To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[DopeyBadger]

Monday, February 28th – Grand Floridian, Flight home

Sadly, it was time for us to leave the Mouse House and head back home. We got all packed up and we left the room around 9am. We left behind all my extra clothes from whether the corrals were cold (but they weren’t so I didn’t use them). Hopefully they went to a good place. As far as groceries go, we did alright. We essentially drank every bottled water (80), ate most of the snacks, but I never broke open my bread loaf. So that was a bit of a waste.

We drove the rental over to Grand Floridian Café for brunch. We had two reservations, and requested being seated at the same table if possible, and preferably outside. As luck would have it two tables were available outside eventually and so we got seated in about 10-15 min. I ordered the Brioche French Toast, and as a table we shared the Chicken and Waffle. The French toast was ok, but the chicken and waffles were better. Overall the group agreed that tbis was one of our better meals of the trip. So, a good one to end on a high note.

We headed up to the GF shops, and G did a photoshoot with the photopass photographer.













After that, we took the monorail around to Polynesian. Walked around a bit, and then took the beach path back to the Grand Floridian.

I decided that before getting back in the car to the airport, I’d eat my peanut butter cake from Gideon’s. It was divine. Probably one of the best slices of cake I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot of cake. The peanut butter was spot on. I had some of the peanut butter cookie as well, and it too was one of the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had. We also got the chocolate chip, coffee cake and pistachio/chocolate. In my opinion the chocolate chip and pistachio cookies are alright. But the coffee cake, peanut butter, and the cake were perfection. Highly recommend for anyone that ventures over to Disney Springs. They are a very soft doughy cookie with large grains of salt that really have a kick to them during the sweet bites.

Our flight was at 3:15pm, and we were on our way to the airport sometime around 12:30. I think we got to the airport around 1:00pm. Dropped off the rental without issues, and then headed to bag check. That was an absolute cluster outside of Frontier. After standing in one line for 15 min, we got directed into another line and stood there for quite some time before getting our bags checked in. Then security was mostly a breeze for us, expect that BIL didn’t have TSA-pre check like he thought so after waiting in that line for a good bit, he had to get in the standard line. So SIL/BIL didn’t end up making it to the gate until about 5 min before we loaded onto the plane (around 2:40pm). I had enough time to get a water and use the restroom, but not much extra time either. So I’m not sure I’d want to arrive at the airport/gate much later than we did. After all that we had an on-time departure at 3:15pm and arrived back in Madison around 5:00pm local.

Since we only had one car, we had to take multiple trips to get everyone home. After some initial confusion everything was all cleared up and we were on our way. And then, just as fast as it seemed like the trip started, it was over.

Total Sleep night prior: 8:17 hrs
Total Steps today: 9,271 steps
Total Miles today: 4.8 miles

Next Post: Trip Review

 

[DopeyBadger]

Trip Review

This was a nine-day Disney trip. We attended for the runDisney Princess Weekend races. It was G’s first 5k, and then I also ran the 10k, and HM. G and I had an absolute blast running the 5k together. The 10k didn’t go as well as I had hoped, but I still ran a really good time. The HM was a good race for me, and even more impressive considering I stopped for several characters after about Mile 5.5.

We also had lots of firsts on this trip.

-First trip with a rental car. The consensus was that this was a big success. We felt like we saved significant time when it came to DHS, EPCOT, and AK when staying at SS. But the rental car isn’t useful for MK with the need for TTC and either the monorail or boats.

-First time on several rides.
--It was a first for many on Rise. G didn’t like the drop but loved most of the ride. I loved that it only took us 25 min of line waiting.
--It was also most everyone’s first time on Smuggler’s Run. That went well. Although next time G will be an engineer because she was getting too freaked out about the visuals of the ride.
--First time on Mickey/Minnie. I think we ended up riding it three or four times. The first time we were in the last car, and it diminished the experience. The second time we were in the last car as well, expect that the train pulled further ahead so it wasn’t terrible. But clearly the train behind us got held up by us and their last train experienced what I did on my first ride.
--First time on Remy’s ride. It was nice. No complaints from me.
--First time for G on Flight of Passage. She didn’t like it, and her glasses were falling off her face.

