Pre-Trip George and Scott plan a family-free ToT Ten Miler trip

I guess you could say that the beginnings of this thread started in another Trip Report. Mine actually. In November of last year I took a trip to run in my first runDisney race, the Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon. I finished the race, had a good time, got home, wrote up my trip report. Next thing I know, I get a message in my WDWMagic Inbox from @George

Scott,
I read the beginning of your trip report and it gave me an idea. Since my kids are school age, the Disney races aren't at good times, would you consider doing a half marathon or Tower of Terror Ten Miler with me? We could pick the exact dates and times later, since there are 4 or 5 options.
Thoughts?
- - George

With this, the seeds of a trip were planted.

We've had a few brief conversations via phone and PM to set some of the basics. We decided upon the Tower of Terror Ten Miler race, in October 2014, mostly because we're excited for the afterparty at DHS. We've registered for the race.

We've also somehow gotten the blessings of our spouses that this trip will be "solo". Just two gentlemen heading down for some wholesome fun, to run a 10 mile race through the WDW Property, to ride some rides, enjoy some of the fine food options, and have a good time enjoying the parks without kids slowing us down there to join us in the fun. I've even got my wife to let me put off telling my kids until just about a week before I leave for the race, so I don't have to spend the next 8 months with my children openly hating me.

What I thought would be fun though is if @George and I would make the plans for our trip out here in the trip report forum under a Pre-Trip heading. That way we can solicit the opinions of anyone who would be so inclined to read this little thread, and we can utilize the vast knowledge of our fellow WDWMagic fans to prepare a great short vacation.

So, to start off @George I think we firm up the dates. I'm thinking we fly down on Thursday, 10/2 and return on Monday 10/6. That'd give us a couple days in which we're not being asked to run ungodly distances where we can enjoy the parks. A day or two prior to the race, and a day or two limping around after the race.

I think the flight schedules open up soonish, so if you'd like to fly out of your local airport and meet me down there, or if you'd like to pop up to my place and stay on Wednesday night and we fly together out of Midway, that would work as well. If we did that, it would give me the added benefit of staging a faux kidnapping in front of my kids so that I can claim plausible deniability in knowingly leaving them to go to WDW.

 

[sshindel]

Yeah, we didn't get to visit much. It mostly had to do with the fact our entire group was seated at a fabulously long table and we were at opposite ends. I love Kona Cafe. I'll look into a late breakfast (typically you can make ressies for breakfast up until 11:15 am). I don't think we'll be up at the butt crack of dawn if we're riding Tower of Terror at 3:47 am.

Maybe we can just pretend we're 21 again. So, assuming after a fantastic race, we enjoy the post-party and ride ToT at 3:47am. Hopefully that leaves us time to get one last beer on the way to the parking lot. A bus takes us back to WL, gets us there by 5am or so. We take a quick shower (not together) and change clothes, remembering to put our medals back on. We leave immediately for Kona and stuff ourselves silly. That should get us out of there in time to hit Epcot at rope drop, where we can jog over to Soarin' and yell at all the people getting on that ride and tell them how much they suck for riding it instead of protesting to bring back Kitchen Kabaret. We then grab a beer from Sunshine Seasons, ride the boat ride, and hit SSE, TT, and M:S to pass the time until WS opens, where we can eat and drink our way around the world for the rest of the day. We can bar-hop, continue to drink, swear in front of children, moan at the current state of Epcot all day long until Illuminations, which will be extra special due to hallucinations brought on by extreme sleep deprivation and the beginnings of alcohol poisoning. After Illuminations, one last drink on the way out, so we can head directly back to WL in time to crash into bed and sleep for the next 48 hours while missing our flights and causing us to be in hot water from our wives and children.

 

[Tiggerish]

And I just noticed that I have enough USAirways miles to get a free ticket. Of my proposed Q3 2014 trips, the only dates that work out for the free ticket are Oct 3-6.

Did someone say "reason"??

