Where's my Wifi? - Labor Day Birthday Trip to Disney

Last year, we spent my 40th birthday at Disney World. We brought my mom along, to experience Disney "our way," and it was a great trip that was cut short by Hurricane Irma. I decided a few months ago that I wanted a "re-do" of sorts, but with only Hubby and me. I booked a great King Suite at Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Gateway Kissimmee for 2 nights (for only $150!).

The weekend before this trip... I can't believe it... a tropical storm was heading straight for Florida again! I mean, I'm used to it by now, living in Florida for over 4 decades, but still... come ON!

I can hear this in his voice

We decided to go anyway (because a rainy day at Disney is still a day at Disney!), so we packed up and hit the road. We stopped by the gas station and got gas and snacks, as well as some nuggets from Wendy's before we hit the road.

I think we hit rain before we were 30 minutes away from home. People on Interstate 75 don't know how to drive. And they really don't know how to drive in rain. It was a long drive, before we got to the Turnpike (a.k.a. The Less Stressway, which it totally is). As we got to US192, the road to the hotel looked janky. It went between a 7-eleven and a tacky gift shop, and there were a bunch of buildings fenced off, doing construction. We powered by, and found a beautiful hotel at the other side of the fences.

Front of Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Kissimmee Gateway

I checked in, and reminded the clerk that I'd booked a King room. She said that I'd booked a 2Q room, and they had no Kings they could upgrade me into. Uh, no sweetie... I know for certain I booked a King room (oh, look, I found my original booking from Hotels.com and I did, in fact, book a King room.).  I decided to let it go and not let it spoil my vacation.

You're a liar, Susan... I booked a KING room

We at least got a ground-floor room, near the corner of the building, and there was parking directly in front of the room. Always good for packing/unpacking! The room was really nice, but unfortunately, all the photos I took are gone because (spoiler alert) I lost my camera the next weekend... So, here's some photos from their website. 

View from front door of living room, full kitchen, and hallway to bedroom

Separate bedroom with 2 Queens and patio

As pretty as it looked (and it was a brand-new hotel), I wasn't all that impressed.  The floors were all laminate, so they got dusty really quick, and walking on the floor barefoot was icky. The door off the kitchen held the AC unit, and it had an open drain in the floor for the AC to drip into. Yeah... it dripped ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Loudly. 

But the worst thing? The most first-world problem? There was no WiFi available. 

We decided to unpack and chill, and called down to the front desk a few hours later, trying to figure out how to get onto the WiFi. We were told that it was broken, but should be fixed the next day (on Tuesday). This place is losing points with me very quickly. 

We got dressed and headed over to Epcot for dinner. We got a great parking spot, since it was so late in the evening, and we stopped by Guest Services to pick up Birthday and Anniversary Pins to wear for our trip.Then we headed over to the Wonders of Life Pavilion to pick up our AP Magnets.

The line looks longer than it actually was

Inside the little theatre, down the stairs to get a magnet, then out the other door

If we come back to Epcot 2 or 3 more times, we'll get a cool cutting board or something, too!

Anyway, next we made our way back to Italy for our favoritest pizza in The World - Via Napoli.

True Via fans know where we are just seeing this light!

One large pie to split between us and two sodas (some of the best mixed fountain sodas on property!) came up to $44. Not a bad price for an Anniversary dinner!

And I even got a birthday treat! I have no idea what it was, but it was tasty!

The candle was lit and they all sang Happy Birthday to me!

We stepped out of Italy and found a good spot to watch Illuminations. I took a lot (as I always do), but here's a few that didn't suck (I was shooting on the fly, without a tripod). 

We wandered around til around 11pm, him playing Pokemon GO! and me shooting more photos. We even asked a CM to take our photo at a few different locations. This is the best we could do...

It's high praise when I see a photo of me and think "Hey, I don't look half bad!"

We eventually headed back to the hotel to... celebrate... our anniversary, then went to sleep. About 3am, I discovered that the AC didn't get very chilly in the bedroom area of the suite. Maybe it was on a motion sensor? Either way, it was a hot night of sleeping. 

On Tuesday, we slept in til 9, and completely missed the complementary hot breakfast. I enjoyed what I did a lot better than I would some powdered eggs!

We hit up Wawa and Krispy Kreme, then came back to the hotel to eat breakfast in bed. There's still no Wifi. Frustrated, we finished eating and headed to Hollywood Studios. Because of all the new roadwork, we missed the turn, then got all confused as to where to go, so we ended up leaving and coming back in again!

Also, because of a lot of work inside the DHS parking area, there was a LONG walk from the trams to the bag check area. I felt like I needed a nap after that!

We headed over to Star Tours, which I thought was our first FastPass+. Turned out it was our LAST FP+, so we hopped into the Stand By line. We were put in the back row, and wow... can't do that again without Dramamine!

