DEST EE 5K PTR - 19days Apr/May-(I'm BaaaaaCK!)

[cinderella crazy]

Tonga Toast! One of my favorites! It is sweet but soooo good! I would love to run this race next year but I have never been able to figure out any of the clues. DH would have to run it with me.

Both days sound great! Nice and relaxing before the race.

 

[amazingact21]

I saw the email yesterday and was going to comment on here this morning to let you know they'd sent the first clue. Glad you were able to figure the clue out! (Alex decoded it before I could even think about it.) My mother called me at 8 am this morning, going, "Is this the answer? Did I do it right? am I going to survive this scavenger hunt???"


9:30 at night is sooooo late, but I guess it'll give the air more time to cool down so we're not passing out on the course.


I'm sure you guys are going to love Kona! Seeing those pictures got me all excited again. The restaurant has an open layout, so if we're still there when you arrive, I'm sure we'll see each other. If so, I'll say hello!
And if not at Kona, then we might cross paths at the after-party. We both seem to want to ride Everest over and over again.
Which, I hope will be like last year's race, where it's completely walk one!

 

[wakica]

He hasn't done the EE Challenge. He wanted to last year but I said no because it was too hot .

The ToT race was great because there was an after party until the early morning hours and we got to ride my favorite ride (TOT) over and over and over again with no wait. I'd love to be able to do that at night on my 2nd favorite ride ~ EE!

Maybe I'll go this year ... you may have talked me into it

YES!!! You should go LOL - not this year though b/c it's already sold out. Next year for sure though
It's too hot in early May?? oh no - that scares me. We went in early May one year and it mostly seemed ok but it was unseasonably warm that year and a bit of a drought so we did get some doozies but i was hoping that was an exception. And EE Challenge has an after party too so we'll start the race around 9:30pm, after party starts 10:30 and we hope to ride EE MANY MANY times

I think you'll definitely need a sleep in/relax day after a week in Florida!

Race day sounds like another good day to sleep late. Breakfast at Kona is yummy! I've had the Tonga Toast---very rich. I didn't have very much luck finishing it off. But I had fun trying!

I've been hearing from alot of people that it's really rich. it'll be interesting to see if I can handle all the rich sweetness!!

The EE race looks so cool! I was actually thinking about signing up last week, but then I went to the run Disney site, and it was full. Maybe next year! I love the obstacles, that looks like so much fun!

ON NO!! I'm so sorry you didn't make it in I did hear it was sold out too. I was feeling really bad for those that hadn't made their mind up yet.
You should definitely do it next year - i agree the obstacles should be fun and quite entertaining!!! Me being exhausted and running in tires, jumping haybales and climbing a net?? Glad DH and the video camera won't be there at that point.

We might end up at the MK for a little while that night, too!

COOL!!!!

Note to self: find wakica during clue-solving portion of race. I can't even begin to describe how stumped I was by that, lol!

LOL If someone comes running up to me I'll totally know who it is I'm going with an easy morning, followed by a recovery walk on the beach! (Except that I can't remember your plans and you might not be at the beach yet... )

nice guess . No beach just yet - that's the 10th - but you ARE somewhat close

Tonga Toast! One of my favorites! It is sweet but soooo good! I would love to run this race next year but I have never been able to figure out any of the clues. DH would have to run it with me.

Both days sound great! Nice and relaxing before the race.

You and DH should both run it!!!

I saw the email yesterday and was going to comment on here this morning to let you know they'd sent the first clue. Glad you were able to figure the clue out! (Alex decoded it before I could even think about it.) My mother called me at 8 am this morning, going, "Is this the answer? Did I do it right? am I going to survive this scavenger hunt???"

LOL - I work at home either babysitting my niece or doing computer work for my husbands photography business so I am almost ALWAYS checking emails and actually saw it like the minute it came in! i was SO excited!! Then saw the clue and freaked!! Went to post on the EE thread then came back and had it figured out in 2 minutes. I just have to remember to NOT freak out and i'll be fine.


