The Big Announcement!!

I have been teasing on Instagram and even hinted on twitter about my big announcement.  It felt like a dream when I first heard, and I wasn't sure this was even real. I am beyond excited.

I have known what I am passionate about for a while. How to make my love of planning travel to Disney World (or any Disney Adventure) a reality was another thing. I love to talk to families who are planning a Disney vacation, or just came back from one. I love to hear about what they have planned or what they loved to do.   People would tell me I should do this for a job. I began researching how to be a Disney travel agent. I looked into travel agencies, Disney travel agencies. When I found one I thought I would enjoy working for I applied for the job.

I am proud and excited to tell you that I have asked to join the MickeyTravels team. One of the leading Disney travel agencies. MickeyTravels has eared the Platinum status (which only a few agencies have earned). They are an authorized Disney Vacation Planner.  This means they are an amazing Disney travel planning agency.

(we are totally just cool on this ride)

I have goosebumps as I type this I am happy to live my dream. I look forward to helping you plan your Disney vacation in the future!! If you have any questions please let me know. I love to talk Disney, anytime!

Half Marathon Number 3 Completed!

I am still recovering, but finishing this half marathon was just so special. I had run the Wallis Sands Half Marathon last year, and knew that the course was beautiful, on the ocean, and with a medal waiting for me at the end. 

     What made this year extra special? Where to start? Well this year things kind of evolved, as they do, and not sure how they all started other than a friendly conversation at the Nutcracker with some dance mom running friends. We decided to make a "Dance Mom" team. Some decided to cheer us on too, which was totally awesome and made running to the finish line even better!! We made matching t-shirts and the runners wore solid color tutus while the cheer squad decided to wear rainbow tutus.  While most of us run at different paces, I ran with one other mom.  It was was so nice to just have a friendly face next to me for the miles and miles.  

(back of our shirts) 

(Me all ready to go)

     The other thing that made it so special was the training.  This year I had met a friend through Barre and Soul, who said she would run with me. As I was training and adding on the milage I really appreciated someone to talk with and distract me from the "We're only on mile 7?" feeling. 

     Every Sunday we would meet up and she would ask how far are we going today? Even though I am super slow, she came along and kept me company, and motivated! We would usually hit a hill towards the end of the run, and one time eve doing hills at the end of a run.  I would say having a running friend was the best. What was even super nice was I knew she could have gone way faster than me, but ran at my speed, because thats what I could do. 

     This year I also went to a ton more Barre classes. I had joined a challenge at the beginning of April. It was a fun way to meet people, but also motivate myself to get to the studio more often.  I have talked about my love of Barre before, and if you are thinking about, try it! It is a lot of fun and a great work out to boot! My goal for this half was to finish strong, and uninjured. I knew Barre would help me get there, and it did!

    As my luck would have it, the week before the half on an 8 mile run, I fell. I was about 5 miles into my run when my feet just missed the ground. I didn't think much of it at the time. I got up dusted myself off and finished the run. But by Monday I knew something was wrong with my right leg.

      I had gotten cellulitis, form my fall. It is a painful infection that can be treated with some antibiotics. When I saw the doctor on Tuesday I had told them I had this half marathon on Sunday, my leg needed to get better. They were doubtful, but a tiny bit optimistic. That was all I needed, to know there was a possibility I could still run this. 

     People kept asking me though out the week what was I going to do. Get better and do this race was my only answer. Sunday after the race was done my husband had one word for me: determined.  This leg infection issue slowed me down a bit and was a little painful but it didn't stop me, I was determined, or stubborn. Either way I ran the entire distance, I finished in the upright position, and I was unhurt. 

     I have felt accomplished and felt happy at the end of every half, but this one was special. I left this one tired, sure, but determined to run another. I am still sore and recovering, but so happy I was able to finish, and looking forward to running another half marathon. 

Here is to more miles and more half marathons, this year and beyond! 

Florida visit: Swan and Dolphin stay

We recently visited the Swan and Dolphin located right next to Epcot. We stayed at the Swan side. The Swan and Dolphin are Starwood properties. They get a lot of the benefits as other Disney owned and operated hotels, but not all. One thing you will need if staying here is your own ride to and from the airport. Other than that, you can still use Disney's transportation to and from all the theme parks, and Disney Springs, as well as the extra magic hours.

You can use all the amenities at either hotel, which was very nice. The main pool is in between both hotels.

Swan Quiet pool. You walk by the quiet pool on your way to the main pool. 

After you walk by the Swan quiet pool you walk by the playground on your way to the main pool. 

This is the side you enter from

Walking by the water fall, a favorite of my daughter. 

An area for the little ones

This pool is so big you can not see it all on one picture!

She would not leave this area, it was so fun! 