Preparing to board!

Next, we headed over to Muppets Courtyard and snuck upstairs to chill out on the PizzaRizzo balcony. We've not yet been to PizzaRizzo, but the balcony is nice with a mix of tables and counters, and lots of fans, which were definitely welcomed!

I never come back here... I didn't even know there was a Christmas store!

Anyone get the Abe Moskowitz reference?

The PizzaRizzo patio

We headed down after a while to get to our next FastPass+, which was Muppets 3D. Yes, we FastPass+ed the Muppets show. It's cute, I like it, and it has AC!

Pepe - starring in PRAWN

By now, it was time for lunch, so we actually just turned right around and went back to PizzaRizzo. After eating there, I think people shit on this place.WDW News Today has a very in-depth review on the interior of PizzaRizzo, and EasyWDW has a review of the interior and the food from the opening in 2016. Is it Via Napoli? No. Is it chewy, doughy, frozen pizza? Yes! And sometimes, that's exactly what you want. Hubby and I were both happy with the meal, and we'd eat there again.

Chip & Dale decided to steal some children

Finally, though, it was time to head over to the all-new Toy Story Land.

Wow... I've never seen a Woody that big!

Our first stop was our last FastPass+, Toy Story Mania. As is tradition (and I don't even try to make it happen), I got a Beaver.

He only beat me by 20,000 this time!

Our next stop was ASS - Alien Swirling Saucers. The queue is fun, but all outside, so we were all sweaty and icky. The music is fun and upbeat mixes of Toy Story music. The ride itself is similar to Mater's Junkyard ride at Disneyland. It was a pleasant ride, but nothing we'd do again. The design of the ride didn't lend to getting the cars REALLY swirling, so it was kind of a letdown.

Artsy ASS

Action Selfie!

We hit up the potties and then went to the centerpiece of the land - Slinky Dog Dash. The line was even longer than ASS, but we persevered! The seating is tight for two adults who are at or above 200 pounds. I would have preferred to be alone in the row, with Hubby in another row, but logistically, that's stupid, when there are thousands of people in line. It was thrill-ier than I expected, with lots of hills and bumps. Nothing upside-down, and no huge drops, but still really cool, because a lot of the ride is very high off the ground to begin with, it tricks your brain into thinking it's scarier than it actually is (kind of like how the dark makes Space Mountain even scarier).

Headed to Slinky Dog Dash

I hope "James Industries" is a tribute to Jim Varney, the voice of Slinky Dog

Uh, woof!

Sweaty and wilted, we thought about heading over to Epcot, but after seeing the friendship boat line, we decided to head back to the hotel to cool off, and then go to Epcot once the sun went down.

Back at the hotel, I tried to use the huge jetted tub, but either that didn't work either, or I was just too stupid to figure out how to use it (I'm thinking it was the first one).

Oh, and there's still no WiFi. 

While I was boiling myself in the tub, Hubby found a FastPass for Illuminations (he knows I love shooting fireworks), so we got dressed and headed over to Epcot. We spent some time in MouseGears, trying to find a fun new shirt for Hubby (he's able to wear cool t-shirts to work, so he's always looking for something new). He didn't find anything he liked, though. We did Test Track as single riders. 

Single Rider means we all make friends!

Boom!

Bang!

Ooooooooh!

Before Illuminations, I wanted to find a snack, and my brain said, oooooooh, get some popcorn, bitch! so I went on the hunt for popcorn. It seems like popcorn is everywhere, right? Well, not when you're looking for it! MyDisneyExperience™ said I could find some popcorn over in Canada... they only had maple available... Oh well. No popcorn for me. 

We checked in and found somewhere to sit and shoot Illuminations. Again, I sure wish I had my tripod... I guess this trashcan will have to do.

Once Illuminations was over, we headed out with the mass of bodies (rather than hanging out some more) and drove over to Disney Springs for dinner. We wanted to check out Guy Fieri's Chicken Guy restaurant. I had a bunch of cool photos, but like I said before, my small camera got lost, so here's some generic ones from the internet. 

Chicken Tenders, French Fries, Triple Mint Milkshake, obscure LOST meme

We each got a 3-pc tender meal with fries and a soda for about $11.50 each. Hubby also got the Triple Mint Milkshake, and I swear to God, his "wow this milkshake is good!" face is very similar to other "OMG this is so good!" faces he makes. He usually just makes them only for me... wink.

Slowly, full of chicken, we headed back to our hotel. Surprise, there was still no WiFi. As you can imagine, after all that food, hubby had an upset stomach, and fell asleep before I did; I read my book for a while. 

Wednesday was our last day, but we made the most of it. 

I packed up the room while hubby scanned MDE for lunch reservations. Check-out was easy at least; we did so by phone, so we didn't have to go back to the front.

