I *CAN* Go The Distance!

Oh man, I can remember the hours I spent on this game!

So a while ago I got it in to my head that I would love it if I could run 5k at Disney.  I don't know why, I guess it's because as much as I hate running, I do feel a massive sense of achievement every time I make it through a 5k jog.  Even more so now, with life getting in the way, and recovering from some agonising pelvic girdle pain which is still lingering slightly from my last pregnancy.

With all my Disney fascination, I found out that Walt Disney World actually have their own races!  From the Expedition Everest 5k to the Disney Princess Half Marathon, with plenty of other themed runs to try in between. 
Doesn't that sound amazing??  The adrenalin of the race, the excitement of Disney, all magnified 100% by the volume of people all around, exactly as hyped up and raring to go as you are!  Wow.  They even have an after party!

Just HOW MUCH do you think I want one of these?  Wrong, I want it more than that.

But alas, I have had to resign myself to the fact that this is just not going to happen.  This time at least...  Some day, maybe.
OOORRRRR - Lookie what I just found! http://www.distherapy.com/2013/03/is-disneyland-paris-dream-rundisney.html  Could it be?  Perhaps?  Maybe one day I could run Disney - Paris!  The plot - unlike my waistline - thickens...
At least I hope.  I need to shift this muffin top!

I have been doing runs (trying, anyway), lifting weights, squats, planks, sit ups, crunches and trying trying trying to cut some of the sweet stuff out of my diet.  I really do have a hopeless sweet tooth.

So January saw me doing this squat challenge with my friends:

So...much...squatting...

By the end I was borrrred, so switched to doing less squats but with added weights.


Then February meant the plank challenge:

Torture!  Torture I tell you!

I'm a little worried that with only four days to go the longest I have managed is 3:52.  But it's not my fault that February is short, so maybe I will tack on a couple of days - and then probably continue in to March because planks are really hard!

Stitch, I'm with ya dude.

A couple of weeks ago I worked out that if I lose 1lb per week, I will only be 1lb away from my target when we board that plane.  That sounds doable, right?  Only then of course at the very next weigh-in those numbers remained static.  Grr.

But having an achievable number does motivate me somewhat.  I am trying to be sensible, both with what I do not eat, and what I do allow myself, when I need it.  Yes, I am a comfort eater.  I know this is far from ideal, but I have recently come to accept that if a whacking big bar of chocolate stops me from slipping in to a pit of despair, then it's worth it.  I am overweight, but only *just*.  And my mental health is more important than my dress size.  Generally my diet is ok when it comes to meals - but snacks...  Uh oh!  I'm trying to limit myself to one unhealthy food a day - even that looks awful to me when I type it out, should it be one per week?!

And the running.  Yes back to that.  I'm still at the stage where I dread going out the door - but I'm always at the high on my way home!  Doing a 'Run Disney' race would be the ultimate motivator, if we were going at the right time of year to enter.
But would you look at this?

Coronado Springs Baby! My future home in the zone.

I'm going to do my very own Disney 5k!  It's now on my bucket list, so no escaping it!  I'd love a medal, but I'll have to settle for a pin on my lanyard instead.  For now...

"That's what friends are for"

Crikey, I had better get on with posting before Christmas rolls around!

Well hello there fellow Dis-fans!  Pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and get comfortable.  Fancy a biscuit?  Here you go - ah go on, take two or three, we are all friends here.

Darjeeling, anyone?

So, I will come clean.  Thing haven't been at their best here for me, and I really, *really* needed my friends to pull me through it.  I didn't even realise that I had them at the time, let alone know to call on them.  Now by that I'm not meaning that they abandoned me - I mean that I was so low I was hidden away too much to know they were there.

And when you're outside looking in who's there to open the door?

But you know the great things about good friends?  They crawl in to that hole and coax you out, offering the hand of support and strength to get you back.

So I take a short break from the Disney World planning to say thank you to my friends.  To my fantastic Copper Husbeast, to my purple haired Riot Grrrrl, to my kooky German Mama-friend, my school mama Swede and all my lovely Nostrils.
And yes, I know that's cryptic to anyone that doesn't know!  But I would also like to thank all of the Disney people online for keeping me perky.  All those pins I found on Pinterest were like little rays of light on cloudy days.  Reading the fun times on the disboards bring giggles all the time - I recommend living vicariously through trip reports to everyone!  And a special little wave to the fab DisneyKid4Life, who waved to me all the way from England in Epcot - dude, your TR is a smile with every update.

