JMUDukz's Tower of Terror 10-Miler Trip Report!! 1-6

I guess the upside to being furloughed is that I have plenty of time to work on my trip report.

Day 2 got off to an early start. My plan was to be at AK by 830 to upgrade my 2 day PH to an AP, then rush into the park when it opened at 9, hit Safari, Everest, trip through Dinoland, then lunch, then Festival of the Lion King before getting to the Expo at noon....Yeah.....that didn't come close to happening. Got on the bus a little after 8 and we were off. Sat next to a really nice family and chatted about their experience at the Bippidy Boppity Boutique the day before. We hit some traffic and the bus crawled along. Finally found out that there was an accident on the road that leads to AK and traffic was being rerouted. The bus driver was awesome and kept us informed, however, people started freaking out about missing their ADRs at Tusker House. I tried to be reassuring and tell them that Disney would make it happen, but panic ensued. We had to pull a u-turn at AKL, head back past AK, cut through employee parking, and sit in a line of buses waiting to get close enough to disembark. An hour and 15 minutes after getting on the bus, we finally made it to Animal Kingdom. I got out of the way as fellow vacationers were running to make their reservations. First speed bump of the day was over.

I headed to the ticket window to upgrade my PH. The CM informed me that she couldn't upgrade the PH b/c it was bought through runDisney. She was very nice and sent me over to Guest Relations to see if there was something that they could do for me. I went to Guest Relations and got the same story. At this point, I was really irritated. I told the CM at Guest Relations that I had called both runDisney AND the AP hotline and was told by both that I could absolutely upgrade my PH, even though it was bought through runDisney - otherwise, I would have told them to redo my package to remove the ticket!! In true Disney fashion, the CM said, "okay, if that's what they told you, we'll make it happen!" And he did. So now it was almost 10am, and I was just getting through the turnstiles into the park.

Plan A was scrapped, so on to Plan B - which was play it by ear until lunch. Everest had no wait, so I did that first, then booked it back to Festival of the Lion King. Without a doubt, my favorite experience at AK. I cried at "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life".

The guy next to me thought I was nuts, but I can't help it. The show ended at 11, which happened to be the time of my reservation for Yak &Yeti. I flew across the park back to the restaurant, ending up in a coughing fit at the check in booth. Panic started to set in, as I realized if I couldn't speed walk across a park for a lunch reservation without violently coughing, there was NO WAY I was going to be able to eek out 10 miles. So I dug around in my bag of tricks and came up with some more drugs. Better living through chemistry!!
Lunch at Yak & Yeti was delish. I had the kobe burger and fried wontons. The kobe burger was a touch undercooked, but still really good. The fried wontons though stole the show. I could go for some more right now!!!

After Y&Y, I received a text from my friend who was also running the race. They were already at the Expo and said the crowds were nuts. I decided to bail on the rest of my "must dos" at AK and head on over to the Expo. I first had to catch a bus back to POR so I could get the event transportation. By the time I got to the Expo, the crowds weren't nearly as bad as I had expected. I got my bib, shirt, and pin and headed out to see the vendors. I signed up for a massage to work the knots out of my hammies and IT band (which came with a lecture on the necessity of foam rolling from the masseuse!). Hit up both the official runDisney and Sparkle Skirt booths for some new running duds. Wandered around for quite a while chatting people up. It always amazes me how friendly people are at Disney World. It's like they get down there, the pixie dust hits 'em and they drop their guard.

Countdown til race time!!

Hitting the 13th floor button for the elevator:

A little premature, but I hoped to draw inspiration....

After the Expo I headed back to POR to relax for a bit and to take pictures (of course!) of my new acquisitions from the Expo. I bought the finisher shirt, so now I HAD to finish or that was $39.99 wasted!!

