Keep Knowing & Keep Kicking, Kiddo – A 2015 Princess 5K PTR/Mini-TR ~ Completed 5/1

[SarahDisney]

Congrats on booking! Your 5 day plans look great! I think it is wonderful that your sister will be joining you. It sounds like things are starting to come together.

Thanks!
We made a lot of plans today in terms of picking parks and stuff because our FP+ window opens in a few hours, so things are really coming together. Hopefully I'll have another update with some of that information soon!

 

[SarahDisney]

Notes – What to Expect​

We made our FP+ selections when the window opened early this AM. Rather than list them all, over the next week or two I'll post our plans for each day (one day at a time) - we're trying not to plan much and to just go with it, so now that FP+ are made, we know almost everything we need to know about our plans.

A few other notes:
1 - We booked flights Saturday night ... which means the trip is officially not cancellable.
2 – It occurred to me today that February 19th (arrival day) is 2 days after my half-birthday … which is probably as close to going on my birthday as I will ever get (for reasons I’m not going into, I don’t celebrate my birthday, but I sometimes celebrate my half-birthday). So I may get a birthday pin. My sister may also, because her half-birthday is not long before mine.
3 – We looked at “upgrading” to the Stay, Plan, and Dine package with the Quick Service Dining Plan. I thought it would make sense, but after actually sitting down and doing the math, it really didn’t.
4 – I know, I haven’t introduced my sister yet. I’ll do that before I post the daily plans. Fair warning: it will probably just be copy and pasted from my November TR.

Before we go, I leave you with a picture of today’s breakfast:

My first every Mickey Mouse waffle (kinda long story, it’ll come up eventually). It’s a chocolate chip waffle. And we weren’t so great at getting the batter to stay where it should be. But it was still fun to be eating Mickey’s head.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Love the waffle!

I haven't been able to make FP+ reservations, because the rest of our party hasn't purchased their tickets yet. The unfortunate side effect of going with a party of 12 total. Since we don't book packages because we're DVC, it just ends up being me reminding everyone that I need the money to buy passes. *sigh*

 

[SarahDisney]

Love the waffle!

I haven't been able to make FP+ reservations, because the rest of our party hasn't purchased their tickets yet. The unfortunate side effect of going with a party of 12 total. Since we don't book packages because we're DVC, it just ends up being me reminding everyone that I need the money to buy passes. *sigh*

Oh man. That's why I'm glad it's just the two of us ... easier to coordinate.
(Meanwhile, my sister invited one of her coworkers, and I'm hoping she decides to come ... even though that will mean giving up our pre-park ADR at MK (or trying to find one for 3 people and trying to get her FP+ to match ours.)

I hope you can get everyone's tickets soon so that you can make your FP+!
If your group can't get their act together and you want to ditch them and hang out with someone else ... you're absolutely welcome to join us! We'd love to hang out with you if our plans overlap at all (or if you want to coordinate to overlap with us)!

 

[Elevationist]

Sarah, I'm here!!!

OMG OMG OMG!!! Congratulations!!! So excited for yooooooooooou!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

Sarah, I'm here!!!

OMG OMG OMG!!! Congratulations!!! So excited for yooooooooooou!!!

Hi Billie! Thanks for stopping by!

I'm pretty excited too. Two weeks ago I was pretty much convinced that this trip wasn't happening, so I'm pretty excited that I get to go (even though I was just there and this will likely be my only trip in 2015)

 

[SarahDisney]

Had a decent run today - See the Running Journal Here!

One of my goals for the race is to have my average pace below 12 min/mile by race day. I think I'm getting close - my mile 1 was 11:50 min/mile pace, and my average pace was 12:11 min/mile. Today felt slow, so I'm hoping this means I can get faster!

I will have another update later today ... just need to take care of a few other things first, then y'all will get to "meet" my sister and read a little more about my planning.

 

[SarahDisney]

All About That Sis … And Other Things​

Before I get to anything else, I want to formally introduce my readers to my travel companion, the best sister I could have ever asked for … Beth.

