Well, this trip was....different. UPDATE - 9/1!

[leshunlenese]

Love your pics! I always hear so many wonderful things about that pool. One day we will make it over there.

 

[OhMari]

I think we all feel that way, the night before a race.
Great pictures of the Beach Club area. It is one of my favorite places to stay. You wouldn't have liked the Boardwalk, they have one elevator and you walk for miles and miles to get to your room-(seems that way).

 

[CandleontheWater]

It sounds like everything really worked out and you guys had a great evening! I'm so glad you were able to log some time in SAB, and the pirate slide looks perfect for little boys. I'm sure Everett wouldn't have wanted to leave that area also!

I also really liked having the daybed when we were at the contemporary, it is perfect for little kids!

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Amanada. That pool and little slide look just Reid's size and you can see how excited he is and how much fun he is having. Your pictures around the Beach Club and over at the Boardwalk are beautiful.

 

[marDgreen88]

LOVE the slide pictures. Too cute! Reid just looks like he's having a blast!

Your pictures aren't mediocre, they're great! The sky was gorgeous that night!

 

[amandaw]

Love your pics! I always hear so many wonderful things about that pool. One day we will make it over there.

Thank you! It's definitely a nice pool area. I can see where older kids would really love it.

I think we all feel that way, the night before a race.

This was the first (and only) race I've ever done. I literally wanted to cry when I was setting that alarm clock.

Great pictures of the Beach Club area. It is one of my favorite places to stay. You wouldn't have liked the Boardwalk, they have one elevator and you walk for miles and miles to get to your room-(seems that way).

Thank you! The area can't be beat - it's really nice!

Hmmm....Boardwalk sounds like Beach Club. The one set of elevators & walking forever to your room.

It sounds like everything really worked out and you guys had a great evening! I'm so glad you were able to log some time in SAB, and the pirate slide looks perfect for little boys. I'm sure Everett wouldn't have wanted to leave that area also!

Considering how most of that day had gone, the night really ended nicely. That little slide ended in the perfect height of water & it was a really small pool area so that was nice too. Not hard to keep track of them!

I also really liked having the daybed when we were at the contemporary, it is perfect for little kids!

I was so happy when I found out we had a daybed in our room since I had read that not all the BC rooms have them. Reid thought it was so cool! And it is perfect for little ones!

Great update, Amanada. That pool and little slide look just Reid's size and you can see how excited he is and how much fun he is having. Your pictures around the Beach Club and over at the Boardwalk are beautiful.

Thank you!!

He really had so much fun just doing that little slide for an hour or so that night. He still talks about it.

LOVE the slide pictures. Too cute! Reid just looks like he's having a blast!

Thank you! He had so much fun on that slide. It was just him and Ed in there up until we were leaving.

Your pictures aren't mediocre, they're great! The sky was gorgeous that night!

Thank you! I just feel like I was off in my picture-taking this year.

The night really ended so nicely compared to the weather we had had just a few hours earlier.

 

[fi46re129]

Somehow I missed an update..

Mr huffy puffy! I would have had to leave the line too! I find it strange for as organized as Disney usually is that they don't have your hoppers attached the room key before arrival...

Glad to read a little review on ESPN zone we have contemplated stopping there a few times at least now I know it is not worth going out of the way for... especially when they bring out desserts with the meal for kids! That's just crazy!

I have never stayed at BC but we always end up spending time there every trip and I can't wait to stay there.. if only for SAB! Reid is adorable dancing on the slide!! It looks like he really enjoyed himself!

 

[jennyjinx3]

Amanda I love your pictures...they are far from mediocre! I really like the look of the clouds over the boardwalk, so pretty. It is moments like Reid just loving life on that slide that make the vacations all worth it. He looks so happy!

 

[shan23877]

Those pictures are WAY better than mediocre. You got some really amazing shots! I am so excited to try to get BCV for our next trip now! It looks so gorgeous, and I love that there's a little slide where parents can catch. Maddie gets a little intimidated by having to swim alone at the bottom of the big slides.

