Sunday, May 27, 2018

Animal Kingdom 2018 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

This week we had quarterly planning at work.  Suffice it to say, I was a wee bit busy with it.   I had this mostly written so I will be posting this instead of a weekly update.

After the Princess 5k we showered, changed, and headed to Animal Kingdom.


In case you missed previous posts from the Princess Half Marathon Weekend:
We got to the park close to 8:30 AM and we headed strait to the Avatar Flight of Passage.  We couldn't get a FastPass for that one so we wanted to see how long the Stand-by line was.  The line was way back to the front of the Avatar area and we were told the wait was 3 hours.  No way were we going to stand in that line, especially since we had other FastPasses.


We decided to head to Everest and ride that Stand-by.  I love this ride!  There was a little boy behind us that was so scared to ride.  Once it was over he was so excited and loved it.  Couldn't wait to go again.  Me too!


We went back to Pandora for our FastPass on Na'vi River Journey.  That is such a pretty ride.  Reminds me a little of Pirates of the Caribbean except this had no Pirates.


We headed to Dinoland and road the Primeval Whirl.  I had never ridden it, but it reminds me of the Mouse Trap ride that would come to the State Fair.  It was OK, a bit jerky.  It's one of Candace's favorite rides, though.

Candace's family had just finished breakfast and was heading to Animal Kingdom, so we headed to the front gates to meet them.  She has 3 boys and a girl all teenagers.  All very nice and well behaved.  One of her sons is on the Autism spectrum and so we all got our bands linked so that we could use the disability FastPasses.  This meant we could have as many FastPasses as we wanted, but we could only use one at a time.  We had to go to a ride and have them link our bands to the ride.  We were given a time to come back at, which was the length of the Stand-by line.  So basically it was a virtual line place holder. We went strait to Avatar Flight of Passage.  Since the stand-by line was 3 hours, we could come back at 1:45 PM to close.

We had a reservation for the 7 of us at Rainforest Cafe at 11:45.  Since her family had just finished breakfast, they didn't want lunch.  I called to try and cancel the reservation and they said that since it was less than 24 hours that we would have to pay $10 per person.  No way was I going to pay $70 for a cancellation.  I asked to talk to a manager.  I would have even gone by myself and had a drink not to pay that fee.  We ended up changing it to 2 people instead of 7 and were not charged for the ones not going.

Candace and I dropped the family off at the Festival of the Lion King show and went to our Kilmanjaro Safari FastPass.  I love the Safari and all the beautiful animals.




Tree only has leaves months of the year.


We had to now book it down to the Rainforest Cafe.  I swear I felt like we walked from one side of the park to the other all day long.  Lunch was good.  I ended up with a Cobb Salad and we split an order of fries.  And I needed a drink, so I had Moscow Mule, yum!


After lunch we headed back to Pandora to meet up with her family.  It was getting close to our FastPass time for Avatar Flight of Passage.  When it was time, we headed to the FastPass line.  It moved very quickly.  It was one of those that had you move from room to room to entertain you as you waited.  The first room had an movie type clip about what Avatar is for those who have never seen the movie.  The second room explained how we sit.  Yes, the seats are not normal looking seats and do need explaining.


Once it was our turn to head into the room, the guys went into the far sectioned off area and the girls were in the last section.  The seats kinda looked like motorcycle seats.  Once you sat down, there were pads that came around your lower legs and one behind us pushed our backs forward so that it really felt like you were on a motorcycle.  We put on our 3-D glasses and were ready for this ride.


OMG, this was the best ride ever!!

It's a 3-D ride where your seat doesn't move but a little left right up and down.  You are flying through the air and it really feels like it.  When there was a steep drop down, I felt my stomach drop, like I was really flying down that fast.  I looked over to Candace and her daughter and noticed that the guys in the next room were right there viewing the same screen we were.  And then I looked down and there were 2 rows below us that I could barely see.  The setup reminded me of Soarin' but there were floors and walls separating each section.