Favorite Princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel
Favorite Non-Princess Characters: Mary Poppins
Favorite Disney Movie (animated): Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Tangled, The Incredibles
Favorite Disney Movie (live-action): Mary Poppins
Favorite WDW Ride: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Test Track, Festival of the Lion King, Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros, Toy Story Midway Mania!, For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Favorite Disneyland Ride: Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, Toy Story Midway Mania!, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, Radiator Springs Racers
Favorite Disney Accessory: Mickey Mouse earrings (she has gold and silver, but is looking to buy new gold ones because she doesn't really wear the ones she has)
MagicBand Colors: Blue, Red

And a picture of the two of us, for good measure (not the best picture of us ever, but it fits in with the race theme):

We had lunch with our aunt and uncle, cousins, and Grandpa the other day. I was talking to my aunt, who said they stayed at All-Star Sports last visit and they were in the tennis section and liked it. Our top two choices are baseball and tennis – we’ll do online check-in eventually and we’ll decide what to ask for then (I think Tennis will be better themed, but baseball has a pool).
Because of Shabbos, we’re spending more time at the hotel than we usually do. That makes me nervous. I wish we were staying in a deluxe (we had discussed it, but it wasn’t really affordable). I think that if my financial situation changes and I can get a moderate or deluxe for about $250/night (or less), I want to pull the trigger and upgrade (if I can do it without losing my FP+ … I’ve never changed resorts before, so I don’t know what happens).

I’d also go for a suite at our favorite hotel, if I can get it affordable …

We were discussing ADRs on Sunday. I had made one, and Beth was looking at one she was interested in. I said I didn’t want to do more than one (but would be willing to do the one she wanted), and she kind of backed off. Today I came up with a compromise – book every ADR we might possibly want, and in late January/early February we’ll decide which to keep and which to cancel.

Of course, there’s one that’s definitely a keeper if we can get it … we LOVED it last trip:

So we’re looking at making lots of ADRs (we have 2 so far), but will likely not keep more than 1 or 2. ADRs are also complicated for us because of the food issue … but I’ll get to that when I get to our ADRs.

That’s all the updates I have for today. I’ll start posting the day-by-day plans early next week (maybe sooner if I can get to it).

 

[SarahDisney]

During today's run I felt like a real racer ... kinda like this girl:

I set 2 personal records today:
1 - Fastest Single Mile - Mile 2 @ 11:45
2 - Fastest Overall Average Pace - 11:51

So exciting for me! I wanted to be below 12:00 min/mile for the race, and that's where I was today for the first time. 57 days away and I'm pretty much race-ready. Yay!!

See the Running Journal Here!

 

[SarahDisney]

This is the first in a series of posts in which I have long-winded ramblings on our current plans. Plans are based on things we've discussed, flight times, other events, and FP+. Everything is subject to change - but I'll probably share the major changes if/when they happen. Feel free to post any comments/questions/suggestions.

Plans for Day 1 – Thursday, February 19, 2015​

FAIR WARNING: I ramble a lot, and I went a little picture crazy here (pictures range from ones I found on the internet to ones from last trip to ones from when I went to visit my grandparents in West Palm Beach like 8 years ago).

Usually when we fly down to Florida day 1 is a park day, so we’re rushing to get out of the house obscenely early. But this time we decided that because the race is early Friday, we wanted an easier Thursday – so we’re not leaving until the afternoon.

My morning will look like this:

Once I roll my butt out of bed, get dressed, and say my morning prayers, I’ve got a very important shopping trip to make:

Yes, that’s right, the morning of my departure for Disney I’m going out for a bagel.
Said bagel will be my dinner for Thursday night. Beth thinks I should have a good pre-race dinner, and rather than discuss the lack of significance of the night before's dinner on running 3.1 miles, I decided to just go bagel (not a big deal, because I like bagels). For me it’s easier to get the bagel at home and bring it with than to worry about getting a bagel at Disney (it’s the Kosher issue, which I will go into further detail about at some point in time). I’m assuming I’ll get a whole wheat bagel (that’s my default), but I have a while to decide if I want to get cream cheese on it and hope it doesn’t go bad being away from a refrigerator for a few hours or if I just want to get a plain bagel and put tuna (which I will bring with me) or cream cheese (which I can get at the hotel) on it later.
I also have to ask Beth if she wants me to pick up a bagel for her, but that can wait.

Once I’ve got my dinner, it’s time to finish packing…

Our flight is around 1:15, so probably somewhere around 11:15-11:30 I’ll have a cab pick me up and take me to …

I rarely fly out of LGA (I usually fly out of JFK), so I’m a little nervous about this (although I did recently discover that I flew out of LGA about 3 years ago, so it may all come back to me once I get there). But I suppose it’s just like any other airport – I dump my bags, remove a few layers of clothing, walk around in my socks, possibly get a cavity search from the TSA, and then sit at the gate for a while and do some people-watching.
(By the way, I’m kidding – I don’t love having to take off my sweatshirt and my shoes, but I don’t mind it and I don’t find going through security to be impossible)

At some point in time (not sure yet if it will be before or after security, but I’d guess before), I’ll meet up with Beth, who will be coming from her apartment (that’s another change – when we fly early, she sleeps over at the house the night before, but with the later flight, there’s plenty of time for the 30 minute cab ride from her apartment to the airport).

