This is my first trip report! I have wanted to do one for a while. There will be pictures!
Now for a little background on this trip; I am 36 years old and a mom of two. I work full time as an RN, my excellent husband encouraged me, yes, encouraged me to go to Disney World WITHOUT him and the kids so I could run the Princess Half Marathon!! This is something that I have wanted to do for years.
I kept saying “Really? You think I should do it?” and he kept saying; “yes go do it.” Of course I waited and waited, unsure if I should do it. It seemed so selfish!
And then I thought of all the hours I spend daily caring for others, cleaning up messes, pairing up socks, wiping bums and noses etc… and I realized that I should do it! I do deserve to do something just for me ! So the night before Thanksgiving, I finally registered. The race capacity was at 99% and the next morning it was sold out... I found a frequent flyer ticket, went to DVC to book my room. Then I invited my sister to join me. She didn’t want to run but was super excited to come along.
Now all I had left to do was whip myself into shape. I never ran at all prior to three years ago when I ran my first and only full marathon. That was the distance I picked as my first running event, not a 5K or a 10K. I don't know why I do that to myself... Anyway I finished,it wasn't pretty but I did it. So since then I had really only been running 3-4 miles at various times. So I found a training plan that was realistic for my life. Which was two shorter runs a week and one long run. I was very good about making sure I didn't miss any of my long runs and most of my short runs. It was going beautifully up until two weeks before I was to leave. But more on that later...
Travel Day February 21st
I awoke before 4 am for my 6 am flight. I made my husband some coffee and then woke him up for the ten minute drive to the airport.( I had said goodbye to my pitifully sad children the night before and I promised my daughter I wouldn’t set foot near the new Fantasyland until we go back to Disney as a family…) I checked in for my flight and then headed to security which is normally pretty uneventful in our little country airport.
However it was rooky day at the security line that morning. The first thing I noticed was an angry looking TSA man pull a bag off the belt to confront its owner. The man had 3 full size drinks in his carry on... THREE! What the…? He didn’t see the fifteen signs, the little video and the other six notices about carrying on liquids...Apparently not. To complement this episode, the woman right in front of me attempted to walk through the body scanner with her cowboy boots on . She was completely shocked when she was directed to remove her footwear. Really? She didn’t see everyone else taking off their Shoes?? It was so bizarre, I was just waiting for someone to light up a cigarette next, and be completely oblivious to that rule as well...
After all the fun at the x-ray machines we made it to Seattle without incident and I saw this sign, I really like signs.
Those are my favorites how did they know? It was a little early so I opted for just the coffee.
My second flight; Seattle to Orlando was almost 6 hours long. The flight itself was pretty bumpy due to some massive snowstorm pelting the Midwest, but I was really enjoying myself, I read a book. It was lovely. Aside from the obvious lack of food and fresh air, it was a nice day. One of the highlights was the Biscoff cookies, they are my favorite. I only see them on airplanes and the flight attendant gave me two extras. Score!
Anyway, we landed in Orlando about ten minutes late. I texted my sister who had also just landed and we met up at Magical Express. We went ahead and let Mickey, Goofy and Donald collect our bags. I have to say being able to skip baggage claim never gets old!
We got into line and I was so excited. At this point you might be wondering where were we staying???
Well the only resort available using our points for us last minute travelers was Saratoga Springs, it was not my 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th choice but it would do. Besides I was so seriously excited to be at Disney World, I would’ve been happy staying at the Super 8 on International Drive. (I don’t even know if there is a Super 8 on international drive but I am sure you get my meaning.
I had done online check in and I don’t know why but anytime I have made a room request, I always seem to get the complete opposite of what I ask for. This trip was no different. I had requested a room near the main building, and instead we were put in the Carousel section, literally 0.6 miles away. I guess compared to the rooms at Animal Kingdom Villas our room was close to the Carriage house…
We were starving so we got dinner at the Artist Palette, I had the turkey brie sandwich, I don’t know where they hid the brie, but it was ok. (Sorry no pictures) Sis had the flatbread pizza and a salad. She said they were good. Then we got some peanut butter rice crispy treats to go and went off to find our room .
The hotel is very pretty but spread out, there are several ponds and fountains with walking paths connecting all the sections of the resort. Now I would like to take a break from this report for a small rant:
If one is going to make a lovely, garden filled resort with numerous buildings, fountains, pools and walking paths, perhaps some signs to point the way to various landmarks would be nice. For example a sign pointing in which direction to walk to reach THE CAROUSEL BUILDINGS.Maps that are oriented upside down, with a small circle showing “you are here” that have buildings labeled in a light shade of yellow, which aren’t lit at night, are difficult to read
Forty minutes later we found our room, a studio and this is the only picture I took….
So after all the fun of looking for our room we decided to head to Downtown Disney, after another thirty or so minutes we found the boat launch. The weather was super warm and lovely and the boat ride was really nice. We walked around DTD for a bit. There was lots of music and happy people and after a glass of wine I was happy too. So I finally started taking some pictures but I only had my phone.
I liked the new Lego sculptures a bunch.
I bought my daughter a whole bunch of super cute socks from Little Miss Matched on sale. Every place I went gave me a 10% discount for being a DVC member which was nice and unexpected. Around 10pm we decided to catch the boat back and call it a night. I was pretty tired and my foot was starting to hurt quite a bit. More on that later….
