Day 5 & 6- Mickey's Christmas Party and Animal Kingdom

I was really looking forward to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and it didn't disappoint. They gave you a wrist band when you entered the Magic Kingdom. My 3rd wristband of this trip. The event was sold out. I was wondering how they would clear out the guests who didn't have a ticket. The Magic Kingdom closed at 5pm and the party was to start at 7pm.

I got there at 6pm and there was a special check in entrance for the party goers. The parade was at 8:15pm so I immediately hit the rides. Right when I entered the park I got to watch Cinderella's Castle transform into a glittery festival.

Magic Kingdom is very similar to Disneyland. The park was completely lit up for the Holiday Season. Vendors were selling light up stuff all over the place so I joined in.

You got cocoa and cookies with your ticket. They were both excellent.

In Adventureland I checked out the Jungle Cruise (just as cheesy fun as I remember from Disneyland) and Pirates of the Caribbean

In Frontierland I tried out Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, wowsers it's been a long time since I've been on a roller coaster.

Never had longer then a 10min wait for any of the rides.

At 7pm as I wandered they were checking for wristbands every time you lined up for a ride and when you crossed from one area to another. Ah mystery solved. I learned today that it takes 2hrs to empty a park. So park closing for regular guests at 5pm made sense.

The Parade was so awesome and I recorded the whole thing on my iPhone. I'll post it a little closer to Christmas and a heads up it was 20min but totally worth it.

I then headed to Liberty Square and went on the Haunted Mansion. Brought back memories of the first time I rode this when I first visited Disneyland a million years ago.

I arrived in Fantasyland and found the Tigger hoody I've been looking for everywhere. I saw a girl with it on a few days ago and knew I had to have it. I got to the bridge just in time for an amazing fireworks show. At this point the park was packed as it was now 10pm so I called it a night.

Today I returned to Animal Kingdom as I ran through it twice I could now explore at a leisurely pace. I am so impressed with the Disney World transportation. Every park is one bus from the All Star resorts. The driver today was phenomenal. He gave us all guides when we got on the bus, told us some things about the park and was just so amazing.

I went Kilimanjaro Safaris - so awesome and we saw loads of animals. I walked along the Pagani Forest Exploration Trail and then made my way to Asia. I went on the Kali River Rapids and got 100% soaked. It was worth it. I then saw Expedition Everest and it freaked me out so I passed. I picked up a useful souvenir for when I go home. I then wandered through DinoLand U.S.A. I got to the park a little after 9am and it was now noon so I decided to head back to the hotel as I was still a little wet. Once again the rides had 10min waits including Everest.

One odd thing I've noticed is how quiet it gets at noon. I was the only one on the bus back to the hotel. We swung by All Star Sports and there wasn't anyone waiting. When I got to All Star Music I grabbed lunch and the food court was empty. Even when I left Animal Kingdom no one was lining up to get in.

I think my method of one park in the morning, rest at the hotel and then one park in the afternoon/evening works really well.

Later I'm going to Hollywood Studios I have to see those lights and share them with you.

Tomorrow I need to think of where I want to go. I don't really want to go out of Disney World. I'm thinking about returning to Epcot and then I'll see. My flight doesn't leave till 5:30pm on Thursday and I think I'll take the Disney Shuttle to the airport. Sad to be thinking about heading home so happy I still have a few days off before I return to work.

However I still have some Disney magic to experience.

Later

Day 4 & 5 - Epcot & Downtown Disney

Hello again from Disney World

So my blogging app kind of sucks with pictures as they all load at the bottom. This might be a long post but stay tuned for photos at the end.

Yesterday (7 hours after getting back to the hotel after the Wine & Dine Half) I decided to check out Epcot. I knew Sunday would be a zoo so I figured Epcot might not be too crazy. Christmas has definitely arrived at Disney World as there are trees everywhere.

When I was at Disneyland in January I didn't go on any rides as I felt awkward being a solo rider. I promised myself that I would not do that at Disney World. When I got into the park the first thing I came across was Spaceship Earth with no line so I hopped on that. It's a cute journey through our history from caveman to recording information on papyrus to space.