At about 12:45 it will be time to start boarding, and we’ll grab our carry-ons and walk through a tunnel of some sort until we reach something that looks like this…

Beth is sitting window, I’m sitting middle. That’s basically how we always fly (I don’t mind middle … neither does she, but I usually do it just to be nice because she always does a lot of amazing things for me).

We get in to Orlando around 4:15, and once we’ve put on our MagicBands (and put in our contact lenses if necessary – I don’t know if anyone is planning to fly in glasses), we’ll head over to the Disney’s Magical Express area (assuming we can find it – we had some difficulties in November with being on the wrong level … it’s an embarrassing story for someone who has taken DME so many times) and get ourselves on one of these buses:

After a bus ride (I don’t remember how long it will take, since it’s been almost 4 years since we last stayed at an All-Star), we will arrive at our hotel:

We’ll drop off our bags (since we know the room will be ready – we’re getting there after 4), put anything that needs to be refrigerated in the fridge (except the grape juice, which will be in our checked luggage, and really doesn’t need to be put in the fridge until Friday morning, if at all). We’ll then go back out to the front and hop on a bus for our first ever visit to…

First stop is packet pick-up, where we will get our bibs. I don’t know if we get our shirts there or have to go somewhere else to pick them up, but we’ll do that then. I’m hoping the t-shirt is black so that I can wear it as part of my costume (I do have a backup plan in case it isn’t).
We may also check out the rest of the expo, depending on how we’re feeling, how long packet pick-up takes, and what’s there. I’d love to go to one of the DisneyBound seminars, but I don’t think there will be one when we can go. Beth asked me if there might be a special race pin that she can buy.

When you register for the race, there’s an opportunity to buy a pin. Beth said no then because it was like $17. I did find the place to buy the pin and they still have some available, so I’ll mention it to Beth next time I speak to her.

Anyway … once we’re done at the expo, we’ll either head back to our hotel to dump our stuff (and possibly eat dinner) or go to a nearby hotel and take another bus to…

I don’t know how much wandering we’ll do (I do know that we’ll skip our usual dinner at Ghirardelli, but may stop there for hot chocolate if it’s cold out), but there is one stop I must make:

I’m looking for a Pandora bead (specifically, the 2015 one). I will stop at every store that carries the beads to try to find that one, because I’ve gotten the impression that it’s hard to find. If I can’t find it by the last day, I’ll buy a different one (possibly the “Walt Disney World” one, but I’m not really wild about that one, so it will be a bit of browsing to decide).

Once we’re done browsing and shopping, we’ll head back to the hotel for some sleepytime. We’ve got a big day ahead of us on Friday, so we’ll want to be well-rested for our early AM wakeup!

 

[Disneychix]

day one sounds good!
I would skip the cream cheese on the bagel, but that's just me and I might be a bit crazy about things being out for too long.

The Expo is HUGE and there will be lots of stuff for you to buy. Either be prepared to spend a lot of time there or be prepared to run out of there fast

I didn't know your sister was actually running too. IS she training or will she be walking?

That is a great pace! I run at about that pace. My motto is, everyone crosses the same finish line!

 

[SarahDisney]

day one sounds good!
I would skip the cream cheese on the bagel, but that's just me and I might be a bit crazy about things being out for too long.

The Expo is HUGE and there will be lots of stuff for you to buy. Either be prepared to spend a lot of time there or be prepared to run out of there fast

I didn't know your sister was actually running too. IS she training or will she be walking?

That is a great pace! I run at about that pace. My motto is, everyone crosses the same finish line!

Thanks! I think you're right about the cream cheese - I'd be okay leaving it out for an hour or two, but from when I leave the house until I get to the hotel it'll be at least 5-6 hours, and that's too much. I can just buy cream cheese at the hotel food court.

I think I will probably be overwhelmed by the expo when I get there (big crowds can scare me a bit), so I don't know how much time I'll be spending there. My plan is to check out the program when they release it online and see if there's anything there we want to make sure to see. I'm hoping not to spend too much this trip, so I probably won't be doing a lot of browsing.

