West Meets East, A Family Coast to Coast Adventure - PTR

[jennamfeo]

Hi, I’m Jenna. I am the wife to Brad, the mama to Anberlin, but you might see me call her Bay, (our 5.5 year old daughter), a West Coast Desert Dweller, and I runDisney.




It basically turned me into the low-key Disney lover that I am today. I started racing at Disneyland back in 2014 when I crazily decided that I wanted to run the Dumbo Double Dare. You know, even though the farthest I had ever ran was a 5k. Why not sign up for a 10k and then the following day a Half Marathon? BECAUSE MEDALS. That’s why.



I swore I wasn’t going to take our daughter to Disneyland until she was old enough to enjoy/understand/appreciate it, whatever. But because I wanted to run the Dumbo Double Dare, we ended up taking her when she was 2.5 and we have gone back every year since.



But this year was a little different. And by a little, I mean A LOT. After running my first Half Marathon at Disneyland, I decided that I wasn’t a huge fan of the 13.1 mile distance, and said “that will probably be my last Half Marathon….” Famous last words. I did two more runDisney weekends in 2015 & 2016, one year just the 10k, the next the 5k & the 10k, and then I realized that the Challenges are just SO much more fun and said “LEMME GET MY COAST 2 COAST IN 2017!!!!” Again, because medals.

So in May 2017, I did the Tinkerbell Pixie Dust Challenge, where I PR’d my 10k AND my Half Marathon time. We made it a family trip, but while we were *thisclose* to Disneyland we didn’t actually GO to Disneyland. (Yes, sometimes I can get my DL fix just by walking around DTD, my husband should be happy about that.)

And now we are counting down the days to our first Disney World trip as a family (and my first trip there, ever!!). I am beyond excited! Just like the last 3 years, this trip will include my husband, our daughter, and my parents. We are booked to be there November 1st – November 8th and we are staying at the Port Orleans Resort, Riverside.

The Fast Passes & ADRs are booked, the schedule is planned, now all I have to do is plan our outfits & pack!


Jump to: Table of Contents
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[jennamfeo]

Table of Contents
Planning with the Parental Units
The Schedule – I even planned in when to pee!
Three Weeks Away
Two Weeks Away
ONE WEEK AWAY
Tomorrow, Tomorrow!
Nov 1 – Arrival / Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Nov 2 – Tampa & Health and Fitness Expo
Nov 3 – 5k & Magic Kingdom
Nov 4 – 10k & Kid’s Race & Animal Kingdom
Nov 5 – Half Marathon & Disney Hollywood Studios & Post Race Party, OH MY!
Nov 6 - Miami
Nov 7 - Epcot
Nov 8 - Leave

 

[jennamfeo]

Planning with the Parental Units
This isn’t our first rodeo, it’s just our first rodeo on the other side of the US! We have been doing these family Disney trips since 2014, so we have it down. My mom buys the rooms, we buy the park tickets, and my dad pays for food. But no one told me that it was going to be so hard to do across the country! Especially since we have never been there! I let my mom completely take over deciding what hotel to pick. All I said was “I need to stay at a Disney Resort because I NEED a Magic Band.” She went with the Port Orleans, Riverside. We had her book the park tickets too and just paid her back for those. We only got 4 day passes and not park hoppers. Since we haven’t been there, I wanted to dedicate one day to each park and just stay there all day. Sleep is for the weak, ya’ll. (I feel like my family underestimates the amount of tired they are all going to be.) #notsorry

After room, tickets, and flights were done, that left me to deal with the actual schedule, as well as booking fast passes and ADRs.

Jump to: The Schedule

 

[jennamfeo]

The Schedule
I made a daily plan breakdown for everyone on the trip and my mom commented on the fact that I noted what places served alcohol. She said “I like how you scheduled in drinking.” Haha. Well, duh.

Nov 1 – Arrival / Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
We land at MCO around 10am after a long, grueling, over-night flight that has one stop somewhere that I cannot remember. My parents are renting a car, but I want to right the Magical Express from the airport, so they can just meet us there. We last minute grabbed some MNSSHP tickets because Disney World & Halloween are a match made in Heaven. Plus I heard Moana meet and greets might be there.

Nov 2 – Tampa & Health and Fitness Expo
My mom really wanted to go to Tampa Bay and eat Cuban food. After doing some research, I saw that a brewery I really like called Cigar City is in Tampa, so I absolutely agreed to go. (Not that I would tell my mom no, ha.) Then we will head back to Orlando and get to the Health & Fitness Expo to pick up our race gear!

Nov 3 – 5k & Magic Kingdom
I really wish I would have signed up for the 5k, too, but I did not. Only my mom is running. (Sorry, mom!) But then afterwards, we finally (FINALLYYYY) get to go to Disney World and we are starting with the Magic Kingdom!!!
Fast Passes:
9:05am – Big Thunder Mountain
12:20pm – Peter Pan
6:45pm – Seven Dwarfs

Nov 4 – 10k & Kid’s Race & Animal Kingdom
After what I feel is going to be a LONG day, it will be me and my hubby’s turn to get up early and race around WDW! Lemme tell you I am NOT excited about the earlier wake up times. I am used to Disneyland runs, so hopefully I won’t hit snooze toooooo much. Our plan is to have my parents and Bay stay at the hotel and get ready. This bums me out because I love seeing my people cheer me on, it motivates me, but I want to make sure we get to the Animal Kingdom on time! And by on time, I mean at 8am for that Extra Magic Hour! My mom’s number one request was the Avatar ride, but because we dropped the ball on Fast Pass selections, I didn’t get it. I assured her that we would ride it though.
Fast Passes:
9:05am - Expedition Everest
10:40am – DINOSAUR
2:20pm – Na’vi River Journey
ADR:
Donald’s Dining Safari for dinner

Nov 5 – Half Marathon & Disney Hollywood Studios & Post Race Party, OH MY!
Finally, it is my main event: the Half Marathon to complete my Coast 2 Coast challenge! I am thankful the parks close at 9pm, that gives me a fighting chance to get at least 5.5 hours of sleep before these races. But this day includes a Half, a Park, and a Party! I may not survive.
Fast Passes:
9:20am – Star Tours
10:20am – Tower of Terror
12:15pm – Toy Story Mania
Then it is time for Post Race Party at Epcot! I bought a ticket so my husband can join me, since I am sure the grandparents want to be able to relax at some point. Haha.

Nov 6 – Miami
We did plan in a day off from an amusement park all together, although I kept pushing for a day at Universal… Miami is quite the trek down the state, but I have never been and I need to compare Cuban food from Tampa to there. Plus I have a photographer friend who has time to do some family portraits for us!

Nov 7 – Epcot
And of course, we saved the best for laaaaaast! Sure, that’s subjective, but the idea of spending my last day at Walt Disney World Drinking Around The World, sounds like the BEST idea. Plus, the Extra Magic Hours are from 9pm-11pm and our flight the next day isn’t until the afternoon. Guys, we might go around the world, TWICE.
Fast Passes:
9:20am – Soarin’
11:50am – Mission: SPACE
12:55pm – Spaceship Earth

Nov 8 - Leave

Jump to: Three Weeks Away!