The Family That Runs Together...Vacations Together-A May 2012 PTR *5/12

[amazingact21]

Sounds like a great last day! I love breakfast at Crystal Palace

Breakfast at CP is the one thing I'm most looking forward to on this trip!

I love that you saved your day until the very end...and you shouldnt feel bad about it...enjoy it, you deserve to have your day! Which, btw, sounds amazing!

I got a little lump in my throat when you were describing the lasts of everything, glad I am not the only one that does that!

Thanks! I haven't told anyone that these plans are based on the things I wanted to do, which I think helps me feel better, because I still have a bit of lingering guilt associated with this day.


The lasts are hard to even think about...

 

[Elleshoodat]

I completely understand feeling sad when you're thinking about your trip being over. I went through that last night -- I told DH "At this time next week, our Disney trip will be over!" He just gave me a Look, lol.

Definitely, definitely, definitely do the Magic Kingdom opening ceremony. It ... is ... amazing. It brings tears to my eyes every time. You are going to love it.

Enjoy breakfast at Crystal Palace, too. I've never eaten there but have heard such great things about it. And enjoy YOUR day; your plans sound perfect for the last day of your trip.

 

[UGAFan0829]

So excited for you and your breakfast at CP! It's one of my faves, mainly because Pooh is my all-time favorite. I really don't think you can go wrong with a meal there!

I'm glad to hear that you decided to do race shirts, and I can't wait to see what you picked!! It's SOOOOOO close! Are you ready??

 

[amazingact21]

I completely understand feeling sad when you're thinking about your trip being over. I went through that last night -- I told DH "At this time next week, our Disney trip will be over!" He just gave me a Look, lol.

Definitely, definitely, definitely do the Magic Kingdom opening ceremony. It ... is ... amazing. It brings tears to my eyes every time. You are going to love it.

Enjoy breakfast at Crystal Palace, too. I've never eaten there but have heard such great things about it. And enjoy YOUR day; your plans sound perfect for the last day of your trip.

I get that Look a lot. It's so sad to think that this amazing trip you've been looking forward to will be over before you know it.

Everything I've read has said positive things about the opening ceremony, so I can't wait to see it for myself!

So excited for you and your breakfast at CP! It's one of my faves, mainly because Pooh is my all-time favorite. I really don't think you can go wrong with a meal there!

I'm glad to hear that you decided to do race shirts, and I can't wait to see what you picked!! It's SOOOOOO close! Are you ready??

It's difficult to mess up breakfast (but I know it can be done!) so I'm looking forward to our meal there.

I should have the shirts posted later this morning. A big case of nerves hit me last night in regards to the race, but I know it'll all turn out fine. I sort of think I'm not going to beat last year's time, but so long as I finish, that's all that matters!

 

[amazingact21]

My last official update before my trip!


I can’t believe it.


Alex and I leave tomorrow. We’re headed to his family’s house, but we’re still on our way.


All my stuff (with the exception of one or two things) is packed up and sitting around the house. Alex has to work until 3 today, so I am most likely going to get all his clothes set out to take some time off his packing.


We are planning on doing one last run later this evening, and I kinda nervous about it. This’ll probably be my last 3 miles before the race on Saturday. I won’t lie; when I began training for the EE5K, I had hoped I’d be much farther along than I actually am.


It bummed me out last night, but whatever my total time ends up being will be what it is. I’d like it to be better than last year, even if it’s just by a minute, but if it’s not…I still get the medal and still get to ride Everest at night. No point in crying over a lack of improvement when I have all that to entice me.


Speaking of the race…Alex and I finished our race shirts yesterday afternoon! (My mom did hers when she was over at my house last Saturday.)


We cheated a little bit this year due to time constraints and no creativity juices. We took last year’s design and added a red flag to it. (In all the promotional logos for the race, the EE sign has a red flag with the words 5th Anniversary.) Alex built onto our previous layout and added a flag of our own:


The front of all our shirts:

Alex and my's shirt says “Our 2nd Adventure” and my mom’s says “My First Adventure.”


Like I said, pretty much the same design as last year, just tweaked a bit.


The back of my shirt looks like this:

Up close:

3 Giraffe Mickey Heads with the date inside each head. I chose 3 because there’s three of us competing, and I chose giraffe print, because it’s my favorite animal, we’re in AK, and it’ll be around the 1 year anniversary of our engagement (which was in front of giraffes.)



I like how it turned out, and it’s definitely more subtle than last year’s huge Rafiki on the back.