My sister will be walking - she walks a lot over the course of her regular day, so 3.1 miles won't be a big deal for her, but I do want her to go out for one "training walk" before the race just to have an idea of her pace. Problem is, she needs new sneakers ... so she'll have to get sneakers and break them in before the race.

I'm really happy with where my pace is now. I like the line about "everybody crosses the same finish line." I know I will never be first, but I also know from experience that being last isn't always fun (it happened to me a few times as a kid), so I'm going for somewhere in the middle - I think that's where I belong, and any pace that gets me there is good in my book.

 

[rideswithchrist]

We check in the day of the Princess 5K! I'll be cheering you on from POP Century
I have done 3 5Ks (2 Warrior Dashes and a Dash through the Past in Texas)
I am NOT a runner at all, and finish so slow.
Your PTR is pretty motivating !

 

[SarahDisney]

We check in the day of the Princess 5K! I'll be cheering you on from POP Century
I have done 3 5Ks (2 Warrior Dashes and a Dash through the Past in Texas)
I am NOT a runner at all, and finish so slow.
Your PTR is pretty motivating !

Hi! Thanks for stopping by!
Pop Century is one of my favorite hotels, so I'll be very glad to have someone cheering me on from there!
This is my first 5K, and while I know it won't be a great time (I'm planning to stop for all the characters, which takes time), I'm hoping to finish somewhere in the middle. When I first started running I was super slow, but I've been getting faster as I get used to it. When I was a kid I used to run races and half the time I was the last one to finish ... so I have the "finishing slow" experience down, I'm ready to try something new.

Thank you for your kind words!

 

[rideswithchrist]

Hi! Thanks for stopping by!
Pop Century is one of my favorite hotels, so I'll be very glad to have someone cheering me on from there!
This is my first 5K, and while I know it won't be a great time (I'm planning to stop for all the characters, which takes time), I'm hoping to finish somewhere in the middle. When I first started running I was super slow, but I've been getting faster as I get used to it. When I was a kid I used to run races and half the time I was the last one to finish ... so I have the "finishing slow" experience down, I'm ready to try something new.

Thank you for your kind words!

What an AWESOME place to do your first 5K!!!
My first 5K goal was just to NOT be the last person across the line, and then I moved it up to beating my last time. The last one, my goal was to NOT come in behind the 70 year old lady who was power walking like a champ.

 

[SarahDisney]

What an AWESOME place to do your first 5K!!!
My first 5K goal was just to NOT be the last person across the line, and then I moved it up to beating my last time. The last one, my goal was to NOT come in behind the 70 year old lady who was power walking like a champ.

I love those goals. If I was walking my goal would definitely be not last, but since I'm running and I know a lot of people walk these ... I'm being a little more ambitious.

 

[SarahDisney]

See the Running Journal Here!

Today I was all like ...

Except I was breaking records, not plates. Well, one record. New single mile record is 11:35 (a full 10 seconds faster than last week's record!). I just need to work on being more consistent!
(And yes, I do make these references in my head while I'm running)

I should have day 2 plans posted either later today or first thing tomorrow ... because someone I had to call doesn't answer their phones, I'm actually a little ahead of schedule.

 

[SarahDisney]

Plans for Day 2 – Friday, February 20, 2015​

Day 2 is race day, so we’ll be up and (vaguely) ready to go early. I don’t think we need to be on the first bus (especially because we’re not planning to bring bags – just stuff what we need in our pockets/phone cases), but I would like to be on a bus by 4:30 the latest (preferably closer to 4). I don’t need to be the first person to start the race, but I do want to be in the first half of the corral if possible to give the walker (aka Beth) a little extra cushion time (not that I think they sweep the 5K, but at least this way she won’t be the last one to finish, which I know from experience can be a bit embarassing).

We’ll hop on some sort of bus, which will take us close to

The race starts in the parking lot, so we won’t be inside quite yet, but we’ll get there eventually.
In terms of costume – as of right now, I’m planning to DisneyBound as Anna. I’ll wear a black t-shirt, either over a blueish shirt or under a purple jacket (that I’d have to buy) with a jean skirt (unless I get a new running skirt before then), blue leggings, snowflake socks (I have 2 pairs – I have to decide which ones to wear), and black and purple sneakers.
I hope she’s there so that we can get a better picture than this one …

Beth doesn’t know yet what she’s wearing – I offered to lend her any of my workout gear except what I’m wearing (she doesn’t really have any).

