13.1 Before I Hit 40 - Running my 1st 1/2 Marathon at Disney uptd 09/30

[All7OfUs]

This is why I love my Dis friends so much. Always the enablers!

I was going to say the same thing, but Leslie beat me to it

 

[If U Had Wings]

I was going to say the same thing, but Leslie beat me to it

Enablers all of you!!!

 

[TarzansKat]

Well, I hate to sway you either way, but I am rather partial to the Yacht Club. While it's not my favorite deluxe, it's a very nice resort. And I do love the Epcot area resorts as well. That International Gateway is something to be considered.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I tried to update yesterday only to find out that I couldn't post anything to my ptr. Luckily I'm back to normal again today.

Plans for my trip have been going slowly, and by that I mean not at all. I'm trying to hold out until Feb. 1 when Disney releases the discounted rates for race partcipants for the resorts. My other big issue is to figure out how many days we are going to do at Universal Studios. I hate giving up Disney days, but I did promise my BFF I'd do Universal this trip once Harry Potter land opens. I would have prefered to do Universal first, but with the race being on a Saturday night it's going to be easier to work the days in at the end.

Training has been going slowly as well, as I got sick for about the 4th or 5th time this season. It's been in my lungs, and even walking too fast triggers awful uncontrollable coughing sessions. I haven't done anything in a week. Today I'm going to try my Zumba class, so hopefully if it goes well I'll be back to training next week.

I have been moving right along with plans for my bonus trip at the end of February though! Since all is quiet around here for the October trip I'm going to combine my very tiny PTR report for my Feb trip here. Just because.

I haven't mentioned it on this PTR yet, but I'm heading down to the world with my parents for 5 days at the end of next month before heading further south for a visit with my grandmother. I was only originally planning on being there for a day before visiting my grandmother, but let's just say that my mother and father are a couple of born Disers at heart. They enabled me right into going.

They are covering the cost of the hotel room, and in exchange I get to do all the planning. Not a bad deal at all, especially as it would kill me to turn over the trip planning. Somewhere along the line, my parents have lost all interest in planning of any kind. My father, who once wouldn't let anyone even look at his plans, now just gives me dates, and his credit card and tells me to do it all for him. I get a good laugh out of it.

Booking the room was first priority, and when traveling with my parents the easiest part of a Disney trip to handle. They are interested in staying in one place, and one place only.

POFQ

They'd love a deluxe, but don't want to spend the money on it. I suggested trying a value this time, or one of the other moderates. Nope, nope, nope. For them it's POFQ. I'm sure they'd pick somewhere else if they had to, but as long as it's available they have no intention of going anywhere else. They've tried POR before, but they found it too big. They love the small size of POFQ, so I don't really push too hard to get them to try another larger moderate. Luckily it was available, and it took just minutes to book the stay.

Next up - how I managed to screw up my flight reservations to the tune of $100.

 

[micandminforever]

I love the beignets at POFQ.

 

[TarzansKat]

Glad you're combining pre-trippies, I love hearing about both. I think with training, as long as you keep doing something, but don't push yourself, you'll stay on track. It's really tough when you're sick, I totally empathize. I am really into working out, at least three times a week, but when I got pregnant and went through first trimester nausea and exhaustion, that totally fell by the wayside. I try to do extra laps in the grocery store and park farther away when I run errands. At least it's something.

 

[MRYPPNS]

Thank god you like POFQ!!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I love the beignets at POFQ.

They are one of my mom's favorite things. Every night when we were at POFQ, we'd have to stop there at the end of the night for coffee and beignets. She's already talking about them.

Glad you're combining pre-trippies, I love hearing about both. I think with training, as long as you keep doing something, but don't push yourself, you'll stay on track. It's really tough when you're sick, I totally empathize. I am really into working out, at least three times a week, but when I got pregnant and went through first trimester nausea and exhaustion, that totally fell by the wayside. I try to do extra laps in the grocery store and park farther away when I run errands. At least it's something.

I don't blame you at all. I can't imagine that much of the exhaustion feeling. Last night I made it through my Zumba class without any major coughing fit, and I slept through the night as well. I'm hoping it's a sign that I'm on the mend. I'll try my Zumba class again on Saturday, and if all goes well I'll get back to running Sunday.

I too like to park a little further away in parking lots to give myself a little bit of a workout.

Thank god you like POFQ!!

I know. They won't even consider another option. I'm looking forward to staying there again. I missed it a bit my last trip.

 

[If U Had Wings]

After booking the room at POFQ, next up was airfare. A bigger challenge since it entailed multiple airports and days. After playing around with dates we finally decided to fly out on a Friday as opposed to a Saturday. The flights were a bit cheaper and worked out better for us.

