It seems like just a few month's ago when everyone was feeling 22, as we rang in the new year and now here we are saying good bye to it already!
I think there really is something about the years going faster as you get older. Or maybe it's just that we appreciate each day a little bit more and don't want them to end. We use to do an end of the year recap and we have not done a proper one in a few years, so here is a little hodgepodge of thoughts for the end of the year.
Last summer while we were staying at the Walt Disney World Swan Resort, we had a perfect view of the newest resort being built, The Swan Reserve.
As soon as I booked our stay at Wilderness Lodge, I knew I wanted our family to experience Storybook Dining at Artist Point.
My second 5K of the season was the Lewisburg Lights 5K.
This was a bit different than the 5K I ran the previous week since it was held at 7pm.
Fall racing has begun here! I didn't have any plans this fall to do anything big, but I did end up doing several local races which I enjoyed.
We have been loving the Disney photo lenses lately.
I actually forgot that these lenses were included in the Genie Plus purchase until the end of my first park day so I didn't get to take advantage of them much. However, even after your Genie Plus day expires ( we only had Genie Plus for our Magic Kingdom day), we still got to take advantage of the Disney Photo lenses on the app for up to 45 days afterwards. This worked out great because we visited the parks a few more times during that 45 day period. Even though we no longer had access to the Genie Plus, we could still use the photo lenses.
Well, I've really fallen off the wagon when it came to doing the month in review blog posts. I may have to set a new goal of doing them quarterly, like a "season in review" post.
So, about this summer.....
It's been a very long time since we've stayed ( or even visited) Disney's Caribbean Beach resort.
We just returned from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party ( MNSSHP) and thought we would share these very helpful tips for anyone who is thinking of going in the future.
We had the opportunity to visit The Epcot Food and Wine Festival during the first week. This was exciting for us because we rarely get to go to a Disney festival or party during the first week.
Here is how our day went and what all we got to experience. I'll also share what we thought the "Best of the Fest" was so far. ( I say so far, because we may end up visiting again before the festival ends).
Swirls on the Water is Kiosk in Disney Springs that sells frozen treats. Many of the treats are for a limited time and some are to commemorate the 50th anniversary celebration.
During our stay at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, we decided that we were going to rent canoes at Fort Wilderness.
It's about time we put some Fitness back into this Fairytale Blog!
Since 2020, our racing has been rather slim and so have our race recaps. This past week I ran my first race of the year, can you believe it?
We've complete the first week of June and Summer vacation has official started around here!
One of the restaurants I've always wanted to visit at Epcot was Coral Reef. I attribute this to seeing it on Full House back in the day. Does anyone remember that episode?
For as many times as we've visited Disney, I can't believe it has taken me this long to eat here.
We had a late dinner reservation at Todd English's Blue Zoo restaurant that is located inside the Disney World Dolphin Resort. I have to say, by the time we got there, I was starving because we had had a long day and this would be the first real meal I had.
Hey All, it's Lacey! I've had some things on my mind lately so I thought I would link up with the ladies for "Coffee Talk" and chat about it there!
On one afternoon we had reservations at The Boathouse at Disney Springs for a light brunch.
This was another "new to me" restaurant. For being a Sunday afternoon, it surprisingly wasn't very busy yet.
During a recent layover in Orlando, I finally made it to Gideon's Bakehouse. For those of you who don't know about Gideon's, it is said that you need to get in line super early in the morning because the wait is SO long. The cookies must be really good! I had to see what the hype was all about!
One of the benefits of staying at a resort along the Seven Seas Lagoon is the access to the magic Kingdom. If you've stayed at one of those resorts or even visited, you would know that you can easily get to the Magic Kingdom via monorail or even one of the boats. I find both modes of transportation magical and each gives a different perspective of that resort area.
It's time for our monthly wrap up.
In February, I've been really consistent in going to my fitness classes.
If you are looking for an upscale meal away from the crowds and parks, I suggest Yachtsman Steakhouse at Disney's Yacht Club Resort.
It seems that every year I try to be consistent in doing a monthly wrap. I started off pretty well in the beginning of 2021 and then half way through I couldn't keep up with it. Let's see how the monthly wraps go this year!
I do feel like January started off very strong. After being ill and feeling very weak the last few months of 2021, I made a commitment to do more exercise and come back stronger.
During our time at Hollywood Studios, we had reservations at Mama Melrose, the Italian restaurant.
Mama Melrose is located in the back of the park in the Grand Avenue section. It is near the Muppet Vision attraction.
When we got to the restaurant, we checked into to let them know we arrived and then waited outside the restaurant for a text to tell us our table was ready.
My last race ( before the world shut down) was the Hershey Half Marathon in October of 2019. That was the race that got me motivated to run again after a devastating loss that summer. I was looking forward to doing more races in 2020, but we all know that if we didn't run races in January or February of that year, than a race didn't happen.
That's why I was so excited to sign up for one of the Disney Wine and Dine races when Run Disney returned in November of 2021!
If you only ever visit the beautiful and expansive lobby of Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, you might actually miss one of our favorite little shops, Basin White. Basin White, or often just called Basin's is a shop that sells soaps and bath products.
You can make your visit somewhat "interactive" if you wish and you can pick up some pretty inexpensive and practical souvenirs. What I like most about Basin White is not only all the amazing scents, but you can basically "build your own" products/souvenirs.
