Marathon Weekend 2012 - Day 5: Disneyland Rio de Janeiro

Today was our last day in the World, so we spent it at the Magic Kingdom, since I like to end every trip there. We get to the bus stop at the Resort and there is a line that was at least five buses deep. It was so long that we contemplated just going back to Epcot and skipping the Magic Kingdom all together. We got at the bus stop around 8:00 and didn't make it through the gates until 9:15. When we did, we figured out that the entire nation of Brazil was in the Magic Kingdom. I don't know what the deal was, but the Touring Plan's Crowd Calendar lied big time.But we pressed on and saw much of the park. Not all the little things like we wanted, but we still enjoyed ourselves.

Around 4:00 or so, De'Dee joined us for a Dole Whip (I only had one this trip... what???), then we wondered around the park, seeing what De'Dee wanted to see. Then around 6:30 or so, we made our way over to the hub and staked out our spot for that night's parade, shows, and fireworks. We really enjoyed it all and De'Dee and Teresa were in awe over "The Magic, The Memories, and You" show.

After the fireworks, Teresa and De'Dee went on back to the resort and I walked around solo for my "Goodbye" walk around the park. I had 15 minutes and was able to squeeze in a ride on The Haunted Mansion and it's a small world (which pissed Teresa off something awful). After 9:00 hit, the park was closed, but I was still able to walk around the park and do some shopping and stretch my time out to 10:00. That's really a fun way to end a trip.

Marathon Weekend 2012 - Day 4: Goofy Day

Today was a lot of fun for Teresa and I. We began our day at Epcot all the while getting race updates from De'Dee. We got into the park and rode Soarin' a few times. The we wandered around the park until De'Dee's ETA at Epcot and we got to watch the race from MouseGear. That was a lot of fun for me. It let me have a little bit of the race experience even though I didn't participate. It also gave me some inspiration for next year. If some of those people can finish a full marathon, well then by God, I sure the hell can!

After De'Dee passed us, I ran over to the Family Reunion area and met up with my grandparents and De'Dee so I could congratulate her. She was dead tired, but she looked good. I'm so very proud of her and Justin, Amanda, and Chris for all finishing the Goofy! You're all an inspiration to me.

After all of the race stuff was finished, Teresa and I finished up Future World, then walked around World Showcase. After that we hopped on the monorail and headed to the Polynesian.

There we met up with Jeff, Trace, Amanda, and Justin and his crew and ate at 'Ohana for dinner. It was a wonderful time and we all had a blast. I'll be posting a restaurant review on 'Ohana soon.

After dinner we all headed over to the Magic Kingdom and enjoyed a few hours of "Extra Magic Hours" time.

First we rode The Jungle Cruise and had one of the best Skippers I have ever had on the attraction. She was very into the part, very funny and just had fun. When a Cast Member is enjoying themselves along with the guests, it makes for a much more magical experience. Sadly I don't remember the Skipper's name so if any of you guys can remember, please let me know. I'd like to email Disney and compliment her.

After Jungle Cruise, we all headed over to The Pirates of the Caribbean. This is not normally a scary ride, but I have to say that I was pretty freaked out by this particular trip aboard the attraction. The bottom of the boat kept dragging across the bottom of the track, the boats behind us kept crashing into us, and water was less than an inch from the top of the boat. I did get a little panicky on board, but it did soon correct itself. But I was very freaked out by it.

Afterward, everyone slowly began drifting away from the group and by the time the park was closed, it was just Justin and Amanda with us. We all throughput enjoyed each other's company. Teresa loves you all and can't wait to become more involved with Team Voice. And of course, I love you all too!

Marathon Weekend 2012 - Day 3: A "Half" Day

Today was a special day. Not necessarily for Teresa and myself, but for everyone participating in the Half Marathon. I had De'Dee, my 70 year old grandmother and my grandfather all walk and FINISH the race!

As some of you may know, grandma attempted the half back in 2010 but was swept at the 11 mile mark. She was so upset that she didn't get a medal. But she was bound and determined to get it this time, and she did it! She has inspired me to commit to running at least the full next year and she has inspired Teresa to run in next year's half (she said it on Facebook, so it's now official).

As for our day, Teresa and I began over at Animal Kingdom. This has never been my favorite park, but I have to say that it has a lot of great things to photograph. We rode Expedition: Everest at least four times, but that was pretty much all we road. We mainly just walked around the park and took in all of the natural beauty that the park has to offer.

For lunch, we stopped by Pizzafari for lunch and split a kid's meal. I have to say that we've been damn good for food this trip and one of the things that we have learned is that you can totally share a kids meal. It comes with a smaller version of what ever you order, but also, a cookie and a bag of grapes and a small coke (which can be refilled) is included. We found that this is just enough food for us and even if you didn't share, $5.50 for all that you get is a damn fine deal.

After Animal Kingdom, we went back to the resort to visit with De'Dee, grandma and grandpa and congratulate them. We intended on going out for a celebratory lunch, but we just ended up hanging out at the resort for a while.

