The Family That Runs Together...Vacations Together-A May 2012 PTR *5/12

[amazingact21]

I'm so sorry that your team lost yesterday....your cupcakes look delicious tho!!

I am a planner too so I can completely understand the anguish you must be feeling! Stick to your plans hon, it's your vacation and don't forget that! Can't wait to hear more

Thanks! They were delicious, although not nearly as tasty as ones at Starring Rolls.
I'm sure I'll come off looking like the bad guy by not changing my plans, but this trip is probably once-in-a-lifetime for my mom and I, and I'm not letting anything get int he way.

Ugh that Super Bowl was a joke yesterday, wasn't it! I'm not a big football fan, but I do like the Patriots lovestruc Tom Brady!) and I was hoping the stupid Giants wouldn't beat them again. But as soon as the Giants got those 2 points to start the game, I knew it was a bad sign.

Your travel day looks...well, stressful! Lots of driving! I had no idea you were so far from Orlando, I assumed you could just pop over to Disney whenever you wanted! I always forget Florida is so big, because CT is so tiny, you can get anywhere you want in an hour!

Haha, I'm like you, I plan a lot, and when people who don't try to change things around, I panic! I'm trying to get better with being more lenient with my Disney planning, because I used to be psychotic with it, but still, I need to have a basic itinerary!

I was a wreck the last 57 seconds of the game. I was standing in front of the tv, yelling, "Get down the field, get down the field!" And then when Brady threw that last incomplete, I just stood there with my hands on my head, going, "No, it's not possible. They didn't just lose to the Giants. There's no way they did it again."


We get a lot of people that don't realize how big Florida is. When Alex first got stationed here, his relatives were telling his parents, "At least he's only a few hours away." And they had to explain to them that it was longer than they thought.

The kicker is that Florida extends to the left. So not only do we have to drive down the state, we also have to go halfway across it, which is about 4 hours.

Hi, Alicia! I finally found my way over here from your TR, and am so glad I did.

First, I can't wait to read all about the EEC! And second, I hope that your Mom really does have a wonderful time. I think it's so awesome that you and her are going to be able to spend time together in the parks!!

Thanks for finding my PTR! I loved reading your comments in my TR. Oh, and by the way, I keep forgetting to say this, but I read your Dream Trip Report and loved it! Your pictures (especially of the new Animator's Palate) made me want to try out one of the new ships.

Hey! I totally missed that you started a PTR or I would have been here sooner! I'm so glad to know that someone else (other than myself) has caught the runDisney addiction bug! My DF and I will also be running EEC again this year and hopefully this time I can meet you too instead of just your DH! EEC is so much fun and I can't wait for the 5 year anniversary medal. I got the 15th anniversary donald medal for the half this year and love it!

Also, I love your PTR! Your writing style is so fun because I feel like I'm talking to you rather than reading... plus, you remind me of myself with your resistance to people changing plans at the last minute... that happens to me all the time and people just don't get why I panic

runDisney is such an addiction! I've never heard Alex this passionate about wanting to complete a half marathon before, but now it's a huge goal of his. He has spoken to so many past runners and has even gotten a training schedule from someone who just did the Half Marathon this past January.

I wondered if you were going to do the EE5K again, but I knew you had a wedding coming up, so I thought you might've been a little busy. That's awesome that you are, in fact, doing it again. And this time, if I do happen to see you, I will be sure and say hello.

I hope your able to find a middle ground with the sisters. We are absolute HOGS with our Disney trips!!! I mean our next trip is like 19 days and i would STILL find it hard to meet up with someone or take time out to do something other than what i have planned so i can totally relate to that.

so, how long of a drive will it be exactly?? i WISH we could drive!! Airfare is SO expensive from up here in the frigid north

Can't wait to see more

Yeah, I'm not the worst when it comes to adjusting plans, but I definitely don't like to do it. I guess when it comes to Disney trips, I feel pressured with time constraints to do as much as can before I have to leave again, I don't want to waste precious time!

The drive will be about 8 hours, give or take. It can be pretty long, but I've done the trip so many times, it's not a big deal anymore.

