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

[DrMomof3]

24 DAYS!

We're almost at the 3 week mark for our cruise. I can't even believe it! When I booked the cruise - about 18 months ago - I don't think I ever believed the day would finally come! I actually got a suitcase out and started packing a few things. So far I've packed our FE (not the gifts - those haven't arrived yet), the autograph books, the door magnets, and the embroidered pillow cases. And, no, I haven't taken pictures of any of them yet!

Tom's going to a wellness retreat in Denver this weekend so I'm pretty much a single mom. My nanny is around so I'll probably have her help me for a few hours. Just to retain my sanity! It's not supposed to be a particularly nice weekend - low 70's and rain - so not pool weather. Movie-wise there isn't much that's great for young kids. I know Nathaniel wants to see MIB 3 but I'm not sure it's ok for Zachary. I'll figure something out....

So.... I'm debating buying into DVC. This isn't completely new. We've been debating for years. Here's my thought. I would think about buying a small resale contract for the purpose of having a place to stay for Marathno Weekend every year. This will be my 3rd marathon weekend. I suspect Marathon Weekend will be a solo trip from now on so I only need a studio. Where would you buy? The factors are obviously: 1. Location and convenience to the marathon. 2. Number of points needed for a room. 3. Cost per point. 4. Love of that particular resort.

I think SSR is cheapest per point. I like the resort but wouldn't stay there without a car. OKW is pretty good value in terms of points but not my first choice location. Supposedly you can walk from there to the race start but it's on busy roads and unsanctioned. The AKV lovers swear that the bus service is better there because the buses only go to AKV BUT it is fairly remote to all the parks except AK (which is my least favorite park). I don't know much about VWL. I've heard mixed reviews of BWV - some say it's noisy and the internal hallways are long and The Shining-like. I loved BCV but have heard that the bus service to the half marathon last year wasn't fabulous. Points are a bit more expensive compared to SSR, OKW, and BWV. BLT is ideal in terms of location (monorail to the start of the races and walking distance to MK) but points are expensive and rooms require many points. Or maybe I should wait for GF and possibly Poly DVC????
Just for fun share your opinion!

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

Tom is off in Denver at a Wellness Retreat. He has a bad family history of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. and hasn't been able to stick with a weight-loss/exercise regimen. We're hoping this helps him kick-start his efforts. I thought that maybe my running would inspire him and he registered twice for the half marathon but hasn't finished either (he made it to mile 10 and was given a Donald medal this year). What this means for me is that I'm a single mom to 3 wild and crazy kids all weekend! The good news is that I'm not on-call. The bad news is that the weather report isn't great. I think it's going to be about 70F and raining in the morning. Not pool weather for sure! And sadly there are no good child-friendly movies in the theaters right now. Wish Madagascar 3 or Brave were opening this weekend!!!!
I'm trying to make lists of good activities to do with the kids. I think we'll watch movies (going to check Netflix streaming and watch something "free") and probably do some cooking. I bought some rewards for good behavior. We might make pizzas tomorrow night....

10K is a week from tomorrow. I had 2 good 3 mile runs this week. I'll try to get 5 miles on the treadmill tomorrow. We'll see how things go with the kids. If baseball gets rained out, I'll have more luck with the run.

Finally ordered the FE gifts. They are due to arrive by June 14th. That should give me enough time in case they are a little late. I don't know what else I need to do prior to the cruise. I can't really start packing because we still need our warm weather clothes for every day. The dress I want to wear to Palo is what I'm wearing the our Residents Graduation Dinner on June 14th. And I wouldn't pack it yet anyway because I don't want it too wrinkled (it's pretty anti-wrinkle but still). So it's just a matter of waiting. And waiting.

This trip is definitely still up in the air. We've been slammed with a few unexpected bills on top of our tax bill. I'm going to wait and see what happens before making any decisions. We could also think about downgrading our room to something less expensive.

 

[natebenma]

Tom is off in Denver at a Wellness Retreat. He has a bad family history of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. and hasn't been able to stick with a weight-loss/exercise regimen. We're hoping this helps him kick-start his efforts. I thought that maybe my running would inspire him and he registered twice for the half marathon but hasn't finished either (he made it to mile 10 and was given a Donald medal this year). What this means for me is that I'm a single mom to 3 wild and crazy kids all weekend! The good news is that I'm not on-call. The bad news is that the weather report isn't great. I think it's going to be about 70F and raining in the morning. Not pool weather for sure! And sadly there are no good child-friendly movies in the theaters right now. Wish Madagascar 3 or Brave were opening this weekend!!!!
I'm trying to make lists of good activities to do with the kids. I think we'll watch movies (going to check Netflix streaming and watch something "free") and probably do some cooking. I bought some rewards for good behavior. We might make pizzas tomorrow night....