After recharging for a boy, we headed to Epcot and again, we really didn't do much. We saw Spaceship Earth, Figment and Captain EO... Mostly because I HAD to take Teresa onto Captain EO just to show her just how ridiculous the attraction really is. It's so bad that even the Cast Members are making fun of it. Disney... It's past time to put EO back on the shelf.

After EO, we just sort of wandered around Future World, taking nighttime photos of the pavilions. I've always wanted to do that and now I have a decent camera, so I took advantage of it.

Then we went over to World Showcase and met up with Jeff, Lisa, and Trace. There we rode the Maelstrom together, then found a spot to view IllumiNations. Then we parted ways. It was SO good to see them again. Good people.

At this point, Teresa and I decided to walk around the World Showcase Promenade and take some pictures of the different national pavilions. Got some great shots.

Marathon Weekend 2012 - Day 2: Let the Magic Begin!

Today was our first day in the parks and we began it at the Magic Kingdom. We got there just in time for the opening ceremony, which is always fun for me. I mean, it's very hokey and what not, but it's always fun for the opening of the Magic Kingdom to begin your Disney experience.

After the ceremony, we made our way to the Main Street vehicles and road the horse drawn trolley down Main Street, U.S.A. I have never done that so that was fun.

Then, Teresa and I decided to go ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad since it wi be closing for refurb this weekend.

After that, we just meandered around the park, taking in the sights and details. I love doing this. It soothes me for some reason. You get to just take in the entire experience and see all the little details that the average guest never notices.

Around 11:30, we headed over to Disney's Hollywood Studios. I like this park for its detail, but as far as content, I'm not a huge fan of the park. Especially when it is packed. However, we hit all the highlights (hitting Tower of Terror at least 4 times).

Later in the evening, Teresa and I met up with De'Dee and we just walked around the park and eventually saw Jeff, Amanda, and Justin. We were all headed in separate directions, but it was good to see them for a few minutes. I know we'll see them again.

After we parted ways, Teresa and I took De'Dee onto the new and updated Star Tours. I thoroughly enjoy the enhancements to this attraction. Each ride is a totally different experience.

Then we all went over to see the last night of the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights. This is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite holiday traditions at the World and it was great to see it.

De'Dee then left us, since she had to get up at 3:30 in order to be up for the half marathon in the morning. So, Teresa and I went to see Fantasmic! She thoroughly enjoyed it.

After that, we just walked around the park and took in the sights. I'd say that it was an over all good day!

Planning on heading over to Animal Kingdom and Epcot tomorrow. See you then!

Marathon Weekend 2012 - Day 1: The Big Beige Burb

Today was our travel day to the World. We boarded the Suburban (aka "The Big Beige Burb") at Teresa's place in Hattiesburg around 7am and made it to the World around 8pm. That's including about two hours of non-driving time and a time change, so we made pretty good time actually.

This trip was pretty much like any other road trip to the World with my grandparents. We hit all of our usual "spots" (The Burger King in Mobile, the Florida Welcome Center and the Rest Area on I-10 just past Tallahassee) including dinner in Ocala. This time we went to Outback, which wasn't too bad I have to say. We also had a little bit of drama with a RedBox machine, but I won't get into that.

For the most part, things were pretty calm. Since we left from a different location, we didn't have to pass by the Coast, so we were spared the Katrina and Camille horror stories. We of course we got the run down of the toll road situation (apparently you have to pay a toll to use a toll road... That's why they're called till roads) and we heard the "this used to all be orange groves but the freeze killed them" story for the one hundred millionth time.but all in all every thing went smoothly.

We checked into Pop Century around 8:00. It doesn't seem to be that crowded. Some interesting thing to note...

It looks like they have redecorated the rooms in the preferred rooms in the 60s section. It's really nice. They've included an big screen HD TV, new carpeting and a curtain separating the vanity and the bedroom. Very nice! I'll include some pictures in my picture follow up post after the trip.

Also... $14.45 for the effin' refillable mugs??? They must have lost they're damn minds!!! So totally reusing all mugs and even paper cups at this point. I used to be against that, but to hell with that! They're robbing us blind with that scheme!!! Be prepared for a rant post on this topic in the very near future.

Well that's it for me now... Getting up tomorrow morning for our first day of Park touring at the Magic Kingdom!

Marathon Weekend 2012: The Pre-Trip Report

Well, it's official! I WILL be going to Walt Disney World for Marathon Weekend! So I will be seeing most you very soon. So, like I do before every trip to the World, I'm writing a pre-trip report to fill you all in on my plans for the trip.

As far as I know, my grandparents, Teresa, and I will be leaving for the World on the 5th and will drive all the way, checking in to Pop Century around 9:00 that night. De'Dee should be flying in earlier that afternoon.

Friday will be our first day at the parks, and as usual, we will be starting our day at the Magic Kingdom. We're planning on getting there a little before rope drop then staying until around noon, then head over to the Studios to see what can before the first showing of Fantasmic. Then we'll see the Osborne lights, then head back to the room.

