The One without a Trip Report

[tink2020]

Ok, Ok. So I realize this is a "Trip Reports" board. One of my favorite parts of returning from a trip to visit the Mouse (ok, the ONLY remotely decent part about returning ) is writing a trip report. It's like coming home, gathering everyone over your house and showing that dreaded slideshow o' vacation pics, but with a positive spin -- nobody has to read about or see pictures of your trip if they so choose. Brilliant!

That being said, this will not be a trip report, at least not by my standards. I started out taking notes as always (yes, I take notes for my trip report. no, it doesn't cut into my vacation, it totally adds to it. What can I say, I am a poster child for OCPD and no day would be as grand without lists. No, I'm not joking. Yes, I realize I'm a bit off. Now that we have that clear....... )

So, you ask? What changed?

Let's just say we had a LOT of decidedly "un-Disney" moments in the first couple of days. I don't know if it was my fault, my DH's fault or - gasp - Disney's fault. But there were arguments, and tears and all sorts of things that you and I both know NEVER happen in The Happiest Place on Earth. Don't get me wrong -- I cried when we left, I whined for days about the trip being too short and too fast, and we're going back in a few months. I'm not writing any letters of complaint, I didn't lose any faith or interest in Walt Disney World as a whole, and I'm no less obsessed than I was before we went. It's just not a trip I want to pour over in detail. I'd much rather just remember the highlights, and share a few thoughts about a very different trip than I am used to.

With that, I give you my non-Report. And hey, it won't be NEAR as long as usual!

 

[iluvdizknee]

Now my curiosity has been sparked,,what happened? Is there some advice you can give others to avoid something negative?

 

[mlill]

Hey, don't worry, we've all had one of 'those' trips! I think that makes it even more important to go back to WDW and make up for the cr*ppy time you had! LOL! I've had my share of tears in WDW. (and not the happy kind) That's why my family was threatened with bodily harm - we were going to have a wonderful time for our Christmas vacation, or else. It worked.

Bring it on, misery and all.

I can handle it!

-Michelle

 

[tink2020]

Pre-Trip... sometime in January 2006

Here I find myself, smack in the middle of (dum da dum dum) Residency Interview Season. If you know anyone who is a physician that has participated in The Match, or is a medical student "looking forward to" The Match, you know with which kind of tone those words are being typed. My life was at its most uncertain point. DH and I had traveled across the country over several weeks now, visiting and interviewing potential programs. So here I am, in Newark, Delaware, what I presume will be my home from 2006-2010. It is our second trip here, because we "are almost positive" we'll end up here, so I didn't need to do as much exploring.

Now in other cities, if I'm not exploring real estate, etc, I'm shopping. Nice deal, huh? DH goes to stressful interviews and worries himself sick, I shop. I can't complain!

However, this is not the case in Newark, Delaware. All you Blue Hens out there, please don't misunderstand me. Kyle and I adored Newark. We loved the Christiana program, we love the Philly area. But let's face it -- there is no extensive shopping without traveling into the city.

So what am I to do in a hotel room while waiting for Kyle to come home for dinner? I can't just sit and think, I'll start freaking out. Why, I DIS of course!

It must have been this unstable state. Or maybe the water, or the sticker shock of real estate in the Mid-Atlantic. Whatever it may have been, over the course of our 3 day stay, I determine that Kyle and I are running in the 2007 Half-Marathon in Walt Disney World! He, of course, is ecstatic. He has been trying for YEARS to get me to run with him. I'm also ecstatic, I'm going to Disney World!

(You should know, however, that this ecstasy on my part did NOT last 12 months. In that time, we bought DVC, visited the World again "with no particular reason", and - oh yeah - ran a lot. I HATE running. I have always hated running, and I STILL hate running. I have asthma, bad knees, etc. But you know, those are all excuses and medical problems that can be managed. What can't be managed is how BOOOOOOOOORING I find the activity.)

What was I thinking?! We could have just gone for FUN!






So there you have it, the reason for the trip. We had intended to vacation afterwards, until we found out DH couldn't take days off during RSV season (read: kids who are so far beyond snot-nosed that they can't breathe for anything, suddenly ascending in droves upon the hospital for 4 months straight). So this is to be a very brief trip, most of which is hindered by that obstacle they call The Half-Marathon. Seriously, resting up + running + recovering = way too much time out of a 4 day trip.