I had plans that evening to meet my friends at Rose & Crown for a drink. I headed to Epcot a bit early. My room at POR was in Magnolia Bend, so there was a bus stop right behind my building which was nice. What was not nice was that the Epcot bus only stopped there about half the time. Fortunately, Friday night I was in luck and the bus stopped. Got to Epcot and took some pictures. Headed over to the Land and the Sea, figuring I'd make my plan based on how long the wait was for Soarin'. Wait was 30 minutes, according to the board outside of the Land, but I decided first stop needed to by the ladies room anyway. I headed downstairs to the ladies room by Soarin' and when I walked out, the wait was only 15 minutes!!! Where did everyone go?? I don't care, I ran for the line and got right on!! Woohoo!!!! By the time I got back out, the wait was up to 50 minutes. I don't know how I got so lucky, but boy, I sure did!!

After Soarin' I wandered back to the WS. Having never been on Maelstrom, I hit that first. Eh. I can now say I've been there, done that, no need to repeat. It was almost time to meet my friends, so I started around the WS heading from Norway to Britain. Boy what a mistake. There were so many people....and most of them were sloppy drunk. Now, I'm a fan of the hops and barely and have had one too many on occasion, but this was ridiculous. It was like pushing through a wall of people who were too glazed over to notice. I should have gone the other way, out of WS and back in through Canada, but oh well. I finally made it to Rose & Crown and found my friends who had managed to score a table outside!! We hung out "carbo loading" until IllumiNations. This was the first time I'd been that close!! After the show, we all headed out of Epcot. Thankfully my friend offered me a ride back to POR, so I skipped the drunk fest on the buses. Capped off the evening watching Bob's sing along show in the Rooster's Roost and then headed to back to the room to call it a day.

Are you tired of reading yet?? My friends are tired of seeing pics on FB. I can't help it!! I just had so much fun taking pictures this trip!!

Day 3 AKA RACE DAY!!! AHHH!!! Slept in until 9am. Woke up coughing, of course. Great. Just want you want before a 10 mile run. Shook it off and got moving. Took the boat to Downtown Disney this morning. Did a bit of shopping. There was a great special going on at World of Disney (and a few other stores) on ornaments that look like mouse ears, but are decorated like the princesses. I bought Bella, Cinderella, and the Little Mermaid and had them all sent back to my resort. Hit up Goofy's Candy Kitchen for an apple pie caramel apple (which I still haven't eaten - maybe that will be dinner tonight!! ).

Headed over to Wolfgang Puck's for lunch. Plate of spaghetti and the best creme brulee!! I made a note that I needed to come back for more creme brulee before my trip was over. Jumped back on the boat and headed back to POR. Hit the pool for a bit, until I noticed I was getting a touch pink. Not wanting to be sunburned before the race, I headed back to the room, uploaded pics to FB, and then took a short nap so I could stay up until 4am!!

Not the apple I bought, but since I was running as the Chesire cat, I felt a kinship with the apple!

Headed out to grab the bus to the start line around 7. Good thing I did as the first bus was almost full so only a few people got on. I was able to get on the 2nd bus that arrived and we headed to the starting area. Once there, there was a party going on!! Seriously, there was a great DJ who had a lot of people dancing. I stood in line to get my picture taken at some of the different backdrops they had set up. I met up with my friends, then hopped in line for the potties. I have never seen so many port-o-potties!!! For those of you running upcoming races and are worried about the potty situation, fret not!! Disney's got it covered!! I found a spot to sit and waited until 9:15, when we had to be in our corrals. I was in corral G. My friends were in another corral, so I was by myself. Spent some time in my corral stretching, then they moved us to the start!! It was a long walk to the start, I'll warn you all, Disney sneaks in some extra mileage!! After the National Anthem, it was time to get rollin'!! Fireworks and the Twilight Zone theme song sent off each corral.

Pre-race entertainment:

Port-o-Potties as far as the eye can see (I was amazed, I had to take a picture...)