 

[wakica]

8 hours for us is going to Calgary which we do once/year usually. Ya, it's a bit long but if you break it up with a few stops it's not too bad. I wish we were 8 hours away - we'd be there every year for sure!!! For now we've been happy with every handful of years. We started out going the year after we got married then waiting a huge chunk til dd was 5 so that was a 10 year wait, then we've gone every 2 -3 years since. Unfortunately we don't know when we'll get back next b/c with DD going into highschool next year we can't just pull her out at odd times like we do now and there's NO WAY on Gods green earth we would put ourselves in a park during spring break, summer break or Christmas break! oh the horror of the thought and we can't just miss 2 or 3 days b/c it takes up an entire day just to travel there!!! We get up around 5 am to head to the air port and don't get there til after supper and the same goes for the trip back home so a quick trip just isn't in the books for us and that means we have to REALLY get our fill of theme parks this trip down.

oops, sorry to go on and on.

 

[Shannon84]

I dont know how I missed your PTR this whole time

I am so excited for you to do the EE challenge again, I wish I could do it!! I think I am going to start the c25k program myself...even though Ive gone longer distances I am sooooo slow I need something to help me out!!

I am even more excited for you to share Disney with your mom, I had such a blast over marathon weekend with my mom, it was so wonderful to see her so happy!!

And by the way I know exactly what you mean about planning...I am like that about even every day life things...it drives people bananas but their last minute plans give me anxiety

 

[amazingact21]

8 hours for us is going to Calgary which we do once/year usually. Ya, it's a bit long but if you break it up with a few stops it's not too bad. I wish we were 8 hours away - we'd be there every year for sure!!! For now we've been happy with every handful of years. We started out going the year after we got married then waiting a huge chunk til dd was 5 so that was a 10 year wait, then we've gone every 2 -3 years since. Unfortunately we don't know when we'll get back next b/c with DD going into highschool next year we can't just pull her out at odd times like we do now and there's NO WAY on Gods green earth we would put ourselves in a park during spring break, summer break or Christmas break! oh the horror of the thought and we can't just miss 2 or 3 days b/c it takes up an entire day just to travel there!!! We get up around 5 am to head to the air port and don't get there til after supper and the same goes for the trip back home so a quick trip just isn't in the books for us and that means we have to REALLY get our fill of theme parks this trip down.

oops, sorry to go on and on.

Going during Spring Break would give me an anxiety attack. Not to mention around new Years. I saw pictures of Magic Kingdom on that day and it made me want to cry! The wait times were 4 hours! Maybe you'll be able to go on another huge trip when your DD graduates. Make it a big celebration.

I dont know how I missed your PTR this whole time

I am so excited for you to do the EE challenge again, I wish I could do it!! I think I am going to start the c25k program myself...even though Ive gone longer distances I am sooooo slow I need something to help me out!!

I am even more excited for you to share Disney with your mom, I had such a blast over marathon weekend with my mom, it was so wonderful to see her so happy!!

And by the way I know exactly what you mean about planning...I am like that about even every day life things...it drives people bananas but their last minute plans give me anxiety

I love the EE Challenge, but I think it's so cool that you ran the full marathon. I don't think I'll ever make it that distance. 26.2 is just so long!!!

I'm really excited about my mom/daughter trip. She called me the other day, and we talked about our arrival day plans for almost an hour! We're both so ready to go!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Love the cupcakes!

Lol, I'd love to be able to drive to Disney instead of having an 8 hour flight journey!

 

[PirateKate]

We used to live in Pace, so I sympathize with you over that drive. It's always better once you reach 75 and all the Disney excitement picks up. The drive home is the worst though. It takes forever and you lose that hour going back.

I'm so glad you all are getting to do the Everest 5K again. It sounds like one of the coolest runDisney races. I want to do another race soon. They really are addictive.

Just wondering, are Alex's sisters actually registered for the race yet? If the're not registered and they're last minute people, maybe they'll wait too late and the race will fill up...

 

[amazingact21]

Love the cupcakes!

Lol, I'd love to be able to drive to Disney instead of having an 8 hour flight journey!

Whenever Alex and I are having a bad day, we just tell ourselves that Disney is a day drive away and that always seems to help. I know the day is going to come when we won't live this close, and so I try not to take advantage of the oppurtunity.

