Living the Magical Life

#DisneyRunningMantras

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:31:00 -0400

I don’t know about you, but when it come time to keep up the miles with no race in the near future, it can be hard for me to find the motivation sometimes. So I decided to put together a little list of my favorite Disney movie quotes that I sometimes use for running mantras:

“I’m gonna wreck it!”- Wreck It Ralph

“I can go the distance…”- Hercules

“Just keep swimming…”- Dory

“Today is a good day to try.”- Hunchback of Notre Dame

“I know that the night must end, and that the sun will rise.”- Lion King (Broadway)

“If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme.”- Jiminy Cricket

“I’m a shooting star, I’ve come so far…”- Jasmine

“Dig a little deeper.”- Winnie the Pooh

“You just need to believe in yourself!”- Rex

“All it takes is faith and trust…”- Peter Pan

“To infinity and beyond!”- Buzz Lightyear

“It’s kinda fun to do the impossible.”- Walt Disney

“The very things that hold you down are going to lift you up.” - Timothy Mouse

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”- Walt Disney

“Boo-yah!”- Kuzco

“Boom, baby!”- Kuzco

“Move it around!”- Lion, Bedknobs & Broomsticks

“There must be more than this provincial life…” -Belle

“Directive.”- Eve

“Swift as the coursing rain, with all the force of a great typhoon…”- Soldiers, Mulan

“Let’s go kick some honey buns!”- Mushu

“Go, live your dream.”- Hook Hand, Tangled

“Keep moving forward.”- Walt Disney (Thanks, Krissy Murphy!)

“Speed. I am Speed.”- Lightning McQueen (Thanks, Chris Talley!)

Are there any good ones that I may have missed?

My Newest Gadget to Make Running Magical

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:09:00 -0500

My Newest Gadget to Make Running Magical:

I had the pleasure of reading this article on Forbes recently, and was completely enthralled with the kickstarter story of Cheryl Kellond & Sylvia Marino. I mean, this is the way businesses should be: women who want to change things for the better and finding the support from the people. The story behind BIA-Sport is truly a magical one, and I found myself completely caught up.

After careful consideration for about a month, I finally decided that I wanted to be apart of the magic and took the plunge to invest in my pre-order. I’m *so* excited to get my new BIA Sport in August! After running the Princess Half with my iPhone and nearly losing all my pictures and data when the battery almost died, it will be nice to have all the flexibility that the BIA offers. If my husband has his way with all his triathalon traning, I’ll even be testing the waterproof feature, although I much prefer land sports to swimming.

2013 Princess Half-Marathon Recap (Through the Eyes of Pal Mickey)

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 11:56:00 -0500

Race day! What started out on a whim as a girls trip while I still had my Annual Pass ended up being a Pal Mickey first: a Pal Mickey Adventure along the Princess Half-Marathon race course! He was so excited to be able to come along that he even busted out the tutu to go along with some of the other guys dressed up on the course.

Can you guess which princess we decided to dress up as? ;)

After waking at the wee hour of 2:30am to start primping and dressing, Pal Mickey Princess and I, along with my sister Katie (going as Ariel), made our way from our hotel room at All-Star Sports out to the line for the busses around 3:30am— and the line was already wrapped along the side, around the surf pool, and heading back toward the Hoops Hotel buildings. Thankfully the line moved relatively quickly for us, and the line gave us a chance to eat the contents of our Runner’s Boxes. Pal Mickey Tip: If you are staying at a Disney resort for a runDisney event, check in the food service areas to see if they are offering Runner’s Boxes the night before the race. Each box contained a bagel, peanut butter, granola bar, small bottle of water and a banana for $7. This was the first time I had ever seen them in my four half-marathons with Disney and it was very convenient. (And cheaper than buying each thing individually!)

Princesses Belle and Ariel reporting for race day!

We finished the contents of our boxes just in time to get on one of the busses and head to Epcot along with thousands of our other closest princess friends….

There were a few other members of the royal family who would be joining us on our journey.

The ride from All-Star Sports to Epcot took a little longer than we had hoped, and we ended up arriving in the runner’s area of the Epcot parking lot around 4:30am. Now for those who have never run an endurance event at Walt Disney World, you are supposed to be in your race corral at the starting line by 5:00am, so we quickly took care of a few personal business items and started the walk to the corrals. I happen to refer to this trek affectionally as the Cattle Crawl, because for the mile and a half or so you have to walk from the Epcot parking lot to the starting corrals, everyone is very tightly packed together and moves relatively slowly. Quite frankly, we all look a bit like we are being herded to greener pastures. Maybe if Billy Crystal and Jack Palance were on horses circling us as we went it would be a bit more entertaining (City Slickers, anyone?), but what was entertaining along the way was taking the chance to look around and see everyone’s great costumes! Some of the attention to detail that people put into their costumes is just amazing— everyone looked so great!

Cattle Crawl-ing our way out to the starting corrals…

After the Cattle Crawl, we finally made it to our corral…

We stretched out a little as we went, and soon enough, we were on our way.

I love how they shoot off fireworks for us at the start!

And we were off! The weather was quite humid, but at least starting at the crack of dawn has it’s benefits when it comes to shade. We made it to mile 1 in no time at all, and we continued on our way up World Drive, parallel to the monorail, toward the Magic Kingdom.

Now on and off through the Cattle Crawl and at the beginning of the race, we happened upon an obstacle to our race experience: It seemed as though Mom would not be able to get up to the Magic Kingdom to see us run through. When my Mom headed out to the busses at 5:30, she was met by a small group of people who also realized at that very moment that there was no bus service from 5:00am-7:00am. When they tried to call for a taxi, the driver said he wouldn’t be able to get around due to the race road closures. We thought for sure we were out of luck, and Mom had just resolved to meet us at Epcot at the finish line.

Bummed, but putting on my princess face at Mile 2. Pal Mickey Tip: If you have anyone coming as a spectator to watch on race day, be sure to thoroughly read all the transportation times and closures so everyone is aware and will know how to get to where they need to go in order to see the race! For morning half-marathons, there is NO bus transportation from 5:00am-7:00am!

This was a HUGE deal for Katie and I, as my Mom has become an integral part of our race trips. Ever since we got our Coast to Coast medal (for running a race in WDW and Disneyland in a calendar year) last September during the Disneyland Half, Mom has come on our trips, cheered us on, and been an important part of our team. My Mom doesn’t want or need much, but one of the highest priority items on her list for this trip was to get pictures with us with Cinderella’s Castle in the background that would match up with the pictures we got of us with Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in Disneyland. The thought of her coming all this way and supporting us, and then not getting the one simple thing she wanted and came out all this way for was just completely deflating.

As I was getting phone calls from Mom throughout the first portion of the race updating us on the situation, we were getting more and more depressed. We cheered up a little bit as we approached the Magic Kingdom, but it was bittersweet knowing that she wouldn’t be there.

There it is! But Mom isn’t there.

It made for a very somber first four miles or so.

Not even photobombing the villians pictures was helping to cheer me, Pal Mickey, or Katie up.

But… just then… as we were approaching the Transportation and Ticket Center… we got a call. Mom was THERE! You want to hear a magical story, well do I have one for you! :)

After the taxi idea had fallen through, Mom asked the folks at All-Star Sports when the first resort bus (not event transportation bus) would come to take people to the parks for the day. They informed her that they usually start at 7:00am, but sometimes will start around 6:45am. It was a long shot given when our corral started that we could meet at the Magic Kingdom, but if we took our time with enough pictures along the way, it could be possible. She decided to head out to the resort bus waiting area and see what may come of it, although it was a long shot.

Like Prince Charming on his white horse, all of a sudden a bus labeled “Magic Kingdom” came charging in— at 6:15am! Mom ran over and the bus driver told her that she could take her up to the Transportation and Ticket Center, but not all the way to the park due to the road closures. Mom hopped on board (she was the only passenger!) and that wonderfully magical bus driver drove my Mom up to the Transportation and Ticket Center just in time for Mom to catch a monorail and make it to the Magic Kingdom before us!

These princesses were positively beaming by Mile 4, thanks to the efforts of one awesome bus driver!

When I got the call that she was going to make it, Katie and I had renewed energy— we were doing this not just for us, but for Mom too! I let out a very un-princess like whoop and we used the extra pep in our step to get to see Mom. Of course, we had to stop for some pictures… but just to make sure that Mom got there before us. ;)

Awesome Taiko drumming group at the Transportation and Ticket Center!