My corral

The start

The race started at the toll plaza for DHS. We ran through the toll plaza and out onto Osceola Parkway. That was miles 1-2. The wicked witch was handing out apples on the otherside of the road, but I didn't stop since I would have had to cross over the median and b/c I was still mentally set on running a good race. Mile 2 found us crossing under the AK toll plaza before turning left and heading back onto Osceola. The performers from Festival of the Lion King were out cheering us on!! I got a high 5 from the stilt guys!!

It was at this point I started coughing non stop. I was coughing so much I couldn't breath and it was making me nauseous and dizzy. But I'm a slave to my GPS watch, so I refused to slow down. The more I ran, the more I coughed. It got so bad, I cried and gave up. I quit. For about 3 seconds. Then I remembered how much money I'd spent and how excited I was to run Disney. Then I'd start coughing and have to slow down and I quit again. Thus began an internal argument between my brain and my ego. By the time the pity party in my head settle down, I was at mile 4 and I decided to just relax and have FUN. This was Disney after all!! My decision came at a good time, as I found Captain Hook and the line for pics was pretty short. I decided that if I was going to turn in a crappy 10 mile time, I was at least going to have some pics to show for it!! We were on a gravel service road by that point, so it was slow going. I was stuck behind a lot of walkers, so it was either slow down or waste a lot of energy bobbing and weaving. The hyenas from Lion King were next, and I decided to wait, even though the line was fairly long. But I love the Lion King and wasn't going to pass up the chance!!

We got off the service road and ran into ESPN Wide World of Sport Complex. The first part was on the sidewalks. We wound our way down to the track and did a lap before heading back out on the sidewalks. Stitch was waiting for us, and I couldn't resist waiting in line to give him a kiss.

We continued on into the baseball stadium. We had been told at the start that a baseball game would be going on during our run, so we probably wouldn't run through the stadium. HA! It was all part of the Twilight Zone!! Stitch and his aliens had landed on the ball field and vaporized the ball players!! It was hard to get pics but it was really neat.

We headed out of the Sports complex and back onto Osceola parkway for mile 7. Mile 8 took us back to the toll plaza for DHS and we took a sharp left into the park and ran through Lights! Motor! Action!. We wound through the park, past Pixar Place. By this point, my legs felt great, but I had the chills and was really dizzy. This is not normal for me. I've run a couple of half marathons this summer, so I wasn't expecting to almost pass out during a 10 miler. We ran past the hat and back down some smaller behind the scenes paths. All the volunteers kept yelling we were almost there. Fortunately we turned the corner and there it was! The finish!! As I was closing in to the finish, they announced my name, which spurred me to kick it in across the finish. I crossed the finish, stopped my watch, and went straight over to the medical ladies who took a look at me standing their shivering and pulled me in. I have to say the medical staff was AWESOME. I had a nurse who was assigned to monitor me. I'll spare you the details but in the end, I think it was just a combo of exhaustion, cold meds, and coughing. Finally, after about 45 mins in the tent, I was deemed good to go and I went out and got my medal. Whew. I was going to cry if I didn't get that!!

HA. The guy who took the picture apologized for all the shadows. I just now realized that they are the "shadows" of the villains.

It was another mile to bag claim, which was on the set of Indiana Jones. Found my friends and we sat and compared races stories. Very cool to do that on the set! My friends decided to head back to their resort and I wanted to see how long the line was for TSMM. It was 30 mins, so I took the chance. Boy, cramming a bunch of stinky runners into a queue makes for a lot of unpleasant odors!! blech!! Was happy that I waited for the ride, but the spinning and the 3-D glasses had me feeling poorly again, so I decided to hit the line for the bus. On the way out, I met a guy who used to live up by me and we had a nice race recap chat. Got back to the resort and shuffled slowly back to my room. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!!

My medal, hanging on the new medal rack I bought for my runDisney races!!

LOL. Done!! Let me know if you have any questions about the race itself. Best organized race I've ever run. Water stops were plentiful, at least every 1.5 mi, but felt like sooner than that. Powerade was served and was first in each stop. The water stops were LONG, and water was always at the end. Lighting on the course was good. Street lights on Osceola Parkway, normal park lighting in DHS and Wide World of Sports. Only dark part was that service road. Corrals go off every 2-3 minutes and they are serious about keeping you in your corral!!