-First time viewing the MK fireworks from the VIP area, and first time seeing the new show in general. The VIP seating is prime and not crowded one bit. It really is a great viewing area. The show in general was good. I didn’t have any complaints about it, but I’m easily pleased.

-First time (and likely only) viewing the EPCOT fireworks from the dock end. What a cool experience. It was also the first time we had seen this particular show, and I loved it. It was beautiful.

-First time viewing the DHS end of night show. I liked it, but nothing special.

-First time staying at SS. We all really liked this resort despite it being one of the lower priced DVC ones. I’d definitely be willing to stay there again, and felt like the building we were in was a prime spot based on our individual desires. My only hope is a working pool outside our building instead of having to travel all the way (10 min) to the main pool.

-First trip with G without a stroller. Kid was a warrior and barely ever complained about how tired her legs/feet were. Honestly, my legs/feet were tired. So I know hers had to be as well. Kudos kid.

-And of course, G’s first 5k. It was absolutely magical. Literally what dreams are made of, and easily one of my “core memories” for the rest of my life. I will treasure that moment for a very long time.

So the 10k/HM didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped. I thought my training was alright, and I tried to maintain my fitness level despite the aggressive T+D levels in FL. It wasn’t until Saturday night after the 10k, that I was reviewing my total mileage for the week and realized that may have been a contributing factor into my performance.

For Dopey 2017 (which included a marathon), the week including Dopey we covered 98 miles during the trip.

For Dopey 2018 (which included a marathon), the week including Dopey we covered 102 miles during the trip.

Shockingly, for Princess 2022 (which didn’t include a marathon), we covered 120 miles during the race week. So normally we walk about 50 or so miles during the seven days including the race days. But for this Princess trip we walked about 76 miles. That’s a really big increase. And even more shocking when you realize this total doesn’t include a marathon. Secondly, it’s shocking to realize that G covered those 76 miles during that week as well. Just blows my mind when it’s pulled together like that. Most steps in a week for me since 2015 at 205,000.

So when I put the total mileage covered during the week in context (120 miles) compared to previous runDisney weeks (around 100 miles) and compared to my peak training week prior to the Princess races (88 miles w/ 64 running miles + 24 miles walking) it really emphasizes a major factor.

Changes for the next trip to consider
-My preference would be to move the race earlier in the trip. Do more park days later in the trip to save my legs for the races. So instead of coming in on Sunday and leaving the next Monday, we’d do Wednesday to Wednesday. We lose one day on the trip, but that’s because G would miss four days of school in both cases.

-We all liked SS, but I think it would be nice to do a split stay at one of the MK resorts to nullify the MK rental car parking issues. It would have been nice to leave MK at park closing and just walk over to BLT or GF and be done with the night sooner. So we’re considering doing something at Boardwalk/AKL/SS and then post-races stay at GF/BLT/maybe Poly. The problem with BLT for the 2023 Princess Weekend is one of the two main pools will be down for refurb. So that’s a ton of people focused on a single main pool. That’s a huge drawback. Still up in the air, but we’ll see.

-Go to Gideon’s earlier in the trip. The cookies are delicious. I’d prefer to enjoy them during the trip, then trying to figure out a way to get them back home in the luggage.

-Figure something out for Day 3 that doesn’t compromise the trip. Every trip without fail hits some sort of snag on Day 3. So we’ve got to figure out how to avoid this. Maybe everyone goes and does their own thing for the day. Not sure we’ve figured out the solution to this one yet.

-Don’t select EPCOT as your first Genie+ park reservation. Since it opens at 10am, you miss out on the second window as it’s an hour later than the other parks. That’s killer if you’re park hopping. So I’d avoid a park’s Genie+ if it’s a late opening park.

