The View from Scopa Towers

As most of you are now into your own running program it’s probably a good time for you to take a look at yourself and see what kind of a runner you are.

Discovering your running identity is important because it will help you to understand how your body works as a machine when you train or run.

Once you have identified your running identity you will also be aware of what to expect from your body regardless of the distance you will run in upcoming races.

It also does wonders for your confidence because you will feel better about yourself simply because you will know more about your limitations.

Here are the three running identities.

The Turtle

Okay, the connotation that comes to mind is the word “slow” but that’s not what I am implying here. The turtle is known for having one speed and one speed only. It’s not slow and it’s not fast but steady.

This identity has nothing to do with pace it’s just that there are runners out there who are pretty consistent when they run; never wavering from a basic pace.

These runners will run close to the same pace regardless of whether they’re running a 5K distance or even a marathon with maybe a slightly slower pace for the longer distances.

I’ve known many people like this and the one thing I have noticed is that most of these runners all have the same pre-race routine. This routine includes some special warming up and stretching exercises. Thus for the beginning of every run they are in their own designated warm-up state.

During their runs mile one will be covered in the same time or within a few seconds as miles, two, three, four, and so on. Consistency is the key word here. There is no significant speeding up or slowing down for these folks. “Steady as she goes!” is their battle cry.

These runners fall into a rhythm and never leave this rhythm.

This works for a lot of people because to them it is an injury prevention approach to running. That is, you are less likely to pull a muscle or hamstring or injure yourself if you maintain a steady pace. For some people it’s natural to have a steady pace and for others they actually work at it.

So are you a turtle?

The Rabbit

If you’re wondering the answer is “Yes, this runner’s identity has a lot to do with speed.”

I’m sure you’ve heard people say, “Oh he’s the rabbit for this race.”

The rabbit is that type of runner who starts out fast. For the first portion of the race this runner is untouchable, the pace is quick, as if this runner is shot out of a cannon.

In some cases the rabbit is there not to win but to help a friend or, in team competition, to help his teammates.

For instance let’s say you are a running coach and you have a team of several runners with their own specialty.

As a coach you might throw in your two-miler specialist in a 10K race to speed up the pace for your 10K runners and perhaps subliminally get them to run faster.

Rabbits don’t always win…in fact they hardly win.

Why? Well, let’s face it; you cannot keep up that pace for too long.

Many times I’ve seen rabbits in races, including all the races I’ve ever participated in at Walt Disney World.

These runners zip by me during the first or second mile but for the most part cannot keep up that early pace and soon settle down to a more comfortable pace.

Rabbits run the risk of injury especially if they do not warm up before a race. If you start off fast then your muscles and body should be well warmed up to best avoid a pulled muscle.

One of the reasons I am glad I’m not a rabbit is that I would not just worry about injury but I would worry about running out of gas before covering the race distance.

I’m not a rabbit…are you?

The Snowball

That’s me. I’m a snowball. That is my running identity.

I didn’t realize I was a snowball until one day some 30 years ago while running in a local 5K race. At each mile marker there was a race official yelling out the split times as we crossed each marker.

When I hit the second and the third mile splits I noticed that my times were quite different. How different? Well my third mile was over a minute faster than my first mile.

Ever since that race I started to pay attention to this aspect of my running and to this very day the same holds true for any distance I run. The first mile is always my toughest mile and I think it has a lot to do with my preference to use that first mile as my warm-up time.

During the 2006 Walt Disney World Half-Marathon I noticed that the difference was even greater. My first mile was something like 95 seconds slower than miles two through five.

So why do I use the term snowball? Well, picture yourself standing at the top of a mountain and making a snowball and rolling it down the mountain. It starts off slowly and gradually picks up speed. That’s what some runners do as well.

For those types of runners there is a certain point in every workout where their running rhythm begins to click and they actually go on something that they call “autopilot.” When you hit that point and everything is working well…your breathing, your muscles, everything, it is at that time that you’re probably running at your optimum speed.

So when you start a race you’ll have all three kinds of runners and what you will see is the rabbit who leads the pack from the start and running like there’s no tomorrow. Then there is the turtle that is very consistent and maintains a steady pace throughout the race.

Then you have the snowball who is nothing like the turtle but sort of a reverse rabbit…maybe we should call this runner a “tibbar” or rabbit in reverse.

You’re body and its approach to exercise, stamina, and running determines what kind of a runner you are. I don’t subscribe to the philosophy that says you can adjust your identity to whatever you want it to be.

It’s a natural thing so embrace whatever identity you are because it’s what’s best for you.

So which identity fits your running style?

Mike’s Training Diary

The dogs days of summer are upon us and we al have to be real careful that we don’t over do our training.

Heat and humidity can do a job on you so constantly hydrate yourself all day.

I’m presently trying to run every day but alternating long days and short days. I had to do a little catching up due to some time off I took will at Magicmeets. We’ll talk a bit about that in my next visit.

I am closing in on six miles and this puts me right on schedule for the TZTOT race in October. My pace is also settling down into what is normal for me.

The pace is not as important as stamina. I have a good idea as to how long I need to be able to run by October's race and that is my objective.

We have so much to discuss between now and October and now and January.

One important discussion is what I call “Taking a Break” and we’ll discuss this next time.

Happy running everyone.

How appropriate that MagicMeets interrupted my training regimen.

This “stop in the action” reminded me that no matter how hard we try to maintain our routines that sometimes scheduled and unscheduled events will impact these routines.

Events could be in the form of vacation, a crazy work schedule, or something unexpected that plays havoc with our daily or weekly routine.

So when that happens what should we do? How do we get back? More importantly, what should we NOT do?

Well, again I need to emphasize that everyone is different and what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. Above all play it cautious to avoid a setback.

So when we run into these times when we find our training interrupted what is the first thing we should do?

The first thing is to accept the fact that you should not expect to immediately pick up where you left off.

I’ll use my own experience as an example.