Can't wait for W&D!!!

Miss Mikki - There is a bag check option. You will be given a big clear bag and a sticker w/your bib number and the first initial of your last name when you pick up your bib at the expo. You put everything you want in the bag and then there will be a designated area (by last initial) to drop it off. Your bag will be searched by security before you drop it off (I assume looking for weapons, they didn't have any issue with the items in my bag, but i wasn't going to beat anyone to death with a banana). After the race, you will be directed to bag claim, they will see your name/number and you get your stuff back. Obviously don't leave any valuables. I had my magic band on me during the race and my ID tucked in my skirt, so in my bag was just post-race fuel and dry clothes and flip flops.

As far as photos, I carried my iPhone and my camera and took pics. Marathonfoto is out there too taking pics, but the link they sent me doesn't have any of the ones of me and the characters. The ones in the TR all come from my iPhone. Photopass doesn't work. There was a CM at every character to take pics w/your camera and at the mile markers, usually another runner would take my pic and then I would take theirs. At one point I was trying to do a "selfie" with one of the grave diggers (b/c I didn't want to wait in line for a CM to take it and this graver digger was by himself) and another runner ran up, grabbed my phone from me, took the pic, and then ran off. Great camaraderie!!

I can't speak to parking, other than you will be directed where to park. There was not parking at the start line for ToT, but drivers were instructed to park at WWoS and there were buses to the start. The 5K may be a smaller field so maybe there will be parking. You will get a packet at check in with final race instructions (and you will get them via email before the race) and that should answer the question. Cannot recommend bus transpo enough. Super easy, just get in line early.

I found some instructions that suggested going to Facebook, copying the image location (right mouse click), and then using the little link above the reply box that looks like a photo and pasting the image location in there. It may work with flickr too, not sure, if you don't have FB.

Thanks all!!

Disneydoc and h0ney227: YES!! The races are walker friendly (very very very walker friendly!!). You just have to be able to keep a 16 min mile to stay ahead of the balloon ladies (if the balloon ladies pass you, you get a free ride to the finish on the sweeper bus. whomp whomp). There are 5Ks and 10Ks (sometimes both, sometimes just one or the other) associated with each event, but they sell out just as quickly as the half marathons. If you're interested, sign up for reminder emails on rundisney.com and you will get an email before registration starts. Also there is a 5K in May, Expedition Everest, which is an obstacle course/scavenger hunt type deal. I don't know too many details on that one but rundisney has all your info!!

Since I was out until almost 4am, Day 4 started off pretty low key with brunch at the resort. I treated myself to an Abita purple haze from the pool bar (hey, it's vacation, drinking beer before noon is perfectly acceptable, right??). I took a quick dip in the pool and then I spotted an empty hammock nestled in some trees on Ol' Man Island. I plopped myself down and laid in the hammock reading until my Nook ran out of batteries.

I decided to head over to MNSSHP a little early. I had a FP+ to meet Rapunzel and a "visiting princess" who turned out to be Snow White. Snow White and I had a long chat about my race medal. She really liked that it glowed in the dark and came out of character for just a minute asking if we could turn off the lights to see it glow (that didn't happen, but it was worth a try). After the princesses, I headed over to Tomorrowland and checked out Stitch's Great Escape (yeah, you all are right, that ride needs to G-O) and the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. Always a classic.

