WDW Marathon weekend with Team in Training! Day 1 Part 2, January 7, 2010

So of course, I had left my waivers back in the room. Coronado Springs is so large that it would easily have taken me 15-20 minutes to head back and get them, but I remembered that I would be able to print them at the expo too. Hopefully there wouldn't be a long wait to do that...

The bus to the expo didn't take long. It was an interesting experience though. We went through a back entrance that looked more like a service entrance. Our drive made a wrong turn and we ended up driving onto the soccer field that is next to the expo. Whoops!

We wandered around trying to make sure that we got in the right line. After a few wrong turns, we ended up in the line to the Milk House.




I did say waivers by the way. You see, prior to joining Team in Training, I had decided to register for the marathon on my own. I later joined TnT and decided to focus on the half marathon and getting faster at that distance. I figured that since I couldn't transfer my registration to the following year, I would at least pick up my bib and goodie bag.

Once we got into the milk house I made my way to the computers to reprint my waivers and then went down to floor to pick up my bibs. I had already lost my teammates, so after picking up my bibs and checking my D-tags, I went over to the expo.



I got my goodie bags and made my way through the crowded expo merchandise are (taking note of the items that I would purchase on Friday - payday). I then started checking Twitter to see where Amanda was at to see if we could meet up. I was in one booth and I thought it was hilarious because practically as I was reading the slogans on the shirts, she was posting them on Twitter. I couldn't find her at the time, so I went out to explore the floor. I got over to the Running Skirts booth and found out that they will be selling skirts with capris under them (I will need to look into that for future races.)

I finally got in touch with Amanda and we met up at the Running Skirts booth. We walked around the floor and caught up for a bit. We did a little shopping and then headed out to the busses to head back to our resorts.

On my way back to the resort I got a message from Mike and we agreed to head to the parks after I dropped my stuff off in my room.

Next up: Park time!!!

WDW Marathon weekend with Team in Training! Day 1, January 7, 2010

Today started incredibly early. I had my alarm set for 3:30 and managed to get up as soon as it went off. Not bad since I didn't get to bed until 1. I quickly got dressed and through my last few items into my carry-on. I was checking a bag that would be filled with full-sized items that I planned on putting into my Owners Locker and lots of my Disney t-shirts that I don't normally wear at home. I originally packed several pairs of shorts but watching the forecast I pulled out all shorts but one pair and a pair of capris. My suitcase now contained a few sweaters and several shirts for layering.

I had two carry-ons. One was filled with my race gear and the other was my laptop/electronics bag. Luckily, the second bag can be classified as a purse (albeit a large purse) so I generally have no issues with the carry-on regulations.

I got my luggage out to my car and I was on my way just around 4 am. It was a nice and quick drive to the airport since no one was actually on the roads. I managed to take the correct exit to get to my affordable and reliable airport parking lot and I was at the check-in in no time. I found my coach, my roommate, and the TnT coordinator who was carrying our Magical Express information. I quickly got my yellow tag on and got in line. Another teammate was in line ahead of me too. We had plenty of time to check in and get through security.

After about 15 minutes of waiting in line, the agents started calling for all people who were checking into the Atlanta flight and pulling them out of line to check them in first. For the next 20-30 minutes, this went on, including checking in an entire wrestling team. We were all shocked that the wrestling team would show up less than 45 minutes before their flight AND still be allowed to check in. We all figured that by the time that this flight was all checked in, they would need to do the same thing with the Orlando flight.

We all eventually got checked in and made our way through security. I went through with my teammate, Mike. Thank goodness I was being a good Disney geek and wearing my Mickey Crocs. They are so quick and easy in security lines. We got to our gate and grabbed a light breakfast and soon it was time to board.

Our flight was quick and comfortable. I watched My Life in Ruins (I know, not a Disney movie) for part of the trip and finally finished playing my game (Azada). I snapped this picture when they announced that we were descending:



After landing, we quickly made our way over to Magical Express and got in line for our bus. We didn't have to wait long before we were on the bus. I grabbed the front seat (purely for the photo opportunities) and Mike joined me (poor guy, he had to listen to me ramble on about Disney for the whole ride). The rest of the team filled in the seats around us and then we were on our way. Soon enough we saw this:



Coronado Springs was the first stop (woohoo!). We all waited patiently for the stuff that was under the bus and then made our way inside. I was in a bit of a daze, but while we were waiting, I noticed that the Christmas decorations were still up.