I had played around with just about every concievable plan for getting us to the airport in the most economical way. Normally we love to fly out of White Plains, but with all of us going there was no one to drop us off at the airport. Parking there is very limited and very expensive. Not something we wanted to take a chance on. Car service was another option. Not bad on the way down when there were 3 of us, but I really didn't want to spend the $150 for a return ride home alone.

I priced out other airports as well. We could have flown Southwest out of Hartford, where parking is cheap and plentiful, but the flights were so much more expensive. (Which really surprised me. I've always heard such good things about Southwest, but whenever I look they are much more expensive than the Jet Blue or Air Tran). There were some good priced flights out of La Guardia and JFK, but the price bounded right back up once you figured in parking or car service.

In the end White Plains was going to be our best bet, with an overnight stay and go package the night before at a local La Quinta Inn. For $110 we got an overnight stay and up to 10 days of parking with shuttle service to and from the airport. Not bad.

Air Tran used to be our airline of choice, but last year they got rid of all but one non-stop flight a day to Orlando. My mother flat out refuses to fly anything but non-stop to Florida. She hates flying anyways, and feels the flight is short enough that she doesn't want to stop mid-way there. So it was the one non-stop Air Tran flight at about 2pm, or a 6:30 am flight on Jet Blue, which was about $30 more than the Air Tran flight. We ultimately decieded to take the earlier flight so we don't lose a whole day. We'll be in Orlando by 9:30 am this way. Nearly a full day. Easy enough choice, we booked it and moved on to the return trips.

Flying home is where the difficulties started. I'll be returning March 7th from West Palm Beach, and my parents are returning on the 13th. We found them a great cheap mid day flight on Air Tran and booked it. (I'm very happy I won't be heading to the airport at the crack of dawn to pick them up).

Then it was time to book my return flight, and my screwing up to the cost of a $100 fee. All the flights for my trip home were much higher, so in order to keep my flight under $200 I had to book a 6:30 am flight home. I had looked up all the flight amounts earlier in the week, so I should have paid more attention when my Jet Blue flight was suddenly $30 cheaper. I didn't though and happily booked my flight home. I didn't want to waste any time and miss it before the price went up again.

A couple of hours later I was home looking over my flight information and came to a sickening feeling when I realized my mistake.

You ever notice how in February and March the dates fall on the same days of the week?

I should have. I booked my flight home for Sunday 2/7 instead of Sunday 3/7. Seriously, I wanted to cry. I had managed to book my return flight home before my trip to Florida. Fixable, but with a $100 fee. For a mistake I had made just 2 hours previously.

At least I only did it with my ticket. I didn't tell anyone in my family about the screw up, as it would be entertainment fodder for ages. I love my family, but screw ups don't die easily.

Next - can I do any better with ADR's at the last minute?

 

[All7OfUs]

Two whole posts to read tonight!! That's great!

For $110 bucks I'd say you got a great deal for a room AND parking. Nicely negotiated!

Did you try to talk to an agent and tell them of your mistake?? I wonder if they'd be fogiving and waive the fee?

That's funny your parents won't try another resort. I'd be excited to give them all a try at least once.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Two whole posts to read tonight!! That's great!

For $110 bucks I'd say you got a great deal for a room AND parking. Nicely negotiated!

Did you try to talk to an agent and tell them of your mistake?? I wonder if they'd be fogiving and waive the fee?

That's funny your parents won't try another resort. I'd be excited to give them all a try at least once.

The deal is great, especially as I'll be taking advantage of the full 10 days. The last time we used the deal they somehow got us to pay more once we got to the hotel. This time I have the back up in writing so they can't try to pull one over on us. I just have to remember to bring it with me.

I didn't try to call them. I just fixed in online. I was just so annoyed with myself for doing something so dumb.

My parents are pretty set on their resort. I guess their feeling is they know it, they love it, why change? I think they'd try a deluxe. Maybe.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I did it!

Today I finally made myself officially register for the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon.

I've now paid, and unless I want to throw away the money, I had better start training. I can't believe how much more real it feels now that I've paid.

It's feeling a just a little bit scary now.

13.1 miles!!!!!

I also signed up for a local 10K race in June. My SIL is going to run it as well, and my brother is running the half marathon they have at the same time. I figure it will help keep my on track with my running, and having family there will be a great support boost.

 

[Native NYer]

Congrats

 

[micandminforever]

Good luck with your training.

 

[All7OfUs]

WINGS! YOU DID IT!! I would certainly think that the paying up would change your perspective and add a sense of urgency. I know you'll do great! And think---- it's in DISNEY!! If that's not a reward I don't kwow what is! Well, ok, you'll feel and look great, too.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Good luck with your training.

Thank you!

Congrats

I'm still in a bit of shock that I'm going to do this.

