Disney – Page 2 – Run Morgan Run

January 11, 2011

Disney Marathon Weekend 2011 Day 5

This morning we slept in and then walked over to the Magic Kingdom to hit a few attractions we had never done before like Mickey’s Philharmagic, The Carousel of Progress and Peter Pan’s Flight. I had done the Peter Pan ride when I was 11 but not since then. We used one of the Fast Passes for that one as it is a heck of a long wait for a two minutes ride. We enjoyed about 2 hours in the park before heading over to Epcot for the rest of the day.

While at Epcot we had another one of the private photo ops for Disney Visa card holders and this time the session was with Minnie and Goofy by themselves. A few fun photos later and we were out the door to Soarin.

When we received our VIP passes on day 3, Matt and I discussed how we could give some of them away as a nice gesture to some deserving park guests. What prompted that thought was how many rude guests we ran into on the trip be they from other countries (mostly) or from the US and how we would like to ‘reward’ someone for just simple acts of kindness.

For the next few days we were extra aware of how guests seemed to be treating other guests or apparent family members. It turned out to be a difficult task as most people were oblivious to others around them and were just in a hurry to get where they were going. I must say that this is the first time I felt outnumber by non English speaking guests most of which seemed happy to barrel their way through the park. Perhaps it was that we were looking for good that we saw too much bad, but whatever it was we were determined to do something nice for someone.

Turns out that nice thing happened in the Soarin line. We used our fast pass to jump the 50 minute standby line for the fast pass line ( the fast pass line was being blocked by a large group whose time was not coming due for another 5 minutes). We politely asked if we could get by and a young couple from Atlanta saw us excuse ourselves and followed us in as their passes were valid but they could not get by the group.

When we got into the queue for the ride, the woman said thanks for getting by that group as they did not know if they had to wait in that long group line. We started talking and found out the had a tough time getting to Orlando because of the snow but they were so glad to finally be in Disney. This was there second time to the parks ( they had visited for their honeymoon 5 years ago) so they were looking forward to riding some of the new attractions this time. We gave her some tips on avoiding motions sickness on this ride as she was worried about that (lean forward a bit and look to the left or the right depending on that glider that you are in, and focus on another group of riders. This can reset your point of reference and calm the stomach).

We enjoyed the conversation while we had an extended wait in line (there was an issue that they had to fix before letting us board) so Matt asked how long they were staying. They replied 5 days, so Matt and I looked at each other and I said to them ‘Were going to hook you up’ and explained how the VIP passes worked and gave them each a pass with three uses on each. They looked very excited and thanked us for the passes.

The ride was great (Matts’ first time), and the young lady came through without issue. When we touched down they both thanked us again and we parted ways. It felt very good to do something nice for other nice people.

While I am still on that subject, it amazes me that so many people look like they are in a bad mood, act like they are in a bad mood or verbalize that they are in a bad mood when they are at Disney. This is supposed to be the most magical place on earth but too many people don’t check their crap at the door and seem to be miserable. Why bother coming here if you are bummed out and want to let everyone know you are bummed out. Everyone has stress in their lives by I try to leave mine at home when I am on vacation, especially when I have limited time to spend with my son. I may get the occasional crappy email or voice mail about work, but I deal with it absorb my few moments of frustration and them continue to have a great time. The kids will be gone soon so I need to enjoy these events as much as I can while I can.

We went back to the hotel the get cleaned up for our final dinner of the vacation. California Grill is one of my favorite restaurants on property followed by Artists Point in the Wilderness Lodge and then probably Citricos in the Grand Floridian. Citricos was the first place my wife and I ever tried fried alligator which they unfortunately don’t serve anymore. We chose California Grill as the last meal because in addition to the exceptional food and the view of the Magic Kingdom fire works every night, it is on top of the Contemporary hotel right next to where we would spend our last night.