Our plan for the day was to hit up Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Boardwalk. In some sort of order. But what would be the smartest, and most logistical way to do that? We actually had to pull over into a gas station and pull out some paper to draw diagrams! We didn't want to move the car, so the car had to be at the last stop so we could go straight to the car when we were ready to leave. We settled on this:

Park at Epcot ➽
Take the Monorail to Magic Kingdom; do Magic Kingdom activities ➽
Take Bus from Magic Kingdom to Boardwalk, stop at Bakery for snacks to bring home ➽
Walk through Epcot to Parking Lot ➽
Leave directly from Epcot 🏡

It was convoluted, but made the most sense! Could we have driven? Yeah... Did I want to? No. I love Disney transportation, and the longer I can stay on property, soaking up the atmosphere, the happier I am.

Plenty of room if you don't travel at peak times!

So, we parked at Epcot and made our way over to Magic Kingdom. Because we took so long, um, celebrating again, we missed our first FastPass (but we changed it to Haunted Mansion for later). We shopped around the Emporium and finally found some new shirts. Each of us ended up picking up two each, for around $100 total. Hubby picked up these two shirts (each $24.99).

While I got these two shirts (there's two photos of the white shirt because I wanted to show the cool back detail). I'm so happy that Disney is finally making more Big Girl size shirts. XL does not work for me. XXL is okay, if it's a dude shirt, but dude shirts are uncomfortable, and too long. (Blue was $29.99, white was $36.99)

Next up, we rode Pirates, then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain. We were able to ride with only a 10 minute stand-by wait, and then used our FastPass+. (Without Dramamine, I can't do more than two times; that stupid circle at the end kills me). 

Horribly BASIC map of BTMRR

Peek from the Peak

We stopped for lunch at Columbia Harbor House (upstairs, of course!) to cool down and relax, as well as to pass time before our Haunted Mansion FastPass+. 

So GREASY!

After the Haunted Mansion, we caught part of the Muppets history show. It was cute, but I'm wondering if we missed a lot of it, or if it was a really short show? (Also, can Miss Piggy go die in a fire already? She's not funny... don't @ me).
 

Sam is the best

We caught the bus to Yacht & Beach Clubs, then walked around the lake to the Boardwalk Bakery, where we picked up each a slice of Peanut Butter Cake and a Cheesecake Brownie, as well as cups of ice water. Then we walked over to the International Gateway, and had to go through bag check (because of our tasty treats). We walked up to the front of the park, and trammed to the car.

We did decide to grab dinner before heading home, and we ended up at McDonald's where we split a chicken mcnugget meal, and I got a caramel sundae. It was just the right amount of food. Plus, as always, we hit up Wawa for gas and snacks before getting out of town. 

There was barely any traffic, which was great (it was a Wednesday, so most people weren't in vacation mode), and I have to say, my new Altima's fancy Zero-Gravity seats, and my heated seat pad made for a fabulously comfy drive home. I felt really good! We got home around 9, and I was unpacked and asleep by 10:30!

If we do this next year, I should really take the whole week off... work is gonna suck tomorrow!

Adventure! - Celebration Run 5k Race Report

Click the photo to sign up for this year's race!

Today was the Celebration Run 5k in Jacksonville! I had quite an adventure!

My drive was quiet (seeing as though I left the house around 5am!)

I love open roads!

I was able to get a good parking spot, though, right across the street at Stonewood. I've gotten there later and had to park behind the building or even a block away.

I'm getting better at backing in to parking spaces - the backup camera certainly helps!

Packet pickup was easy, and I was able to run it back to my car. Then I hung out in the middle of the road with the rest of the crazy people.

So. Many. People.

I decided not to run with a flag this year; they're heavier than they look, and I wasn't up for it.

I did my part with fun hair accessories and clothing instead (those are curly Christmas bows pinned to my head!)

My shirt says "Land of the Free Because of the Brave"

This race is very patriotic, because this area of Jax is near a lot of military stuff (Camp Blanding is nearby, NAS is nearby, etc). The race is also pretty mellow and low key, so I never worried about being last.

I didn't take a lot of photos though, because it's so mellow.

They line their yard/driveway with small flags and signs

Mile 1

Mile 2

Mile 3

I can see the finish!

My official time was 54:52 (Pace 17:39).  I placed 1678th out of 1743 total finishers (yeah, it's a big race). I was 110th/114 in my age group.

I got my awesome medal and snapped my finish line selfie before I went in search of some breakfast!

No fun manicure this year, just plain white

A better shot of my awesome medal

They had some Frito-Lay variety packs and PowerIce available for everyone, so I grabbed a few. I always grab, but I never eat them until later... perhaps that's why I get stupid headaches after runs!

Yummy snacks! Chips, cheese crackers, water, PowerIce, and some pens

I also scored a pair of 3/4-size SuperFeet insoles from the raffle (he just said, hey, who wants 'em? So I got 'em!) Rounding out my swag was a nice "stainless steel" coffee tumbler, a free facial and some lip balm.