On the other side of the main pool they have a bar area. You look at the pool from the bar at this angle. 

The Dolphin quiet pool and on the other side is the pool bar. They make great drinks and serve food as well. 

Inside the bar, lots of seating if you want to step away from the pool action. 

Here is the view from the other side of the pool bar. 

Here is where you walk out of the Swan. If you continue on this path you will be on the Boardwalk then and easy stroll to Epcot. If you take a right (going straight under the awning) you will find your way to the boat that takes you to Epcot, or Hollywood Studios. 

Follow the path this way to the pools! This way is the opposite to the picture above. 

I loved the gardens around the Swan and Dolphin. Here you are looking towards the Dolphin. 

We had a quick visit here and look forward to coming back. Some highlights of staying here are:

-Close to Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. We loved the ability to walk to either park, or take the transportation.

-Great pools! We loved the main pool. It is huge and never felt over crowded. It has not only a fun water fall but a water slide. The pool is close by to the Cabana Bar and Beach club. The casual dinning at the pool. 

-Heavenly beds! If you have ever stayed at a Starwood property you know what I am talking about. These beds are very comfortable. 

-A nice size hotel room. I really liked the space of this room. Even though we are a smaller family some hotel rooms can get cramped really easy. This one had enough room for us to get ready and not get in each others way. 

-I would stay here again! 

Have questions please let me know! Thank you! 

Disney World Trip report #1 summer 2014

We are just getting home from our summer trip to the most magical place on Earth! It was a wonderful vacation filled with a lot of firsts for our Disney touring. This trip was our ultimate big family trip with my parents, brother, and his family. We stayed at Disney's Beach Club Resort. Did a 5 day park hopper, had multiple, diverse, dinning reservations.
     We had many wonderful experiences during our week at the Beach Club…. and some not so magical moments. First the not so magical moments: My luggage was delivered to the wrong room, and it sat there for a while. I had to make multiple phone calls about it before it was delivered to our room. I was kind of bummed of the loss of magic here. Another not so magical moment was when on our first night there, the fire alarm went off at midnight! Fortunately, there was no real emergency, but also no communication from the hotel staff about what was going on. It would have been nice to know why this happened.
     There are many wonderful things we loved about the Beach Club! For starters, the pool, it is awesome! It is huge! It has so many parts, you can loose people quickly here. The kids loved it, and well, so did I. The water slide, big and little, where a ginormous  hit. The big slide was our parties favorite, even my 4 year old nephew enjoyed it. It has some twists and turns and a couple surprises, we had a lot of laughs on it.
       We stayed here in August, and as you can imagine, it is hot in Florida in the summer. I would go to Disney any day, any week, and month of the year! So the heat did not scare me. We had plenty of water  and took plenty of breaks, but more on that later. I was thinking the pool would be over crowded with everyone trying to cool off on a hot afternoon, and because the Beach Club shares amenities with the Yacht Club. But because this pool is so big and, has so many areas, I never felt it was over whelming with swimmers. The life guards seem to work very hard. They are never slacking off and always watching the water. As a mother this made me feel more comforting with such a large pool and large amount of people. We even found chairs every time we where at the pool    
     One of the best parts of staying at the Beach Club, is the proximity to Epcot. If you have a park hopper you can just stroll on over every night. Which is what we did, and loved.

     This is a great spot to stay with your family. The pool is absolutely fantastic. I also loved the location, and ease of getting to Epcot. It was also a very nice boat ride to Hollywood Studios. I however, have to caution anyone saving their pennies, and dollars to stay here. It is not a 5 star resort by any means. The service was average, the cleanliness was average too. This was not what one would expect when paying $400+ a night. If your budget allows, then go for it. You can not get any closer to Epcot, or a better pool for that matter.  If you are pinching pennies to stay at a real nice place, this isn't it. Sure the pool and location are awesome, but you have to ask your self what your priorities are. That isn't to stay I wouldn't stay here again if the opportunity arose, but I wouldn't go broke to do so.  My favorite park is Epcot, and I really enjoyed the stroll every night to have dinner and watch the fire works. It was also sweet to be able to walk back after and not to have to fight the crowds on the buses. 