YAHOO! We were on our way to the Magic Kingdom AND Mom was able to make it! Dreams really do come true, even when things seem impossible!

Very cool character puppets on the way from the Transportation and Ticket Center toward the Magic Kingdom!

Almost there! Gotta keep going!

Now if you have never run a race at Walt Disney World before, I simply can not describe the feeling of running into the Magic Kingdom. The sun just starting to rise, the lights of Main Street on, the castle twinkling, all the people cheering… it chokes me up every time. There’s a reason these runDisney races have grown exponentially in size so quickly, and the magic factor is a huge part of it. With Mom being able to make it there in spite of it all made the whole thing even more emotional. Getting teary-eyed and panning the crowds, Pal Mickey, Katie, and I made our way up Main Street toward Cinderella’s Castle.

Dreams really do come true!

After some teary but joyful hugs, we got back on course and headed into Tomorrowland, admired all the awesome neon lighting (one of my personal favorite details), and back around into Fantasyland. Of course, we had to stop and get this picture:

Three Belles out for a morning photo op!

After waiting in line for the Belle photo, we headed back through Cinderella’s Castle and into Frontierland for Mile 6…

I *never* get tired of that castle!

…And then back out the side of the Magic Kingdom to make our way back out toward World Drive.

For me, the endurance part of this course is always Mile 6.5 up to about Mile 10. I always find I have to pull up on my mental training the most along this stretch. That isn’t to say there aren’t things to look at and do, but I always tend to experience this little crash back to reality after the build up leading to the Magic Kingdom. So I cranked up my music, started using my mantra (“I’m gonna wreck it!” :) ) and worked to hunker down into a rhythm for the next stretch.

Mile 7, right around the Grand Floridian and Polynesian Resorts

Speaking of endurance, it was around this time that Katie turned to me and told me she was really going to need some encouragement for the rest of the race, as she was experiencing some pain in her feet. So we pushed on, using a combination of running and walking to “Keep Moving Forward”. (Thank YOU Walt, for your inspiration and vision in more ways than one.)

Mile 8, “Just Keep Swimming”

Slowly but surely, we kept working our way back down World Drive and towards Epcot. Mom had called me to let me know she was right around the Mile 13 marker so we would know to look for her, and we pushed on. Katie’s pain was starting to become more and more severe, but we worked to keep things slow and steady.

Gee, can you tell there was a water stop near by? Or maybe that’s just “runner’s confetti”? ;)

There was a great photo op right in this stretch of World Drive that had all the Heros from the different movies featuring princesses that I wished I had the patience try and snap, but the lines were just too long and I certainly didn’t want to stop and have Katie cramp up when she was already experiencing pain, so we enjoyed the view and made our way to Mile 10.

The infamous on-ramp portion of the daytime Half-Marathon course.

We took it easy going up the ramp and was greeted by one of the green army men from Toy Story at the top. If I had the nerve, I would’ve stopped to do some push-ups— one of my favorite memories from doing the WDW Half-Marathon back in January, but at this point it was about survival and just gaining that extra ground as much as we could. (As well as trying to conserve some phone battery!) Sure enough, we eventually made it to Mile 11, with Epcot in our sights!

Two miles to go!

Right after the Mile 11 marker was an awesome Mulan display and a short line, so we put on our princess smiles and posed for a great picture…

Definitely need to try for a Mulan costume sometime… under-rated princess AND with a hair style that is off the face & neck!

Grinning and bearing it, we made it to Mile 12. Only one more to go! At this point, all Katie and I were talking about was food, ice for our feet, and a hot shower after running in this crazy humidity. We did also exchange thanks for the fact that it was overcast for the whole race though- I can’t even imagine how tough it could’ve been if it were sunny and that humid!

Epcot was just a short jog away! Epcot is definitely one of my favorite parks, but I will be the first to admit that when hitting it at this point in the race, I am usually ready to just get through it as quickly as I can in order to get to the finish line. As anxious as I am though, I always have to stop and admire Spaceship Earth…

Almost there, and just look at that view!

Soon enough, we wound our way back through Futureworld and out to the Hallelujah Gospel Chorus that greets you as you exit Epcot and head out to the parking lot where Mile 13 awaits.

So close!!!!!

After finding Mom along the railing and waving for the video camera, we summoned the last bit of physical strength we at left, and crossed the finish line! We finally made it! It was definitely no small feat, (for our feet! LOL… too much? Too much.) and we were rewarded with some great bling to go along with our magical experience…

You may not be able to see, but Pal Mickey has a little medal of his own that was a gift from Kristin and our other Pal Mickey friend! Please note: this picture was taken post-shower/icing session for your viewing courtesy.

After freshening up, we put on our calf compression sleeves and proceeded to eat a ton of food: Mickey waffles w/strawberries, bacon, and Chicken Penne Alfredo— YUM! (And yes, two entrees. No, I’m not ashamed. Definitely a proud member of the facebook group, I Run Disney So I Can Eat Disney.) We ate until our stomachs and hearts were content and then made our way via Magical Express back to the reality that is the Orlando International Airport.

Pal Mickey Tip: If you are running a race, and especially if you have to travel the same day after wards, be sure to have some compression socks or calf sleeves. They DEFINITELY helped make the flight home a less sore, more enjoyable trip. I even wore them for a few days after the race to help my legs get back into the K-8 Music Teacher routine.

LOVE that bling! Definitely wore it proudly throughout the airport and on the plane.

What an unbelievable race experience!! For us, this race was quite a roller-coaster of emotion and strength— certainly not the smoothest or calmest of race experiences. In some ways though, I think this race experience was even more magical because of those hardships and obstacles. We showed our strength, Disney provided a healthy amount of magic, and in the end, we are stronger and happier because of it.

Here’s to you and your Happily Ever After— I am confident that ours will include more runDisney race experiences!

~Lauren (@TIx2GR) & Pal Mickey (@PalMickeyTips)

CarsLand at night- so awesome, especially when you eat at...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:20:12 -0500

CarsLand at night- so awesome, especially when you eat at Flo’s V8 cafe.

Loved King Triton’s Carousel after revving through...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 15:51:31 -0500

Loved King Triton’s Carousel after revving through CarsLand @DCAToday

Disneyland Half Marathon: Final Thoughts

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:18:14 -0400

Well, it sure was a packed trip. We got about 3 hours of “rest” before Mom and I had to get up and head downstairs to catch our Supershuttle back to LAX. I managed to gather up enough consciousness to take one last picture in the lobby of the Frontier Tower:

In the end though, the general lack of sleep was totally worth it. All three of us got a little bit of much needed clarity and (mental) relaxation before starting our new school years, and Katie and I starting our new jobs. (With all three of us being teachers, we have to take advantage of the few times that we all happen to have vacation off at the same time; just another way this trip worked out perfectly.)

After sleeping most of the way from LAX to Denver, a thought occurred to me about the differences in vacationing at Disneyland versus Disney World. When you vacation at WDW, the best comparison I can think of is when you take a vacation to a major metropolitan area. There is just SO much area to cover, and you have to familiarize yourself with the area’s transportation system, the different neighborhoods (parks/resorts) that all have their own individual uniqueness about them. When you vacation at WDW, you have to take the time to really learn about the resort in order to get around and make the most out of your trip, because no matter what, you are not going to be able to see everything in one trip. (Unless perhaps, you plan on staying a solid month.)

When you vacation at Disneyland, especially when you stay at a Disney hotel, there is a degree of intimacy that you do not get at WDW. Everything is so close, you can walk. There is a much more laidback outlook about vacationing there, giving you the flexibility to either “go commando” and see as much as you can, or you can simply relax and head back to the pool for a couple hours. It really does feel much more like a “resort”. Now, that’s not to say that you’ll be able to see everything in a couple days— I know we missed a lot, and Mom and I have already tossed some ideas back and forth as to when we can come back and bring our spouses with us. But we were still able to see a lot and experience a lot in the short 2 1/2 days that we were there, and we were still able to get in some pool time— something that simply does not usually happen when we vacation at WDW.

