What Kingdom Are We in? Sept 9-16 Trip Report

[ebradley23]

Cast of Characters:

Me: Wife, mom and uber planner of all things relating to vacations

DH: Willing participant in most of my crazy ideas

DS4: Lover of nearly all things Disney. The only exceptions are Tower of Terror and meeting princesses.

We've been to WDW each September since 2014 and attended MNSSHP each year. This was our last trip for the foreseeable future, since DS4 will be starting kindergarten next year. I refuse (for now) to go during school breaks, and I won't consider pulling him out until I know he can handle missing school without falling behind. On the agenda for next year is an Alaskan cruise (RCL) instead.

 

[ebradley23]

We are typically "you can sleep when you're dead" travelers, so I don't plan a down day. Here is a quick rundown of each day that I'll be covering in detail during this TR.

9/9 - arrival @ 7 pm
9/10 - MK
9/11 - AK
9/12 - EP
9/13 - MK & MNSSHP
9/14 - EP
9/15 - HS & HDDMR
9/16 - MK & departure @ 2 pm

 

[ebradley23]

9/9

My husband and I are currently training for our second marathon followed a few weeks by our first ultra marathon (50k), and this trip fell right in the middle of our training plan. Before we left for the trip, we had to run 18 miles. Let me tell you what I don't recommend . . . Running 18 miles before heading to WDW for a week. We started the trip dehydrated and fatigued.

We rested a bit then headed to the airport for our 5:30 flight. This was the first time flying Jet Blue, and I am a sold. I only wish they flew to more places from my hometown. After our arrival and ride on the Magical Express, we got to our room at Port Orleans Riverside around 8 pm. We promptly dropped our carryons and jumped on a boat for the ride to Disney Springs.

We booked a bounce back offer last year with free dining. I had planned to use one of our QS credits our first night at Wolfgang Puck Express - Marketplace. I had the baked salmon. My salmon was cooked well, but it had no seasoning. None was mentioned on the description, so it wasn't an error. It's just worth noting that you shouldn't order this dish if you don't love the flavor of simple salmon. The brocollini and cauliflower mash were also plain. It was a great low-cal option to keep me from out eating my running efforts (I managed to do that throughout the rest of the trip). DH had a four cheese pesto pizza with added chicken. This was amazing. The pesto flavor was strong enough to taste while not being overpowering. They included the additional chicken at no extra charge for us outside of the QS credits even though the receipt indicated it would normally be an additional charge for those paying OOP. DS had the kids pepperoni pizza. He loved it. I didn't try his, so I can't give any input on flavor. It was a significant portion which could have fed two children easily. For dessert we had one cheesecake and two brownies. They were both better than standard QS dessert offerings.

 

[KnK]

following along....we were there about the same time.

 

[buddha112]

an ultra marathon?

 

[ebradley23]

an ultra marathon?

Anything more than 26.2 is consider an ultra marathon. I'm going to run a 50k in December which is a little over 31 miles.

Yes, I'm crazy

 

[ebradley23]

9/10 - MK Morning

I decided ahead of time we would attempt to be chosen as the family of the day at least once during the trip. This seemed to be the best day for the attempt. Of course this also happened to be a morning EMH, so that meant we had to be at MK by 6:45 am. This turn of events is where I discovered the magic of Uber. We requested our car as we were walking up front. He was pulling in as we walked up, and he had us at the Contemporary within 10 minutes for around $5. We walked over and proceeded to wait. There weren't really any cast members to chat with that early, but we goofed off until they started appearing. We chatted up a few, but apparently not the right one. It was still fun to try, and we had front row spots for the welcome show.


Since we were there so early we were able to get in a few rides in Fantasyland before our 8:30 am BOG reservation. We've been to BOG for dinner and lunch, but this was our first breakfast. I don't remember being able to pre-order, but I didn't try to either. DH had the Feast A La Gaston. I had seen pictures others posted which made it look paltry, so I tried to steer him away from it. It wound up being a very sizable portion, and he enjoyed it. I figured we were on vacation, so I order the Croissant Doughnut (plus I wanted to try this thing). Yes, it was super sweet, but in the best way possible. To say we were happy when DS said he was full, would be an understatement. We easily scarfed down several bites. I had the Croque Madame. It was also amazing. It wasn't overly rich as I thought it may be. All of our portions were so large we couldn't eat the pastries served with breakfast.

Following breakfast we used our fast passes for 7DMT and Peter Pan. While the crowds were light compared to previous years, Saturdays are always MK's busiest day. Even with it being a Saturday and us being in no rush,we were able to fit in all of the following before lunch:

Main Street photos (with several photographers)
Winnie the Pooh
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
All 4 princess M&G in Princess Fairytale Hall
7DMT
Peter Pan's Flight
Philharmagic
Haunted Mansion

 

[buddha112]

Anything more than 26.2 is consider an ultra marathon. I'm going to run a 50k in December which is a little over 31 miles.

Yes, I'm crazy

Wow. Best I have at this point. Good Luck

 

[ebradley23]

Wow. Best I have at this point. Good Luck

Thanks! The good news is even if I have to walk those extra 5 miles, I will still set a PR. It's one of the bonuses about doing a distance for the first time

 

[compshu]

Have you run any runDisney events? They are a ton of fun. I've only been in WDW for one, the final Expedition Everest Challenge in 2015. What was nice about it was that I was in the first corral and finished in the top 25, so by the time I got back into the area of the park open for the post-race party, there weren't many people there. I wound up riding Expedition Everest 7 times in a row, getting off only to choose a different row between each ride.

 

[buddha112]

Thanks! The good news is even if I have to walk those extra 5 miles, I will still set a PR. It's one of the bonuses about doing a distance for the first time

Good for you. That is awesome!

 

[ebradley23]

Have you run any runDisney events? They are a ton of fun. I've only been in WDW for one, the final Expedition Everest Challenge in 2015. What was nice about it was that I was in the first corral and finished in the top 25, so by the time I got back into the area of the park open for the post-race party, there weren't many people there. I wound up riding Expedition Everest 7 times in a row, getting off only to choose a different row between each ride.

I haven't yet. I'm a cheapskate, so the cost has held me back. Plus, I'm afraid I won't run it for fun. I will have a hard time not trying to set a PR which means no photo stops. My goal for 2017-2018 is to run 4 marathons. I'm turning 40 next year, so I'm calling is my 4 in 40 challenge. The WDW Marathon is on the list for 2018. I have already decided I can't run all four at PR pace, so it will help me enjoy the race instead of worrying about my time.

 

[smiley519]

Following along! I was also there around the same dates as you (9/5-9/13). Sounds like you were able to fit a lot in before lunch!