I have to say that was probably the most fun ride in Disney, ever.  Even better then my favorite, Soarin'.  It was so beautiful and so much fun.  Even though in the morning I said no way to a 3 hour wait, I think after experiencing it, I probably would wait.  It's just that good.

We went over to Na'vi River Journey so that the family could get their FastPass for it.  They had 2 hours till that one started.  We then headed over to our other FastPasses.  Candace and I had one for Kali River Rapids and the family had one for Everest.   Candace's daughter didn't want to ride either so she waited for us at Kali River Rapids.

I had been on the Rapids ride once before, but it really is like any rapids ride in any amusement park.  A fun slow drift where you will get wet.  It's a lot of fun to watch everyone try to avoid the splashes.  It was so hot out that it felt so good to get a little wet.


Us girls went and road Primeval Whirl.  Candace kept saying how this was one of her favorite rides.  After the second time I decided that I really wasn't a fan of it.  It really was too jerky for my liking.  The boys were just getting on the ride when we were getting off, so we waited for them.

The family had other FastPasses and rides to go on, but by this time Candace and I were ready to call it a day.  I was beyond exhausted and my quad was really hurting from the 5k and my feet hurt from being on them all day long.  I also got sunburned as while I brought suntan lotion with me on the trip, I forgot to put someone before I left the hotel and of course forgot to bring with me to the park.



It was an early night as we had a second day of early morning races that comes way too soon.

Continue reading about the weekend with the 10k.


You can also catch up on my vlogs from the Princess Half Marathon Weekend.


Have you road either of the two new Pandora rides?  Do you like Primeval Whirl?


I am linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!




Friday, May 25, 2018

Cat Stories - Puss (Friday Five Edition)

Since it was requested to have just a post of cat pictures, I thought I'd start a series of not just cat pictures, but cat stories.  I have tons and they are all over the place.

First is the story of Puss.


Growing up we have always had dogs in the house.  I hated cats.  Well really I didn't know or understand them.  The summer before I went to college my brother brings home this kitten that his friend had given him.  Not really asking our parents, we had this kitten that I didn't want.  She had to stay in my brother's room because we had a big Samoyed at that time.


Since I was getting ready to go to college and had the bigger room, my parents were making me swap rooms with my brother.  My brother being the normal gross teenage boy, the room needed a scrub and new paint.  I was in there getting things ready to paint and this kitten played with a piece of plastic for an hour.  It was really so cute that it just totally changed my mind about cats.


My parent's lack of imagination gave the kitten the name of Puss.  She was with my parents for 20 years before she passed away.  She was my introduction to cats and I couldn't have had a better cat to do so.

(I looked and since this was before digital photos I couldn’t find any other photos of her).

Are you a dog or cat person (or both)?  Do you have any memories of a pet?


I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Princess 5k 2018 (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

I know the Princess Half Marathon Weekend was ages ago, but I'm working through getting my recaps complete.

In case you missed previous posts from the Princess Half Marathon Weekend:
The Princess 5k started nice and early at 3 AM.  After not getting up right away, we finally made it to the bus around 3:45 AM and off to the staging area we went.


The Princess 5k has always started in the Epcot parking lot.  When we got there the corral area had not opened yet.  I don't know if they had pictures with princesses before the race like the do for Star Wars (well Star Wars characters, not princesses for those races) as I didn't even think to look.  We sat and stretched and a few minutes later they opened up the corral area.

We both were in Corral B.  We headed to the front area of the corral and sat.  There was a lady there that was her first time doing a runDisney event.  She was so excited and talked about her costume and all that.  Both Candace and I talked later about how we used to have that enthusiasm for runDisney and now that is gone.  For me I don't know if it's just runDisney or all races right now.

We sat there for about 30 minutes before the wheelchair racers passed us.  Everyone stood and cheered for them.  And then they started to let Corral A make their way to the start line.  And very soon after, they had Corral B head to make our way to the start after them.  I had been messing around taking pictures of the start line and I heard my name call out.  My friend Kelly from my Star Wars races called out.  I had been looking for her earlier and I was glad she found me.  A quick hello as I had to keep moving to keep up with our corral.

