and Dad hasn't been in 30 years, so I want to make sure they get a really good experience, given the races, crowd levels, limited food options and less park time. Super stressed.
 
Today's question: What is your favorite Disney related memory that includes your father or includes you as a father with your kids?

We moved to Orlando in early 1988 because my Dad's small construction company had won a bid to assist in building Catastrophe Canyon at MGM Studios - this was back when Disney outsourced most of the construction and things got built WAY quicker than they do nowadays!

So, I remember the first day we were in Orlando ... the moving truck with all of our things wouldn't arrive until the next day, so my Mom stayed at home with my baby brother and my Dad took my middle brother and I to go "drive by the parks" so we could see the castle. See - we'd never been to Disney before, and our only "theme park" experience at the time was to Six Flags, so we were under the impression that we'd get the same drive-by experience as the amusement parks back in Texas. We stopped at a cheesy t-shirt shop on Apopka-Vineland Road (535) down the street from our house and my Dad let my brother and I buy a shirt - I bought a shirt with Mickey and Minnie in Safari gear ... obviously, I was clairvoyant. We put the shirts on once we got back in the car, and headed through Disney Village on our way to Magic Kingdom to see the castle. We got to see Spaceship Earth, so we were certain that the castle would be next ... and an hour of driving around later, we decided to head home. :rotfl2: I wouldn't see the castle in real life until six months later when we went to the parks for the first time.
 
ADR day is fast approaching and I'm still not sure what parks I plan to do on what days and where to eat. This uncertainty is NOT like me. LOL

I'm pretty sure I want to do a Tiffins ROL package and equally sure of Victoria and Alberts on marathon night for a celebratory dinner. Otherwise I just have a list of restaurants I think I want to eat, but no clue when. I'm debating a Brown Derby Fantasmic package since we've not seen that show in several years. I want Via Napoli likely on Friday night before the half. Really wanting to try Homecomin and Paddlefish at Disney Springs but not sure when to fit those in. Kona for breakfast one morning. Was thinking of trying out The Wave for lunch one day. And then have a few others I'm debating on. I have more restaurant desires than I have time. :D

So, it's funny that you mention this ... I went to set-up calendar alerts for ADRs for both Disneyland Half AND WDW Marathon Weekend (what's up, overlapping ADR days!) - and I just realized that the day I can make ADRs for Marathon Weekend is the same day as I have a damn tri. :crazy2: And of course, transition opens at 5:30 a.m. when I can start making ADRs at 5 ... so, I'm going to have to prioritize and make some real quick, set-up transition real quick and then make the rest while I'm waiting for the dumb tri to start.

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE I REGISTERED FOR THIS TRI???? Grrrr.

On my list this time around are:
Monsieur Paul
Kimono's
Yak & Yeti
STK for brunch
California Grill
Maybe Yachtsman Steakhouse
Maybe the Luau

And I'm trying to plan a private dining experience as well, and that's going along pretty smoothly but I'd sure like to have it locked down before ADR day.
 
Happy belated father's day to all the fantastic dads out there!

Lots of memories with Dad from WDW. One of my favorites: I had a doll that used to go on all our trips with me, and I once left her on a bench at the Alamo car rental while waiting for our rental car to get to WDW. I was probably about age 5 or 6? Anywho, we got all the way to Disney property when I realized that Alice (the doll) was not with us. Major tears and carrying on from yours truly...like my world had ended! My sister was making fun of me, Mom was stressed about getting to the hotel to check in, but Dad turned the car right around to go back for the doll. He said there's no way we could leave Alice out of the fun trip we were about to have. (She was still on the bench. Probably no one wanted the creepy looking doll...) I still have her in tattered clothes, but now my niece and little cousins play with her. :)
Sadly, we lost him too young due to complications from metastatic cancer a few years ago. But, I have lots of wonderful memories.
 

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