My mother used one big Giraffe print Mickey Head on the back of her shirt and put the date inside. I haven’t seen it yet (I just printed out the image and she took it home to iron on.) but I’m sure it looks just as good.


Alex went in a different direction than my mom and I and made his own Mickey Head.


He wanted the date on his shirt, as well, so I took the AK logo and added the date:

Then, for the back of his, he thought it’s be cute to do some kind of incorporation of the Avengers. We’re both huge superhero geeks, and the film comes out the day before the race.


Our team name is the same as last year, The A-Team (since we’re Alex and Alicia) so Alex found logos of the Avenger’s “A” that’s being used in posters and on tshirts, and he created this:

I think it was a cute idea, and I saved it onto my computer so if we ever do the race again and use A-Team as our team name, we can reuse the design.



Having the shirts finished is a huge weight off my shoulders. I was beginning to worry that they wouldn’t be finished in time, and we would just have to make do with regular old tees.




Now that it’s the day before we leave, I can think of a few things that I swore I was going to do and didn’t get around to. I had wanted to decorate my mom’s resort window, but that was completely forgotten until yesterday.


Whoops.



I was also going to clean out the car and get it in travelling condition, and I was going to make little cards that I could write on and turn into guest services every time a CM was extra nice or went above and beyond their job. (Saw that on the Themes Parks and Strategies Thread here and loved the idea.) Maybe if I have a free moment or two tonight, I might do that, but the time has just ran away from me.



I’m going to try and get on Alex’s laptop at his parent’s house Thursday night and write one last farewell, but if I don’t get around to it…I will talk to everyone after my trip and play catch-up on all your PTRs and TRs!

 

[GaRain]

Love the shirts!!! Hoping to get mine done today! My iron on paper would not peel - ok but anyways - yours looks great!! Love the A-Team logo on Alex's, great idea!

Safe travels and hope to see you there!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow!! How exciting!! Eeeeekkk!! I'm so very excited for you.

As far as your time, don't even worry about it. To me, Disney races are more about the experience! As long as you finish and get that medal, that's all that matters! Have I told you that I'm really excited for you?

Love the shirts...I think you did a great job with them...I never got to see last year's shirts, so they're all new to me, and I love them. I especially love the A Team Logo!

I hope that you have a wonderful, magical trip and that you're able to make some awesome memories with both Alex and your Mom!! Safe travels!!

 

[20thingamabobs]

Hey! That's so exciting that you're leaving tomorrow! I still have two more nights of school and two more days of work... Oh well, hopefully it'll come quickly.

I love the shirts you made! They turned out really cute and I like how you each added your own touch!

I really like Alex's Avenger A logo too! We live in Cleveland, where the movie was shot so one day, we actually went over and saw the outside scenes. It was actually really cool. I have pictures on my phone where it looks like the street is all torn up.

Anyway, I hope you have an awesome trip and hopefully we'll see you at the race!

 

[Elleshoodat]

Cute shirts! I love that they're all essentially the same, but each has a little pop that makes it different.

Travel safely tomorrow. We're almost there!

 

[Nermel9]

I love your shirts for the race! Have a great trip, maybe I'll see you around!

 

[MEK]

Love the T shirts! Have an awesome trip and I hope you kick butt in that race. With all the training you have been doing it should be a piece of cake!

 

[Joyciemc]

Love the shirts! Good luck with the race!!

Hope the trip down is quick and easy (and that you don't get stuck at Alex's family's )

I'll be looking for you around the parks!

 

[MHTeacher]

Love the race shirts!

Hope the race goes well, and that you beat your time from last year. Hope you have a safe, magical trip!

 

[teekathepony]

Adorable shirts!
YAY you're leaving today!! I hope you guys have an amazing trip!!

 

[amazingact21]

Love the shirts!!! Hoping to get mine done today! My iron on paper would not peel - ok but anyways - yours looks great!! Love the A-Team logo on Alex's, great idea!

Safe travels and hope to see you there!!

Thanks! The iron-on paper can be really difficult to peel at times DH can't even do it, he just hands his to me.

Have fun at the race!!!!

I can't believe you're leaving tomorrow!! How exciting!! Eeeeekkk!! I'm so very excited for you.

As far as your time, don't even worry about it. To me, Disney races are more about the experience! As long as you finish and get that medal, that's all that matters! Have I told you that I'm really excited for you?

Love the shirts...I think you did a great job with them...I never got to see last year's shirts, so they're all new to me, and I love them. I especially love the A Team Logo!

