We Eat, Drink, and Run Disney!<---- Not even close! BIG DEVELOPMENTS New Title Needed

[MrsZ]

Good Evening, and Happy Sunday all!

As you can tell from my title, DH and I have nothing set in stone for our next magical Disney trip. However we know roughly when we want to go.

Here is some background before I get to ahead of myself. I'm Mrs Z! I'm a past Disney bride, an epic Disney fan girl, Wife to Mr Z, mommy to two adorable dog babies, Insane soccer fan, and in the past year I started running.

Mr Z is a fantastic man who loves Disney (maybe not as much as me) and loves me to pieces. He loved being a Disney groom and since we've been married he has taken very good care of me and our puppy children!


IMG_0476 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

Mr Z and I recently sold our first home and moved so that we could be closer to the new job I got a year ago. Before we moved I was commuting 54 miles each way to work! It took a lot to get out of our first house. Our new home is not only closer to my job but it is our "forever" home! Our town is beautiful, the house is everything we wanted and more, and the neighborhood we are in is so quiet. However with all the money we had to put into the move we just can't swing a Disney trip this year...

Recently Mr Z and I have been really down in the dumps. The new house is starting to feel more and more like home, summer is now over, work for both of us has been busy and stressful, and all of a sudden our moods changed. We weren't sure what it was until we realized this is the first time in 4 years we haven't have a disney trip planned in the fall. It's hard for us to stay motivated when we don't have a WDW trip countdown! lol We decided this weekend to TENTATIVELY start looking into planning an EPIC trip for next year! It's amazing how just looking at pictures of the resorts made us feel better. We even went as far as to youtube "illuminations"....to which I cried happy tears.

So from here on out I will be using this PTR as my outlet for when ever I'm missing my second home and to remind myself that we are planning a trip... its just a far away TBD trip!

I hope you'll follow along with me and I look forward to reading some of your PTR's so that I can countdown along with you! Now it's time for the New England Revolution Soccer game so I'm off to watch! Have a great night!

xoxo
-MrsZ

 

[MrsZ]

Happy Monday!

After a disappointing loss last night for my New England Revolution, and a stressful day at work I was so excited to come home update my PTR! Seems like this little Disney-esque journal is just want I needed.

Tonight to get better acquainted with you I thought it would be fun to do a Favorites list, Disney style!

Let's start with DH Mr Z first


IMG_0126 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

Mr Z's Disney Favorites
Ride : Space Mountain
Character : Goofy
Resort : Animal Kingdom Villas
Mode of Disney Transportation : Anything but the bus
Park : EPCOT
Restaurant : Beirgarten​

Now my turn!


IMG_0185 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

Mrs Z's Disney favorites list

Ride : Would have to be a toss up between Splash Mountain and Spaceship Eart
Character : Another toss up, Minnie Mouse or Ariel
Resort : Animal Kingdom Villas
Mode of Disney Transportation : Any of the boats! Love them!
Park : EPCOT
Restaurant : yet again another toss up (noticing a pattern?) Le Chef's de France or JIKO​

What are some of your favorites?

Hope you all have a great rest of the week!

xoxo
Mrs Z

 

[MrsZ]

Hello again everyone!

Had another.... interesting??.... day today. Upper management was all up in my business, I have not one, not two, but THREE marketing events that I'm coordinating all at once, AND I got home to notice that I had a hole in the crotch of my work pants.... how long was that there?? At least I can laugh at it all, right? I mean if you can't laugh at yourself who can you laugh at?

Anyway let's get to some Disney related stuff shall we? So here is something I know for sure of for our fall 2014... we KNOW where we will be staying! We will be staying at Animal Kingdom Villas. Ahhhhh HOME! It is definitely our "go to" resort. The atmosphere, the smells (no not of the animals), the exotic feeling, and the peace and quiet is just amazing. we've tried other resorts but we just keep coming back to AKV. It's where we stayed when we got married in Disney and we have some amazing photos from our "first look" there.


K,A0265 10-2-10 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

K,A0267 10-2-10 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

K,A1737 10-2-10K,A1737 10-2-10 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

We've always stayed in a studio and in Jambo house however after talking with DH about it we've decided to splurge and book a 1 bedroom!! I asked the fine DISers from the resorts thread to help me convince myself that it was a good idea and worth it. They happily helped! However they all were saying to stay at Kidani village. Not sure how I feel about it. Thoughts? I love the "action" of Jambo, and The Mara quick service, oh and BOMA...and JIKO....lol I just LOVE Jambo house!

