It's not the way I want to do it, but it's better than no way at all - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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It's not the way I want to do it, but it's better than no way at all
Dates:
January 8-10, 2009
Travelers:
Bob’s Sister, Marti (you may know me from my guest appearances in some of the famous Bob & Larry trip reports)
Mike, Marti’s DH
Michael, DS
Kara, DS’s girlfriend
Purpose of our trip:
To get away from Maryland’s cold weather, to visit Michael (who lives in Orlando) and to be part of Disney’s marathon weekend by running in the Circle of Life 5K
Background:
I love the magic! In fact, I love it almost as much as my famous (at least on this board) brother, Bob. Sadly, nobody else in my family shares the joy, so I only make it to the parks when I can connect with a Bob & Larry trip.
I do, however, make it to Disney more often than I make it to the parks. You see, we do Disney a different way and I’ve decided that, for me, it’s not the way I want to do it, but it’s better than no way at all. What do I mean? Well, DH Mike plays senior league softball. He travels to Florida several times every year. We always stay a few days after his tournaments end and we always end up doing something at Disney. Whatever we do, it never involves actually entering a park. We’ve toured all the resorts, we’ve eaten in many of the restaurants, we’ve watched fireworks, we’ve walked the path from Epcot to Studios, we’ve even taken the Segway tour at the campground… but no parks…. Sigh
This trip, though more of the same, had a bit more Disney than most. Since, under Bob’s leadership, our entire family is tentatively planning a trip for Jan. 2010, I thought I’d try writing a trip report now to get ready for the big trip next year (I don’t see who else in our family would write next year, so assume it’ll be me & I better be ready). Please be patient with me… I don’t really know how to do this, but I want to try.
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The Plan:
Back in June, I was reading the Passporter newsletter and noticed something about the Disney Marathon Weekend. Hmmm… When I retired, I started walking, then race walking, then race walking in 5K races, then walking longer distances. Could I sign up for the Half Marathon and walk it fast enough to finish within the time limit??? YES, I knew I could.
So, I went to DH & asked him if we could go to Disney in January so that I could walk the Half Marathon. To my surprise, he said yes, let’s go. Well, I went to the website to register, only to find that registration for the half marathon was closed – FULL and it was only June…. YIKES! By now, I really wanted to go, so I checked out the Circle of Life 5K, scheduled for Friday of Marathon Weekend. I registered. Yippee! a Disney trip. We told our son we’d be coming to visit him so I could do the 5K. He was fine with that. A few weeks later, he told me his girlfriend Kara wanted to do the race with me. I challenged him to do it, too and he said, “OK, If Dad will, then I will.” So, before they had time to change their minds, I registered them all.
Well, the race was scheduled for 7:00am. Wouldn’t we have to get up REALLY early to be there on time if we were driving from DS’s apartment which is about as far from Disney as you can be and still say you’re in Orlando? Why not stay in a Disney resort the night before the race. DH said, “Good point, OK. Let’s do it.” And then, said I, we won’t really want to rush back to the room in time to check out immediately after the race, so how about TWO nights in a Disney resort. I almost fainted when he said yes to that, too. I asked if Animal Kingdom Lodge would be OK, since the race was at AK. I warned him that AKL is expensive…. Fortunately, he didn’t ask “how expensive?” Instead, he again said yes. I tried hard to get reservations on the concierge level, but they were already booked, so I opted for AKL, Savanna view. Booked, deposit paid, done!
OK – Let me try & push my luck one more time. I’ve always wanted to eat at the California Grill, right by the windows overlooking the Magic Kingdom and to watch Wishes from that spot. I asked, DH said “OK,” so I checked on the time for Wishes & then called and made a reservation. We got 6:10, with Wishes at 8:00 – enough time for us to wait for a window and still get seated in time. Great!
Then, the hardest sell of all… how about some park tickets??? DH said, ‘no way.” DS said, “It’s way too early to plan that.” Sigh… no park tickets… maybe later. As I said before, it’s not the way I want to do it, but it’s better than no way at all..
So, the plan was made & all we had to do was wait for January.
As it turned out, I had one more surprise. Kara, Michael’s girlfriend, has a cousin who works for Westin. She offered to get us a room at the Swan or Dolphin at employee rate. Well, I’ve never been inside either hotel, but they are in a great location. Let’s find out what “employee rate” might mean… Kara checked it out & made the reservation…$69 per night!!! I couldn’t believe it, so told Kara that I wouldn’t cancel at AKL until I had confirmation of our reservation at the Dolphin at that rate. Sure enough, we did. So I cancelled our ressie at AKL & began to plan for our stay at the Dolphin. Unfortunately, in the course of making the change and oohing and aahing over the $69 rate, DS told his father how much AKL would have cost…. Guess I’ll never get to stay there again…”You told me expensive, but THAT expensive…no way.”
So, the final plan was to fly to Orlando on Wednesday night & stay at Michael’s apartment. Go to the WDW Marathon Sports Expo on Thursday, check into the Dolphin later Thursday afternoon, complete the 5K on Friday morning, dine at the California Grill on Friday night and return to Michael’s apartment for a few more warm weather days on Saturday.
Fall comes and goes, Halloween comes and goes, Thanksgiving comes and goes, Christmas comes and goes…. Finally, it’s time for our trip!
Marti - So glad you're writing a TR! I had the pleasure of meeting Bob at Mousefest and was part of the famous Bob and Larry Dining experience. When we were leaving WL after that wonderful dinner Bob and Larry were reminiscing about your surprising Bob there for his birthday.
I at at CG last May (unfortunately not during Wishes) and had a wonderful meal. Hope yours was as good.
Great update! I'm you weren't able to get into the 1/2 marathon, but the Circle of Life 5K sounds like a great 'replacement' Awesome rate at the Dolphin! Can't beat that! Looking forward to more
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When we were leaving WL after that wonderful dinner Bob and Larry were reminiscing about your surprising Bob there for his birthday. 
you weren't able to get into the 1/2 marathon, but the Circle of Life 5K sounds like a great 'replacement' Awesome rate at the Dolphin! Can't beat that! Looking forward to more
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