WINGS! YOU DID IT!! I would certainly think that the paying up would change your perspective and add a sense of urgency. I know you'll do great! And think---- it's in DISNEY!! If that's not a reward I don't kwow what is! Well, ok, you'll feel and look great, too.

Paying takes away any excuse I may come up with for not doing this. Especially the first 10k race. I think it will really help to run the race with my family. It will be my SIL's first race too, and my brother has done several of them. A nice mix of someone sharing the new experience with you, and someone who's been there before to give advice.

This is all confirming my committment to myself. Now I just have to get the training in gear.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Other people do travel with family and friends who put in an opinion about where they eat right?

Not me obviously. After planning my last trip with a friend who said she didn't care where she ate, I was looking forward to an easier, less stressful time planning my parents ADRs. I was figuring they'd give me a nice little tidy list and we'd be set.

No such luck.

After booking the room, I asked them where they wanted to eat. My father always has a standing request for Le Cellier, but after that I heard crickets. Seriously, I can't be the only person who cares where she eats. I managed to get from my mother that she definitely wanted TS meals, but after that no real opinion. Just book what you like I was told.

I may have flipped out a little, inside at any rate. I gently told them this was their vacation, not mine, and I wanted to be sure they didn't end up eating somewhere where they had no interest. After a bit of hemming and hawing I finally got my mother to put in a request for the Brown Derby and my father said he'd like to eat at Boma again. After that they were stumped. I was happy that I had a small list at any rate. I felt much less guilty about picking two restaurants than I would about picking all five.

My parents decided against park hoppers for this trip, so I didn't really have the most flexiblity going into planning our meals, especially with the parks closing fairly early on a few nights. Their only request was that they see all nightime parades/shows/fireworks. With just over a month before our dates, I did warn that I probably wouldn't be able to score the much desired Le Cellier ressie.

I was amazed at how easy it was to make the ADRs for this trip. Maybe because this is the first trip I've taken in awhile that is not during a free dining period, but I was able to get all the ADRs they requested, Even Le Cellier. I had to be a bit flexible with some of the times, eating early in a few cases, but my parents typically eat early so they won't mind at all. I'll be going a bit crazy eating that early, but that's okay. It will make sure that my mom and I have room for our nightly beignet stop at the food court when we get back from the parks.

So the plan

Friday 2/26 - Rose and Crown 6:30 pm - This was one of my pics, and the one that I'm a bit unsure about. I've wanted to eat here for awhile, but never had the chance. I figured that it was a good choice since we don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. My father was a bit iffy on it, but really he'll eat anything. My concern is really with the weather, and that we'd get stuck at an outside table in the cold.

Saturday 2/27 - Boma 5:10 pm - I was so happy that my father picked this one out. Yum!

Sunday 2/28 - Hollywood Brown Derby 3:35 pm - So early, but this is the only day during our trip that they will be running Fantasmic. Fantasmic's at 7,and since I'm thinking we'll need to be getting our seats an hour or so before hand, I didn't want to rush the meal. This was the best available time they had. For the girl who normally eats dinner at about 7/8 o'clock this is going to be a bit rough.

Monday 3/1 - Liberty Tree Tavern - 4:25 - A bit early, but again the time was picked so we could have plenty of time to catch Spectromagic at 7pm. While I don't mind standing to watch the parade, I know that my parents will need a seat. This was my other pick, and I can't wait to eat there for the first time.

Tuesday 3/2 - Le Cellier - 2:35 pm - A late lunch. I would have preferred dinner, but at less than 2 months out I was thrilled with getting anything for Le Cellier.

Wednesday we check out. I was thinking of trying to get a Kona breakfast ressie after we pick up the rental car. We are planning on heading in to a park for a few hours before getting on the road. Still thinking about this one.

 

[Native NYer]

Great ADRs

I've never tried Boma or Le Cellier. I need to put those on my list.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Great ADRs

I've never tried Boma or Le Cellier. I need to put those on my list.

I am probably one of the few people who can take or leave Le Cellier. I'm not a huge meat eater so I'm missing the main attraction. I do love the cheese soup and a few of the appetizers so it's not a wash.

Boma I love, and was happy that someone else wanted to eat there. I'm not wildly adventerous, but I do love to try new things. The buffet there really makes it easy to try things, yet it never tastes to me like typical buffet food. Normally I hate buffets, but here I'm happy. I think it's worth trying once to see how you like it.

 

[All7OfUs]

I"m signing up for the "meh about Le Cellier" club too. I'd so much rather have a very well cooked vegetarian dish than a steak any day. Not that I don't like steak, but once every 6 months is enough for me.

I, like you, am very excited for our Boma choices. Everything there looks so yummy! Can't wait. Bring back lots of pix for us!!

L