I'm so excited to have a king sized bed, and more room, and two bathrooms (if we stay at kidani). Have any of you stayed in a 1 bedroom? Stayed in Kidani and Jambo? Which was better? Any advice?

Anyway please enjoy some photos I took from our last trip last November... Did I mention I think I'm a "photographer"? Yea I bought an old Canon Rebel off caigslist and since then I try REALLY hard to get all artistic lol.... I usually fail but eh I try!

Have a great rest of your night!

xoxo
MrsZ

IMG_0098 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

IMG_0100 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

IMG_0101 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

IMG_0489 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

IMG_0507 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

IMG_0510 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

IMG_0530 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

 

[MrsZ]

HUMP DAY!!!!

Before I get into Disney related stuff I wanted to acknowledge 9/11. Twelve years ago today I remember sitting in my Sophomore biology course when another classmate came in and said what happened. We all turned the TV's on and watched in horror. I still think about how we all lost a piece of our innocents that day. The one piece of what happened on 9/11 that made me not give up hope on all of humanity was how amazing everyone in the United States banded together to help the victims, their families, and the city of New York. Ok before I get to sappy and sad let's remember that life is beautiful and we should take every day as a gift!

Because every day is a gift, i'm planning on doing things that make me happy today! One of those things is talking, planning, and living Disney! Now... I'm starting to think that this thing isn't on.... .... I've definitely had some "views" to my PTR but no comments... SAD! But that's ok, I'm loving having this outlet for all things Disney, but seriously say hi!

Let's talk about possible dates for our Fall 2014 trip. I mentioned before that I'm a "kind of sort of" runner. I started running to shed some poundage and for some mental relief. I can't say how nice it is to put everything out of your head (work, life, bills) and just RUN! I started running last year and on November 5th I ran in Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5k!

IMG_0212 by KZwicker21, on Flickr
Here is my at 4am all ready to go

IMG_0215 by KZwicker21, on Flickr
DH and I taking some pictures before the race started

IMG_0216 by KZwicker21, on Flickr

IMG_0219 by KZwicker21, on Flickr
In the corral, ready to go!

IMG_0225 by KZwicker21, on Flickr
And after the race sporting my first ever running medal!

I thought I would only ever want to do a 5K because anything more than that is just crazy, right? WRONG! I started getting the itch to start running again. My company is sponsoring a running team and I signed up for a 10K I was training consistantly but all of a sudden I started have knee and hip problems. Long story short I ended up needing to be fitted for new shoes and now its like i'm starting all over again in training. I'm going to get back to training and see how I do in my 10K next month. If I do good I'm going to train my little hiney off and I will be in Disney for the 2014 wine and dine half marathon I really hope I can convince myself to do it!
Have any of you done any run Disney events? Have you gone from a 5K to a half? Any Advice?


Hope you all have a great rest of the week! Don't forget to comment and say "hi"!

xoxo
Mrs Z

 

[MrsZ]

Good evening DISers!!

Discovered the DIS app today! Woot woot! How is everyone's thirsty Thursday going? I have tomorrow off and I'm so excited! Been working long hours so having time to myself is going to be awesome! Plus I am going to get my hair done on my day off YES!

This afternoon I was sitting in traffic on the phone with my sister and while reminiscing about last Disney trips we took separately. We decided she is going to try and work something out with her job and have her come to Disney next year with us. She is my best friend and we've been through alot. For tough family reasons I missed out on family vacations. Now that we are both in adulthood I think it would be fantastic to have all four of us, DH, DSis and her DBF, go to WDW together

Have any of you gone to WDW with your siblings as adults? Or with an adults only group? What did you do differently? Any tips??

Xoxo
Mrs Z

 

[megthewonderful]

Great PTR! It's never too early to start planning your next Disney trip! Happy planning and training!

We're going in April 2014 and I'm just starting to think about ADRs and where we are going to stay. While we have our favorites, I try to always add in a few new things each trip.

 

[MrsZ]

Great PTR! It's never too early to start planning your next Disney trip! Happy planning and training!

We're going in April 2014 and I'm just starting to think about ADRs and where we are going to stay. While we have our favorites, I try to always add in a few new things each trip.

Yay!!! I'm so glad you're here!!! ADRs are my favorite thing to book. We love trying new places too. What are you thinking you might try this time?

 

[MrsZ]

Happy Sunday Funday DISers!