I can't wait to hear how race day went! I think it's awesome that you did it!

 

[pas130]

Amanda I love your pictures...they are far from mediocre! I really like the look of the clouds over the boardwalk, so pretty. It is moments like Reid just loving life on that slide that make the vacations all worth it. He looks so happy!

Agreed

amanda those pics are fantastic!!! And about Reid and the daybed...DS11 slept in the sleeper at Kidani when he could've used the sofa because it was nice sized for him

 

[afwdwfan]

Those are some really good pictures of Reid playing at the pool. He looks like he's having a blast. I kind of feel sorry for Ed though having to camp out at the bottom of the slide catching him over and over again though.

I guess it was a short night for you, but I hope it will be worth the early wake up on vacation. I'm looking forward to finding out about the race.

 

[annmarieda]

How fun to have some pool time! That is one of the best pools too!

It is so hard to get to bed early while on vacation, but it sounds like you did a pretty good job

Can't wait to hear how the race went!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Oh my gosh. That is such a cute picture of Reid looking through the wheel on the waterslide. He is having the time of his life!

Beautiful Boardwalk pictures. We loved that resort. Epcot is my favorite park so it was a great place to be at.

Target...you can never go too many times in a week. I found some super deals yesterday, but no Disney Christmas items yet.

 

[amandaw]

Somehow I missed an update..

No worries! I know how hard it can be to keep on here.

Mr huffy puffy! I would have had to leave the line too! I find it strange for as organized as Disney usually is that they don't have your hoppers attached the room key before arrival...

That man was really on my already frazzled nerves. I figured walking away was best for both of us.

I was really stunned by some of the lack of organization by Disney when it came to some of the race stuff.

Glad to read a little review on ESPN zone we have contemplated stopping there a few times at least now I know it is not worth going out of the way for... especially when they bring out desserts with the meal for kids! That's just crazy!

I was really shocked that they brought a child their dessert with dinner!
The food is fine if you don't have an ADR anywhere else & just need somewhere to eat. Or if there's a sporting event you'd really like to watch.

I have never stayed at BC but we always end up spending time there every trip and I can't wait to stay there.. if only for SAB! Reid is adorable dancing on the slide!! It looks like he really enjoyed himself!

Thank you! He really had a lot of fun on that one slide. I'd say staying at BC or YC is a must for any family that really values pool time.

Amanda I love your pictures...they are far from mediocre! I really like the look of the clouds over the boardwalk, so pretty. It is moments like Reid just loving life on that slide that make the vacations all worth it. He looks so happy!

Thank you. I just don't feel like my pictures were as good this year. Those clouds were so pretty....I had to have a picture of them. Reid had such a great time on that slide. I was really glad we were able to get a little pool time that night.

Those pictures are WAY better than mediocre. You got some really amazing shots! I am so excited to try to get BCV for our next trip now! It looks so gorgeous, and I love that there's a little slide where parents can catch. Maddie gets a little intimidated by having to swim alone at the bottom of the big slides.

You're so sweet! I just feel like my pictures weren't too pretty this year. Yeah, Reid definitely won't do big slides alone. And even though he knows how to blow bubbles out of his nose when going under water, he hates to go under at the end of the slides. So this slide really was perfect for him. And they had it to themselves!

I can't wait to hear how race day went! I think it's awesome that you did it!

Thank you! I'll have race updates in a few days!

Agreed

amanda those pics are fantastic!!! And about Reid and the daybed...DS11 slept in the sleeper at Kidani when he could've used the sofa because it was nice sized for him

Thank you! Y'all are too kind. It was funny that something so simple made him so excited.

Those are some really good pictures of Reid playing at the pool. He looks like he's having a blast. I kind of feel sorry for Ed though having to camp out at the bottom of the slide catching him over and over again though.

Thanks! He had so much fun that night! Don't feel bad for Ed - he had fun, too! He may have gone down that little slide a few times himself. And standing at the bottom of a pool slide catching him is easier than running around a larger area to keep up with him.

I guess it was a short night for you, but I hope it will be worth the early wake up on vacation. I'm looking forward to finding out about the race.

