Halloween 2013

Happy Halloween from the Hundred Acre Wood….errr….. house. :0)

No, we don’t celebrate the spooky, scary side of Halloween (you know, witches and ghosts and all of those things)….but we do enjoy a little pumpkin fun. Besides, who can resist the candy and adorable costumes? :0) Certainly not I!

Eeyore and Winnie the Pooh came out to play yesterday!

No worries, Eeyore’s tail never went missing!

A whiff of honey, perhaps?

Eeyore (Pixie) and Pooh (Madalynn) hope you have a fabulous day! Try not to eat too much candy – you wouldn't want a tummy ache!

It’s supposed to be a rainy, nasty day here. Even tonight, the chance of rain is 90%….which means I probably won’t run after work. I haven’t attempted a run since Saturday, but I’ve been doing my squats and lunges routine faithfully every  night! I hope my efforts make a difference!

What are you/your kids/your puppies dressing up as for Halloween? Are you attending any fun parties this year?

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party Vlog

We had so much fun at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, I decided to video a few clips to share!

This party is a separate ticket after-hours event in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and is SO much fun! If you missed yesterday’s post, check it out here.

Enjoy this six minute vlog of our Not So Scary Party adventures! Thanks for watching!

P.S. I realized after I created this video, I said the word “cool” and “YAY” way too many times, sorry…..

If you’ve attended Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, have you dressed up for the event? What costumes have you worn?

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party has been a fan favorite for many years. Having attended several extra hour “party” events myself, I can honestly say, you gotta see this!

For starters, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is an after hours, separate ticket event. Guests can arrive at the Magic Kingdom with their MNSSHP tickets as early as 4 p.m., but the party doesn’t officially start until 7 p.m.

For 2013, ticket prices ranged from:

$59 to $62 for adults
$54 to $57 for children

Halloween night tickets are priced slightly higher and are sold out for 2013.

The park maps take a different spin for Mickey’s Not So Scary Party!

If you are attending this event, don’t forget to grab a map! This program guide tells you all the “hot spots” for the evening…dance parties, trick or treat locations, fireworks times, parade times, etc.

Thanks to WDW Info for use of these maps.

Many of these events sell out (please note, the Magic Kingdom is not full to capacity with a sell-out party, on purpose)…

Many guests choose to dress in costume for this event. This was a surprise trip for my husband, so costumes weren’t an option…but my Mickey/Donald shirt sure is cute, huh? :0)
(Please note, this is the only event that guests are allowed to wear outside costumes into the parks…unless you are running a runDisney race, of course!)

After scanning park tickets, guests are given a party wristband to wear on their wrists and receive a special bag for trick-or-treat candy.

Trick or treat spots are located throughout the entire park and can be found on the guidemap…see, it’s important to have!

In order to make trick-or-treat spots more visible, these Mickey pumpkin lights are located outside each entrance.

Guests will also find character dance parties throughout the park – times and locations listed on the guidemap.

While waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion, you’ll find Madame Carlotta. She likes to entertain guests with jokes and punch lines.

She’s pretty funny….not to be missed!

Another must-do is Hallowishes, the evening fireworks spectacular!

Hallowishes takes on a completely different look and feel from Wishes…..different soundtrack, different light show, it’s awesome and definitely a must-do!

Possibly my favorite part of the party is the Boo to You Halloween Parade!

The headless horseman rides through prior to the parade and he is way cool to see!

Also, some characters are dressed in costume which I love!

Special Not So Scary Party merchandise is also available for purchase.

Love the boy’s matching shirts? We had SO much fun!!

Even the bakery treats take on a special attire for the party!

Photo Pass takes on a bit of a different spin as well, with special character ops all around the park! (Please note, these photos are from 2009, but are still available at this time.)

Gotta love my silly family!

Character ops are ALL over the park – check your guidemap for locations and times.

If you’re a fan of the Haunted Mansion, you’ll love these….

Aaah! It’s a ghost!

Hitchhiking ghosts were out to socialize.