Since DH is still asleep I thought I could get in a quick update before I start cooking breakfast! Typically this is how most Disney vacations (and weekends in the Z house go) I'm a morning person so i'm always up early and need to keep myself occupied. This is why I LOVE resorts that have a great deal to look at (Think AKL/WL/BW), places to walk around, and why I'm also looking forward to a 1 bedroom villa. Since we always had a studio i would get up as quietly as I could, got dressed and left. I would walk the grounds, head to the lobby, and finally end up at the quick serve area to pick up breakfast for DH and I. USUALLY By the time I was done exploring and picked up breakfast DH would be up. But most of the time I would still have to coax him out of bed to start the Disney day!

Anywho, on Friday I had some much needed pamering! Since the move and the work craziness back in JANUARY I haven't had my hair done It was BAD! The ends were crunchy, the color was non existent and I can honestly say I just plain looked terrible! I talked with my friend who lives the next town over and asked her where she went because to go to my old hairdresser would take me over an hour. We booked appointments together and made our merry way over. I was in need of a "change" so I decided to change the color of my hair and get a much needed cut. This is what it looks like now.... (Can you guess who I was trying to look like?)

photo by KZwicker21, on Flickr

I've been a red head once before and I'm remembering why I loved it! So pretty and unique! I was so happy I got the much needed pampering and that i look fabulous

Yesterday we had plans to meet DH's brother, his brothers girlfriend, and my in laws at an "oktoberfest" event. I'm using the term "Oktoberfest" and "event" lightly. DH and I showed up first and thank god we did. It was not what the flyer and article in the local paper said it was going to be. The event was in a room, no bigger than the first floor of my house. The band was terrible. The "authentic" German food was set up on a tiny table and most of it looked like it was already gone. OH and the "car show" was a bunch of high school kids showing off their 1999 honda civics with tinted windows. If you follow me on twitter or FB I actually posted something along the lines of "this is why I never stray from Disney!" We got out of there right away and called the rest of the family and told them not to bother. So DH and I, feeling like absolute jerks, went to the grocery story and picked up some Bratwurst, Oktoberfest beer, and Sauerkrat. We had everyone meet us at our house and had our own little Oktoberfest celebration.

After we ate and my whole house smelled of pickled cabbage, we went to a local vineyard that we ADORE! Our family haven't been there yet so we were excited to take them. We tasted so much wine!!!! We took a lovely around the vineyard and enjoyed the beautiful day.

photo by KZwicker21, on Flickr

photo by KZwicker21, on Flickr
We bought a few bottles, some AMAZING cheese, and crackers. We definitely turned a bad situation into a good one. For a second, while eating my cheese and drinking my wine, I actually felt like I was at the food and wine festival.... kind of

Well DH is up and I need to go cook breakfast! Hope you all have a lovely Sunday

xoxo
Mrs Z

 

[kayemgi]

Following along!!

So, was it the barefeet shoes that were causing your problem, or is that what you switched to once you developed a problem? Very curious! I got "fitted" for proper shoes for my stride, but I hate how heavy they feel. I've been mulling over the barefeet shoes, or just something that feels lighter on my feet!

I'm an early bird too! I kind of love my quiet mornings before DH wakes up. He works nights, so I usually get a good three hours in the morning to myself before he wakes up. He already knows he's going to have to get up earlier at Disney though!

That sucks about the Oktoberfest, but it sounds like you made the best of it and had a great day anyway! I look forward to reading more of your PTR!

 

[megthewonderful]

Yay!!! I'm so glad you're here!!! ADRs are my favorite thing to book. We love trying new places too. What are you thinking you might try this time?

We are thinking about trying La Hacienda de San Angel or the San Angel Inn since our kids have recently discovered that they do in fact like Mexican food. Usually we go to Rose & Crown or Via Napoli. And I think it would be fun to take the kids to the 50's Prime Time Cafe. My parents took us there every time we went to Disney and I have yet to take my kids. We've been to Be Our Guest for dinner, but plan on trying out lunch next time.

We have a trip to Disney's Hilton Head planned before our April trip to WDW, so I've been thinking more about Hilton Head lately. But with our 180 day ADR date coming up in a few weeks, I need to think about WDW too!

 

[MrsZ]

Following along!!

So, was it the barefeet shoes that were causing your problem, or is that what you switched to once you developed a problem? Very curious! I got "fitted" for proper shoes for my stride, but I hate how heavy they feel. I've been mulling over the barefeet shoes, or just something that feels lighter on my feet!

I'm an early bird too! I kind of love my quiet mornings before DH wakes up. He works nights, so I usually get a good three hours in the morning to myself before he wakes up. He already knows he's going to have to get up earlier at Disney though!