10K is a week from tomorrow. I had 2 good 3 mile runs this week. I'll try to get 5 miles on the treadmill tomorrow. We'll see how things go with the kids. If baseball gets rained out, I'll have more luck with the run.

Finally ordered the FE gifts. They are due to arrive by June 14th. That should give me enough time in case they are a little late. I don't know what else I need to do prior to the cruise. I can't really start packing because we still need our warm weather clothes for every day. The dress I want to wear to Palo is what I'm wearing the our Residents Graduation Dinner on June 14th. And I wouldn't pack it yet anyway because I don't want it too wrinkled (it's pretty anti-wrinkle but still). So it's just a matter of waiting. And waiting.

This trip is definitely still up in the air. We've been slammed with a few unexpected bills on top of our tax bill. I'm going to wait and see what happens before making any decisions. We could also think about downgrading our room to something less expensive.

Thanks for the updates!

Sounds like things are rolling right around for the cruise! I look forward to hearing about it.

That is, if you survive the weekend. So miserable today! The boys had flag football games this morning. Nate's was a 9, in the cold driving rain. Ben's game was at 11:30, but they didn't cancel it until we arrived at the field.

I currently have 4 13 year olds and 2 11 year olds here for the night. Just because.

Friday I chaperoned a field trip to Boston with 160 5th graders- note for future trips- don't forget ear phones/plugs- 11 year old girls like to scream/sing pop songs ALL THE WAY TO THE FIELD TRIP DESTINATION!!!
And then, Monday...

The teens and I invade Disney!



Talk to you when I get back!

 

[DrMomof3]

Thanks for the updates!

Sounds like things are rolling right around for the cruise! I look forward to hearing about it.

That is, if you survive the weekend. So miserable today! The boys had flag football games this morning. Nate's was a 9, in the cold driving rain. Ben's game was at 11:30, but they didn't cancel it until we arrived at the field.

I currently have 4 13 year olds and 2 11 year olds here for the night. Just because.

Friday I chaperoned a field trip to Boston with 160 5th graders- note for future trips- don't forget ear phones/plugs- 11 year old girls like to scream/sing pop songs ALL THE WAY TO THE FIELD TRIP DESTINATION!!!
And then, Monday...

The teens and I invade Disney!



Talk to you when I get back!

I'm not sure if I'm jealous of your upcoming Disney trip or not....
N's baseball game was cancelled. Although by the 11am start time, the weather had cleared. Not that I'm complaining.
I ended up with 6 children ages 8 and under at my house all afternoon.

Amanda

 

[natebenma]

I'm not sure if I'm jealous of your upcoming Disney trip or not....
N's baseball game was cancelled. Although by the 11am start time, the weather had cleared. Not that I'm complaining.
I ended up with 6 children ages 8 and under at my house all afternoon.

Amanda

You "win"

 

[DrMomof3]

You "win"

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

20 DAYS!
Three weeks from today we boards the Disney Dream for the 1st time. I can't even believe it! To say I'm excited is a gross understatement.
I need to start a to-do list as well as a packing list. Sadly I can't really start packing clothes yet. I'm waiting for our FE gifts to arrive. I will start packing our regular "Disney trip" items that I keep in a storage box in the attic (although right now said storage box is in my bedroom).

AP price increase are really going to affect this trip. For a family of 5 it will now cost over $2800 for APs. I was sweating the hotel costs and certainly don't need the crazy increase. I really need to sit down and look at the numbers. I'm guessing that I will renew my AP because I'm going back to Disney in September for the ToT race and January for the Goofy. One 8 day trip plus two 4 day trips make my AP worth it. Plus, the TIW card and merchandise discounts. I need to price tickets for the kids and check when our APs expire. Not happy.
I'm also wondering if I should downgrade this trip. I don't know about our family of 5 in a room at POR. I think the kids will kill each other in the smaller space. But maybe a regular CL room or even a non-CL room at BC? Or a room at the Dolphin? Or, if we don't have APs, maybe a split-stay with Universal???? Hmmm. Need to price that.

Amanda

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I'm still here Amanda. I haven't had much time at all w/ work, baseball, karate, and now hockey again I don't know how I get anything done UGH!!!

I stress out with planning ONE Disney vacation. I don't know how you are planning ALL of yours at the same time

So excited about your cruise sounds like so much fun!

