Category Archives: Disney Trips

Nov14

Disney Wine & Dine Recap—-Before the Race!

Posted on November 14, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

It is 12:23 am on Thursday morning. The school bell rings at 8 am. I got home to Lethbridge Tuesday morning at 12:15 am. I was in Disney World for my shortest trip ever (approximately 72 hours) this weekend. And I am still wired on how wonderful life is. So I have decided to start recapping my past weekend. And I am doing you all a favour by breaking it into two parts—–before race…..and then the race itself. So here is the lead up….

I participated in my first ever RunDisney event on Saturday night, the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. This event was an after-thought registration after signing up for Dopey Challenge, as I had a friend who I used to work with at Badgerette Pom Pon express interest in doing a half. And she is a total Disney freak. So we convinced each other and were signed up.

I arrived in Disney on Friday afternoon, after flying in on a red-eye from Calgary, Alberta. Teresa and I met in the airport and were able to take Magical Express to our hotel, Yacht Club. Holy shit….this will be for an additional blog….but I haven’t stayed at anything except Pop Century while visiting Disney since I was 18. And I’m never going back.

Anyways, after getting checked in and getting our MagicBands (which I was pleased we could individualized credit credit cards to!) we head to the Expo, it was very easy to access with the provided transportation, and once we arrived, it’s as very easy to maneuver. Now….I don’t know what it was like in the morning, but at 3:30 pm on Friday it was great…..and if we missed must-see merchandise that morning we didn’t even know, since we didn’t know what we missed and the crowds were very manageable!

I participated in a breakfast on Saturday morning put on by Megan and Krista from “The Runner’s Guide to Walt Disney World”. I had found out about this event via social media (Twitter!) and got to experience Toy Story Mania first thing in the morning (first riders!) and a private breakfast in the “Prop Shop” at Hollywood Studios. As a true Disney parks fan, this was awesome!

There was only about 40 of us there, so it was a very semi-private function. I enjoyed the buffet breakfast, and got to know some great people at our table! Heather and her mom were fantastic! And the men from Georgia and Tennessee were a hoot (they were there waiting for their wives and one other guy friend to get back from the Jingle Jungle 5 km held that morning.). They were hysterical because while one of the guys already there had done the Dumbo Double Dare, he had no clue how his friend found out about this meet up. As a side note, I ran in to them at the after party that night at Epcot, and the following day (also while at EPCOT) and both times they yelled to me saying “CANADA!!!”

I got to meet Christine and Pam (daughter and mother) of We Run Disney while at the breakfast on Saturday, and that was great! I have been following them on Twitter the last months since I got set up on Twitter. It was great to meet up with them at such an awesome event! I loved that such fans of Disney (like Megan and Krista) had the capacity and energy to put on such an event….as a true Disney parks fan, and a fan of running, this event was the perfect way for me to start my day as I lead into the Wine & Dine Half Marathon!

More to come…Always knew I loved Disney, so it is natural I would love to RunDisney!!…..

Oct30

One Little Spark…..

Posted on October 30, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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As my upcoming Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon nears closer, I thought I would share a flashback photo from 20 years ago. I have always been an EPCOT fan, and there are many Disney Parks’ fanboys who love classic, retro EPCOT. For my trip next week, I am especially looking forward to being back at Yacht Club, an EPCOT resort, and being there for not just the half marathon but also for the final week of Food & Wine Festival! I love being near EPCOT and at EPCOT as much as possible every time I visit Walt Disney World!

But before the Yacht Club and the Wine & Dine Half Marathon and the Food & Wine Festival….there was Figment. Figment is a character created by Disney Parks as a “mascot” of sorts for EPCOT, a park which was initially character free. I fell for Figment on our first trip in 1991. When we went back in 1993, I really wanted to meet Figment, and his partner Dreamfinder. It wasn’t until one of our last days that my mom figured out what time and where we would have to go in order to capture what is now considered by Disney fans’ a rare photo!

Dreamfinder and Figment no longer are around for photos at EPCOT, and haven’t been for sometime. The Imagination Pavillion which was their original “home” has gone over changes the past years, and now Dreamfinder is no longer there. Long standing EPCOT fans can always hope for the day for Dreamfinder to make his return!