The day before leaving for MagicMeets I had a very good run in the five to six mile range and felt pretty good after the run.

However, between the drive down, my several days there, and the drive back I really hadn’t run except for maybe a 2 mile jog one morning.

When I returned home I was ready to resume my training.

This had to be done right. Too many times in the past I got a little too anxious and ambitious upon coming off a “break in the action.”

What resulted was a setback as I asked my body to perform like a machine that just needed to be turned on again…no, it doesn’t work that way.

My rule of thumb is that the amount of time you take off from your training should dictate the amount of time you should take to get back to where you were before the interruption took place.

Again, this works for me….but I can tell you that it also seems to work for a lot of friends of mine…so maybe there is something to this philosophy.

So my plan was to take about a week to get back to where I was before the interrupt.

How?

Well I think that most of us are capable of at least going out and running at least ½ of what we were doing before the interrupt.

For me I went out and ran 5K (3.1) miles for my first day, then, as each day came I added not miles but time to my workout. I added about five minutes per day and within seven days I was pretty close to where I was prior to my trek to Magicmeets.

I was prepared to stretch it out to 10 days if need be but I listened to my body at the end of every day and it told me I was moving along slowly enough so not to worry.

I just didn’t want to try and take one step forward prematurely and have that result in two steps back.

So just a little tip that could go a long way…don’t rush back too soon…you may end up injuring yourself.

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 6.5K/13K Course

I do have a lot of work to do as the TZTOT 13K is only about 2 ½ months away.

I’ve revised my training plan so that I will be in the 6-7 mile range or better by the end of August.

As a matter of fact, I have recently gone out and run 7 miles so I’m already there. It’s just a matter of getting used to doing 7 miles once or twice a week, while doing a few shorter runs the other two or three times I go out.

It doesn’t hurt to assess your training schedule and adjust it accordingly.

For those of you who are planning to participate in the 6.5K (4.1 miles) or 13K (8.2 miles) events you may be interested to know that there is some “noise” about the course being posted sometime soon.

As soon as this happens I will let you know as I’m curious as to exactly where we will be going.

Some of you have emailed me and have asked if I have any idea as to exactly where the course will take us.

My best guess is that the course will essentially be a double-back course that is normally used for the Race for the Taste except that we will not finish in EPCOT.

Here is a description of the course taken from the TZTOT 13K Event Info page:

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ 13K is an 8.1 mile night-time road race that will end in the shadows of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction at the Disney-MGM Studios. The course will also feature Disney's Wide World of Sports® Complex, before returning to Disney-MGM Studios where the course will feature the Lights, Motors, Action™ Extreme Stunt Show and then down New York Street, past the Sorcerer's Hat, to an unforgettable finish at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™.

I expect that due to the overwhelming response that we will all begin the race in the MGM Studios parking lot. My inclination is to believe that again, due to the number of participants, we will then continue along outside the park to Disney’s World of Sports.

When we get to Disney’s World of Sports we may find the course eventually heading back to MGM Studios, however here’s where we are looking at two different ways of entering the park.

One option is to enter through the back entrance of MGM near the Tower of Terror. There is an access back there and other races have used. As you enter the park the Tower is on your left.

The other entry is from the other side of the park in which the participants will run through Lights! Motors! Action! Stunt Show and then through the backstage area before running down the Big City Streets area and then over near “Buy the Book” and the Sci-Fi Drive-In Restaurant, past the Commissary and then run clockwise around the Sorcerer’s Hat in front of TGMR then either over to Indy Jones and then to Sunset Blvd or go directly from the hat to Sunset Blvd.

I would think that the finish line would be in the park although I have never run in a WDW race in which the finish line was inside the park. Usually the runners are crossing a finish line in that park’s parking lot.

Well, let’s hope we soon find out…I’m excited.

But I need to get back to my training.

But before I go let me address this “take a break” issue a bit further. It really is important for anyone training to give their body a rest when your body “talks” to you.

If you find that your legs, knees, ankles, feet, or back give you pain then take a day off and give those areas some rest.

Pain speaks volumes.

Here’s another indicator that you need a day off. Remember our discussion on watches and how evil they can be? Well, they can be your friend too.

Once you have settled into a comfortable pace for yourself you will begin to notice if during a run whether or not your normal pace is in fact happening.

If after two miles you notice that your pace is off by at least a minute then you are overtraining and your body is telling you that it needs a day or two off to replenish and rest.

I guarantee you that if you rest from time to time then you will find your training to be a lot easier and also more productive.

Listen to your body. You don’t have to run every day.

Take a break.

Blogging from Orlando

That’s right! I’m taking this blog to Orlando for a week or so and plan on blogging a bit more frequently while down there. So if you are in need of a WDW fix I hope I can help fill that need.

It looks to be hot while I’m there so you just KNOW that I’ll have to be sure to keep my body hydrated.

Can you guess what I will depend upon to keep me hydrated?

Like there was any doubt!

Happy training!

So here I am in Walt Disney World and I thought I'd share my trip experiences with you for the main purpose of helping you plan your next trip to Walt Disney World.

I'll reflect on some things that work for me that save me money, time, and stress. Call them tips if you like.

I'll also mention a few interesting things I have noticed on this trip that you may want to look for or experience on your next trip.

The Early Bird

Yes I am an early bird. I take the ealiest flight I can. Why? Well if I plan on taking a later flight there is a better chance of that flight being delayed simply because of the domino effect that occurs when flights are delayed.

Also, for some reason early morning flights seem to make better time than the later ones.

Join the Club

If you rent a car while in Orlando always try to join that car agencies club or whatever allows you to bypass the counter.

As we rolled along with our luggage Carol saw the line at the National Car counter and said, "Yikes! Look at that line!" She forgot i was an Emerald Aisle member. We went right up and grabbed our car and was off.

How much time did this save? Well we were rolling our luggage into our room at Pop Century approxiamately 75 minutes after our plane touched down in Orlando.

