A Disney-addicted mom: Disney cruise, Family trip, Running trips! *Update 2/18*

Glad you had a nice trip!
And you made it over to Disney after all :banana:

Happy Passover to you Amanda!
 
Glad you had a nice trip!
And you made it over to Disney after all :banana:

Happy Passover to you Amanda!

Thank you!
Funny thing. It was totally my DH's idea to go to Disney. He woke me up at 5:45am to go!!! But it was a really fun day.

Amanda
 
Hope you had a special Passover with your family, Amanda. :goodvibes

Sorry to hear there was some sickness during your Vero Beach trip. I love that you spent some time at Disney. Mark was the same way when I planned the Universal trip. He couldn't stand being so close to Disney and not visit the Magic Kingdom! I look forward to hearing more about your trip when you have time. I am a beach lover, so I am very interested in hearing what Vero is like.

One week from right now we will be on our way to Atlantis!!!

It is ridiculously expensive to do an excursion for the day, epecially for a family of 5 as you have discovered. I suggested to eandesmom, who has a summer cruise planned, that maybe she could find a family of 3 on the ship who is planning on going to Atlantis, and if her family booked one room at Comfort Suites, and the other family booked one, you could go at the same time and chip in for the additional bracelet you need. The aquarium areas at Atlantis are amazing, but the water park may be better suited to your kids when they are older, anyway.

We have gone to the pirate museum a couple of times, it was ok. There is also a fort you can tour in Nassau. I have heard good things about Astrada Gardens/zoo.
 
Hope you had a special Passover with your family, Amanda. :goodvibes

Sorry to hear there was some sickness during your Vero Beach trip. I love that you spent some time at Disney. Mark was the same way when I planned the Universal trip. He couldn't stand being so close to Disney and not visit the Magic Kingdom! I look forward to hearing more about your trip when you have time. I am a beach lover, so I am very interested in hearing what Vero is like.

One week from right now we will be on our way to Atlantis!!!

It is ridiculously expensive to do an excursion for the day, epecially for a family of 5 as you have discovered. I suggested to eandesmom, who has a summer cruise planned, that maybe she could find a family of 3 on the ship who is planning on going to Atlantis, and if her family booked one room at Comfort Suites, and the other family booked one, you could go at the same time and chip in for the additional bracelet you need. The aquarium areas at Atlantis are amazing, but the water park may be better suited to your kids when they are older, anyway.

We have gone to the pirate museum a couple of times, it was ok. There is also a fort you can tour in Nassau. I have heard good things about Astrada Gardens/zoo.

Funny how sickness on our trips is becoming a theme! :lmao:
I can't wait to hear about your Atlantis trip!!! I really want to go there. I'm also dying to hear your waterproof camera reviews because I'm 99% sure I want one. Especially since the camera that I'm "allowed" to use is 4 years old and has children's fingerprints all over it! :rotfl2:
Good idea about Comfort Suites. I think we may go for something more laid back. I'm going to look at shore excursions today and decide...

Amanda
 
Ugh. Spoke to our accountant today and we owe more in taxes than I expected. We'll see how the cash flow situation goes but we might cancel the August trip. I'm also starting to see the logic in me going to Marathon Weekend alone. I knew we would owe taxes but it's worse than I thought. My fault. :mad: I don't feel sorry for us because we still have lots of nice things coming up! :thumbsup2 and it's my fault anyway. We pay quarterly so this can happen. We also bought our house last year which wasn't cheap. If I get my raise and Tom's practice does well, we can try to keep the August trip. I'm going to hope for the best and plan for the worst. (I may consider downgrading our resort as an alternative to canceling).
The cruise is paid in full but I think we'll pass on shore excursions. They are quite pricey and I don't think we need them.

Amanda
 
Taxes UGH!!!:mad:
We owe this year too :mad: b/c I've been collecting unemployment. Hopefully not to much longer. I was offered a long term substitute position today:yay:
So I'll have it til the end of June at least.
Hoping for something perminent for Sept.
 