Aug17

My Disney “Beat the Bus” Challenge & Spartan Prep

Posted on August 17, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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Today ends my 16 day extravaganza in Walt Disney World. Maureen and I are still friends, even after spending August 1-16 in a small Disney “value resort” room, so that’s what matters. We honestly never got sick of Disney World! Really! We just started to get really, really tired….and really, really wacko. Hence, our decision to have me do a “beat the bus” challenge on August 14th. A little background in this decision first….

The last year my mom, dad and I stayed at Yacht Club while in Disney World (2003) we had the luxury of being able to walk to both EPCOT and Disney Hollywood Studios from the resort. This was a great option instead of having to take the bus everywhere. We would usually walk back from the Studios, but if my mom had her way, we would take the alternate option of the boat. One morning, the boat was not there yet so my dad and I convinced my mom to walk with us, because we could “beat the boat.” She obliged, and since the boat wasn’t even at the Yacht Club dock yet, we felt solid. Well, we got past the hotel docks the boat stops at and the boat was behind us, in our sight. Dad and I couldn’t lose, so we started speed walking, and then to a jog, and then too pretty fast clip.

Mom was not pleased.

But, we did beat the boat. And my dad and I thought it was hysterical. My mom, however, did not.

So now fast forward to August 2013. It’s hot as hell in Disney World. The humidity is through the roof. It’s your 14th day of vacation. So naturally, you decide to run 2+miles in the early afternoon heat, without a sidewalk, and without running shoes.

I don’t know how it came up, but one of the times we had to wait for a bus at the Studios it was taking longer than the advertised “every 20 minutes.” I must have told Maureen I could run back to Pop Century faster. On that bus ride “home”, we decided that on August 14th, during our “Four Parks, One Day” mess, I would run back to the resort while Maureen casually walked to the bus stop. We routed the distance the Studios main gate to our hotel room using Google Maps, and the distance was only 2.3 miles. I would run the same route as the bus, all in the attempt to beat Maureen and have the glory and recognition that goes with the title…Thus, the challenge was born.

So August 14th rolled around. Alarm went off at 5:30 am, as we had an early magic hour morning planned at Animal Kingdom. After Animal Kingdom, we headed to the Studios for a short while. We had already done a lot that morning when 10:30 am rolled around and we slowly started heading out of the park. 10:30 am is early…but in Florida, the heat is already kicked in. Note in the two photos below how “gung-ho” I am to begin this challenge

As we left the main gate, I bid Maureen ‘Adieu!’ and started bolting out of the lot. Please note—I had not ran since the 10 miles I did on July 31st. Sure, we had been logging 10+ miles of walking each day while in Disney, but I was taking this vacation as the break I probably needed from my running. And because of that, I did not pack my tennis shoes. So, I ran in my Keen’s hiking sandals. Oh, this was going to be good….

I was going at a fast clip out of the lot, mainly because I felt like an idiot running from the park. At my first turn onto the main roadway (Buena Vista Drive) I came in contact with my first “obstacle”—no sidewalk. I was aware this would occur, as I knew what this route entailed, so I dug my Keen-wearing feet onto the soggy Orlando sod and trucked along. This was some resistance training! I came to find out later that Maureen lucked out and caught a bus immediately after going to the bus station, so she passed me at this point, but luckily got a photo of my efforts.

I kept trucking down Buena Vista Drive and at my first mile, I clocked 7:58! I was racing! It was at this point the sweat poured into my eyes and my shoulders started to burn from the heat. I had no idea myself where Maureen was, so I kept booking it. I turned right at the ESPN Wide World of Sports sign, and then straight ahead I could see my final turn into the resort.

I cut through the resort exit driveway, through a parking lot, ran to our building and up to our room on the 2nd floor. After digging my room key out of my shorts zipper, I entered the air conditioned room hoping to claim victory!….but Maureen was lying on the bed. Yes….she won this time. But her bus arrival was perfect timing! So I will defend myself and say I COULD have beaten her if the bus even was 8 minutes late, or if someone needing assistance with a wheelchair had needed to get on. The final distance from gate to room—2.3 miles. My time—19 minutes and 30 seconds. Not to shabby, if I do say so myself.