Saturday, I will attempt to be on Main Street to take pictures of my friends and family who are running the race. I don't know if this will be possible, but I am certainly going to try. If you'd like, call me when you are close to the Magic Kingdom so I will be on the lookout for you. After I've had my feel of the race, Teresa and I will be starting our day at Animal Kingdom to see the few things that we'd like to do there. I'm thinking that we'll be done by 1ish. Then we'll head over to Epcot and kill some time before Illuminations.

Sunday, we'll begin our day at Epcot. De'Dee will be finishing the marathon sometime that morning, so I will have to leave the park at some point that morning, but the plan is to stay in and around Epcot from rope drop until around 6. That way Teresa, De'Dee and I can make it to the Polynesian for dinner with all of my Team Voice friends at Ohana. After dinner, Teresa and I are planning on resort hopping along the monorail line.

I always like to end my Disney vacations at the Magic Kingdom and since Monday will be our last park day, we are planning on staying in the Magic Kingdom all day, from rope drop until close. That way Teresa can see all of the little details of the park and still have time to see all of her favorites.

Most of you guys will be there during this time, so feel free to text or email me while you're there. Can't wait to see you all! I will also be posting blog posts and will be tweeting and Facebooking from the parks, so be sure to add and follow me!

Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend Day 3 - The Studios and Race Day

Basically everything went off without a hitch on Saturday. We got up and hit the Studios at rope drop since it was early entry that day. The park was more or less empty when we got there. We did our normal thing and got a fastpass for Rockin' Roller Coaster and then headed straight to Tower of Terror.

There was some different things about Tower of Terror this time. First off, the wait time was 5 minutes instead of the usual 13 minutes. And for a good reason. There was NO ONE there! It was really creepy. There were the CMs, but no other guests. Finally a family of 3 came in and joined us in the Library. It was really kind of neat because I was able to get some pictures of the empty Lobby and really got to look at some cool stuff in the Library. After the preshow, we went through and decided to go straight ahead while the other family turned right. I'm glad they did because we walked right on the elevator and had NO ONE with us! We were totally alone in the thing! I got our photopass picture that I'll post later on in a separate photo post.

After that we did what few things we cared to do, but there really isn't much there that I must do there. The Studios is more of a stop and look park than anything for me. Sure there are some cool rides, but I don't have to see them. We walked around, looked at all the detail of the buildings, did some shopping and such before going over to the Great Movie Ride.

I like the Great Movie Ride. It's really just a nice place to sit for a long time and enjoy the air conditioning, but this time was really neat. My aunt and I with about 10 or so other people were the only ones in our car and our tour guide... Jack, I believe was really one of the best ones I've had. GMR can be a great experience if the Cast Members do their job.

After GMR, it was time for our reservation at the Brown Derby. Let me just say that this was probably one of the best meals I've EVER had at Walt Disney World. Superb service and excellent food. So good in fact that I'm going to do a separate review of the Brown Derby in an up coming Restaurant Review, so stay tuned! I do want to say that one of the Cast Members there really made our lunch special. Usually, the first people with reservations get special treatment through the restaurant. There is a ribbon cutting ceremony and a little parade through the restaurant with the "first family". After it's all over with, a CM takes their picture and they get a special little memento. Well after the first few families were seated it was our turn and as we were walking to our table, I was stopping and taking pictures when the picture taking CM (I think was named Bill) asked me what the special occasion was. Well I said that it was my first time at the Brown Derby. He got real excited and ran off. Right as we sat down, he ran up to us and took our picture and later on after the meal, he comes back to us and hands us a folder with our picture in it. I thought it was really cool and it just made our meal even that much more special.

I had intended on going to Guest Relations and giving Jack and Bill (?) a positive review but never got around it. So... I was wondering if you guys know of anyway that I can still do it. Is there a way to email Disney with CM reviews? They really made our day that much more special and I'd like to acknowledge them for it.

Anyway, after lunch we decided to go back to the resort and rest for a while. I had intended on meeting up with Justin at Epcot for a little while and do some Food and Wine, but I figured that I may as well go back and rest. I really needed it. Food and Wine would have to wait again...

So we get back to the room around 1 and I lay down and I'm zonked out. I think I slept heavily for almost 5 hours. I remember it being about 4:45 by the time I woke up. All the while I'm getting texts from Rae asking if I was ready. I freaked out because I thought it was past time! Ha ha!

We both slowly got ready. Went and got us some caffeine and a little bit of food and continued getting ready. By the time we were both dressed up in our chef's outfits, it was time to get on the bus.

At the time I could not understand why we had to be on the bus so frickin early for a race that started so frickin late... that is until I saw the C.F. of a mess the buses were at Wide World of Sports! That was the very definition of a cluster "mess"! Ugh... and to think that the Relayers had to take a connecting bus to Animal Kingdom! That was just a mess all together. But we finally got there and it is VERY crowded. But De'Dee and I are still looking for the Team Voice shirts, but all I could find were W.I.S.H. shirts (seriously... we need Florescent Orange or Blue or something). And for some reason, AT&T's service went out on me so I had no way of contacting any body. But we kept trying and I finally able to get some texts out to Eric and we eventually rendezvoused with Team Voice.