This is perhaps one of the most coveted Halloween Party photo ops in the park and always has a long line. I didn’t catch the location for 2013, but any photo pass photographer should be able to help you locate it.

After a long evening, we were worn out and decided to call it a night!

If you’re ever in Florida in the Fall and are on the fence about Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, think no more! This is definitely a must-do for all! I love everything about this party and came home with way too much candy! Have fun…BOO to YOU! :0)

Have you ever attended an after-hours party event? What were your thoughts?

Clearly Not Impressed

It was a beautiful day on Saturday and clearly, I was not impressed.

…with my IT Band, that is.

I had awesome plans for a 10 mile solo run around my neighborhood on Saturday morning. As I reached mile 3, “that” twinge in my right knee hit me and I knew I was done. In the end, I walked .5 miles back to my house for a total of 4 miles.

Disappointed? Yes.

What happened? I was doing SO well! Even running in Disney the weekend before with hills and inclines didn’t phase me.

As the thoughts rolled through my mind, I realized something – I knew exactly what happened.

For starters, we cleaned out our attic on Friday afternoon which left my back bent in odd positions for several hours. This of course led to a sore back and my sleeping on a heating pad both Friday and Saturday night.

I just love throwing stuff away!!

Foam rolling? Not a problem, I’ve got that down to an art.

My other issue? Since Disneyland, I completely jumped OFF my PT leg exercises bandwagon! GASP. How could I forget to do these essential (for me) daily exercises? Whatever happened, I promise you I’m back on my routine. After completing sets on Saturday and Sunday, my leg/knee felt much better. I’m going to give it a few days before trying to run on it again and see where we go from there. I also discovered a 30 day core/ab workout from active.com. I began the workout last night along with my PT exercises. Hopefully the combination of both will help get me back out on the road! 

In non-injury related news, all of this Marine Corps Marathon talk has me itching to run another Marathon. I must be a glutton for punishment. After rolling a few thoughts through my mind, I’ve come up with a plan – I’m going to bump my registration from the Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon to the Full Marathon (I love this race and this course). It’s the 5th year, my 5th in a row…why not go big? I decided if it comes down to it and I’m unable to complete the Full Marathon, I’ll bump back down to the Half. We will take it week by week and see how it goes!

By the way, look what I found in the attic! Those bunny rabbit ear muffs are from when I was 5 years old, maybe? Also, the Mickey Mouse shirt is my mom’s from Disney World back in the 80’s!

It even has “Walt Disney Productions” underneath the image…talk about vintage!

Hope you had a great weekend!! :0) Tell me how you enjoyed your weekend…share in the comments below.

Fitness Friday–10/25

Happy weekend, friends! Another week has come and gone – it’s hard to believe at this time last Friday, I was driving to New Orleans for a quick Disney trip with friends. In turn, I have absolutely nothing exciting or thrilling going on this weekend, apart from cleaning out my garage (parrrrtay, right?).

Here’s a recap of my workouts this week:

Currently training for: Woman’s Half Marathon - December 8, Louisiana
Rock N Roll New Orleans Half Marathon – February 2, 2013, Louisiana

Saturday – 6.5 mile run around The Boardwalk/EPCOT area 
Sunday – Rest Day/Travel Day
Monday – Cross Train, lots of squats and lunges
Tuesday – 2 mile quick run with Madalynn
Wednesday – Ran out of time to workout – busy day 
Thursday – 3 miles with Jason 
Friday – Plans for cleaning out my garage…wahooo!

This weekend, I’m attempting a solo long run because my friend Heather is running the Marine Corps Marathon and my friend Kelli’s husband is doing a Half Ironman! I’m so excited for both of them, can’t wait to hear how their races turn out!

In other non-working out news (which is totally not a Fitness Friday but whatever), I began reading the Divergent trilogy 2 weeks ago. I wanted to wait until it was close to the release of the third book, Allegiant before I began the series. I have to say, I loved the first two books…LOVED them. I was really digging the third book, until someone pointed out the negative reviews it was receiving on Amazon. Uhoh.