We used to live in Pace, so I sympathize with you over that drive. It's always better once you reach 75 and all the Disney excitement picks up. The drive home is the worst though. It takes forever and you lose that hour going back.

I'm so glad you all are getting to do the Everest 5K again. It sounds like one of the coolest runDisney races. I want to do another race soon. They really are addictive.

Just wondering, are Alex's sisters actually registered for the race yet? If the're not registered and they're last minute people, maybe they'll wait too late and the race will fill up...

We're about 45 minutes away from Pace, and it's amazing how little there is between here and Orlando. Just a lot of interstate and trees...

Everest is the only runDisney race I've done, so I can't compare it to the others, but it is a lot of fun. The scavenger hunt alone makes it interesting.

Once you do one runDisney race, you're addicted! At least, that what I believe.


It's looking like Alex's sisters might not be able to attend, anyways. His older sister works in a Mexican restaurant, and the race is on Cinco de Mayo. There's very little chance she can get away from work then. Which is one less thing for me to stress over now.

 

[amazingact21]

My apologies for not updating in so long; it’s been a busy week for us. Alex got his wisdom teeth removed on Monday, so he’s been home from work recuperating. Then, we have been buying some new furniture and waiting for it to arrive. And, to top it off, my computer has been acting up, and it hasn’t let me get on-line very much. I worked on it a bit, though, and I’m hoping I can get this update posted sometime today.



Arrival Day: (Also known as May 4th)



This day is going to be a little crazy for the three of us. I’m sure at midnight, Alex, his brother Eddie, and myself will trudge to one of the local movie theaters and see the new Avengers movie. We’re all pretty big superhero fans, Eddie especially, and we’ll all probably want to see it before we disappear in Disney for a week.


DH and I will catch a few hours of sleep, wake up mid-morning, eat a big family breakfast, and leave his parent’s house around 12:30/1:00 o’clock.


Originally, I wasn’t going to go to Downtown Disney, but that is really the only place Alex and I do any serious shopping. So, we’re going to head there and look around World of Disney and the pin store.

Probably trade a Vinylmation or two and buy a new one. I want to buy a new pin lanyard and move some of my pins to it. The one I have is kind of overflowing with pins, and I have two themes going on. An Animal Kingdom and a princess theme. So, I’m hoping to transfer all my princesses and make room for more pins!


I have an old highschool friend, Courtney, (known as Belleinpink on the DISboards) who is doing her CP at Goofy’s Candy Shop, so if she’s working that afternoon, I’ll stop by and say hello to her.


And most likely buy some of their fudge….


We’ll peruse the area until my mother calls and says she arrived in Disney, which we’re hoping will be around 3 o’clock.


We plan on meeting at All Star Sports.

All of us will check in, drive to our building, settle into our room, and show mom the resort. If we pass by the food court, we’ll go ahead and grab our refillable mugs.



If everything is on time up to this point, the three of us will pile into my mom’s car (our car is a 2 door and I hate climbing into the backseat) and Alex will drive us across the street to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, where we’ll attend packet pickup for the race.

Should be quick and painless.


Once that is done, we’ll get back in the car and drive to…



Epcot!!!!!

(Of course, we’ll have to stop by Epcot’s ticket center and get our AP vouchers activated, first, but I’m hoping that won’t be an issue. From what I’ve read, the ticket center stays open as long as the park does, so we should be able to do it. Let’s hope so!)



I thought long and hard about what park to visit first, and I decided that there wasn’t a better choice for 3 adults on their arrival day.


I know my mom will be pretty tired from driving 7 hours that day, so I don’t plan on doing much inside the park.


I figure we’ll grab a quick dinner at either Sunshine Seasons or Liberty Inn. That will all be determined by how hungry we are when we arrive.

I’m hoping we can go on Spaceship Earth and Maelstorm before we eat, but if not I’m not going to get too upset. This night is mostly about letting my mom absorb the magic of WDW and being able to say, “We’re inside the park!”


I might even go into Mousegears and do a little more shopping. I wish I could take my mom on Soarin’ but the last thing I want to do is wait around in a line for an hour after an already long day, and I can’t see there being any available fastpasses left.


