My vacation from Kuwait!

[Dsnygrl1205]

I went into the half with the same mentality. I knew my groin strain was going to be an issue. I just hoped I could deal with it enough to finish and then rest afterwards. Perhaps not the best solution, but there was no way I was missing the half!

We never had park hoppers on our trips. This last short trip I did by chance, but I really only used it one day. I think it's very easy to get by without it. But, we usually hit the parks early and leave by early afternoon. If we want to go back for a show/fireworks, I just plan our schedule accordingly so it's the same park.

I think for such a short trip no park hopping will actually work out better. I rearranged my ADRs so I'm sure we won't need it at all.
I don't blame you one bit for doing the half regardless of an injury. After all the training and the amazing progress you made! There would be no way I would miss it either!
I plan on a relaxed pace and I'm just going to enjoy the run through HS. I'm planning on treating it like a "race" at all!

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

I really wanted to post an update today but the reservation system on the Disney website is down for maintenance and I can't remember what ADR we have on Sunday because I have changed it a few times since stating this PTR! Oh well...
I have decided, though, that I will be waking my family up to come to the 5K and watch me cross the finish line. It'll be nice to share that moment with them. I wish my DS was running with me but with me not home to motivate him to train it just won't happen. Hopefully I'll run into a DISer or two at the race! I'm always on the lookout!
I'll check back in later and hopefully have my day 4 update!

 

[DrMomof3]

I ran the half by myself. I was a little worried that I'd feel lonely but I met some amazing people. I saw a couple with WISH shirts on before the race and they spent a lot of time talking to me. During the race I met up with them again (they were doing the Goofy so they stopped at all the character greets during the half). It was fun!

Amanda

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

I think runners are some of the friendliest people! Just having that shared love for something really bonds people easily. Especially if they're DISers on top of it! I'm a pretty friendly person do I'm sure I'll find folks to chat with along the way!

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

The last time I tried this the ADR system was down and I couldn't remember which reservations I had on which day because I keep changing them! But it's back up and I have sworn to myself that I would leave it alone and just go with what we have. I do keep checking for Le Cellier ADRs every day though. When DF and I went in July last year we got one two weeks before we left so miracles do happen!
So on to my day 4. This will be our Hollywood Studios day. Hopefully it won't be too insane with ESPN crowds. Even if it is we have a pretty efficient touring plan for this park. We too head for TSM with everyone else but instead of getting a FP we just ride it first thing while the line is still moving quickly. After that we head over to RnRc for FPs then ride ToT standby, usually twice while waiting for our RnRC return time. With those big 3 done and Star Tours being closed we can enjoy the rest of the park at a pretty leisurely pace. Attractions we don't do anymore are Indiana Jones stunt show(it hasn't changed in years), the Backlot tour (this is an every 3rd or 4th trip attraction now) and I made my DS watch Beauty and the Beast with me last April and he's made me vow never to bring him to it again. So as you can see we can take our time doing those few things left that we love like One Man's Dream, The Great Movie Ride and Muppet Vision 3D. And we haven't seen Lights, Motors, Action in a couple of years so it might be time to watch that again.

At 3:45 we have an ADR at Sci Fi Dine In. I know a lot of people don't like the food but we had lunch there in '07 and enjoyed it quite a bit. Not to mention my DN will get a kick out of the theme here.
Fantasmic is at 8:30 but depending on we feel we may just skip it this time around. Sometimes this show seems like more trouble than it's worth to me. Don't get me wrong, I do like it a lot but the amount of time you have to spend waiting to get in to the theater and then waiting for it to start and then the wait to get out of the theater after is just a pain and I really have to be in the right mood to put up with it. So you'll find out in my TR if we do it or not!

 

[dismagiclover]

Your DHS plans sound great. I've decided going for the standby line at TSM at rope drop is the way to go too. You're done by 9:30 and you can still get a fastpass for something else. (Actually we usually get another TSM fastpass.) I've never actually ridden the the Backlot Tour. I might give it a try on our next trip. Do you hit the Animation Academy? We did the drawing class last trip and my DD10 really liked it. I think Sci Fi is a great choice in DHS. The atmosphere is unique and even though the food is pretty standard, it is still tasty. I like it a lot more than 50's Primetime (which I don't think I'll go back to) or Mama Melrose (which is on par with Olive Garden.) We've also never bothered to see Fantasmic. It just never works out. Anyway, sounds like it will be a great day!

 

[Queenofallthings]

That sounds like a great day! We do Sci Fi almost every trip...brings back great childhood memories of going to the drive in! I think we saw every James Bond movie in the drive in!!

