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

The Epcot Manifesto
Original Poster
Well, when requested to reduce the size of the jam to 3 ounces, you could squirt 9 ounces of delicious Smucker's strawberry directly onto to the TSA employee at 5 in the morning......on second thought let's do that. Seems like a well considered, flawless plan.
giphy.gif
 

sshindel

The Epcot Manifesto
Original Poster
Hey, I've been neglecting this thread with my things I'm looking forward to.

Today, aside from the countdown just hitting 0 and my feet hitting Disney soil, lets think of another thing I'm excited about:

Having a little time to look around and catch the details

The last many trips I've taken have been with my family. Kids of 6 and 3 currently. I adore those trips. Without question, they are my favorite trips in my lifetime.
But, any parent knows, you don't get a lot of time to stop and smell the roses (wait, have they removed the roses from the Hub?).
I'm looking forward to maybe looking around a little this time without being in such a rush. Listen to the background music and background sounds. Look for little thematic details. People watch. Things like that.
All things that I've not really been able to do much in the past 6 years. I'm really looking forward to that.

Of course, that is unless @George is an unrelenting task master, rushing me around the parks with gleeful cruelty and a large stick to hit me around the neck and shoulders.
 

George

Liker of Things
Premium Member
Hey, I've been neglecting this thread with my things I'm looking forward to.

Today, aside from the countdown just hitting 0 and my feet hitting Disney soil, lets think of another thing I'm excited about:

Having a little time to look around and catch the details

The last many trips I've taken have been with my family. Kids of 6 and 3 currently. I adore those trips. Without question, they are my favorite trips in my lifetime.
But, any parent knows, you don't get a lot of time to stop and smell the roses (wait, have they removed the roses from the Hub?).
I'm looking forward to maybe looking around a little this time without being in such a rush. Listen to the background music and background sounds. Look for little thematic details. People watch. Things like that.
All things that I've not really been able to do much in the past 6 years. I'm really looking forward to that.

Of course, that is unless @George is an unrelenting task master, rushing me around the parks with gleeful cruelty and a large stick to hit me around the neck and shoulders.

I do have an itinerary that has each day broken down into 6 minute increments. BTW, I forgot to ask, but is 7:12 AM an OK time for your BMs? If not, I can re-schedule a bit earlier but later could be an issue.
 
Last edited:

sshindel

The Epcot Manifesto
Original Poster
I do have an itinerary that has each day broken down into 6 minute increments. BTW, I forgot to ask, but is 7:12 AM and OK time for your BMs? If not, I can re-schedule a bit earlier but later could be an issue.
Typically I'm between 9:08 and 9:27 CST, except on the weekends when it's a little later.


Now ask yourself, are those oddly specific times something I made up, or the truth...
 

sshindel

The Epcot Manifesto
Original Poster
Lets do one of the last few things I'm looking forward to. I'm doing a bang-up job on my top 21 things. I might have done 1/2 of them.

Universal Studios Florida

Time to get all typical News and Rumors poster on this Trip Report. @George and I are taking a day out of our trip to go check out Diagon Alley, The Simpsons, The Transformers, etc.
I've not been to USF since 1994, on my senior trip. I don't remember much about USF aside from ET and Planet Hollywood. Or was it the Hard Rock Cafe? Ok, so the only thing I remember about USF is ET.
I have a lot of new stuff I can check out.

Last year we tried IoA as a family for 1 day, and it was less than successful. There were varying reasons for that, a lot our of IoA's control. The weather was cold and windy, meaning all water attractions were off the table. My youngest had been sick the night before, throwing up everywhere, and we had a midnight run to the Urgent Care clinic. The background music at IoA seemed about 35 decibels too loud for us, maybe due to the lack of sleep and the sick kid who needed a nap in the afternoon.

It was still fun, for what we got to do. Spider-Man is probably the best ride I've ever been on, part of that being that I'm a massive Spider-Man fan, and my 6 year old thinks he's her boyfriend. Potterworld was well done, I had some nitpicks due to everyone claiming it was the greatest theme park land in the history of the universe, but for all intents and purposes, it was fun, well done, and I'm glad to have seen it.

This trip, George and I are planning a day at USF. We've bought single day, single park tickets. I want to see as much as I can at USF and we need to be at ESPN WWOS before 7pm to get our race packets, so trying to cram USF as well as $30+ dollars worth of IoA is likely not worth it to get the hoppers. Now, if some miracle happens and we've blown through all of USF, including Diagon Alley, by 2-3PM, I might not be opposed to upgrading in the park. A couple hours would be worth it.

So, I'm looking forward to seeing USF with basically new eyes. I want to see Potter2.0. I want to see all the other magical motion simulator / video screen rides. I want a Flaming Moe and a Duff. I want to see all the other things that probably exist at that park that I do not know about, which is basically everything else there.

Then I'm looking forward to popping back to WDW in the evening, getting our race packets, maybe strolling through the rest of the Expo there, and meeting up with friends at the Turf Club for dinner / drinks.

I can't believe it though, the week is here. In a few short days, I'll be in Orlando!!
 

sshindel

The Epcot Manifesto
Original Poster

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