The spot where they were at was kinda cool because it was right beside Mickey. While De'Dee and I sat there a race official pointed to her and talked her into coming up to see Mickey. When she did, he let both of us run up, break in front of everyone in line and let us get our picture taken! That was really cool! Then a little while later, Jeff Galloway came off the stage and we all got our picture taken with him too. At the time I didn't know who he was, but pretty cool now!

It's at this point that I'm going to stop because after the trip reports will be a race report. I'm trying to have a separate category for race reports so we won't have to dig through everything else to find it, so again, stay tuned!

After the race, we are both tired and in a great deal of pain. Thankfully we did not check any bags. And it's a good thing too because that was another gigantic cluster "mess"! Did any TVer's check anything? I'm curious to know how that went and if they got everything.

Anyway, we get out into World Showcase and it is a MADHOUSE! I mean, just insane. I cannot believe people were forced to pay to go to that after party. Just ridiculous. We worked our way around to Japan and found a bench and sat our behinds right there and did not move the entire night. Thankfully Justin and Mike R. were willing to come see us there. We had a good visit and I'm glad we got to finally meet them! Apparently there was some other drama going on within Team Voice, but as I was not there, I'll let those involved talk about it.

Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend Day 2 - The Eluding of Food and Wine

Friday was supposed to be a big day for us. We had intended on arriving at Epcot at rope drop and get some of our Future World favorites out of the way before heading over to World Showcase at opening and work our way around half the world before leaving for the expo. That was the plan anyway because it sounded smart at the time, but that's not how it happened.

So, Friday morning comes and I was told to meet Rae and Eric out front of the All-Stars for a morning wog. I thought that sounded good, so I did it and had fun with them. But, in doing so, it made us late for Epcot and really aggravated my foot. But it's all good, we had fun.

So we make it to Epcot about 45 minutes late, run over to Soarin' and get a fastpass and stand in line for it. We ride it once, the head out toward Figment and Captain EO and see them. (WARNING! SIDE TANGENT! What the hell does everyone see in Captain EO? That had to be the cheesiest piece of crap I've ever seen. Sweet Jesus! Is that the best Disney can do? If so, I'd rather have Honey, I Shrunk the Audience back!). After that, we head over to the Festival Center.

Now, going into the festival center was really kind of fun to me. It was being held in the old Wonders of Life Pavilion and it had been a very long time since I've been in there, so that brought back some fun memories for me. There was also some really cool stuff in there too. Lots of shopping, seminars, etc. in there, so we had fun... too much fun. By the time we were through shopping, looking, strolling down memory lane and taking pictures, we were in there for about an hour. So, we left out of the Festival Center and decided to go ahead and leave Epcot to head back to the resort to get our stuff for the expo. Food and Wine would just have to wait for another day.

So we arrive at the hotel and I start having issues. Started out with some recurring problems that give me trouble from time to time, but I always manage to handle it. So were at the resort trying to take care of this when I do it. I step funny in the store and I sprain my foot. It was like a bolt of lightning going from my foot and up my back. I remember screaming out and everyone looking at me... so embarrassing. So now I have two issues to deal with. I limp over to the room and take care of my foot. It got better rather quickly, but I did wrap it up and such. After all that, we head out to the expo.

The expo is always the part of the race that I hate. First off, it's always just so damned inconvenient. I have to take away park time to go to this stupid thing that is just so damned difficult to get too. Then once I'm there, I'm surrounded by people and as you all know, I don't do well in crowds. The quicker I'm done, the better off I am. But my Aunt always likes too look around. Granted there is some pretty cool stuff in there, but I'm always so bitter about having to take away park time for this that I really could careless. Of course as soon as we enter the shopping area, a panic attack hits me. The chaos of thousands of runners snatching, grabbing, pushing and shoving got to me, so I had to get the hell out of there. Thankfully Jeff, Amanda, Rae, and Eric were at the little store at the exit so I could have someone to talk to take my mind off of it, so I was fine. After everyone left I went and sat down and waited on De'Dee to come out which wasn't much later. I know why we have to go to that thing, but couldn't they think of something better? Maybe have a packet pickup at the resorts or something. There's no where in the laws of racing that demand that there be a chaotic hoard of insane athletes peddling crap to unsuspecting novice runners, is there? I'm just bitter.

We get to the resort and look through our goodie bags and try to decide what to do next. We know that Animal Kingdom is having their evening extra magic hours that night, but we also still want to hit some of food and wine. We decided to do both, until we're standing in line for the Epcot bus and realize that it's 4:15. As much as we hated to do it, we backed out and got in the Animal Kingdom line. We think we made the right decision though. I knew that we wouldn't make it back to Animal Kingdom this trip if we didn't go that night, so no worries. Food and Wine would still have to wait.

I really don't care for Animal Kingdom. Don't get me wrong, it is very well done and you actually believe that you are deep in the jungles of Africa and Asia, but it's still a park that I really could careless about. However, if I have the chance to go at night, I jump at it! Animal Kingdom is so mysterious at night. I'm guessing it's because it's usually closed at sun down, but it's still really cool. We did everything there that we cared to see except Finding Nemo, but that's ok. We chose Lion King instead, which is just fine. I like Lion King better anyway. The music is what makes the show for me. We also met up with Jeff and Amanda at Everest and attempted to ride with them, but the CM got messed up so we didn't get too. After the ride, we wanted to go see Dinosaur, so we left them intending to meet up later. But we got side tracked.