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm still here Amanda. I haven't had much time at all w/ work, baseball, karate, and now hockey again I don't know how I get anything done UGH!!!

I stress out with planning ONE Disney vacation. I don't know how you are planning ALL of yours at the same time

So excited about your cruise sounds like so much fun!

Thank you!
I totally know what you mean about having "real life" stuff to do.

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

We leave for our cruise trip 2 weeks from tomorrow!!!! I can't wait!
Our FE gifts finally arrived. They are heavier than I expected so we may need 5 suitcases instead of the usual 4. Since we're flying JetBlue we can bring 5 suitcases for free so it's not a big deal. I'm happy with our gifts. We got mini beach balls that say I love NY and little containers of bubbles that are shaped like fish (the container is fish-shaped, not the actual bubbles ). I was hoping to do more but the FE exchange is HUGE so this was very expensive as it is.
We made some tie-dye shirts last weekend. I then bought a graphic off of Etsy that I can iron onto the shirts. Hopefully I can do that this weekend. I'll try to take/post pictures when it's done.

ToT Weekend Update:
This weekend keeps getting busier and busier. D23 is having an all-day event at Epcot on Sunday in honor of Epcot's 30th anniversary. I feel slightly conflicted about spending the entire weekend running (literally and figuratively ) from one event to the next but this seems to be a once in a lifetime event.

August Trip Update:
It seems highly likely that our August trip is going to be cancelled. Our school taxes are due in September and $$$ has been very tight recently (we owed so much in federal and state taxes so we're still reeling from that). I already bought plane tickets so there will be a change fee but that's ok. I'm hoping for a February break trip but Tom is considering bringing the whole family to Marathon Weekend now. We're going to sit down and discuss it this weekend. My vision is to try to re-book a cruise for the 1st half of February break and then stay at Disney for the rest so I can run the Princess. Tom has started the Couch to 5K and seems more dedicated than ever before so he's thinking about trying the January half again. Maybe I can convince him to do the Princess with me instead.

My next race is TOMORROW! I'm running a 10K in NYC. Wish me luck!

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

You're so close now!!! How exciting! I cannot wait to hear all about it.

 

[cogero]

Can't believe your cruise is almost here. DH and I are talking about doing one of the half marathons one day and I am debating the Castaway Cay 5K.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

We leave for our cruise trip 2 weeks from tomorrow!!!! I can't wait!
Our FE gifts finally arrived. They are heavier than I expected so we may need 5 suitcases instead of the usual 4. Since we're flying JetBlue we can bring 5 suitcases for free so it's not a big deal. I'm happy with our gifts. We got mini beach balls that say I love NY and little containers of bubbles that are shaped like fish (the container is fish-shaped, not the actual bubbles ). I was hoping to do more but the FE exchange is HUGE so this was very expensive as it is.
We made some tie-dye shirts last weekend. I then bought a graphic off of Etsy that I can iron onto the shirts. Hopefully I can do that this weekend. I'll try to take/post pictures when it's done.

ToT Weekend Update:
This weekend keeps getting busier and busier. D23 is having an all-day event at Epcot on Sunday in honor of Epcot's 30th anniversary. I feel slightly conflicted about spending the entire weekend running (literally and figuratively ) from one event to the next but this seems to be a once in a lifetime event.

August Trip Update:
It seems highly likely that our August trip is going to be cancelled. Our school taxes are due in September and $$$ has been very tight recently (we owed so much in federal and state taxes so we're still reeling from that). I already bought plane tickets so there will be a change fee but that's ok. I'm hoping for a February break trip but Tom is considering bringing the whole family to Marathon Weekend now. We're going to sit down and discuss it this weekend. My vision is to try to re-book a cruise for the 1st half of February break and then stay at Disney for the rest so I can run the Princess. Tom has started the Couch to 5K and seems more dedicated than ever before so he's thinking about trying the January half again. Maybe I can convince him to do the Princess with me instead.

My next race is TOMORROW! I'm running a 10K in NYC. Wish me luck!

Amanda

Fish shaped bubbles would be amazing!

Good Luck tomorrow!

 

[DrMomof3]

You're so close now!!! How exciting! I cannot wait to hear all about it.

Thank you! I'm super psyched! Life has been very stressful lately so I'm looking forward to a break.

Can't believe your cruise is almost here. DH and I are talking about doing one of the half marathons one day and I am debating the Castaway Cay 5K.

I'm planning to do the Castaway Cay 5K, too!
Do a Disney half marathon! It's an incredible experience.

Fish shaped bubbles would be amazing!

Good Luck tomorrow!

Thank you! I'm excited for tomorrow's race.