And running in those Keen’s……while i wouldn’t make this a normal occurrence, I had bought them before the Disney trip, and let me say….I recommend them for anyone wanting comfortable sandals who do a lot of walking. I didn’t buy the heavy-duty ones for all-terrain hiking, but these were perfect for trekking through Disney for miles upon miles a day. I even took the liberty of taking a creepy photo of a family wearing coordinating Keen’s while walking around EPCOT….no big deal!

So now as my flight from Denver approaches Calgary, I reminisce abut the memories from the past 16 days…this “beat the bus challenge” was just one crazy idea we had, and if I were to list all of them here, you would never read my site again. I did joke that this challenge was good “Spartan Race” Preparation, as this Sunday, my husband and I will be participating in our SECOND Spartan Sprint! This one is just a 5 km race and is in Calgary at a bike park. So, the terrain isn’t mountainous like the one we did in Montana…and while I haven’t been running or doing Spartan Specific Workouts of the Day, I have been sweating my ass off daily in Disney world, running in ridiculous conditions, and dragging a backpack around the airport while in layover. I think my backpack did weigh about 30 pounds today, no lie, and I wandered for a good hour in Denver.

So how will I do in the Spartan Race Calgary? Who knows. My mom thinks it will be laughable given I was vacationing and living the good life for the past 16 days. We will see…and I will show her. Remember, I showed her when dad and I beat the boat back 10 years ago!

Aug10

Thoughts So Far….

Posted on August 10, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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Yes, I am still in Walt Disney World. Today was day 10 of our 16 day extravaganza. We are now turning the corner on the weekend and heading into the home stretch! So far, Maureen and I haven’t wanted to kill the other person yet. And that is step one. We keep joking it is like we are back living in a college dorm, and that joke is even more of a real fact right now because as I type this, Maureen is out of the room roaming the balconies of Pop Century talking on her phone and looking for cell phone service. Oh man.

So many of you who read this are my friends and family, so you probably have seen a lot of my updates on Facebook or Twitter. So instead of posting a ton of photos and rehashing a bunch of stuff you may have already noticed along the way during my travels, I am going to touch on a few key Best & Worst Moments of this visit so far. Bear with me here—-I am working on adrenaline, magic and wine.

Worst Ride in Walt Disney World
Holy shit. I read all the blogs about it, but didn’t believe it could truly be that bad. If you have someone in your group that suggests trying this ride, shut them down, or please skip it yourself. Stitches Great Escape is so horrendous, I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy. Maureen did determine the small target audience is ages 4-6, because at that age you have some understanding of simple jokes and are amused by pointless humor and bad effects. Never again!

Best Ride Refurbishment
Test Track. While the ride system is the same as the original, the theming was redone by the new sponsors, Chevrolet. We were both hesitant, but were pleasantly surprised with the main feature of the ride—designing your own vehicle to “test” on the SimTrack. It is fun designing your vehicle in the reshot and we have a good time seeing how it performs on the course. Also, the post show area has lots to do.

Best Ride Surprise
Enchanted Tales with Belle! We did this on our first rope drop morning, as we had heard the lines really get long later in the day. While we don’t have kids, we do have an appreciation for the cuteness factor…and this show has it. It’s an interesting mix of live entertainment, meet and greet, and walk-through experience. Every time will be different, as audience members participate. Highly recommend it, especially if you have small children.

Best Crockpot of Butter
No contest—this category was designed for the French Onion Soup at Les Chefs de France that Maureen had for lunch today. Now, we are not making fun of or complaining about the amount of butter we saw used within the soup….it was delicious. But Maureen knew upon seeing it arrive in front of her it was going to be a rough go.

Best Castmember
Oh, and our server at Les Chefs de France was awesome—his name was Mehdi. He was adorable. Had only been in Florida since August 1st. Told us in advance he is still learning his English, and it was his first day on his own at the restaurant. So maybe we had a soft spot for him right away, but he did a very good job, was super sweet and even asked us questions about where we were from and wanted to know where it was located. We could tell he had been a server before because he knew how to carry out lots of plates with ease. Mehdi—your boyish charm will win your tables over.

Worst Counter-Service Meal
The “butter chicken” I had at Art of Animation’s Landscape of Flavours. I have eaten butter chicken before from Indian restaurants back home, and other Indian foods also, and this was disgusting, it was almost laughable. Ew.

Best Child Meltdown
Actually haven’t seen a blown out chld meltdown yet. Those are saved for the adults this trip. But we have heard many kids saying some random-ass things. And one of the best was when it was 1 pm at EPCOT, pure sun, no clouds, 95 degree heat…and a set of parents were casually looking at the Yorkshire Fish Shoppe counter service menu, but they walked away. Their son, about 8 or 9, naturally exclaimed “Just pick one restaurant and stick with it, COME ON!” He had to be hungry.

Best Adult Meltdown
Hands down had to be while at Cinderella’s Royal Table for dinner. And this isn’t one adult, but a whole family that wins the award. Family came in for dinner and immediately started arguing—between the one teenaged daughter and the dad. Mom tried to calm it down telling them to just drop it, and to get over it (must have been from an existing argument earlier). Long story short, dad dramatically left (he was in a wheelchair so it was dramatic as he had to leave but then wait for the elevator), then the problem daughter started crying, mom started getting pissed, second daughter started standing up for her sister, and then mom told them to just wrap up the food and she left. And to top it off, the two daughters were on our bus ride back to the hotel later that night. Nicely done family. Way to waste approximately $250 on a dining experience.

Best Feature of Pop Century Resort
The white blanket on the bed. Wrote a note to the housekeeper to keep using the soft white blankets instead of the nasty pink ones (didn’t write nasty) . They are luxurious. And appreciated in this value resort dorm room.

Worst Feature of Pop Century
The cockroach Maureen found in the bathtub that I had to try to get out, but then disappeared down the drain. And currently, the alarm going off in a nearby room which is obviously unoccupied at the moment. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Best Character Photo
Our Toy Story friends meet up, where I got to recreate my dad’s photo from April 2003. The picture says it all.

Only five more full days in the park to go! So many more things to occur…..what will happen next?

Aug3

My Family Saves a lot of Shit!

Posted on August 3, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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Growing up, our family basement was “finished” in terms of the fact it had more than just a sub floor. It wasn’t necessarily a livable space, or somewhere where you would want your middle child to have their bedroom, but it had the flooring down and was framed and insulated. My friends and I could play down there, and it was fine. We had a lot of storage space in my parents house—it’s amazing my mom and dad did not become hoarders! I know as an only child, we have more photos of me growing up, more photos of our family at holiday events…I know I was spoiled growing up with gifts and other items….but with all that, comes years of random stuff being stowed in your parents’ basement. But then, over the last ten or more years, some of that “garbage” has been filtered out and thrown away.

Now, I know for a fact nothing precious has been tossed. I’ve been a guardian of that basement my whole life. I spent many of days when I was middle school aged or older looking through my moms’ family photos. I loved the idea of the past, and loved looking back at it. Photos like the ones below exemplified my grandparents and their families, and we have held on to those!

But other than family photos, there was a bunch of my toys. The things piling in my parents’ basement were random Barbies, board games and hand-me-downs from my cousins. We also had a lot of my school work. The wooden walls in our old-school basement were a stapling ground for anything I did in art class. We also had an old-fashioned desk we got at a rummage sale, that my best friend Ali and I would use to play school. In the desk we stored old notebooks, folders and classroom supplies. From kindergarten and, on this desk was in my basement—and I added old notebooks into in. But later on, many got thrown away. However, me being the master of the basement, I made sure my early ones stayed.

When my family went to Walt Disney World for the first time in 1991, me; being the studious young kid, made sure to ask Mrs. Shrake if there was anything I needed to do. We use to do a single sentence journal entry every day in class, which included the date, and was usually about a topic on the board. She told me to write in my journal each day when in Disney World. Since I am currently on my 15th trip to Walt Disney World, I thought it would be fun to look at these pieces of history (ha!) Here are excerpts from my school journal in 1991, when I was on my first ever trip to Walt Disney World:

I have, and always will, remember those first words: I am up in the airplane. I am up in the sky. And it is even crazier to think about these words I wrote back in 1991, while in Disney World with my family, and that I am here now in 2013, writing words about these words while on vacation with one of my best friends.

Jul27

16 Days of Disney Shenanigans are About to Occur…

Posted on July 27, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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I have visited the Walt Disney Resort on 14 vacations – 6 of these vacations have been with my parents, 3 of them were with my high school dance team, 3 of them were just my mom and I together, and 2 of them have been with one of my best friends, Maureen. On August 1st, her and I will be heading on our third trip to WDW, but this time we aren’t messing around—we are going for 16 days!

We knew about a year and a half ago we were going to be heading on a WDW trip together in August 2013, and originally we thought maybe a week. We are great travel partners and most importantly, the way we both want to tour the ‘world’ is the same—–early morning alarms, be first at every gate to enjoy a rope drop, cry tears of happiness at every possible moment, eat tons of food, and overall do every possible thing we can.

So why are we going for 16 days? Simple answer—because we can. But, it really isn’t all that simple. Maureen and I are both teachers, her back in Wisconsin and myself up in Alberta. Summer trips work best for both of us. And historically, the WDW Resort has value rate pricing in mid August, so it makes hotels more affordable. The last two trips together, we stayed at Pop Century—we like to refer to it as Pop Century Resort & Spa…..but it’s anything but. I’m not going to knock it—it serves its purpose. It’s a Disney value resort on property, with a solid location and good bus service. You can get pretty low rates during value season, and if you get a AAA rate like we did the last two times, it makes it even better. Add on to it that we split the room cost and it makes it really affordable. We swore the last trip, though, we were staying moderate the next time. Maybe even a non-monorail deluxe resort! We just couldn’t handle the craziness of this resort again….

…flash forward to our planning for this trip. Maureen has a friend who works part time at WDW and he offered to use one of his family and friend rates for us for our stay. Well, lets just say the discount is ridiculous. So, it was either we stay at a moderate for 7 days OR we go back to the Pop Century Resort & Spa for 16 days for basically the same price….

We chose to go back to the “spa.”

So from August 1-16th, Maureen & I are moving in to Pop. We joke we need to do a change of address with the post office….we are going to be gone for a about 1/24 of a year….but this is a time in our life where we both still don’t have kids, so we can manage and afford to go away for this long. And since we are both Disney fanatics, there is no discussion ever of going anywhere else together.

Expect random updates and entries the next few weeks, but they will probably all be Disney related. So if you read this just for running, you will have to wait until my Spartan Race 5km on August 18th in Calgary. Actually, there may be running segments in my posts, as I run after getting a fast pass after rope drop to meet Maureen across the park at a different ride! This trip is the first step to my RunDisney experiences, however. I have been so pumped for this trip, and then it gets me equally excited for my trip in November for Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon and my January trip-of-a-lifetime when I compete in the Dopey Challenge during Disney Marathon Weekend.

Jul14

Mom, Can You Do Me A Favor?

Posted on July 14, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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I have indirectly noted in my past few posts that my mom is here in town for the month. She got in on June 29th and is visiting basically all July. We are heading for a mini getaway to gorgeous Banff, Alberta, where tears may shed as we see Lake Louise! It’s been a great visit so far—lots of Disney talk and lots of talk about my Disney marathon weekend.

I asked my mom on Wednesday if she would be so inclined to write a blog entry for me this week. She could choose the topic. So, here is her contribution to the page! Enjoy!

Mom, can you do me a favor? When that comes from my daughter Andrea, I’m never too sure what to expect. In this case, she asked me to do a guest post for her blog this week. She said I could cover any or all of her topics–running, Disney World and her Dad. Except for the fact that I will be doing the 5K with Andrea and her husband Dan this January as part of the WDW Marathon, I have no input on running. Therefore, I will touch on Disney World and her Dad–my late husband Andy.

Andy passed away about one month before our 23rd wedding anniversary. Even though it was more than two years’ away, I had been thinking about how I wanted to celebrate our 25th. A lot of couples go to tropical islands, renew their wedding vows, or have a party. I knew I wanted none of those. So when Andy asked what I thought I’d like to do, I was ready with my answer. I wanted to go to Walt Disney World and stay at the Grand Floridian. It had been a dream of mine to stay in that gorgeous resort, and I figured 25 years of marriage would offer the perfect reason to fulfill that dream. That dream, along with countless others, was shattered when he passed away. For a time I thought I still wanted to stay there on one of my visits, but I realized I just couldn’t do it–at least not yet. I’ve eaten at two of their fine restaurants–Narcoossee’s with my dear friend Denise and Victoria & Albert’s with Andrea. Walking into the elegant lobby and exploring the grounds, along with dining at those restaurants, is enough for me now.