So what can I do to say thank you to these lovely folks?  I'm gonna have to think on that one.  They're special people for sure, and I want them to know that.

What I want you guys to know is that I'm back on it now.  This is me back to planning mode, and I have a lot to talk about!  Coming up I need to cover flights, meal planning, a rather Tangled birthday affair - that's just to begin with!

See you all soon, OK?  :)

"A Very Very Unbirthday, to you!"

A very Disney Birthday to me!

Last week saw me turn 33.  Only the day was such a disaster from start to finish, that I asked my husband to promise me I can re-celebrate when we get to Disney!
Do I really need to go in to details?  I'd rather not relive it.  I will tell you that our smallest disaster was when our Playstation3 decided to die, with my brand new DVD inside it.  Yes, that's the smallest - there were many more and much more frustrating, upsetting and annoying!

So I am going to have a BIRTHDAY AT DISNEY WORLD!!!  Squee!  What better place to enjoy your special day?  Although I am going to have to hold Liam to this and remind him - I expect a cake and a present if nothing else...
So what do you get for a birthday at WDW?  I can answer this because we celebrated Frazer's last time we were there.  His actual birthday was just a few days after our return but we couldn't book our holiday to cover it.
Don't expect a day full of freebies - I think this is something that many in our 'entitled' culture want.  It's fun, but you wont be getting a free dinner with Cinderella for it!  There must be hundreds of people (if not more) celebrating something at Disney World every day.
You can get a button for it.  Button?  A badge to my UK friends:

Err yeah it's a big button.  Nothing to do with me being too lazy to resize... *ahem*

And you write your name on the front and all day long people wish you a very happy birthday!  If you're lucky, you might even get a little freebie - my Drummerboy was given a cupcake when we ate at Chef Mickey's.  He wasn't expecting it and the poor love had eaten so much that he couldn't fit his birthday treat in!

Birthday wishes all day for the Drummerboy!

You may also be in for other little treats, like a card signed by the characters, or even confetti on your (full service) table, if you let a CM know you're celebrating when you book and/or arrive that is!

Secretly, I'm hoping that my husband orders me a birthday cake while we're there.  From what I've gathered on the disboards cake chatter thread, it can sometimes be a little hit and miss.  Depending on what you want, how you ask for it and who you ask, it can be spectacular, or it can be just not special enough.

Of course there's the price too.  These speciality cakes aren't going to cost the same as what you would pay in your local supermarket, but as I've read elsewhere, it is the experience you are paying for.

I highly recommend that if you're thinking of ordering a cake at WDW, that you do your research.  Know who to call and how to explain specifically what you want from them.  From what I have gathered if you call and don't get the response you hoped for, your best plan is to try again in a few hours and see if you can speak with someone else!  The chefs are quite accommodating if you have something unusual to ask for, but the people on the phone cakeline often aren't aware of this.

Anyway, I don't want anything special!  It was only a vague idea in the corner of my mind - UNTIL...

Until I saw this and it completely and utterly *melted my heart*

Taken from http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=13634732&postcount=3

OK well not exactly this cake.  I'm sure the one I saw was round and chocolatey and a bit messier, but it had "Happy Birthday Mommy" written on it and I want that cake!  I'd definitely need less (as in, none) flowers and more stars/hidden Mickeys though!

Not sure I can convince my husband...

Hmm, but a present.  What Disney themed gift would you want?  There are so many I would love to pick from if I could!

"Be... Our... Guest"

"...be our guest!
Put our service to the test,
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, Cherie
and we provide the rest."

Could I really call this post anything else?  Yep, I'm gonna cover the accommodation.
Now in the grand scheme of things - that is, if you're anything like me - you could be excused for thinking that the hotels and resorts aren't much to consider when you compare it to the ENORMITY that is the AWESOMENESS of the Disney Parks.
However, I've got to say that Disney, as usual, goes above and beyond when it comes to accommodation.

What I'm going to start with is the resort I have experience in: All Star Music.

I left my heart at ASMu...