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

Your DHS plans sound great. I've decided going for the standby line at TSM at rope drop is the way to go too. You're done by 9:30 and you can still get a fastpass for something else. (Actually we usually get another TSM fastpass.) I've never actually ridden the the Backlot Tour. I might give it a try on our next trip. Do you hit the Animation Academy? We did the drawing class last trip and my DD10 really liked it. I think Sci Fi is a great choice in DHS. The atmosphere is unique and even though the food is pretty standard, it is still tasty. I like it a lot more than 50's Primetime (which I don't think I'll go back to) or Mama Melrose (which is on par with Olive Garden.) We've also never bothered to see Fantasmic. It just never works out. Anyway, sounds like it will be a great day!

I always forget about the Animation Academy and that's right up my DN's alley. He loves to draw! We'll have to do that this time. I'm not even sure where it's located! Is it over near One Man's Dream?

The Backlot Tour is ok but once you've seen it a half a dozen times it gets boring. Not much had changed in the past few years.

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

That sounds like a great day! We do Sci Fi almost every trip...brings back great childhood memories of going to the drive in! I think we saw every James Bond movie in the drive in!!

It has been a while since we've been but I remember liking the food. We didn't get to sit in one of the cars last time because we just did a walk up so it will be a different experience this time anyway. We actually have a drive theater pretty close to us that's open in the summer! It's so much fun!

 

[carissanboys]

Before I forget, I meant to comment last time - I see you're from New Hampshire. I was born and raised in Maine! My family is all still there so I go back home when I can to visit.

We love Sci Fi! We always have burgers and shakes and have always been very happy. Plus, you can't beat the atmosphere!

We also did the same thing with TSM. The FP line for is so long when the park first opens that it doesn't make sense to wait in it. We just do stand by and then if we want to get a FP for it afterwards, the line has disappeared.

 

[dismagiclover]

I always forget about the Animation Academy and that's right up my DN's alley. He loves to draw! We'll have to do that this time. I'm not even sure where it's located! Is it over near One Man's Dream?

The Backlot Tour is ok but once you've seen it a half a dozen times it gets boring. Not much had changed in the past few years.

The Animation Academy is by the Little Mermaid. If you go in the main entrance you watch a cute little movie talking about animation. Then they usher you into the main room which has some character greets and some exhibits. Just ask the CM where the drawing class is and they will point you over. You can also skip the movie by walking through the shops and entering that way. If you've never seen the movie before it's worth seeing. It's cute.

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

Before I forget, I meant to comment last time - I see you're from New Hampshire. I was born and raised in Maine! My family is all still there so I go back home when I can to visit.

We love Sci Fi! We always have burgers and shakes and have always been very happy. Plus, you can't beat the atmosphere!

We also did the same thing with TSM. The FP line for is so long when the park first opens that it doesn't make sense to wait in it. We just do stand by and then if we want to get a FP for it afterwards, the line has disappeared.

Wow small world! My fiance grew up in Readfield Maine and his parents live in Guilford now so we go there quite a bit. We also camp at Sebego Lake a lot too.
We only do TSM once a trip. I really like the ride but with older kids it's not necessary to do it more than that. The boys would rather do the thrill rides over and over. One night we did ToT like 7 times in a row! There was no line at all so we just kept getting back on.

 

[20thingamabobs]

I'm here! I hopped over from your post on my half marathon TR and found out that we'll be there the exact same dates as you in March! Well, sorta. We arrive on the 4th and we're leave to head down to visit relatives on the 10th. I ran the half in January so I couldn't wait to do another runDisney event so I signed my dad and I up to run the ESPN 5k also!

Now to your plans... First, Via Napoli is awesome! We ate there in December and the pizza was fantastic (and I'm not much of a pizza person)! Second, you should definitely do the animation academy, it's one of my favorite attractions!

Can't wait to hear what else you have planned!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Catching up... We're trying Sci Fi for the first time this trip. I'm really excited to eat there.

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

I'm here! I hopped over from your post on my half marathon TR and found out that we'll be there the exact same dates as you in March! Well, sorta. We arrive on the 4th and we're leave to head down to visit relatives on the 10th. I ran the half in January so I couldn't wait to do another runDisney event so I signed my dad and I up to run the ESPN 5k also!

Now to your plans... First, Via Napoli is awesome! We ate there in December and the pizza was fantastic (and I'm not much of a pizza person)! Second, you should definitely do the animation academy, it's one of my favorite attractions!

Can't wait to hear what else you have planned!