The line was long, but it moved really fast. Once everyone was through, we made our way to our rooms in the Ranchos (?) section. Here's some pictures from the walk over:







We certainly took the long way to the room, and me and my roommate (Lane) took longer than the 15 minutes that our coach gave us to get settled in before heading out to the expo. We got ourselves organized and we headed to grab lunch at the Pepper Market before heading to the expo. I got a turkey sandwich. No picture of it. Here are pictures from the Pepper Market though:




I had been checking Twitter and Facebook and I saw the wdwalone (Amanda) was at the expo so I sent her a message that I was on my way and we should meet up. It was then that I realized that my waiver was back in the room...

WDW Marathon Weekend

Trip report will be starting tonight!

May 2007 Retro Report. Final Day!

Wednesday, Day 5

I'm so sad to start this day.

We wake up and get everything packed.

We then bring our bags to the leave them at the Bell stand.

Our first destination of the day is AK. We want to go see the safari again, but more importantly, we want to get onto Dinosaur.

DM and DSF1 aren't joining us just yet because they have their meeting with the time share people. She got a really good rate for the time share, but she had to give them 90 minutes of her time so they could try to sell her a week. Little did they know that we already have a timeshare and there is no way we would be spending any money with them. Besides, if I'm buying in Florida, I'm buying DVC.

Then plan was to call them after their 90 minutes were up and to keep calling them until they were set free, then they would meet us wherever we were at.

So we make it over to AK very quickly and start making our way to KS for our FPs. (I love the abbreviations!) Of course, on the way, I see Stitch. And, of course, I say that out loud, loud enough for DB to hear me, so we have to stop.

I think that was the slowest line we saw. I know there are pictures of this, but, yet again, they aren't on Photobucket.

Once the pictures are done, we hurry back to KS and get the FPs, and then we make our way back to Dinoland. Thankfully the FPs at EE were covered up and the line was already long so we kept right on moving.

When we got to Dinosaur it wa running! And the wait was only 10 minutes. Not bad at all. We saw Mrs. Huxtable and then got into our time machine. Our picture was great! I really wish I bought it.

Next, we made our way back to the KS. No pictures this time, I just sat back and enjoyed the scenery. After that, we headed back towards the entrance so that we could get to our next park. We saw Lilo out with Stitch this time and DB wanted to stop, but we didn't have time to wait.

We were trying to get to the LMA show at MGM. DM and DSF1 were already on their way and they would meet us there.

The bus to MGM was actually waiting for us and we had a relaxing ride over to MGM. We got to the gates, and DBF, DSF2 and DB go through and suddenly, there is a problem.

Suddenly I put my ticket through, put my finger on the scanner and I was...

Rejected!!!

I didn't know what was happening. It was the last time I was going to use the ticket on this trip and all of a sudden, I couldn't get into the park!

Never fear! The wonderful CM helped me and issued me a new park ticket. DBF called me. That wonderful man had just kept walking and didn't realize my predicament.

There we some Streetmosphere people clogging up the street so he told me what side he was on and I ran (okay, walked really fast) to catch up with them.

We hurried back to get to the show, all the while trying to get DM to hurry up an get her food. Once we were seated, I convinced DM that they could bring food into the show and they made their way in and found us very easily.

I enjoyed this show. But why do they always need to pretend that they are "filming" scenes? They have to be the most unproductive film crew in the world!

We got FPs for Star Tours after leaving there and then had just enough time to grab seats at the Indiana Jones show. Not bad seats either, on the left near the front.

After the show, we decided to grab our lunch, so I sent DM and DSF1 into Muppets. Who doesn't love Kermit?

We had lunch at Pizza Planet. I know most people don't like it, but I thought it was pretty good. Reminded me of having Boboli at home.

Once the Muppets were over, we decided to split up for a bit and meet before we left the park. DM, DSF1 and I went to the animation building. We did try to see VoTLM, but the show was closed and Ariel would be in the parade after that. There's always next time.