Another serious emotional obstacle was the lack of plan we had for this trip. Not knowing exactly how much time we'd need to rest and recover, I had made a deal with Kyle. This trip would be all about soaking it in. He adores Disney almost entirely for the attention to detail and the total immersion into a particular "scene". So we were going to hit a few "must-do" rides, and then just .... go. And fly by the seat of our pants.

No wonder everything went wrong! Who ever heard of such a trip, and WHO, obviously not in their right mind, made running a for-fun pasttime?

 

[tink2020]

Hey, don't worry, we've all had one of 'those' trips! I think that makes it even more important to go back to WDW and make up for the cr*ppy time you had! LOL! I've had my share of tears in WDW. (and not the happy kind) That's why my family was threatened with bodily harm - we were going to have a wonderful time for our Christmas vacation, or else. It worked.

Bring it on, misery and all.

I can handle it!

-Michelle

That's very kind of you, but I stopped taking notes! I'll do my best, but I'm not promising a real report. I'll try harder in May

Gotta go make dinner, see ya soon. Thanks for coming along for the ride, whatever it may be

 

[tink2020]

Now my curiosity has been sparked,,what happened? Is there some advice you can give others to avoid something negative?

Nah, it's really nothing. It was truly just little stuff, combined with an unprepared Jennifer and lots of emotion and stress. There isn't a lot of drama, and there isn't much need for advice. Well, I take that back. There will be some advice when we get to the actual race day, but as for Disney World in general..... it's still great. If I recounted the things we fought and cried about, I assure you it would be almost entirely petty, by my own admission. My only reason for posting that disclaimer is that this WON'T be my "typical" trip report with chronological detail after detail.... for better or worse.

 

[pumba]

you know sometimes this happens.......when hubby and I went for a break in December .....we did alot of laying around and sleeping......we needed to unwind.......his mom is 90 and ill and my mom is 92 and thinks she is ill.....but they are both our responsibility and we needed that break...
I hope you always remember to take time for yourself too.....even if it is just laying down on a hammock outside and vegging....
we go back to Disney in 95 days and I am ready to go already.......Hugs to you and just have a good time thinking of your next trip

 

[tink2020]

Thursday, January 4th

Up bright and early to head to the airport! The drive was really uneventful. We loaded up the car, listened to Disney music ("too loudly for 5am" adds my husband ), and were pleasantly surprised to find that, after moving, the Dayton airport is now even closer to our house than Cincinnati, and still much cheaper!

Airport check-in was obnoxious as usual. Airtran is always superb in-flight. The planes are great, the staff is great. The XM radio is a fabulous benefit. But boy, do their airport staff members know how to push my buttons -- no matter what city I'm standing in at any given time! After entirely too long, we were off to the security point.

Now let me ask you a question -- What consistency is mascara? Because I don't consider it a liquid, but apparently it counts. BACK out to the front to get a plastic bag in which to place my single "liquid" item, despite having purposely avoided packing liquids in my carry-on. Teach me for putting makeup on the morning of a travel day

Finally, we walk to the other end of the airport property to our oh-so-familiar gate. I found it strangely fulfilling that even the flight times and gate numbers rarely change on our trips to the world. Is that sad?

"It's pretty cool that we always make this same drive, get to the lot, pick up the shuttle at the right time and head directly to the same gates," says Kyle somewhat timidly.

Ok, so maybe I'm all right afterall. Or at least I've found my soul mate anyway


I tune in to Radio Disney for 15 seconds, make the same comment I make each time about how they really need a station that plays DISNEY music, not just pop music with Disney standards, and proceed quickly to the Hit Music of the 90's station. I hear Kyle laughing beside me at something on the family comedy station. A short taxi, and we're off!

Conveniently, I have no books in my carry-on except the Imagineer field guides and a sudoku for myself. Kyle reluctantly picks up the Imagineering ... MK book and starts reading. Why in the world he never read them before is beyond me. The content of these books is what Kyle LIVES for at Disney. He doesn't get caught up in the magic and pixie dust like I do. He marvels at the attention to detail. If you've read these books and you know my husband (or someone like him), you know they were written for him. He continued reading (and "sharing" cool stuff with me) the entire plane ride. Sometime while in midair the co-pilot made an announcement about passengers traveling to the World to participate in Marathon Weekend, and I swear the whole plane stood up and cheered. I was finally really excited.

 

[tink2020]

At MCO, we make the obligatory stop at the restroom located conveniently within the Airtran gates. We find the shuttle, pick up our luggage and step outside to the perf..... Aack! Freakin' HOT Florida weather. So much for 50-60's in January. It felt absolutely disgusting in long sleeves. Still, no complaints. We were here at last!