    Like I might have said before I love Disney, and would go anytime. I would definitely stay at the Beach Club again. Even with the few negatives you can not beat the location! :) 

Disney World Summer Vacation Trip Report #2

      We arrived at the Beach Club before noon on a Sunday. It was great to be there before lunch time. Our room wasn't ready, so we put our bags in my parents room, changed into our bathing suits and headed to Hurricane Hannah's.
    Hurricane Hannah's is a great quick service restaurant located just out side Stormalong Bay. This location is great because anyone can stop by for a quick meal. Only the people staying at the Beach or Yacht Club can enter the Stormalong Bay area. They will scan your Magic Bang every day and give you wrist band, they use a different color each day. This is also gives you access to the water slides. So back to Hurricane Hannah's... They have a small menu, but with plenty of healthy options. You can re-fill you mugs here too.
    We spent the rest of the day hanging by the pool. Stormalong Bay is simply the best family pool on property. They have areas for all age groups, and we hit them all! The kids, big and little, loved the slides. The littlest ones loved the sandy bottom area,where the deepest part isn't over their head. The lazy river part can be very deep, and if you can get a raft, is a relaxing way to spend some time.
     Our room was ready around 3pm. After the time in the pool we headed to our room to unpack, and change for dinner. We walked around to the Boardwalk for some pizza. The Boardwalk Pizza isn't anything to write home about. It satisfied us but I wouldn't go there just for the pizza. The Boardwalk was just coming alive at this time, with people playing games and such. If you have never been to the Boardwalk it is a beautiful hotel, great for a grown up trip, or just to walk around and look at the details they have put into this resort, just lovely.

               

   
          As you can see from the picture below this is the main pool at the Beach Club. It is huge, and so much fun! On the left is the sandy bottom area. The very small pool at the end of the pirate ship is great small pool with a small slide for little ones. The is also the access area to the big slide. In order to ride the large slide you need to attain the wrist band I mentioned earlier. This is to keep the pool area exclusive to those staying at the Yacht or Beach Club. Which is appreciated as it is a busy place!

The pool and location of this hotel would make me want to come back! My daughter says next time she wants to stay at the Yacht Club, to try something new, but to be able to use this pool again! 

Parking at Disney World

Hello Travelers!
I have often been told "you should totally have a blog!" Well here I am trying it out. I absolutely love going to Disney World. I would go anytime of the year if given the opportunity. I have been in August, February, April, October & November a good variety through out the year. My ultimate goal is to get there and participate in a RunDisney event, (or all of them.) But in the mean time I love to talk to people about their upcoming trips, and help plan and answer questions people may have. We have done a lot in Disney, still a lot to discover. I am pretty good at answering questions or finding the answer to a what you maybe wondering. So I will offer my help, I will write about some things folks have asked about in planning their magical trips. We will start the first installment  of questions answered about the parking.

Disney has a huge piece of property with four theme parks, two water parks, and over 20 hotels, no wonder how to get around is confusing. I will divide this into two sections staying on property vs staying off.

Staying on property:
When you stay on Disney property, meaning you stay at any of the Disney owned hotels, they provide a variety of transportation to all the theme parks. You can step outside your hotel and take a bus, a boat, or the monorail. When taking anyone of these options to the Magic Kingdom they will all drop you off in around the same area.

In the handy Google image above you can see when staying on property you will be dropped off very close to the entrance to the park. They really do make it easy, and magical.  Just note when taking the bus system to and from your hotel they do not drop you off in the exact spot you will be picked up. But they have signs to help you find your way after a tired day. 

Side Note: This is also where you will go if you have a dinning reservation at any other Disney hotel. Say you are staying at the Art of Animation and are going to have breakfast at Cape May at Disney's Beach Club Resort.  Hop on the bus that says Magic Kingdom at your hotel. Hop off the bus here at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom and hop on the bus that says to the Beach Club. It is a bit crazy I know but really isn't hard, just takes time. And no park passes required!

When staying off property:

When staying off property you will either be taking your car, or a bus provided by the hotel. In either case they drop you off at the ticket and transportation  center. 

In the handy dandy Google image above you will see when you drive your car you will park in the huge parking lot. Then there is a tram for those who have to park so very far from the TTC (ticket and transportation center). This is also the place to get your park tickets if you haven't already, or will call if you will. :) Where I wrote "monorail" you can kind of see under it, that is the bus drop off for the hotels that are off property. Once you get to the TTC or Monorail area you will take the monorail to the entrance to the Magic Kingdom!! 

I would plan about  an hour from leaving your hotel, on and off property hotels, until you get inside the Magic Kingdom. This will be in case there are any other cars heading the same way that day, you would not want to miss your dinning reservation or your fast pass+ time because you where stuck in traffic or the bus was delayed.  The cast members who will be around the parking lots and ticket booth are very helpful if you have any questions. Getting into the park can take time but so very worth it! Have a magical day! 

Let me know if you have any Disney World Questions I can help you out with, and as always Thank You of reading! 

Instagram!

In my attempt to grow into the blog world of running and traveling I have set up an Instagram account just for this purpose. Please check it out! I will post things about running, traveling, food, and random fun things! thanks!! Link to my account:  genevieve_run_travel

I also have a new facebook page for this adventure as well: Running and Travel Adventure

Thanks for following as I explore new waters in blogging, fitness, and traveling!