Pre Trip Report: January 2013

Here are the Top 5 things we are excited for/anticipating:

1. Participating and completing the Tinker Bell ½ Marathon:

We have made a commitment to each other to become more fit people and we have used runDisney as an excuse to become more active and fit people.  With our love for Disney Parks and their willingness to help us get there (and being feminists) we have committed to participating in one race geared towards women (the Tink ½) and another race to make sure we achieve our fitness goal.  Also we will get a sweet Coast to Coast Challenge Medal in the process!

2. runDisney Costumes:

We have participated in 2 previous runDisney races and have never dressed up for them.  However we have always wanted to, and have seen some brilliant, beautiful and amazing costumes . Some are practical and others are not so, but still fun and that is what counts!  With that said, we have found a happy medium (and yes we will both be wearing women’s running clothes/costumes – men’s running attire doesn’t come in fun colors) and will reveal them soon!

3. Walk in Walt’s Disneyland Footsteps Tour:

Danny got Jaime tickets to do the Walk in Walt’s Disneyland Footsteps Tour at Disneyland Park, which takes you behind the scenes of Walt Disney’s Disneyland; what he was thinking, feeling and dreaming when creating the Happiest Place on Earth.  This is a 3 hour behind the scenes tour with a possible sneak peak into Walt Disney’s Private Apartment above the Firehouse on Main Street U.S.A. and Club 33 – the infamous private Disneyland Club.  We are thoroughly excited to walk in Walt’s footsteps.

4. Limited Time Magic:

We will get to participate in 2 Limited Time Magic events while at Disneyland Resort.  The 1^st will be a the Golden Horseshoe Review Salute – which is a revival of the long-running show Golden Horseshoe Review, which was personally created by Walt Disney. This was also his favorite show and a place he would take his wife Lillian for dates.  We think this will be GREAT and exciting to participate in.  We will also get to see the Bayou Bash, which brings back a fun show in New Orleans Square with characters from the Princess and the Frog.  This should also be fun to participate in!

5. Vacationing together:

We love our friends, our family and our puppy!  However we know we are the best people for each other to vacation with because we do what we want, when we want and go at our own pace and are generally very synced with each other.  This will be our last foreseeable vacation together for a while so we are going to bask in it!  As you may have read in a previous post the Disneyland Resort is a very special place to us.  It will be nice to be in our special place, get to see special features, complete a half marathon, and just savor in the magic with each other and create a few new memories!

5 For 5: Trip Anticipation

Happy November 5^th! The MountainEars are just 4 days away from their next trip to the World and we are so excited!

We will be staying at All Star Music Resort and will be joined by Danny’s mom, Gen, a WDW veteran and four of our friends. Jed, Colleen and Brice have all been before but this will be Michael’s first time. I think it is safe to say that we are all very excited. Our trip will include the Food & Wine Fest, the Jingle Jungle 5K for Jed, Jaime and Danny, the F&W Half Marathon for Michael and Brice, and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party!

The theme of this month’s 5 For 5 is what we are most looking forward to:

Danny:

1.       Spending time with our crazy friends/family - I am very excited to vacation and share my Disney Parks love with my partner Jaime; but I am also excited to share this with our close friends and my family (mom)!  This will be both an exciting scarey adventure and hilarious riot!

2.       Epcot Food & Wine Festival - Uh hello...  Delicious food and eligant wine, where can this picture go wrong?!  Give me a try (that is a shout out to AJ over at the DFB Podcast)!

3.       Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - This is just so cute and so exciting, and I cannot wait to re-experience it, and share it with our great friends and family!

4.       Running Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K - We'll be working on our fitness, while working on our Epcot Food and Wine!  This means we can over indulge, right?!

5.       (Maybe...) Getting to see New Fantasyland - New Fantasyland is just upon the horizons and I am hoping not only Jaime and I get to see it, by being Premier Annual Passport holders, but also our friends and family may get to see it!

6.       Signing up for the Princess 1/2 Marathon - Don't tell Jaime, but I really wanna do this lady run, in support of all the ladies!

Jaime:

1.       Going to the Food & Wine Festival. I may not be a big drinker, but I do love food and appreciate that the smaller portions means I can try more things. Yum!

