The Quest For 15K & 18 FP+ ~ A Marathon Weekend 2016 PTR - TR Link, Page 18

[Wood Nymph]

After Space Mountain, we’ll probably head over to our least favorite FP+ kiosk on Disney property … aka the one by Stitch’s Great Escape (the line there was brutal last trip). But this will just be the first of many FP+ kiosk visits on this day, because Monday will be …

THE DAY OF THE FP+!​

We go where the FP+ takes us. We’ll probably do a few things here and there between FP+ attractions, but mostly we’ll be going to the kiosks and seeing which FP+ we’ll be using next!

That fastpass kiosk near Stitch is brutal. It always has really long lines. There is supposed to be a fastpass kiosk location near Space Mountain.

ETA: I mean Splash Mountain, not Space Mountain.

 

[SarahDisney]

That fastpass kiosk near Stitch is brutal. It always has really long lines. There is supposed to be a fastpass kiosk location near Space Mountain.

That I had never heard - thanks for the info! I will definitely be on the lookout for it - that would be much better than waiting on the long lines at the Stitch kiosk.

 

[Wood Nymph]

That I had never heard - thanks for the info! I will definitely be on the lookout for it - that would be much better than waiting on the long lines at the Stitch kiosk.

I just checked the list again and the fp kiosk is near Splash Mountain, not Space Mountain. I'm sorry to get your hopes up.

 

[SarahDisney]

I just checked the list again and the fp kiosk is near Splash Mountain, not Space Mountain. I'm sorry to get your hopes up.

That's okay ... we were hoping to grab a 4th FP+ for Big Thunder Mountain after we get off Splash on our first day, so this is still very helpful information!
I guess I'll just have to suffer through the line for the kiosk near Stitch. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

 

[natebenma]

Read about your Day 5 and plans to watch the Electrical Water Parade, which is cute. Will you try to watch Wishes as well from one of the monorail resorts before you head back. I haven't looked at the schedule for that night, but I know sometimes it is EWP-castle projection show-Wishes-EWP.

Personally, I detest the buses that go from DTD/DS to the resorts, so I would choose Option 3 (Pop to MK, then monorail to resort and then going from MK back to Pop) but if you need a Giardelli fix, then Option 4 taking you to Disney Springs at the end of the night. The bus back to PoP may not be as bad later in the evening. Or it might. I have never been at DTD that late.

In any event it sounds like a fun night!

 

[natebenma]

OK, so before I comment on your Day 6 plans, I have some related news. It turns out that I will actually be in Florida that week, and I will be spending marathon day (Sunday Jan 10) at the Beach Club. My CM friend Teena is moving out to Las Vegas, earlier than she expected and I am going out to help her with the house for a couple of days. Friday night will be our only park time. I will be hanging out at the Beach Club, my Disney habitat, that day while Teena works. Then I leave Monday morning.

So on to your plans... Mini Golf sounds fun even if there is a pretty good chance you will lose. I have never mini-golfed at Disney but the courses look great.

I love EPCOT- your plans sound just right for you. Too bad you both will be unwillingly forced to have your picture taken with a bunch of Princesses




I like your mix of character meets, rides and dining.

:

 

[natebenma]

I can not wait to read all about your Fast Past Plus Quest day. From an interesting breakfast to seeing where the day takes you. I love having a mission!!! Makes a day that much more fun.

 

[SarahDisney]

Read about your Day 5 and plans to watch the Electrical Water Parade, which is cute. Will you try to watch Wishes as well from one of the monorail resorts before you head back. I haven't looked at the schedule for that night, but I know sometimes it is EWP-castle projection show-Wishes-EWP.

The plan is to try to catch Wishes as well, but we'll play it by ear based on how our night is going. I have the schedule (which one of my awesome readers shared earlier) saved on my phone, and I think we should be able to catch both. If we miss Wishes on Saturday Night, we'll just catch it on Monday.

Personally, I detest the buses that go from DTD/DS to the resorts, so I would choose Option 3 (Pop to MK, then monorail to resort and then going from MK back to Pop) but if you need a Giardelli fix, then Option 4 taking you to Disney Springs at the end of the night. The bus back to PoP may not be as bad later in the evening. Or it might. I have never been at DTD that late.

I think later in the day they're a little better, but yeah, definitely not my favorite buses. I think last year it took us almost an hour to get from All-Star Sports to DTD one day. I think what we decide to do may depend on our timing ... if we're ready to leave the room by 7, then an hour detour to/from Disney Springs won't hurt us much. But we'll see - we're definitely playing Saturday Night by ear based on how we're feeling and how long it takes us to get ready.