After Dinoland, we saw Goofy and Pluto and decided to get our picture take with them. Character interaction was something that I just didn't do when I was younger. I guess I was either too shy or too "grown up" for it then, but now I try my best to make up for it. So we pretty much waited 30 minutes to see them. And it was worth every second. Seeing the kids interact with the characters is what makes it so special to me. But when it was our turn it was that much more special. De'Dee ran up to Goofy and he started dancing with her! It was just too great! Then he turned around and started dancing with me! Really just too cool! I've never had a character do that before! After all that, I get my phone to check in with everyone but of course the damn is dead, so we decided to get a ride on Triceratops Spin and then head out.

But on our way out we see this popcorn stand that is selling these Ghost Mickey Popcorn Buckets. I kinda wanted one, but decided against it. But then again, I think my mom would really REALLY like him, so I turn around and get one. No popcorn, just the bucket. Really kinda funny. More on the Ghost Mickey Bucket later on.

We're leaving the park and we're both totally exhausted. My foot is giving me some severe trouble by this point and I just want to get back to the resort. But as we're leaving, we decide that it would be best to go over to Downtown Disney and get our shopping done as we doubted that we would make it back again. So we start looking for the Downtown bus at Animal Kingdom. I could have sworn that there was one, but apparently there isn't. That means that we have to get on a resort bus and transfer. And of course, the only two buses that are there are for the Poly and Wilderness Lodge. Ugh... We just get on the WL bus... what a mistake.

We get to the Wilderness Lodge and we sit... and we sit... and we sit... for almost 30 minutes we're sitting until the damn bus comes. We get on and of course we have the slowest driver in the entire Disney fleet. Not only that, we have to go that totally ridiculous route that seems to take you to Downtown Disney by way of Timbuktu. Totally crazy. By the time we get there, it's 10:00 (we left a little after 8). So, we get in get our crap and leave. We didn't get into the bed until 1 am. What an exhausting day. And we really didn't have anything to show for it! I hate Disney days like that! Seems like a total waste. Damn expo...

Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend Trip - Day 1 - Digging Myself Out

Last week pretty much started out crappy. I spent all weekend trying to get caught up on school work and work work, but to no avail. It seemed that no matter how much I got done, no matter how hard I worked, assignments just piled on top of me. It was just crazy. But I worked harder and harder to get it done. Most of it was finished by Thursday mid morning though. What made this week even crappier was the fact that two of my professors decided to give a test on Thursday, the day I was leaving. I was really pissed about that and pleaded with them to allow me to reschedule. One was very accommodating, the other was not. Finally, I was able to convince him to allow me to take the test at 8 am on Thursday. It wasn't exactly the best plan, but it was the best I was able to get.

Thursday comes and I'm at my professor's office right on time. He, of course, isn't. I wait and I wait and he finally shows up at 8:45. Apparently he forgot that he was going to let me take the test. I was livid and he knew it. I basically snatched the test from him, went into an empty class room and took the test the best I could. I probably flunked the damn thing, but I didn't care. I was on vacation!

With all that crap behind me, I leave campus and arrived at the airport with very little time to spare. I meet my aunt in the parking lot and make our way through security. Once through, we look at the departure list and see that our flight has been delayed... figures. So, we go over to a little restaurant and get some breakfast. While there, we decide to welcome our vacation with one of the best damn margaritas I've ever had! That sucker was great!

After brunch, we wait around, board the plane, take off and yada, yada, yada we land at MCO with little problems. Now, this was the first time that I had ever flown into MCO before. I've only flown from there, so this was a new experience for me. Now, the original plan was to have me fly into MCO by myself as Aunt De'Dee was going to fly down with my Uncle earlier in the day. So, to keep things interesting she decided to let me figure things out for myself. I did pretty well. I got a little lost having to deal with baggage claim (I still don't know why we didn't just let Disney take care of it), but I think I did pretty well. So, the next time I go down, I'll know exactly what to do.

We go through Magical Express with out any issues and make it to the All-Star Sports and check in and rendezvous with my uncle whose been in on business. Uncle Jodie wasn't supposed to be coming down on this trip, but decided to come on for a night just to take care of some business he had in the area. Since he was there (he isn't the biggest Disney person out there) we decided to skip the Halloween party for the night. I decided to let them do their own thing, so I went out and rode the monorail.

Riding the monorail on the day of arrival is just something I like to do. I don't know why, but I've done it for the past few years and really enjoy it. Since I've started taking the buses recently, I rarely get to use the monorail anymore and I've always kind of considered it to be one of those must do's at Walt Disney World, so this is just a little tradition that I've started doing. Everyone else in my family usually goes to Downtown Disney during that time, so I'm usually by myself, which is another aspect that I enjoy. Sometimes I'll get off and tour the resorts, but not always. I didn't do that this time. Just decided to take in the sites around the Seven Seas Lagoon, then change trains and see Epcot. This is kind of like a "preview of coming attractions" if you will. It's a great thing to do if you don't have time to use a day to see the parks, but want to do something anyway. I just really enjoy it as it gives me proof that I'm actually there.