2.       Getting to try some new restaurants, specifically the Tusker House in the Animal Kingdom and lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom. I have heard such good things and am so excited!

3.       Christmas time! We will be attending the first Christmas party of the season and will be there in time to see all the ornate holiday décor. From the ice on the castle to the towering Christmas trees in each hotel, I am excited to get a better look at all the little things Disney does for the holidays. My first trip to WDW was in December 2010 and I am hoping to feel a little of that first time magic again, too!

4.       Spending time with loved ones! I find vacations to be much more satisfying when you can share the experience with people who are important to you. I know there will be times we go our own way and enjoy things in smaller groups but I also look forward to the silly shenanigans that accompany a party of 7 in a theme park.

5.       Running the Jingle Jungle 5K! Danny and I are signed up to run the Tinkerbell Half at Disneyland but I have not had any motivation to get my legs moving (eek!) but I know I will be able to do the 5K just fine and hope it will be a nice kick in the butt to get me really into gear for our January race.

Pre-Trip Report, August 2012

In four days from now Danny and I will be merrily on our way to Disneyland for a quick summer trip. With Cars Land officially opened and the recently completed refurbishment of the Matterhorn we figured this would be a perfect late-summer getaway before school starts back up and the opportunity to go dwindles away.

Our travel style is usually very laid back, especially in the 'land. What is there to rush for... what is there to rush to? Don't get me wrong, WDW is great, but at Disneyland you don't need to worry about all your precious ADRs and fighting the crowds to get across the cavernous park for the next show time. Disneyland is compact, efficient and casual. You can sit down, relax and people watch and don't feel like you are missing out. With that said, our trip will be casual. We have two dining reservations but will otherwise go where the pixie dust will take us.

Day 1: We arrive on Tuesday around 10 where we will pick up our rental car and check into the hotel (offsite) before heading over to Disneyland. The first thing we plan to do is head straight to the Matterhorn Mountain! Well... maybe we will get a churro first. We are so excited to see the new snow on the mountain, check out the queue, and see what they have done to the bobsleds. I loved the old bobsleds! Were they awkward? Totally. That was part of the beauty of them.

Later in the evening we will be going to Cafe Orleans in New Orleans Square (first time) to try their much raved about Pomme Frites and Beignets. While we would certainly be content eating apps and dessert I don't think our tummies will be. I guess we will have to see during the wrap-up report about what we did for an entree.

That right there, ladies and gentlemen, is our official itinerary for day one of our trip. Everything else will unfold naturally. Sure there are things we are excited to do, ride or see but nothing is a "must-do" per say. I am pumped to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad since it was down in the World on our last trip. Danny needs to get a churro and a Mickey ice cream bar before the trip is over.

Day 2: We have Early Morning Hours (EMH) in Disney California Adventure thanks to our annual passes. First thing in the morning means we get to hit Cars Land before the rush of the general public. I know I can safely say for the both of us that we are so excited to see the details that have been ingrained in this new land, ride on the new rides and get to try new foods, especially the ones that come in cones! After we get our fill of Cars we will hop around DCA at our leisure. Before our day at DCA is over, however, we do have one more thing we are REALLY looking forward to: reservations at the Carthay Circle Restaurant! We have been drooling over the menu since it was released and are excited to try the Sriracha Duck Wings, among others! Rumor has it that we may even get to see the fireworks with our dinner if we play our cards right.

Since we have the easy ability to hop we may go back to Disneyland for a while while the morning rush hits DCA and then go back to Adventure after lunch when the crowds start to thin out for their midday siestas.

Day 3: Once again we have EMH but this time for Dinseyland. This will be our chance to really make sure we get to ride all of our favorites without stressing about lines. Once the public starts to get overwhelming we may go back to DCA for a change of pace. That will be determined while we are there. It is just so nice knowing that it would be perfectly reasonable to do so, unlike at WDW where hopping requires taking about an hour out of your day to get to your next destination.

Sadly, this is where our trip ends and we go back to reality. Our flight is for 6pm out of John Wayne so we will probably need to leave around 3 to return our rental car and get through security. Since we knew it would be a quick trip we both decided we will only pack what can fit into a backpack to not have to worry about checking luggage.

I can't wait to do a wrap-up about our trip with lots of pictures and details! In coming posts we hope to chronicle some our past trips, too!

jmi