I have moved!

Hey guys! Just wanted to give you a heads up that after much deliberation, I have rebooted "Just Another Disney Blog" over on tumblr.  I'm going to keep this blog open for reference, but will now be posting on http://justanotherdisney.tumblr.com/. So head on over and follow me! There, you can also follow "Matt's Ramblings" and a new project I'm working on called "Training for Boston", which you Team Voicers would be interested in.

See you on tumblr!

Just Made ADRs!

So, I've taken the first step in my next Disney vacation. I've finally gotten around to making ADR's for January! Because I was put in charge of dining on this trip, I'm very pleased with the selections. Last year, Teresa and I were on a strict budget, so we were only able do quick service restaurants with one or two full service places that we had been to before. This year, I've branched out a little.

On Saturday after the half, I've got a table for five at Paradiso 37 at Downtown Disney for lunch. Ever since this place opened, I've wanted to go there. But over the past few years, I haven't made it over to Downtown Disney. So, this year, I thought that since I'm doing the Goofy and there is no sense in burning a day at a park, I'd go walk around Downtown and try this place out.

On Sunday, after the full, all seven in my group are going to 50's Prime Time Cafe at Hollywood Studios. It's been a long time since I've been here, but it's always been one of my favorites, so I'm looking forward to going again.

And on Tuesday, five of us are going to the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. I've been here once before, but that was back when it was a quick service restaurant. At the time, it was one of my all time favorite quick service establishments in the Parks. I was disappointed when they converted it into a buffet, but now I'm excited to give it another shot. I just hope it's worth the money.

As usual, if any of my people cancel, and you guys would like to join us, feel free to give me a call and I'll see what I can do. I'm really excited about this trip!

New Merch I Must Have!

I was browsing the Disney Parks Blog the other day and I found this article that describes all the new merchandise that is coming to the parks. I have to say that I am pretty excited about this new Oswald stuff. I really like the large figurine of him, though I have no idea where I would put it.

I’m really glad to see Disney bringing Oswald into the parks and I wish we could have more of him in some fashion. I’m not saying that they should devote a show or an attraction to him, but maybe Disney could have an Oswald meet and greet somewhere in the parks. Maybe in Storybook Circus? I think this would be a great way to reintroduce him to the general public and welcome him back to the Disney company in true fashion.

It's Official!

Yes, the rumors are true! I am now officially registered for the Dopey! For those who don't know, that means that beginning Friday, January 11th through Sunday, January 13th, I will be running a 5K, a Half Marathon and my very first Full Marathon.

As most of you know, I've been toying with the notion of doing the Goofy for a few years now, but have never been able to make it work. I would talk myself out of it, or circumstances would prevent me from doing it. I almost talked myself out of it again. In fact, I had. My original plan was to only do the Full Marathon at Disney and do the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon in Jackson, which is the week before. But, because I messed up my registration and signed up for the Half instead, and the full was closed, I had no choice but to go Goofy. Then, because De'Dee is both evil and awesome, she talked me into adding the 5K on to it.

Training for me has been very hit or miss lately. I've taken up a new adventure, and moved out to Colorado for a few months. The altitude has me to the point that I can't even walk down the hall without losing my breath and the job has me extremely busy. But I've been trying to stay consistent and now that I know things are official, I've been doing much better. I even got up at 4 am the other morning just so I could squeeze a run in.

This is going to be a difficult challenge for me, but, as Walt Disney would say, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible!"

11 Years Later

Just wanted to share this interesting video I found on YouTube the other day. It's footage from Disneyland during their "Flag Raising Ceremony" on September 23, 2001. It's a really touching ceremony and I felt that it would be appropriate for today.

Regular posts resume tomorrow! I promise!

Goofy Training Update - A New Format

This is the new format for my training posts. Every day, I’m going to write a review of that day’s training. What you read will be my daily report on that day’s exercise routine and my food intake journal. You will also read my feelings for that day as well. I think this will be good because I will be able to keep a real time record of how I did things and such. But, in order for me to use the blog for other Disney related projects and not just training, I will only post the update on Sundays.

Monday

Today was just a strength-training day and since it was my first day, I only did a few light exercises. I used the resistance bands to do some bicep curls, side arm extensions and forward arm extensions (2 sets of 10). I also used a forearm developer (3 sets of 10 – hurt like hell!) and a 15 pound dumbbell for tricep extensions (3 sets of 10). Also threw in some crunches (40 total) and pushups (20 total). Considering that this was my first bit of strength training in over two years, I’d say I did fairly well. At least I’m back at it!

Food went very well today. I’m back on a 6 meal a day plan (3 meals, 3 snacks). I like it this way because it keeps me full throughout the day and keeps me form gorging at night.

Breakfast- Plain Oatmeal with Flax Seed, Raisins, and Milk

Snack #1- Almonds and Raisins

Lunch- Left over Turkey Sloppy-Joe on Wheat Bread

Snack #2- Apple and Tea

Dinner- Spinach and Turkey Lasagna w/glass of Coke

Snack #3- Glass of Milk

Tuesday

Today was my first day back at consistent running. It was also my first day to use the Jeff Galloway training guide. Nothing too complex I didn’t think. He simply says to go for 30 to 45 minutes. I fast walked (no jogging) for 43. Not to bad, I don’t think. I wanted to do some running, but since I slacked off last week, I didn’t want to push it too much. I’m glad I didn’t because the backs of my legs are really sore now. I’ve been doing some stretching, but I’m also taking it easy on them. I guess the sporadic running and walking is finally catching up with me. But I have no doubt that this will go away once I get back into the swing of things… and get new shoes.