Our reservation was for 7:45 so we could catch the fireworks but as is sometimes the case, the earlier reservations hang around longer than they should so they can catch the fireworks. This put every later reservation behind by about 20 minutes, including us. Instead of worrying about it, we went out on the observation deck which has a fantastic view of the Magic Kingdom and enjoyed the fireworks. The music from the parks is piped into speakers in the restaurant and on the deck so you get the full experience as if you were in the park. The only difference is the fireworks are at a different angle so many of them look like them are over Space Mountain instead of the castle.

We enjoyed our final Disney dinner together and even received a little surprise decoration on the Chocolate Crème Brule that we ordered. It is Matt’s Birthday this month so he was wearing his ‘It’s My Birthday’ pin around the parks and our waiter noticed it and added the chocolate marker in the above photo. I would recommend if you are celebrating anything when you go down to Disney, be it Anniversary, Birthday, Wedding, 1st Visit or whatever, go to Guest Services when you get to the park and they will give you a pin for the occasion. It is nice to be recognized by the cast members and sometimes other guests as well.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and up to the lounge for a final drink (few drinks). Matt and I wanted to play some cards but did not bring a deck with us and found that they did not have one to use, but did have a bunch of board games that we could use. I had never played Jenga before so we chose that and I proceeded to beat the ‘Jenga Master’ or so I was warned.

Tomorrow is the saddest day of all the day we leave Disney….until the next visit.

January 10, 2011January 5, 2022

Disney Marathon Weekend 2011 Day 4

Day 4 started with a bit of rain as we got ready to head over to the Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. We first had to check out of the Beach Club and store our bags for transfer to Bay Lake Tower. If you are staying at another Disney hotel, just need to take your bags down to the bell stand, or call to have them picked up, and they will take them over to your new hotel with a few hours. When you arrive at your new hotel and check in, just call down and they will bring up the bags to your new room. If you check out of one hotel early to hit the parks make sure to take with you what you need for the day, as you can’t usually check in to your new room till 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

We walked over to Hollywood Studios after checking out and arrived just before it started to rain again. We ducked into the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and a few other rides before making our way to Toy Story Mania. I had always wanted to try that ride but that ride is very popular and the lines are always huge. We thought we would be able to use out VIP passes but the fast passes were all gone by 11am. Undaunted, Matt suggested we ask the cast member who was standing in front of the closed fast pass machine if there was anything we could do with our VIPs. It happened that this particular cast member was from Pittsburgh and Matt was wearing his Pirates shirt so we had a very pleasant conversation for a few minutes before he reached into his pocket and pulled out two passes that where set to expire in 15 minutes. We were on the ride within 3 minutes and had a great time. Thanks Richard you are the man and that is the Disney spirit above and beyond.

I had to buy a poncho after that since it had started to come down pretty good. We did a few more rides with not much wait and then headed over to Animal Kingdom to attempt Expedition Everest. I say attempt because I had done it a few years ago with Matt as the very first ride of the day and it wrecked me for the whole day. Today it was not too bad and I discovered that if I felt like I was going to hurl, I just had to close my eyes to get through it. I know that takes away from the experience but I was doing this one so Matt had a riding partner, not for me.

We did all the open rides except the spinning thing outside Dinosaur and that would have made us both throw up big time. This was the first time I had closed down Animal Kingdom so we got to see the little dance party they have near the exit as you are leaving. Very cute to see all the little kids and some parents dancing with them

We took a bus back to the hotel and went to check into the Bay Lake Towers. When we got to the room it was still a 1 bedroom, so I figured the charged me one bedroom points instead of studio points. I went down to the front desk and sure enough she had booked me into the 1 bedroom for 2 nights and charged the 1 bedroom rate for the two nights. After another 20 minutes of ‘fixing’ things. I went back up to the room to wait for the new room to be ready. I went back down to the front desk got the new keys, went back up, moved the bags from the 5th floor to the 14th floor and took the old keys back down. At least we ended up with a nice high floor and a good view.