Many new memories have been added with my four visits since 2004, but the memories of visits with Andy are still the most special. I’m not ready to add a very, very special one that was supposed to include him as of yet. Who knows, maybe I’ll change my mind one day. Otherwise I’ll just take my dream “to infinity and beyond!”

Jul11

180 Day Countdown!!!..Fundraising Update and more….

Posted on July 11, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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Today was the 180 day away mark for my RunDisney Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and the Dopey Challenge! I know this because you can make Disney dining reservations up to 180 days in advance of your resort arrival—-so guess what I did at 5 am Mountain time…?!??

After going back to sleep at 5:17 am, i woke up groggy at 10:30 am. Had my coffee, and did my morning ritual of going on Facebook, Twitter and Buzzfeed. Below is a link that @TheHSF put up on Twitter today. It is a great link of positive research findings and thoughts from the Heart & Stroke Foundation in Canada:

The Good News About “Bad Genes”

You can donate to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or to the American Heart Association by following the Charities tab up above. I have set up personal fundraisers with both organizations, so the money collected goes towards my fundraising total.

I am very close to my goals of $1000 to each organization!

American Heart Association: $885

Heart & Stroke Foundation: $805

I wanted to reach this goal by the time I run the Dopey Challenge in Walt Disney World in January 2014, but I am positive I can reach this goal before summers’ end, and then shoot for possibly $1500 or more for each!

Thank you everyone! Have a magical day!

Jul7

Disney Scrapbook 2003

Posted on July 7, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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With my mom here in town, I have been lucky enough to have someone at my disposal who is willing to talk about Disney World pretty much non-stop. I have been addicted to watching any videos I can find to do with RunDisney events—official RunDisney videos and fan’s unofficial race recaps. I have made my mom watch the WDW Planning DVD in anticipation of my 16 day bonanza with one of my best friends, Maureen, which starts on August 1st. She is back in Wisconsin, and we talk daily about our craziness we have planned. She makes video clips like the ones below (full of our inside jokes that stem back from our first trip in 2008) which make me almost pee myself with laughter:
Disney Preview #16Days

Whenever my mom comes and visits me in Canada, I always get sentimental and reflect of past trips to WDW with her and my dad. Our last trip in Spring 2003 was one with so many great memories. I know I will touch on this trip lots over the course of this year, but what I wanted to talk about today is a scrapbook I made from this trip. My senior year in high school was 2002-2003, and I was fortunate enough to get into the highly sought-after photography class. It was not a digital photography class, but a “SLR camera then develop your own film in a darkroom” class. I am assuming that by now my alma mater has revamped this course and sadly made it in to just digital—-being able to develop black and white film in the dark room in the science hall was fantastic! Our final project for the course was anything we wanted it to be, and since my family was going to WDW during Spring Break, I got approval for my project to consist of a scrapbook of our trip. I purchased black and white film for my point-and-shoot camera, loaded it up, and off to WDW we went.

Before the trip, I was lucky enough to find an unused scrapbook from the 1930s in my parents basement. It was with all the old Stengel family photos, and even had the little black corner pieces to hold the photos. I decided to make my theme of the project to be old-fashioned, and I ran with the whole black-and-white theme.

The pages in the scrapbook consisted of things outside the parks (hotel, Downtown Disney) and details within each park. In looking through this scrapbook, I only have one photo with my parents, and the others are either landscape and surroundings, or myself in front of iconic pieces. Here is the intro picture of myself and my parents:

Each section that focused on a Disney theme park had a header page with the icon for the park. I decorated the area around it in a white ink design.

I also had pre-planned three photos to do as “flashbacks”, where I would reenact a pose in the Magic Kingdom from our first family trip in 1991. I put the colored photo from 1991 side-by-side with the black-and-white photo from 2003.