I then made my way to Soarin', this ride is in California Adventure park as well. It said there was a 30min wait. There were a crazy amount of people getting Fast Passes so I figured I could handle 30min. It was far less then a 30min wait. They were placing us to get on the ride and the attendant counted me in with the family ahead of me so when a couple joined our line there was one too many people. I volunteered to step out thinking I could join another line. The attendant asked me to wait for the next ride. I asked her if she was discriminating against me as I was a single rider which made the family behind me laugh and they asked me if I'd like to join their family. The attendant promised me the best seat on the next ride. She was right as I was in the first row sailing over California.

I then went to Living with the Land. Again a 30 min wait and crazy amount of people getting Fast Passes. Again it was less then 30min. This was a slow boat tour of our history of agriculture but the really cool part was it also meant through Disney gardens growing everything from vanilla to tomato trees (yes trees). They even breed fish.

I then toured around the giant lake of the World Showcase and the first thing I see is the Canada section. Nice job on that and I love Haida art. Found it pretty funny that I found a Calgary Flames shirt so far from home. I also went to the Oh Canada circle vision film. You had to stand and Martin Short narrated. It was pretty good but kind of funny that they talked about Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and the "maritimes". No mention at all of Saskatchewan and Manitoba nor the Yukon, Nunavit or the Northwest Territories. The Epcot Food & Wine Festival was still on but I wasn't hungry.

I planned well as the wait for Soarin' was 75min at this point.

On my way out I went to Mission Space and being a solo rider was an advantage in this case as I got to jump the line as you need 5 people per section so I was with a family of 4 who adopted me on the spot. It said 45min for the Orange ride (more intense version of the ride). The Green side is the less intense ride. It was faster then 45min. On this ride your assigned positions on a flight to Mars. I was the engineer. Whoa you felt the pressure of take off.

At this point I had been in the park for 4hrs so I headed back to the hotel with vague thoughts of checking out another park. A 4hr nap happened and I was done.

Today being Remembrance/ Veteran's Day I figured it would be a zoo again so I decided to check out Downtown Disney. Got there early as stores were just about to open.

First place I went was Disney Design- A- Tee. I realized yesterday that the I Did It shirt that I bought at the Race Expo was a small, the hanger said large so totally my fault and it's now a "goal" shirt. So I made one for me, one error on it -it should 21km not 22 but what the heck it's my design.

I then went to Once Upon A Toy. OMG they had a build your own Potato Head extravaganza. I have a collection of Potato Heads that sit in my office. I came so close to making a Tinkerbell Potato Head but then I saw Darth Mash and Sudda Fett. My collection is complete...for now.

I've also been collecting pins from these RunDisney races and this trip I found some fun ones. I didn't know how to display them and thought lanyard not to wear but hang. I found a RunDisney lanyard.

Then it was off to World of Disney, I loved this store in Downtown Disney California and I swear this one is bigger. I got myself a T-Shirt, some ears, a cool lens cloth (as I'm constantly leaving without one) and a shot glass for my collection. Now I was also shopping for others but that's a surprise for them. Oh the light up ears are from Epcot. I figured perfect for the Brita Resolution 5k.

Tonight it's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Hope you had a great day.

Day 3 - 4 The Races

Well Hello

Happy to say I survived the Mickey Jingle Jungle 5K and the Wine & Dine Half.

On Saturday I was up at 4am to prep for the 5k as the first bus was leaving at 5am for the start line. The race started at 7am but I figured early was better as these races are busy.

I was the first person waiting for the bus but it was great as I got my picture with Mickey and Minnie.

I have to give it to RunDisney they throw a party at the start line. The DJs are incredible. They played songs I wasn't familiar with that caused break out dances. This DJ lost his voice but he danced along with the runners.

The 5k took you through the Animal Kingdom at one point we were running through some sort of animal area as it had a very distinctive smell.

Of course the costumes of the runners were awesome. One guy was a present and ran wearing a wrapped box.

I misjudged the weather and it was way cooler then I expected so I was a wee cold in my short sleeved Nike shirt.