Amanda

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Good Luck tomorrow!!
Wow 2 weeks!!!

 

[DrMomof3]

Good Luck tomorrow!!
Wow 2 weeks!!!

Thank you!
I can't believe it's almost here...

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

Race report: Yesterday I ran my first 10K ever. In face it was my first race shorter than a half marathon! The race was NYRR Mini 10K. This was the first women's road race is the country and yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the historic race.
We decided to let the kids sleep in so I drove into NYC by myself. I was worried about finding a parking place so I left pretty early. I soon realized that street parking was going to be challenging so I parked in a garage on 61st Street - just a block or two away from the start.
At this point it was only 7am and the race wasn't starting until 8. My tummy was feeling funny so I got in line for a port-a-potty (oh the glamor of running!). After that bit of business, I headed toward the starting corral. I was' once again, in the last corral so there was no rush to get there. I did catch up with one of the anesthesiology residents who works at my hospital. She was there with her sister and we hung out while waiting to run.
There was a bit of pomp before the start, this being a big anniversary and all. They announced all the elite runners and Olympians participating. Theres something quite humbling when you realize that my 5K split was slower than the winner's finish time! Finally the National Anthem and the starting gun.
Although there is a corral system, it's different from Disney. Disney staggers the starts so each corral has their own starting gun. Here each corral just follows the earlier one. Even in the last corral we only started about 3 minutes behind the front-runners.
I had a conservative strategy for the race. I missed 2 recent long runs as well as 11 straight days of no training due to a sinus/respiratory infection. While I did get a 6.32 mile run done 2 weekends ago, I definitely wasn't at my peak. I wanted to start slow and try to speed up at the end (also known as negative splits - 2nd half faster than first). My first mile was a little fast but also was the flattest mile in an otherwise hilly course. My 5K split was 36:47 and my finish was 1:12:22. My pace was 11:40 min/mile. I had 2 goals - negative splits and sub-12 min/mile pace. I achieved both!
Needless to say I'm not 100% satisfied. I really think I'm capable of faster and I think I could have achieved it if I hadn't been sick recently. Not to mention the heat and humidity during the race. This definitely motivates me to keep running and work for more consistency in training.

In other news....

2 weeks from today we will be on-board the fabulous Disney Dream! I can't wait!
I've decided to rent a double stroller at the Cabins for after the cruise and we'll bring Zachary's stroller with us on the cruise. We might not need it but he really does get muscle fatigue and I think it's just better to bring it.
I've made some progress with packing, although I have yet to pack a single article of clothing!

Amanda

 

[hbg4]

Hi Amanda
congratulations on finishing the NYC 10k.
I sent you a pm.
I too haven't packed any clothes in my suitcases (but I cheat since I still have stuff from my previous Dream cruise in them).
Looking forward to all my upcoming Disney cruises.
Oh BTW, they have wagons at Castaway Cay that are complimentary. Just get off the ship early enough and you can get one to hold Zachary and some beach gear.
Good luck with the Cast away Cay 5K.

Brenda

 

[DrMomof3]

Hi Amanda
congratulations on finishing the NYC 10k.
I sent you a pm.
I too haven't packed any clothes in my suitcases (but I cheat since I still have stuff from my previous Dream cruise in them).
Looking forward to all my upcoming Disney cruises.
Oh BTW, they have wagons at Castaway Cay that are complimentary. Just get off the ship early enough and you can get one to hold Zachary and some beach gear.
Good luck with the Cast away Cay 5K.

Brenda

Thank you Brenda!
Great advice on the wagon. I'll keep that in mind.
I keep a box (we call it clothing tupperware) of my Disney stuff so it's easy to transfer it into suitcases - rain ponchos, spray bottles, fanny pack, glow sticks, etc.

Amanda

 

[FreezinRafiki]

At this point it was only 7am and the race wasn't starting until 8. My tummy was feeling funny so I got in line for a port-a-potty (oh the glamor of running!).

As I was lining up for the 5k I did a month or so ago I was chatting with my friend that used to run cross country in high school. Turns out it's fairly common for runners to ... relieve themselves... just standing there around all of the other competitors. I guess us guys have it easier. And more disgusting.

Theres something quite humbling when you realize that my 5K split was slower than the winner's finish time!

I learned long ago not to compare myself to other runners. Nothing good can come of it.

My 5K split was 36:47 and my finish was 1:12:22. My pace was 11:40 min/mile. I had 2 goals - negative splits and sub-12 min/mile pace. I achieved both!

Congratulations! I have my first 10k coming up in just under 3 weeks. I should be ready.