Walking for my Dream (Comments welcomed)

[hockeygirl]

Hey Carole--sounds like another fun day! I actually went to Universal for the first time this past trip and I loved it. That stunt show was at the Earthquake ride right?? I love that ride! My favorite ride at Universal has to be the Mummy ride...I LOVE IT!!!

Can't wait to read the next installment!!! Hope you are having an awesome weekend!!

 

[CaroleD]

Sunday was a long walk with my friend Holly with the Running Room. 10K walk which went well. Then did 9 holes of golf. Supposed to be 18 but it rained. My golf game needs lots of help!!!

I'de forgotten the Mummy Laurie...it was very cool. And Shrek was awesome. Universal had a two bad moments when Erin who is a larger person could not fit in the seat and get the safety belt thing to fit. So she sat Mummy out. and there was one other at Universal Islands of Adventure too. It really surprised Erin and bothered her. It never happened at Disney.

We got another sleep in day. This time we never got out of bed till 10:00. Lovely. So off we go to Blizzard Beach. Loved the chair lifts. By this point of the trip I'm happy with anything that will convey me along! The slides at BB are awesome. I'm missing the wave pool though. The only slide I didn't go on was the one that looks like a Bullet where everyone come off having to fix a wedgie. No thank you. Comparing the two water parks we all prefered Typhoon Lagoon because of the wave pool. I'm glad we did both though because they are different experiences.

We have an ADR at Boma. I've been really looking forward to this having heard such great reviews on DIS. So we head home to shower and get ready for that. Animal Kingdom Lodge was beautiful!!!! We took our own tour in the lobby, savana viewing area and pool. The pool was an odd colour, I guess to make it seem like a water hole. But it made the water look dirty. And there were ducks swimming in it. Not sure if I like that. Though I'm sure that wasn't planned. The decor was amazing in the foyer!
Boma's food was fantastic. A chef came out and took Erin through the buffet and she had lots of choices. Again Disney does a great job on food allergies. Kim and I were in heaven because we love different foods.
We decide to go to MGM as its EMH's there tonight. We get there and guess what...Universal dude and Goofy are there. Do these boys ever work?
Somehow I think there has been texting on the cell phones again to coordinate this. We do Aerosmith which we all love and then we meet up with the boys and do Tower of Terror. Turns out it was just that for Erin. She was shaky and white as a ghost at the end of it. Kim and I thought it was a hoot. We do a couple more rides, the boys depart again and we go to Fantasmic. Now I knew there were splash areas but had no idea it sprayed mist through most of the show. Guess I was sitting up much higher before. So we really enjoyed the show but it was a bit chilly because of the mist. The hot tub at POFQ is calling us.
Our official day at MK is tomorrow...though we've been there twice already. So we decide an early start is not a must. Funny how as the trip progresses we need more and more sleep! We wander through some shop at MGM and head home. The plan is to come back to MGM on Wed.

highes-Tower of Terror and Aerosmith
lowes-none-great day

 

[toystoryduo]

Great job on getting your walk in, Carole!

Blizzard Beach is my favorite water park.... Well, I think it is! Every year when we go to WDW in December, the park is closed for refurbishment. We haven't been there since September 2003. We're changing that this September though!

Looking forward to your next installment. Have a great day!

 

[hockeygirl]

WTG for getting your walk in. The Running Room program sounds great!!

Another great installment in your trip report!! You two more of my favorites--blizzard beach and Aerosmith!!!! I love Blizzard Beach, but ironically in all the times that I have been to Disney, I have never been to Typhoon Lagoon. I really need to try to get there at some point in my upcoming trips in december and January.

Glad you loved Boma! I am looking forward to eating there in our upcoming December trip. That is on our list to make reservations for!!!

 

[CaroleD]

Gee I'm not sure where this week has gone. Laurie you will love Boma!!!! Tracy if you love slides I thought the slides were better at Blizzard Beach.

Tonight we did hill training. We did the hill 5 times. Now last week when I did 4 hills I found it hard. It was easier tonight, Though I can't say hills are my favourite things to do! I do know they are good for me...I guess.

