Adulting is Hard, So I'm Running Away! ~ An Oct 2016 PTR ~ Update 10/19: Peace Out, Yo!

[cinderkelly]

Just stopping by to say hi! Hope everything is going ok

 

[Wood Nymph]

Oh oh oh! ALSO! This is exciting stuff right here... Since I'm going back just four months after this trip for a 5-night stay to visit the parks and do the Princess 5K in February 2017, I decided to run the numbers. Counting what I would spend on park hoppers and Memory Maker for both trips... I come out better financially if I just buy myself an ANNUAL PASS. So. That's what is going to happen. For the first time in my life, I'll be a Walt Disney World Annual Pass Holder! Even if I only use it for these two trips, it's still totally worth it... But let's be honest, I'll probably plan something for the beginning of next October so that I can be sure to get at least three trips out of it! Because you know, I like to spend dat moneh moneh that I ain't got yet...

We've had an annual pass for two years now and they are great. We've gotten some great room discounts with them. The nice thing is that the discounts are usually good almost until check in day, unlike the general public discounts that expire weeks before trip dates. Most of the non-signature resort table service restaurants give a 10% AP discount, too.

And this time, their psuedo-adopted daughter (she was their neighbor when she was a teenager and they became like a second family to her, and still are 20 years later) is going to join us too, AND she is going to walk the 5K with me!

That will be great to have someone with you for the race. My sister ran the Disney half marathon with me and it was really nice to have the company, especially while waiting for the race to start. She eventually ran off ahead of me, but it was still nice to have someone who wanted to talk about the race with you.

total loss over the last 7 weeks of 25 lbs!!!

That is awesome.

But NOPE, they loved it and are ready to go back!!!

It looks like you did a great job as tour guide. Have you discussed which resort you would stay at?

We have booked a magical deal at the BC for Oct 1st to 5th. We just couldn't pass up the low price. Unfortunately, we'll miss you and about a million other Dis friends, but I can't get away from work later in the month.

 

[EvilQueensRock]

Hey Billie! (I am sooooo far behind on the boards right now. Haven't even updated my own PTR in over a month.)
Congratulations on the weight loss! Woo hooo! You are an inspiration. I'm stuck at 15# and need to kick it into high gear to make my 40# goal by June. No good reason, just been lazy.
Since you are purchasing the AP, can you still get the Dining Plan? I know you love the Dining Plan as much as I do. I hope some day to purchase an AP, partially because I want to drive around with that "AP" bumper sticker on my car, but mostly because it would mean I would have at least two trips in the works.

 

[Elevationist]

So since I know some of you have been wondering... YES, I'm alive, I promise! Just fell off of the DIS for a while. Work has been too busy for me to spend any time here, and at home books have been more tempting. OOPS! I'll save you all the empty promises of catching up on your threads soon, as by now you all know that I'm just AWFUL about staying on top of them. (But no, really, I'll try to get to them as soon, I will!) What I CAN promise is an update here in there near-ish future, since October park hours will be posted ANY.DAY.NOW. Once that happens, I'll be back with a full update.

In the meanwhile, I will do my best to at least reply to all of your wonderful comments on my last update! Sorry this has taken so long!

Way to go!! That is quite the accomplishment. Keep up the good work

Thank you kindly!

Oh my goodness.. I never thought in a million years I would be into GoT. My DF is all over it. So then one day he was watching Season 2 with his dad (who is also hooked) and I happened to sit down for an episode. Well that's all I needed! I asked if he would start over and watch with me and he was like uhhh, yes! We binge watched season 1-5 over the summer. Some weekends we would stay up until 3/3:30 in the morning. I would be fighting sleep so hard and look at him all, "just. one. more " hahahah! Who is your favorite character(s) so far? I will always love Khal and Khaleesi

I have many many favorites... But at my core, I'm a big ol' Tyrion fan. His character is amazeballs. Plus that epic Season 4 finale, WHAAAT! I also really am liking the less-douchey Jamie ever since he lost his hand. Oh oh, and I am digging Daario v2.0. I like Margaery a lot, and am displeased about her current situation. And I really dug Oberyn, but we all know how THAT ended. And don't even get me started on Jon Snow...

I love my Kindle! Although at work I actually listen to audiobooks (I use Audible) with my headphones. Perks of an office job. If you have a library card see if they have the eBook function. You can check out a book for the alotted time period and it will download to your kindle. When you're done you e-return it. You can set up a wish list, place holds, and even ask for an extension if you're not done and no one else is waiting for it. It's amazing!