We quickly changed for dinner and walked over to the Contemporary Hotel to catch the monorail to dinner at Epcot. The Bay Lake tower is connected to the Contemporary by a bridge on the 5th floor so you can get to all the transportation easily. We boarded the monorail for the Ticket and Transportation Center (we need to change monorails there to get to Epcot) and the driver comes on the loudspeaker and says he needs to power down the systems and software to reboot to train. That was a first for us and it added an extra 5 minutes to the journey so we were almost late for our dinner reservation.

We enjoyed and excellent dinner at La Hacienda de San Angel, the new table service restaurant in the Mexico pavilion on the water. I tried their Margarita flight which is five samples of some of their more exotic margaritas and enjoyed the one on the right the most, the Orange Mango Fire. It includes tequila, ginger liqueur, orange juice, mango, fresh lime juice, tobasco sauce and Tajin chili powder on the rim.

We chose this place and the 7:45 reservation so we could have a nice relaxing dinner and then see the Illuminations fireworks from our table. The restaurant dims that lights and pipes in the music from outside so you get the full experience except for the evenings cold weather.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to go to the Top of The World Lounge to watch the BCS Championship where the Oregon Ducks fumbled their way to a loss to Auburn. A bit disappointing as I had hoped for a non SEC team to win it just once, but with Purdue not even in the hunt this year it was a bit hard to get into it.

Time to get some sleep before our last day in the parks.

January 5, 2011

Disney Marathon Weekend 2011 Is Almost Here

Only two more days till I leave for Florida for the Disney Marathon weekend. I am both excited and sad at the same time because I always have a great time at that event, but none of my family is running with me this year. I will be posting throughout the weekend like I did at last years event, this being the one year anniversary of starting my blog.

I will have various technology with my like I always do and I am going to try a few tracking solutions so those who are interested can track my progress or if you are not up at 5:30am on January 8th, you can at least view my path when I have finished.

One of the technologies I will be trying is from InstaMapper.com . Instamapper lets me post my location in near real time for others to see. My location is posted every 60 seconds so you need to refresh your browser if you are following along as I run, or you can just click around the map if you are viewing post race. Instamapper is made more for tracking me while driving but I want to see how it works while running.

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The other technology is from RunKeeper which is made for tracking workouts including running. I tried this during the Bonefield Express on Thanksgiving but I don’t think I gave it enough time to lock onto the GPS as my chip time and the Runkeeper time were way off.

Regardless of what tech I use, or no tech at all, I will still be posting what Matt and I experience this weekend. Good luck to all the participants in this years , Half Marathon, Full Marathon and Goofy (running both the half and the full).

August 18, 2010January 5, 2022

Mile Marker

Mileage	5 Miles
Time	7:00PM
Location	Indoors – Treadmill
Weather	Warm and Sunny

I am definitely getting back in the groove again with my training for the Disney Half Marathon in January. I am slowly increasing my mileage as I should, instead of pushing it like I did last year. My schedule training plan starts in October so right now I am just concentrating on increasing my miles in general. I will concentrate on speed and mental capacity when I start the program in October.

June 20, 2010

Leigh Harline

My godmother sent me a little piece of history last week in the mail. She knows what a big Disney fan I am and when she was going through her childhood items, she came across a piece of music that was signed by and sent to her by Leigh Hairline.

Leigh wrote the music for ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ for Disney in 1940 and the piece of course made its mark on history when it appeared in Pinocchio in the same year.

Leigh lived in Owatonna, Minnesota for a while and became very good friends with my Grandmother on my moms side. He also got to know my mom and her siblings and was kind enough to give my godmother this signed piece of sheet music when she was taking piano lessons in the the old Victorian House they lived in.

Leigh had not yet become famous or worked for Disney when he gave this two her, so for her it was one of those ‘I know him when’ relationships.