Back to Disney. Its getting harder to remember sadly. I do remember this was the day that Kim bailed on us for the Universal Dude. We got a late start...like 9am. We just can't do 7am starts at this point. MK has become our favourite place to go. There was a little girl on the bus who was so excited and she had a birthday button on. So we gave her some magic in the form of a purse with Cinderella on it. Which matched her outfit as she was dressed as Cinderella.
Kim starts saying we NEED to have an afternoon nap and Erin and I are going along with it...napping is always good, but neither Erin or I are tired. DD says this a few times in the morning. We go on several rides, visit Tom Sawyers Island and do not find one paintbrush and Kim announces she isn't tired anymore but Erin and I can nap. About 15 minutes later Kim announces that Universal Dude has texted her and is in the park and she could meet him while we nap and we can meet up for dinner. Our ADR at Crystal Palace is for 6:30. Erin and I go along with this and Kim skips off to meet Universal Dude. Erin looks at me and asks if I'm tired. I'm not,she's not and we discuss how we feel a little manipulated and frankly ditched. So we decide to stay but we don't feel we need to let Kim in on this. As we don't want to really hang around Universal Dude. He's OK but really he wasn't part of our plans.
We do Splash Mountain...best water ride ever, Thunder Mountain and wander from ride to ride. We see the parade. Peter Pan had a long line so we got fast passes for it and they were for 7pm. It was 4pm at the time. We realize Kim will need a fast pass so we text her to tell her to go now and get the fast pass for it. We ignore her question of whether we are in the park and it was a little mean of us. Apparently Universal Dude has to leave at 5 but doesn't want to leave her alone. We finally give in and give her our location while we are enjoying a Dole Whip at about 4:30. Kim comes storming over mad as a hatter at us. But Erin very neatly and quietly gives Kim our feelings of how she manipulated us and ditched us for Universal Dude. And that it was too bad we gave her payback but life is sometimes like that. Kim calms down and then apologizes for her behaviour. We actually don't hear for the rest of the trip about Universal Dude and Goofy. Apparently Kim does hear from them still though since she has been back home.
We get Kim her fast pass and its for 8. Now this is when we finally understand the fast passes. We thought you had to return in the window of time printed. Not so. You just can't come before the first time. Wow! Wish I had known that all along. After that our fast passes became way more effective. We sometimes carried three fast passes at a time at MGM the next day.This was confirmed by the cast members BTW.
Crystal Palace was the perfect place to be after our dust-up. We loved the Pooh characters. The buffet was great. It will be on my ADR list with Boma and Le Cellier, Rose and Crown and Wolfgang Puck as must return places.
We do Space Mountain again and Peter Pans flight and we see Wishes from the front of the Castle. Very different than from the back.
It was a good day. Erin and I had fun together and I'm sure Kim had fun with Universal Dude. Loved Crystal Palace and Wishes.

So highes-Crystal Palace, Dole Whips
Lows-Kim's ditching us for Universal Dude and a little sorry we played a trick on Kim by not fessing up to being in the park when she asked right away. After all we were in the most magical place on earth.

Tomorrow its MGM-the official day and 50's Prime Time and Brown Derby---both also go on my must return to list.

 

[CaroleD]

Yikes Only 10 days till DS's wedding!

Sunday my walking partner and I walked 12.6 KM with the running room club. We did alright and I am not sore. I noticed at about 8km I needed food...and I only had 50 cents on me so I bought 3 timbits (donut holes) at a Tim Hortons we passed by. That got me home. I think I'll start carrying something for these long walks.

Last trip installment..MGM day and our last day.

Can I just say that if you haven't tried 50"s Prime Time you have missed a great experience. Our "Cousin Barbara" was great. Kim didn't finish her ham and she scolded her as we expected. What we didn't expect was when Kim's Smore dessert came it came in two plates. When Kim cut into the one plate there was her ham covered in whipped cream and chocolate bits. Hilarious!

We went to the Brown Derby for supper. We weren't sure if it was worth two table credits until we had the food. My steak was truly the best steak I've ever tasted. Erin's chicken was the best she had ever had. Kim had the crab cake appitizer and it was wonderful. We basically raved about the food all through the meal. We did the Fantasmic dinner package but as we had already seen it we gave a family of three our vouchers after we left the restaurant.