Thank you for this suggestion, I had no idea! I looked into it, and it turns out that my local library DOES have an eBook lending program... But only for Nooks and tablets/smartphones. No Kindles. Doh!

I know there are quite a few dining discounts for AP holders (usually 10% or so) - though some of the restaurants in Epcot restrict to lunch hours for the discount. I'm not quite sure if it works with the dining plan, though since that's all prepaid and pre-priced. We usually pay OOP for food, so remembering to ask about the discounts is nice. And every little bit helps if you have a few OOP meals anyway.

I always end up booking more meals than my Dining Plan covers and pay out-of-pocket for the extra ones, so I can definitely ask about it for those meals!

In addition, there are merchandise discounts (also 10%), which are nice when souvenir shopping I'm pretty sure all of the big souvenir stores like the one in MK offer a discount, and the Lego store does too (though Downtown Disney is kind of a toss up - it seems like some places do have one and some don't). Basically, it never hurts to ask, and if they do have a discount it's kind of an extra bonus

I'll definitely have to get into the habit of asking, then!

One other cool perk is that you get a little bit off of the cost of tours as well (AllEars says 15%) - so if you had the time & energy, it might be a good year to do some of those too

Oy, don't tempt me with squeezing anything more into an already packed trip...

We've found that TONS of places offer the 10% AP discount Our first trip with our AP's we kept kicking ourselves after buying something b/c we'd forget to ask, so the next trip we just asked everywhere lol. Each trip I think we've found like one merch place that doesn't give the discount. The only one I remember off-hand is the Arribas Bros. cart outside PoTC. Even if you only save a couple dollars one place, over the course of your trip it can add up!

That's AWESOME! Yes, I'll be sure to always ask before I buy anything!

I'm crashing your report to say.... I'm going back to Disney . I've just started the pre-trip report.

HOORAY! I'm so glad you're going back! That's AWESOME!

Me neither for some reason I've been in a Disfunk lately, so much to catch up on! I'm blaming the head cold

I've been in a DISfunk, too! Well, I dunno if it's a funk. Just having a hard time focusing on it, I guess?

We are here for ya girlfriend, in good times and in bad

Thanks, BooBoo!

I LoVE your ADR list!!

Me too. So much. Bordering on unhealthy. Sometimes I open up my Excel file, and just lovingly gaze at that ADR list. It's pretty bad, dude.

YES!!!! I'm so excited for you!! We can be AP buddies! Warning...annual passes will lead to planning multiple trips! That's all I Have to say about that

Nooooo! I'm not allowed to take anymore trips after February until I save up enough to get a better car! I caaaaan't!

Like I said... Gotta get your money's worth out of that puppy!

Evil temptress!!

That's so cool! I do believe someone's got the Disney bug . That's really great that they loved it enough to want to go back!

Yeah, I was super surprised! But as usual, she's kinda taken over and quick my little solo trip for the Princess 5k has now turned into 5 nights, and for 7 to 11 people... More on that in my next update.

I totally approve of that strategy. Sometimes you've just got to listen to your body screaming "give me a break!" Slow and steady

Mine was screaming, all right! I'm slowed down a lot, which is a bummer, but I have faith that it will improve again soon!

That is AWESOME!!!! You go girl! That has got to feel amazeballs

It certainly doesn't suck!

It's been awhile since I have been on the Dis but since I finally have a PTR to start I have been checking out pages. I have started yours but still have quit a few pages to catch up on. Just wanted to say that I am here and I am reading.

Ok, now back to reading.

Hooray!

Yeah, seriously. Park hours always screw up plans. Oh, Disney, why must you always break our hearts after we spend so much time planning?

Not always! For my December trip, the park hours came out and I didn't have to change a thing! Granted, I did all my planning based on the previous year's park hours (which I've done again for this trip), but you never know how it's going to work out!

OMG ANNUAL PASS!!! I'm so super jealous!!

I can't quite believe it myself yet!

Yay!! That is so awesome!! It'll be really nice to have someone waiting for you after the race!

Yeah, I'm excited about that!

Extra yay! It's definitely nice to have someone sharing this experience with you!

Yeah, it'll be nice, I think!

I feel like this is a good time to share that I fell off the treadmill once. I was watching baseball and the Yankees manager did something stupid (which is not unusual), and I started yelling at the TV. And then I fell off the treadmill. It wasn't fun, but it was kinda funny.

Oh gosh! I'm glad you didn't get hurt. That wouldn't have been funny. But since you're fine. it's HILARIOUS.