9:30 at night is sooooo late, but I guess it'll give the air more time to cool down so we're not passing out on the course.
That's EXACTLY what i was thinking. 1st I thought ACK!! so late!! but with the trends being so much warmer these days I'm quite happy with a 9:30 start!


I'm sure you guys are going to love Kona! Seeing those pictures got me all excited again. The restaurant has an open layout, so if we're still there when you arrive, I'm sure we'll see each other. If so, I'll say hello!
And if not at Kona, then we might cross paths at the after-party. We both seem to want to ride Everest over and over again.
Which, I hope will be like last year's race, where it's completely walk one!
I know!! I want to drool just looking at the pictures of the food!!
I hope to see you What time is your Ressie again?? bc we'll for sure be a bit early too.
We need a photo of all the DIS EE group too so if all else fails then definitely at that point

 

[budafam]

I'm here! Ahhh, you're doing the 5k, lucky!!! I just found out about it and now it's too late to switch around our ADR's and stuff plus it's sold out but I am going to have to plan for that some time in the future. I also tried to do Couch to 5K so many times before... Disney is a great motivator!

Love your movie nights too!! We're also going to Universal on this trip (never been) and can't wait!

 

[wakica]

I'm here! Ahhh, you're doing the 5k, lucky!!! I just found out about it and now it's too late to switch around our ADR's and stuff plus it's sold out but I am going to have to plan for that some time in the future. I also tried to do Couch to 5K so many times before... Disney is a great motivator!

Love your movie nights too!! We're also going to Universal on this trip (never been) and can't wait!

YAY!!! Glad to have ya
If your doing Universal for the first time you'll have to watch for my upcoming Universal days We've been twice now so I'll have some pics to post

sorry you missed the EE Challenge this year but I'm glad you'll consider it for another time. It's this tiime or bust for me b/c we don't plan to come back to WDW while DD is in highschool. Can't pull her out during the quiet park times and refuse to come during breaks due to weather and crowds. We're sad about that but happy that we are making this trip a DOOZY b/c of it

 

[abcangie87]

hey there! You found me and I found you!

I had checked out your PTR earlier but all your training made me feel like a slacker

I'm not a runner at all... nor am I of the petite nature...lol... but I do workout a few times a week. I try to run on the treadmill one day a week and if I go a whole mile without walking I'm pretty damn proud of myself so you go girl. run run run.

I can't believe how long your vaca is going to be!! DH only gets 3 weeks of vaca a year so we have to be a little stingy with how we use it! We are going to hawaii in 2013...that'll be interesting for the logistics.

TSMM is basically the TSMM Wii game brought to life. LIke the chicken and the egg, I'm still not sure which actually came first. But if you have a Wii, borrow that game from someone and give it a whirl. the ride is a lot like it, but in 3D and in spinning cars.

Almost to where we can say 'a month from today!' whooooohooo!

 

[wakica]

I'm glad you joined in and decided to post Exercising twice a week is GREAT!! I didn't used to exercise at all really. LOL. I only started when i decided to do the Disney run!

I'm thrilled about our 19 days too!!! DH just finally got to the 4 weeks of holidays/year last fall But we won't hesitate to take a few days off without pay if we really need another break. He does photography on the side so we have that income as well and sometimes need another getaway due to how busy we get between the two jobs.

I think I will put out a call on facebook to see if we can borrow that game!! I had heard about it and thought to buy it but didn't want to buy it and find we won't play it. Now I will HAVE to see if anyone has it. Is it just called Toy Story Mania??

 

[wakica]

Well, I was all alone at home on Saturday morning - DH was out doing some photographs for the YMCA and DD was at a sleep over and not to return til supper time and the house was clean. What to do? Look over a few trip reports, pull up some google searches and make a decision to throw another last minute Disney Theme night or course!

I had been toying with the idea of a Tower or Terror night b/c DD insisted she had to buy the movie several years back when we were there but I didn't have any ideas on how to throw one together. I usually like fun food based on the movie but google search wasn't helping me either.

After reading some reports I decided to go ahead with it anyway - even if it WASN'T my usual theme type night - it would still be a good fun evening with my family and a great chance to dress up.