I saw one kid running with all his shoelaces untied and his parents right behind him - odd.

I really enjoyed this race and the fun finisher medal. RunDisney now gives you a snack box at the finish as well as full bottles of Powerade, Dasani water and bananas. That box made a handy breakfast when I got back to my room.

Then I went back to the hotel put the Do Not Disturb sign on and focused on rest. Could not nap for the life of me. Had lunch at 1pm and stayed hydrated.

Race time came so fast. Once again I took the early bus to the Half start line. 14000 runners were taking part (66% female). It was good to be early as there was a very small line to the port a potties and a calm bag check. It was 3hrs to start time.


Different DJ but equally has fun and this time I joined in for the dances.

They loaded us into the corrals about 40min before corral A got going at 10pm. Corral D crossed the start line 16min later. This race took us through Animal Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios, Epcot and a whack of roads in between as the star was at ESPN.

We hit a mega bottleneck at Animal Kingdom as it was very narrow when we got in the park. I ran a great race up till mile 8 then I started to fade. At this point I was thinking about my not exactly diligent training and what it would be like to do this 50lbs lighter. I got over it as I saw loads of people stop at the side of the road or stopping at the medical areas for biofreeze.

I didn't carry any water as RunDisney does an excellent job with water/powerade stations plus a Cliff gel/shots station.

Hollywood studios had this amazing section we went passed The Osborne spectacle of lights. It took my breath away and I'm definitely going back to see that.

By the time we hit Epcot I was hurting so my focus was on the finish. I finished 8min slower then Tinkerbell. All I felt was a fire to do better next time. I grabbed my 2nd RunDisney snack box and a bottle of water. I collected my Coast to Coast medal and regretted not buying any Coast to Coast gear.

The bag pick up was incredibly efficient and I collected my free beer. I didn't fell like drinking it then as I hadn't eaten since lunch. I skipped the after party as there was a huge line at the Epcot gate as they check your bags. The funny part we were just inside Epcot as that's the finishing area. I headed back to the hotel and it was 2am so I had the chocolate milk I bought earlier, took an Aleve, just managed to put my PJs on and went to bed.

Woke up at 7:30, took a shower and had breakfast to start my park exploration. I originally planned to go to Animal Kingdom and enjoy it at a slower pace but I heard a lot of people at breakfast planning the same thing. I figured Sunday would be a zoo anyway so I went to Epcot.

I spent 4hrs there and will write more about that in a separate post.

I hope all of you are doing well

Hugs

Day 2 - Disney World - the race expo

It's so hard to focus on rest when all the attractions of Disney World are at my finger tips. Today I ventured out to the Race Expo to pick up my race pack. ESPN was the location for that. First I had a Mickey waffle for breakfast. I love these.

Craziness but pretty well organized. My first stop was to get my half marathon stuff at HP Field House. This year I got everything the pin and the necklace. They had to put the coast to coast medal band on me right away. I tinkered with it and locked it on, and now it's attached to my wrist till tomorrow night-not smart. There's a second arm band to let me in to the finish party. They also give you a $10 gift card to use at the party. Happy I brought my 2 pocket IFitness pouch. I'm in the same corral as Tinkerbell which is D but I saw someone with an L.

Then I got the 5K stuff with a much faster line. I then hit the Disney merchandise section and bought everything I wanted after my lesson from Tinkerbell - you snooze you lose. It was packed. I got the jacket (it's purple :)).

The Expo was in the Josten's centre also packed. Always shop the expo but don't buy anything until you've scoped it out. I walked by one place that had these socks for $16.95 another booth had them for $13.95. I got some Sweaty Bands and looked at running skirts. Sparkly Skirts had the best selection but nothing I really needed. Running Skirts had the worst selection and no prices so I skipped it.

As I was walking around Jeff Galloway was speaking and just at the moment I walked past him he said something I needed to hear. He was talking about when you hit difficult parts of the race 1. Break the race down in smaller sections I.E 4 mile chunks. 2. When you get tired. Then he said if you run 2min & walk 1min go down to 1 & 1 or 30sec &30sec.