Taxes UGH!!!:mad:
We owe this year too :mad: b/c I've been collecting unemployment. Hopefully not to much longer. I was offered a long term substitute position today:yay:
So I'll have it til the end of June at least.
Hoping for something perminent for Sept.

CONGRATS on the long-term sub position. At least it's something!!!

Amanda
 
Cruise update!
I made final payment on the cruise and did online check-in this morning. We decided NOT to book any shore excursions for now. Anything that we'd like to do in Nassau is wildly expensive (spending a day at the Atlantis waterpark would cost about $700 for a family of 5). :scared1: I did book a dinner at Palo for Tom and me one night. I figure we'll sit with the kids for our rotational dining that night, put them in their pajamas and send them off to the kids' club while we enjoy an adult meal. Zachary is currently NOT 100% potty trained - although he's pretty close - but he'll be allowed to wear a pull-up if he's in his pajamas. So it's a pretty safe bet for dinner.


Amanda
 
Cruise Update
I just heard some good news on the podcast. Apparently they aren't quite as strict about potty training in the kids clubs as I had been led to believe. I guess it makes sense that a company so dedicated to special-needs kids would make it possible for them to attend the kids programs. Zachary still won't be allowed in the pool if he's not fully potty trained but it'll be nice to send him to the kid clubs. Yay!
I've been obsessively reading the Passporter book on DCL. :rotfl: I think I'm learning everything I need to know. Today I'm hoping to get my passport picture taken and mail my renewal paperwork to get my new passport. I still can't believe I didn't realize my passport was expiring this year until last weekend. :rolleyes1
I must say that after listening to all the stuff about the Fantasy, it made me super excited to go on the Dream. I hope my family LOVES cruising because then we can do this again. :thumbsup2


Running Update
I've decided to put generic running updates in purple (as oppose to update specific to a runDisney event). Tomorrow I'm running my next half marathon. It's in Central Park (NYC). Tom and I are actually staying in a hotel in NYC tonight (Tom "won" it at a silent auction at a hospital benefit) and we're seeing Newsies on Broadway. Not the ideal pre-race routine maybe but I'm pretty excited! The race starts at 8am on Sunday morning. I'll probably be tweeting some from the race (@anorth21).
In other running news I seem to have connected on Twitter with some other women who are doing various runDisney races. I think we're going to try to virtually train together for the ToT race as well as Marathon Weekend. Still don't know travel details for January (as in, I don't know if my family is coming or not). I guess we'll just wait and see.


Amanda
 
Taxes stink!
I'm glad Zachary will be able to go to the kids club.

Our school nurse is running in tomorrow's half. It's her 60th birthday as well.
I'd love to try one of the Disney 5K races. Do people walk part of the race?
 
Taxes stink!
I'm glad Zachary will be able to go to the kids club.

Our school nurse is running in tomorrow's half. It's her 60th birthday as well.
I'd love to try one of the Disney 5K races. Do people walk part of the race?

Lots of people walk the whole thing! Disney races are awesome!

Amanda
 
Hi Amanda!
I followed you over from my and Tim's Nemesis Challenge thread. Looks like I already missed the Vero Beach vacation. We stayed there after our cruise in October and loved it!

Have you decided if you'll be going in August? We'll be there from the 19th-29th for a friend's WDW wedding.

Otherwise I'm sure we'll cross paths in the 1/2 Marathon. I'll be the guy farrrrr behind you, huffing and puffing.

And possibly crawling. Depends on how training goes.
 
Hi Amanda!
I followed you over from my and Tim's Nemesis Challenge thread. Looks like I already missed the Vero Beach vacation. We stayed there after our cruise in October and loved it!

Have you decided if you'll be going in August? We'll be there from the 19th-29th for a friend's WDW wedding.

Otherwise I'm sure we'll cross paths in the 1/2 Marathon. I'll be the guy farrrrr behind you, huffing and puffing.