So.... we went with a black tie dinner just like the dinner party they were hosting in the Tip Top room when they were on their way up and as the lightening struck sending them into the Twilight Zone.

So, with some big band jazz music playing in the background (ok - i actually forgot to hit play on the cd player but that was my intention anyway. lol) we proceeded to sit down for our black tie dinner...

ya, leave it to dd to pull a face in most pictures!!!

A closer look at the spread...

A little BUBBLY (carbonated fruit juice actually LOL)...

cheers!!!

and you know what was the BEEESSSSTTT part of the whole thing?????

It was the fact that my lovely family and I all got to get dressed up - which we RARELY EVER do!! And I sent DH down into the basement to set up so that we could take advantage of everyone being spiffy to get ....










THIS!

Of course once the family photo was taken care of we all tore off the stiff formal clothes and put something comfy on and settled down to watch the movie based on one of our favorite rides...

TOWER OR TERROR!

OH! And we ejoyed some cheese cake while we watched the movie b/c we figured that is the calibre of dessert they would have served at the Tip Top Club

Hope you enjoyed it. Not our usual theme type night but WOW - What a GREAT opportunity to get a picture in and NOBODY fussed about getting dressed up and posing. I'm pretty sneaky aren't I???

 

[earthfaries]

Hi! I'm going to reply to your last post to me first, about the race. Don't let me freak you out about the weather, I'm not a hot weather person, lol.

We were at Epcot yesterday and it was 85 degrees and a little humid and sunny. It was hot! lol. It really wasn't I suppose, but to me it was. 85 is hot to me.

I grew up in Alaska, and I lived in NC for 20 years but it was perfect weather in the mountains. To me 85 is as hot as I feel comfortable. With the sun (that is very, very hot) and the humidity it's just tolerable for me.

I stay indoors when it gets over 90.

We didn't even have a winter this year. I think the most we wore were light jackets (the kids did) and winter hats (the yeti hats from EE at AK).

So, I have a feeling it's going to be a HOT one this year!

As for the race, yes, I figured it was sold out. Trevon signed up for the last TOT race (and the other races) months ahead of time.

~~~

Okay ~ onto your newest update! LOVE IT! ♥

I LOVE TOT and I love your dinner night! The food looks delicious, that's my type of dinner! Fresh veggies, lean protein, healthy and yummy .

You all look so nice! The picture is gorgeous ~ what a beautiful family!

I love TOT the movie, we've watched it so many times. The ghost in the kitchen with the butcher knife scared Zar the first time he watched it. That part was creepy .

I just can't say enough how much I love your TOT night. The food, the family picture, the movie ~ what fun!

Thanks for sharing and I can't wait for the next update!

 

[abcangie87]

I may very well be stealing some of these theme night ideas!! I was thinking about having a Disney Dinner of some of our favorites..... Ohana noodles and grilled chicken, strawberry soup (1900 Park Fare), Dole Whip Floats (we have a frozen yogurt place here that sells the Pineapple stuff!). I didn't even realize there was a TofT movie. I might have to go check ebay for that

 

[Elleshoodat]

Hi there! I came over from your post on my PTR and am all caught up on yours, which is soooo fun. Some random thoughts...

Reading your post that's all about the Expedition Everest event makes me wish I had signed up. I've been doing C25K since mid-January, and my first 5K is on Friday! I think I am ready, but I am still pretty nervous. How is your training going?

Your theme nights look awesome! You are all so creative, and it's such a fun way to get a preview of the magic.

Love, love, LOVE seeing your Dream FastPasses and that pic of the empty Tomorrowland. So cool!

We are so close now. Like you, I can't concentrate on much else ... I keep finding my way back to the DISboards! Luckily our trips will be here before we know it.

 

[wakica]

Hi! I'm going to reply to your last post to me first, about the race. Don't let me freak you out about the weather, I'm not a hot weather person, lol.
We were at Epcot yesterday and it was 85 degrees and a little humid and sunny. It was hot! lol. It really wasn't I suppose, but to me it was. 85 is hot to me.
I grew up in Alaska, and I lived in NC for 20 years but it was perfect weather in the mountains. To me 85 is as hot as I feel comfortable. With the su(that is very, very hot) and the humidity it's just tolerable for me.
I stay indoors when it gets over 90.
We didn't even have a winter this year. I think the most we wore were light jackets (the kids did) and winter hats (the yeti hats from EE at AK).
So, I have a feeling it's going to be a HOT one this year!
~~~
Okay ~ onto your newest update! LOVE IT! ♥
I LOVE TOT and I love your dinner night! The food looks delicious, that's my type of dinner! Fresh veggies, lean protein, healthy and yummy .
You all look so nice! The picture is gorgeous ~ what a beautiful family!
I love TOT the movie, we've watched it so many times. The ghost in the kitchen with the butcher knife scared Zar the first time he watched it. That part was creepy .
I just can't say enough how much I love your TOT night. The food, the family picture, the movie ~ what fun!
Thanks for sharing and I can't wait for the next update!