In some ways, I think I might prefer the Disneyland vacation. The closeness of everything, the nostalgia of the 1950s and of Walt’s parks, the laidback outlook. In other ways, WDW will always be home. What’s even better is that we don’t have to pick one or the other— we can choose whichever area we want to go to based on the kind of vacation we are looking to have.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip report— I know it wasn’t a full on “Pal Mickey Adventure”, but he certainly came along for the ride! If you look through the pictures, you should be able to spot him in most of them…

(Pal Mickey enjoying the ride on an otter on King Triton’s Carousel)

So what’s up next? Settling in at home for a while, enjoying the new job and a calmer schedule. Oh, you mean the next trip? Look for Kristin, both Pal Mickeys, my husband Dan, and I to be in WDW for the Half Marathon in January. (Dan will be running the 5K, Kristin and I the Half.) Until then, see you on Twitter, Facebook, and beyond! :)

Disneyland Half Marathon: Race Day Pt. 2- Celebration! (Sept. 2)

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 20:40:02 -0400

We took our bad selves out into the world, clinging and clanking a little less thanks to a couple of safety pins, and headed to California Adventure.

We had lunch reservations at Carthay Circle Restaurant for 1:00pm, so we decided to grab some FPs for California Screamin’ and hunt down some PhotoPass photogs for as many celebratory pictures as we could get!

Once it was time for our reservations, we were greeted with a blessedly cool lobby area and some waters until our table was ready.

Once our table was ready, we were escorted up to the second level via elevator. It is so beautiful in this restaurant! Love all the artwork and photographs. You really get a sense of Disney history here.

At our table, Katie and I couldn’t resist taking another picture with our new bling before our waitress came to take our orders.

Because we were doing the World of Color package, each one of us had to order a main entree as well as either an appetizer or dessert. Mom and I opted to wait until dessert, but Katie wanted to try the Crispy Gorditas and graciously shared with us- YUM! I don’t even usually like mushrooms, but man were they good!

For our entrees, I had the 8 Oz. Angus Burger with some of the best french fries I’ve ever eaten:

Mom had the Pappardelle Pasta with Chicken Meatballs that was OUTSTANDING (I wished I had actually ordered this instead because it was that good):

And Katie had a “Veggie Tower” that was not on the menu; rather, the chef created it as an additional vegetarian option, but you need to ask for it. Katie said it was one of the best Disney meals she’d ever had!

While we waited for our desserts, we heard the Pixar Play Parade come by on Buena Vista Street, and the restaurant staff opened the second story doors so that anyone who wanted to go out onto the terrace to watch could do so. It was so cool to watch the parade from up above!

Buzz waved at me! :)

So did Jessie! (Hey! I recognize that float from earlier today! :) )

After the parade was done, dessert came out.

Banana Split Monte Cristo for me, please! :)

Seasonal Pie: Blackberry & White Nectarine w/Vanilla Ice Cream- also yummy! (We just wished the pie was a little warm.)

Dessert finished and stomachs full, we ventured out slowly to explore more of the park. We stopped by Monstropolis…

Walked back through Cars Land…

… and made our way back toward California Screamin’ to use our fastpasses! (Mom decided to pass on this one and sit on Paradise Pier.)

Yeah, no bling for this shot. Wasn’t going to risk that!

After screamin’ in California, we headed over to Ghirardelli’s to grab chocolate sodas. Now, getting chocolate sodas from Ghirardelli’s is a tradition in my family that dates back all the way to our first trip to Disney in 2000. Every trip, we have to stop by and get a chocolate soda at some point. So after we had strolled slowly around the park and rode a bit, we decided now was a great time as we were about to head back into Cars Land and check out the single rider line for Radiator Springs Racers.

Mom was thrilled that the line wasn’t too long and we were going to get our second race!

After a few more pictures and another “good ol’ fashioned fun unferlin’” time on the Junkyard Jamboree, Mom and I wanted to get in another tradition: a ride on the Tower of Terror!

And Katie and I got in one more ride on California Screamin’ before we used our World of Color passes to make our way to the priority viewing area.

Oh my goodness me, I can’t believe I’m about to type this. I never thought any show would be able to compete with Reflections of Earth for me. But if any show can, it would be World of Color. If I had the opportunity to see World of Color multiple times, it may have even been right next to or beaten Reflections of Earth, it was that good. I avoided spoilers like crazy because I wanted my first viewing of it to be magical, and magical doesn’t even come close. The sky and the air honestly look as though they are being painted. The musical medley/score is so well interwoven with the effects that you don’t dare take your eyes away from the lagoon for a second. World of Color is the epitome of Disney nighttime show, where artistry and technology meet and create something that can not be seen anywhere else. I can not stress it enough- World of Color is a must see.

Once World of Color was done and our minds were blown up with magic, we sat for a few minutes and people watched before heading over to Disneyland to finish up a little last minute shopping. I couldn’t believe our amazing trip was about to come to a close! Katie and I picked up our Disneyland Alex & Ani bracelets from the jewelry store, then we took the monorail back to Downtown Disney so Mom and I could run over to World of Disney to pick up a few last minute things before they closed. Katie headed back to the hotel to grab a table for us at Trader Sam’s so we could toast a successful trip to a close. I decided on the Krakatoa Punch in the souvenir tiki glass (it glows red!)…

…and they even brought me into the bar to watch Krakatoa errupt since we couldn’t get a table in the bar itself. :)

We were all thoroughly exhausted, legs aching, but it sure was all worth it. By the time we actually got to bed it was about 12:00 and Mom and I had to get up for the Supershuttle pick up at 3:30am for our 6:00am flight back home… I’m getting tired again just thinking about it! Good thing we were able to get some sleep on the first leg of our flights…

Final thoughts to come up soon! :)

Disneyland Half Marathon: Race Day Pt. 1- The Race! (Sept. 2)

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 19:20:08 -0400

So this was it! Today was the day we’d finally get our Coast to Coast medals! (And get to cut off those annoying green bracelets that would make my hand go numb at night!) We woke up early, although it wasn’t very bright and we certainly were not very bushy-tailed, although the adrenaline would certainly take care of it early enough. After going over the plan for meeting up on Main Street USA about 2 miles in, and again at the end of the race with a very excited Mom who was completely covered in ChEAR Squad gear and camera equipment, we were off to find our corral!

Although there was a huge mass of people, we were able to find corral D relatively easily.

I decided to dress up as Donald in honor of our first marathon being Donald’s Half Marathon in WDW this past January!

Before we knew it, it was time for Corral D to step up to the starting line… (“D for Determined!”)

…And we were off!

The first mile or so was simply across Katella to Harbor, and then back into the backstage areas behind California Adventure. I will say this though, it was fascinating running in the backstage areas— seeing the other side of the rock that makes up Cars Land was certainly a fascinating tangle of steel and other construction materials! Although, I always tend to think running backstage is pretty cool… :)

Speaking of backstage, we “ran” into a couple of floats for the Pixar Play Parade while we were there!

The cool thing about the float above here is that we would see it later in the day from the second story of the Carthay Circle Restaurant, only there would be acrobats using the tinker toys in Rex’s mouth! :)

Once we passed from the backstage area into Paradise Pier, I definitely got choked up when I saw the fountains and heard the soundtrack for World of Color on!

We were quickly approaching Mile Marker 2…

…and made our way into Cars Land!

(The space in between Katie and myself is left here on purpose, for our dear friend Kristin who couldn’t make the trip with us! She ran the Disney World Half Marathon with us, and although she was not with us in person, she certainly was in our thoughts and hearts!)

Love that neon!

Mater and Lightning came out for pictures! But Katie and I opted to have our pic with our favorite fire engine instead…

After winding around some more backstage areas in California Adventure, we eventually made our way into the backstage areas of Disneyland. When we arrived onto Main Street USA, we were greeted by some more characters and floats…

…and we found Mom! :-D

It was SO great to have her there, apart of our big race! And she was beyond happy, video camera in one hand, and Mickey clappers in the other… She even got some true video “footage” as we were huddling together to hug and get this picture (while the video camera was still running)! :) After we gave our hugs and had our pictures taken, Katie and I headed off again toward Fantasyland and the castle…

…and through Tomorrowland…

…back toward Toontown (where we found Manny the Monorail waiting to cheer us on!)…

…and out into Anaheim!

(Hey, those stop lights don’t seem to be too effective with those runners in the way…)

Miles 5-8 were pretty uneventful with the exception of some very clever signs (“WORST PARADE EVER!”) and a number of cool hot rods and classic cars. What was even cooler about all the cars lining the industrial streets was all the owners who were dressed up and cheering on all the runners as they passed! With Katie and I both hailing from the Detroit area, we certainly appreciated seeing some great machinery along our route!