At this point, I made an ironic comment to Kyle -- "Hmm... THIS time I kind of wish I were going on a cruise!", looking forlornly at the DCL buses. Of course I didn't really care which kind of Disney vacation I was going on, but he just rolled his eyes at me. You'll have to recall or refer to my cruise trip report for this one. In short, before driving to the port for our first Disney cruise I was just short of depressed that we were going on a "stupid cruise" instead of to Walt Disney World "like all these other lucky people that have just been there". Don't worry, I came to my senses by the end of the trip. That's why this was funny. Oh, never mind.

Back to the trip at hand. Emerald Aisle at National is one of our favorite investments, so within record time we were in a 2007 Pontiac G6 with power leather seats and, what's this? Oh yes. 79 miles on the odometer. Have I mentioned that we are entirely satisfied with our 3 and 4 year old cars until we come on vacation? Kyle already thinks the trip is off to a great start. He gets jealous of MY V6 engine and I drive a measly cavalier. They don't even exist anymore, they're so ho-hum.

Twenty miles and $2.00 later, we drive through the check-in gate at Saratoga Springs!

 

[tink2020]

All right, so now the fun stuff. If you frequent the DVC boards, you have heard some disgust regarding SSR. Mark my words, there will be haters of the VAKL. There will be haters of the rumored Contemporary DVC. You could put a DVC resort in Cinderella's Castle itself, and it would probably be "the dumbest idea DVC ever had", "the ugliest, most disgusting resort ever" and "an embarrassment to us all".

Saratoga Springs is a gorgeous resort. I grew up with a family condo on Kiawah Island. If you've been there, you know it's spectacular. I swear to you, in my opinion, SSR provides the same feeling. It is one of the most serene, beautiful, well-designed and well-kept places I have ever laid eyes on. I'm not just saying that because it is our home resort, I'm saying it because it blew my mind. We knew we liked it, and we STILL had no idea what all it had to offer.

Since this isn't a DVC board I'm not getting into all that. But boy, were we impressed. There are so many activities there (lots of which are FREE. In Disney! ) that you could stay a week, never leave the property, and still have an excellent vacation.

Check-in was a breeze, and we got a room right away. I had to give up my request for Congress Park, but a room that was already available was more important at this point, since the trip was a quick one. In all honesty, I don't think there is a bad location there. I was totally bummed to be placed in the Paddock, which appears on a map to be in a different time zone than the rest of the resort. We quickly learned, though, that the walk was literally 5 minutes and beautiful no matter where you were headed.

My only other initial thoughts on the resort (and our first DVC trip impression in general) were these, and I won't elaborate unless someone really wants me to. They really do try and cater to a different crowd at DVC resorts. Now before anyone gets all huffy and calls me a snob, I'm not talking about that in the slightest. I'm referring to a kind of crowd that "does Disney" a lot, and does it a bit differently than the commando tourer. There is no "food court" per se, and certainly not the number of snack racks, drink stations, etc as are at other resorts (from my experience). The gift shop offers very little by way of souvenirs, but what they offer - in my opinion - is an excellent representation of high-quality items. Oh, and a few sets of ears of course Just an observation we had, and something we hadn't expected.

My one complaint was a dumb one about the refillable mugs (Fall 2006?! In January 2007?! Don't get me started). I'm pretty sure I was fed a line of BS, but Kyle insisted we buy the mug anyway, for the value on soda/coffee refills (which we always get). Men! Logic prevailed, no matter how strong my argument based on "the principle of the matter".

Also, it is during this exploration time that we discover nothing but Christmas Music. I'm a self-proclaimed Christmas nut. My friends can tell you that my decorations are up by November 15th, and the Christmas music has already been playing for a week by then. I continue listening to Christmas music even a few days AFTER the holiday, and at that point I'm still not tired of it, just tired of the strange looks ...

But this totally threw me for a loop! Our last trip to the World was during the holidays. I think it might be my favorite time to visit, but there is a time and a place! I had been listening to park audio a lot over the 12 months since we'd actually spent any time at Disney World, and was very much looking forward to PARK music. Christmas trees, wreaths? Fine. But I blame every bit of my lingering bad mood on the fact that every time I passed a perfectly hidden speaker, I heard music wishing me a merry Christmas and urging me to haul out some holly or do a little Jingle Bell dance. I was thoroughly unprepared, emotionally!