Don't worry. I'm already freaked out about the weather We always try to get to Florida end of April/beginning of May b/c it's the best of everything - low crowds and good temps - before the late May and June temps kick in but the whole of North America seems to be a month ahead which means .... yep - June temps in May most likely Oh well - I'll just have to make due.
and the ToT night WAS really fun - even without all the fun themed food that i usually try to get in . I'm glad you enjoyed checkiing it out. That salad is like our family favorite too!! So elegant and INCREDIBLY simple to make. I would never have thought that we'd like spinach, strawberry's, nuts and a sesame dressing but it's REALLY REALLY good and SSSOOO simple!!!

I may very well be stealing some of these theme night ideas!! I was thinking about having a Disney Dinner of some of our favorites..... Ohana noodles and grilled chicken, strawberry soup (1900 Park Fare), Dole Whip Floats (we have a frozen yogurt place here that sells the Pineapple stuff!). I didn't even realize there was a TofT movie. I might have to go check ebay for that

by all means, STEAL AWAY!!! I love to see what other people do also and I never actually intended to do ANY theme nights at first but the DIS has a way of helping you to incorporate Disney into your every day life

And Ohana night would be really fun to do!!! You should totally go for it!! and i want to see pics if you do - especially the Dole WHIP!!! I think we need to make one of those before we go too

Hi there! I came over from your post on my PTR and am all caught up on yours, which is soooo fun. Some random thoughts...
Reading your post that's all about the Expedition Everest event makes me wish I had signed up. I've been doing C25K since mid-January, and my first 5K is on Friday! I think I am ready, but I am still pretty nervous. How is your training going?
Your theme nights look awesome! You are all so creative, and it's such a fun way to get a preview of the magic.
Love, love, LOVE seeing your Dream FastPasses and that pic of the empty Tomorrowland. So cool!
We are so close now. Like you, I can't concentrate on much else ... I keep finding my way back to the DISboards! Luckily our trips will be here before we know it.

oooohh, I hope you'll come by and tell me ALL about your 5K on Friday!! i'll be thinking of you on that day
My training is going really well!! I will post this weekend with my March accountability but I'm so happy that people are asking!!! It keeps me accountable b/c i know people are wanting to know if I'm keeping it up... at first I thought i was just boring people with it which is why I decided to just do the end of March one this time.

so glad you liked the dream fastpass pic and the quiet tomorrowland. We are SO glad we didn't rush out of the park and just took our time to enjoy the place - we actually caught up to them at the monorail though Next time We'd go even MORE slowly. lol.

Glad to hear there are others out there that eat sleep and breathe the trip like me. I'm just at my computer uploading work photos and whatnot which takes a lot of time so i always wander over to see what's new

anyway, glad you stopped by!!!

 

[cinderella crazy]

What a great ToT night! Your food looked so yummy and the picture of the three of you is fabulous! I'm jealous that you have the movie! THat will be on my purchase list this year for sure!