Breakfast- Nothing… slept in

Snack #1- Bowl of Special K with Milk

Lunch- Leftover Turkey Sloppy-Joe on wheat bread w/glass of Coke

Snack #2- Sliced Mango

Dinner- 3 Tacos with salsa, olives, spiced turkey, and fat free refried beans

Snack #3- Frozen Vanilla Yogurt

Today, I did kind of let myself slip toward the end of the day. I also had two cokes. Notice that I did miss Breakfast too… hmmm….

Wednesday

I have to admit… I was pretty bad today. But I have a good excuse! Today was my birthday and all of Teresa’s friends took me to eat Hibachi after work. I was going to try to be good and only eat part of what was served to me, but I ended up eating all of it because it was so good! I absolutely love Japanese food, but I rarely get Hibachi because I always end up eating way too much. But, it was a special occasion and I have been doing well. So I thought I deserved a treat. I did tell Teresa not to get a cake, so I saved a few calories there. But the folks at the Hibachi place brought me a slice of cheesecake. But I shared it, so I didn’t eat all of it. So that’s a few saved calories there. I also did really well the rest of the day. I had left over lasagna for lunch and an apple and mango for my snacks. But I didn’t do a workout as I opted to sleep in a little before work. I’ll get back on it tomorrow.

Thursday

Well…. So much for doing better today. I really didn’t do too terrible, but I did end up making a stir-fry out of the leftovers from last night. That wasn’t at all healthy. But I had more lasagna for lunch and almonds, raisins and apple for my snacks. But after dinner, I became weak and allowed my self to go on a snacking beige. I knew that as soon as I had a day off, that I would mess up the rest of the week. It happens every time.

Friday

Today was WAY better! I woke up early, ate my breakfast and did my light full body strength training. Nothing too crazy, just resistance bands, crunches, pushups, dumbbell tricep presses, and a few reps with the forearm developer. I’m hoping in a few weeks I can start doing some more with resistance training. I’m just trying to get back into that for now.

Food went well too. I tried a new recipe for a turkey and avocado sandwich that I found in the Abs Diet Cookbook. It was great. A little high in calories, but not too terrible for a meal. It’s full of good, healthy foods. I’ll post the recipe over on my Rambling blog so you guys can try it. I also tired a chili recipie from the same cookbook. It’s not my favorite, but it’s tolerable. I ended up making a lot of it, so I’m sure that I’ll be over it by the time I’m finished eating on it. I did have a bowl of  Special K for a late night snack. Probably not the best idea, but I was still hungry, and I felt that Special K would be a better option than some of the things I could have had.

Breakfast – Cup of Special K with Milk

Snack #1 – Almonds and Raisins with Coffee

Lunch – Turkey and Avocado Sandwich with Milk

Snack #2 - Apples and Apple Tea

Dinner – Three-Bean Chili with Milk

Snack #3 – Bowl of Special K with Milk

Saturday

Today was another good day. I began it by eating my morning bowl of Special K (I normal eat All Bran, but I’m out…) then going out to the Trace and wogged 4 miles. At first, I was in a lot of pain in my legs and feet, but I was able to push through it and managed to keep going. I was pretty proud of myself because 4 miles is the most that I have gone in quite some time. I was even able to jog a little bit. I’m going to keep adding to that so that I can run a full 5K near the end of the year.

Food went well. No gorging or over eating or anything. Just drank lots of water, and tea. I did end up having a can of coke around 7:00, but I think that one can at 120 calories isn’t too terrible. Especially considering that I used to drink a 2-liter a day.

Breakfast – Nothing, slept past Breakfast time

Snack #1 – Special K with Milk

Lunch – Turkey and Avocado Sandwich with Milk and Apple

Snack #2 – Apple

Dinner – Three-Bean chili with Milk

Snack #3 – Glass of Milk and Sleepy-Time Tea

Sunday

Usually, I make Sunday my free day. Which means that I am allowed to have a small amount of whatever I want and I don't exercise. But, since I had two bad days this week, I didn't allow that to happen today. I didn't do bad at all, I don't think. I ate all of my meals and most of my snacks. For dinner I tried making a steak dish, but it just didn't turn out the way I wanted it too. Plus I really wasn't in the mood to cook or eat, so I only ate a few bites of the steak and broccoli and I skipped my late night snack. 

Breakfast - Bowl of Special K with Milk

Snack #1- Apple and coffee

Lunch - Leftover Three-Bean Chili

Snack #2 - Apple

Dinner - Half a New York Strip and cup of broccoli

Snack #3 - Nothing

Overall, I feel like I'm making great progress. I know that I have lost some inches and certainly some pounds. But I don't really know how I'm doing, as I don't have a working scale (Just spending money elsewhere). My clothes are fitting looser and I'm down two notches in my belt. So... I have to be doing something right! Well that's it from me. I hope you're all doing well and meeting your goals. Happy training!

A New Hobby

If any of you guys read my "Rambling Blog", You'll know that I've been dabbling around a bit in photography.  Well, during my last trip to the World back in January, I took a lot of shots in and around the parks. Now that I am finished editing them, I thought I'd begin sharing them with you. They're nothing special, basically, it's just me playing around with the camera. I don't have the cool software or equipment that most have to make their pictures look totally awesome. But I try. Maybe I'll get their someday. Here's a couple that I liked.

Tibetan pendants and Expedition: Everest

This one is one of my favorites!

Castle Dream Lights at Dusk