Uh-oh. Pain is never fun. Hopefully the rest helps, but if it doesn't ... talk to your doctor!

I was just overdoing it and aggravating my Fibromyalgia. I'm fine now that I'm taking it easier. Training for this 5k is just going to be even more slow-going that I originally anticipated.

YAY!!!! 25 lbs ... that is so awesome!

Thank you much!

Meh. Apparently I'm the only one who doesn't watch this show. I'm not a big George R.R. Martin person.

I didn't think I would be, and maybe it's just HBO's take on George R.R. Martin, but the show is GREAT!

IT IS NOT "JUST" A 5K. It is 3.1 difficult miles. Believe me, until I actually had my first 3.1 mile training run (which, granted, was like 2 months before the race), I wasn't sure I could do it. And I have always walked a lot, even before I started running. A 5K is a lot harder than people think it is.
(Okay, rant over)

I know, you're right, you're right! It's just hard because I'm in these runDisney groups and everybody talks about training for the 10k and the Half and the Full, or the challenges, and here I am over here just busting my butt trying to be able to walk the 5k! It's very intimidating and hard to jump into the conversation. Maybe I'll start a thread here on the DIS in the RD forum for beginners who are training for their first 5k, if there isn't one already...

 

[Elevationist]

I have never seen GoT either. And I've only seen the first of the Harry Potter movies. And I don't own a smart phone or a kindle thing. I'm not 85, I just live like I am apparently, ha!

You and my grandmother should get together and play Bridge.

I totally forgot to mention the AP!!!
Your going to love every bit and I just know your going to renew it.. it has too many perks.

No no no! No renewing! My February trip for the Princess 5k HAS to be my last one until I save up enough money for a newer better car! Or else my parents are going to MURDERIZE me.

I don't like it, I love it, love it, love it, love it. So good it hurts.... Ya know I love me a list of out of control disney food. Looking good!

I knew you would happily enable my addiction. You're a good friend.

WOOHOO. Speaking of loving things, yeah for Disney math. We went back and forth on getting them again this year and ultimately decided to renew them (cause $100 savings a piece, hello). As long as you get two trips in they make sense financially. Then other trips after that are of course really free ; ) And don't forget you can get a Tables in Wonderland card now too. My favorite little AP perk.

I seriously considered the Tables in Wonderland card! I just don't if I by myself would make it worth the registration fee, especially since I only pay out-of-pocket for what my Dining Plan doesn't cover.

That is so great. Their faces and early nights didn't always show it, but clearly they had a blast. Fingers crossed we'll be down there then too so we can all be at the finish line ; )

I would LOVE for you to be there! And yeah, I was actually pretty surprised when Mark & Debby said they were ready to go back! And given their habits last time, I think I'm going to change up the way I plan and park tour. I think the plan now is the skip the afternoon breaks, and just plan for people to be ready to go back to the rooms after a 5pm dinner or so. Anybody who wants to stay out with my night owl self is welcomed to.

Oh Billie, that is wonderful!!!!! So, so, so happy for you.

Thank you kindly!

Hope you enjoy. And when you're down watch True Blood and Big Love if you have some time. Besides Sopranos, they are my most favorite HBO series.

I tried True Blood once upon a time. Vampire stuff just doesn't do it for me!

Hope you enjoy it. I don't use mine as much as I'd like, cause I just don't have time to read, but when I get some beach time I totally but it into overload. Nothing better than loading it up and having to carry only that to the beach ; )

Yeah, I do love how easy it is to tote around with me! I'm still adjusting to paying $8-$14 bucks for what amounts to a data transfer, though. Nothing to show for it, nothing to loan out to friends, nothing to put into my bookcase when I'm done. Sigh.

Toods (totally gonna try and make that a thing)

Good luck with that.

Oh-oh, they've been bitten by the Disney bug! So happy to hear they'll be joining you and that you'll have a walking partner for the 5K.

Yeah, it's pretty exciting!

Same here. I love my Nook (was an Xmas gift a few years ago) for reading because the screen is completely matte. Much easier on my old eyes. Now though, I'm going to start audiobooks again (I go through phases of wanting to read vs. wanting to be read to during my commute). I've got The Cuckoo's Calling (finally!) cued up on my Audible app and I'll start it this afternoon. Super excited. Oh, what would we do without books, glorious books?!

Yes! The matte screen on this Kindle is sooooo much more comfortable to read on! I've never been able to get into audio books, though. They put me to sleep!

Excited for an update... Good for you powering thought, but i am looking forward to hear how mixing it up is working out!