Now for a little background on this trip; I am 36 years old and a mom of two. I work full time as an RN, my excellent husband encouraged me, yes, encouraged me to go to Disney World WITHOUT him and the kids so I could run the Princess Half Marathon!! This is something that I have wanted to do for years.
I kept saying “Really? You think I should do it?” and he kept saying; “yes go do it.” Of course I waited and waited, unsure if I should do it. It seemed so selfish!
And then I thought of all the hours I spend daily caring for others, cleaning up messes, pairing up socks, wiping bums and noses etc… and I realized that I should do it! I do deserve to do something just for me ! So the night before Thanksgiving, I finally registered. The race capacity was at 99% and the next morning it was sold out... I found a frequent flyer ticket, went to DVC to book my room. Then I invited my sister to join me. She didn’t want to run but was super excited to come along.Now all I had left to do was whip myself into shape. I never ran at all prior to three years ago when I ran my first and only full marathon. That was the distance I picked as my first running event, not a 5K or a 10K. I don't know why I do that to myself... Anyway I finished,it wasn't pretty but I did it. So since then I had really only been running 3-4 miles at various times. So I found a training plan that was realistic for my life. Which was two shorter runs a week and one long run. I was very good about making sure I didn't miss any of my long runs and most of my short runs. It was going beautifully up until two weeks before I was to leave. But more on that later...
Travel Day February 21st
I awoke before 4 am for my 6 am flight. I made my husband some coffee and then woke him up for the ten minute drive to the airport.( I had said goodbye to my pitifully sad children the night before
and I promised my daughter I wouldn’t set foot near the new Fantasyland until we go back to Disney as a family…) I checked in for my flight and then headed to security which is normally pretty uneventful in our little country airport. However it was rooky day at the security line that morning. The first thing I noticed was an angry looking TSA man pull a bag off the belt to confront its owner. The man had 3 full size drinks in his carry on... THREE! What the…?
He didn’t see the fifteen signs, the little video and the other six notices about carrying on liquids...Apparently not. To complement this episode, the woman right in front of me attempted to walk through the body scanner with her cowboy boots on . She was completely shocked when she was directed to remove her footwear. Really? She didn’t see everyone else taking off their Shoes?? It was so bizarre, I was just waiting for someone to light up a cigarette next, and be completely oblivious to that rule as well...After all the fun at the x-ray machines we made it to Seattle without incident and I saw this sign, I really like signs.
Those are my favorites how did they know? It was a little early so I opted for just the coffee.
My second flight; Seattle to Orlando was almost 6 hours long. The flight itself was pretty bumpy due to some massive snowstorm pelting the Midwest, but I was really enjoying myself, I read a book. It was lovely. Aside from the obvious lack of food and fresh air, it was a nice day. One of the highlights was the Biscoff cookies, they are my favorite. I only see them on airplanes and the flight attendant gave me two extras. Score!
Anyway, we landed in Orlando about ten minutes late. I texted my sister who had also just landed and we met up at Magical Express. We went ahead and let Mickey, Goofy and Donald collect our bags. I have to say being able to skip baggage claim never gets old!
We got into line and I was so excited. At this point you might be wondering where were we staying???
Well the only resort available using our points for us last minute travelers was Saratoga Springs, it was not my 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th choice but it would do. Besides I was so seriously excited to be at Disney World, I would’ve been happy staying at the Super 8 on International Drive. (I don’t even know if there is a Super 8 on international drive but I am sure you get my meaning.
I had done online check in and I don’t know why but anytime I have made a room request, I always seem to get the complete opposite of what I ask for. This trip was no different. I had requested a room near the main building, and instead we were put in the Carousel section, literally 0.6 miles away. I guess compared to the rooms at Animal Kingdom Villas our room was close to the Carriage house…
We were starving so we got dinner at the Artist Palette, I had the turkey brie sandwich, I don’t know where they hid the brie, but it was ok. (Sorry no pictures) Sis had the flatbread pizza and a salad. She said they were good. Then we got some peanut butter rice crispy treats to go and went off to find our room
.The hotel is very pretty but spread out, there are several ponds and fountains with walking paths connecting all the sections of the resort. Now I would like to take a break from this report for a small rant:
If one is going to make a lovely, garden filled resort with numerous buildings, fountains, pools and walking paths, perhaps some signs to point the way to various landmarks would be nice. For example a sign pointing in which direction to walk to reach THE CAROUSEL BUILDINGS.Maps that are oriented upside down, with a small circle showing “you are here” that have buildings labeled in a light shade of yellow, which aren’t lit at night, are difficult to read
Forty minutes later we found our room, a studio and this is the only picture I took….
So after all the fun of looking for our room we decided to head to Downtown Disney, after another thirty or so minutes we found the boat launch. The weather was super warm and lovely and the boat ride was really nice. We walked around DTD for a bit. There was lots of music and happy people and after a glass of wine I was happy too. So I finally started taking some pictures but I only had my phone.
I liked the new Lego sculptures a bunch.
I bought my daughter a whole bunch of super cute socks from Little Miss Matched on sale. Every place I went gave me a 10% discount for being a DVC member which was nice and unexpected. Around 10pm we decided to catch the boat back and call it a night. I was pretty tired and my foot was starting to hurt quite a bit. More on that later….