After the Epcot loop, I got off the monorail and walked around the Epcot entrance area and looked around before hopping on the bus and returning to my resort. It was a good day.

Side thought: It still amazes me that I can be in an empty class room taking a test and in just a few hours riding around on the Monorail at Disney. It makes me wonder why it took me nearly 19 years to discover that airplanes can get you places a lot faster than a car. It's just that my family hates airplanes. Only my aunt will fly and now that I've discovered it, I won't ride again. It's SOOO much easier! Hell... it took 5 hours to get from Jackson to Atlanta to Anaheim. In just 6 hours from leaving my front door, I can be in freaking Disneyland! And yet my family still insists on taking a 16 hour drive to Orlando. Stupid! Oh well... they can take the car, but I'm still taking advantage of that direct flight from Jackson to Orlando!

Withdrawal Sucks

Mongello! First off, let me apologize for not posting a Pre-Trip Report. I like to start out a vacation by putting down a tentative schedule, mostly to get myself really excited about the trip and to have some idea of what is going on. I did that this trip, but I never posted it. I don't know what happened.

But as you can tell, I'm back from Wine and Dine Weekend and I'm entering some serious withdrawals. So... I'm frantically getting caught up on blogs, podcasts, and message boards. But also in the next few days, I'm going to be posting a day by day report for the trip. This will be the first time I've really done this, so I think it will be fun. Some of the events are fuzzy (right Amanda?) but I think it will be fun to do and will gently bring me down from my Disney high.

This withdrawal period is especially hard for me because I don't know when I'll make it back down. I know I will... but it's just really hard for me to cope with the fact that I may not make it back for several years. Hopefully that's not the case, but with law school and the start of a new career, I just don't know. Oh well... I'll have you guys to help keep the magic flowing! I hope you're all doing well and that those of you who have been traveling have made it home safely. See you around!

It's Almost Time!!!

MONGELLO!!! I will be leaving for Walt Disney World tomorrow and I am SO FRICKIN' EXCITED!!! So much so that I'm writing a pre-trip report at 3 am... oh well, here it goes.

Monday- Head out around 12ish (as soon as my mom gets off work) and drive as far as possible. We're hoping to make it to at least Tallahassee if not farther.

Tuesday- Leave where ever we make it to, head south through the famed former orange groves of Central Florida and arrive at Pop Century and check in at around 3 or so. (Who else is staying here?)

After we check in, we'll head over to the Magic Kingdom and ride the monorail. We have a tradition in our family where we will do this when we don't have time to go to a park but do have some time to kill. We'll get to the TTC and ride the Epcot monorail round trip and then get on the Resort Monorail and Resort hop. This time though we have to get off at the Magic Kingdom and ride the ferry over to the Wilderness Lodge and show him that Resort as he has never seen it (he hasn't been in over 15 years).

After all that, if there is time, wonder over to Downtown Disney West Side and eat dinner at House of Blues, then meander around until we reach the Marketplace then head back to the hotel and crash.

Wednesday- FIRST PARK DAY! I always like to start my Disney vacations at the Magic Kingdom. It just feels right to me. So my parents and I will be here at rope drop and spend a good portion of the day there. At some point that afternoon we're going to hit Animal Kingdom since they are having evening Extra Magic Hours that night. Hopefully we'll get to do everything that we want to do here then.

Thrusday- I really think that this day will be my "free day". I really have nothing planned and I'm ditching the family! I may possibly do Epcot as I really don't mind doing this park solo. I do have ADRs with the family at Chef Mickey's for 5:30 that I do intend on keeping (as I've never been there), but other than that, I'll be free. So shoot me a text and maybe a group of us can hang out some.

Friday- This will probably be Expo Day for us. Since most of us (except for me and my aunt) are running our first half, I have to attempt to get navigate my family through Packet Pickup and the Expo (I say attempt because ordering your parents and grandparents around for their benefit is like herding cats... and they say children are difficult...) I have no idea how long this will take, but I'm hoping that we'll get there at opening and be in and out.

After that I may ditch the family again. If my aunt comes solo, I will more than likely be with her, but if not, I may be solo again, so text me and maybe we can hangout again. I have ADRs for Coral Reef at 4:25, but I'm thinking of canceling. I haven't decided yet. Yeah the idea of dining in an aquarium room sound cool, but I'm not that big on "fancy" seafood. Give me fried catfish any day!

Saturday- RACE DAY! We all know the drill, so it doesn't need to be mentioned here!

After the race, again, assuming that my aunt is there solo, Her and I intend on drinking around the world again. We did this in June and had a blast! We'll probably head straight back to the room after the race to change then head right back to Epcot for this.

After I'm completely s***faced (haha, not really, we share everything so I'm tipsy at the worst) I'm hoping that I can find my way over to Aloha Isle in the Magic Kingdom for the Dole Whip Meet and then the Jungle Cruise Meet. Again, assuming that I can be released from my cat herding job I should be there and hopefully get to see all of you for sure there.