 

[sshindel]

Maybe we can just pretend we're 21 again. So, assuming after a fantastic race, we enjoy the post-party and ride ToT at 3:47am. Hopefully that leaves us time to get one last beer on the way to the parking lot. A bus takes us back to WL, gets us there by 5am or so. We take a quick shower (not together) and change clothes, remembering to put our medals back on. We leave immediately for Kona and stuff ourselves silly. That should get us out of there in time to hit Epcot at rope drop, where we can jog over to Soarin' and yell at all the people getting on that ride and tell them how much they suck for riding it instead of protesting to bring back Kitchen Kabaret. We then grab a beer from Sunshine Seasons, ride the boat ride, and hit SSE, TT, and M:S to pass the time until WS opens, where we can eat and drink our way around the world for the rest of the day. We can bar-hop, continue to drink, swear in front of children, moan at the current state of Epcot all day long until Illuminations, which will be extra special due to hallucinations brought on by extreme sleep deprivation and the beginnings of alcohol poisoning. After Illuminations, one last drink on the way out, so we can head directly back to WL in time to crash into bed and sleep for the next 48 hours while missing our flights and causing us to be in hot water from our wives and children.

By the way, I'm quoting myself here just to say that if @ShookieJones were to somehow shift his trip and come the weekend we are going, I'm 88% certain that this is exactly how the race/post-race would go...

 

[ShookieJones]

By the way, I'm quoting myself here just to say that if @ShookieJones were to somehow shift his trip and come the weekend we are going, I'm 88% certain that this is exactly how the race/post-race would go...

In my head I've been 22 years old for the last 22 years.
If I were to shift my trip a couple of days, I can assure you this situation would play out exactly as described, although there might be something about "divorce" instead of "hot water" when it came to my wife. I'm a bad boy and always in jeopardy of being served papers, I'm pretty certain this scenario would guarantee at the very minimum "some time apart while I think about what I've done"

 

[sshindel]

Hey @George
Since I know you spend all day every day in the My Disney Experience website, I mean who doesn't, right, I think you'll notice that I've customized my MagicBand!!! I hope you are not too upset that I stole the yellow Magic Band color. If you truly want to duke it out for the yellow band in our group, I suggest making it up to Chicago this weekend and we'll face off, head to head, in a challenge of intellect and skill the likes of which have not been seen in decades:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwcom...vised-Double-Dare-at-ComedySportz-46-20140312

 

[JillC LI]

So, we've got a list of 12 or so carbo-loading meals set up. And there was talk of a Sunday morning post-race celebratory trip to the Poly for some Tonga Toast / Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes and Kona Coffee.

Now THAT's a post-race meal I could really sink my teeth into! I think the last ADR you can get is 11am for breakfast. Your trip sounds like a blast, but I don't envy you running with your stomachs so full! LOL. Go easy.

 

[sshindel]

Since @George did not take me up on the live Double Dare challenge, I'm claiming the yellow Magic Band as mine.

One thing I noticed though the other day when looking at this race is that I thought the race afterparty, the Disney Villains Hollywood Bash, ran until 4am on the night of the race. Looking at the race website right now, it seems this only runs until 3am.

This means that we have 1 less hour to post-part after the race. Meaning, every minute we run faster is one more minute we'll have to party. Of course, since I've not started running yet this year, this means that my training is falling farther and farther behind each couch-potato style day.

I'm thinking we'll need a good post-race DHS touring plan, taking into account our 3ish hours we'll have available to us, our need to hydrate with alcoholic beverages, our limp, and our want to ride some of the more fun rides while the crowd is ultra low. I'm looking forward to ToT and RnRC in a post-race induced haze of adrenaline and alcohol. Also, I'm wondering what the best gambling game we can come up with based on TSMM. Lowest score has to clean up the villa Sunday morning after we stumble in at 4am sweaty and tipsy?

 

[Tiggerish]

Around what time on Monday is everyone clearing out of WDW? I'm starting to look at flights.

 

[sshindel]

Around what time on Monday is everyone clearing out of WDW? I'm starting to look at flights.

My flight leaves at 3:30 in the afternoon.
I had to make the call on making it back to see the kids that night before they go to bed, and staying at the parks longer and making it back after bedtime. I chose the earlier flight, and I probably will wish I had chosen a later flight.

 

[abeachchick]

Around what time on Monday is everyone clearing out of WDW? I'm starting to look at flights.

I'm driving so I will probably stick around til about 7:00 p.m.

 

[Tiggerish]

My flight leaves at 3:30 in the afternoon.
I had to make the call on making it back to see the kids that night before they go to bed, and staying at the parks longer and making it back after bedtime. I chose the earlier flight, and I probably will wish I had chosen a later flight.

Only until you get home, and then you'll be glad you chose the earlier flight.

I'm driving so I will probably stick around til about 7:00 p.m.