That is the gist of the scrapbook! There are many more photos and entries in each section, but I thought I would just show the highlights and cover pages. I want to do a form of a scrapbook for my RunDisney Dopey Challenge in January 2014—-just not really sure what direction I plan on going with it! If you have suggestions or ideas for scrapbooks, let me know!

May25

I May Be a Runner, but Maybe I Always Have Been a Fish Out of Water?…

Posted on May 25, 2013 by mscurlgurl78

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I am the first to admit—I am not a swimmer. Not even close. I can swim to save my life, but if I swim a length of a pool now, I feel like an athletic pile of crap. So triathlons are sadly not in my near future. But growing up, I was often oddly enough around water. The very first trip my family ever went on was to Perdido Key, Florida, in the Gulf Coast. I was a beach baby at a young age! (my mom also thinks my ridiculous accent comes from the fact that I learned to speak when we would be down in Alabama during this time at Grandpa and Grandma Lammers’ house. I have the weirdest Milwaukee accent ever—must have a bit of ‘Bama twang in it!)

If there was a hotel pool on our family getaways, my dad and I loved to dork around in it. We never swam, per say (he would do some laps), but he would throw me in the air, let me ride on his back like he was a dolphin, and we would play games where I would dive for various random found objects at the bottom of the pool. My enjoyment of “pool-foolery” also may have stemmed from the fact that Wisconsin happens to have this gem we call Wisconsin Dells. This ridiculous tourist stop two hours from Milwaukee has every tourist junket you could possibly imagine, but has boasted having America’s Largest Waterpark, Noah’s Ark. Any real Wisconsin family has spent numerous weekend getaways up in the Dells, playing mini golf, going go-karting, buying crappy souvenirs, and going to the water parks.

When our family started going to Disney World in 1991, having a hotel with a proper pool was a necessity. My mom often says in the early years of our Disney vacations she would often get ticked off at my dad and I because we would want to leave the parks rather early in the morning and go back to the pool. My mom is even less than a swimmer than me…she just sits on a chair poolside or floats in a tube! At our first WDW resort, Disney’s Polynesian Resort, we had what I thought to be (at the time) one of the coolest water areas ever!

The next two trips to WDW brought us to Disney’s Port Orleans Resort. This resort is now formally referred to as the French Quarter section of Port Orleans. It was brand new in 1993 when we first stayed here, and I loved the Mardi Gras theme of the pool!

In our early WDW trips, we also would frequent the Disney Waterparks. These were not like Noah’s Ark in Wisconsin Dells at all! The theming was impeccable and the slides were a bit more tame—-my dad could enjoy most of them with me! (He was a thrill seeker wuss). We use to go to only Typhoon Lagoon, but once Blizzard Brach was built, we would visit both.

Our last family WDW trips brought us to Disney’s Yacht & Beach Resort. We first fell in love with this resort because of the pool area, Stormalong Bay. In 1995, we had gone to Beach Club for a character breakfast—-when my dad saw the “pool” he immediately knew we had to stay here. Use this term pool loosely, as Stormalong Bay is over an acre of winding waterways, complete with a sand bottom!

This resort had the perfect pool combination for our family, because as I got older, the playing in the water started to slow. I became the poolside lounger like my mom, and we opted to stay in the parks longer than come back for pool time. We came back for pool time more so because my dad still longed for it. I now rarely play in the water like I use to, and when I am at a pool, I am usually in a lounge chair with a margarita. But, whenever I see a waterfall at a resort pool, I think of my dad, and I remember all the years I spent being a non-swimmer with him on vacation.

Je Me Souviens-To Infinity & Beyond!

Running, Disney & Dad–My Journey Continues…

Category Archives: Disney Trips

Disney Wine & Dine Recap—-Before the Race!

One Little Spark…..

My Disney “Beat the Bus” Challenge & Spartan Prep

Thoughts So Far….

My Family Saves a lot of Shit!

16 Days of Disney Shenanigans are About to Occur…

Mom, Can You Do Me A Favor?

180 Day Countdown!!!..Fundraising Update and more….

Disney Scrapbook 2003

I May Be a Runner, but Maybe I Always Have Been a Fish Out of Water?…

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