That sucks about the Oktoberfest, but it sounds like you made the best of it and had a great day anyway! I look forward to reading more of your PTR!

Yay!! So happy to have some followers!! The barefoot shoes were what started causing the issue. I had very bad over pronation and when I was training for the 5k I was running shorter distances and on a treadmill. Since we moved we have an awesome neighborhood and I've been running on the pavement and going longer distances. It hurt my knees and hip so bad and towards the end of longer runs my feet felt like they were slapping hard against the ground. OUCH! I've started using brooks rivenas and I do love them! But they are heavy and are taking some getting use to. I've taken a break since work has been so busy lately and my knee still has been bugging me but once I get through next weekends work even I should be back in the saddle

I love being a Disney early bird! Early morning walks around pretty resorts are awesome! One out last two Disney cruises I did the same thing and made lots of friends at the coffee shop on board lol. It's so peaceful before everyone is up and on the move.

We did have a very nice day minus the little bump in the road lol.

Glad you're here and I hope I can keep you entertained for the next year!

Xoxo
Mrs Z

 

[MrsZ]

We are thinking about trying La Hacienda de San Angel or the San Angel Inn since our kids have recently discovered that they do in fact like Mexican food. Usually we go to Rose & Crown or Via Napoli. And I think it would be fun to take the kids to the 50's Prime Time Cafe. My parents took us there every time we went to Disney and I have yet to take my kids. We've been to Be Our Guest for dinner, but plan on trying out lunch next time.

We have a trip to Disney's Hilton Head planned before our April trip to WDW, so I've been thinking more about Hilton Head lately. But with our 180 day ADR date coming up in a few weeks, I need to think about WDW too!

Excellent choices!! I'm anxious to try rose and crown next year! We always say we will and we never do. I'm making it a priority this year!

I would LOVE to go to Hilton head! Are you going to do a TR for that trip?? I'd be all over that lol

 

[sue_88]

Hi Mrs. Z!
Nice to meet you!
You asked about going to the parks with siblings... Well, my hubby does not like to travel! I know, it's crazy, right!?
So I live in the Midwest and go to Disney World as much as I can, and my sister lives on the space coast just a short drive from DW! So I always stay at Disney and do a few days solo to just do whatever I want. Then my sister and her kids join me for more park fun. We always have a really good time and make some great memories. We are all Disney and theme park fans.

When you had trouble listing your "favorites" you did a lot better than I would do. I have so many favs that it is hard to decide even the top five of each thing would be. And my favorites kinda change after a new trip. Like, on my last trip to WDW I had such a good encounter with Donald Duck that now I think of him as a favorite and just booked the Tusker breakfast so I could get more Donald time. I had never thought much about him before.
I think my favorite princesses are Rapunzel and Belle. I also love Eugene/Flynn.
I am looking forward to The new princess meet area that will be open soon in New Fantasyland!
I really wish that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train would allow some early opening rides in November during my trip because that looks so fun! But it probably wont be open yet.

Your family Oktoberfest/wine tour sounded great! Much better to plan it yourself and know you are getting quality food and entertainment.

I will be catching the very end of the food and wine fest on my trip. Epcot is my favorite park and the food and wine just makes it even better!

 

[MrsZ]

Hi Mrs. Z!
Nice to meet you!
You asked about going to the parks with siblings... Well, my hubby does not like to travel! I know, it's crazy, right!?
So I live in the Midwest and go to Disney World as much as I can, and my sister lives on the space coast just a short drive from DW! So I always stay at Disney and do a few days solo to just do whatever I want. Then my sister and her kids join me for more park fun. We always have a really good time and make some great memories. We are all Disney and theme park fans.

When you had trouble listing your "favorites" you did a lot better than I would do. I have so many favs that it is hard to decide even the top five of each thing would be. And my favorites kinda change after a new trip. Like, on my last trip to WDW I had such a good encounter with Donald Duck that now I think of him as a favorite and just booked the Tusker breakfast so I could get more Donald time. I had never thought much about him before.
I think my favorite princesses are Rapunzel and Belle. I also love Eugene/Flynn.
I am looking forward to The new princess meet area that will be open soon in New Fantasyland!
I really wish that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train would allow some early opening rides in November during my trip because that looks so fun! But it probably wont be open yet.

Your family Oktoberfest/wine tour sounded great! Much better to plan it yourself and know you are getting quality food and entertainment.

I will be catching the very end of the food and wine fest on my trip. Epcot is my favorite park and the food and wine just makes it even better!