Insoles, tumbler, coupon, lip balm, koozie

Back at the car, I de-geared, headed to Daily's (gas station) to change, then I was on my way to lunch at Safe Harbor Seafood Restaurant in Mayport.  Right as I was leaving (I mean, RIGHT as I was leaving... the photo below is part of the race route), it started to rain.

This would be about Mile .25.

Well, crap... Part of my plan for the day was to have a Beach Day... I wanted to go to Amelia Island after lunch and just relax. The past few months had been hard, what with the car accident and whatnot, so I wanted to chill.

You can't chill if it's raining. Not on a beach, anyway.

It vacillated between rain and sun all the way to Mayport. 

Still cloudy, but beautiful, on the way to Mayport

I ended up there too early (they open at 10:30am on Saturdays), so after getting permission from the lovely guy at the booth, I walked around the pier area.

Hello, Fish Wharf cat!

Birds just chillin', waiting for discarded fish

I wandered for about 20 minutes, taking lots of photos (the guy probably thought I was some "Yankee Tourist", but whatever).

Back at the restaurant, I put in my order for a basket of scallops and waited at my table outside. (It's a much lovelier place to eat when it's not 45º!)

This outdoor space was filled to the brim by the time I was done eating

Yeah, yeah, I know... I'm IN Mayport, why am I not eating Mayport shrimp? I don't know... I just LOVE these tiny scallops so much. I could shovel them in my face with a spoon!

There's probably over 100 bay scallops here!

Once I was stuffed to the gills, it was time to start my adventure!

I'd been watching the weather all during my lunch, and it looked like a good day after all to go out to the island. So I drove over to the St. Johns River Ferry and queued up for the ride. (It cost $6, since today was a weekday; it's free for the driver on weekends).

There was only one other car when I got here

I've actually never been on a car ferry, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Once the ferry arrived, all the cars that came from the other side of the river disembarked. Then, because I was in Lane 1, I was told to drive in first. When I got to the front of the boat, a staff member gave me the hand signal to park, and put on my parking brake.

My view from the driver's seat, looking North (?) across St. Johns River

I was then free to roam around (but stay behind the lines at the front of the boat).

That's such a dork smile!

This was so cool!

Lots of other cars were crossing, too

Too bad I couldn't get up where the Captain was, though. The view from up there would be awesome.

Looking back at all the vehicles - I wonder where they're headed?

Once we made it all the way across (which, honestly, I think took a whopping 5-10 minutes), we disembarked, and I was faced with a dilemma... The traffic on A1A was insane! I don't know if it's always like that on a beautiful summer day, or if it was extra bad because today was Independence Day, but it was bumper-to-bumper on eastbound A1A.

Executive decision - go the other way!

All of this traffic is headed towards the East Coast of FL... I'm going West

Many times, when I'm doing a race in Jax, I always wonder how long it would take to get to Georgia.

We're gonna go find out!

It started raining again before I even got out of Florida, which signaled that I'd made the correct decision to skip the beach. 

Goodbye, Florida!  I'll be back soon!

Hello Georgia!

But more importantly... if FL ends at one end of the bridge, and GA starts at the other... who owns the middle?

I stopped at the Georgia Welcome Center to use the ladies' room, and to see if the "Welcome to Georgia" sign was still in their bathroom... it wasn't. Their bathrooms had since been remodeled. But I got a selfie by a different one.

I'm in Georgia! For no reason!

I had no PLANS to do anything in Georgia, of course, so I actually just went across the street to a Pilot gas station. I really only wanted to get a soda, but this was a fancy gas station! Not only did it have the typical convenience station stuff (soda, chips, cookies), but it had a Subway, a cafeteria-type joint, and a Cinnabon! Wow.

So I treated myself to a Cinnabon.

It looks better than it tasted... why do people like these again?

Once I'd mellowed for a little bit - and the rain tapered off - I got back on the road to come back to Florida.

Florida State Line... maybe late 50s, early 60s?

Florida Welcome Center now

Maybe I'm biased, but our state Welcome Center is awesome! I got some free OJ (nothing better than fresh-squeezed sunshine), and perused through the vast library of visitor pamphlets, which were nicely organized by region of the state. I took a bunch home - I look forward to exploring my own state!

Unashamedly stole this from the internet

On the way back to the car, I passed the vending machines, and I had to laugh... you can buy a Sunpass - for Toll Roads - via a vending machine! I guess it's super helpful when you hit the state line at 3am on your way to Disney World. (I just bought mine at Publix).

Would you like MMs or Sunpass?

Once I was done with my adventure, I headed home. I was tired. I was actually happy I did this instead of a beach day... sometimes you need some loud tunes and a road ahead of you... this gave me both. I'll go to the beach another day!