I was a wee tired after walking through the whole expo it's massive.

Then it was back to the hotel for lunch. I'm tracking my food costs as I opted to go without a dining plan I want to see what the end results are.

So far I see one advantage to races at Disneyland - everything is in walking distance. Everything at Disney World is by bus but based on the expo looks really well run.

Now I just chill. I bought one of the refillable mugs that I can use on All Star properties which has been great. Oh I got soap today. The housekeeping is a military operation. Cute thing they do - when the room has been serviced they put a little face cloth animal in your window.

Tomorrow morning is the 5K then another day of rest till the Half.

Talk you you tomorrow

Hugs!

Day 1 - Disney World - so awesome

Well arrived safe and sound. It was snowing like crazy in Calgary when I left so quite happy I was heading to a warmer location. Also happy I had a morning flight as the snow made things worse later on. I forgot that WestJet makes you pay for movies so I watched the updated Upstairs, Downstairs on my iPad.

After 5 hours on a plane I had no interest in trying to find the Disney Shuttle as that would require making my way to another terminal so I grabbed a cab. Not sure if he scammed me by adding $7 to the fair for the tolls. I'll say this about Florida there are a ton of toll booths and random cows. We're driving along the major highway and there are cows with no evidence of a barn or farm house.

Disney World is gigantic. Happy I got a "preferred" room as I wound up in Calypso 1 which is closest to the food court, transportation hub and a pretty big gift shop. Calypso 10 would have been a hike. The check in girl was so cute, it was her birthday today and she gave me a My First Visit pin. I'll be wearing that the whole time. I found the perfect desk Mickey Mouse Christmas tree in the gift shop and I think that's coming home with me. I was hoping to share pictures but they won't download. I will when I get home.

The All Star resorts are the value properties. Happy I got a room not directly across from the pool as that's a wee noisy. My room is in a quiet corner. King bed but no soap and a tiny bottle of shampoo/conditioner. I might run out of shampoo. I did bring some mini bottles with me so we'll see. The travel shower gel I brought is doubling as hand soap for now I'll see if I can track that down in the gift shop. More photos to come when I get back.

I bought a refillable mug for the All Star Music resort. I can fill it with coffee, cocoa, tea, soft drinks for my stay.

The food court has multiple choices. I saw the Mickey waffle irons so that might be breakfast. There are some healthy options. I had breakfast at the airport in Calgary, didn't have lunch and had dinner at my hotel. I found a carb source as I had the spaghetti and meatballs.

The first shuttle leaves at 9:30am to the race expo and I'll be on it. Now tring to maintain MST time so it feels like I'm running at 8 and not 10 on Saturday.

Hope you all had a great Thursday.

Hugs!!!

FMM Friend Making Monday

Also an acronym for where I am right now and that's Fort McMurray. This is my first time taking part in this.

The rules directly copied from Ms Kenlie's fabulous blog. If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

10 Reasons To Be Thankful

1. I am thankful to be Canadian, we have national pride too :)

2 . I am thankful for my wonderful parents and the sacrifices they made to create a good life for me

3. I am thankful for my amazing friends

4. I am thankful that I can do things like go to FitBloggin and run races in Disneyland and Disney World

5. I am thankful for my job and the group I support

6. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to go to University

7. I am thankful I have heat and power when so many still go without.

8. I am thankful for the roof over my head and the food in my fridge

9. I am thankful for blogger and getting to know so many amazing people

10. I am thankful for being quite blessed


Now what I don't understand is hotel gyms without treadmills


Hope your Monday rocked!

Hugs

Finally a run & a few of my favorite things

I finally headed out for a run after missing two consecutive weeks of training...yeah not my most brilliant move and one of those weeks was me being unable to breathe through a stuffed nose and fighting a cold.

I had no goal just go for as long as it felt right.

5.18 miles, 1:14:43, 838 calories burned, 14:26 per mile, Avg HR 166, Max HR 186.