Finally. The moment I've been anticipating for 180 days...Dinner at BOG!! Woot woot!! I headed over to the Beast's Castle to discover what a cluster check in is at BOG. A family of a zillion who didn't have ADRs and didn't speak English very well was trying to get walk up reservations. There was a horrible communication gap between them and the CM and the CM, doing her best to accommodate, was on the verge of a breakdown. Meanwhile a family that had reservations but didn't have MNSSHP tickets was fighting with the CMs about how poorly they were being treated (the CMs were trying to sweep everyone w/out a wrist band out of the park). I waited about 15 mins past my ADR time to get to check in, but at least I had entertainment while I waited. The CM who walked me to my table gave me the grand tour of the castle, it's a really nice touch that they retell you the story of why the various rooms are important to Belle and the Beast. I ordered the French Onion Soup for a started, steak and "pommes frites" for my entre, and the "Grey Stuff" for dessert. The soup was good, although surprisingly needed salt. The steak was okay, it seemed slightly undercooked, even at medium rare and wasn't warm enough to melt the garlic butter. Plus, there are no steak knifes, so sawing at it with a butter knife was quite the workout. Beast came through 2x during my meal, and I had the chance for a pic afterwards.

Side story: While I was dining, there was a family seated across the main aisle. The wife was wearing a very pretty dress and the kids had their Halloween costumes. The father was wearing BDUs. I assumed at first that was perhaps his Halloween costume as well (one of the green soldiers from Toy Story maybe??) Then I noticed that people kept coming up to meet him, shake his hand, give him a hug. One family had all of their kids take their pictures with him. The chefs came out to the table to talk to the family and Beast made several stops at the table. I knew it wasn't SecDef, but I began to worry that perhaps he was someone who I should recognize so I asked the server. She told me the mom and kids had ADRs at 630 that night. They were seated in the ballroom and then the servers all gathered around right as the thunder rolled and the Beast's entrance was announced. Beast walked out with the father, who is a soldier returning from Afghanistan and he was surprising his family. OMG. That would explain why the family was smiling from ear to ear!! Way to sprinkle some pixie dust, Disney!! (I'll admit, I got a little misty as she was describing it to me. She also teared up. I didn't bother the family, but his service is clearly appreciated!!).

It's Snowing!! In Florida! In October!

After dinner I hit the trick or treat trails. I felt a little silly at first, but the CMs are so great, it quickly turned to fun. I found a spot right in front of the Castle for Celebrations and Wishes. Afterwards, I was hoping people would leave and the lines for some of the rides would be shorter. Was I wrong. I swear the entire population of the MK headed over to Haunted Mansion. I decided to stake out a spot for the parade instead of wait in line (I love having the Nook app on my iPhone. I found a spot for the parade and read while I waited for it to start!!). Parade was really cute. Headed to Splash Mountain, and then back to Haunted Mansion after the parade. Lines were really short, but the rides kept stopping and starting, so those two rides took up the hour that I had left in the park (actually, on HM, a woman in the "doombuggy" behind me just up and got out in the middle of the ride. The ride stopped for about 10 mins b/c CMs couldn't find her. Not sure what was up with that). Hit up the last few trick or treat spots I could find on the way out and headed back to the resort to rest up for my last full day in the World.

I was a little too close to the castle to get good Wishes pics.

According to my friend, if you start and get swept, they will still give you a medal. Personally, I struggle with my pride and I would not have accepted the medal. But that's me and my competitive side.

Thanks!! I rented a camera for this trip, and it did a FABULOUS job (I take no credit, the camera was so simple to use, I just clicked the button) !! I took almost 1000 pics, my friends are tired of seeing them posted on facebook!!

Please post your pics DisneyDoc!! We want to see them!!

I have no idea why the pictures are so big. When I post the TR, they are normal size. Sorry if it's annoying, if I can figure it out, I'll fix it!!

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My last full day in the World. Woke up the the Magical Express door tag. Whomp whomp. I do have to say that when you know you're coming back in a month, it does sting a little less. But just a little.

I still had quite a few QS credits left and all my snack credits on my DDP. I have to say, I'm going to have to reconsider using the DDP in the future. I did like that everything was paid for, especially since my paycheck is being held hostage right now by the powers that be, but it was SO much food. And I like to eat, so this wasn't a problem I expected to have. Maybe it was the heat? Maybe it was the excitement? I'm not sure, but I came to my last full day and found I had a lot of credits to spend.

