Me and Rebekah before the Tower of Terror race
Living the Disney Life: Catching Up With D.M.
Once again it's been a while since since my last filing. Much of that time was spent on vacation in Washington, DC and Williamsburg, VA with my wife and her family. A wonderful time was had including a stay at the Great Wolf Lodge – perhaps competitors of Disney should they continue to pursue the themed hotels beyond Hawaii.
Since returning in early October I have been able to do some park visiting. Here are some highlights
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) – My third time attending if I'm not mistaken. It's funny, while doing the Pirate and Princess Party I kept thinking "this just isn't as good as Not-So-Scary", but while at MNSSHP this year I was thinking "there's really not as much to do here as at Pirate Princess". So either Pirate Princess is growing on me or I over-remembered MNSSHP. Nevertheless, I did have a great time. The fireworks weren't as good as I remember (maybe I was spoiled by Pirate Princess). The parade is still very good as is the Headless Horseman – cool! The Villains show is just weird! And I saw lots of kids (and grown-ups) in cool costumes and got lots of candy. Mmmm…candy.
Food and Wine Festival – Last week Rebekah and I made our requisite yearly trip around Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival sampling just about everything I can eat (I'm a vegetarian). France's Quiche de Formage de Chevre was awesome. I always love Greece's Spanakopitta and Turkey's Baklava. But this year's winner was from the Dominican Republic – Pastelon de Platanos Amarillos (Ripe Plantain and Vegetable Casserole). Even though it was the last place I stopped, I still went back for seconds. The Dulce de Coco (Coconut Flan) there was great, too! I've also been able to see two Eat to the Beat acts (so far). First was Sheena Easton who was very charming and me being a child of the 80s, I actually knew all the songs. Next was David Cassidy which was a bit surreal given the dedication of his fans that were there. Didn't know hardly any of his stuff, but it was still a thrill to see. Click here for more Festival info including schedules and menus for all the kiosks.
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K and 6.5K Race – Last Saturday Rebekah and I had the opportunity to participate in our first Disney race. Well they call it a race, but for us the only goal was to finish (and we walked, not ran). We did the short version – 6.5K (4 miles). A total of 4,000 runners reportedly participated in this first event of its kind. The race started just before 10p with the course going out of the Studios parking lot towards the World Drive gateway. The 13K runners then went towards Wide World of Sports while we turned around and headed inside the Studios. I believe we actually entered the studios just after mile 2 and traveled all around backstage (including along the tram route) and onstage. The coolest part was walking through the costuming building the tram usually rides through. Too bad Catastrophe Canyon wasn't on the route. We did manage to finish and had a really great time doing it. Hopefully this event will return next year and in the mean time we're looking forward to doing some of the other Disney races throughout the year. By the way, if you're interested in events like this, the unofficial site DisneyRunning.com will keep you up to date on everything!
And that's what's been happening in my Disney life lately. A bunch of great Disney days!
Doobie.