Ehh, mixing it up turned into just slowing it down. lol. I tried one day of the recumbent bicycle instead instead, but it was awkward because my big ol' belly was in the way of my thighs.

Maybe a month off... Currently i am looking at Sept 16-23 or November... October is hard for me unless I go towards the end of the month which is an option but the earliest i could arrive in October is the 21ish.... I may just miss you AGAIN!

I'm there October 21-28th! So a October 21st arrival would work SWIMMINGLY!

Yeah, I don't think I walk quite that fast yet. Maybe I'll shoot for the Wine & Dine next year.

Girl, me either. I'm still trying to get to 2 miles in 45 mins. 3.1 is still quite a ways away for me!

Sounds good to me. We hadn't really planned on watching HalloWishes but I might be persuaded to make an exception.

Or something else! Anything else! We could meet up for a candy corn ice cream cone! I'm not picky!

The plans look great! Keith and I got Annual Passes during our November Trip for the exact reason you described. We knew we would be going back with the kids in March so when I crunched the numbers for tickets for the 2 of us on each trip it came out cheaper to do APs. We were just going to use it for the 2 trips, but then Keith mentioned the other day about going again in October 2016 right before our APs expire...no argument out of me, but we will have to see.

October 2016, hmmmmm?! Maaaaaaybe that last week of October, like 21-28?

Congrats on the weight loss...I know how hard it can be!! Great job!!

Thank you so much!

GREAT news! That is already a great accomplishment! So very, very proud of you. WOOT!

Thanks!!! (But I'm so HUNGRY! Hahahaha!)

Sounds like a great plan to have company on your 5K too; hopefully that'll keep you motivated and more eager to train and WAY more fun during the walk/run.

I sure hope so!!!

Have missed you on the DIS- here and on my PTR. We're both busy and I know I'm not on nearly as much as I'd like to be. Someday, things will be different.

I know, I've been in a bit of a self-imposed DIS exile lately! I'll snap out of it soon, I promise!

Hi Billie! Just catching up. Congratulations on your weight loss. You are inspiring so many people. I hope your knees feel better. I was doing three 30 day challenges at a time plus a 30 minute elliptical and my left knee was killing me. I think it was from the squats. I had to lay off and slowly it's getting better. Don't push yourself too hard that you'll make your knees hurt.

Yeah, I slowed down and stopped pushing myself quite so hard for now. When what I'm doing right now starts to feel TOO easy, then I'll try picking up the pace again! Baby steps!

On a Disney note. I love your spreadsheets. We are going in November and I like to stop in to see how many days you have until park hours are released so I can gage when our park hours will be announced.

Park hours always come out around the 15th of the month, 7 months ahead of time. So you can estimate you'll get yours sometime around mid-April!

Have you ever done the dessert party? We are debating this one. My oldest has severe food allergies so we never eat out. I know Disney is great with allergies, but just wondered if it was worth it.
Keep up the good work.

I've never done the Dessert Party, actually! This will be my first one. I've always been curious about them though, so I'm super excited to finally get to check one out! (Also, by October, I will have been denying myself sugar for 10 whole months, so you know that I am going to eat ALL the things!)

Just stopping by to say hi! Hope everything is going ok

Everything is fine! I'm just being DIS-poopy! I'll be back with a new update soon-ish, I promise!

We've had an annual pass for two years now and they are great. We've gotten some great room discounts with them. The nice thing is that the discounts are usually good almost until check in day, unlike the general public discounts that expire weeks before trip dates. Most of the non-signature resort table service restaurants give a 10% AP discount, too.

I get a great room discount through work (30-40%), so unless the AP discount beats that, I doubt I'll be using that part. However, I'll definitely look into the discounts off dining and shopping!!

That will be great to have someone with you for the race. My sister ran the Disney half marathon with me and it was really nice to have the company, especially while waiting for the race to start. She eventually ran off ahead of me, but it was still nice to have someone who wanted to talk about the race with you.

Yeah, I've heard there's a whole of of standing around before the race, so it will be nice to have some company at least for THAT part!

It looks like you did a great job as tour guide. Have you discussed which resort you would stay at?

Maybe TOO good of a job, haha. We're going to stick with my original choice, All-Star Movies. After my big Beach Club trip in October, I need to do the following February as cheap as possible! My only big concern is that in our party (which has grown... more on that in my next big update), we're going to have THREE scooters, and I know the bus situation at the All-Stars isn't ideal. And I don't want to repeat resorts I've already stayed at, so that rules out Pop and AoA. I might look at putting us in a moderate (CBR or POR), but we'll see... I really need to save money on the February trip, and I know their friend (the one doing the 5K with me) does too.