So basically we saw everything at MGM. Rerode all our favourites. And we were out of the park at a decent hour. I liked having been to MGM once already becuase we never felt rushed. And we finally understood the fast passes well enough to really use them effectively. Only took us 8 days!

We went back to POFQ and I wanted to see the Old Man River pool at Riverside. So we got on our swim suits and took the boat over. Funny though once I saw it I didn't have to swim in it. It was very nice but ours was too so we boated back and swam in our pool.

Our final day....very sad. We gathered up all the unopened food and drinks and gave them to a family. And got our luggage headed off to the airport by Magic Express and got our boarding passes etc. Then we headed to Downtown Disney to shop and have lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Kim wanted an Ariel Frame she had seen at MGM but thought she would just buy at Disney Downtown on her last day. Big mistake. Kim's eyes kind of well up when she realizes she can't buy it there. She didn't realize we saw it and Erin and I decide we had finished shopping and there is time to get to MGM and back so off we head on the bus to a resort so we can get a bus to MGM. Now we get the BEST driver ever. He just takes us to MGM instead of going to his resort first as we are the only people on his bus when he hears the story. How's that for Disney magic! And we get the frame which Kim has now on her bureau with her picture of her and Ariel together....Yes we waited at the Grotto to get a picture of the two of them.

And thats our trip. My favourite show has to be Cirque de Soliel.
favourite ride at Disney is Soaring
Favourite food overall is steak at Brown Derby
Favourite fireworks is Epcots
Favourite park is Animal Kingdom
Favourite moment is sitting on the train station balcony at Magic Kingdom waiting for Spectromagic feeling the Disney Magic

Thanks for reading.

 

[toystoryduo]

A great trip report, Carole! The last day at WDW is always the hardest for me. I usually spend the last day being bummed out that we have to leave Disney the next day.

That's great that your bus driver took you to MGM! That is what I call Disney magic!

I can't believe that there are only a few days left until your DS's wedding! Time has gone by so fast!

You are doing a great job getting your walks in! Keep up the good work!

Have a great Tuesday!

 

[CaroleD]

I think that bus driver made our day. Where else in the world would that happen?

Our heat wave has broken here. It dropped 18 degree's celcius overnight. I'm not a heat person so this is lovely.

 

[CaroleD]

I'm feeling very "green" today. I had to get in a 6K walk so instead of running errands with the car I walked everywhere. I ended up walking 5 miles by the time I was done. And Maggie my dog got to tag along.

 

[hockeygirl]

Hey Carole--I am so sad your trip report is done..I really enjoyed reading about your trip. It makes me want to go there SOON!!! I have to wait until December for a short family trip and then my second short trip for the marathon in January. Between the two trips I will be there a total of 8 days. So, I have to plan both trips out!! You gave me some great ideas for restaurants...I actually can call now for our December trip...I definetely want to go to Boma.

Hang in there for the next week with your son's wedding coming up. It is going to go so fast!

Glad to hear the training is going well!

 

[CaroleD]

Hi Laurie. I'll pop over and check out your journal. I've been wondering how Toronto went.

Got my hill training in tonight. Did the hill 6 times!!!! I know 3 weeks ago I could not have done it this many times. Since doing the hill training I already find most hills much easier so it does work.

I have started having mini anxiety attacks about the wedding reception. I had trouble sleeping last night thinking about a million small details. The only good thing about that was I did get some good ideas. Tonight I finally got all my garden pots done. Right now I can hear raccoons in my back yard or my neighbours and I hope they aren't digging around my garden. Because it looks perfect right now! My next job is to look at lighting for the yard. I also cleaned my fridge and my windows are sparkling now. Once this wedding is done I'm going to relax and enjoy my garden and my super clean house.

Friday I'm having about 14 people for a BBQ for the wedding rehearsal. I was going to have everyone out to a restaurant but the kids wanted a hamburger BBQ. Go figure. They wanted it the week before so the best man who is out of town could come. It should be nice and relaxing.

 

[toystoryduo]

Sending you lots of pre-wedding . You are doing a great job getting your walks in and tackling those hills. Keep up the good work, Carole!

 

[CaroleD]

Thanks Tracy...I need some magic!