I hope that you have a wonderful, magical trip and that you're able to make some awesome memories with both Alex and your Mom!! Safe travels!!

Aww, thanks so much for the well-wishes. They mean a lot.

And you're completely right, the race is all about having fun and enjoying the fact that you're participating in a runDisney event.

Hey! That's so exciting that you're leaving tomorrow! I still have two more nights of school and two more days of work... Oh well, hopefully it'll come quickly.

I love the shirts you made! They turned out really cute and I like how you each added your own touch!

I really like Alex's Avenger A logo too! We live in Cleveland, where the movie was shot so one day, we actually went over and saw the outside scenes. It was actually really cool. I have pictures on my phone where it looks like the street is all torn up.

Anyway, I hope you have an awesome trip and hopefully we'll see you at the race!

That would've been so cool!

Hope you have a great trip, as well, and get an awesome photo shoot at AKL!

Cute shirts! I love that they're all essentially the same, but each has a little pop that makes it different.

Travel safely tomorrow. We're almost there!

Hope you're having a great time at WDW!!!!

I love your shirts for the race! Have a great trip, maybe I'll see you around!

Thanks. Like I said in your post, if I see you, I'll be sure and say hello! (So if you see some random girl waving and going, "I think you're on the DISboards" it'll be me.

Love the T shirts! Have an awesome trip and I hope you kick butt in that race. With all the training you have been doing it should be a piece of cake!

Thanks! As long as I beat last year's time, I'll be happy!

Love the shirts! Good luck with the race!!

Hope the trip down is quick and easy (and that you don't get stuck at Alex's family's )

I'll be looking for you around the parks!

Hahhahhh...oh man, your comment made my morning! I am hoping the same thing, as well. We'll see if tradition holds up and I"m here longer than anticipated.

If I see you at the parks, I'll be sure and say hello! Enjoy your trip and have fun!

Love the race shirts!

Hope the race goes well, and that you beat your time from last year. Hope you have a safe, magical trip!

Thank you! Appreciate the well-wishes!

Adorable shirts!
YAY you're leaving today!! I hope you guys have an amazing trip!!

It's so exciting to realize that my vacation has officially started!

 

[amazingact21]

Hello everyone! First off, I just wanted to thank everyone for all the well-wishes for this trip. It made me smile to see the responses. DISBoarders are the best....


I'm in Rockledge visiting with Alex's family for the day. His dad (a retired chef) is cooking us a wonderful turkey dinner tonight, and we're planning on seeing the midnight showing of The Avengers, so I'll probably be dead to the world until about 8 or 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. Once I'm up and functioning, Alex and I will be headed to DISNEY WORLD!!!!


TOMORROW!!!!


It's finally here! In about 24 hours, I'll be going under the entrance sign and pulling up to All Star Sports.





I'm beyond excited for everything. The race, meeting my mom at our resort, eating dinner at Kona, seeing Wishes....

For everyone that'll be at the same time, I'll be sure to say hello if our pathes cross. Just know, it might take me awhile to speak to you, because I'll want to be sure it's not some random stranger I'm going up to.



I thought I'd end this pretty much pointless update with a few notes on my trip so far. (All of these are making me believe that this is going to be one heck of a trip.)

#1) I'm sitting by the kitchen island writing this, with an empty coffee cup next to me. It's empty, because....I was able to get a great cup of coffee!!! Can I get a hallelujah?!



Anyone who read my December 2012 trip report will know that the coffee situation is a big deal. Every time I come down here (normally for Disney) I have zero luck with getting a successful cup of joe, so I'm taking this as a sign that everything is going to work out.


#2) I have a theory that the more times one drives on I-10 on their way to I-75, the more boring it becomes. Sorry for those who will be traveling this road in a few weeks, but it's true. It felt like the longest 4 hours of my life!


All right, hope everyone is enjoying their day, and I will play catch-up on PTRs and TRs when I get back!

 

[MEK]

Glad you trip has already begun! Have a great time and run fast!!!!!!!

 

[Joyciemc]

Have a great night, an awesome time in WDW, and a wonderful race!!

 

[MHTeacher]

I have a theory that the more times one drives on I-10 on their way to I-75, the more boring it becomes. Sorry for those who will be traveling this road in a few weeks, but it's true. It felt like the longest 4 hours of my life!

I agree that from Tallahassee on I-10 over to Gainesville on I-75 seems like an eternity to me. It may because I know that I'm getting so much closer, and I just can't wait!

 

[Nermel9]

Hope you're having a great time already! I'll be there tomorrow!