It is well worth it to do whatever you can to save time.

As an Annual Passholder (and I realize not everyone is) I always try to get AP rates for the room. This vacation has me spliting my time between Pop Century (I know...blasphemy...but Pop Century should not complain...i'm approaching my 100th night there) and Port Orleans French Quarter...both with AP rates.

Another AP advantage is the Disney Dining Experience card which offers me a 20% discount at most of the sit-down restaurants and also Everything Pop (Pop Century's foodcourt).

When we got to the TTC we took the Admiral Joe Fowler Ferry to The Magic Kingdom

Here's a few topiaries for you to look for on your next trip to the Magic Kingdom.

The Haunted Mansion

Now look at this photo...tells you that Haunted Mansion is really closed for refurbishing erh?

However, Master Gracey left us this note...

...which informs us that he's traveling the netherworld in search of new spirits.

Here's another picture of the Haunted Mansion "under wraps" and going through a face change.

Keep yer fingers crossed that this attraction will be up and running in 6-8 weeks.

Be on the Lookout for...

Here's something for you to look for the next time you ride the Magic Kingdom riverboat. Look for the dog standing in this boat and watching this fish jump out of the water...and I mean this fish does jump out of the water.

I have two other bits of information to share with you before I end this very long day.

The next time you visit the Carrousel of Progress you may want to check out each scene very carefully. One of them includes an image of Mickey as the Sorceror's Apprentice...but which one? And where in the scene is this image?

Finally, the next time you are in The Magic Kingdom and you see this sign in front of the City Hall...

...please take it with a grain of salt.

I suggest that you both call Disney Dining and also take a chance and walk up to the restaurant's podium and check for an opening. It actually works more often that you would think.

That's it for now. See you next time everyone.

Travel days take a lot out of me. The proof was that I didn’t wake up until 6:45 Monday morning…at the time I’m usually just back from my morning run…not on this morning.

What was worse was that I closed my eyes and didn’t really wake up until 8:30.

We had breakfast at Chef Mickey’s with several of our friends.

We celebrated two birthdays.

Here are some exclusive pictures I took of the current DVC work going on where the old Contemporary North Garden wing used to be. The work has only just begun.

For those of you who used to visit the Belz outlet it’s now the Prime Outlet.

There are some unusual stores like…

..and like….

…I was in the market for some new running trunks so I visited this store...

The Disney Character Warehouse store was not open yet….arrrrrggggh!

We then went to the Premium Outlets to visit the Disney Character Premium store.

Hey…I know someone who would be interested in this merchandise they were selling….

…do you know of whom I speak?

From there we shot over to Publix to get a case of water for our room.

From there we went over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom to catch the afternoon parade.

By the way….the ice tea sold at the quick-service restaurants comes in sugar and sugar-free but not is decaffeinated.

We had a dinner ADR at Boma and weren’t sure if it would be too late for us to return to DAK for EMH but we got our bands anyway.

As it turned out after Boma we thought it best to go to MGM.

MGM was very crowded.

Here’s some homework….next time you’re in MGM look for this billboard.

Make that two assignments….look for this Mickey Mouse rocking horse too.

Here’s a clue…

We did a few things in MGM and finished the night watching Fantasmic…always entertaining.

By the way, speaking of Fantasmic, I no longer do the Fantasmic dinner package because I think that the prices are a bit much. So I eat at my favorite MGM restaurant about 2 hours before the Fantasmic show time and then head over to the Hollywood Hills about an hour before the show.

We had left center seats, about 15 rows up.

Tips that come to mind from today…

• Don’t go by the printed schedules you pick up at the parks. If there is a greeter board, like the one at the beginning of Sunset Blvd. check that for late changes in the park. For instance, today the printed schedule said MGM was holding only one showing of Fantasmic…the board said otherwise….so check the boards.

• Also, have you ever made an ADR (Advanced dining Reservation) yet was hungry an hour before the time of your ADR? Well, if it’s just the two of you then you have a very good chance of having your ADR moved up…just show up at the restaurant and ask if your time can be moved up.

As I write this entry the weathermen down here are starting to mention the possibility of a hurricane hitting Florida sometime late this weekend. If so I’ll be here to report it.

It’s time for me to head over to Deb’s blog to see how her Southwest Adventures are going.

That’s all for now.

Help, I’m beginning to panic. I woke up at 4:30 Tuesday morning. Hmmm, too early to run. I’ll just close my eyes and then wake up at 5:30 and then go out and run.

Big mistake.

It’s been almost five days since my last run and I need to run Wednesday morning…but we have an 8:10 ADR at Donald’s Breakfastsaurus…..yes I’m panicking but anyway….

…we headed to EPCOT this morning and here’s an up to date picture on the state of Spaceship Earth…at least regarding Mickey’s Arm and wand…

…yep…practically gone.

A Soarin'

We headed over to Soarin’ and as always, I head over to the leftmost FastPass distribution box and that box is never crowded.

I noticed the huge pictures in the queue area had changed quite a lot. See for yourself.

After we got the FastPasses We got into line and hen we got to the loading area we ASKED to sit in the top row…we were guided to the next area and we were top center row…cool

After our first ride we needed to burn 30 minutes so we did “Living with the Land” and that attraction no longer has a Cast member riding with you.

Get a load of this…

We returned to Soarin'; and Carol AGAIN asked for the top row. This time not only did we get top row center but I was sitting in seat #6. That is the best seat in the house folks.

So there’s your second tip of the day…if it looks like you can get into the top row then ask.

We then did the Nemo attraction at the Living Seas. We got a kick out of this t-shirt

A Sailing

After Nemo I called my buddy Matthew from Reedy Creek emergency Services. Carol and I had plans to spend some time with Matthew and his fiancée Kristen today.

We planned to meet at DTD and take a pontoon ride to Old Key West.

As Carol and I left EPCOT we cut through Innoventions.

Now here’s a Segway I’d like to try.