And possibly crawling. Depends on how training goes.

Welcome Barry! And CONGRATS again on your new addition!
We are using the wait and see game for August. We owed a lot in taxes (like as much as some people's annual salary) so some of it went on credit card. If I can pay that off - or at least mostly pay that off - and still keep our August trip, we'll go. My husband likes to tell me that we're going to cancel trips and then decides at the last minute that we really need a trip. :thumbsup2 The airfare is already paid so that works in my favor. ;)
As for me being ahead of you in the 1/2 marathon? Did you read that I'm doing the Goofy???? :lmao: I'm planning a 3 - 3:15 half to conserve energy for the full. Unless my training is spectacular between now and then - which I doubt based on history! :rolleyes1

Amanda
 
Running Update:
This past Sunday was the More Magazine Women's Half Marathon in Central Park. Last year I earned my PR (Personal Record) at this race and I felt like I could probably beat that time this year. Until I read the weather reports. We had an unseasonably warm weekend. The starting temperatures were in the 60's (I was wearing a tank top and skirt and was perfectly comfortable and I'm always cold!) and the highs near 80. I don't like running in warm weather! The race went pretty well. I avoided some of the problems during my marathon (I do need to copy and paste my marathon report from my running blog to the Disboards at some point) and didn't overheat or overhydrate. My finish time was 2:38:24 which was less than 2 minutes slower than my best time. Not bad considering the temperatures! I'm a teeny bit disappointed that I not getting faster but I'm going to keep training!


Cruise:
I can't believe the cruise is getting closer and closer. I mailed my passport renewal application and they've already cashed my check so hopefully I'll get my new passport in time! I still can't believe I didn't check my expiration date until now. :crazy2: Anyway I'm super excited about the cruise. All the information coming out about the Fantasy has made me super excited to go on the Dream! And I'm hoping for a nice relaxing trip!!!


Marathon Weekend:
I still haven't convinced my DH to take the family for marathon weekend. With the huge hit we took with taxes, I think it'll be a harder sell. :rolleyes2 I still want everyone to come and cheer for me. Maybe if some good discounts come out I can convince him. :lovestruc


Amanda
 
ToT Race Weekend
I can't remember if I posted here but I found a roommate for the ToT race weekend. It's a friend that I've met on the DIS and I met her in person at the DISapalooza event in December. We are also friends on Twitter. She got a great deal on a studio at BCV. I'm going to hold onto my room at BC until we get closer to the race but I think we'll probably just share the studio. She also just told me that Lou Mongello is organizing an event at the American Pavilion on the Friday night of that weekend. And Epcot's 30th anniversary is on Monday of that weekend. I'm flying home late on Monday so I should be able to partake.
I haven't made any dining reservations because it will be during Food & Wine. I figure as the date approaches I'll check with my Twitter friends and crazy runDisney friends to see if we need to organize any meals. Otherwise I"ll just wing it. The one thing I'm not certain about is MNSSHP. My roommate does not want to go to the party. She's been many times and wants to save the $$$. I would love to go but only if I can find a group to go with. Some of my Disney friends were thinking about Friday night's party but I think I'd rather a free event with Lou Mongello. :scratchin Any opinions?
I'm also not sure how aggressively I want to run the 10 miler. I've never done a night race before, although I have done evening training runs. And I'm running a local half marathon the following weekend. Not mention I'll be smack in the middle of Goofy training! I figure 2 races in a row is good training, right? ;)


Amanda
 
I did my 1st post-race run this morning and felt great! 3.6 miles at 12:38 min/mile pace. Yay! I'm running a 10k in NYC on June 9th so I need to keep up my training.