Often known as ASMu on forums such as the Disboards (which is a fab site for finding out multitudes of WDW related stuff), All Star Music is one of Disney's budget resorts.  It has less of the luxuries, but is perfect if all you want is a place to lay your head and crash after a day at the parks.  We chose it because we thought we didn't have much option - we needed a room that would fit all of us in, and the All Star Music resort had recently started offering family rooms, when we went.

A family room is ace.  Well, we thought so!  It's actually two rooms knocked in to one.  You'll have one entrance door, but two bathrooms (with toilet, bath, shower, sink and hair dryer in each).  One main bedroom with desk, drawers and bedside tables, etc, and one living room, with a big TV, sofabed, chair-bed and an ottoman that can convert in to a bed.  When we stayed we never even opened the ottoman, as two of our children shared the sofabed while the other took the folded out chair.  They all found it very comfortable and huge fun!  The only downside really is that the space is very limited when the beds are out - I know this from trying to lay out the clothes for the next day while my children slept!
Also in the family suite is a kitchenette.  It's a small space, but has everything needed, considering we would be mostly eating out.  Sink, kettle, fridge and cupboards with basic disposable (but Disney - check out the Mickey heads!) plates, bowls and cutlery.

Mousekeeping still comes around as usual.  They even make the little animals out of face cloths that you'll find in the moderate and luxury hotels.  What I wish I knew was that it's OK to keep your cloth animals!  I didn't even want my children to touch ours - in case they messed them up!  I've found out since that they are usually made from cloths ready for retirement anyway, so when I go back I really do hope I get another to bring home!

I digress.  I do that.
So at a budget resort you might expect to miss out on some of the luxuries.  You wont find a gym or spa at ASMu - but you will find a gorgeous fun swimming pool.

Ay ay ay!   I miss you guys! 

The pool is themed!  It's in the shape of a guitar, with the top end of it a small pool for younger children.  The three Caballeros will squirt you as you swim past, there are lots of seats around the pool and plenty of towels.  You can even borrow a life jacket for non-swimmers, so they can bob about independently.
There's another pool - and it's piano shaped!!  How cool is that?  It's bigger too, but we were so happy with our guitar pool (right on our doorstep!) that we never even went to tinkle the ivories of the other resort pool.

Man I just felt like a superstar every time I stepped out of our room!

Much of all the All Star resorts are themed.  This is probably the main thing I loved about them, as you just don't get fun quite like it at the other resorts.  At All Star Movies you'll be able to pose with some of your favourite characters from various Disney films, like 101 Dalmations, Herbie, Donald and Daisy.  All Star Sports is the place to go if you're the active type - quite often Cheerleading teams will meet up there for local competitions.
All Star Music is of course, music themed.  We stayed at the Jazz Inn.  At the end of our building there were huge instruments for decoration.  My children are quite musical and loved this - many photo opportunites without even leaving the resort!  I also loved the stars everywhere - so bright, so fun and so happy.



You wont find a 5 star full service restaurant at the All Stars, but what we did get was a lively and friendly environment and quick service menu at the Intermission Food Court.  Each day I would dash down to fill my cup with a Diet Coke to wake me up, and grab some breakfast that was easy to eat on the go - as we would probably be eating while waiting for an early bus to the parks!
We only ate a full meal at the Intermission a few times and while breakfast was just lovely, I can't say that dinner was the best ever.  But neither was it bad - it was just fine, I guess!  The pizza isn't great but the other foods are pretty yummy.  Not out of this world, but will fill you up and taste good.  Better foods are to be found in park restaurants if you are on a quick service meal plan, or full service restaurants if your budget stretches that way.  We did have a giggle when Liam was offered bacon to go with his sweet waffles and strawberry sauce!  That's so American - and one of our first examples of how British we are that it seemed so odd.

If you need it, there's a laundry room at ASMu.  While some people like that so they don't have a mountain of dirty clothes when they get home, I can tell you that the LAST thing I want to do while away is household chores!  And of course a general gift shop.  Loads of souvenirs to buy here, plus more useful things like sun screen (an *amazing* spray on sun protection!), headache tablets and similar.

I wish I had taken more photos of All Star Music, as it's such a lovely place and I don't think my words can do it justice.  I'm quite sad to think we wont be going there again as I've found a way of making it cheaper, but a different resort (more on that next time), but at the same time rather excited at the thought of trying something new.  If I learned anything from our first stay at WDW, it's that Disney really does want you to be their guest, and they really will look after you as well as they can!