 

[wakica]

What a great ToT night! Your food looked so yummy and the picture of the three of you is fabulous! I'm jealous that you have the movie! THat will be on my purchase list this year for sure!

thanks the food WAS really yummy. I would have liked to make some steak but we just havn't mastered steak and mostly eat chicken so I told DH to grill it and make some real purdy grill marks on it. lol The salad and the pasta are really simple so it's fancy looking but very easy which was good b/c dd and I needed time to get dolled up.
Hope you enjoy the movie if you get it. it's a bit on the cheesy side for us (dd being 14 now) but it's neat to watch anyway.

 

[wakica]

ON TO DAY 11 PLANS...

So we last left off coming home absolutely exhausted after the long day/ hard run/ late night from our Expedition Everest 5K run. I figured I would definitely need a slower day now.

So, we will sleep in (but not too late b/c we don't want to miss out on all the good spots) and head on over to.........

WAIT!!!!!



I better warn you that this is where I head over to the.....

DARK SIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We love Disney and the dark side so your stuck seeing our plans for the dark side too LOL

We are heading to....

AQUATICA WATER PARK!
I really LOVE this water park and while DD and DH will tell you Blizzard Beach is the best bc of the thrill slides - I am NOT a thrill slider. I'm just not a huge fan of thrill slides so i find that this park just has more for me to enjoy.

They have a GREAT play structure - no I don't go on it unless I'm with DD and now that she's 14 we might avoid it all together but it's a GREAT area for the smaller kids!

They have a WAVE POOL which is ALWAYs awesome!! Can you see us in this pic?

They have some mild slides which i will actually go on...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the umbrellas for sitting under. They provide enough shade and coolness but it also lets a bit of sun through so I'm not stuck burning in the sun or totally in the shade. You do have to arrive in decent time though to get one of the big blue umbrellas. They have smaller orange ones too but i like these big ones.

They also have a mild tube ride i enjoy where you shoot down a funnel in your tube at the end and they have a lazy type river which goes through an area with aquariums of sea life but my MOST favorite thing that this park has that others don't is....

ok, it's hard to tell from the pic but it's LIKE a lazy river but has a fast current - it's called Roa's Rapids I think - or something like that and we went in this thing SO many times!!! It's really fun to have the current pull you along. It was SO much fun

So, this is how I will spend my day recuperating. Even if we do have to get up a little early still (to get a good umbrella), it's ok b/c i won't be doing anything but grabbing my swim stuff and heading to rest on a beach chair and float in the water.

Depending on how we feel at the end of the day we just might end up going to Boardwalk after eating and getting cleaned up. We have to enjoy it once every trip and it's best in the dark for the whole atmosphere enjoyment of it. Here are a few snaps of our time at Boardwalk...

ok, i better stop before i go over my limit of photos

I really want to stay there til dark but don't want to be up late bc we have an early morning planned for the next day. I guess we'll see how we are feeling and go from there. Maybe an afternoon nap will be in order which won't be a problem b/c we can't stay at waterparks too long with my fair skin so we'll be gone by shortly after lunch for sure.

 

[ccgirl]

Subbing. Thank you SO MUCH for the Aquatica pictures. We are going over to the Dark Side for a non-WDW trip May 10 - 20th. We plan on doing SW, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and Universal/IoA. I'm sure we'll still have fun.

 

[HalloweenNut]

WOW!! Great photos! I can see I have a lot of reading to do to get caught up.

 

[wakica]

Thanks for joining you two

ccgirl - you will DEFINITELY have fun - no worries there at all We will be in the studios parks on the 11,12,13,14. What days will you be there?

 

[amazingact21]

Your ToT night sounds like it was fun! I think it's cool you all got dressed up, those can be great times. (Of course, I laughed when I read that you changed into comfy clothes for the movie, because that sounded like something I'd do.)

A water park sounds like a good way to recover from the race, and an evening at the Boardwalk sounds relaxing. I've never been there before, but the night shots you posted of it make it look so neat.

 

[Nermel9]

Your ToT night looks like fun! I wish I could get my DH to do theme nights!

Aquatica looks awesome! I'm not a big water park person anymore, but if I ever have a kid, I'm sure I'd have to go to them once in a while, and that looks like a really good one! And the Boardwalk at night is always fun!