We met Matthew and Kristen at the Marina at DTD and we took off for Old Key West. On a pontoon boat like this one which was docked at the Old key West Marina.

Along the way we past Saratoga Springs and Port Orleans

It was a nice comfortable quiet boat ride. It was refreshing too because the high for the day in Orlando set a new record…98 degrees.

We helped, or I should say Matt and Kristen (they both work for Reedy Creek Emergency services) helped a woman whose small boat kind of conked out on her.

Kristen edged the pontoon boat close to the woman’s boat and Matt got her boat working again.

We returned and had lunch at the Rainforest Café before heading our separate ways.

We made arrangements to get together again next week

Carol and I checked the stores.

Here’s a homework assignment. Where in DTD can you find a bee’s nest with bees?

We then headed back to EPCOT and took in American Adventure. I was very curious about the new “Golden Dream” and I was not disappointed. As much as I would like to say they just tweaked it I’d have to say it was more than a tweak and it will move you even more than its predecessor.

Also, look for a slight change to the ending of the AA attraction after ‘Golden Dream”

AA is my favorite WDW attraction.

I’m always the last one to leave the theater.

A Soaking

As we made our way around World Showcase everyone jumped as without notice a huge crack of thunder came out of nowhere. We were surprised because half the sky was sunny…we didn’t notice what was behind us.

Then the rains came ans we got soaked.

Here’s proof that half the sky was rainy and the other half sunny.

We watched Illuminations and it looks as though the video globe has been given some enhancements.

I took some pictures but they don’t do the globe justice so here’s a token torch picture.

We checked out Mouse Gear before leaving the park.

Hmmmm, I kept seeing the following logo on a lot of merchandise…

…could this be the new EPCOT logo?

We’ll see.

That was it for Tuesday.

Arrgghhh....slept until 6:36 and since we had an early ADR at Donald's Breakfastosaurus another morning went by the boards without me running. Not good.

Anyway, we headed out to Disney's Animal Kingdom and made our way to Donald's.

Here's me...awake for only an hour, with Mr. Goofy.

We left breakfast and went to see Festival of the Lion King. It's always a joy to see this show and a great first attraction of the day.

We then went to see "Nemo - The Musical."

I've heard that people who have seen this show either love it or hate it. Those who dislike the show complain that they don't like to see the puppeteers. However, I think that's the charm of the show.

The larger puppets were amazing to see, especially Crush.

When you see this attraction my advice would be to sit in the rear portion of the theater, behind that main aisle. Otherwise you will miss some very entertaining parts of the show.

Again, the main charm is seeing the performers do their thing.

We then decided to leave DAK and head over to the Studios to catch a few attractions there.

The first order of the day in MGM was Beauty & The Beast. I know. I know. You're thinking, "Okay Mike, where's the gazillion pictures of Belle in her blue dress?" Well, I don't know. I just watched the show.

I've noticed over the last two years that the performing Belle for this attraction is always short, perhaps to emphasize the size difference between her and the Beast!.

From there we went over to the ABC theater steps to watch the "Stars and MotorCars" parade.

The middle sections of those steps are reserved for those who are hearing challenged and there are two people who "sign" the sounds of Stone Granite, Gabriel Huffington (I think that's her name) and other parade sounds to these special guests.

We saw Remy in the parade.

Oh yeah, these guys too.

We then saw the High School Musical Pep Rally, that is before the rain cut it short.

A word about this show, if you are a High School Musical purist you may not particularly enjoy the show as the performers put their own personalities into the songs which I noticed bothered some of the guests.

However there are those who loved the show and these guests, mostly the pre-teens, seem to be quite fanatical towards this show.

Before I forget, here is a homework assignment. Now where can you find this in MGM?

Also, this...

We then had dinner at H&V. Somehow they had us down for two ADRS with one of them being part of the Fantasmic Dinner Package, who knows.

After dinner we got our Extra Magic Hour wristbands.

We then took in the Backlot Tour.

I discovered something. If you sit in the back half of car #5 you will get soaked at Catastrophe Canyon...trust me.

At the AFI Villains portion of the tour...

...I checked on a special Hidden Mickey that Steve Barrett pointed out to me last year.

Consider this another homework assignment and look for this Hidden Mickey on your next trip.

We next did Muppetvision 3-D.

Here's another homework assignment. The next time you visit Muppetvision 3D watch the film very closely ans see if you can find the 3D glasses on the bust of Mozart.

We finished the night taking in Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

We thought about doing The Great Movie Ride and Indy but we were beginning to run out of gas.

Plus I had to write this blog entry.

Boy I hope Deb is using her sunscreen out West.

Looks like no running for me at Pop Century on this trip. Missed it again this morning and tomorrow we move to Port Orleans French Quarter.

Today we got a late start (wrote my blog until 1 A.M.) and went to EPCOT.

We decided to visit Figment first and then we stroled into World Showcase and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico.

When you next experience this attraction look for the Donald Duck pinata.

From there we walked around World Showcase and walked right onto The Maelstrom.

We saw drawbridge up to allow the Illuminations barges into the lagoon.

And from another angle...

And of course one of the aforementioned barges.

We made our way to Canada and had lunch at Le Cellier.

We overheard one of the castmembers say that the restaurant was fully booked up to January.

BTW, new Canada film in late September.

After lunch we took in Off Kilter....sans lead singer Jamie Holton who is on vacation.

Hey look...it's Lou Mongello of WDWRadio on the fiddle.

From there we enjoyed Brisith Invasion at the United Kingdom pavilion.

Looks like Food & Wine is already being celebrated at Japan.

We just had to see American Adventure one more time...I almost made it through "Golden Dream" without shedding a tear.

Homework assignment. Where can you find this in World Showcase?

We had dinner at Alfredo's. It would be our last dinner there as the restaurant will be closing at the end of the month.

After dinner we took in Ellen's Universe of Energy and decided to call it an early night for a change.

We got back to Pop Century and I finally visited my favorite spot at the resort, Generation Gap Bridge.

More tomorrow.

Well, the good news is that I woke up early enough on Friday to go out and run. The bad news is that I said to myself, “Let me close my eyes for just another 15 minutes.”

We call that a “mistake.”

Next thing I know its 6:47 and we have an 8:10 ADR at the Grand Floridian Café.

Arrrghhh, another morning without a run.

When we got to the Café they told us that our ADR was for the day before! Huh? First at Hollywood & Vine the night before they had us down for two ADRs at the same time now this!

They honored our time and we had a very nice breakfast. We did not eat everything as we turned down the final course which was Mickey waffles.

We had visits from Tigger, Pooh, Mary Poppins, the Mad Hatter, and Alice.

1900 Park Fare will soon reopen. Our server said that they are hoping that the new 1900 Park Fare will open in late September and it will be able to serve even more guests as the restaurant will be bigger.

We left the Grand Floridian and headed back to Pop Century to do our final packing as we were moving to Port Orleans French Quarter.

We didn’t think our room was going to be ready but surprise, surprise it was.

We tossed our bags onto the bed, stashed our water in the frig, and headed over to the Magic Kingdom.

As we entered the town square I scooted over to City Hall to ask for a birthday button for Carol and also a brochure for the Pirate & Princess Party.

We are not going until Tuesday evening but it’s never too early to plan how best to navigate the park for this party.

There are some general guidelines I suggest to families going to any of the MK parties, be it Pirate and Princess, Mickey’s not So Scary, or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

Here they are:

• First and foremost grab a party brochure a day or two before going to the party.

• Review the brochure and put together a plan as to how you will navigate the park during the party.

• Get your MK attraction fix the day before the party because you don’t want to put attraction touring at the top of your list…remember, you are paying extra to get into the park at this time for the special events…not the attractions.

• If possible do the Extra Magic Hour Evening the night before the party. Stay out late because you really should think about sleeping in on the morning of the party.

• Take it easy in the morning, perhaps go to DisneyQuest for a few hours, and then have an early dinner, say no later than 5 P.M.

• Wear a watch with a lighted dial so you can keep track of the time.

• Try to arrive at the Magic Kingdom at least 30 minutes before the start of the party.

• If you can, do the later scheduled events such as a show or a parade because it will be less crowded than the earlier ones.

• Plan any attraction touring around the special events. That is, if you can fit in Big Thunder Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean around your schedule then go for it. Remember that you are paying for these special events so make sure you get the most of the party.

The last few days have been somewhat hot and we have felt the need to hydrate as often as possible. We grabbed light lemonade at Casey’s.

We then made our way over to Adventureland to finally ride Pirates. The wait time was about 75 minutes. No thanks.

We rode Aladdin’s Magic Carpet and then took in the Tiki Room.

There was a guest sitting next to us who had what looked like baby who was no more than a few weeks old.

Not only was the baby probably the youngest person to se the Tiki room, he/she may have been one of the few chosen to be nursed by his mom too….yes…but discreetly.

Homework Assignment: next time you're in The Magic Kingdom look for this sight.

Pirates was still full so we visited the Country Bears.

We then watched the “Disney Dreams Come True” parade.

It was getting close to our Crystal Palace ADR time so we strolled over to Main Street and looked in the shops.

I was selected by a cast member to participate in the flag lowering ceremony. Unfortunately I am not a veteran so I had to turn them down.

Dinner was at Crystal Palace.

After dinner we watched the castle show…twice.

We then took in the Hall of Presidents. It’s a favorite of Carol’s because it was one of the first attractions we ever saw. Back in the mid-70’s when the HoP opened it was FREE. Back then you used tickets A thru E and HoP was free for a whole year.

From the presidents we went to Mickey’s Philharmagic.

Then we got our wristbands for EMH and then took in Small World.

Are you as tired as we were becoming?

We grabbed lemonade and made our way to Tomorrowland. We rode the TTA and when we got into the Space Mountain potion of the ride all of a sudden the lights in Space Mountain came on…pretty spooky.

We asked to stay on the ride and we rode it again and once again got to see the insides of Space Mountain.

Then the TTA broke down for about 10 minutes…seemed it was not the night to be in Tomorowland.

We headed to Main Street to watch “Wishes.” About 4 minutes into the show someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to move because his girl friend could not see.

Huh?

I was stunned at first but decided to hold my tongue and I stood behind Carol instead of next to her.

As I stood there watching:”Wishes” I thought, “Okay, now what do I do if I’m blocking someone else’s view?

Gee, do I ask the dad in front of me to take his son of his shoulders because I can’t see?

Carol had a good point. No one is tall enough to block the fireworks; she wanted to see the castle.

I’m such a softie.

After the fireworks we headed to a special spot to watch Spectromagic, the late parade.

It’s been some months since I’ve seen Spectro but I noticed the Spectro Men are gone, and I could have sworn the three fairy godmothers used to be on one float not three separate floats and finally Chernobog’s horses used to be all one color…blur, right? Now they are different colors.

Wow, it was late. My day was already 18 hours long and it wasn’t over. Also, my aching ankle, yes the one I broke during the 2006 WDW half-Marathon was talking to me and saying, “Mike, I thought we had an agreement. I would give you no problem while running if you refrained from walking on me in excess of 12 hours a day!”

He had me there.

We went over to Pirates. There was no line….because the attraction was down.

So we decided it was time to call it a day.

We got back to our room around 1:15 A.M. and found this waiting for us.

It is a very thoughtful birthday gift to Carol from some very dear friends and I thought I'd just post a picture before we "made use" of this wonderful gift.

Thank you dear friends. You know who you are!

So now you know why this blog entry is a little late.

More tomorrow.

I knew it was going to be next to impossible to get up early and run after getting in after 1 A.M.

I was right.

I woke up at 8:30. Please don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold.

I knew we’d be leaving the room late so I looked for the “Privacy Please” thing to put in the slot…we didn’t have one in the room so I made one.

We got a late start and headed to MGM. Goofy called Carol in MGM to wish her a Happy Birthday weekend.

We watched a little of the High School Musical Pep Rally...

...and then grabbed a FastPass for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.

Next time you're in MGM look for this wheelbarrow...

...and this companion hand truck...

Since we are big Muppets fans we headed over to see MuppetVision 3-D.

Oh do I have a homework assignment for you. The next time you watch this attraction I want you to search high and low during the film and let me know where in the film you can see, oh I don’t know, maybe about 100 pairs of the 3-D glasses.

Also...where can you find this billboard?

As we came out of the Muppets we could smell whatever was cooking at Mama Melrose’s and not having breakfast that morning, we could not help but have lunch at Mama’s. What was unusual was that we walked right in and made an ADR…I guess it wasn’t an ADR because there was nothing “advanced” about it.

Lunch was very good. Mama Melrose has decidedly settled on it’s specialty…flatbreads and does a nice job.

BTW, the Osborne lights are beginning to show up along the Big City Streets.

We made our way towards the Great Movie Ride and while we were riding this attraction I couldn’t help but think that sometime we may see “The Great Disney Movie Ride’ made up of just Disney films and have the first half made up of live action films and then Mary Poppins as a transition between live action and animated films and then finish off with the animated films.

After TGMR we walked down Hollywood Blvd. and had some fun with Streetmosphere until the parade came through.

We then went to see Much, Sweat, and Shears at the Big City Streets area of the park. The bass guitarist was very familiar….I remember seeing him play at Tarzan Rocks!.

We walked around the park after that checking the shops. We did a lot of people watching that afternoon, especially during the character meet in front of the Sorcerer’s hat.

Time was flying and soon it was dinner time. We ate at Prime Time. During dinner we tried to figure out what to do afterwards.

It was warm that day and since the night before was a late night we decided to make this night an early night and we headed back to Port Orleans. It didn’t take long for me to get excited thinking about running the next morning.

Oh those housekeeping people..

I was getting to sleep early and getting my stuff out to run. Would I finally get back to training?

Stay tuned.

Put your hands together because I actually got out of bed on this morning at around 5:30, put on my running gear and went out at 5:45 to run around the resort.

It had been at least a week since my last workout and I had no idea what to expect. My whole body was screaming at me until I hit Alligator Bayou over at Port Orleans Riverside.

I ended up running a bit over 40 minutes and felt great at the end of the run. However I am definitely behind schedule for the Tower of Terror 13K and when I return home I will be working hard to train for that race.

I had finished my run, showered, and got dressed in time for us to shoot over to EPCOT for Extra Magic Hour Morning

Here’s the latest on the deconstruction of Mickey’s arm/wand from Spaceship Earth.

There were two lines to get into EPCOT. We got into the line on the right side…it went almost to the bus depot….want to see?

The lines moved fairly fast.

Once we got in we went over to Soarin’ and grabbed a FastPass and then went in line. For the third time in a row Carol got us top row center. I may have to start renting her out to folks who want that top row center experience.

After Soarin’ we had a light breakfast and then rode “Living with the Land” to kill some time before using our Soarin’ FPs.

This time our luck ran out and we ended up center but second row instead of top row.

By the way, the next time you experience Soarin’ I suggest you watch the screen very carefully. If you count only 8 hot air balloons then you are not watching close enough.

If you do not see six fighter jets then you are not watching closely enough.

We walked over to see Nemo and Crush. Does anyone else out there just love that Starfish?

From there we went over to visit Figment. We took in “Honey I Shrunk the Audience" since it was the Imagination Institute’s annual....

We then walked back to the Land for lunch at the Garden Grill. We were early so we watch “Circle of Life” first.

Then we had lunch with farmer Mickey…

After lunch we visited Innoventions. We checked out the Rockin’ Robots…

…we played that IBM game and that pizza game (think goodness it was virtual pizza) and a few other things before checking out Mouse Gear. You never know when a neat new WDW shirt will show up.

Now since this was a surprise birthday trip for Carol I tried to get ADRs for all of her favorite restaurants. In order to do so I had to sometimes book meals a bit close together….like a late lunch and early dinner.

This was one of those days. We tried to eat light for lunch because we were going to the Kona Café for dinner.

We got into the car to drive over and when I started the car up look what I saw on my rear view mirror…

That explains the two glasses of ice tea and two glasses of water I had at lunch.

We drove over to the Polynesian Resort. My three favorite resorts are Pop Century, Port Orleans, and the Polynesian Resort.

Here’s a cute picture.

Look again, the tiki on the left is outside and the tiki on the right is inside.

Did I mention why the Polynesian Resort is one of my favorite resorts? A picture is worth a thousand words.

Let me take this opportunity to put in a good word for the Kona Café. It is one of the better restaurants in all of WDW and especially when it comes to teriyaki ANYTHING.

It is one of the few sit-down restaurants in WDW I love so much I will actually dine there alone when I do solo research trips. The bread is very decadent.

So Carol and I are eating and we are thinking about where to go and what to do next. The heat of the day (remember what the mirror said) had really taken some energy out of us so we decided to return to POFQ and do some laundry and check up on email and try to recoup some of that energy that the sun was draining from us.

Besides tomorrow was Carol’s birthday. You always want to be well refreshed when waking up in WDW on your birthday.

Finally the day came when Carol could “legally” wear her “Happy Birthday” button.

We decided to try something different today so we went to the dock to take the Riverboat Cruise to Downtown Disney, as mentioned on the WDW Today channel in our hotel room.

The CM who was driving the boat asked us where we wanted to go. We actually wanted to go to Downtown Disney. He said, “Well obviously you didn’t read the schedule because the next boat that goes to Downtown Disney leaves in an hour. I’m going to Riverside.”

I almost said, “Well obviously you didn’t read the fine print in your Disney Employee’s Guide as to how to address guests but I’ll make sure that your supervisor won’t forget to remind you to refresh your memory on your customer skills.”

Of course I didn’t say that but would it have hurt him too much to say, “Well folks the next boat to Downtown Disney won’t be here for about an hour but I’d be happy to take you to Riverside.”

Not only that, you think with Carol wearing her birthday button he would have been a bit more dare I say, “cast memberlike?”

We decided to take the boat to Riverside and checked out the General Store.

We decided to walk back to POFQ and drive to Downtown Disney.

We were spending the morning doing our “official shopping” to get a few gifts for friends, and use our 10% discount from our Annual Passes.

We found a few things but not as much as we have in the past.

By the way, I’m amazed at the success of the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique.

Next month a second one will open in Cinderella Castle.

We finished our shopping and came back to POFQ to drop off our stuff and grab a little bite to eat. It was that time in the trip when all guests begin to say, “Y’know, I’m not that hungry, but I need a little something.”

After our quickie lunch we headed off to the Magic Kingdom.

We had not really hit Fantasyland yet on this trip so we headed straight for Peter Pan and walked right on thanks to some special Attraction Re-entry passes given to us by a friend.

It was another warm day so we were looking for any relief…and it came in the Carrousel of Progress.
Look for that abstract painting of Mickey as the Sorcerer’s apprentice in the last scene.

We rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority a few times and then checked out a few shops for some Disney Halloween pins. Carol likes to be the Disney pin teacher at her school and likes to wear a different Disney Halloween pin every year.

We were meeting friends…I’ll keep it a secret for now…at the Contemporary for dinner.

We took the monorail over to the resort and walked around.

Wow, things were happening.

Take a look at the activity we saw just beginning on the fourth floor.

Some new shops are going in and you may have seen the artist renditions in Jack Spence's report earlier this week.

We met up with our dear friends Steve and Vickie Barrett and had a wonderful dinner at the California Grill.

How’s this for a view of the sunset?

The California Grill folks came over and took our photo because of Carol's birthday.

The folks at CG also gave Carol a special birthday dessert.

We had some very high quality time with Steve and Vickie. We had hoped they could stay to watch Wishes with us both both had an early morning and they also had a fairly long drive home. See you at Mousefest guys, if not sooner.

Another view from the CG

We went out on the observation deck to watch Wishes.

The photos I took do not do Wishes justice simply because of the angle from which we watched the nighttime spectacular. Remember that during Wishes there are several sets of fireworks being fired….those around the castle and those from a barge well in the rear of Magic Kingdom. The best angle to watch Wishes is from directly in front of the castle on Main Street USA.

So Carol had a nice birthday.

We’ve been tring to see the Indiana Jones stunt spectacular at the Studios for a ong time.
Thus today we started out in Disney MGM/Studios.

We got off to a late start but it was not an Extra Magic Hour morning for the park and things don’t start “cooking” until mid-morning in that park anyway.

Well, well…look what new addition we found when we walked into the park.

That wasn’t there a day or two ago. Of course I asked around and I was told, “Oh we’re just fixing stuff.” Hmmm, wonder if the High School Musical gig has something to do with this barrier being up.

We checked out a couple of shops, always looking for that interesting souvenir, and then headed to see my favorite Disney princess.

We then grabbed a Fast Pass for Indy and had lunch at the Backlot Express.

As we left I decided to take this photo of the activity going on next to Star Tours.

Next May is going to be a big month for Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando.

I’m always interested is seeing Indy because it always is just a little bit different each time.

Well tonight we are going to the Pirate & Princess Party which is running from 7:30 P.M. to 12:30 A.M.

We decided that it would be wise to get out of the heat and humidity and go back to our room and rest up for tonight’s party.

Of course Carol heeded her own advice and did rest while I spent the afternoon reading and answering email...obviously i did not heed my own advice.

We changed into out party wear…basically I had a shirt with Captain Hook on it and Carol had a shirt with a sparkling skull and cross-bones.

We had an ADR at Trail’s End so we were trying to figure out how best to do this. Should we drive to Fort Wilderness and then take the boat to the party? Hmmmm, that would make for a long time getting back to the car at the end of the night. We’d be taking the boat to Fort Wilderness and then would have to take a bus back to the the parking lot to get to the car.

So we decided to drive to the Magic Kingdom and take a bus from the Ticket and Transportation Center or Magic Kingdom or take a boat from the Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness.

It seems like the WDW transportation system is always tweaking with their busses so we were not sure of exactly how our evening would go.

On this particular night we ended up taking the boat from the Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness.

We had a pleasant meal at Trail’s End. We always make it a point to visit that restaurant on every trip and for myself on one solo trip I had lunch there three times. It is off the beaten path and that makes for a nice quiet meal. The price makes it one of the best if not the best deal on all of WDW property.

The signs were up for the Pirate and Princess Party.

We received a “Booty Bag” to use to collect the goodies to be given out during the party. The goodies turned out to be either beads or candy.

I found this party to be so much different than the other parties I’ve attended at the Magic Kingdom, namely Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. There did not seem to be as many party events to dissuade us from attempting to do some attraction touring.

In fact our first attraction of the night was Pirates of the Caribbean and before the night was out we would ride this attraction no less than six times with five of those times seeing us have our own boat to ourselves and each visit to the attraction having no wait time at all.

Ladies and Gentlemen again let me say that his is "The Year of a Million Refurbishments"…

We also rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, watched a few performances by some CMs doing little shows for the guests, and also collected our "Booty."

We continued to squeeze in some attractions that we had not been able to do previously on the trip. We did Snow White’s Adventure, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan’s Flight, and just about whenever we wanted to and as many times as we wanted to.

All in all we made 18 visits to attractions between 7:30 and 12:30 and we did not miss the special fireworks or the parade.

We watched the fireworks at the top of Main Street USA. The official park lights for the party seemed to be red.

I enjoyed the fireworks more than anything else during the party.

I took this picture of a Hidden Mickey in Mickey’s Star Traders

All through the park there were pirate images.

The parade was somewhat of a disappointment as the term “Pirate and Princess” seemed out of balance during the parade.

I think there was too much princess and not enough pirate references in the parade.

Before I forget, here’s a homework assignment. Can you find this Hidden Mickey in Fantasyland?

Well after the parade, we watched the late parade, we actually rode another six attractions before calling it a night.

Our hosts bid us a good evening with a wave...

...and a sign.

And once again to point out that the primary color for the evening was red or pink....exhibit 'B."

We got back to our room around 1:15 A.M.

Regarding the party, I found it to be not as enjoyable as MNSSHP or MVMCP. The fireworks was good, the parade seemed to need a bit more, and the other lesser events need work. I am not trying to discourage anyone from going to this party. Carol says it is her favorite of the three parties.

So give it a try.

Since we got in real late we got a late start off to our last day.

As always the question is “What do we do on our last day?”

I’m sure for most people there are traditional objectives like perhaps visiting a special park or doing a special attraction or having the last meal at a certain restaurant.

Not for us…at least in recent years.

We went to EPCOT and found the stars gone from Spaceship Earth.

The star spikes were still there.

Carol was still on the lookout for some Halloween pins so we checked a couple of places before taking the Friendship boat to WS.

At Noon we walked up to one of our favorite restaurants…

…and grabbed a reservation for lunch.

We had a five minute wait so we strolled into the shops near the restaurant.

Hey look…princesses...

After lunch we strolled around WS. Carol was hurting. She had developed a blister the size of Spaceship Earth on one of her toes. This would be not only our last day but our shortest day.

There’s always a crowd checking out the trains at Germany.

We visited the American Adventure and of course saw the Voices of Liberty.

The woman on the far left is Deb Johnson. Her husband is Derric Johnson who created the Voices of Liberty and has quite a hand in the vocal arrangements for the Candlelight Processional.

After we watched the American Adventure I scooted around the side to hit the ATM.

Chip & Dale and a few CMs were hamming it up for me.

Oh yes…my favorite Disney character was in France…but was accompanied by some guy who needed a shave real badly.

We watched Off Kilter. Jamie was back….and these guys hammed it up for me too.

Year of a Million Refurbishments: Take 22

Look at these little men they were selling (or should I say NOT selling) in one of the Canada shops.

Our last meal of the trip was dinner at Rose & Crown. Now I have eaten at this restaurant several times and each meal has been decent. There are some WDW restaurants which I associate with certain entrees and I usually will not sway from those entrees.

For example, pot roast at Prime Time, New York strip at Le Cellier, and Teriyaki tips at Kona Café, to name a few…catfish is good at Garden Grill and if possible….turkey stew and crusted salmon at Hollywood & Vine.

Anyway, in recent years I’ve settled on the bangers (sausage) and mash (potatoes) at the Rose and Crown but today I thought I’d try something different so I ordered the Steak and Fish which is described as “Grilled Steak with black and tan demi-glace, Harry Ramsden's Battered fresh cod, green beans and mashed potatoes”

When the entrée showed up at my table it looked to be a very tempting dish. I was pleased with my selection, especially as it was a different entrée that I could say I’ve tried.

Let it be said that on August 22nd, in the year 2007 that I, for the first time in my life, did not clean my plate. As a matter of fact, I ate only one piece of my steak.

It was cooked the way I like it to be cooked but there was something about the taste...that I didn't like....I've had "gamey" tasting meat before but not like this.

I had the beans and potatoes and cod….but the steak remained in my dish when our server, Carrie, returned.

She looked concerned and asked if there was anything wrong. I tried as hard as I could to explain why I did not care for the steak without hurting her feelings. She wanted to bring me another one or a free dessert but I graciously said no.

I explained to her why I didn’t like the steak and she began to tell us that in her past life as a chef she learned that when you order a steak from a menu that it helps to know what cut of beef it is.

She went on to say that the word “sirloin” covers a large area on a cow and that taste is very much influenced by distance from bone and muscle and that for some cuts it’s next to impossible to guarantee consistent taste.

So I looked at her and I said, “So Carrie, are you saying that I may want to be careful about ordering a sirloin entrée when at a restaurant?”

She smiled at me and said, “I’m careful.”

The only problem of course is when you come across a menu that does not tell you "Where's the beef" coming from.

Next time I’m in the Rose & Crown it's Bangers and Mash for me.

Carol’s toe was really bothering her so we headed back to the room. It was close to 7 and we did not plan on staying for Illuminations.

When we got back she soaked her foot while I tried to grab a few pics of the resort, like the pool area…

…and the boat dock.

Later that night I took some evening shots of the resort.

Here’s what I see when I run in the pre-dawn hours at POFQ

Here’s another shot of the pool slide….at night

Yikes, it was almost 1 A.M. What was I doing?

Then I realized that I was carrying out my own personal tradition. For as long as I can remember on the last night of any Walt Disney World vacation I always found myself wandering the resort way past midnight.

In fact one night at Mousefest 2004 I spent an hour from 12:30 to 1:30 just sitting and swinging in a swing while glancing across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the Magic Kingdom.

It's important for me, as as frequent guest, to sort of sit back and smell the roses on the last evening of any trip.

During the course of any trip to Walt Disney World there is bound to be a day in which you just can't get away from a long line, can't find an acceptable dining time at your favorite restaurant, or just feel like a sardine waiting for the afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom.

Those little irritants can easily obscure the fact that there is something that keeps bringing us back, year after year, that we can never put our finger on.

It's an intangible for sure...but it's there nontheless.

For me, it may not be as much theme parks, characters, fine restaurants, and nighttime spectaculars but maybe the overall reminder that life is way too short to not pamper yourself from time to time with a trip to Walt Disney World...and a reminder to stop and smell the roses before either they are no longer there for us to smell or we are no longer around to appreciate their scent.

Yup…the trip had ended…but the tradition will continue…for the next trip…and the next trip….