Still going strong at Mile 8!

Made it to the Honda Center, AKA “The Pond”!

My, what magical barbed wiring! ;)

After going around the Honda Center and making our way along a ravine for a little while, we approached Angels Stadium. When we entered in through a tunnel area and into the stadium, I was not ready for what was waiting for us runners…

THOUSANDS of boy and girl scouts were cheering for everyone as we ran along the warning track! I definitely had another misty moment as we made our way along the first base line towards home plate!

It was about at this point when we realized we were maintaining pace with the 2:45 pace runner… we couldn’t believe it! Katie and I were hoping just to be able to finish the race, and hadn’t really considered being able to better our time from January! Now it was on like Donkey Kong! :)

We powered through Mile 10…

Mile 11…

And Mile 12…

(I missed the Mile 13 marker due to one of the pro photogs standing in the way, and at that point just wanting to be done…)

We kept going, pushing, and….

We did it! We beat our January time by 3 minutes, and we saw Mom at the top of the grandstands, waving like crazy! It was truly a great moment! :) We walked around the runners area for a bit, got our water/food, and of course, our bling! After icing up my knee, we tried to get across to the grandstand area to meet up with Mom, however everyone was being directed either toward the front of the Disneyland Hotel around the block, or over toward Downtown Disney and the parks. Katie and I decided to head back to the hotel and see if maybe Mom had already gone back. We both clanked around the block like two rap stars with our medals on until we made it back to the room, discussing how we wanted to jump in the pool to cool our muscles down and then in the hot tub to relax the soreness away. However when we made it back, Mom wasn’t back yet. Just as I was about to head out and look for her, she made it though, and my legs were eternally grateful! :)

Mom stayed back to shower while Katie and I took some time to enjoy the beautiful pool area at our hotel. First we eased our way in to the E-ticket pool, eventually loving the cold water on our sore muscles, then we decided to try out the monorail slides which were both very fun! We took a quick soak in the hot tub to relax the muscles a little bit after soaking them in the cold water, cleaned ourselves up, and got ready to head out to the parks to celebrate!

Disneyland Half Marathon: Race Day Eve (Sept. 1)

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:08:45 -0400

Waking up to the sunlight starting to stream in through our curtains from our beloved parking lot view…

This bed is so fluffy…and I have lights twinkling above my head…wait a second. I don’t have lights twinkling above my head at home. Where was I again? Disneyland? Was I seriously at Disneyland? That’s RIGHT! We are! And it’s time to get all neat and pretty so we can head out to the Happiest Place on Earth for a day of magic and fun! :)

We were up and at ‘em early so that we could take advantage of our early park entry at Disneyland. We hit the path to Downtown Disney around 7:20am and crossed all kinds of people who were wearing their Cars Land 5K medallions! Congrats to all those who ran it! Seeing everyone made me kind of wish I had run it as well, but I knew we’d need every little bit of sleep we could get on this trip, so we opted for a little bit of extra rest instead.

By 8:00am or so, we were in to Disneyland and riding just about everything we could with as little line as possible. Matterhorn, Mr. Toad, Pinnochio, Alice… it was really nice to get on so many rides so early! I tried to talk Mom and Katie into riding on the Tea Cups with me, but as they both knew that riding the Tea Cups brings these little devil horns out in me, they both opted to stay on the ground. :)

By about 9:30am, it was time to grab some delicious breakfast pastries from the Jolly Holliday Bakery (I am SUCH a sucker for Mary Poppins. Totally tried to jump into the TV like the kids tried to jump into the chalk paintings when I was a kid.) and rendezvous with Katie’s friend Sarah who would be joining us for the day. After purchasing our food and meeting up with Sarah, I ran over to grab some fastpasses for Space Mountain, and we set off to explore the Magic Kingdom of Disneyland!

We made our way back toward Critter Country via New Orleans Square and Frontierland first. Rode on Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, grabbed some fastpasses for Splash Mountain, stopped for some pictures with Pooh and Friends, rode on Winnie the Pooh, grabbed a Tigger Tail (YUM!), rode on Splash Mountain (sans Mom, who did not want to get wet), and stopped at the Hungry Bear before catching Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. While waiting for Billy Hill, we were pleasantly surprised to find Mickey, Minnie, and a few other characters hanging around as well, just waiting for pictures! :) The show ended up being a good one, but not as good as I remembered from when they were in the Golden Horseshoe. Oh well- still glad I got to show them to Mom!

All the while, you may notice in some of the pictures Sarah hanging onto a can of Deja Blue from Southwest Airlines… Why, might you ask? Everyone knows that canned water is better than bottled. ;) Can and Pal Mickey became picture/avatar friends, and it became quite fun to see how many pictures we could get Can in throughout the trip…

After finishing things up in Frontierland and Critter Country, we headed over to Tomorrowland to use our Space Mountain FPs, grab some more FPs for later, and take a spin with Buzz Lightyear on the Astroblasters. (TIP: Your onboard ride picture at Buzz Lightyear is free, so long as you can find it and e-mail it to yourself using the kiosks at the end of the ride! Very cool!)

We headed over to Adventureland next, checking on Indiana Jones to see if it was open after being shut down periodically throughout the day. By the afternoon though, it was running and the wait was about 45 minutes, so we decided to go ahead and brave the line. After barely escaping the wrath of Mara, we made it out and decided to treat ourselves to a Dole Whip float, which the line was just about as long as any ride we encountered the whole trip… (TIP: to get a slightly shorter line, go just inside the entrance to the Tiki room and wait in line in the Tiki gardens. More scenery, a pre-show, and seating for those who need it while you wait in line for your pineapply goodness. And you absolutely do not have to go in the Tiki room for the show if you do not want to- just walk back out the way you came in and you’re ready to go.)

After surviving the rides and lines in Adventureland, we wanted to check out the wait at Matterhorn for Sarah, who did not get to ride it with us earlier in the day. Unfortunately the wait was another relatively long one, and Sarah decided it wasn’t worth it. So we opted to head over toward the Nemo submarines and get in line just before the evening parade was finishing up.

The sun was starting to wear everyone down a bit, so we decided to use our last Fastpasses for Space Mountain and then take the monorail back down to Downtown Disney and put our names in at Naples for some pre-race pasta. Once we got to Downtown Disney though, Sarah mentioned that she needed to start heading back home. It was so much fun to get to meet her and hang out with her throughout the day!

The wait for Naples was about 45 minutes, but they have this awesome service where they text you when your table is ready, so you are completely free to roam around wherever you may without being tethered by a pager system! Katie decided to pop a squat in some of the comfy chairs in the lobby of the Grand Californian, while Mom and I headed out to look for my Disney Dooney bags.

Now, this whole time, I’ve been on the look out for two particular bags. One, I wanted a black Charms wristlet that had a sorcerer’s hat on it, as I am a professional musician/music educator and hold a particular fondness for Fantasia. The other I was looking for was a brown leather sketch letter carrier. Both I had seen in abundance in June, on my last trip to Disney World, however, I was not in a position to purchase either at that point. After saving up a little bit of money though, I was now ready to treat myself to these two purchases. Unfortunately, luck was seemingly not on my side for these purchases… every store I looked at Disneyland either did not have it (the brown leather LC) or did not have the charm I was looking for. Until we arrived at Vault 28…

Granted, it does not have the sorcerer’s hat on the front like I was hoping, but all the charms that are on it have some meaning. The carousel horse is like that from Mary Poppins, and on my very first trip to Disneyland, I did ride the horse dedicated to Julie Andrews on the carousel back in 2008. It also has the Disneyland D, a Mickey balloon, and most of the castle charm, as well as the little mushroom guy from Fantasia (Chinese Dance, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite). The back has a full sorcerers hat, as well as a decorative Mickey icon charm which matches one of my scarves at home and a Minnie that reminds me of some of the poses we did with her earlier in the day. Although it wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned as my perfect charms wristlet, this one sure has a lot of meaning. I dove in and made the purchase, just as we received the text that our table at Naples was ready!

The food at Naples was great. The tomatoes on the bruschetta in particular reminded me a great deal of the tomatoes in Italy that my husband and I had on our honeymoon- second to none. I had spaghetti and meatballs, that were delicious but VERY filling, while Mom had a pizza and Katie had a veggie/pasta dish that she enjoyed a great deal as well. After eating as much as we could, we stopped at La Brea Bakery to grab a small loaf of bread for Katie and I to share in the morning before running, and then headed back to the hotel.