-If you’re going to do LL+, then click as fast as possible and ignore everything. It doesn’t hold your spot (think runDisney registration) and gives you lots of erroneous timing windows until final confirmation.

At the end of the day, this was a pretty good Disney trip for us. In a surprise to me, G was able to convince Steph to come back sooner than originally intended. Doing Princess Weekend 2023 wasn’t on my radar heading into the weekend. But G had so much fun, and she decided she’d much rather go back to Disney and do the Princess 5k again, then go to Hawaii. It isn’t feasible for us to do both. Seems like the consensus amongst the family is that we want to go back to Disney next February. We’ll see how things play out over the next month or so before 11-month DVC rental reservations.

5k: 1:41 hrs
10K: 42:11, 16th overall, and 2nd AG (10885 total finishers)
HM: 1:35:20, 51st overall, and 8th AG (12766 total finishers)
Challenge: 9th overall (5476 total finishers)

If you made it to the end, thanks for reading!

 

[azrivest]

Love that Tinkerbell pic

 

[Herding_Cats]

at your contacts dream. Been there (not the dream part, but the part where you wake up in the middle of the night and have that 'oh crap' moment.


And I'm also still chuckling that G had such a good time that she talked your wife out of Hawaii so you can run again next year.

 

[azrivest]

Seriously huge congrats on the 9th overall placement for the Challenge!

 

[michigandergirl]

Great trip report! Congrats to both you and G!!

 

[jmasgat]

Such a great experience for you. So happy it went well (well, except for minor drama, which is always bound to happen with groups). Also, did you block out your shirt or did Photopass?---I would hardly believe it says anything raunchy)

 

[garneska]

Great recap. Loved how much fun G had running and walking the parks. You guys had great pics. As for Gideon's, I am also a huge lover of their cakes. The peanut butter one is spectacular. I like some of the cookies. I feel the chocolate chip is too much chocolate and not enough cookie. I do love the coffee cake and I happened to get the Jan special which was a chocolate banana bread cookie, also fantastic.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Such a great trip report, I cannot wait to bring my son to his first 5k disney run. It sounded perfect.

 

[jmasgat]

I feel the chocolate chip is too much chocolate and not enough cookie.

This is not a thing.

 

[The Expert]

View attachment 651641

I CAN NOT with this photo! That sass!! Love it.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Love that Tinkerbell pic

LOL. I learned my sass from my daughter. I tried to think in each case what my kid would do. WWGD.

at your contacts dream. Been there (not the dream part, but the part where you wake up in the middle of the night and have that 'oh crap' moment.

Of course it happened that night, and of course it happened at 12:40am, and of course I knew as soon as I got up it was over in terms of falling back asleep. Oh well, it all worked out.

And I'm also still chuckling that G had such a good time that she talked your wife out of Hawaii so you can run again next year.

I'm stunned to be honest. But like I said in person to her, "You created this monster." Lol! Now like her mom, she just really enjoys the Disney trip. We can find sand at Disney per G.

Seriously huge congrats on the 9th overall placement for the Challenge!

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with Top 10.



It would have taken some effort to move further up the leaderboard. I think a 1:31-1:32 HM was not unreasonable under a max effort level, but I'd take the pictures over the slight increase in an arbitrary standing.

Great trip report! Congrats to both you and G!!

Thanks!

Such a great experience for you. So happy it went well (well, except for minor drama, which is always bound to happen with groups).

Thanks! So true on the drama. When you're around each other for that long, it's hard to avoid. But this trip was better than most in that regards.

Also, did you block out your shirt or did Photopass?---I would hardly believe it says anything raunchy)

I blocked it out. It's a topic I can not discuss.

Great recap. Loved how much fun G had running and walking the parks. You guys had great pics. As for Gideon's, I am also a huge lover of their cakes. The peanut butter one is spectacular. I like some of the cookies. I feel the chocolate chip is too much chocolate and not enough cookie. I do love the coffee cake and I happened to get the Jan special which was a chocolate banana bread cookie, also fantastic.