So the plan was hit Epcot for some rides (I had FP+ for Soarin', Test Track, and Nemo and Friends) and then head over to World Showcase for a QS meal in Mexico and then use my snack credits in Karmel Kuche and a few other places. Went to the bus stop right behind my building....and watched 2 Epcot buses go by without stopping. Apparently it's hit or miss whether they stop at the satellite bus stop and today was a miss. A DHS bus pulled up and boom! Plan B was born! I know from WDWFGU that it's a short walk to Epcot from DHS and DisneyDoc's rave reviews of the carrot cake cookie from Writer's Stop was bouncing around in my brain, so I hopped on the bus and we were off!!

The day was kind of gloomy and overcast, but DHS was pretty packed. Lines for ToT, TSMM, and RNR were all over an hour. I was just in time for Beauty and the Beast, which I've never seen before, so I grabbed a seat. What a great show. I sang along to everything. After B&TB, I headed in the direction of the Writer's Stop for the famed carrot cake cookie. Here's where I made my first mistake of the day: I stuck my head into Starring Rolls and saw a Butterfinger Cupcake. After a quick debate, I decided to forego the carrot cake cookie in favor of the cupcake. Big mistake because Starring Rolls didn't have a cupcake box, so I had to squish it into a sandwich box and then when I got to Epcot, the security guard apparently thought I was smuggling weapons of mass destruction in that little box and he SQUEEZED the living daylights out of it until I finally had to tell him "DUDE, there is a CUPCAKE in there". So by the time I got around to eating that cupcake it was a huge mess and the cake was really dry. Lesson learned. Next trip: Listen to DisneyDoc and get the carrot cake cookie.

I was pretty far back, as you can tell from the number of head's in the way....

But back to DHS, after I got the cupcake, it was starting to sprinkle. I decided it was time to head out to Epcot. I know BuffaloBill has conducted several scientific studies on the subject of travel from DHS to Epcot and that the boat is just a touch faster. And since the skies were threatening to open up, I also decided it was going to be drier, so I hopped in line. And just in time as it started POURING. Fortunately I remembered my poncho, so by the time we docked at Epcot, I was ready to brave the rain. After the cupcake squashing by security, I headed in and directly to Mexico for some Empanadas de Queso and churritos. YUM!! After lunch, the rain had stopped so it was F&W Fest time!! I wasn't hungry, but I had behaved the entire trip, so BEER ME DISNEY!! I started off a the Brewer's Collection for an Altenmunster Octoberfest. Yum, although the line took forever. Headed over to Poland, then Hops and Barley. Hit the Chase Lounge for some water and A/C for a bit then back at it. Karmal Kuche to spend some snack credits (dark chocolate sea salt caramel anyone??) and then grabbed a pretzel from Germany for breakfast the next day. Then it was time to head back to the resort to get cleaned up for dinner. On the way out I hit up the Craft Beer's booth to try the Devil's Triangle and the Leinenkugel Shandy. My tip: Skip the Shandy. It tastes like lemon pledge. Blech. I have to say I love the little 6oz pours. Just enough beer to get a taste, not enough to really get you silly drunk, and if you don't like it, you're not wasting a bunch of beer.