In any event it sounds like a fun night!

Thanks! Hopefully it will be lots of fun!

OK, so before I comment on your Day 6 plans, I have some related news. It turns out that I will actually be in Florida that week, and I will be spending marathon day (Sunday Jan 10) at the Beach Club. My CM friend Teena is moving out to Las Vegas, earlier than she expected and I am going out to help her with the house for a couple of days. Friday night will be our only park time. I will be hanging out at the Beach Club, my Disney habitat, that day while Teena works. Then I leave Monday morning.

That is awesome!!! Maybe I'll see you if I walk past the Beach Club on my way to Epcot. (although I'll probably end up across the lake by Boardwalk).

So on to your plans... Mini Golf sounds fun even if there is a pretty good chance you will lose. I have never mini-golfed at Disney but the courses look great.

We're really excited to see the course. All the pictures I've seen look amazing ... so I'll be happy to get a chance to take lots of pictures, even if it takes me 5-6 tries to get the stupid golf ball into the stupid hole.

I love EPCOT- your plans sound just right for you. Too bad you both will be unwillingly forced to have your picture taken with a bunch of Princesses




I like your mix of character meets, rides and dining.

:

Thanks! I think we've got a nice mix of things planned, and I think we'll find a way to survive all of the princess pictures...

I can not wait to read all about your Fast Past Plus Quest day. From an interesting breakfast to seeing where the day takes you. I love having a mission!!! Makes a day that much more fun.

Hopefully we'll have a great story to tell at the end of the day!!!

 

[NJlauren]

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS DAY! FP DAY!

 

[SarahDisney]

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS DAY! FP DAY!

!!!!!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

Daily Plans: Day 8, Tuesday 1/12​

Well, it’s here. The saddest day of the trip … departure day. But just because the day ends in NY, doesn’t mean we won’t squeeze as much fun out of it as we can!

The morning will start out faster than any other morning of the trip (probably … no character stops). That’s right, after 2 races and spending plenty of time walking around the parks, we’re running again! The plan is for a short run Tuesday morning, probably two laps around Hourglass Lake (aka the lake between Pop Century and Art of Animation ), for a total distance of about 2.5 miles.

Once we finish our run, we’ll head back to the room, shower, and pack up our stuff. Once we’re all packed up, we’ll drop off our bags at Resort Airline Check-In before heading for breakfast at…

(yes, I know, I need a new picture)

Last year we did departure day breakfast of coffee and pastries at DTD, and we loved the idea enough to make it a new tradition. Even with the name change, we’re planning to keep the tradition … just with cupcakes instead of the danishes we had last year. Coffee, of course, will be…

Last year we got matching Caramel Iced Coffees, but this year I may consider a different flavor (especially because we have Ghirardelli Caramel Sauce at home, so it’s nothing special right now). Cupcakes will be from…

Image Taken From:http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/erin-mckennas-bakery-nyc/

This will be our first time sampling gluten-free cupcakes. The idea does weird me out a bit, but after surviving for a week on stale pastries from home, it’ll be nice to have some kosher fresh-baked cupcakes.

Once we finish breakfast, we’ve got a few options for our next activity.

Option 1:

Image Taken From: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2014/03/09/review-splitsville-luxury-lanes-at-downtown-disney/

The closest option (well, sort of … extra shopping is closer, but that’s such an obvious option with us that I don’t feel a need to mention it) is walking over to the West Side of Disney Springs for a little bowling!
PROS: Something totally new for us at Disney (and something we haven’t done in general in many years); Very conveniently located; Probably the first time I’ve been bowling since I turned old enough to drink (I’m not saying that I condone drunk bowling, I’m just making a statement … they have drinks at this place to make me feel better after I bowl something in the vicinity of 50)
CONS: We are going to suck; Not the cheapest option (I think it’ll be $12-$15 per person, which is not terrible, but there are cheaper options); Something we can really do anywhere

Also … am I too old for the bumpers?

Option 2:

Option 2, our original first choice for the day, has us hopping a bus to Blizzard Beach (or really, boating or walking to Sarasota Springs and then hopping a bus, because I’m 95% sure you can’t get a direct bus from Disney Springs to Blizzard Beach). What are our possible plans at Blizzard Beach?

Image Taken From: http://www.disneydispatch.com/conte...rld-with-wally/2010/03-winterland-summerland/

That’s right, more mini-golf.