January 12, 2010

Disney Marathon Weekend Day 7

THE SADDEST DAY OF ALL

The day you have to leave Disney property is always a sad day. You want to get up extra early and take in as much as you can knowing it will be a while till you get back again (the next trip will probably be next years Marathon, although I did not sign up the day after the race like I did in 2009).

We planned on going to Hollywood Studios today but I needed to go over to Epcot to pickup our free photo from the Disney Visa shoot yesterday. Since Tuesday was early entry day at Epcot, I got up at 7 to be over to the International Gateway for opening at 8. It was strange to not see a sole as I walked from the countries towards Spaceship Earth. On a side note, someone should make a sci fi movie where a giant creature uses spaceship earth as a golf ball and launches it over towards the golf courses by the Grand Victorian hotel. I grabbed the photo and a cup of coffee and enjoyed a slow walk back to the hotel, just enjoying the peacefulness of the mostly empty park.

We decided to take the boat to Hollywood Studios as mom had not had a chance to ride them yet on this trip. A short 15 minutes later and we were at the front gates of the studios. I have never done Rockin’ Roller Coaster so we headed their first. Wow…what a ride. Very short but very intense. The acceleration at the beginning is amazing and it feels like you are being shot out of a canon, 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds. Matt and I stepped of looked at each other and smiled. We didn’t have to say anything to know we both really enjoyed it although as a first ride of the morning it can leave your knees a bit wobbly. We only had time for a few more attractions and a bit of shopping before we had to head back to the boat.

We had left dad in charge of checking us out and we found him sitting in the lobby in his wheel chair sipping a hot chocolate. He had us all checked out and ready to go, so a quick bite and we were ready for the return trip on the magical express. Turns out the length of stay wheel chair was the way to go as it is free for Vacation Club members and Matt got to use it a bit as well the day after the race. That sounds bad, but dad insisted on pushing him and mom around a bit because it made his back fell better to lean over and walk with the support of the chair.

As I said at the start of the post, this is always the saddest day. We took our seats on the bus and at least I mentally reviewed what we had accomplished the past week and how much I enjoyed the time with Matt and my parents. I still remember the first time we came here when they opened (actually 3 months after opening day). I was in 5th grade and I recall driving away from the Contemporary ($35 a night back then) watching the Magic Kingdom get smaller and smaller through the back window of the car, wondering if I would ever get to come back again. Little did I know how many more times I would return and make some wonderful memories with friends and family.

Maybe it’s not so sad after all. I am already planning next years marathon trip.

January 11, 2010

Disney Marathon Weekend Day 6

The day after

I felt surprisingly good for just one day after the race. I usually feel the pain in my knees on days two and three but today I could easily get out of bet without a nurses aide. We decided to take it easy and sleep in so we did not get moving until about 9am (that is sleeping in at Disney). We had a light day planned in the parks, then a big dinner and show lined up for the evening.

Matt’s legs were bothering him so we let him sleep in a bit longer and we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Mom and Dad had not been on Pirates’ or the Haunted Mansion since they were refurbished, so we made sure to hit those and a few more attractions. By the way, the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor is a hidden gem. I would not have done it had the lines been longer but I am glad we did. Very funny.

We met Matt at Epcot at about 2pm and the lines where very short again so we were able to do all the attractions that everyone wanted. We then decided to eat/drink around the world. That is where you have a drink and or food at every country in world showcase. We went from left to right (Mexico to Canada) and had a sample in each country. We only did one small item among the four of us because we did not want to fill up before the big dinner tonight.

One other thing that we got to do was a semi private photo op. I say semi private because it is open to Disney VISA members only. It takes place every day from 1:30 – 4 in Inventions West and features a surprise guest or two. Today it was Minnie and Goofy, so we were able to get a bunch of photos with them with either our camera or the photo pass photographer that was present. We also received a free 5×7 of our choice from all the photos taken. After the photo shoot we headed back to the Beach Club.

Our hotel was just across the lake from Disney’s Boardwalk resort, very close to where our dinner was scheduled. If you plan on visiting Disney World I would suggest taking advantage of what they call and ADR (Advance Dining Reservation). You are allowed to book up to 180 days in advance (as of this article), and you can book for your length of stay up to 10 days. We used ADR’s for all our reservations including tonight’s dinner at Kouzzina. Kouzzina is Cat Cora’s new restaurant which recently replace Spoodle’s on the boardwalk. My daughter is a big fan (as am I) of the Food Network and Cat is the first female Iron Chef on the show of the same name.

The menu was a wonderful Mediterranean/Greek mix with a nice selection of lamb, fish, pasta and steaks. We all tried something different and were no disappointed although my fast food son was a bit perplexed when I tried to explain what a béchamel was (his pasta was topped with cinnamon roasted lamb meat sauce, béchamel and cheeses). If you like Ouzo, the Ouzo-tini kicks butt.

We left happy and stuffed and made our way back to the hotel to get some blankets. I had a special night outside planned for the four of us so we need a few extra layers to keep the cold out. Every night Epcot has a fireworks/light/music show called Illuminations. If you know when you are going to be down there you can try to book an Illuminations cruise. I say try, because there are only 5 available each night (actually four on Mondays as Nippon travel has a standing reservation every Monday for members of their tour groups). You can book 90 days in advance by calling (407) WDW-PLAY (407-939-7529), but be sure to call early. The phone open at 8AM EST so start calling a few minutes before that. I have been lucky to book twice and got the last boat each time. My first cruise was cancelled because of lightening (sorry Lorie), so this was my first actual time on the boat.

The boat is a 21 foot pontoon that fits up to 10 people for a flat rate, so if you have some friends along with you you can spread the cost a bit. They provide some drinks (non-alcoholic) and snacks and you are able to order food, even dinners to ring on the boat. The only think you can’t do is bring your own food.

We were lucky enough to get Michael Scibetta as our captain that evening. If you are a hardcore fan or Disney, you probably know about the WDW Radio Podcast and have heard Michael on the show. He was the one driving Breathless II in the video ‘Catching You Breathless’.

Michael takes you around the lake for a short cruise before parking just under the bridge that separates France from England in Epcot. From there we had a front row seat for the Illuminations show and Michael was kind enough to give my parents his version of the events that were unfolding during the show. If you are lucky enough to book one of the boats, I highly recommend contacting Michael to see if you can schedule him to be your captain that night.

We had brought extra blankets to keep out the cold but I was so wrapped up in the experience that I didn’t really notice it anyway. The family really enjoyed the show and the cruise and I was grateful that I was able to share it with them.

Worth every penny.

January 10, 2010

Disney Marathon Weekend Day 5

As you hear so often in Disney ‘What a Magical Day’.

Matt was not too happy to be getting up again at 3:30 to make the 4:00 bus over to race setup, but he was at least able to grunt answers to my questions. We pinned our number to our sweatshirts, attached the timing tape to our shoes and headed out into the 28 degree morning by 3:55.

They used timing tape this year instead of chips.
Cheaper and you don’t have to stop at the finish
to have it removed from your shoe.

It was very quiet at the bus stop with everyone kind of keeping to themselves or having hushed conversations with their groups of people. The bus itself was standing room only and I was in the very back so I had kind of a surreal view. With all the people standing in the dark with both arms out stretched holding on, it looked like a long row of gymnasts suspended in the iron cross position.

The walk to the prerace area had a quiet tenseness as well. There was an MC in the distance trying to pump up the crowd with a thumping beat, but all I heard was the swishing of track pants, Mylar blankets and trash bags. I really enjoyed the quiet walk to the corrals as it gave me time to mentally prepare although Matt said it was like a death march. Quiet, dark, heads down, slow footsteps and the swishing sounds.