At the Running Room tonight we had a speaker before our 5K walk who spoke on training schedules. It was really interesting as she explained that if you train too hard you will actually lose endurance as the body needs recovery time to get stronger. She explained about stressing your body to get more endurance and speed and recovery time. Good info for me as I tend to go gung-ho.

My backyard is really shaping up now. I bought torches today and got red mulch for the walkway. The patio and deck are all swept and the chairs are out. My intention is to fill the garden with voltives as well. Now its decorating time. The hard work is done!

Tomorrow is the Rehearsal party. My table is set already so I'm feeling ahead of the game. I'm going to get all my chores and grocery shopping done in the morning as I need to get shoes to match my dress for the wedding in the afternoon. And I tried on the dress and it fits!

 

[toystoryduo]

Only 4 more days, WISH sis! How are you doing? Sending you and your family lots of for the next few days ahead.

 

[wdw4us]

Hello:

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a long time. I’ve been busy at work, I was sick and then my computer at home was down because we were in the process of construction or should I say destruction – knocking down walls to make 2 rooms into one big sewing/art studio.

It’s been a hectic time and I haven’t done much walking but plan on gearing up now. I was sick about 2 weeks with a bad sinus infection. That is almost clear now. The construction process is not done but at least the worst part is over …well at least until we get more $$ to finish.

Today is my birthday and I will celebrate by posting my 1800 post (at least that is my count now – when the boards went down years ago I had way more) to your thread.

I have read some of your trip report and enjoyed that very much. Hope the wedding goes off and they are blissfully happy.

Take care and I’ll try and get back into the swing of things.

denise

 

[CaroleD]

Life has gotten out of hand at this end to. Two days before the wedding and I somehow thought I could continue my walking program during this week. Not!!!!! I can't believe how many little things need to be picked up from various stores etc. That in itself is time consumning. Did I mention I hate shopping. Then there is getting the house ready for the reception, cleaning, clearing. The list goes on.
I had wonderful news today. I got my biopsy results and its all negative. Woo Hoo. Now I can enjoy the wedding!

 

[toystoryduo]

I had wonderful news today. I got my biopsy results and its all negative. Woo Hoo. Now I can enjoy the wedding!

Praise the Lord! That is most excellent news, Carole! I am so happy for you!

Sending you lots of to help you get all of that pre-wedding stuff done.

Best wishes to your family as you celebrate this happy occasion this weekend! Have a wonderful time!

 

[hockeygirl]

Hey Carole--sorry I have been MIA this week, life has been rather hectic.

I am SOOOOOOO... glad to hear the biopsy was ok, and everything is good. That is awesome news!!

I hope the rehearsal dinner went well last week, and everything goes smoothly with the wedding this weekend. I am sure you will have a great time.

I can't believe you still have had time to get in your walks and all that yard work with all that you have going on...that is awesome!! I wish I could keep up with my training.

Can't wait to hear about the wedding, I will be thinking of you this weekend!

 

[CaroleD]

Hi,
Just finally coming up for air. Or at least it feels like it.
I'll start off by saying that yesterday I walked 13K. My 10K race is next week. OK...now the wedding.

The weather was perfect!!!!!!! No humidity to speak off. About 25 Celcius..hmmm about 80 degrees and cooled down to 70 in the evening. And the whole wedding went well. The ceremony was touching, The dinner was great and the reception at my house was a great party. I wish you could have seen my backyard. It all looked so pretty. I've had so many people call and say it was one of the nicest weddings they have been to. And I was so proud of my husband. He did a great job being MC. And I have slept so well since. No more lists to go over in my head. lol. Laura and Jason are honeymooning in New York City right now. They both said they had a fantastic time at the wedding. I'm so happy that they will have that memory.

And DD has met a new boy. Very nice young man and it has gotten serious very quickly. I think it is the first time that Kim has gotten smitten. And I have to say I think he is a keeper. Perhaps because of the wedding stuff happening around them as they got to know each other...all that romance stuff...and voila, another romance starts. So long as I don't hear anything about another wedding!!!! At least not for a couple more years.

 

[DisDee]

Carole, I'm so happy to hear that your biopsy came back negative! That really is good news. I'm glad the wedding day was so beautiful. It sounds like you worked really hard to prepare your house and yard and get everthing just right. I'm sure that you're thrilled that everything worked out so well! Have a great week!