PROS: Comes included with our package (we get 4 mini-golf vouchers); Lots of picture opportunities
CONS: More mini-golf??????? I will probably be sick of mini-golf by then; It’s something we just did 2 days before and is therefore not as exciting

Option 3:

Option 3 is something that we do every trip and I realized we forgot to include in the plans for this trip.

Resort exploration (with pictures ... we'll likely do it without pictures on Shabbos)! We’ll explore our resort, Pop Century, as well as a few other resorts if we think we have the time (obviously we’ll do other resorts first, then head back to Pop Century because that’s where our Magical Express pickup will be).

PROS: A chance to see fun things!
CONS: I got nothing

Option 4:
This is the Sarah’s Dream option … and also least likely to happen. If we decide that we haven’t seen everything we wanted to see at the parks, we can always add a day to our tickets and head over to …

For those of you who are confused, this is DHS. We may also consider heading to a different park, like Magic Kingdom. It would definitely be one of those two. If we choose this option, we’d likely skip Disney Springs and go straight to the park.

PROS: MORE PARK TIME!!!; Ending the trip on an awesome note
CONS: Costs more than some other options (although maybe less than bowling…); we’ve had issues leaving the parks on departure day before, and I don’t want to be worried about getting out and missing our Magical Express pickup.

Whatever we decide, we’ll have to be back at our hotel in time for our Magical Express pickup, which will likely be scheduled for around 4 PM. From there it’s off to the airport and back to NY, where we will start dreaming about our next Disney vacation.

 

[rteetz]

Departure day is the worst day of all.

As for your options I like them all except number 2. I like option 4 the best but being the least likely I would suggest option 3 and resort exploration. I always love visiting other resorts especially ones I've never been to.

 

[afwdwfan]

That’s right, after 2 races and spending plenty of time walking around the parks, we’re running again!

You're crazy.

I’m not saying that I condone drunk bowling

But it is more fun that way!

Also … am I too old for the bumpers?

Never.

Ok... I like the bowling idea. I think that would be fun. Free mini-golf isn't a bad option, but yeah, I'm sure you'll be eager and excited to play having just played the other course. And it will be a pain to get there. I think your options come down to Bowling, resort exploration or park time.

I'd actually lean towards more park time if you don't have to catch ME until about 4. You could get a lot done, leave at around noon and still maybe explore a resort or 2 on your way back...

 

[NJlauren]

Departure day always stinks!!!!

But I like that you have options! I used to take a late flight and do a park on the last day but I started to find it to much so I see why you wouldn't want to do that, however one more park day is so tempting!!!

Hope you have an amazing trip! 2 week count down!!

 

[SarahDisney]

Departure day is the worst day of all.

Totally agree with this one.

As for your options I like them all except number 2. I like option 4 the best but being the least likely I would suggest option 3 and resort exploration. I always love visiting other resorts especially ones I've never been to.

Thanks for the input! I think option 4 is my favorite option, but resort hopping is definitely one of the most likely options. Especially because we always stay in the values, I'd love to check out some of the moderates an deluxes.

You're crazy.

I think you've said that before...

But it is more fun that way!

I'll have to take your word for it. I've never tried it. I probably haven't bowled since I was like 15 ... and I definitely wasn't old enough to drink then.

Never.

Okay, good. So if we bowl, I'll use the bumpers.

Ok... I like the bowling idea. I think that would be fun. Free mini-golf isn't a bad option, but yeah, I'm sure you'll be eager and excited to play having just played the other course. And it will be a pain to get there. I think your options come down to Bowling, resort exploration or park time.

Good point about the mini-golf being both something we just did and a pain to get to. So it's a good thing we have other options.

I'd actually lean towards more park time if you don't have to catch ME until about 4. You could get a lot done, leave at around noon and still maybe explore a resort or 2 on your way back...

Thanks for the input! Park time is definitely my top choice, but we'll see how things go. I actually really like the idea of resort exploration after we leave the park, so thanks for the suggestion!

Departure day always stinks!!!!

Yes. It does.

But I like that you have options! I used to take a late flight and do a park on the last day but I started to find it to much so I see why you wouldn't want to do that, however one more park day is so tempting!!!

On our first few trips, we did Hollywood Studios on departure day, and both times we left earlier than this trip (I think one was a 6:30 flight and the other was like a 5:00 flight). But I remember both trips being nervous about making our ME pickup. But we'll see ... I'm always all for extra park time, so we'll see if we want to try to make it work.

Hope you have an amazing trip! 2 week count down!!

Thanks!

14 DAYS!!!!

 

[huggybuff]

I'm pulling for options 3 or 4. I also like the idea of mixing the two and hitting a couple of resorts after morning park time. OMIGOSH 2 weeks!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm pulling for options 3 or 4. I also like the idea of mixing the two and hitting a couple of resorts after morning park time. OMIGOSH 2 weeks!!!