For those non runners, we sometimes bring a large trash bag along to fit over our body as protection from the cold. You can discard it right before the race and not feel bad about dropping a piece of clothing that you will never see again. We prefer to go to the thrift store and get an old 60 cent sweatshirt which has a bit more warmth than the plastic bag provides. For those who do drop their clothing, Disney picks it up, washes it and donates it to local groups for distribution to the needy.

We started right on time at 5:40, with the blue group (fast people) and the first wave of the red group starting at the same time on opposite sides of the highway median. We started out with the 5 hour pace group and were doing well for the first 5 miles, at which time both Matt’s quads locked up and that set the tone for the rest of the race. As much as he wanted to keep up with the group he could not do it. The competitive bastard in me wanted to push him to continue, but the dad in me did not want him to suffer through the next 6 plus hours. I estimated the time by timing our next mile at his max walking/running/shuffling pace and came up with about a 13-14 minute mile.

To be honest, this took all the pressure off me and made it an easy day except for a few nagging issues. Let me retract that. There is nothing easy about a marathon and calling it that would cheapen the work so many of those participants put in in order to be there.

The nagging issues were two fold, one expected and one unexpected. The expected one was a hip issue that occurs when I fast walk as opposed to running. My running gate is smooth and my feet hit the ground under my body for a comfortable stride. When I fast walk my legs come more around from the outside in on each stride and I can feel it in my his more, which after 20 plus miles makes them sore.

The second issue was cold related. Blisters. Blisters in the cold? You bet. When you feet don’t warm up and expand, your shoes are too loose, they rub and you get some huge blisters, in my case on both heels. One popped at mile 20 and the other at mile 25. I have never had that issue before so I was not ready for the shock of pain when each one exploded. the problem is that nice cushion of fluid is now gone and you are rubbing the raw skin against your shoe.

My advice for the cold weather, bring an extra pair of thin socks in case you feet don’t expand enough and stop at the med tents if you feel a blister coming on. Although the other problem was the blister prevention pads that they had were frozen together at some of the med tents so you have to stop a a few tents to find ones you could use. Bring your own if you are worried.

Matt kept telling me to go on ahead, that he was holding me back and I kept saying no, it’s OK I want to help you finish. He did not realize when you get that fatigued it can be tough to estimate your true pace without a timing watch.

I swear by my trusty Garmin 305 and will treat myself to the 310X once I compete in my first Triathlon.

I wanted him to see that I was trying to help him along and not just being a drill sergeant so every few miles I would let him take the lead and walk just off his shoulder so he set the pace. I would then give him the pace time so he could see we were moving slower than he thought. At that point we would pick up the pace again to where I though he could manage and still finish.

If this was any other race, he may have had an even harder time, but the wonderful thing about the Disney race is all the activity to help keep your mind off the pain. Now don’t get discouraged. Is it painful? You bet. But is it worth it? Without a doubt. There are few feelings like crossing that finish line, still on your feet, and it was especially great to do it had in hand with my son.

I don’t have that picture yet but I will post it as soon as I get it from ASI (the company that does all the Disney Marathon photos). In the mean time, this is one of us back at the hotel, all smiles and wearing our Mickey bling.

A special thanks to my parents who came down to see two of their generations finish this experience together. Also, many thanks to all the families who were lining the course cheering for the participants that they did not even know. I had so many people congratulate me in the parks, in the elevator on the bus and anywhere I had me medal on. It is a tradition to wear your medal to the parks following your run, although you can usually tell the runners in the parks the next day. They are the ones who are walking like they are 90 years old or getting off the bus in a side step. Thanks to all the volunteers as well. It took a lot of people to pull that off and I thank you all.

That was a day I will never ever forget.

January 9, 2010

Disney Marathon Weekend Day 4

Are you kidding me? Full winter wear in Florida? I have never experienced a wind chill in Orlando before but I can cross that off my list now. We slept in knowing we would try to avoid frostbite and make it a short day. Once again the park was not busy at all so the attractions had short if any wait at all. The cat family does not like the cold so the safari had about 1/2 the animals you usually see and the ones that were out looked very confused about the weather.