I had fun playing around in the animation building. I dragged the parents into the drawing class. It was fun for DM, but it is not DSF1's cup of tea. If they had something like that for musician's, he would love it though.

I got to meet Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. I got in line with DM and a little kid (maybe 4 years old) ran in front of me. I didn't think anything of it because I thought he was with the family in front of me. Even the CM thought that because when he told us where he was stopping the line (just for a break), he counted out 3 families, ending with the family behind me. When the little kid got to the front of the line, a LARGE group joined him. When I say large, I mean about 8 people! Because of that, the family behind me got stuck waiting. That is just wrong! I made sure that I let the mother know that too. (She played the 'No speak English' card with me, but I didn't care becase her oldest clearly spoke Engish and understood what I was saying).

I also got to meet the Robinsons.

After that, we found the rest of our group and made our way back to the hotel.

On the boat, DB remembered that we were supposed to go to breakfast with Lilo and Stitch that morning. He asked me why we didn't go.

My best response to him ever:
"We learned that they weren't going to be at breakfast, but they would be at the parks, so we met them there instead."

Yay me!

I came up with that one on the spot. Not necessarily original, but at least I didn't spoil the magic for him!

After saying bye to DM and DSF1 (they were flying home the next morning), we made our way to get our bags and make the long sad journey home.

At that point in time, I couldn't have been sadder. I had no idea when I would be able to make it back to WDW. (Little did I know what my future would hold...)

I will finish this retro trip report soon!

So after leaving Captain Jack, we ran into Aurora and Prince Philip. I didn't get in line to take a picture with them, but snapped one from afar.


We wondered passed the carousel and everyone's favorite nanny getting ready for a ride:


And her friend:


DM wanted to go on her favorite ride: It's a small world!

Then we headed to Toontown (that is what it is called in the MK - since I just got back from DL, I don't remember if it is the same).

We visited Minnie's house and had some fun playing with her stuff.

While we are in Toontown, I get a call from DBF, he wants to get me a massage at the Spa. I tell him I would love that. He calls me back a few minutes later to say that the massage would cost something like $150 for 50 minutes! I can get one much cheaper at home so I tell him to skip it. He then tells me that he has a break and that he can meet us in the park. Yay! Some bonus time in the park with DBF. He heads to the busses while we make our way to the front of the park to meet him. We hop on the train and then head over to the Emporium to shop while we wait for him.

It doesn't take him long and we all head over to Tomorrowland to see the Carosel of Progress. But first, we see Buzz! DBF runs to the bathroom and I got in line to wait. When I was second in line, I see DBF and have him run over to get in line with me. Don't worry, I'm not like other people. I didn't insist on individual pictures since he hadn't been waiting with me the whole time.

I saw that the line for Stitch was nearby and not very long, so we ran over there next. I had a great time with Stitch, big hugs, trying to steal me from DBF and after he was convinced that Stitch was my one true love, but DBF needed to keep me, Stitch gave me back:









We then headed over to the classic, Carousel of Progress. I love this ride. DBF and I think that they should update it though. Not by simply updating the last scene, but by adding a whole additional carousel. Then they could add in some of the things missed between the last two scenes of the first carousel and add an up to date "future" scene. DM took a nap during the show though! Oh well, it is a relaxing ride.

We then stopped by MILF (Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor) (hehehe - does anyone else find that as funny as me?). It was a cute show. I think by the next time we go, it should be even better.

After that DBF had a little more time and so we headed over to the Country Bears. It is a great show for DM and DSF1 since they are in a bluegrass band. DBF had his turn taking a nap. I was pretty close to it myself. DBF admitted that he had never seen that show in its entirety.

Then it was time for DBF to head back for his next class, so he headed out to the entrance (and had a little trouble getting out since the parade was about to start). We waited for a few minute to see some of the parade near the start in Frontier/Adventureland, but they were taking too long and I realized that we would be able to go on POTC with virtually no wait.

We then headed toward the front of the park, but got stuck inside by the parade.After the parade ended, we made our way out, took the monorail over to the Polynesian to look around for a bit and then headed to the busses for DTD. The ride over seemed to take forever, but I finally had my own nap time.