Thanks for the input!
12 days now!! So soon!!

 

[SarahDisney]

All Things Wardrobe​

Time for another random update … this one centered around clothing & wardrobe.

Shoes:
Remember a few weeks ago when I said that Beth liked her new shoes? I spoke too soon. Unfortunately, after a few runs, her shoes started to hurt her. Like, they caused serious calf pain. She realized that they wouldn’t work for her, so we cleaned up the soles a bit and went to the running store to return them. We then went to a different store to get fitted for new shoes, and while she didn’t have the best experience (the guy who helped her was kinda conceited), she ended up in the newer model of my shoes:

That’s the Saucony Guide 9. She still has some calf pain, but it’s better than it was in the other shoes (and will probably be fine once she has some time to rest).

Meanwhile … I got another pair of the same shoes I already had. I still don’t love them, but I do like them and I think they work well for me. They were on sale for $50, so all I had to do was pick out a color. I thought the pink was a little too close to my current purple and the gray & white ones were too boring, so I went with blue.

Really, I probably should have gotten both pink and blue (seriously … $50 for shoes that were $120 original price), but that was too big of an investment for me right now. And I wouldn’t really have room for an extra shoebox in my closet anyway (yes, I keep my shoes in their boxes … well, some of them).

Race Costumes:
Don’t get me started. Seriously. We went so back and forth on a lot of things, and it was ridiculousness. Right now it’s looking like I’ll be Nemo-inspired for the 5K, and Dumbo-inspired for the 10K. Beth is still working on costumes … top choices right now are Snow White and Cinderella, but we’ve also discussed Tinker Bell. We’re still searching for the perfect components for the outfits.

Nemo-inspired:

Dumbo-inspired:

Yes, that is the Dumbo skirt I’ve been talking about for months. You just can’t see the top red tier because my shirt is so long. I kinda forgot about that while designing and making the skirt. If I could go back and redo it, there are a few things I would do differently, but overall, I think it’s cute!

Park Outfits:
No DisneyBounding this trip. I think. I am trying to do little character-inspired touches whenever possible, but those will probably be last-minute decisions. As for what I mean by “character-inspired touches” … it could be anything from wearing old DisneyBounding accessories to character-inspired accessories (see below) to wearing a partial DisneyBound or something else entirely. We shall see. For me, the biggest issue was whether or not I had enough clothing for this long of a trip. The answer is yes … I think.
Beth is not sure yet if she has enough clothing. And she has less than two weeks to figure it out. We should probably get moving on that, right?

Packing/Luggage:
We had to buy a new suitcase for this trip (well, not for it so much as because of it – the suitcase is for my brother). We had 2 semi-large suitcases (one of which is hard to use because the handle is broken, but I may attempt it anyway). And my brother is out of the country and not getting back until after we leave. So that left us with 3 people going on long trips and a maximum of two large suitcases. So a new suitcase was purchased, and my brother took it with him.
At least now that we’ve taken an inventory of what suitcases we have, I can get more serious about figuring out what I can bring. And we still might end up needing to buy another suitcase if we have too much stuff and don’t want to use the broken one. Oh, life…
Although the brother did not end up taking the good carryon rolling suitcase, so I can always take that instead of my usual duffel bag and stuff extra crap in there.

Shopping:
We did our “final” food shopping on Monday … we went to Target and picked up some food and last minute clothing needs. We’ll make one more stop right before the trip for perishables (like bread and whatnot).
There may still be a little clothing shopping necessary, but we shall see.

And … that’s it. I’m sure I’ll be back here at some point in time with another random disjointed update, but until then…

12 DAYS!!

 

[rteetz]

That sucks that her shoes didn't work out but at least she found some new ones. I'm not going to get any new ones before marathon weekend but I likely will after.

The outfits look good. My 5K shirt came together but my half didn't so now I'm frantically trying to decide what to wear for that.

We bought a new suitcase for my grandma for Christmas because she had a small one and hasn't been on a big vacation in years so she really needed a new one.

Woohoo 12 days! I can't wait!

 

[KathyM2]

Love your plans. I love the idea of going to a park on the last day because it never seems like you have enough park time...however...yeah...could also be stressful but if you allow enough time to get out and on a bus...should be ok. I guess worst case maybe cab it to the hotel if it gets super late? Just a thought...but who knows how you'll feel by the end of the trip, you may want to do something lower key like DS. That maybe has to be a more spontaneous decision?