I hope you had a great Thanksgiving this week and were able to enjoy your time with family and friends. This year I am thankful for my family, especially for my parents. My Dad has gone through a lot this year with his knee surgeries. We had many stressful weeks in the hospital. I’m happy to report he is doing well and adjusting to life with a non-bendable leg! (He had his infected knee replacement removed and they put a rod in his leg from hip to ankle). I’m also very thankful for the good health of my family too. I got to see both kids this week which was perfect. Most of my week was spent in Florida. Here’s how it went!…
Sunday – We were greeted in Florida by a cold rainy day. But, it was much better than the trip to the airport which was a white knuckle drive for me at 5am on dark slippery roads! We didn’t plan for me being a super slow/cautious driver due to the conditions and I thought we were going to miss our flight. We made it with about 15 mins to spare. Not fun! We spent our day shopping and relaxing at our hotel in Disney. We stayed at the All Stars Music resort. It was great to be in the Disney “bubble” and not worry about driving anywhere.
Monday – The Magic Kingdom! The highlight of the day, and trip, was seeing our son perform in the parade. He’s a senior and this was his grand finale for marching band. What a great way to wrap it all up!
That was the only time we saw him on the whole trip, but we did spend plenty of time wondering/planning to run into him… which never worked out. Disney was a little odd not having our kids with us, but we did enjoy ourselves and rode all the rides! Not quite the thrill rides we have at Cedar Point, but the theming is amazing and it’s all a great time! Side note, if you are going to Disney we thought it was really worth it to buy Genie+ for the Lightning Lanes!!
The lowlight of my day at the Magic Kingdom was getting a phone call that our database was down and no one could access their information. WTF?? I spent the first 3 hours of the day helping out between rides. What a stressful way to start my day!!! The problem did get fixed and I earned my gold star for the year I think 🙂
Tues – Hollywood Studios. It was another long day at the park. We started a little later due to a full day at the Magic Kingdom, but once again we were on the go all day. The new ride Star Wars Rise of the Resistance was really great. Just like being on a movie set with the Stormtroopers. Smugglers Run was really fun too. The whole Star Wars area looked amazing!!
Weds – Epcot. This park was a fun surprise. I didn’t remember a whole lot about this park from the last time I we visited it years ago. There were a lot of fun rides – especially the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride. It was our favorite!! We also enjoyed touring all of the countries around the park.
The night show was pretty!
Thurs – our Thanksgiving day was spent touring Disney. Our plan to pack only a backpack for this trip worked out well and we carried it with us as we rode on the monorail and new gondola system.
We saw all of the holiday decorations and even a huge gingerbread house!
Finally it was time to say goodbye to Florida. We thought for sure that we were going to get bumped from our flight because we didn’t get a seat assignment when we checked in online, but it turned out that our flight was really empty and they put is in the “Big Front Seats” (Spirit). Very comfy!!
Although I didn’t run at all during my trip, I got plenty of steps in every day. We were exhausted by the time our heads hit the pillow every night! I did go for a run on Friday and saw our neighbors had decorated the cul-de-sac. How nice!
In running related news, I did sign up for the Toledo Glass City Marathon in April. To help achieve my goals, I’m going to get back into the habit of strength training. We signed up for a gym membership at Planet Fitness! We were pleasantly surprised with the gym – especially the Black Card Spa. We were only going to get the basic membership, but when they showed us the Hydromassage and massage chairs we were sold!! Those are going to feel amazing after a long run! We can also bring a friend, so our kids can join us. Looking forward to getting strong again!
Sunday’s agenda? Finish decorating the house for Christmas and having my parents over to a belated Thanksgiving dinner! yay!
Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: Any Disney World fans? What is your favorite ride?
I love the new rides, but my favorite classic is the Haunted Mansion.
Q: Any Planet Fitness members? Have you ever used a Hydromassage chair?
OMG, they are awesome!!
I love Disney, but it’s been several years now…maybe 10? It seems like every time we go there, a lot has changed since the precious visit. It’s always a new experience, LOL. Do they still have the Mission Space at Epcot? That was a fun one!
Oh yes, Mission Space is still there! My husband gets a little woozy on spinning rides so we went on the green (“normal”) side first. Not bad at all! Then we went on the orange side (“advanced”). Oh my, the g-force pull freaked me out a bit!!
Looks like you covered a lot of ground in Disney! But yikes stressful drive to the airport! Great photos though. Makes me want to go!