One of my first stops was Ghirardelli. I ordered a double scoop thinking that a single would be a pathetic size and a double would be just right. Well, the double was a double scoop on steroids!!! But, it was absolutely delicious and refreshing. Yum! Chocolate! I wish I got a picture of that.

We did a little bit of window shopping, but I can't remember buying much else while we were there. Then we headed back to the hotel and DM and DSF1 decided to call it a night (at 4:30-ish).

When I got back to the room, DBF was on the phone trying to get Magical Express to pick us up from the Dolphin. Hmmm... sometimes that boy doesn't listen to me. I told him when I booked ME that we could only take it going to WDW, but not back since we would be leaving from the Dolphin. He always tries to get around the rules with those kind of things!

Anyways, once he got off the phone with them and booked us with Mears, we headed out to Epcot. Woohoo! We were finally going to see Illuminations!

But where were his dad and brother? They had gone back to DTD and DisneyQuest and were heading back to the hotel. Okay, so they would meet us at Epcot and grab a snack before Illuminations. Makes sense, Huh?

Of course as you may have already seen, things are not that easy with DSF2. We got to Epcot and started taking some pictures of the countries that I missed the day before.

DBF talked to DSF2 and found out that they were going to grab something to eat at the hotel and then head over. I personally think that is crazy because how could you pass up Epcot for the food court at a hotel? He told them to hurry up so they didn't miss anything.

We then grabbed some fish and chips in England, and of course a Guinness!

After eating we started wandering around to take more pictures and find other snacks.

I had to get a crepe in France and DBF took a bite out of it that was much larger than his fair share since it was supposed to be my snack!

By this point in time, DSF2 called to say that they were on their way.

We grabbed a frankfurter and bratwurst in Germany and grabbed seats to watch the show.

I didn't take any pictures of Illuminations. I guess I'll have to do that next time.

Apparently DSF2 and DB arrived at the International Gateway after 9, so they weren't able to get in. Afterwards, DSF2 said it was okay because it was ONLY fireworks. WHAT!!! That is like saying that WDW is only an amusement park.

I officially gave up on him at that point.

DBF left quickly and hopped the Friendship boat. We got off at the Boardwalk and walked around there, grabbed a slice of not-good pizza and sat down to soak in the atmosphere. We wandered over to the Atlantic Dance Hall. It was nice, but not very crowded. The people that were there looked like they were my parents age, so we only stayed for a few minutes.

We wandered around the Swan for a little bit. And then headed back to the room.

I made sure that I gave DBF the show schedules so that he could plan out the last day.

Just a fundraising update...

If anyone is able to help, it would be much appreciated. I have a lot of fundraising to go!

I see my new boyfriend!

Day 4 - Our last full day in the parks

DM, DSF1 and I headed back to the Magic Kingdom to start our last day. I considered going to another park, but I really wanted to spend more time there.

Of course, we didn't make rope drop, but I managed to meet this lovely lady.



We made our way up Main St, and I got these pictures in the hub:





I didn't get pictures of all of them for some reason, but I plan on getting them next time. I did get all of the in DL last month. I need to compare the two and see if they are different statues in the different parks.

We headed over to Adventureland. I planned on going to see the Tiki Room, but we had just missed the show starting so we kept walking. Not before I got these pictures for my scrapbooking:




You see, I had done a swap a few years ago. It was an ABC swap. Z was Zazu. It's not like you can meet him anywhere in the parks. Hence the pictures of the sign.

We also found Rafiki and King Louie out meeting people. The line wasn't that bad, so we hopped in line. I loved meeting them! King Louie came up to me and tried to kiss my hand. All he could do was blow a raspberry. I started cracking up and he tried again. Nope, another raspberry. Rafiki then showed him how to properly kiss the hand of a lady. King Louie tried one more time. Yup, another raspberry! Then we posed for pictures:



While we were waiting in lined I spied my next boyfriend, so we rushed over there next. I'll let the pictures tell the story here:







Jack was hilarious! Just as funny as he is in the movies. And you had to look really closely to see that he wasn't Johnny Depp.