Surviving Disneyworld, Part III

      13 Comments on Surviving Disneyworld, Part III

Last report—it covers 3 days, so it’s a bit lengthy!

Disney, Day 5

I decided that my 40-point day on Tuesday probably warranted another run, so on Wednesday, I once again got up at 5:30am and made my way out for another pre-dawn run.

I plotted out my run to include a trip down to Hollywood Studios, which was about a mile from our resort, then back and around the lagoon before returning to the Yacht Club.  When I got done, I ended up at 2.75 miles—not bad, but after a moment, I thought, “Well that’s stupid.  Running another quarter mile isn’t hard!” So I ran another quarter mile to make it a nice, even 3. 🙂  The weather was in the mid-60s even at 6am, and since I’d been running at home in the 20s and 30s, the 60s felt great!

We spent the morning at Epcot, where all four of us did the Mission Space ride.  When I saw this sign, I immediately thought of Kelly at Sublurbanmama and laughed. 😉

DS#2 and I chose green, while DS#1 and my husband chose Orange.  It was a struggle to even get DS#2 to do green—he was scared to death of the ride, but afterwards, he asked if we could do it again. 😉

We had lunch in Japan (ha, the Epcot Japan, not the actual country), where I had sushi for the first time since I was 17!

I hated it the first and only time I tried it back when I was a teenager, but this was actually quite good, and I’m glad I got it.  It was also low in points, too! To my surprise, the kids enjoyed the Japanese meal very much. (They didn’t get sushi, though. 😉 )

After lunch, I finally got to meet my favorite princess!

I wish I had taken my glasses off my head, but my hair was all frizzy from the Florida heat and humidity anyway, so it probably wouldn’t have mattered.

Here she is, admiring all my pins—all my pins are Belle or Beast (mostly Belle).  I have 9 of them, and she was quite impressed with my dedication to her!  I know it’s stupid, but this was pretty much the highlight of my trip. 😀

From there we set out to walk to Hollywood Studios.  At this point, a really amazing thing happened—at least, amazing to me.  My husband started complaining that his feet hurt.  Now, you have to understand that I have flat feet, and my feet have bothered me all my life.  There has never been a vacation I’ve taken where I haven’t had to sit—a lot—to rest my poor feet.  My feet usually trump much of the fun I’m having on vacation because they hurt so much.  And yet, until that moment, I hadn’t even thought of my feet—for five days! It was like the heavens opened up and reigned down a chorus of hallelujahs at that moment—my feet felt great! My vacation was fun! I realized that it was a combination of losing all the weight, and my great, supportive running shoes, that caused this miracle.  And I was so happy!!  Of course, I felt bad for my husband, but I couldn’t help but feel happy for myself after 40+ years of vacations ruined at least partly by my painful feet.

The walk was beautiful.

And guess what I did when we got there?

Yes, I gave into DS#1’s begging and braved the Tower of Terror.  I closed my eyes for the whole thing, but at least I did it. 😉 I did the Rock N Roller Coaster (the Aerosmith one) first, and after that one, the Tower of Terror didn’t seem as bad. 😛

For dinner, my husband decided to do something different, so we had Morrocan!

It was actually quite good, though the dessert (a puff pastry with a too-sweet custard sauce) was just okay.  Sticking to my firm rule, I ate a couple of bites then left the rest…I won’t waste the points if I don’t love it! The entertainment was cool, though…

Because really, who doesn’t love a belly dancer? 😉  I personally loved her red outfit…I toyed around with buying one at the Moroccan gift shop for Halloween next year, but I decided I’m just not that brave. It was fun to think about, though. 😉

We had a much better dessert back at the hotel, which was yummy…

Chocolate mini-cakes and cheese cakes.  Mmm…the final total for the day was:

Disney, Day 6

We went to animal kingdom on Day 6, and that was fun, although animals aren’t my thing. (Sorry, Jenn!)  Because I’m me, though, I did take a LOT of pictures on the safari.  Here are just a few of the best.