I should have race day updates in the next few days.

How fun to have some pool time! That is one of the best pools too!

It is a really nice pool area....even if Reid stayed in just one little spot.

It is so hard to get to bed early while on vacation, but it sounds like you did a pretty good job

I don't know if it was due to me being sick prior to vacation or what but I really had no trouble calling it quits early most nights of this vacation. And that is very odd for me.

Can't wait to hear how the race went!

It'll be up in just a few days!

Oh my gosh. That is such a cute picture of Reid looking through the wheel on the waterslide. He is having the time of his life!

Thank you! He really had a great time between that slide & the wheel. He would get out of the pool every now & then to go steer "his ship".

Beautiful Boardwalk pictures. We loved that resort. Epcot is my favorite park so it was a great place to be at.

Thank you! I really think Boardwalk is going to be a top contender for our 2014 trip.

Target...you can never go too many times in a week. I found some super deals yesterday, but no Disney Christmas items yet.

You are so right! I've already gone yesterday & today for this week. Yeah, I didn't see any Disney Christmas stuff yet either. I found a super cute Mickey Halloween shirt & a Mickey jacket but they didn't have Reid's size in either.

 

[pas130]

Thank you! Y'all are too kind. It was funny that something so simple made him so excited.

That's what is SO cool about being young! And you know stuff like that is what the kiddos remember

 

[TinksThree]

Wow I loved your BC pictures!! They were great and that sky was gorgeous!! We may be at ESPN Sunday night for the Saints game...that's the plan but I never know if Keith will be in a football mood! He tends to over stress where the Saints are concerned and has learned to distance himself during the games that make him

 

[emma212010]

I love your pictures!! Very pretty!! Yay pool time!

I can't wait to hear about your race tomorrow!!

 

[amandaw]

Wow I loved your BC pictures!! They were great and that sky was gorgeous!! We may be at ESPN Sunday night for the Saints game...that's the plan but I never know if Keith will be in a football mood! He tends to over stress where the Saints are concerned and has learned to distance himself during the games that make him

Thank you!! The food at ESPN definitely isn't bad, we just found it okay. But, I would go there if there was a game I really wanted to watch.

I think the Saints are making lots of people stress this year!

I love your pictures!! Very pretty!! Yay pool time!

I can't wait to hear about your race tomorrow!!

Thanks!!

I have the next update ready to go. I'll try to post after I pick up Reid from school and afte we've had lunch.

 

[amandaw]

Sometime around 2 am I heard a noise in our room. I woke up startled to see Reid climbing out of his “cool” daybed. I was hoping I would get a bed to myself at least 1 or 2 nights on this trip. But, alas, it would not be this night. I got him settled into the bed with me. However, I had not put a bedrail on either side of my bed. I then continued to wake up every hour or so in order to straighten him up & keep him from falling off the bed. That boy can be one crazy sleeper!

Before I knew it, it was 5 am and my alarm was going off. I, quite reluctantly, got out of bed and began to get ready for my 5K race that morning. There’s really not much prepping one needs to do in order to go outside, run 3.11 miles & sweat up a storm. So, within in 20 minutes I was ready to go. Ed got up to walk me to the door, tell me bye & put on the upper lock. And I was on my way down those long halls to the elevator.

Okay, I have to take a moment to tell y’all my feelings about these halls at Beach Club. I’m sure most of you have already deduced that I was not a fan of how long the hallways are. But, my real problem is that they kind of creeped me out. Why? The walls are very light and the carpet is dark and every time we were walking down them all I could think of was The Shining. You know in the movie - the long light hallway and the ghosts of the twin girls (“Come play with us.”) Yeah.....creeeepppyyy!!! Needless to say, I was extra creeped out walking down them that early in the morning by myself & with it being extra quiet.

Anyway, luckily, no ghostly creepy twin girls showed up and I made it safely down to the Beach Club lobby and was on my way to the bus stop. There were a few people already there but not too many. We didn’t have to wait long before a bus came along. It was a normal Disney transportation bus, it was a nice Mears bus (like Magical Express buses). Instead of cartoons they were playing videos regarding the events that weekend for the Tower of Terror race. We made one stop at Boardwalk and were at Wide World of Sports by 5:45 am.