 

[tink2020]

After checking out our room and unloading the luggage, we were off to Epcot! Another unfortunate surprise would be waiting -- the CROWDS! When we got there at noon, Soarin' fastpasses were gone (not a huge surprise) and the line was 120 minutes! Holy cow. I was not expecting this, especially early on Thursday -- half of the marathone weekend travelers wouldn't even be here until tonight or tomorrow, I thought to myself!

It's ok, we're flying by the seat of our pants. No big deal, we'll be back again some day. Really, it's fine! We have APs, we'll just pop over another time and try and get to Soarin. If not, well, we knew we weren't going to be able to do everything

AAAAGH! THIS IS THE WORST TRIP EVER. IF I HAD MADE A PLAN, THIS WOULDN'T BE HAPPENING. HOW ARE WE GOING TO RIDE SOARIN, MISSION:SPACE, TEST TRACK, ETC AND WATCH ALL OF THE LIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND....

"This is going to be so cool," interrupts my darling husband. "We'll really be able to just take it all in, see what we see, notice things we never have...."

UGH! WHO IS THIS NUT I'M MARRIED TO?!




Ok, after that I was doing all right. We grabbed lunch at the Electric Umbrella (Future World is seriously lacking counter service restaurants!), and set out in search of Treasure Hunt answers.

I have to admit, this was a blast. We ended up riding Mission:Space and Journey Into Imagination, as well as hanging out in Club Cool a few minutes (mmmmmm, Kinley ) Wonders of Life was truly closed.... I spent a moment grieving that we were SO close, as just a few days earlier I could have been reunited with my first Epcot Love. Alas, we were back in Value Season, despite what the wait times suggested.

Most of the few hours there were spent finding answers for the Passporter Treasure Hunts book. It was really cool!

At about 5:00 we headed for Fort Wilderness. Little did I know, since this was the trip without a plan, how inconvenient a "quick dinner" at Trails End truly is! We got lost at FW, finally realized we had to take an internal bus, and were 10 minutes late for our ADR. Then, in my opinion, dinner totally stunk. I really wasn't upset by this, as I realize that - just like resorts - there will be restaurants some love and some hate. To each his own. I was glad it was a cheaper meal, though, that's for sure!

By the way, they have a really cool new drink inspired by The Year of a Million Dreams called a Blue Glowtini. I didn't have one, but they look and sound fun!

After dinner, we debated driving or boating to the MK for Spectromagic and Wishes. We made the wrong decision.

At the boat dock, the blue flagged boat was just leaving. Ok, the green one should be next! And then the blue one came back. Ok, not much longer now.

And then the blue one came back. Again.

I never did find out what happened that night, but we stood for 55 minutes waiting on a stupid boat to come and get us. By the time one arrived, there were too many people waiting and not everyone fit! Ugh! Out of all the nighttime festivities offered, I had chosen to make plans for these. If you know my love for Fantasmic!, then you know this was a hard decision, but I had my reasons. I NEEDED to see Spectro, and this was the only night it was being offered while we were there. We boarded the boat at 6:52, and the parade was listed at 7:00pm.

Fortunately, we walked in just as they were making an announcement that the park would be open until 11pm, offering a second parade after Wishes! Oh, of course. After going back and forth (we REALLY hadn't planned on staying out late these next two nights), we decided to stay. We saw Mickey's Philharmagic, got a Dole Whip, and found a place for Wishes. And those 3 things (plus Spectro afterwards, of course), were just the right medicine for my serious over-reaction to all of the "stressful" things that had happened earlier. I slept well that night, with only a slight feeling of disappointment that such an ugly day could happen in my happy place.

 

[tink2020]

Just a few pictures from Thursday, January 4th. I was too grumpy all night to take more! ​

 

[rosiejo]

Well my dear Jennifer - considering this is titled "the one without a trip report" it reads pretty mush like one to me! And I'd forgotten how good a writer you are too. Keep going I want to read more... and of course its a good distraction from actually having to write one myself...

 

[tink2020]

Well my dear Jennifer - considering this is titled "the one without a trip report" it reads pretty mush like one to me! And I'd forgotten how good a writer you are too. Keep going I want to read more... and of course its a good distraction from actually having to write one myself...

Yeah, I figured someone would catch on

I know it probably reads exactly like others on the surface, but it's so different to me! I have no notes to go on, no dialogue about each ride, etc. Maybe my memory is better than I anticipated

Thanks for the compliments. I'm a little embarrassed because I don't put as much effort into these as so many others do, and I feel like it's completely conversational. Oh well! It's fun for me to read later, and I already said nobody had to read it if they didn't want!

Now get to work on yours! What are all these excuses about assignments, work, etc?

 

[bethbuchall]

I can't wait to read more!

 

[tubachick]

You got me

Lets see what happens next

 

[tink2020]

Friday, January 5th

Up and at 'em early, once again! The alarm went off at 5:00, but I was pretty much awake already since I'm up then anyway. Why so early on vacation? We knew we would have to get up in the middle of the night for the race on Saturday, so we wanted to try and shift our schedules up a few hours if at all possible, in a bit of preparation.

At this point, Kyle kept falling back asleep, there were more bad moods, etc. A quick run around SSR (even more gorgeous in the early morning) and a shower brought a refreshing frame of mind, and Kyle finally decided to join me in the land of the Awake by about 6:45. He got ready for the day, had a cup of coffee, and we had a little breakfast before heading to the MK for park opening.

We drove to the TTC and took the monorail over, arriving outside the train station by about 8:30. We had a prime viewing location for the opening ceremony, especially since we weren't concerned about rushing to any specific ride.

I can't for the life of me remember exactly what we did here specifically (thanks Clare, you jinxed me! ). Lunch was early at Cosmic Ray's (yum!). We were able to ride several rides (Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Hall of Presidents, IASW, Buzz...) and were thrilled to find out that Carousel of Progress was running! Kyle, as predicted, thought the Hall of Presidents was one of the coolest things he had ever seen The additions to Pirates are absolutely stunning, and we were pleasantly surprised to see Davy Jones! Space Mountain was down while we were there, and Splash was closed for refurbishment. I certainly missed several other rides (namely my favorite Fantasyland dark rides ) but we had a great time looking for hidden mickeys and answering more questions from our treasure hunt book. We spent close to 2 hours just on Main Street and in Exposition Hall! It was really quite enjoyable. I do think I'm going to have to have at least a partial day of commando touring in May, though, to catch up on all the rides!

 

[tink2020]

At about 2:45, we had to head for WWS to pick up our packets, as we were starting to hear rumors that it was a madhouse! We drove over and hit the Expo, starting first at the packet pick-up booths. What a nightmare! I don't know how much of this was Disney and how much was the third-party company organizing the marathon, but this was an utter disaster. Kyle never received his race waiver and registration card in the mail. We had talked to several people prior to our arrival in Orlando, and it would be no big deal at all. My foot! It took over 45 minutes to pick up his packet, after waiting in the same 2 lines about 4 times .... EACH! Once we finally had our bibs in hand and our chips verified (Kyle was listed as a female, but we weren't about to start that process over again ) we headed downstairs for all the goodies!

I wasn't all that impressed with the expo. There were a few cool booths (sign designing for spectators, samples of Clif bars, etc and some clothing/souvenir booths).... most of it, though, was advertisements for other races across the country. I did take a few minutes to say hi to the representative from The Pig! (flyingpigmarathon.com)

We didn't spend a ton of time there, before heading back to our hotel room. We dropped off a few bags, watched a little television, and walked to the Turf Club restaurant at 4:30pm. Dinner here was fabulous! Our service was the slowest I have ever seen (despite there being zero other people in the restaurant and lounge combined), but we were in no hurry. Especially since the waitress had a fantastic excuse for at least the latest portion of our meal -- my chocolate lava cake "erupted too soon"!

Yum!

After dinner we wandered the grounds and made our way from SSR to Downtown Disney. We hadn't planned on doing a ton of shopping this trip, so we were only there about an hour. Pet Tails looks like it's just about gone... boo! DTD was absolutely packed, so we took a bus back to the Paddock pretty shortly after arriving.

Back at the hotel, we packed our race bag, pinned on our bibs, tied on our chips and settled down for the evening by about 9:00!

Goodnight, and sweet half-marathon dreams! (Yeah, right).

 

[tink2020]

Pictures from Days 1 and 2​

 

[tink2020]

Ooh! I did want to add this, especially if anyone is looking at the pictures and notices a have a shot of Pinocchio's butt. No, it's not a weird thing I have. I just wanted to remember this, and hey - it worked!

While we were exposition hall, we discovered that many characters are staged back here. It was absolutely adorable to see the handler and Pinocchio (among others) come rushing back through the Hall and behind the curtain "looking for Jiminy Cricket". Even 10 minutes later, when they came back out, they were "still searching for him", and asking around if any of us had seen him. I thought it was a perfect solution to a mysterious need to duck behind a random curtain instead of entertaining small children! It was small, but something fun to see taking place

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...