Thanks! Those cookies were delicious!

Such a great trip report, I cannot wait to bring my son to his first 5k disney run. It sounded perfect.

Thanks! It really was a perfect situation all around. I wouldn't change anything about. Highly recommend aiming for a mid-point start and then just hanging out at the first character stop for as long as it takes. You do miss out on some future characters, but alternatively the roads/paths are so open and easy to traverse. I feel like we struck the right balance with a few characters and plenty of space to operate.

I CAN NOT with this photo! That sass!! Love it.

She's discovering sarcasm, and she LOVES it.

 

[avondale]

I agree with the others that this was an amazing recap! So fantastic that G was so happy with her 5k! Overall it seems like your whole family got along amazingly well for such a long trip that could potentially be pretty stressful. What a great experience!

 

[DopeyBadger]

I agree with the others that this was an amazing recap! So fantastic that G was so happy with her 5k! Overall it seems like your whole family got along amazingly well for such a long trip that could potentially be pretty stressful. What a great experience!

Thanks and agree on all fronts.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

from Taylor Joelle. Great dresses if anyone is looking for quality stuff.

*immediately goes to website to find myself a dress*
*realizes they do not make dresses for 31 year old women*
*is sad*

 

[lookingforsunshine]

My body score was in the single digits which I haven’t seen since I’ve gotten my watch.

lol my body score gets to the single digits frequently. Teach me your ways.

loved your race and trip report & congrats!!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

*immediately goes to website to find myself a dress*
*realizes they do not make dresses for 31 year old women*
*is sad*

Sorry, I should have specified for kids. They do have a limited selection of adult sized items (link).

lol my body score gets to the single digits frequently. Teach me your ways.

I don't know the ins and outs of the body battery quite yet, but things I do that probably impact the output:

-Wear the watch all the time, other than when charging and when wet. This leads to the most likely accurate information.
-Sleep. I get 8-9 hrs of sleep almost every night. Sometimes as much as 11 hrs.
-Consistently exercise, and have been doing so for about a decade now.
-Don't consume much caffeine (only running gels), and almost never consume after noon. Likely allows for better sleep.
-Other than running, I'm very sloth like. Walk slowly, don't do a whole bunch. Work life is relatively easy from a physical standpoint.
-Non-stressful life in general.

loved your race and trip report & congrats!!!

Thanks!

 

[HangWithMerida]

Looks like an amazing trip. You guys got some really good race pics and it is so awesome that G enjoyed her experience. It must have been amazing to forgo Hawaii!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Looks like an amazing trip. You guys got some really good race pics and it is so awesome that G enjoyed her experience. It must have been amazing to forgo Hawaii!!

Thanks! What can I say, Steph made a Disney kid. So don't be surprised when she forgoes other locations for Disney again. LOL! I'm sure we'll get to Hawaii some day.

 

[avondale]

lol my body score gets to the single digits frequently. Teach me your ways.

lol, I was thinking the same thing when I read that. It never goes below 5, though, at least not on my Venu. Maybe they don't want people to panic that their watch thinks they are dead if it gets to zero? ha

-Wear the watch all the time, other than when charging and when wet. This leads to the most likely accurate information.
-Sleep. I get 8-9 hrs of sleep almost every night. Sometimes as much as 11 hrs.
-Consistently exercise, and have been doing so for about a decade now.
-Don't consume much caffeine (only running gels), and almost never consume after noon. Likely allows for better sleep.
-Other than running, I'm very sloth like. Walk slowly, don't do a whole bunch. Work life is relatively easy from a physical standpoint.
-Non-stressful life in general.

I do think sleep is the biggest contributor. Restful sleep, that is. DopeyBadger, I am always in awe of how much sleep you usually get. Even though I try to prioritize it, I just cannot find the time.

On summer weekends when I'm playing two hours of tennis outside in the heat and humidity and then later in the day doing a 90-min run, yeah, I'd frequently get down to 5. The scary thing is when a poor night of sleep only gets you back up to like 15 the next day.