Experienced Bad Mom

Not Just a Bad Mom, But an Experienced Bad Mom

The hawk, baby ducklings, and Pool of Death (Disney Week)

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I can’t make this stuff up, people.

During our stay at Disney, we enjoyed a lovely room on the 4th floor at the Boardwalk Resort. It had 2 balconies and a view of the quiet, or leisure, pool.

The view of the leisure pool from our room

One day, at about 5 pm, we were relaxing in our room and heard some commotion outside. From the balcony, we could see a Mama Duck and 6 little ducklings struggling to get out of the pool. Mama Duck would hop out of the pool, but the wee baby ducklings could not jump over the pool’s side. They kept flopping back into the pool.

Cue Disney cast members to the rescue! (Remember, at Disney they’re not employees–they’re “cast members”.) The cast members had been watching the duck drama from the community room next to the pool and started building towel bridges for the ducklings to waddle onto and escape from the pool.

Awwwww…

Enthralled by the duck drama unfolding before our eyes, my kids and I threw on some shoes and raced downstairs to cheer on the ducks. My husband stayed behind.

When we got to the pool, the ducks had escaped and nestled into some grass poolside. We watched the 6 fuzzy, cute little ducklings for a few minutes.

Awwwww………fuzzy-wuzzy ducklings!

Finally, the kids grew bored and we went inside the community room next to the pool to do crafts and play video games. At this point I see that the silly Mama Duck and her 6 fuzzy, wuzzy ducklings waddled back into the pool. Did they learn nothing? I thought.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see a HUMONGOUS bird fly into the pool. I turn and watch in horror as a GIGANTIC HAWK leaves the pool with– yup –a fuzzy-wuzzy duckling in its talons!

ACK!

Here comes the GIGANTIC HAWK

I race to the pool screaming “The hawk took a baby duck! The hawk took the baby duck!”

The Disney cast member in charge of crafts says, “What?” before she breaks down crying.

My husband, on the 4th floor balcony, is screaming my name. “KATY!” he yells. “The hawk took the duck!”

Yes, I saw that.

“He took TWO!” yells my husband.

Oh. No.

“KATY!” he continues yelling, for all of the Disney Boardwalk resort to hear. “I was waving my arms at you and yelling your name to come out and scare the hawk!”

Ok, WHAT?

“Yea, I kept calling your name hoping you’d come outside and save the baby ducks!”

Ok, wait just a minute.

So now I’m a bad mom because I did not race outside at the Happiest Place on Earth and throw myself in front of the GIGANTIC HAWK in order to save the stupid, fuzzy-wuzzy ducklings who got back into the pool? What was I going to do? Wave my arms and throw a glue stick at him?

It gets better. Yea. It does.

Upon returning to our 4th floor room, my husband whips out his camera where he shares all the action shots he took of the hawk preying on fuzzy-wuzzy ducklings. Turns out the 4th floor gutter by our room is the GIGANTIC HAWK’s preferred dining location. (And, no, he’s not on the Disney Dining Plan.)

My husband’s action shot of the GIGANTIC HAWK eating baby ducklings

The children remained fairly stoic and under control throughout the experience. I can tell they are scarred for life, though. My son, 8, would randomly ask me the next day in a quiet voice, “Remember the pool of DEATH?”

And when I picked up my daughter, 5, from daycare on the first day back from Disneyworld, her teacher ran straight up to me. “What’s this about a duck? And a hawk? That can’t be real…”

Yes, friends. It was real! And the irony was that the circle of life happened in the most artificial place on earth!

I don’t need to take my kids to any National Parks, that’s for sure. Disneyworld provided the most crushing example of nature at work that I’ve ever witnessed!

Do you have a Disney experience that tops this one? I’d love to hear it!

Comments

  3. Holy crap! That was hilarious! I feel bad for the fuzzy wuzzy ducks, but I would not go head to head with a hawk either. “Remember the pool of DEATH?” Classic. You won’t forget your Disney experience.

    • Thanks for stopping by! I’m hoping for some sort of “Crazy Disney Experience” contest one day so I can score a Disney cruise! 🙂

  5. Heehee. I found you on PIWTPITT. This story is hilarious! No, I can’t top it, but I do have a couple of funny Disney stories.

    My family went to Dineyworld when my sibs and I were teens. We were sitting on a bench one day eating our sack lunches when my 16 year old brother dropped his bread crust on the ground. My mom ordered him to pick it up.

    “Why? The birds will just eat it in a minute.”

    “Because someone might come by and slip on it!”

    We all started to giggle at that stupid statement when my brother, god bless his smart ass, stood up and pretended to be jauntily walking by and slip on said bread crust. He threw himself on the ground and pulled a fake injury act so convincing that randoms with concerned faces started to form a crowd. The rest of us (even mom) were laughing so I hard we were crying, and the growing crowd was looking at us like we were the biggest jerks on the planet. Oh my gosh, I still laugh whenever I remember that. I wish I had it on video!
    Derpina recently posted…Fine Dining at Chez DerpMy Profile

    • Ha! I’m laughing at the crowd gathering round your brother. I’m surprised the Disney Cast Members didn’t rush up and give him a button to wear in honor of his “magical” memory–or a card so he could go to the front of all ride lines! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  6. YUP! This is just as hysterical as it was played up to be! I have tears streaming down my face, for real! Your husband hollering to you to save the ducks….throw a glue stick at it…..hilarious!! Oh and you can thank Jen for my visit as well! (I’m gonna go read some more of your stuff too!) 🙂

    • So happy that 1) Jen pointed you in my direction and 2) you got a good laugh out of the wackiest Disney experience ever! Thanks for reading and commenting! 🙂

  7. Oh my goodness! I am thinking that me writing about your pool of death experience is not going to get anyone to book a trip at the Boardwalk. Then again, that killer clown pool is another deterrent. You’ll have to let me know if you want to go back – I’ll see what I can do to find you a fabulous resort without a killer hawk. I wonder if I could find this hawk when I am there in a few weeks. I have tons of squirrels at my house it could feast upon!
    disneykatrina recently posted…Star Wars Weekends at Hollywood StudiosMy Profile

  9. Umm, I watched Goofy’s head fall off, is that a good story? It was the character breakfast, way back in the last century, when they probably had just started doing them, and Goofy was being… Goofy and pretending he couldn’t get through the doorway. And he kept pretending to struggle in and out and then when he threw his head back to push himself forward, the head fell right off. We talked about that for the rest of the vacation!
    sparkling74 recently posted…Animals Are AssholesMy Profile

  12. I was at a friends house one day and his cockatiel accidently escaped out the door. Within a matter of seconds a hawk swooped down and did the same exact thing. It was horrifying for me to see it, I can’t imagine how the kids felt.
    Mary W. recently posted…Kidaroo Crew Giveaway (ends 4/2)My Profile

Trackbacks

  1. […] Some days I rant, like this one about pregnancy vs. parenthood. Or, there’s the outrageous things that happen only to me and my family, like the time we watched a Wild America episode play itself out on our trip to DisneyWorld. […]

  2. […] let’s not forget what happened this winter when my family went to Disneyworld. We watched a giant hawk swoop down to the Boardwalk Resort swimming pool, scoop up not one but two baby ducklings, and rip […]

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