Pre-Trip #25:
Tootsie-Pop Trippie
Ah, there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of knowing that while you’re busy cooking up a yummy trip to WDW, there’s yet another trip simmering on the back burner!
I’m sure that I mentioned somewhere in the introductory chapter that Ed is partial to running and biking. This past January we traveled to WDW (without the kids!) so he could run the
WDW Half-Marathon (his first!). I even managed to survive the 5K!!
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We had such a wonderful time together, and he had such a great experience with the race that he insisted that we try to make it an annual event. Well, who am I to argue with that!
I rationalized that, since we never really spend any money on “date nights” throughout the year, we could just lump it all together and it would equal what we spend on the one fabulous weekend away each year!!
FDM. (Fuzzy Disney Math.)
There’s just one
teeny tiny catch, though. I have to
run, too!!
Not the half marathon, of course, but the Family Fun Run 5K. (Although it
might as well be a marathon, considering that right now, I’m not doing much more than walking!) I admit that I’ve been just plain lazy, but in my defense, it’s hard to get the time to go for a run when the kids are home because I can’t leave them alone. Plus, I don’t do well with the summer heat and humidity. The kids go back to school the Wednesday after Labor Day, so that will make things a bit easier. (See, I’m committing my plan to all of you, so that makes it official!)
BTW, there’s a link to the
report and more
pix from the ’07 Marathon Weekend trip in my signature, below, if you are interested.
So while I’ve been planning our “family” trip that we’ll be taking IN JUST NINE WEEKS FROM TODAY
I’ve also been doing a little planning on the side for our Marathon Weekend trip that Ed and I will be taking in January. Thus, my report is now rolling into a
Tootsie-Pop trippie….two treats in one!
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
Dates: Thursday
1/10/08 – Monday
1/14/08
Family Fun 5K is on Friday morning (early) and the
Half Marathon is Saturday morning (super-early). We need to arrive Thursday and make it over to the Wide World of Sports to pick up our race packets for the 5K the following morning. So the plan is to get the kids off to school on Thursday and then grab a flight down around noon. We’ll check in at our resort, hop over to WWOS to pick up our stuff, then scoot back to the resort for dinner and an early bedtime.
The big “post-event” party is at Pleasure Island on Sunday night. I’d be fine skipping it and coming home Sunday night, but Ed would really like to go since we missed it last year. We’ll fly home Monday morning and be home for the kids by the time school’s out.
Travel: Continental Airlines.
I had two Continental vouchers left over from last year from when I changed our flights, so our tickets for this trip are costing us a whopping
$13 each!!
FDM Alert: Now I can rationalize our lodging… especially after I apply our Annual Passholder discount!
Lodging: The Polynesian Resort.
Ahh,
the Poly! Believe it or not, this will be my first time staying at a deluxe resort! Well, technically we did stay at
the Swan last January, but for some reason that just didn’t feel very “Disney” to me. Before we joined DVC we stayed at moderates
(CBR, POFQ), then after we became members, we jumped right into the home-away-from-home category.
After all the problems with the chartered event buses from the Swan last year, we decided that this time we really wanted to stay at one of the resorts on the monorail. I tried
the Contemporary first, but it was already completely booked for the weekend at seven months out! Ed has always had a fascination with the monorail and I thought it would be really cool to stay at the CR where the monorail just glides through the lobby all day. Alas, it was not to be. Since the
Grand Floridian is just way out of our budget (and a bit too “fancy” for my taste, anyway), our next obvious resort choice was the Polynesian.
I am truly looking forward to staying at the Poly, but that was not always the case. Huh?
Why would anyone not want to stay at the lush, beautiful
Poly? Let me relate a bit of Poly
back-story:
When Ed and I were planning our honeymoon back in 1994, he first suggested that we go to WDW. I had
never been to Disney, and he assured me that I would just fall in love with it and that we would have a wonderful time. Well, it wasn’t really a question of whether or not I wanted to go to Disney; I had dreamed of going to WDW since I was a child and under any other circumstance would have jumped at the chance!
This was to be a second marriage for both of us. Unlike my situation however, Ed’s divorce had been particularly acrimonious, most likely because there was a child involved (Eddie). Troubles related to visitation plagued Ed long after the divorce was finalized. It had been a most difficult year leading up to our wedding and we were looking forward to a fresh start.
When Ed suggested we honeymoon in WDW, I vetoed it for one reason and one reason only: WDW was where Ed and his ex had honeymooned years earlier.
I just wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, that was different and had no ties whatsoever to his past relationship with this person who had been such a caustic presence in our lives. I would definitely want to go to Disney someday, but later on, perhaps with our children, but definitely not on our
honeymoon.
So the years past and our family grew. Time does have a way of healing old wounds and the troubles slowly faded as Ed’s ex relocated, remarried, and began paying more attention to her own life and less attention to ours. When we finally had the financial capability to make our first family trip to WDW, I was thrilled. Completely ignorant of how to go about planning such a trip, but thrilled nevertheless!
When it came time to choose a resort, Ed immediately thought of either the Polynesian or the Contemporary so we could be on the monorail. Well, even with the special Fairytale Package Disney was offering (stay seven nights, pay for only four), we still couldn’t afford it, so we went with the
Caribbean Beach Resort. I was absolutely content with that, but Ed continued to harbor a secret desire to stay at a monorail resort, even after we joined DVC. In fact, I’m really keeping my fingers crossed that the rumors about
DVC at the Contemporary are true, because I know Ed will be on board in a heartbeat if we are able to add on a few more points!
So, back to this January’s trip. When I called the CRO and found out the CR wasn’t available, but that there was room at the Poly, I felt a fleeting twinge of, well, I don’t know really. Uneasiness? Apprehension? Perhaps it was, simply, the dread of possible lingering ectoplasm from ghosts of the past. But, I shook it off and made the reservation, happy that my husband would finally get his chance to stay on the beloved monorail once again!
When I told him about the Poly, he was pleased as punch, but quickly wanted to know if I was okay with it. I suppose that I really am, because I find myself truly looking forward to it! After all, it’s been close to twenty years since Ed last stayed there, and the rooms have all been refurbished and look quite different now. It will be the same, of course, yet it will be different. “We’ll just have to exercise the demons!” Ed laughed, giving me a hug and a kiss. “It will be completely different; I’ll be there with you!”
Next Up: ADRs and Other Plans…
Kathy
BTW, this year we're running through the Animal Kingdom! Ed is doing the Half again.
That will freak him out. "Janet said to say hey. No i have never actually met her. We "talk" on the computer. Hmmmm, maynot he will be 78 in November he may not be able to handle it
for the summer.....ahh back to reality thank goodness for the DIS!
YAY!!!
A baby!!! Wonderful news, but number 4 
Being an auntie is VERY cool though 
I really want us to be in the Magic Kingdom that evening because I think it will be much more crowded on Saturday. So, hell have to find some kind of pasta dish at the Crystal Palace Friday night and load up on his complex carbs there! Oh well, at least I get to see my Pooh-Bear again! 