I made my way down to where the corals were for the runners. There were already lots of people there. I noticed one VERY long line of people and went to see what was so interesting over there. They were all waiting to meet Scarecrow Mickey. He was so cute! I wish I could have gotten a picture of him from far away. But, with the darkness and the poor zoom on my point & shoot it just wasn’t happening. I walked around for a bit and then decided just to go to where the runners go to enter the corals. This is a picture standing way behind the corals:



Fascinating, I know.

In our final race instructions, Disney stated that we needed to be on a bus no later than 6 am. I really should have waited until 6:15 am to get on a bus. Once at the corals, all I did was stand around. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. I tried drinking some water to make sure I was hydrated. I was already worrying that my stomach bug might affect my run since I hadn’t been able to run in the week prior to leaving and I knew I was at least a little dehydrated from it as well. Also, there was a DJ there playing music and trying to get the crowd pumped up.

The runners in Coral A were supposed to start at 7 am. Around 6:50 am, everyone was starting to get excited. The sun was starting to rise and it was starting to get lighter outside. 7 am comes and....the race doesn’t start. They wouldn’t let the first racers go until the sun was completely up. Since we were running on trails, they wanted to make sure everyone could see very well. That’s nice and all but I was ready to go! Finally, they called for my Coral to go line up at the start line.....where we waited some more. I took a couple of pictures to pass some time...like a whole 5 seconds.

Here is the DJ & the guy talking was really funny. He played the part of a stupid redneck...he was entertaining:



And the mark of the start line:



My coral finally got the signal to start close to 7:30 am. Can I just tell y’all, by that time the sun was coming out in full force and it was H-O-T! But, I got to running! I was doing ok at the beginning. We ran for a little distance before we were immersed onto the trail in the woods.

Now, remember how it rained for like 2 hours the night before? Yeah, that created some nice thick mud in the woods. Yay. This is where I ran into trouble. Before I hit the mud, I could tell this run was affecting me more than runs normally do. I was exhausted and I could tell that I was indeed very dehydrated....much more than I had figured. Darn you stomach bug!! When I would get to the muddy parts, I would have to use a little more effort in getting through it. After a little while of that, I was just done. I had never felt like that on a run before and I was beyond disappointed in myself. I continued to walk through the woods and attempted running a time or two more.

Eventually, I committed myself to a fast walk pace and made it through the woods! There were a few characters in the woods but I really don’t remember who they had. I think the Big Bad Wolf and maybe Br’er Bear. There was also a pirate ship scene where you could take pictures but no characters. I know there was 1 or 2 more character stops but truly don’t remember who it was. I was kind of surprised there weren’t more. And the woods were supposed to be “spooky”. Well, they did have some spooky sounds playing and there were these bugs hanging up in one section:





Once we were out of the woods, it was onto the track at Wide World of Sports. They had a meet & greet here with some of the Graveyard Diggers from the Haunted Mansion. That was a pretty neat stop. But, I was back to running, so I kept going!

We ran around the track and then back towards where they had us lined up in our corals. By now, the sun was beaming down brutally on us. I took a few quick walk breaks but mainly tried to run the rest of the way. Between the heat and my dehydration, I thought for sure Death was going to show up next to me and tell me to take a break.

Once I had the finish line in view, I was committed to finishing the race running. And I did. I looked worse than a zombie when I crossed the finish line. But, I crossed it nonetheless. And this was my reward:



While I’m glad I was able to finish the race, I am still very disappointed in my performance. At home, I had been running my 5Ks in about 35 minutes. I know, not very fast, but not terrible for me since I’ve always hated running. My goal for the race was to finish it within 35 to 40 minutes. Well, that just didn’t happen. I finished it at 52 minutes. Just awful. And even though my illness in the days leading up to the race really had a huge impact on my running that day, I was (am) still disappointed and embarrassed.