At 7:00 I have ADRs at 'Ohana, so I'll hop on the Monorail, get to the Poly, fill up then head right back to the Magic Kingdom and hopefully catch Spectro and Wishes before calling it a night. This is my last night in the World, so I may skip 'Ohana so I can spend more time in the parks, but their food is so good! It's a hard decision!

Sunday- Hop on Magical Express and fly back to Redneck Hell...

It's Time!!!

Mongello! I know it's been forever and a day since I've updated you guys. I do (again and again and again) apologize for these hiatuses. To update you all on my life.... I started back school about a week ago. I'm in a new major (Political Science with Pre-Legal emphasis) and I LOVE IT! I actually feel like I know what the hell the professor is talking about and I can actually add something intelligent to discussions. I should have been here from the beginning.

Anyway, with the move, adjusting back to school life, working out, preparing for Disneyland and all, I've neglected my duties as a citizen in the Disney Community. Well, again I'll have to skip those for a bit longer (I am going to Disneyland after all!) but when I return, I'm getting back involved with you guys. I've only recently started listening to podcasts again (only during workouts) but have yet to get to any of your blogs or even my own. I do apologize for that. But I'll fix that when I return.

But anyway, back to the real reason for this post: I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!! My aunt and I leave early Thursday morning and will return early Monday morning. So, we get 3 1/2 days at the Happiest Place on Earth. I joke with some of my friends (I have very nerdy friends...) that I finally get to make the Hajj to Disney Mecca. I am SO freakin' excited! I can't wait!!!

Here's an "outline" of what our plan is:

Thursday: At around 5:30 am, arrive at Jackson "International" Airport (only international because Jackson gets one cargo shipment from Mexico once a month... it's barely an airport by your guys standards...) and fly to Atlanta (yes... fly east to get west... that's Jackson). After we arrive we have just enough time to get breakfast then we fly across country, which is a first for me to Santa Ana...Yada Yada Yada... We Check in at the Ho Jo, then we immediately walk to Disneyland to enjoy our vacation.

Friday: This day is somewhat in dispute. We think that we're going to California Adventure on Friday, but we're not sure. If this is the case, we're planning We'll sleep in this morning then head over to DCA at rope drop. We're giving ourselves until about 3:00 to see everything here. From what I read and have heard, we won't be here that long, but we just want to give ourselves enough time to see everything. After we're done with DCA, we're going to head over to the Disneyland Hotel and pick up our packets and then look around the Hotel and Walk over to the Paradise Pier Hotel and look around there. I think that after that we'll probably go back to Disneyland.

Saturday: This will probably be our "All Day at Disneyland" Day. Here, we're planning on getting there about an hour before the Park opens. That way we can be first into the park and have the chance to run down Main Street. This is something that I've always wanted to do, ever since I was a little kid. But since WDW doesn't allow that (DL may not either, but I think the do, or at least did) I've never been able to. But now's my chance! We will then run directly to Nemo and see what that is all about. After that, everything is sketchy until 1:00, when we have Blue Bayou reservations. Monte Cristo here I come!!!

Sunday: Race Day! I'm not sure I'm ready for this race at all. Remember how unprepared I was for the Renaissance Half back in June? Well, I'm even less prepared for this one. No worries though, I'll have fun regardless, just as long as I finish. After this I'm not entirely sure what we'll do. I'm sure we'll go back to the room and rest a bit and probably go to Downtown Disney some. After that, we're back at Disneyland until close.

Monday: Come home...

I'm sure this will change as we go along. This is just a rough plan for us that we rarely follow. If you want to see exactly what we're doing and you're not already following me on Facebook or Twitter... follow me! Look me up at mattj4226 on Twitter, then you can see!

Ok... I've got to start packing. See you all when I get back!

See You Guys Later!

Mongello! I'm off to Disney this morning! When I get back, I promise to start spending more time updating you guys. I hope you all don't think I've abandoned the team, things just have been really busy. But I really hope to get back updating at least twice a week when I return.

Of course, while I'm gone, I'll be posting updates on twitter and facebook as much as possible, so if you want to know what I'm up to, go take a look!

See you guys in a week! Until then, here's some music I found appropriate for the long road trip ahead.

An Unfortunate Course of Events

Upon further review of our proposed vacation destinations, we have decided that it is just not cost effective to vacation in those areas. The desired hotels that we researched are just not within our budget. We just couldn't justify paying $160 to $275 a night for just to stare at water all day. So after careful consideration, we have decided to cancel our Beach Vacation.

However, Disney Value Resorts for the same time period are only $115 a night, and since we already have tickets for most people in our party, we have decided that yet another Disney Vacation is in order. The whole family was SO looking forward to seeing the beach, but I guess we'll just have to settle for Disney again...

I hope you all will sympathise with me! Ha ha!!!