Well hello Sue!

Welcome to this crazy, very far out, nothing set in stone PTR!

I'm really hoping my DSis and her DBF can come with us. If it doesn't happen next year I'm sure it'll happen eventually but I'm really hoping it does.

It was VERY hard and I had to cut out alot when doing my "favorites" list I'm always changing my mind about most of my favorites but some things never change. As much as I love Ariel, and even Princess Tiana lately, Minnie Mouse has always been my stand by.

ooooh I love food and wine festival! Just thinking about it is making me hungry... and thirsty!

 

[MrsZ]

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!

DH and I just had a long talk about our next years trip! I think we have it all figured out! Heading out to get grocery shopping done but I had to post something! I'm just so excited! This may not be an up in the air PTR anymore!!!

Start thinking about another PTR title DISers! And when I get home I'll update you all on the big news!!!

 

[jpmom97]

Hi Mrs. Z! Just started following along! I hope you picked your dates! We have never been to Disney in the Fall, I am planning on a Sept/Oct trip in 2015 for the family. I think Halloween would be so fun!

 

[MrsZ]

Hi Mrs. Z! Just started following along! I hope you picked your dates! We have never been to Disney in the Fall, I am planning on a Sept/Oct trip in 2015 for the family. I think Halloween would be so fun!

Hello there!

Disney in the fall is our favorite! The weather is still hot enough to enjoy the pools and water rides,but not too hot where its oppressive, the food and wine festival at epcot is a blast, and the crowds are light.

So glad you're following along!

 

[MrsZ]

Alright, before I keep you all in suspense here is what happened today. DH and I started talking about this Disney trip again. (Truth be told, he caught me lurking around on the DIS) He asked if we could crunch some numbers around the 1 bedroom villa at Kidani again. We started looking into it and for the amount of money we'd have to spend we started to think it might not be worth it. I was sad but I got over it rather quickly. Normally if I think something is a big enough deal I will debate until i get what I want, I let this go pretty easily. That told me two things... 1.) deep down, as nice as it is, we wouldn't use the kitchen or do laundry while on vacation. We would be paying for amenities we wouldn't use. Not worth it. And 2.) as much as we LOVE AKV, Kidani wasn't doing it for me. I have been and always will be a Jambo house fan.

We started looking at other resort options that would fit our needs. DH mentioned that the whole reason we go during the fall is to do food and wine festival. We stayed at the BWV on our honeymoon and he reminded me how convenient it was to be able to walk to and from epcot. It's definitely not AKV but it is super pretty and fun and convenient. However I was reminded at that point that I would need to find out what resort was a host resort for the wine and dine half because without staying at a "host" resort you won't have transportation to the expo to get your race packet or to and from the race. This lead into another piece of our ever evolving conversation.

Since the issue with my knee and hip, needing new shoes, and how crazy my work schedule has been lately, I have to be honest I haven't been training like I should. Even though I still have over a year it does make me nervous. 13.1 miles is a looooong way to run. it's also a long way to run alone. If DSis doesn't come on this trip I will be running alone. DH brought up running in the 5K again but to me that wasn't a challenge. I finished last years 5K and said "that's it?" It then dawned on me that I had another option . I went on the RunDisney website and looked into the Tower of Terror 10 miler. This year that race is being run on October 4th. As long as next years race stays around that same weekend we would still be in Disney for Food and Wine, great weather, lower crowds, and we could celebrate our anniversary since we were married October 2nd.

After we talked about this more in detail and ran the numbers this is what we came up with.... Drum Roll Please....

Dates will be October 3rd - 10th
Resort will be BWV (Possibly split stay to AKV after the race)

Disney_BoardWalk_Villas by KZwicker21, on Flickr
Running in the 2014 ToT 10 miler!

feat_Tower_of_Terror by KZwicker21, on Flickr

Not only do I feel fantastic to have a ticker going. But I feel better about doing a 10 miler over the half. That's going to cut a whole 5K off of my running time!!! Plus it'll be a good way to know if I could do a half marathon in the future. I don't want to kill myself and then not be able to enjoy the parks.

So that's where we are at. We have a where and a when. For the rest of the year and 18 days we will work on the how and what!

I hope you all have a great week ahead!

xoxo
Mrs Z

 

[kayemgi]

Congrats on having dates and a plan! That sounds awesome.

Thanks for the info on the barefeet shoes. I tend to have the same pronation problem, so I guess it would be a bad idea for me to try those! I just hate those heavy shoes to fix the problem!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!