Thanks for following along! I am super excited about the 5K at HS. I have a feeling this one will get me hooked on Disney races. I want to do the Wine and Dine half but it's really close to the time I'll be getting home from Kuwait so I may have to wait for the half in January of 2012.

Definitely doing the Animation Academy this trip. My DN loves to draw Disney characters so he will be thrilled. It's going to be a great trip! I'll look for you at the race!

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

Catching up... We're trying Sci Fi for the first time this trip. I'm really excited to eat there.

I don't get why so many people don't like it there. I mean no it isn't gourmet by any standard but it's good for what it is. I think anyway. There's some new items on the menu so it has changed since we were there but I'm sure it will be fine. I read some of dining reports on here too and I really haven't had the negative experiences that a lot of folks do. Go figure. We should try to meet up for a quick hello in WS after your dinner ADR. Ours isn't until almost 7pm so we'll be in the same area around the same time and we may end up just going back to the resort right after dinner and watching Illuminations later in the trip. I'll PM you my cell number.

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

Hey there DIS friends! Only a month until I'm on a bus to the Airfield! I can't wait to get away from this place and spend some time with my family for a couple of weeks!

So I ran today. Slowly and only 1.7 miles but the good news here is that my ankle didn't hurt at all! The bad news is that after 4 weeks of inactivity it's like starting from square one. To include my old IT band injury flaring up. Which normally I can work through by ending my runs as soon as I start to feel it and just building up my speed and mileage slowly but I just don't have the time for that now. To get promoted to E6 I have to go to a leadership course for two weeks where I'll be running every day. The class starts in 8 days. I'm going to try and suck it up and just deal with the pain but the last time I really hurt it I could barely walk. I found these neoprene straps on Amazon that go around your leg and are supposed to hold the IT band in place but they won't get here in time. So I'll let you know how it goes! Getting older really stinks!

On to my plans for Day 5. Back to Epcot! This is the first full day here. I'd like to be there for rope drop. I actually was wondering how that all works when you enter from the International Gateway. Is there another rope on the other side of the fountain or do they walk you over to the side with the rest of the crowd? This part of the trip kind of bums me out a little. I love walking up to the main Entrance of Epcot first thing in the morning. It has a distinct scent. I'm not sure what it is exactly but I love the smell of Epcot in the morning! Seriously though, does anyone know what I'm talking about? It just smells like Epcot! I love the entrance music too. Do they play that at the back entrance? I doubt it. Oh well I'm sure I'll get over it!

We'll do the Soarin' race and laugh at the crazy people who all want to be the first ones into the Land pavilion, say good morning to the nice folks from Sunshine Seasons on our way by and pass all the people getting Fast Passes and ride it right away. We may or may not get FP's for later usually we don't make it back to that part of the park. We have done Living with the Land on our last 3 trips so will most likely skip it this time. After our flight over Cali we'll go over to Turtle Talk. I love this show so much! It's really hilarious every time! Once we're out of there we'll go to Test Track, Mission Space and Spaceship Earth. We have a 1:30 ADR for Les Chefs de France (another first) so once we have done all the attractions in Future World we'll spend the rest of the day in WS. I could literally spend an entire vacation at this park. It's definitely my favorite. If we don't make it to Illuminations our first night we'll stay for it on this day. Or maybe we'll go both nights, who knows?!

 

[DisMomAmy]

We never made rope drop when I stayed at BWI in the fall, but we were close... I believe they have a separate rope drop area for those folks coming in the back.

I know exactly what you mean about the music & smells. I don't recall hearing the music coming through the back, but there's just something so special about the quiet walk in throught he IG.

What's an IT band? Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't hinder your progress!

Woo Hoo for one month!!

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

IT band is short for iliotibial band which is a band of connective tissue that runs along the outside of the thigh and knee and connects to the shin bone. When it gets inflamed it causes a lot of pain on the outside of my knee but I think I stopped soon enough that it should be feeling better tomorrow. Last time I hurt so bad because I just kept running through the pain. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and stretching it a lot too.

 

[dismagiclover]

I've done the IG rope drop. I think it sometimes varies, but from my experience they let you thru the turnstiles before 9:00 and they you walk through England and Canada and they have a rope up for those going down the path toward the Land. They actually have a separate rope drop on the other side for those headed towards Test Track. It isn't as exciting as the front gate rope drop. No characters or anything. Way fewer people though and it always makes me feel priviliged to have what seems almost like a private entrance.

I'm glad your ankle doesn't hurt. I really hope your IT band doesn't bug you too much. Mine flared up a little bit during my marathon training. It's a bummer our bodies don't always cooperate.