I plan to stop for all of the characters. Beth wants to see rarer characters, so since I’ll be ahead of her, I’ll probably text her which characters are where so that she knows when to stop. I have no idea what characters will be there, but I really hope there are some new ones that we’ve never seen.

Once the race is over, we’ll meet up either near the finish or near the buses (not sure which yet), and head back to the hotel. Once we’re washed up, changed, and have said our morning prayers, we’ll head to breakfast, where we’ll probably just eat cereal we brought from home.

And then we’re off to …

(except not because the hat will be gone)

Our first FP+ (10:00 AM – 11:00 AM) is for our favorite attraction in DHS:

We figure we’ll probably get there during the latter half of the window. This is especially important because I have to redeem myself from my terrible score last trip:

Our next FP+ is for the 11:30 showing of…

We did it in November and LOVED it, so we’re excited to do it again.

Our last currently scheduled FP+ (12:05 PM – 1:05 PM) is for…

After that we’ll try to get a 4th FP+, but if we can’t get what we want (as was the case in November), we’ll just play it by ear. We’ll see what has short waits and do that (and I’m willing to do a long wait to do TSMM again and just skip other things). I want to do Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, but will skip it if the line is unreasonable. Our only non-FP+ must do is …

They’re one of our favorite M&G experiences, so I really hope the line for them isn’t too bad! And Beth wants to DisneyBound as Frozone, so we’re hoping it’ll make for another fun experience.

We plan to leave DHS by 4ish and head back to the hotel, where we’ll shower, wash our hair, and change into our more formal Shabbos clothing. We’ll then head to the food court and grab some dinner, which we’ll wrap in tin foil (to keep it warm) and bring back to our room.

Shabbos starts around 6:00pm, so we’ll have to light candles (the traditional way of starting Shabbos) before then. I’ll say my evening prayers (Beth may also, but she doesn’t usually on Friday nights, whereas I generally go to services at the local Synagogue on Friday nights, which is something I will not be doing at Disney) and we’ll eat dinner.

It will be at least 7 by the time we’re done (maybe later if we eat slow) and we will have been up a long time, so we may hit the sack right then. If not, we’ll probably play cards and/or Monopoly Deal. If we really feel like it, we can go for a walk, but we probably won’t. We’ll probably just read a little and then hit the sack.

 

[stacy~**]

Just wanted you to know I am following your PTR excitement here!!

So happy this trip is working out for you! I do think late winter/early spring trips make getting through these brutal winters sooo much easier.

I'm glad your sister is able to come with you again. You will have an amazing time together.

Smart plan in taking a later flight. With the early morning wake up call for the race the next day I am sure your body will be happy to not have rushed around the day before.

I hope your World of Disney shopping is better this time around. I bet it will be. First night activities are always the best....having that feeling of the trip just starting is like no other.

You are doing great with your training. I really admire you for going out and pushing yourself even in less that ideal conditions. Outdoor cold weather running is so difficult. I can't wait to hear how this whole experience is for you. I have been trying to get to a rundisney event for the last few years. I was ready to register for the princess half and at the last minute the group I was going with fell apart. I was pretty upset. I was planning to do TOT in 2015 (and I liked the idea of 10 miles vs. 13.1) but now that isn't being offered I am debating the Wine and Dine. Maybe I'll see you there!

Great FP choices so far. I need to make ours for Feb. since we are 36 days out! I've been delaying the expense of getting APs for Aaron and Lucy (mine is still good for this trip). My hope is to make our choices before the off-siters can at 30 days out.

Are you making any ADR's? I know you had a mixed experience with this.

 

[Elevationist]

Okay, so this has nothing to do with your plans, Sarah, but I just have to share this funny story...

I had a dream about you last night! You got me to go to some Hebrew school with you (even though I have no idea what Hebrew school is like). Everybody was really nice, and I kept apologizing for eating bacon.

Then I was trying to get everybody to go to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights with me (even though I don't even like Halloween Horror Nights), but I was having trouble getting everybody organized and rounded up.

At one point somebody asked me to teach them to bartend and I agreed to (even though I've never bartended in my life).

Then one of the guys in the school tried to make out with me, but I was unimpressed and told him to go away. So he stole my jacket, and in the pocket was my car keys, so then he drove off with my car, which was actually my mom's car, which was a really nice SUV (even though my mom drives a 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo). He managed to get rear-ended, but miraculously there was no damage to the car, he gave me back my keys, and all was forgiven.

So then we all got on our computers and you all introduced me to a Percy Jackson & the Olympians MMO, which blew my mind and I declared I was never ever logging off.

Then I woke up.