As it was my first run in a few weeks it felt a little rough but better then I expected. It was way easier to spot the ice today so that threw off my gait a little which made the run a wee awkward. It got warmer as I was out there then the ice started to melt a little but that caused it to wet ice and after my heel slipped about 10 times I decided to call it a day.

Today I attempted something different hydration wise. I'm not crazy about water bottles around my waist as I feel like I'm wearing an inner tube, the hydration pack was working well but it did add extra weight.

A long time ago I bought a spibelt as I was trying to find ways to carry my iPhone and keys in a non bounce way. The water bottle was on sale so I figured I'd check it out. It just sat for the longest time so today I tried it.

I can honestly say I'll never use it again. I'm not opposed to the hand held water bottle that part I actually liked. What drove me bonkers was the strap kept coming off the bottle. I might keep my eye out for another one hand bottle but with a more secure strap.

I caught a glimpse of the new Oprah magazine and that her favourite things are featured so I thought I'd share somethings I do like.

I'm loving the Yurbuds but I upgraded to the PRO version as it has controls for the iPhone /iPod.

I came across IFitness at the Tinkerbell Expo, after I started using this the Spibelt was retired. I love how it's made out of neoprene and everything inside the pockets stays sweat free. I like the double pocket as my phone can go in one pocket and anything else in the second pocket. At the Tinkerbell expo I got the one that holds two bottles. Disney does such an awesome job with water/ Powerade stations I don't need to carry anything with me.

Nike Lunarglide runners, I normally wear Mizuno for overpronation but I've been reading ChiRunning and trying to focus on a mid foot strike. These have been awesome.

This is my favorite travel pillow ever, it's perfect when sitting in the window seat and resting you head against the side of the plane. The blanket and option to use an inflatable pillow makes it perfect for any situation. I do get on a plane twice a week so comfort is key.

The Bose Quiet Comfort 15 headphones, love love love these. I can listen to music or watch something on my Ipad and it drowns out all the noise from the plane. Heck I once more them not attached to anything when I was flying commercial so I could sleep. They're pricey. I bought a refurbished pair in Las Vegas a few years ago and if these every die I would buy another pair.

Now let me talk about TV.

I'm absolutely loving Arrow, Last Resort, Elementary and Nashville from the new season.

I didn't list 90 plus things like Oprah but thought I'd share.

Tomorrow it's off to Fort McMurray for a two day course. I packed gym clothes to get another run in on Tuesday and a nice walk in tomorrow.

I didn't pack for Orlando today instead I made my pack list as I do have time to pack when I fly home on Wednesday.

I hope all of you enjoyed your Sunday.

Hugs!!

Runaway Meeting

My walk to weigh in this morning was interesting. We had ice fog so I'd be walking along on what appeared to be dry sidewalk then felt a slip as there were spots of very thin ice. I just resorted to my penguin walk (aka small steps) to avoid a wipe out.

Stopped off at Starbucks first and I love their red Christmas cups, I realize it's just a cup but they're cute. I do love their Peppermint Mocha, that has to be my favorite seasonal drink.

I then headed to weigh in. I was down .2, now normally I wouldn't be jumping for joy on that but then I thought let's see you missed last weigh in, you were sick and you were stressed so I'm quite pleased with .2.

Then I was sitting waiting for the meeting I realized they had coupons on sale so scooped those up.

Then the meeting started. For the past few weeks there was a sub, and of course I missed last week so the regular leader was back. I'm still iffy on her.

She was telling us how the meeting format was changing. Leaders will no longer post a recipe or have a food topic instead they'll focus on "linking". Getting us to talk more then they do and referencing back to the meeting before then go on today the meeting at that moment. Someone mentioned that they've seen some stuff online that the plan is changing a little, I've seen that as well. She told us she couldn't tell us anything but that it was just a tweak and no need to buy new trackers or books. She also mentioned they'd be doing a training on it tomorrow (in Alberta anyway). It should roll out sometime in December.

She started talking about the Garden of Life and linked it to joining WW. The first step is to plant a garden or join Weight Watchers, the 2nd step is to plan your garden or get to know the plan and so on.