It will be around 8 when we finish dinner and rides, and I have planned on either going back to the resort if my mother is really tired, or grabbing some drinks at a stand and settling in for Illuminations. (We’ve never had drinks at Epcot before, so I have no idea what I’ll want. Probably something fruity and cold. I have a feeling it is going to be hot in May!)

This is the only night I have planned for watching the show. I enjoy it, but I just don’t love it enough to cut a chunk of my time to wait for it.


The odds are we will watch it, because if my mom’s not having to run around and exhaust herself further than I think she’ll be all right.


After IllumiNations, we’re going to leave Epcot and go back to All Star Sports and hit the sack. The park is having EMH that night, but there’s no point in staying out really late the first night of our vacation and being tired for race day.



Another possibility for us is to let my mom grab a quick nap when we check into the resort. Packet pickup is open until 7:00pm, so as long as we get there by 6:00, we should be good.


All of this is really up in the air until May 4th arrives and we actually see how we’re all feeling. One of us could not feel well and want to skip Epcot or my mom could be held up in heavy traffic, or the ticket window could close early. It’s just a play-it-by-ear situation.

 

[20thingamabobs]

Looks like a fun yet pretty relaxing first day! As for drinks, well I would personally go for the Grey Goose Citron Slushie in France!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Great plans! Going to DTD and doing some shopping is a good idea. Love that you are starting at Epcot as well!

 

[MHTeacher]

First day sounds good. I like the idea of going over to DTD the first day, and doing your shopping then.

I love wandering through Epcot at night. It's so pretty, and if you don't have a particular destination in mind, and can just stroll around, it's very relaxing.

 

[wakica]

plans look good so far. I had originally thought we would do packet pick up on the day of the race but i saw some posts on how insanely busy it was there and thought that was probably what it would be like on the race day so I think we will find some time to get there on the 4th as well. All I have planned for that day is a repeat trip to MK for like around 4:30 pm and on so I'm sure we'll have lots of time in our relaxing day to pop over there. I think I'd feel more comofortable having my stuff the day before race anyway - I'll feel a little more prepared than if i waited til the day of the race.

 

[PirateKate]

Epcot's a great choice for your first day. Soarin' would be perfect, but it's so hard to get on if you're not there in the morning. Illuminations sounds like a good plan.

 

[amazingact21]

Looks like a fun yet pretty relaxing first day! As for drinks, well I would personally go for the Grey Goose Citron Slushie in France!

I've heard great things about the slushies in France, and that's what I was leaning toward, so I'm glad to see another vote for that.

Great plans! Going to DTD and doing some shopping is a good idea. Love that you are starting at Epcot as well!

I like to buy new Vinylmations and pins right away, and then spend the rest of the trip trading them. Plus, I love riding rides so much, I don't really like skipping them for shopping.

First day sounds good. I like the idea of going over to DTD the first day, and doing your shopping then.

I love wandering through Epcot at night. It's so pretty, and if you don't have a particular destination in mind, and can just stroll around, it's very relaxing.

I haven't spent a lot of time wandering around WS at night, and I'm really trying to do some new things on this trip, so I think it sounds like a fun new way to spend my evening.

plans look good so far. I had originally thought we would do packet pick up on the day of the race but i saw some posts on how insanely busy it was there and thought that was probably what it would be like on the race day so I think we will find some time to get there on the 4th as well. All I have planned for that day is a repeat trip to MK for like around 4:30 pm and on so I'm sure we'll have lots of time in our relaxing day to pop over there. I think I'd feel more comofortable having my stuff the day before race anyway - I'll feel a little more prepared than if i waited til the day of the race.

Packet pickup was very easy the day before the race. Especially if you go in the afternoon. There was barely anybody there, and we were through with everything in 15 minutes. I'm also a little more at ease when I have all my stuff ahead of time, so that's why I choose not to go on race day.

Epcot's a great choice for your first day. Soarin' would be perfect, but it's so hard to get on if you're not there in the morning. Illuminations sounds like a good plan.

I have a feeling Soarin' is going to be my mother's favorite ride, but it's just like TSM; you can't get on it if you get there at night. When we were there in October, Alex and I were given free fastpasses to Soarin' for 7:00pm. Even with them, we waited in line almost an hour.