After looking all over for some place we could buy a banana and some peanut butter (we even asked at Goofy’s Kitchen and ended up getting some pictures taken!), we ended up ordering them from room service so we’d have them in the morning. Then Katie and I headed down to the hot tub for a little bit of stewin’ before turning in for the night. The hot tubs at the Disneyland hotel are HUGE- a good 20 ft. in diameter, so it really does feel as though there is room for everyone. The jets were great as well, especially when you can find one to put on your feet at the end of the day. ;) When the pool area shut down around 10pm, we headed back up to the room to set out our clothes/costumes for tomorrow. As I was setting out all my race items- my jelly beans, my camelbak, my costume, my shoes, etc.- it was starting to set in… Race day was upon us! :)

Disneyland Half Marathon: Arrival Day (Aug 31)

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:30:43 -0400

So this was it! After signing up all the way back in January, before even having ever run a half marathon, we were now on our way to earn our Coast to Coast Medals. Not only would that have been enough excitement to put both Katie and I off the edge, but this time, we would have someone cheering for us— my Mom was coming as well! A much needed trip for us all (see my last post about Context to this trip), we couldn’t wait to finally make our way to Anaheim.

Mom and I flew from Detroit to Denver, and then Denver to LAX, and I can’t tell you how fortunate we were the entire way out to California. We were upgraded to stretch seating for free on both of our Frontier flights, and we were able to snag the last couple seats on the 10:30am Disneyland Express bus without having to wait at all. It was as though the fates were giving us permission to really relax and settle in to our trip! When we pulled into the Disneyland Hotel though, that was when we first realized what a treat we were in on for the next 3 days.

I simply can not stress enough how wonderful the Disneyland Hotel is. The flora, the decor, the pool area, EVERYTHING is just brimming with classic Disney magic. You feel as though you are walking into that classic 1950’s nostalgia when the park was first built, while not having to compromise at all on modern comforts. My mouth was in a perpetual state of openness in between texting Katie, my sister in law, who had arrived earlier that morning from San Francisco. She told me that she had waited in line for the expo right as it opened and was able to pick up all our things with the exception of my Coast-to-Coast bracelet. No worries though, as we still needed to head back down to the expo anyway to pick up Mom’s ChEAR package. We met and hugged lots in the outdoor lobby area of the Disneyland Hotel, and Katie showed us to our room in the Frontier Tower. A gorgeous, very comfortable room… that overlooked a parking lot and DVC building. We laughed about it, knowing that we had only asked for a standard room through GET Travel when we booked the package. After playing with the BEAUTIFUL glowing headboard/music box for a few minutes, we dropped off our things, and headed back to the expo.

Now I can’t speak for other runners, but I know Katie and I were both amazed with the efficiency of the pick-up areas and the expo for the Disneyland Half. We were in and out very quickly, and after an hour of being officially open, there wasn’t even a line to get in. The girl from our pick up area remembered Katie and put on my Coast to Coast bracelet. (I can’t believe it! There it was! :) ) Then we met Mom over the the ChEAR squad pick up- I was so happy to see how excited she was to have a bag of goodies to pick up. She had gotten the Gold package so she could cheer us on from inside Disneyland on the day of the race, and the smile on her face as she picked up her bag was simply priceless. Just another reminder of how truly magical this trip was for us.

Next, we headed up to the expo. Time to get our shirts and race swag! We stopped to get a few pictures here and there, but we also had a short shopping list to attend to while we were here: Jelly Belly sport beans, a SPIBelt for me, we wanted to stop at the Ink ‘n Burn booth at the suggestion of my friend Matt Marcella on the Team #runDisney FB page, and of course, pick up some race apparel. Although I wore my vintage Michigan jersey shirt and was hoping to run into some other Team #runDisney folks, I didn’t manage to see anyone. We were able to get everything else we needed though, including my orange sport beans, a water resistant SPIBelt, and a Disneyland Half/runDisney jacket. Katie and I also each got an adorable shirt that says “I’m only HALF Crazy”— love it! :)

Next, we headed over to Tangaroa Terrace for some lunch. (I mean, who wouldn’t want to eat lunch at a tiki-themed quick-service over looking that awesome pool area?!) I had the Kalua Pork flatbread which was very tasty (just wished it was a little more crispy in the center), while Mom had the Island Fish & Chips (she loved) and Katie had Crispy Tofu Salad (also loved). The place was busy, but we managed to find a table inside to beat the heat, and after enjoying our food and discussing our game plan for the day, we dropped off our expo items, wandered through Downtown Disney, and made our way to California Adventure.

After all the hype over the opening of Buena Vista Street and Cars Land at DCA, we were all SO excited to get into the park just to walk around and soak everything in, even if we wouldn’t get the chance to ride anything. I have to say, walking into the park, I was struck with my mouth open again- it is simply stunning. I mentioned that magical nostalgia before, but holy cow if you aren’t immersed in it again when you step into California Adventure’s Buena Vista Street. I felt giddy like a little kid stepping into a Disney park for the first time! The buildings, the decor, the details, they’re all there, stepping you back in time to 1923 when Walt got off the train. Surrounded by that magical optimistic vision of the future from the past, we headed over to the Kingston Camera Shop to pick up our PhotoPass+ card and start exploring.

(TIP: Now I know I mentioned this in my previous post, but if you are every headed out to Disneyland, pre-ordering the PhotoPass+ service for $59.99 is an awesome option. Not only do you get all the photopass pictures you want from throughout your trip, but you can automatically add any on-ride pictures from Radiator Springs Racers, California Screamin’, Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, Space Mountaian, etc. on your account for FREE. Plus, if you eat at a character dining experience, you get all those pictures digitally as well as a printed photo package work $30+ for free as well. It’s a great deal to say the least!)

Not only did I want to do the PhotoPass+ because of the great deal, but because Mom is usually the photographer in our group. With Mom behind the camera, we hardly ever have the opportunity to stop and get pictures with her in them as well. With having the PhotoPass+ though, it became an attraction in and of itself for Mom! She was just as entertained by finding as many of the PhotoPass photogs as we could as she was some of the other attractions in the park! It was so much fun to see her get excited to find all the different photo ops AND have her be in the pictures with us.

We roamed around Buena Vista Street getting as many PhotoPass pictures as we could, as well as headed into some of the stores to look at Disney Dooneys (I was on the hunt for a couple of bags ;) ), and catch the Aladdin musical. SO funny- the Genie totally makes the show!

After the show, we found Stitch, and eventually, we made our way back towards Paradise Pier. Our first ride was on The Little Mermaid Adventure, and I have to say it was very cute! It will make a great addition to the New Fantasyland in WDW later this year. Next, we decided we couldn’t wait any longer- let’s go check out Cars Land!

Yet another mouth-open/grinning from ear to ear experience. The hype is true: you really do feel like you’ve stepped into the movie. We took our time, stopping here and there at PhotoPass photogs and made our way back to see just how bad the wait would be for Radiator Springs Racers. While stand-by was a good 2 hours, the single rider line was only at an hour. We decided to go ahead and do it, especially since we didn’t know when we might be able to get back later in the trip or if the wait might be similar or worse.

It was a good thing we did to single rider! The wait ended up being more like 45 minutes, and Mom and I still got to ride in the same car, just different rows. The ride itself is a marvel- almost like a circus, in that you are so immersed that you’re almost on sensory overload while you’re on it. LOADS of re-ridability. I don’t want to give anything away, especially since I was avoiding spoilers like the plague prior to riding it, but be sure to take the time to look around and see everything you can. There were definitely some things I missed the first time around! TONS of fun and absolutely worth our wait. All three of us made a pact right afterward to be sure we made some time to get back on Radiator Springs Racers at least one more time before our trip was done.

By this point, the sun was starting to set and the neon was starting to glow in Cars Land— time for some food! Mom and I headed to the Cozy Cone to pick up some treats and then meet back with Katie who had her eye on the Veggie Tater Bake at Flo’s V8 Cafe. Mom was still stuffed from lunch, so she decided on Red’s Apple Freeze which was easily one of our favorite treats the whole trip. The frozen apple slushie concoction was incredibly refreshing and very tasty. (I was a little skeptical of the toasted marshmallow flavoring in with the apple at first, but man oh man, was that skepticism gone after the first sip.) I decided that I had to try the Chili Cone Queso and Fillmore’s Pomegranate Limeade- both very good! Chili was very meaty, loved the queso and the corn chips, however it was a little on the spicy side for this wuss when it comes to spice.