We have booked a magical deal at the BC for Oct 1st to 5th. We just couldn't pass up the low price. Unfortunately, we'll miss you and about a million other Dis friends, but I can't get away from work later in the month.

Just leave the BC in decent shape for me, okay?!

Hey Billie! (I am sooooo far behind on the boards right now. Haven't even updated my own PTR in over a month.)

Girl, I hear you. My unread Watched Threads are out of control. I look at them, cry, then go read a book instead. I'm terrible!

Congratulations on the weight loss! Woo hooo! You are an inspiration. I'm stuck at 15# and need to kick it into high gear to make my 40# goal by June. No good reason, just been lazy.

I'm getting close to 40 lbs lost! More on that in my next update!

Since you are purchasing the AP, can you still get the Dining Plan? I know you love the Dining Plan as much as I do.

Yes! You can almost always book a package with just room and dining, just not on the website. You have to call and ask for a "ticketless package." And of course, for military and AP packages, they automatically do it without tickets, because those packages know the guest already have tickets.

I hope some day to purchase an AP, partially because I want to drive around with that "AP" bumper sticker on my car, but mostly because it would mean I would have at least two trips in the works.

Oh oh oh! I forgot about the bumper sticker! I NEED THAT SWAG!!!

 

[NJlauren]

Miss you happy to see your back! That's all

 

[LindseyJo22]

Yay! Happy you are back Though I definitely understand getting busy with other stuff!

 

[Dentam]

You and my grandmother should get together and play Bridge.

I've never played Bridge - ha!

Happy to see you back on here and I'm looking forward to your next big update!

 

[cinderkelly]

Glad to see you back! I've missed you!

I'm getting close to 40 lbs lost! More on that in my next update!

Holy shisnit !!!!

 

[ariane37]

So since I know some of you have been wondering... YES, I'm alive, I promise!

 

[ariane37]

I'm getting close to 40 lbs lost! More on that in my next update!

And I just saw this, AWESOME

 

[SarahDisney]

So since I know some of you have been wondering... YES, I'm alive, I promise!

Yay! You're alive!
I mean, I suspected that you probably were, but it's good to know for sure.

my little solo trip for the Princess 5k has now turned into 5 nights, and for 7 to 11 people... More on that in my next update.

Uh-oh. Sounds ... complicated.

I was just overdoing it and aggravating my Fibromyalgia. I'm fine now that I'm taking it easier. Training for this 5k is just going to be even more slow-going that I originally anticipated.

It's important to find what works best for you ... slow training is better than no training. Listen to your body, and you'll get there eventually. You have time.

I know, you're right, you're right! It's just hard because I'm in these runDisney groups and everybody talks about training for the 10k and the Half and the Full, or the challenges, and here I am over here just busting my butt trying to be able to walk the 5k! It's very intimidating and hard to jump into the conversation. Maybe I'll start a thread here on the DIS in the RD forum for beginners who are training for their first 5k, if there isn't one already...

I had that last year ... it's hard to jump in when people are talking about the longer distances. But once you do start getting into the conversation, people are really supportive. Everyone has to start somewhere, and for most people, that was a 5K - so many of them remember the difficulty of training for that first 5K.

I'm getting close to 40 lbs lost! More on that in my next update!

Yay!
(If you're wondering what happened to the pounds you lost ... I found 10 of them )

Oh oh oh! I forgot about the bumper sticker! I NEED THAT SWAG!!!

You can also get race-related stickers for your car!!
(Yes, I am an enabler)

 

[soniam]

I'm getting close to 40 lbs lost! More on that in my next update!

Oh my god! I missed that the first read through. That is amazingly awesome You totally rock! Keep up the amazing job.

 

[Steppesister]

Dang! You go, Girl! 40 lbs is beyond awesome! So, SO proud of you!

 

[DisneyJo]

Good to see you on here, I was wondering where you were

Congrats on your weight loss, that's absolutely amazing.

 

[Rozz]

"Big update"...can't wait!

 

[cajunfan]

I need your spreadsheet!

 

[cinderkelly]

Have the October park hours come out yet? I'm trying to be patient but plans must be made!

 

[tabrizia]

Caught up. Now waiting for you to post again.

 

[IowaTater]

Or something else! Anything else! We could meet up for a candy corn ice cream cone! I'm not picky!

Oh I'm sure we'll figure something out! We still have a few months! lol