LOL, figured you'd be staying as long as you could!!

My choices are 2ish, 3ish, and 5ish. If I'm on my own, I'll definitely go with the 5ish.

 

[sshindel]

Hey @George
I just wanted to point out that my little Trip Counter tells me that we've now dropped down into double digits until our trip.
We've kind of slacked on our planning here. I hope that we'll be able to manage all that we want to manage with so little planning going on. Is it possible to enjoy a trip to WDW without every last second planned?
I sure hope so.
Speaking of, I was wondering what your thoughts on setting up Fast Pass + reservations were. Do we do it (when the time comes) or do we just wing it? I had a thought on FP+, a way to make a little coin on our trip, outside of the meth-cooking/sales we discussed. I suggest we set up at least one FP+ per day to meet Anna and Elsa, then sell them to people in the park. We will hand over our magicbands to the lucky people while they go in ahead of the 6 hour line, and then they hand them back at the end. We'll have to come up with some sort of collateral we require from them in return. Drivers License? Credit Card? Maybe I can get a Square reader for my smartphone and we require a monetary deposit as well.
Thoughts?

 

[Nemo14]

Hey @George
I just wanted to point out that my little Trip Counter tells me that we've not dropped down into double digits until our trip.
We've kind of slacked on our planning here. I hope that we'll be able to manage all that we want to manage with so little planning going on. Is it possible to enjoy a trip to WDW without every last second planned?
I sure hope so.
Speaking of, I was wondering what your thoughts on setting up Fast Pass + reservations were. Do we do it (when the time comes) or do we just wing it? I had a thought on FP+, a way to make a little coin on our trip, outside of the meth-cooking/sales we discussed. I suggest we set up at least one FP+ per day to meet Anna and Elsa, then sell them to people in the park. We will hand over our magicbands to the lucky people while they go in ahead of the 6 hour line, and then they hand them back at the end. We'll have to come up with some sort of collateral we require from them in return. Drivers License? Credit Card? Maybe I can get a Square reader for my smartphone and we require a monetary deposit as well.
Thoughts?

I was thinking that you 2 could actually dress up as Anna and Elsa for the race...

 

[sshindel]

I was thinking that you 2 could actually dress up as Anna and Elsa for the race...

Ohhh. I like it. Then we can use the costumes and quietly set up shop over in Downtown Disney and charge a small fee for meet and greets.
I call Anna. I think her dress will go best with my eyes.

 

[Nemo14]

Ohhh. I like it. Then we can use the costumes and quietly set up shop over in Downtown Disney and charge a small fee for meet and greets.
I call Anna. I think her dress will go best with my eyes.

and George is sooooooo Elsa! I'd pay to see that...




wait a minute, that's part of the plan, right?

 

[xdan0920]

I was thinking that you 2 could actually dress up as Anna and Elsa for the race...

This is a GREAT idea.

George is Elsa. Scott is Anna. Wonderful imagery.

 

[sshindel]

and George is sooooooo Elsa! I'd pay to see that...




wait a minute, that's part of the plan, right?

Yes it is, but our cheering section doesn't have to pay extra for the experience. I've heard @George does a lovely rendition of Let it Go as well.

 

[flynnibus]

I can't believe you two haven't decided who gets to spoon who.. or will you alternate ?

 

[Nemo14]

Yes it is, but our cheering section doesn't have to pay extra for the experience. I've heard @George does a lovely rendition of Let it Go as well.

I can't wait!

 

[sshindel]

I can't believe you two haven't decided who gets to spoon who.. or will you alternate ?

I don't think we've decided yet. We might have to make some form of competition out of it. Whoever can eat the most turkey legs in a single sitting wins? Whoever can make the most kid's Mickey balloons float away in 90 seconds? Highest score on Buzz Lightyear? Last person standing after a full day spent at the bar in Rose & Crown?
I'm not exactly sure if the winner would get to be the spoonER and not the spoonEE, or if vice-versa.

 

[flynnibus]

I don't think we've decided yet. We might have to make some form of competition out of it. Whoever can eat the most turkey legs in a single sitting wins? Whoever can make the most kid's Mickey balloons float away in 90 seconds? Highest score on Buzz Lightyear? Last person standing after a full day spent at the bar in Rose & Crown?
I'm not exactly sure if the winner would get to be the spoonER and not the spoonEE, or if vice-versa.

I think after your run... one of you will probably be stuck in the fetal position anyways..