Will I continue to run? Yes. I still don’t love it but I don’t hate it either. I’ll be honest, we’ve been so busy since this vacation that neither of us have ran. But, I will rectify that next week when I start back up!

Once I had that medal around my neck, I grabbed a bottle of Powerade, a bottle of water and started making my way out of WWoS. All I wanted to do was to get out of the heat and sit down. I made my way out of the complex and was trying to find where the buses had dropped us off. Remember, it was dark when I got off the bus that morning. Well, there were absolutely no signs anywhere. So, being completely exhausted and mindless, I followed the other runners leaving. Yeah, they all were going to their cars. UGH! I asked a CM working traffic and he pointed me in the complete opposite direction.

I finally made it to where the buses and....thank the heavens....there was a bus already there for Beach Club. Can I get an Amen?!? I slumped into a seat on the bus and started downing the bottle of water (I had already downed the Powerade). And I texted Ed that I was finally on my way back.

 

[amandaw]

When I got back to our room at Beach Club, the guys were up and Reid was finishing up breakfast. I sat around for a little while talking with them just trying to recoup. Once I felt a little rested, I went and showered and got ready for the day.

The guys got ready after me and then we had to decide what to do that day. When I was planning this trip, my thought was that I would take Reid to Stormalong Bay while Ed rested for his race that night. But, it was already getting close to lunchtime and I really had no desire to go to the pool. Ed made a suggestion that everyone liked so we headed to the car and soon found ourselves here:





He knew I had really wanted to eat at Earl of Sandwich last year but it just didn’t work out.....thanks to a temper tantrum by Reid (on Mother’s Day no less). We parked and made our way straight to Earl of Sandwich. The line was already quite long inside but we were determined to eat there. Ed stood line while I took Reid for a potty break. Surprisingly, by the time we got back, it was almost our turn to order.

We ordered, paid, and found a table relatively quick. And our buzzer went off right away. Ed got our food and drinks and we were ready to chow down! This is one of the very few meals where I got pictures, but they aren’t too good.

Reid had the peanut butter & jelly sandwich:





I have to say that they put A LOT of peanut butter on that sandwich. Reid ate a few bites but didn’t love it. I also split a thing of grapes with him - he got the purple ones and I got the green ones. They were very good and fresh!

Ed had the Original (minus the horseradish):



He loved this sandwich! In fact, he raved about it for the rest of the day.

And I chose the All-American (minus the lettuce):



This has turkey, cheese, tomatoes, ranch dressing and cranberries. Sounds kind of yucky, right? I was a little scared but it was soooo yummy!!

With our bellies full, we slowly made our way out of EoS.



I wanted to stop in a couple of shops that I knew the guys could care less about. So, we decided that Ed would take Reid to the carousel while I went shopping. I stopped in the Christmas store, Goofy’s Candy Co, and the kitchen store (I always forget the actual names of the some of these stores) but nothing was screaming, “Take me home! NOW!” So, I made way to the last store I wanted to go to: Disney’s Wonderful World of Memories. They have at least a little bit of scrapbooking stuff and I’ve bought albums here in the past.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find any cool scrapbooking stuff this time around. But, I did leave with one of those nice wooden photo frames that say Walt Disney World. And I bought a new camera strap for my DSLR.

Happy with my new treasures, I went off to find the guys. I had a feeling I knew where they’d be and I was right!



He was so happy to be the conductor! After his train ride, I made good on a promise I had made earlier with him. I had promised that if he was good at lunch, I would take him to Once Upon a Toy. Well, he was good so that is where we went next!





Even though this was only our 2nd day in Disney, I caved and told him he could pick out a souvenir. He carefully studied every single boy toy in that store, not wanting to commit to one item too early. He thought these were funny:



And him and Ed stopped to play video games for a moment....of course.



What did he finally decide on? The Toy Story race cars that he had thrown a fit for the day before at Beach Club. So, in the end, I guess he got his way after all.

Souvenirs in hand, we headed out of DTD and headed back to Beach Club. On our way in, Reid wanted one more photo op. And Ed wanted in on it, too: