"Sip, Snack & Save the World" TR -- January 7-14, 2010 - COMPLETED 1/31 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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"Sip, Snack & Save the World" TR -- January 7-14, 2010 - COMPLETED 1/31
This is my first trip report, so please bear with me!
I'll start with introductions and a brief overview of our trip.
-Our Party: My DH, David (38) and me, Shayne (37). This is our 6th trip to Disney World together (both of us had made multiple trips with our families before we met)
- Our Journey: Flew from Houston to Orlando on Thursday, January 7th and returned on January 14th
- Our Lodging: Beach Club Concierge Level, Rm. 5677
- Our Special Plans: DH was running the Goofy Race and Half Challenge on January 9-10, so we were there for marathon weekend, then stayed to enjoy a few days of vacation without our kids.
Now, on with the trip report!
Day 1: Thursday, January 7th
We departed Houston Intercontinental Airport on a 7:10 p.m. flight, so we worked all day and then headed to the airport around 4:00. When I did Continental's online check-in the night before, I was offered the option to upgrade to first class for $200. I knew that DH had never flown first class (and I have only done so for business travel), and the flight looked very full. I also knew we'd want to get to the hotel and get to bed with as little stress as possible, so I decided to go for it, but didn't mention it to DH so he'd be surprised at the airport. He was confused when I headed for the first-class baggage check, but was excited when I explained what was going on.
We were late leaving Houston, so didn't arrive in Orlando until about 11:10 p.m. Even our original scheduled arrival was too late for DME, so I had reserved a town car to take us to the Beach Club. Our driver, noting that we were from Texas, gave us an update on the UT-Alabama BCS National Championship game, which UT lost. Boo. We were expecting a town car, so we were surprised when our driver brought our luggage to a Cadillac Escalade!
We arrived at the Beach Club around midnight, got checked in and found our room on the Concierge Level -- Room 5677. We were a bit disappointed to have 2 queen beds rather than a king, but by the end of the trip, we were actually glad to have the extra bed as a place to spread out our clothes and stuff. We called for a 5:00 a.m. wake up call and fell into bed.
Up next...5K, Marathon Expo, Richard Petty and Carbo Loading!
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Stitch woke us up with a call at 5:00 a.m. We checked the Weather Channel and saw that the temperature was, as we expected, in the low 40s. We put on our running gear and headed to Epcot for the Up and Away 5K Family Fun Run. We caught a bus from BC to Epcot, picked up our race packets, and waited for the race to start. It was pretty cold. But once all the runners got packed together in the starting corral, it felt much warmer. Mr. Frederickson, Russell and Doug were all there at the start to send us on our way!
The 5K was fun! We ran through the Epcot parking lot, into the World Showcase between Norway and China, through the World Showcase to the International Gateway, out of the park and through a backstage area, then back into the park near Canada, up through Future World, back out to the parking lot and to the finish. We got a fun medallion to commemorate our participation. We ran a very slow time (36:28) because we were having to run around so many walkers, but this was ok because we were trying to take it easy to save DH's legs for the Goofy Challenge.
After we got cleaned up, we headed to Wide World of Sports for the marathon expo. We picked up DH's Goofy Race and a Half Challenge race packets and my ChEAR Squad package. The ChEAR Squad got me a bag of goodies, including a t-shirt, as well as access to reserved viewing spots along the half-marathon and marathon courses and at the finish line. We both also paid to have access to the Race Retreat tent, which, as you will see later, turned out to be a great thing.
We went back to the hotel to drop off our stuff, then headed to the TTC to catch the shuttle to the Richard Petty Driving Experience. DH was scheduled to do the Rookie Experience (8 laps), but I can't drive a stick shift, so I was signed up to do a ride-along (3 laps). He had to take a safety training course, so I sat through it with him, then we went out to get ready for the driving! But just as the first driver was ready to head out, it started to rain lightly. After about 30 minutes, they cancelled the session due to the wet conditions. What a disappointment! We rescheduled our sessions for Wednesday, our last full day of vacation.
The shuttle returned us to the TTC and we took a bus from there to DHS. First stop was a gift shop to buy ponchos. I had hoped that the rain would chase people from the park and we'd be able to ride TSMM for the first time, but no such luck. The standby line was still 80 minutes. We headed over to Starring Rolls Cafe to get a hot drink and I had a chocolate peanut butter cupcake. YUM!!!!
We rode ToT and the Great Movie Ride, walked around the Streets of America and took a photo with Lightning McQueen and Mater before heading to our ADR at Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano.
Our ADR was at 5:50, but we were getting tired at 5:00, so went in and asked if we could be seated early. They got us in after only about a 5 minute wait. As you will see, food is a very important part of our Disney vacations!
This was our first time eating at Mama Melrose. I had the penne alla vodka and DH had spaghetti. Dessert was warm chocolate truffle cake for me and tiramisu for DH. The food was good. I think I still prefer Tutto Italia, but I was glad we had tried something new. In fact, all of our ADRs on this trip were for restaurants we hadn't tried before, except for one.
We needed to get to bed early for the half-marathon the next day, so we headed for the boat launch back to BC, but the line was huge, so we walked instead. The forecast was for rain and temperatures in the 30s for Saturday, so DH had to plan how to layer his running clothes and I had to figure out how to wear enough layers to stay warm while cheering him on. This is where the extra bed came in handy. We were able to lay out all of our clothes so everything was ready for us the next morning. We were in bed by 8:00 and slept well after getting so little rest the night before.
As a side note, I was so happy that the Christmas decorations were still up. When we had been to Disney previously for marathon weekend, the holiday decorations were already down. We've never been at Christmas time, so I was happy to see the trees and other decorations at the parks and resorts.
Sounds like you're having a great time even with the little bumps along the way!
It's fun to try new Disney restaurants. Glad you liked Mama Melrose, but I do have to agree - I like Tutto Italia better - but Mama Melrose does have good flatbreads.
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! After I run a 5K my legs are sore for days! And that was just a warm up for you all! LOL! 
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