I’m the type of person (always have been) that spoils the end of books for myself. As a teenager, I used to get about halfway into the book, then become impatient and flip to the end to see what happened. I know I’m not the only one out there because my Aunt-In-Law told me that she does the same thing. Anyone else feel me on this one?

I won’t spoil the book for you, but I will say, about 10 chapters in to Allegiant, I flipped to the end and skimmed the last page – I felt ok with the ending, everything seemed fine. Then came the Amazon reviews. Whoa. Obviously my “skimming” at the end of the book left a lot of details out.

Despite knowing the ending, I’m still going to continue reading the book, although that question was debatable last night. However, I am VERY glad I know ahead of time what happens and the warning of what is to come. This is going to be interesting, I’ll let you know my thoughts once I’m finished with the book.

Any other Divergent trilogy fans out there? Have you finished Allegiant? If so, what are your thoughts?

Racecation Recap: Disneyland Park Days

Sunday, August 25, 2013 – Astros game; Houston, TX & Vlog
Monday, August 26, 2013 – San Diego and Old Town & Vlog
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 – Sea World and My Birthday & Vlog
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 – San Diego Zoo and La Jolla & Vlog
Thursday, August 29, 2013 – Travelling to Disneyland/Downtown Disney & Vlog
Friday, August 30, 2013 – DCA and the Disneyland Half Expo & Vlog
Saturday, August 31, 2013 – Disneyland 10K and Park time & Vlog
Sunday, September 1, 2013 – Disneyland Half Marathon and more park time & Vlog

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Having already written recaps for the Disneyland Expo, 10K, and Half Marathon, I’m going to combine our 3 park days into this one post.

We had so much fun in Disneyland and California Adventure!

Friday, August 30, 2013

Prior to the Expo on Friday, we decided to check out Cars Land during California Adventure’s Extra Magic Hours. The massive crowd in line at the gates went straight for Cars Land to ride Radiator Springs Racers. 

In total, we waited about 30 minutes to ride – not bad considering wait times creep up during the day!

This little guy sang Happy Birthday to me! It was cute!

I know I mentioned this already, but it’s worth mentioning again. As we were leaving the parks, I met up with a twitter friend for Expo company. We began walking and she said, “Joey Fatone and Sean Astin walked that way…they must have just left the meetup!” I was floored, and as soon as I mustered up enough courage, I approached and asked for a picture.

I could not believe that moment happened and I was walking on cloud 9 for days!

We loved World of Color! Must see!!

My new “kicks” on Route 66! :0)

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Alice was surprised to see herself on my 10K medal!

A Dole Whip is a must do!

We had fun exploring Disneyland with Heather and Bobby!

Lunch at The Carnation Café

I attended the Dumbo Tweet Up, then Jason and I took the “Walk In Walt’s Footsteps Tour”…more on that later!

Love the color of these blooms!

We reconnected with Heather and Bobby for dinner at Blue Bayou. While waiting on a table, we ran into these ladies! Crystal and Mary are friends of ours and are kind of where our whole running journey began.

After a jam packed day, we found a spot for Fantasmic and waited for the show. We were SO tired, but Fantasmic did not disappoint!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Here I am, Hollywood!

Had to ride Dumbo, of course!

Small World was closed for renovations last time we were in Disneyland. It was fun seeing it with the Disney character dolls!

My favorite, a Caramel Quake Shake from Ghirardelli!

The Broadway style Aladdin show in CA is awesome, not to be missed!

Still can’t quite believe I let him talk me into riding Tower of Terror….

Dinner on our last night was at Steakhouse 55 with Heather and Bobby. We had a great time and really enjoyed being with our friends throughout the weekend!

Apparently for some, parting is such sweet sorrow….

We spent our final night at Disneyland watching the fireworks, “Remember…Dreams Come True”.

As always, watching the fireworks was the perfect way to end a truly magical trip!

Have you been to Disneyland/California Adventure? What’s your favorite thing to see/do/eat in the parks?