 

[amazingact21]

A Disney Store Arrival!


Way back at the end of January I let Alex talk me into ordering a New England Patriots Vinylmation from the Disney store. In addition to that, we decided to get some mystery Vinylmations, because we only have 2 that we are planning on trading in May.


Well….our package FINALLY arrived yesterday!


It about killed me, but I waited for Alex to get off work to open it.


It sat on our kitchen table, taunting me, for about an hour:

As soon as Alex walked through the door, I said, “All right! Let’s open this bad boy!”

(I didn’t even give the poor boy time to change out of his uniform!)

The box was classic Disney….I couldn’t help but smile when I saw this:

I opened up my Patriots Vinylmation first.

(Excuse my unkempt look, I was about to go for my afternoon jog.)


Alex opened up our first mystery Vinylmation, and he saw that we’d gotten the:

The Disney monorail! That was the one I wanted the most in the Park Series 6.


Which was kind of a Catch-22. We loved the monorail, butttt….


We definitely didn’t have one to trade.


There was no way we could be so lucky/unlucky and get a second Vinylmation we liked.


Wrong!


I opened up the second box and saw that we got the Hollywood Studios one! The one Alex liked the most!

We bought these with the hopes that we could trade while at WDW; instead, we ended up getting 2 more to add to our growing collection.


What’re the odds?


The two of us admired our new purchases, then moved them to our display case that we bought for Vinylmations about 3 months ago.

I guess we’re just going to have to buy more mystery boxes while we’re at DTD on our first day and hope we strike out.



In addition to receiving our package, the 2012 Planning DVD that I had ordered arrived in the mail. So, with Disney on the forefront of our minds, Alex and I plugged in the disk and watched all the material.


The video showed Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and The Osbourne Lights and the Candlelight Processional and….


It got me thinking.


We are planning on getting Annual Passes this May.


Alex’s younger sister is graduating college in December.


We both loved the holidays at Disney.


“Alex, we should go to Disney during Christmas, again.”


“Okay.”


“We could stay at a moderate and go Christmas shopping and attend the party.”


“Okay.”


“We’re going to be down there for your sister’s graduation; we could just plan it around that once she tells us the date.”


“Okay.”


We both really want to see all the holiday decorations again, and by 2013, the chances are Alex will be up for a deployment. We’d already have tickets, and we could visit Alex’s family around the holidays.


I wasn’t finding any resistance in Alex, so I went to the Disney website this morning and did a rough estimate of what it would cost us. It was kind of hard to do that since we can’t make any secure plans until we know Jessica’s graduation date, but the price wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.


So….as of right now….


There’s a possibility we MIGHT be going to WDW during the holidays!


It’s probably bad that we’re planning another trip to WDW when we haven’t even gone on our May trip, but I’m thinking it might help my post-trip blues if Alex and I know we are returning later in the year.


It’s going to be our year of Disney!


Well, that’s it for this update, next time I’ll talk about my race day plans! I can’t wait!

 

[wakica]

LOVED the vinylmations!! They are so cute. You showed GREAT restraint by not ripping into that package the moment it arrived!!! wow!

That's awesome for another trip to Disney! YAY for you!!! i can't beleive how easy that was too!!! lol. Hmmmm, I think I will try the same thing with DH tonight I'll let you know how it goes but I already know It will either be a laugh or a look like "are you insane?!?!" haha. Not that he doesn't LOVE to go - he does but it's the cost for us to get there that kills us.

 

[MHTeacher]

The vinylmations are so cute!

Disney during the holidays is unbelievable--Absolutely beautiful!

 

[PirateKate]

I like your Vinylmation collection! I'm starting to get too many now so I've started trading some of my best ones. It helps to think of some kid out there getting it and loving it as much as me. I haven't managed to let go of my Buzz Lightyear yet.

Exciting news about maybe going back in December! The Christmas stuff at Disney World is the best.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Love your arrival day plans! So exciting!

Love that Disney box your stuff came in....only Disney knows how to do it right! Those vinylmations are super cute!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on the package finally arriving! Love the message on the box.

Great vinylmations and woohoo on having a year of Disney!