Planning a Last Minute Vacation

Mongello! I'm in the process of helping my grandmother plan a last minute summer vacation to "somewhere". We've been throwing ideas back and forth for a while now (Washington, DC, Pigeon Forge, TN, Charleston, SC, and Corpus Christi, TX were all on the list) and we've finally narrowed down the list to somewhere in Florida.

The plan for now is for us to go to the Beach (location still undetermined) for a few days, then go "somewhere else" afterward. Options as of now include Destin, Pensacola, Tampa, St. Augustine and Coco Beach with side trip options to the Kennedy Space Center, Busch Gardens, and St. Augustine itself. Sadly, I doubt Disney will make it on this list since we did go a long 4 1/2 months ago.

I'm REALLY trying to keep the trip within the panhandle or north of I-10. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we got that close to Disney and didn't go see it.

California Here I Come!!!

That's right!!! I got the Birthday suprise of a lifetime! My aunt entered me into the Disneyland Half Marathon this year! I'm SOOOO EXCITED!!! I'm not entirely sure of all of the details, but I will post them as I get them. But that doesn't matter.... I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!
___________________________________________________

Exercises:

Weight Training
Upper Body Weight Machines

Cardio

2 miles in the Morning
30 Minutes on Bike
30 minutes on Elliptical
5 minutes on Arm Bike

Calisthenics
Crunches
Situps
Pushups
Gym Calisthenics

Food Journal:

Breakfast- Shreaded Wheat, Milk, OJ, Coffee
Snack #1- Banana, Plum Juice
Lunch- Cliff Bar, Protien Shake
Snack #2- Nothing
Dinner- Big Salad and 2 PB Cookies (Protien? he he)
Snack #3- Protien Shake

Just One Quick Post

Hey Guys!!!!

This is it! It's FINALLY HERE!!! I leave for Disney in less than an hour. I'm SO EXCITED!!!

For those of you who are not going, I'll be twittering during the trip, while in the parks, and will be trying to do so during the race. If you would like to see the updates, you can go to my twitter page at www.twitter.com/mattj4226 , or you can look in the side column

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and see the updates that way.

For those of you who are going, see you real soon!

That's it for today. I'll start posting pictures and giving full trip reports when I get back. Until then... See ya!

My Tentative Schedule of Events

Mongello! I thought since I didn't wog today (resting up for a big long wog tomorrow) and I was bored and wanted to post something, I'd post my tentative schedule for the trip. It's tenative for the most part because our departure date may change. So here we go:

Monday the 5th- Since we're driving (UGGH!) we will leave Brookhaven at around 8:00ish and arrive in Gainesville later that night.

Tuesday the 6th- Leave Gainesville and arrive at WDW around mid morning, then possibly head to the Studios

Wednesday the 7th- Head out to Animal Kingdom early in the morning, have an early lunch at the Yak and Yeti, then head over to Epcot and waste time until about 6:00 and head over to the Polynesian for dinner at 'Ohana. After dinner, go down to the beach and watch the fireworks (they do play the show music down there right?)

Thursday the 8th- This day is main part of the trip for most of my party (would be for me too if I weren't meeting all of you guys!). That's because we are all going on the Keys to the Kingdom tour! I'm SO excited about this!! I've ALWAYS wanted to do it!!! So we have to be at the Magic Kingdom no later than 9:15.

After the tour, we'll probably just hang out at the Kingdom until that evening until whenever Rantfest over at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is kicked off (What time do y'all want that to start? EVERYONE is invited!)

Friday the 9th- Head over to Wide World of Sports for the Friday portion of the Packet Pick Up Meet. I've talked to someone about this, but I can not remember who it was and what we're doing. Whoever you are, please remind me what we're doing! I think we said that we were meeting at around 9:30.

Later this evening, heading back to the Magic Kingdom for the Crystal Palace dinner. Not sure what I'll do in the gap between the Packet Pick Up and the Dinner, may head over to the Studios or something. After dinner, going back to the room and crashing!

Saturday the 10th- Getting up at some ungodly hour so I can get ready and be over at Epcot. I'm not sure what time I want or need to be at Epcot (maybe I could hitch a ride with a fellow Pop guest? hint hint!), but the race starts at 6:00 so I'm guessing I need to be there no later than 5:30.

I really have no idea what I need to do, as far as preparation, what time I need to wake up, etc. on race morning. Any tips you guys could give me would be appreciated.

After the race, I'll probably hang out at Epcot for a little while, but I'm ultimately going to go back to the hotel, shower and change, then head back to Epcot and hang around World Showcase until the We Go On meet is kicked off. Then I'll just be with you guys until the evening is over.

Sunday the 11th- Time to leave and go back to the real world. We will be leaving Pop Century ASAP and driving all the way back to Brookhaven. It's a 14 hour drive. Fortunately, I can sleep most of the way. As soon as we pull into my driveway (approx. 8:00 pm CST), I have to load up my car and drive to Clinton. I have school the next day! Luckily, Clinton is only about an hour and a half away, but still it's going to be a LONG day!

Ok... I'm through for now. Sorry I threw all of this info and these questions at you. Honestly, I wasn't even sure I was going to make it this far for a while, so now I'm playing catch up on preparedness. Thanks for listening and for all of your support!