Then the meeting went a little sideways when she asked who thinks their goal weight is elusive. I raised my hand as for me I've been chubby my whole life, the goal weight is unknown to me. Then the leader brought up two members who are very close to goal but can't seem to get there and one had talked to their doctor to get sign off on a different goal but the doctor doesn't agree. When she described her story is sounded to me like she might want to get a second opinion but then it went more sideways from there. Someone started talking about why did people have to go their doctor and shouldn't Weight Watchers have someone who can sign that off and then it went into other health care professionals who specialize in obesity.  To me the leader lost control of the meeting a little.

I kept thinking she missed one point when talking about the Garden and weight loss and that was patience. You can't will a garden to grow and you can't will the pounds off. You can't compare  yourself to anyone else. You take care of you just as you take care of a garden. Your body is your body and goodness knows we are all different.

At this point the meeting was running over and I had things to do so I left.

I zipped into Walmart and Safeway just for a few odds and ends as I'm barely home this week. Thankfully the walk home was quite so treacherous as it warmed up a bit.

I should have done housework but I was zonked and still sniffly so I pretty much cleared off the pvr. That still may happen.

Tomorrow I'm heading out for the last longish run before Wine and Dine, my plan is to go for as long as I feel like. I'm conscious I've missed the last two long runs and that Wine and Dine is one week from today.

I hope your Saturday was super awesome.

Hugs!!

Where does the time go

This week has flown by and I can't believe I haven't posted since Saturday.  I took the above picture as we were landing. It was so cloudy all you could see was the very top of the mountain range - that's that line in the middle.

I've been crazy busy work wise and all week I've gone in at 6am and left by 6pm or 7pm. The mega project I was working on is now done and I my excel and power point skills are now better then ever.

I managed to track 4/7 days so that's a bit of an improvement of late.

Today I had my physical and did not get any weight comments, the bump I feel on the left side is most likely a rib but my blood pressure is running a wee high.

The doctor told me that can be fixed by eating healthy, losing weight and being relaxed.

Yup, just a reminder to get back in gear and realize that this weight loss journey is not just about vanity but about making sure to live a full life.

I told him I need to get back into yoga and told him about my schedule a half marathon every 4 month plan and he was 100% behind that.

Did blood work and stuff so now the usual drill, if something comes up they call me.

I was super productive today though. My original plan was Dr. Appt, meet friend for coffee, go to Shopper's Drug Mart and then the bank.
.
I realized when I got downtown that Shopper's opens early so got that done right away, minor heart attack when my debit card was declined but it turns out that was a national bank issue not my debit card was compromised.

Went to Dr appt, got blood work done then texted friend to see where we were meeting. Forgot there was a branch of my bank in the same building as my Dr so got that done while I was waiting for the response from my friend so got all my errands done before meeting my friend.

Oh and I got Bon Jovi tickets while waiting for blood work. Bon Jovi is coming to Calgary on April 2nd and I secured 5 tickets for my friends and I.

Swung by the bookstore to get a new journal.

I have a thing for journals. My chat with my friend was awesome. She talked about getting rid of the negativity and I realized my current journal is filled with too much negativity so tada. I like the cork, it's resilient and renewable a good start to focusing on the positive.

Christmas has hit the mall which feels a wee too soon for me. I remember back in the day when I worked retail the Christmas stuff comes out after Remembrance Day.

I had to take a picture of some Holt Renfrew's decorations as they do Christmas so well.

 How pretty is this

I loved the penguins

On the walk home from the bus frost was falling off trees and landing on my head but I was struck by how striking it was

 The tree from which the frost was falling on my head

My neighbors lilac tree

Had a nap at 3 and then had a very lovely chat with another friend who I haven't seen in ages.

That was my day.

Weigh in tomorrow and my goal this week is to track all the way till I get home from Disney World.

I got to Fort McMurray on Monday and Tuesday, back to site Wednesday, fly home Wednesday night then off to Orlando on Thursday so next weigh in after tomorrow isn't until Nov 17th. I fly home too late on Wednesday to catch that meeting.

What have all of you been up to?

Hugs!