The Lion King show was fun, and Expedition Everest was, to my surprise, awesome!  This was actually the only photo I bought all week:

What you see here is actually the second time I rode it.  It was a really fun and interesting ride without being too nauseating.  I’m so glad I gave it a chance!  (Also, doesn’t DS#2’s expression just crack you up?? 😉 )

We had our picture taken by the Photopass photographer, and also by a stranger.  Believe it or not, the stranger did a much better job!

Granted, the Photopass one was late in the day and the lighting wasn’t great, but still…I’m not sold on those Photopass people! Their equipment is pretty impressive, but I have to wonder just how much photography training they have…there are so many of them!

Thursday night, we put the kids in the babysitting club and Jason and I went out for a “night on the town.” Remember those shoes and the shirt and sweater I mentioned in my clothing post? Here they are:

I took those shoes off the minute those pictures were done.  They HURT!! 🙁 Oh well…lesson learned.  They were cute, though. 😉

We had dinner at one of our favorites—the Rose and Crown in England.

I had something I’d been dreaming about for months, ever since I made the reservation—Yorkshire pudding!

In case you didn’t know, Yorkshire pudding isn’t really a pudding at all…it’s like a bread made with the drippings from roast beef.  Bread with a side of fat—awesome!! 😀  This wasn’t quite as good as I’d remembered, though…the gravy was a bit salty, and the pudding itself was a little too crispy.  But I still enjoyed it!

The day’s tally…

Disney, Day 7

We went back to Magic Kingdom (our fifth day!!) on Friday, and spent the morning seeing things we wanted to see again or for the first time.  We did the Pirates of the Caribbean ride again, and stayed for Captain Jack’s pirating training (not the real Johnny Depp sadly, like Kelly almost got to see).

He looks pretty convincing though, doesn’t he?  He was quite funny.  I do love Disney humor!

After that, we did the Hall of Presidents, which I enjoyed greatly, and then, back to the hotel we went.  The boys swam in the awesome pool…

That picture doesn’t even do it justice!  Meanwhile, while the boys were in the pool, because I knew what my dinner would be, I changed my clothes and…

RAN FIVE MILES!!!

Dude.  That was the hardest run I’ve done in a long time.  I’d forgotten how challenging it can be to run when the temps are 70+, and of course, I ran in the middle of the day, which wasn’t ideal.

Still, I think I planned it out pretty well.  I had to do several loops to get to five miles, but I managed to end right at the entrance to the pool, and once it was over (and I’d taken a dip in the pool), I felt really accomplished.  Because after all—I could now say I had run 10 miles at Disneyworld! 🙂

That night, we went to ‘Ohana, which is a Polynesian restaurant where everyone calls you “cousin,” because I guess everyone in that area of the world is related to everyone else, ha ha!  They serve you pretty much nothing but meat (chicken, pork, steak and shrimp) on skewers, which, being the carnivore I am, I thought was great.  They had games for the kids, too.

That’s DS#2, playing “broom ball” with a broom and a coconut.  It was a riot!

This was the night we had the BEST dessert at Disney, without question. Perhaps the best dessert in my entire life!

This is coconut/pineapple bread pudding, served with vanilla ice cream and topped with a banana caramel sauce. This dessert is so good that my husband and I both remembered it, seven years after the first time we tried it, and we salivated for it all week while we were at Disney.  Although what you see in the picture was shared by the whole family, I will freely and shamelessly admit that I ate a good chunk of this by myself.  I did count it all, though…

I enjoyed every bit of that day’s 45 Points Plus, and I felt pretty darn good about the 12 activity points I’d earned, including 7 earned on my five mile run (I think it was more, though, because I really exerted myself due to the heat!).