My Ohio sister signed up for Glass City too. I’m using this downtime before getting back to Vienna training to do more strength training. It’s kind of fun to make that more of a priority for a bit! The hard part is figuring out where to fit it in when marathon training is really ramped up. Curious how your plan!
Fingers crossed we get a good race day for Glass City in 2023!! Which race did she end up running this year as her 2nd choice?
I do think I was lacking in the strength workouts this past training cycle. I’m looking forward to getting into a gym routine.
What a fun trip! I’ve only been to Disney twice – once before we were married and once when the kids were in late elementary school. I bet your son had a super fun time with his friends. What a great send off for the seniors!
There’s a Planet Fitness near us and its parking lot is always packed so it must be a great gym. Enjoy!
The band kids were exhausted by the end of the week! They went to parks for 5 days straight, and of course stayed up all night in their hotel. They had a great time 🙂
We were really impressed with Planet Fitness. Super clean and big variety of equipment.
Cold??? Why does it seem to be “cold” everywhere in Florida except for us? The cool air just can’t seem to make it down to us, I guess. We did have some cloudy, rainy days earlier in the week.
It looks like a really fun trip- I don’t think I would want to brave the crowds, but I’ll bet Disney is a really fun place to be during the holidays.
I’ve also gone back to the gym, but YouFit doesn’t seem to have hydromassage or massage chairs, being an econo-gym. But we can compare workouts.
I’m also getting decorating for Christmas today- so fun!!! Enjoy your belated Thanksgiving.
I was expecting a ton of people at Disney, but I was pleasantly surprised. It seemed more busy on our last summer trip. I think the big factor was buying Genie+, which is basically paying more money to have short waiting lines. I didn’t think it was bad, but my son didn’t have Genie+ and he had to wait a long time for rides. He thought it was busy there. I would definitely go again at Thanksgiving.
We were all set to be spending only $10 a month for the gym, but after we saw the massage chairs we figured it was worth $25 a month instead. LOL!! Now I have to make sure I take advantage of them!
I do like Disney but haven’t been in years. I actually prefer Universal and Epcot.
Haven’t stated decorating but may have to skip it… new kitten (who is a terror).
I have to check out Planet Fitness but the Y is closer (but also more $$$)
We were so spoiled at our old gym. It was only 4 miles away! The new one takes a little longer to get to. We are actually within a similar driving distance to 3 Planet Fitness locations. Since we have the upgraded membership we can go to any of their locations.
The last time we went to Disney was in 2011 when I ran the half. We stayed at the Polynesian and like you said, it was great to be in the ‘bubble’. It looks like a lot has changed since we were there. I’m not a big theme park person, but it was fun when the boys were little. Sounds like you had a great trip!
I haven’t been to Planet Fitness. Since I go to CrossFit, I can use all the equipment there. No Hydromassage chair, tho!
I thought the bus would be crowded and require a lot of stops, but we had dedicated buses for our hotel so that was really nice! The park has really changed a lot in terms of technology and apps since we were there last. I really liked using the app – you could mobile order food, so no standing around in food lines! so nice.
It has been a few years since we have been to Disney. My kids sure used to love it. Looks like you all had a great time and packed a ton into your time there.
We did get our money’s worth out of our park tickets!
So glad to hear that your dad is doing better. I know it’s been a rough time with his knee surgeries 🙁
You packed in a lot of fun and activity while at Disney!
Hopefully the winter won’t be too rough on my parents. Since he’s a bit less mobile they will be stuck indoors a lot. Might drive each other a bit crazy!
It sounds like you had a great time! How cool to see your son — but then bummer to not run into him again! I hope he had a good time too.
I haven’t done Disney in decades. I bet my daughter would love the Star Wars stuff now.
The band kids had an amazing time! We heard a lot of funny stories. Star Wars fans were in heaven with the new area!! It is very impressive.
Sounds like (mostly) a great trip. The last time we were at Disney was while Epcot was still not completely finished, LOL! How nice to see your son playing in the marching band there.
I’m down with anything massage. 🙂 April seems so close!
I’m not sure why systems decide to break when no one can help. The job of an IT person is never done! 🙄 It’s job security for sure!!
What a lovely trip! My Gran went to Epcot, rather bizarrely, must have been in the 80s! I remember her having photos of it very clearly though.
Disney is so magical! I’m glad you enjoyed your trip. That’s one thing I miss about Florida. I really wanna be able to go to Disney next year.
I’m glad your Dad is ok. It’s always stressful when someone we love is not feeling well.