After enjoying our snacks, Katie and I were hooked on the melodious crooning of Tow Mater, so we decided to “whip it, whirl it!” on the Junkyard Jamboree. Mom, who is a little leary of “whip” or “spinny” rides, decided to sit this one out in order to take some amazingly ridiculous video of Katie and I riding. We were SO glad we decided to ride this one— although this looks a little bit like a ride for the little ones, I can assure you we had more fun than a barrel of monkey wrenches. (A small recap of our ride might go as follows: Leading up to the whip:”whooooooooaaaaa!” Afterwards: “HAHAHAHAHA!”) This became another favorite that we had to ride again at some point. :)

Can you guess where we went next? ;)

Time for a change of scenery before the big show! We headed over to Disneyland to get some PhotoPass moments, and stake a spot for Fantasmic. Fantasmic was great- liked the Peter Pan scenes much better than the Pocahontas scenes from the one at WDW- but we were all starting to get pooped. (At this point, Mom and I had been up since 4:00am EST to catch our flight, and it was about 10:00PST or 1:00AMEST for those keeping track.) We decided to hop on the monorail and let it glide us back towards the Disneyland Hotel for the night.

Coming up next, we would be getting up early for early entry and staying at Disneyland for the day. Sarah, a friend of Katie’s who lives in the LA area, also joined us for the fun! :) But before then, we were much too concerned with turning on our twinkling headboard and letting the music box wisk us away to a very magical sleep indeed….

A Little Context for My Disneyland Half-Marathon Report

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 23:04:08 -0400

Well friends, I apologize it has taken me so long to get in any sort of trip report. They say “when it rains, it pours,” and in the last month for my family, that has been it in a nutshell. (Score two cliches in one thought!) I’ve gotten a new job, both my husband and I have had grandmothers pass away, and in the midst of it all, I flew out to Anaheim to run in the Disneyland Half-Marathon. Before going any further, I must state that I do believe all things happen for a reason- Although I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon back in January, the timing of this particular trip could not have been more fortuitous, in spite of being in the midst of all the tumultuous events of August.

My mother’s mother had been living with my parents for a number of years, diagnosed with Dementia. Although her condition was worsening, her death was still very sudden. It was particularly hard on my mother, whose house was much more quiet now that Grandma was not around. I say that this trip came at the perfect time because it allowed us to wrap up everything that needed to be taken care of, and still allowed me and Mom to get away from home right afterward to have some great time together to relax after all the craziness. It also gave me the opportunity to spoil Mom a little bit, who had never been to Disneyland before. I got to play the tour guide and trip planner, taking care of everything so all she needed to do was relax.

Joining us on this trip was Katie, my sister-in-law who is really more like a sister because of how ridiculously well we get along together. We both ran the Disney World Half Marathon back in January, and on this trip, were out to earn our Coast to Coast Medals. Turns out were weren’t just celebrating our completion of the Coast to Coast challenge, but we were also both celebrating having gotten new jobs as well.

So between needing to get away from home for some relaxation, needing to heal, getting in some girls’ time, as well as celebrating the new possibilities that come with a new job, this Disneyland trip came at the perfect time for the three of us. When the time came for us to depart, we could not have been more ready for the opportunity to get away for some good ol’ fashion Disney magic.

For those wondering, Pal Mickey absolutely came on this trip with me too! So along the way, there will be lots of pictures that include him, as well many others that we got, thanks to pre-ordering our PhotoPass+ for Disneyland. [By the way, I can’t recommend the PhotoPass+ enough if you are going to Disneyland. By paying $60 in advance, we got all our PhotoPass pics as well as any onboard ride pictures that we had along the way, and copies of anything that we wanted with added graphics and borders. If we had eaten at a Character Dining restaurant, we also would’ve gotten a free printed photo package in addition to all the digital photos! TOTALLY worth it!]

So now that I’ve provided the context and things have calmed down considerably for the moment, I will finally be able to begin working on my trip report for this amazing trip. So glad I finally have the chance to write about all the excitement because this is one of my absolute favorite trips to a Disney park— A magical trip for sure that you won’t want to miss! :) Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Fillmore gone Sarge style :) nice reminder of running through...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 09:55:18 -0400

Fillmore gone Sarge style :) nice reminder of running through Cars Land one week ago for the Half… (Taken with Instagram)

Pal Mickey Adventure June 4, 2012: Pal Mickey LIVES in Animal Kingdom & Epcot!

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:26:17 -0400

I have to apologize for the amount of time it’s taken me to finish this Pal Mickey Adventure— Sorry Folks! Summer vacation has been busy with camps, day trips, and Disneyland Half Marathon Training…Just about one more month until the NEXT Pal Mickey Adventure when we head to Anaheim to earn our Coast to Coast Medal! :) Anyhow, here it is the end of July, so I better finish up this adventure quick so we can get ready for our next one!

Pirate Pal Mickey and I needed to fly home later in the afternoon on Monday, June 4th, so this was to be our last day in the World… for now. :) (We’ll be back in January for the WDW Half Marathon, if not sooner for the Epcot F&W Festival!) We decided to start out the day in Animal Kingdom, as it was the one park we haven’t visited yet. We were ready and “re-charged” in more than one way: we had put new batteries in Pal Mickey to see if he really would talk to us more regularly after he wished us good night from Epcot last night. Lo and behold, as we crossed the threshold into Animal Kingdom, Pal Mickey gave a giggle and welcomed us to Animal Kingdom! He really lives! :) Our excitement carried us all the way over to Expedition: Everest, where we were quite excited to conquer the Yeti!

Expedition: Everest practically glows in the morning sun!

Unfortunately, the Pal Mickeys were just a little shy of being able to ride solo… so we stowed them in our packs for our expedition.

One more look back at Everest before we head out of Animal Kingdom.

A few quick rides on Everest and another exciting buzz from Pal Mickey saying he had a great time with us in Animal Kingdom (HE LIVES! :) ), and we were headed off to stroll around Epcot one more time to enjoy the sights and grab some lunch before my flight. I had wanted to try the new wine cellar in Italy, Tutto Gusto, so after Pal Mickey welcomed us to Epcot (!), we made our way to the back of World Showcase.

Pal Mickey LOVED the comfy chairs all around in Tutto Gusto!

Such a warm atmosphere in Tutto Gusto- very nice!

My only complaint about Tutto Gusto might be the prices were a little high for the portion size. I was anticipating something a little more like La Cava del Tequila in the Mexico Pavilion, however when I ordered the Bruschetta for us as an appetizer to start and only get two little pieces of bread, I was a little disappointed. Certainly not the sizable chips and salsa/guacamole you can get at Cava. While I was expecting the prices to be a little more reasonable, Tutto really is a more upscale experience; what you will get is gourmet, however the portions are not what you might expect for the price. Because I went in expecting something different than it really is, I ended up not enjoying it as much as I might have otherwise. If you go, make sure you anticipate spending ~$25-30/person for a small plates type lunch. Because we weren’t necessarily planning on doing that, we ended up closing our bill earlier than we anticipated and heading over to La Hacienda in Mexico where I could get a huge plate of nachos for $9.50. Sure it might not have been as high a quality adventure in culinary form, but it sure filled me and tasted fabulous! :)

After our few lunch stops around World Showcase, it was about time to get me and Pirate Pal Mickey back to the airport to fly home. Both the ride back to MCO and the flight were pleasantly uneventful, and we spend much of the time both looking back at the great trip we just had, as well as anticipating our next Pal Mickey Adventure for the Disneyland Half Marathon over Labor Day weekend! Unfortunately Kristin and her Pal Mickey will not be with us physically (although they will be in spirit!) on this trip, but instead, I will be running with my sister-in-law, Katie, and Pal Mickey will be joined by my Mom, cheering along for us along the race route! We’re down to just about a month now before we fly out to Anaheim on August 31st… can’t wait!