Saturday, we came home, and we spent the rest of our weekend at a hockey game and then catching up on the piles of homework that DS#1 still had to finish (including a project on Colonial South Carolina!).  I woke up Monday morning after our trip and ran 3 miles on the treadmill before I weighed myself, hoping that it would help mitigate any damage.  Finally, the moment of truth…

A 1.4 pound gain. :S  Yes, I realize it could have been so much worse, but after working so hard all week—who tracks their food at Disney? really?!—I was kind of disappointed to have gained anything.  But once I got over my initial pouting, I realized that I am capable of fluctuating a pound or even two in any given work on a normal basis, so a little over a pound gained is not that big of a deal.  After a day or so, I came to realize it was a success!  I had done something that probably not many folks could do—I went in with a plan to track my food and stuck with it, and I even stuck to a good, solid exercise regimen.  Did I mention I ran 10 miles while at Disney?! 😉

And of course, the most important thing is that I had a wonderful time with my family, never felt deprived, and I arrived home feeling both accomplished at what I’d done, and—the best part—guilt free!!  No vacation-eating “hangover”!

I think the biggest accomplishment is that I now feel truly confident in my ability to live with my new, healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life.  I don’t think there is anyone on maintenance who doesn’t wonder, “Can I really do this forever?”  But as for me…I conquered Disney!  Any other temptations—birthdays, weddings, holidays, office parties, whatever—should seem insignificant in comparison! 🙂

So that’s it! Thanks for reading my long trip report.  I hope it gave you some ideas or perhaps some motivation to tackle some of the eating and exercise obstacles in your life.  Or, if not, I hope you at least enjoyed the pictures. 😉

 

13 thoughts on “Surviving Disneyworld, Part III

  1. Joy

    I love all the pictures you took!! I am glad you had a nice trip with your family.. I am in awe that you kept track off everything you ate.. wow!!

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      Thank you, Joy! I had lots of fun taking pictures, and keeping track just helped me feel more in control. 🙂 Thanks for commenting!!

      Reply
  2. Dena

    You are an absolute joy 🙂 Even when I think no one reads my blog anymore you are always there to encourage me 🙂 I so appreciate it! Disneyworld sounds like it was amazing. We are hopefully going to make it to Disneyland this next summer. Haven’t been in about 25 years. So its gonna be great! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas 🙂

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      I read AND enjoy your blog, Dena!! 🙂 I hope you get to go to Disneyland–I’ve only been there twice, but it was great fun when I went! Merry Christmas to you, as well!

      Reply
      1. Dena

        Well I am glad you enjoy it. My goal is to be posting more than once a week again next year. I tend to not post as much when I’m not doing so well. 😉 We have a huge family reunion planned for right before we plan on going to Disney, so it’s the *plan* to go. And hopefully it will happen!

        Reply
  3. MountainHawk

    Pretty pictures…;) Seriously, it’s affirming to see another application of the theory that if you’re going to eat more, you need to move more to maintain a steady weight.

    Also, re: your feet – it’s amazing what you accept as part of life, never realizing it’s due to extra weight, until you lose the weight. Glad you were finally able to have a vacation without your feet ruining the fun.

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      Ha ha, yes, it’s amazing how that “eat more, exercise more” theory really works in real life! 😉

      Oh, and you are SO right about what you accept because you know no other way. It was truly a miracle for me to have such an enjoyable vacation that didn’t revolve around trying to minimize the pain in my feet! Thank you for reading and commenting!!

      Reply
  4. Kelly@Sublurban Mama

    I am so sad I didn’t try to sneak into your luggage and tag along! I already want to go back – crazy, right? I’m glad you enjoyed the totally pansy version of Mission:Space, and that your husband and DS#1 survived the TOTALLY HARDCORE version. 😉

    Great job on the weight management. There is just so much good food offered at Disney; also, great job getting your runs in. That is encouraging to me that it really can be done.

    Hosanna loves Belle, too. She is in awe of your pictures, because we only saw Belle in the Beauty and the Beast show. Great vacation, Steph! I’m glad you had fun.

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      I would’ve have loved to have you in my suitcase. What fun we would have had! And Hosanna too–we could’ve stalked Belle together!! 😉 I would have enjoyed that. 😀

      Thanks so much for commenting!!

      Reply
  5. Jenn

    Awesome job, Steph. 1.4 lbs is a drop in the bucket – really. Congrats on enjoying life and staying on plan. I am so proud of you!

    Reply

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