Podcast Cruise
I need to start thinking about a dinner reservation for the night before our cruise. We're staying at the Swan so it could be anywhere at Swan/Dolphin, Boardwalk, or Epcot. Or even Hollywood Studios, I suppose. Suggestions? I'm hoping to maybe watch Illuminations that night because, believe it or not, I've never seen Illuminations! Our cruise check-in time is 11am so we can't get picked up from the hotel much before 10am (DCL has gotten strict about people getting to the Port early because they're trying to manage crowds on the bigger ships). I still need to arrange our transportation, too.
Post-cruise we're pretty much set. I've reserved a golf cart at the Fort (I've read that this will likely be my children's favorite part of staying at Fort Wilderness). We're doing Hoop-dee-doo on Friday night and Mickey's Backyard BBQ on Saturday night. I'm thinking we could take the boat to MK one day if we want but otherwise I'm thinking about enjoying the Fort. I've heard the pool was recently updated and is nice. We could do a fishing excursion one morning but it's expensive so I'm not sure about that. And maybe some pony rides, time at the petting zoo, etc. I hope that's enough for the kids!


Amanda
 
August Family Trip
I haven't posted much about our August trip because it's not 100% that we're going. I really believe I'll find a way to make it happen. I've paid our taxes in full but some was on credit card so I want to make a huge dent in that before I fork over cash for Disney. On the other hand my kids have had a difficult year and I think the more family vacation time we have together, the better. They're only young once!
I haven't done ANY planning in terms of parks but I have dinner ADRs for every night:

Saturday, 8/25 5:40pm Cape May Cafe (We've never eaten here for dinner and I'm excited to try the Clam Bake!)
Sunday, 8/26 6pm Teppan Edo (NOT my favorite at all. We have a local hibachi place that is cheaper and better but my kids LOVE this place and insisted. What we do for love....)
Monday, 8/27 5:45pm Via Napoli (I love Via Napoli. I love the salad that you can get with the pizza. I love the atmosphere.)
Tuesday, 8/28 8:15pm Flying Fish Cafe (We're sitting at the Chef's Table for date night!)
Wednesday, 8/29 6:30pm Akhershus (Jessica MUST have a princess dinner or major tantrums ensue. She loves this one.)
Thursday, 8/30 6pm Bluezoo (We took the family here in January - the night before my marathon - and the kids loved it. Jessica says it's one of her very favorite restaurants at Disney World. Who am I to argue?)
Friday, 8/316:30pm Garden Grill (This has become our classic last night at Disney dinner. The character interaction is the among the best I've ever seen and we have happy memories of eating here. This will be our 3rd annual last night dinner at Garden Grill!)

Amanda
 
Cruise update - or how the normally organized Amanda totally messed up our cruise transportation
Here's the story. We fly to MCO on June 23rd and are staying at the Swan. On June 24th we head to the cruise terminal for our cruise. On June 29th we arrive at the Port again and head to Cabins at Fort Wilderness. My plan was to use FL Tours for all 3 legs of the journey. I considered the DIS transfer (this is a podcast cruise so they have DIS transfers available but to use the round-trip transfers you have to leave from and return to the same hotel. Since we're staying at the Swan pre-cruise and the Cabins post-cruise, that won't work. I could book 2 one-way transfers but at $70 per person that seemed pricey.
So what's the issue?
FL Tours is a sponsor of the Disboards. The cruise is a podcast cruise with some 400 DISers onboard. FL Tours is already fully booked for the morning of June 24th. Yikes!
After having a full-blown panic attack last night, I thought things through. Here's my solution: FL Tours from MCO to the Swan. DIS transfers from Swan to the Port. And we'll be renting a car from the Port and returning it to MCO on Sunday when we fly home. I was worried about NOT having a car at Fort Wilderness so I suppose this has merit. I got a decent deal on a Ford Escape and I think we'll fit with our luggage. All of these transfers were NOT cheap but even if we did FL Tours for all 3 legs of the journey, it would be pricey. So that's done.
In retrospect I should have realized that FL Tours would be an issue with so many DISers going to the same place at the same time. But maybe having 3 different forms of transport will be its own adventure. And taking the bus to the Port might actually limit the amount of fighting amongst the children. :lmao:


Amanda
 
















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