After relaxing and cleaning up at the resort, it was time for California Grill. I wanted to get there earlier enough to catch the fireworks from the observation deck. Good thing I did!! The line was so long to get an elevator, it took 20 minutes to get up to CG. Totally worth it though, the view was awesome and you get the music and everything piped in. Perfect way to start dinner!! When I got to my table, it was covered with Mickey confetti to celebrate my "personal triumph" in completing the ToT 10-miler!! The evening was off to just a great start. Not being a wine drinker, I had a lovely hard cider with my meal. I started with the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli. It's a HUGE ravioli in a delightfully light tomato broth. The broth was so good I almost picked up the bowl to drink it, but fortunately, I had some bread to soak up that goodness. My main was the Oak Fired Filet at the recommendation of my server. O.M.G. Without a doubt the best thing I had put in my mouth the entire trip. Maybe this whole year. The beef was cooked perfectly and the tomato butter sauce that comes with it....to DIE for. SO good. The risotto was delish, but a touch salty and I was getting full so I left a bit of that on the plate. Just a little. Since my server did such a good job recommending the entree, I took her suggestion for the Sundae Sampler for dessert. Another hit. It was light and refreshing. I had read mixed reviews before I went, however, put this one in the W column for me. The basil/strawberry sundae was slightly tangy, the homemade vanilla ice cream in the coke float was unbelievably creamy (and BTW, super cute, although I feel bad for whoever has to put the Coke into those little bitty bottles), and the caramel sundae, well, I'm a sucker for anything caramel, so I practically licked that little mason jar clean. I have to say, at two dining credits, plus gratuity and the extra costs for the app and the cider, it was an expensive meal, but I already plan to go back after the Princess Half, it is worth every penny. Just the level of service is worth it - I love being asked "May I bring you some coffee?" vs. "Do you want coffee with dessert?". Love, love, love. Everyone quick, go to waltdisneyworld.com and make a reservation NOW, it's that good!!!

From the observation deck....

Ooops....I was so excited, I forgot to take a picture until it was almost gone...

Um...I think I liked it....

Since I was stuffed and it was EMH at MK, I hopped the monorail to MK. Wandered through the stores on Main Street then hit Adventureland one last time. POTC was experiencing technical difficulties so I walked on to BTMRR and Splash Mtn before heading to HM for one last ride. I headed back to see if POTC was running yet and it was, so I hopped on. Hit the Jungle Cruise because I had a few minutes left before EMH ended. I really don't care for that ride, and this just confirmed it. Time to head out of the park, but I still had one snack credit left. What to do...what to do...what to...OH, what!! Aloha Isle? Why, don't mind if I do!! I had made just enough room after my delish dinner for a Dole Whip Float nightcap. I was a happy girl.

I forgot my pony-tail holder, my hair was a victim of the Orlando humidity. Don't judge too harsh...

On a side note, as I type this, Ultimate Walt Disney World is on Destination America!! And it's been updated to include the new Fantasyland!! Woohoo!! Getting my Disney fix on!!

Okay, Day 6 was Depression Express day. Woke up, packed and met the rep from Kingdom Camera to turn in the camera. I had one QS credit left and the pizza at Wolfgang Puck was calling my name, so I hopped a boat. Our Captain was "earning his ears" so the trip to DTD took twice as long. Got my pizza and another creme brulee (hey, it came with the credit!). I was down to about an hour before I had to be on the ME, so I went in search of a bus back to POR, thinking it would be faster than the boat. Boy, was I wrong. The driver was having a conversation with someone, so we sat at the Marketplace for about 15 minutes. Got over to the West Side, and it was a shift change for the drivers. By the time we were on the way to Typhoon Lagoon, the last stop before the resort, I was in a panic b/c it was after 12 and I was due to be on ME by 1230. I got back to POR with 8 minutes to spare. Not that staying another day at WDW would have been a real chore, but I was missing my kitty-babies at home. The ride to the airport and the flight home were uneventful.

So here I am, back in reality. It was a good trip and I can't wait to go back for W&D Half. I realized how relaxing it can be when you are an AP holder and know you're going back. The frenzy to get everything done isn't quite as bad and it's much easier to just go with the flow. I do plan on eating more F&W Fest foods during the Nov trip. 27 days and counting.....

Thank you all for the positive thoughts and the comments!! I really appreciate it!! It's so fun to relive the trip through the TR!!

Yes!! Sally-Ann, pick a race and let's do a WDWFGU meet-up!! Those of us who prefer the 5K or 10K can cheer on the 10/13.1 milers and vice versa!! How fun would that be? We could get WDWFGU Running Team shirts made!! lol. Okay, am I getting ahead of myself??

That's amazing. Horses are SO smart!