If you want some live, up to the minute updates from Pal Mickey and I in the parks, please stay tuned here and check out my Twitter account (@TIx2GR) where I will be posting pictures and updates while we are in Anaheim. Until then, M- I-C-ya real soon! :)

Interview with Russell Brower

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 08:37:00 -0400

Very excited this morning to share with everyone a fabulous opportunity I had to talk with composer and previous Imagineer Russell Brower! There are many famous works out there that you may know Russell for— while with Disney, he composed the Future World Area and Living Seas Area Loops (Epcot), as well as worked on a number of things for Toyko DisneySea and Disneyland Paris. Apart from Disney, Russell has worked on some very famous video game soundtracks such as World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft.

After chatting on Twitter for a bit, he agreed to do an interview with me to discuss his work with Disney- specifically, one of my favorite loops: the Future World Area Loop. My interview with him can be read here, on The Disney Blog.

I can’t thank him enough for taking the time to talk with me, especially in 140 characters or less! The next time you are in the parks, make sure you take a listen as you are getting from one ride to the next to some of the great music that was composed for the different park areas. Or better yet, grab a snack and pop a squat on a bench; there’s no line and you can always bring treats with you to enjoy while you listen. :)

Pal Mickey Adventure June 3, 2012: Studios, MK, Epcot, & DTD (Oh My!)

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:05:49 -0400

Hello again, adventurers! It’s now been over a month, but I swear, we will finish this Pal Mickey Adventure! Between the end of the school year and a few (non-Disney) family trips/vacations, we are finally back home and ready to continue. So here we go on to day 3!

Pal Mickeys in their Kingdom Hearts cloaks still fit in well at Star Wars Weekends

Armed with some AA batteries to see if Pal Mickey would still work at all in the parks, we decided to start out at Hollywood Studios for a little thrill ride action and the opportunity to try one of the Darth Vader cupcakes they were offering for the event. First we started off with a little Rock ‘n Rollercoaster….

Pal Mickey gives a big thumbs up to offer of a super-stretch limo ride to the Aerosmith concert!

And then crossed Hollywood Boulivard to “drop in” on the Hollywood Tower Hotel…

Although Pal Mickey was very happy, we still hadn’t heard from him yet. However, we were confident that perhaps after a little catch up time, we may still hear from him yet. In the mean time though, after a morning filled with thrills, we decided to head over to Starring Rolls and pick up our Vader cupcake.

We devoured Darth Vader. For breakfast.

Next, we were off to the Magic Kingdom via the Epcot monorail to pick up our SotMK cards for the day. We did make a quick run into Epcot first though in order to grab some Soarin’ fastpasses for when we would return. Then we hopped on the monorail and were off to the MK. We did also decide to grab a quick ride on Space Mountain as well as the Peoplemover (our favorite!).

Instead of “Businessman in a Bowler Hat”, we now present “Mickey in a Fedora Hat”.

Mickey always gets ‘carried away’ in the Magic Kingdom!

A quick monorail ride later, and we were back in Epcot. (Still no words from Pal Mickey inspite of his batteries and our hopeful dispositions…) Before we headed over to The Land Pavilion though, we ran into Sean (@DisneyDayByDay)- it was so nice to meet him and his family! If you love Disney as much as I do, you should definitely check out his blog and follow him on Twitter as well- he’s great people! :)

Then it was off to The Land to ride Soarin’ and Living with the Land. (I’m not sure what it is about that little boat ride, but Pal Mickey and I LOVE it!)

See the hidden Mickey in the lettuce? Love it!

On our way back toward World Showcase to grab some food, we stopped by the Brave Highland Games to see which clan we might be a part of, as well as try our hands at some traditional Scottish fun.

We ended up being in the Dunbroch clan, just like King Fergus and Merida! Pal Mickey was quite pleased, and ended up winning the caper toss as a result! :)

Our celebratory meal ended up being in Morocco, where Pirate Pal Mickey and I had the Chicken Shawarma, while Kristen and her Pal Mickey had the lamb. It was all delicious, however in the future, I would order the lamb instead— fabulous flavors!

We also got there just in time for Mo’Rockin— dinner and a show! I have to say too that the Cast Members in Morocco are some of the warmest, nicest Cast Members I’ve ever encountered. One help us pull out our chairs while our hands were full, while another told us about the show beginning to start and directed us to a table with a relatively clean view. Another asked us how our meal was and if we were enjoying ourselves. So friendly, and such great food. We love Morocco!

After a great meal, we decided to walk around World Showcase and take some pictures. Today, I had with me my Olloclip lenses for my iPhone. For those who don’t know what an Olloclip is, it is a set of three attachable lenses (wide angle, macro, and fisheye) for your iPhone, enabling you to take some fabulous pictures just with the phone in your pocket. For someone like me who has grown to really enjoy photography but doesn’t necessarily have the money or patience at the moment to learn how to use a DSLR properly, these are AWESOME. One of the best $70 purchases I ever made. So we ventured forth and got some great shots…

As this was to be my last night in WDW for this trip, we left Epcot around 7pm so that we could make a few last gift purchases in Downtown Disney (as well as grab some chocolate sodas). As we were leaving Epcot, we were thrilled to hear Pal Mickey thank us for bringing him to Epcot— huzzah!! Pal Mickey lives! We were so excited to hear that after waiting all day for him to say something, he finally came to life. We could only hope that when we came back during the day tomorrow, that we might here more from our dear touring partners.

Stay tuned for the last installment of this Pal Mickey Adventure, where we will start our day at Animal Kingdom! Where will we go? What will we do? And will Pal Mickey continue his positive climb out of his technological coma? Come back and read the exciting conclusion! :)

Kingdom Hearts Merchandise in WDW (FINALLY!)

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:10:15 -0400

After years of waiting and wanting to see Kingdom Hearts merchandise in the parks, fans of the popular video game series can celebrate a small victory this July when King Mickey makes his debut at Walt Disney World in pin form!

This new pin was released on July 5th for $7.95 at the Walt Disney World Resort. The pin can also be ordered online by contacting Disney Merchandise through their pin trading website. Although it’s not the merchandise blitz many of us Kingdom Hearts fans would like to see, perhaps this small victory will be the start of even more KH merchandise to come!

Cars Land/Disneyland Running Playlist

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:21:19 -0400

With the recent opening of Cars Land and the big race just 10 weeks away, I’m getting very excited to head out to Anaheim! One of the ways that really helps me visualize and get hyped up is by changing my running playlist to include songs from the different parks/areas that the race will run through. The good news is there is a LOT of great, upbeat tracks from the Cars Land area that you can use to help pump you up during those training runs! Here are a few of them I love to listen to while picturing myself running through Radiator Springs:

The Obvious Tracks:

Route 66- John Mayer (Cars Soundtrack)
Real Gone- Sheryl Crow (Cars Soundtrack)
Life is a Highway- Rascal Flatts (Cars Soundtrack)

Deeper Cuts:

Stop in the Name of Love- The Supremes (used at Flo’s V8 Cafe)
Low Rider- War (used at Ramone’s Body Shop)
Mambo Italiano- Rosemary Clooney (used at Luigi’s Flying Tires)
Green Onions- Booker T and the MGs (used throughout Radiator Springs)
Wooly Bully- Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs (used at Ramone’s Body Shop)
Anything from the “Billys- Live! CD (recorded by Billy Hill & the Hillbillies; not used in Cars Land exactly, but a Disneyland classic great for hitting the road!)

Newly Released Tracks:

Radiator Springs Racers Ride-Through (The Music of Cars Land CD)
Welcome to Radiator Springs (The Music of Cars Land CD)
Tow Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree (The Music of Cars Land CD)
Welcome to Radiator Springs (The Music of Cars Land CD)

*The Music of Cars Land CD is a newly released limited edition album that includes both new music written for the area as well as some re-released classic tracks featured in the different areas of Cars Land. If you don’t have the CD or the ability to order it, a quick YouTube search will turn up some of the audio, if you’re interested in a listen!

Speaking of hitting the road, time for me to rev my own engines and get my run on. Do you have any other favorite tracks for road trips that help you power through your training? I’d love to add more to my list!

Pal Mickey Adventure June 2, 2012: Art of Animation Resort & Epcot

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:22:16 -0400

Hello Adventurers! Join us as we continue on with Pal Mickey to discover new “adventure in the great wide somewhere” around Walt Disney World! (Bonus points if you know the movie reference…)

When we left off, we had just completed a full day of saving the Magic Kingdom from Hades and his minions many times over. Next, we decided to enjoy a late breakfast exploring the newly opened Art of Animation Resort before it was my turn to level up at the Magic Kingdom, and then spending most of the day wandering around Epcot.

