From Fatness to Fitness or Why am I Posting When I Should be Packing?

[hookedup]

I swore I wouldn't do it - I said that I would stay off the computer and clean the house and get ready to travel - but no - here I am writing a pre-trip report! I love to write and I always make a blog when we travel but really none of my friends and family are that interested (or excited) about WDW as my fellow DISers are so I guess the only way to really get it out of my system is to post about it here!!!

We leave in mid-June for a 10 night stay at the Dolphin and then 5 nights at Vero Beach Resort and then 3 nights at the Nick Hotel. It's our longest trip to Florida and I have loved planning every minute of it!

So, a bit about us...

Our little family includes me (hookedup) and my dh and ds (age 10).
This is our 5th family trip to WDW - our last one was in June 2006.

There has been a few changes in our lives since our last trip - most notably both dh and I have lost a few pounds (he lost 70 and I have lost 40) This has made me rethink my entire wardrobe and what I will wear during our trip. But more on that later. We have become fitness freaks and this also has changed the way we travel and our trip planning.

One last tidbit - ds has mild autism - Aspergers actually - so I am a special needs planner too.

More about our plans and us coming up!

 

[hookedup]

A few notes about our previous travels to give some background about our WDW experiences.

As I mentioned we have been to WDW as a family 4 times before. The first 2 ds was pretty little. Those were interesting trips. We took the train across the U.S. to get there. We live in So. California, and so it's a long haul to Orlando. I love trains and had always wanted to go across the country. It was an adventure! We had a sleeper car and that made it more comfortable. For you train buffs our first trip was on the Sunset Limited - which used to run (pre-Katrina) from L.A. to Orlando. Three days on the train. ds was 18 months at the time. We did a split stay at CBR and GF.
The second time was in 2003 also on the train but a different route - the Southwest Chief to Chicago, then the Three Rivers to Philadelphia, then the Silver Meteor to Orlando. That trip took almost 4 days - and again we had sleepers for the duration. We did a split stay at the Swan and GF.
Third trip was a Christmas trip in 2004. ds was 4 1/2 and we flew. There was a record breaking cold-spell during that trip and we felt like it was truly Christmas in Florida! We stayed at the Contemporary.
And finally our last visit was June 2006. ds was 6 and we really had a blast! My father had passed away 3 weeks before, and this vacation was a great treat for me despite the stressful time prior. We flew in and did a split stay at Dolphin and Beach Club. After we left WDW we did a cruise in the Southern Caribbean with my extended family and we all let off some much needed steam!

Here is a picture from that trip...

As you can compare from the pic in my first post dh and I are in much better shape now!

 

[hookedup]

Most of my friends look at me with wide eyes and say, "How can you afford 10 nights at Disneyworld?" Well we really can't but with the help of 80,000 Starwood points we are staying for free (well, almost free - we still have to pay the resort fee).
The Dolphin and Swan are sometimes hot topics on these boards. People seem to have a love or hate feeling towards them. I have heard the full run of comments from the hatred of the way the buildings and statues look, to the love of the great rates for a walkable to EPCOT location.
Me - I am a Starwood person from back in my pre-stay-at-home-mom days (I was a travel industry exec) and so I utilize my points and love the fact I can go to WDW for ten nights and not spend $300+ a night.

To me the biggest drawbacks are the lack of Magical Express and no dining plan. Well no dining plan is probably a good thing for us. We had the DP on our last trip in '06 and we really pigged out.

Here is dh taking advantage of the dining plan (2006) at Liberty Tree Tavern...

And this is him running a half marathon a couple of months ago...

Hmmm - I think it's probably better for us that we don't have the dining plan on this trip.


Here I am at LTT in 2006 with ds...

and here I am with ds after jogging 4 miles in the San Diego Bridge Bay run last month...

 

[thosecrazystephens]

Subscribing!
How exciting for you guys! My husband is a big runner too. I like to pretend I'm a runner but I stick to the treadmill for the most part lol. I think I might be able to squeeze a 2010 trip out of my husband if I agree to do the half marathon
Congratulations on your weight loss!

 

[hookedup]

So there are a few things we know about going in June to WDW. #1 it's really, really, hot. #2 it's pretty darn humid. #3 it's really, really hot. But this is one of the few times of year we can get away for more than a week and so this is when we will go.

When I think about planning I usually think about food and what we will eat. Of course making advance reservations, (or priority seating or whatever it's called now) is pretty important, so you have to get your dining plans organized way ahead of time. So dh and I sat down and talked about what are the "must do's" for this trip - what are the things we would like to try and what are some of our old favorite's not to be missed.
We both agreed that Le Cellier is one we have to do (and it's a harder reservation to get too) and we also want to eat in the Castle so CRT for dinner or breakfast is on the list (another one to plan around) and Liberty Tree Tavern - an old favorite - even if there are no characters anymore

Now for the ones we have never done before...
It is our 20th anniversary during the trip so we have to do a few special meals to celebrate. We are going to try California Grill for the first time as well as Shula's and Hoop De Doo Review. We have also never eaten at the Sci Fi Dine-In or Garden Grill or Teppan Edo or Chefs de France - so I made reservations for all of these too. I am really looking forward to trying them out.
Our plan is to eat one big meal during the day and I have made reservation each day for them. Then we are going to go very healthy and light for the other two meals. Currently I have been trying to eat 1700 calories or less a day and I know I could easily eat 2000 at one sitting in one of my favorite restaurants (can you say Cheese soup and breadsticks at Le Cellier?)

Not to mention all the AMAZING deserts!!!

 

[scottny]

Congrats to both of you on the weight loss, wish I could get motivated.

Have a great trip.

 

[hookedup]

So I am back to talk about food.

In 2006 when we had the dining plan it was our mission to maximize the value and that resulted in maximizing our waistlines too. Of course it did not help matters that we followed our WDW stay with a 9 night cruise in the Caribbean. By the time we got home we had each added close to 15 pounds!

Now I think it's important that everyone understands that we are not about skimping on enjoying life. We know that a hard-earned vacation is the time to go off and enjoy. I just want to be sensible about it this time. I certainly don't plan to pass up the treats I have been dreaming about at night - lol!

I love how on the DIS boards you can read post after post about peoples' favorite indulgences. I also love how they have pictures of food too. People really get excited about pictures of food (including me).

So our special anniversary dinner will be at Cali Grill - we have never been there and I hope I have made a good choice.