Day One: 9/27/2012
Departed Florence around 6:30 am for Orlando! After getting settled into the All-Star Music Resort we made our way over to Epcot for the rest of the day and night. But before I stepped foot on the bus to the park I stopped in the gift shop at the hotel and picked up my mouse ears and I wore them proudly the rest of the trip. Who cares that I'll be 29 in a few months, it's Disney! Before heading to the World Showcase we decided to ride Soarin. It was the first time all three of us had ridden and it was a blast! Flying through California smelling the evergreens and orange orchards was pretty damn cool. As soon as we stepped off the ride we picked up fast passes to come back and ride it again a few hours later!
Day Two: 9/28/2012
Being the CrossFit addict that I am, I started my Friday morning with a little burpee, sit-up, squat Tabata. However, my mom was still mastering her new iPhone and accidentally turned the timer off 6 minutes it so it got cut a little short. After breakfast it was finally time to make my pilgrimage to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure.
The entire park is great but honestly all I cared about was seeing Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. To say I geeked out is an understatement! I don't think I have ever looked or sounded as nerdy as I did walking through the shops, but I couldn't have cared less. After walking through Zonko's and Honeydukes I snagged a Butterbeer and we made our way over to the Dragon Challenge. Followed it up with a little more shopping in Dervish and Banges then hopped onto the Flight of the Hippogriff and capped off our time in Hogsmeade with a trip into Hogwarts for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
Not only was the ride completely amazing, even for a non-harry potter fanatic, but the walk through Hogwarts on the way to the ride was unbelievable . The Mirror of Erised, Dumbledore in his office, Harry, Ron and Hermione in the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom, portrait of the Fat Lady, talking Sorting Hat, talking portraits, floating candles in the Great Hall...see I am a mega-nerd!!! And I wish I could begin to explain the ride, but it wouldn't do it any justice. Do yourself a favor and just go see it all for yourself.
Once we exhausted Universal we made a pit-stop by ESPN's Wide World of Sports so I could pick up my race packet at the expo. I should have known just from how smoothly the expo went that Disney was going to put on a great race! We finished off our Thursday at Downtown Disney with some shopping and dinner at Portobello. We all sampled silician eggplant fries and mozzarella stuffed risotta balls. I didn't think it could get any better after that but my gnocchi with shredded pork ragu was scrumptious! All new foods for me and all outstanding!
Day Three: 9/29/2012
We spent the first half of Saturday at Animal Kingdom. And while this park is probably my least favorite of the four, I really only wanted to go to ride Everest! It's such a fun coaster and I knew my parents would love it.
We had late lunch reservations at one of my mom's favorite Disney restaurants, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre at Hollywood Studio's. Just as before it was a lot of fun and the milkshake was perfect! We walked around a rode a few other rides and then I headed back to the room early to catch a nap and get ready for the big race that night.
At 7:30 I boarded the bus from our hotel back to Hollywood Studios for the inaugural Tower of Terror Ten-Miler. I just knew I was going to be bored out of my mind having to be there more than two hours before the start of the race but boy was I wrong! Photo ops, food trucks and Hollywood Tower Hotel Doorman as the acting DJ made for plenty of entertainment! Not knowing a soul there I made a complete ass of myself dancing! I did the cupid shuffle, electric slide, learned to wobble, walked like an egyptian, danced to thriller and went foot loose. Best pre-race warm-up EVER!
At 9:00 they asked us all to move into our corrals before walking up to the start line. On my walk over I looked to my right and noticed Jeff Galloway was walking right next to me. Out of the 10,000 people walking over to their corrals, how do I end up next to an Olympian and creator of the running method I would be using to get through those 10 miles. I tapped him on the shoulder, spoke to him very briefly and shook his hand and went on my way. Pretty badass!
I was in corral B so we got started at about 10:05 with our own firework send off. Throughout the course there were DJs, eerie Twilight Zone tunes, and photo ops with different Disney Villians. We ran around the track and Atlanta Brave training camp field at Wide World of Sports and finished with a run through most of the park at Hollywood Studio's finishing up behind the Tower of Terror. Not only were the pre-race and race fantastic, but the post-race was pretty great too! Very organized, no waiting around for anything plus we could play in the park until four am! Thanks to Disney's handy runner tracking system my parents were there to greet me as I came out the chute and even got to spot me running past Mickey's sorcerers hat.
You would think after being on my feet for three days, running 10 miles and it being a little past midnight I would be exhausted but I was ready to hop on the Tower of Terror and have some more fun! Finally at three am my head hit my pillow.
Day Four: 9/30/2012
On Sunday we finally made it to the Magic Kingdom. My favorite park of all! There's nothing like walking through the gate and seeing Cinderella's Castle. You just feel like a kid all over again! The park was decorated for fall and Halloween which made it even more fun! With mouse ears in tow we wandered through Main Street USA and headed for Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. For such a dated ride, it's still so much fun! Next stop The Haunted Mansion. I think this will always be my favorite ride at Disney. Seeing the ghosts dancing just makes me so happy! We made our way through the rest of the park and finished our time there with ride on the Walt Disney World Railroad around the park.
We hopped on the monorail and made our way back to Epcot hoping to get another ride on Soarin and Mission space, but with over an hour wait we opted for making our way back through the World Showcase and grabbing a bite to eat. The Wine and Dine festival was getting underway and it was the eve of Epcot's 30th Birthday so the park was slowly getting crowded as the afternoon went on.
And just to make sure we were as exhausted as we could possibly be we went back to Hollywood Studios for our last bit of Disney fun. Finished with two more trips on the Tower of Terror and a little shopping. On our way out I finally spotted Mickey and Minnie at a dance party. Great way to end the trip!
Day Five: 10/1/2012
We hit the road to head home pretty early and made great time! While I was sad our time at Disney was over, I was ready to be back home with my pups. I had a productive first half of the ride working on my scarf until I realized I was picking up extra stitches and decided to put it off until I could get home and focus more on what I was actually doing. At a few minutes after three we finally pulled into town and my girls excitedly greeted me!
Because I just didn't get in enough walking, running and pure exhaustion in while away, I made my way up to PDCF to get back to squat training. I now understand the craving of wanting to feel some weight on your back and boy did it feel good to get back in there! Plus it was nice to see everyone after being away for a few days.
With just a few hours left of vacation I decided to stay in for the night with my two girls. I had a blast going away but I'm happy to be back home and sleeping in my own bed again. Sometimes coming back home is just as nice as going away!
The race sounds like it was ridunkulous! A vacation to remember! The Haunted Mansion ride is my favorite too. Even the waiting line is fun with the graves and the other effects.
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