What’s wrong with this picture? Coats.

Matt started to cramp up pretty bad from the cold, so he left the park early to go back to the room to warm up and prepare for tomorrow (watch football games and relax). We had enough of the wind burn and decided to pack it in by 4pm.

Tomorrow is the big day and I am concerned about the cold as I have wimpy lungs. Ever since I was little, running or doing other strenuous activity in cold weather is murder on my chest and I end up getting walking pneumonia or bronchitis or some other thing that knocks me out for a few weeks. Matt’s legs will also be a factor tomorrow. This probably will not be a good first marathon from a time perspective but I am not going to leave a man behind to better my time. If we have to walk some of the marathon I will do it to stay with my son.

We are laying out all our gear for tomorrow, then settling in to watch the Cowboys vs Eagles game. Tomorrows post should be interesting.

January 8, 2010

Disney Marathon Weekend Day 3

Part 1

4:45 wake up call and onto the bus at 5:45am. The busses are the nice big tour coaches and heated which is a plus when it is 38 degrees outside. One stop at the Wilderness Lodge to pick up other guests and we were in the Epcot parking lot by 6:05 for the 7am start.

the theme for this years 5K was UP and away based on the recent Disney release. Carl Fredrickson, Russell and Doug were there to entertain the kids with a photo op in front of Carl’s house.

Carl’s house.

Lots of eager runners and many still half asleep kids.

The starting fireworks.

We started at 7 on the dot and ran out into the parking lot, made a sweeping right turn and followed the road to a service road entrance behind Test Track. We ran under test track and entered the countries between Mexico and Norway. The course took us all the way around World Showcase before we exited the park and International Gateway and then reentered at England. we ran down the main walkway past Spaceship Earth to the park entrance the made a right hand 180 to head back past Spaceship Earth before making a left back out the park towards the finish line.

The finish line after we had gone through and received our medal.

Lots of support at the finish from spectators in the grandstands and many wonderful volunteers all along the route. Thanks to all the volunteers. Even though it was cold and we had to dodge runners in the first mile or so, it was still a PR day and a great warm-up for the Marathon on Sunday.

Part 2

Mom and Dad are arriving today, so we had to check out of the Towers to move over to Beach Club. They were able to get out of Chicago despite the snowstorm last night so we are grateful for that and very excited to see them. Matt and I made our way over to the Beach club and secured a wheelchair to help make dad’s bad back a bit more bearable. The room was ready and our request for first floor accommodations was granted. The bags were scheduled to be delivered in 3 to 4 hours so we decided to go out on the front lawn and play some catch (Matt has the foresight to travel with two mitts and a baseball at all times). We played catch for about 45 minutes, until the webbing broke on my glove (Matt says it is because of the power of his throw, I said it is because I have had the glove since Purdue days.)

They arrived on the Magical Express and we took them to the room to drop off their bags, then on to Epcot which is just a short walk away via the International Gateway entrance. Walked around a bit and did a few of the rides that they were comfortable doing (no Mission Space). The lines were very manageable, again because of the weather.

We got back to the room at 6 to get ready for our dinner reservation at the California Grill which is on top of the Contemporary Resort. We had a 7:30 reservation so that we could view the 8:00 Magic Kingdom fire works from our table. Dinner was excellent as it always is at that location. We did experience a first for us at Disney World… Invisible fireworks. At about 7:45, a nice heavy fog moved in to blanket the Magic Kingdom. By 8 when the fireworks started, we could see almost all the castle but when the fireworks where launched, we could see them leave the ground but no payoff. They pipe the ‘wishes’ music into the restaurant to sync with the show, so it was a bit weird hearing the audio cues but not see the visual ones.

We headed back to Ecpot for Extra Magic Hours (we get to stay in later than the public since we are staying at a Disney resort). It was pretty deserted so ride lines were very short. A quick hot chocolate, then back to the room.

Tomorrow Animal Kingdom.