Pal Mickey enjoying the World of Flavors breakfast platter with Mango Smoothie

What goes better with breakfast than fresh gelato?!

To read up on some of my opinions around the Art of Animation, feel free to check out this review I wrote for The Disney Blog. I will add here that Pal Mickey absolutely loved it! Everything was very colorful while still being very sleek and clean looking. The different areas around the resort that we saw (the Nemo area as well as Lion King and Cars from behind fences) really made you feel as though you had stepped into their respective movies. It didn’t feel kitschy at all- all the attention to detail served some purpose, whether in use or design, to create some extremely immersive livable environments.

Nemo buildings painted like the sea with fish sculptures “swimming” on them

Mickey chilling on one of the comfy cube areas in the arcade, complete with plugs and wired internet access ports galore!

Best name for a poolside bar. Ever.

After our morning stroll around this beautiful new resort, Kristin and I packed up the Pal Mickeys and headed to Epcot. Before heading out to World Showcase though, we hopped on the monorail and back over to the MK so Pirate Pal Mickey and I could level up in our Sorcerer’s of the MK game and pick up some new spell cards.

Hooray! We’re Master Sorcerers now!

A hop, skip, and bus ride later (thanks to the monorails being down at this point, but at least we got FPs for MK that we’d use tomorrow), we finally made it back to Epcot. A quick spin through time on Spaceship Earth, and we head back toward World Showcase so Pal Mickey can sample some libations and delicacies from around the world.

Thumbs up for Pal Mickeys of the future!

After all I had told Pal Mickey about Cava Del Tequila, he was quite excited to try for himself! We also ran into @AtDisneyAgain- it was a pleasure to meet him and his brother!

Things got a little funny looking through margarita glasses after those shots…

Can you find the hidden Pal Mickeys hanging around in China?

I can hear the mandolins playing in the distance…

Yummy dinner & plum wine at Tokyo Dining

Riding Habibi in Morocco

An after-dinner Welsh Dragon from the Rose & Crown

LOVE the Epcot cocktail pick!

After so many great times around World Showcase and singing along to Illuminations for the umpteenth time (sorry folks, no photos ;) ), we decided to call it a night and head back home. We’d be back to Epcot tomorrow anyway to do a little more exploring around Future World, plus checking out the Studios for Star Wars Weekends and discovering that our Pal Mickeys will still come to life in the parks! But until then, I’ll leave you with a parting shot of Epcot at night and say “See ya real soon!”

New Disney Dooneys Are Coming!

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:20:23 -0400

And much to my surprise, one of the new designs includes Spaceship Earth! For more information the new designs to debut at TrenD in Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World, check out this article I wrote for The Disney Blog.

I’m also loving the little case that looks like it is just the right size for an iPhone! Now although I’m a big fan, I don’t go out and buy these a whole lot because they are expensive, but the new Retro pattern might just do me in… how about you?

Pal Mickey Adventures: Friday, June 1st, 2012

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:11:34 -0400

Welcome to the first ever published Pal Mickey Adventure! We are jam-packed with magical goodness and trip information for WDW, so let’s go! (In my best Mickey laugh: Ha-HA!)

Pal Mickey loves the window seats!

We actually touched down in MCO on Thursday night, but we were so excited to see my dear friend Kristin and her Pal Mickey, that all we wanted to do was drive to their house and have some great conversation. After catching up and getting a good night’s sleep, we were up early and ready to head “home”, the land of purple road signs! (You know you’re on magical lands when the road signs become purple…)

The first stop for us was the Transportation & Ticket Center. This was very exciting for two reasons: one, this would be the first time in many trips that I actually bought a ticket at the TTC. The other reason was that the ticket I was purchasing was an Annual Pass!

After crunching quite a few numbers, trying to figure out how I could get the most bang for my buck during this trip and thinking ahead to January for Marathon Weekend, buying an AP (before the prices went up on June 3rd) turned out to be my best bet. Although it was essentially breaking even between an 8 day-non expiration hopper ticket and an AP, with the AP I am also able to get an extra 10% off merchandise and some dining options. Plus maybe saving on some hotel rates down the road, and should I be able to swing another visit any other time in the next year, my ticket would already be covered…in short, the plusses outweighed the minuses. I was also able to save quite a bit on the price using my Disney Visa Rewards dollars.

Hooray! We are official Annual Pass Holders!

Armed with our AP, we made a beeline for our favorite mode of Disney transportation, the monorail. Next stop, the Magic Kingdom! Our main goal for the day was to advance as far in the new collectable card game, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, as we possibly could. Other than that, we simply wanted to snack and shop our way around the park, stopping for rides and photo ops when the spirit moved us.

Our first few stops were located conveniently on Main Street USA. Of course, we stopped to get our first set of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (SotMK) cards at the Fire House. Upon first walking in, we were greeted by Merlin in a magic mirror, explaining how Hades is trying to take over the Magic Kingdom by enlisting the help of other villains to collect the mystic pieces of the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom scattered throughout the park. In order to prevent Hades from taking over, Merlin is enlisting different volunteers to use spell cards in order to stop the villains from giving Hades the pieces of the crystal. Well, Pal Mickey & I are up for the challenge!

Pal Mickeys playing SotMK in Adventureland

For those unfamiliar with SotMK, when you first start the game, you are given a key card that unlocks the various portals around the Magic Kingdom. It also keeps track of your progress through the game, so that if you are not sure where to go next, using your key at any portal will remind you of where to go. They will also give you a map that uses icons to help you locate the portals you need in each land, as well as a set of 5 packaged spell cards to use as you go.

Kristin and Poncho Pal Mickey playing SotMK in Fantasyland

Each villain/quest is centered in a specific land, so you won’t have to worry about crossing from one side of the park to the next until you are ready to move on to the next quest. Luckily, my first quest is on Main Street USA! But we have a few other pieces of business to take care of first.

We walked through the Emporium (to avoid some massive crowds), where I was luckily able to find the new Alex and Ani bracelet (LOVE these!) and use my cash to buy a gift card that I could use throughout the trip. (I hate carrying out lots of cash- much rather use one GC.) Then it was onto Main Street Bakery for some cinnamon rolls the size of Pal Mickey before we headed out to save the Magic Kingdom.

Alex and Ani WDW Bracelet Love the warm cinnamon rolls!

The portals throughout the park were really well disguised, fitting right into the theming of whichever land they were located. The only way you would even necessarily know they were there was if you saw the people in line to stare at what appears to be a curtained window. I was exceptionally happy to find that one of the portals was located in Sunshine Tree Terrace- time for Pal Mickey’s first Citrus Swirl! With all the Twitter hype around about these, I was very excited to try them for myself. They were so delicious, that we had to stop and get one each time we had a quest in Adventureland (3 times over our 12 hour day- they certainly helped pass the time waiting in lines!).

Citrus Swirl #1

In between various quests, we decided to partake in a few rides: Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Peoplemover, Space Mountain, Peoplemover again…We also stopped at Casey’s for lunch and enjoyed the musicianship of The Notorious Banjo Brothers and Bob in Frontierland, where Pal Mickey was invited up to be part of the show!

Haunted Mansion- oh no! Part of the show in Frontierland

Friends ride the Peoplemover Everyone needs one of these shots…

After many arduous hours of questing and saving the Magic Kingdom, we decided early evening to take a quick monorail ride over to the Polynesian Resort in order to try the Auntie’s Mai-Tai. Not the overly sweet mai-tai on the menu, the Auntie’s Mai-Tai was much more enjoyable alternative. (If you’d like to try one, you’ll have to ask for it by name.) While it was certainly tropical and fruity, it was much more refreshing than other mai-tais I’ve had in the past. The fresh pineapple was also a nice touch. All in all, Pal Mickey LOVED it, but was also gracious enough to let me have most of it.

Auntie’s Mai-Tai = Delicious!

When all was said and done, Kristin and her wise poncho packin’ Pal Mickey finished their first set of 9 quests and leveled up, while Pirate Pal Mickey and I were left with one more quest before we decided to call it a night. That is, after we watched the summer version of The Magic, The Memories, and You display on the castle. We loved all those projection effects!

What sorts of adventures came our way for Day 2? We visited both MK and Epcot and Cava Del Tequila was certainly involved… stay tuned for the next Pal Mickey Adventure!

See ya tomorrow, Pal!