There were about 4 waves in Corral A and we were in the first wave of B, so it wasn't long till we were on our way.  We ran for a minute or so and came behind some walkers.  So we decided to walk.  In fact except for a minute here and there, we walked the whole thing.

We knew we weren't going to stop for characters as the lines are always way too long.  A few highlights of characters were Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc., Beast from Beauty and the Beast, and Dopey.  Most of the 5k was us just catching up with each other.  We hadn't seen each other since MCM in 2016.


Before we knew it the 3 miles were done.  My left quad hurt a little and one of my toes felt like it was bruised again (though it was not).  We got our medals, water, & food and headed towards the buses.


The last walkers were just passing the bus area, which made it perfect timing for us as we wouldn't need to wait.

Time to get back to the room, shower, and head to Animal Kingdom.

You can also catch up on my vlogs from the Princess Half Marathon Weekend.





Friday, May 18, 2018

Favorite Pictures (Friday Five Edition)

I usually go through freeprints.com to print my photos.  They print up to 85 photos per month for free.  You do have to pay for shipping, so I found that it only makes it as cheap as going to a drug store or Target if you order 85 of them.  So I haven't done any in a couple of years and thought it might be time to see what I have.  In the last week I have been going through the last few years of photos on my phone and putting them in an album so that I can easily find them and send them out.  Going through a ton of photos made me want to share some.  Most of my photos have to do with my cats, races, or beautiful sunrises/sunsets.  I will hang some of the, give some of them to friends or family, but most of them will probably sit in a box.  But I love having photos that I can change out when I feel like it.  I know I can get a digital frame, but I'm still looking for a good one that I can hang on the wall with no wires - meaning wifi and battery operated.  I haven't found one that has that and is good quality.  Here are a few of them.

One of my boys, Riley.  If you can't tell he is in the hallway upstairs and I'm on the stairs.  He hangs off like that all the time.



At SeaWorld, Florida.



A sunrise on one of my morning runs.

 
 Finishing the Dopey Challenge.



Finishing the Marine Corps Marathon.




Disneyland after a Star Wars race.



At Universal Studios Hollywood.



A sunrise during a bike ride.


Getting surprised after the Bubble Run.




At the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore during the Baltimore Marathon Relay.




Disney World during Princess Half Marathon.




Entering Disney World for Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend.



During the Star Wars 10k.




How do you print your photos?  What do you do with your printed photos?  Do you know of a good wireless digital frame?


I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Friday, May 11, 2018

Princess Half Marathon vlogs (Friday Five Edition)

I finished up my last videos from Princess.  There are a few clips that I had a hard time blocking out the announcements.  So sorry in advance.  I hope you enjoy!

If you missed, here are the other vlogs from the weekend.

Princes 10k



Princess Half




Celebration Dinner






I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Princess Half Marathon Weekend 5k and Animal Kingdom vlog (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

I have actually gotten the next vlog put together from the Princess Half Marathon Weekend.  I am totally on a role.  Knock on wood that I can keep this up.

If you missed, here are the other vlogs from the weekend.




Continue watching the rest of the weekend vlogs!

Friday, May 4, 2018

Princess Half Marathon Weekend Hotel and Expo vlog (Friday Five Edition)

I know that the Princess Half Marathon Weekend was ages ago and I haven't done my recaps.  I didn't think I recorded enough to make any vlogs, but I was looking through my videos and I did more then I thought.  Usually I like to do my recaps first, but I got inspired by my videos and started them.  This should inspire me to write my recaps.





Continue watching my next vlog about the 5k and my day at Animal Kingdom.


You can also catch up on my vlogs from the Princess Half Marathon Weekend.

Totally off topic, but I got my movie tickets for the opening night of Solo: A Star Wars Movie in a few weeks.  Totally stoked!!

Oh and May the 4th be with you!!



I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0