Day 3: Epcot & Jetlag

Woke up on a beautiful Friday morning raring to go. Decided to skip the hotel's 'continental breakfast' *ahem* and drove out to IHOP (International House Of Pancakes). So happen the outlet near my hotel is a 24-hr joint!!! Yay!!! Means we can come out for supper in case we're hungry in the middle of the night!! hee hee so much for frozen pizza!

Order their Supreme Set which came with 2 eggs (I had it scrambled), 2 slices of crispy bacon, 2 pieces of grilled ham, hash brown and FREE FLOW OF PANCAKES!!! *yum* Call me greedy, but I had a total of 4 pancakes *burp* Washed down with a huge glass of fresh orange juice. aaahhhhh!!! Now this is what I call breakfast!!!

Since the start of the two races will be in Epcot, we decided to do a recce of the place and how to get there. So we set off for Epcot soon after breakfast.

First thing we did, as with Animal Kingdom, we headed to the best ride in the park Soarin' and took the fast pass. The fast pass reads for us to go in 1 hr's time, not bad..... so while waiting, we took the boat ride in the same location Living with the Land, an educational tour of how we protect mother nature and the advances we have made in creating crops..... including passing through green houses to see the innovative ways that plants are grown. We pass by this plant where they enclose the fruit into a Mickey Mouse see-thru container, hee hee, and apparently, the plant will eventually grow into the shape of Mickey Mouse!!! So cute.....





























Since it wasn't time for Soarin' yet, we walked all the way to the other side of the theme park to check out Test-Track, which posted an estimated 20mins wait time. We decided to queue for this as we can't get another fast pass yet. Darn, the queue was definitely longer then 20mins, and at one stage, it got quite stuffy and hot inside.

Can you spot the car that is speeding pass the track at the top?

But the wait was well worth it, we were suppose to be test-driving the cars, as what automobile companies will do, including suspension test, brake test, hill climbs, elemental test, speed test, airbag test.... erm... yes... airbag test *glurp*. Started with a hill climb which was nothing exciting. Next came the suspension test where we went through different kind of road surface, including Belgian and German. After which we did the brake test, once without ABS (Anti-locking Braking System) where the car skidded off the track, and once WITH ABS which we managed the corner nicely.

Also caught a glimpse of a vintage car vs a modern car.

Next come the test of elements..... we were subjected to heat, cool and er... corrosion... hee hee.... and THEN..... the airbag test!!! 3... 2... 1... and we were hurled towards a wall as the car accelerated, and just before impact, the 'wall' opened and we were out in the open, on a test track. Car accelerated to a VERY VERY VERY high speed as it turns sharp and slanted corners. It was exhilarating, and you can feel your body being pushed back by the sheer speed and the wind blowing into your face. SWEET!!!!!

A nice display of Mickey in Space Suit at the exit of TestTrack!!!

Oops... time's up..... we quickly rush back to the 'Land' side of the theme park and got into queue for Soarin' with the fast pass. Even with the fast pass, we still had to wait about 5-10mins, as we pass by the electronic display, it reads that fast pass for Soarin' now had to wait 2hrs!! Wow.... popular ride!!!

We were seated in rows of 10, all our bags had to be stowed in the netting underneath the seat, and people wearing slippers were advised to take off their slippers. Then it started, the whole seat was lifted off the ground and move towards a huge screen where we were taken on a 'hand-gliding' ride through many different places. It was a very good experience and it looked so real!!! We went through Snow capped mountains, Rivers, Golf Courses (where the golf ball nearly hit us), Canyons, Night View of the city, Magic Kingdom and into the fireworks and a lot more. It's no wonder this ride is so popular and as we walk out after the ride, I could overhear this little girl hounding her Dad "Daddy!!! I wanna go AGAIN!!!"

Time for ride number 3!!! We walk all the back over to the other side (Darn this is poor planning) as we walk pass the water fountain (situated in the middle of the park) for the third time. This fountain is getting to be a familiar sight!!! We took the fast pass for Mission: Space and found a seat where we drank and rested. I was feeling kinda nausea, might be due to Soarin'. When time was up, we went straight into the ride almost immediately!!!

There were 2 missions that we could choose from, the Green which is milder and the Orange which involves 'Spinning' and is more challenging. We decided to go for the more challenging ride, and there were ample warnings everywhere that this may cause motion sickness, blab blab and stuff. Once inside the capsule, we were seated, and safely clipped on. The control panel started to move towards us with the screen right in our face. Darn, I seem to only see the top half of the screen, maybe I'm too tall. *grumble* *grumble*

The ride includes taking off from Earth, so our seats will tilted till we face the sky, and we can see the sky from the screen in front, and as the count-down for take-off was activated, we can see smoke generated from the sides of the shuttle. And then.... it was time for take off, and we can feel the pressure pushing us backwards as we headed into space, orbiting round the moon and having a view of planet earth from space..... beautiful.... before going into hibernating mode for *ahem* 3-months before we reach Mars. (Oh, I forgot to mention, our mission is to reach Mars).

Our screen turned black and before we knew it, we're back on and a meteorite greeted us the moment we came out of hibernation. And as you can guess, we had to go into evasion mode with the shuttle making sharp turns to avoid being hit by the meteors. We somehow managed to enter Mar's atmosphere and started to hug the surface of the planet in search of the planned landing pad. Somehow, Murphy got into the plan and we completely miss the landing pad and landed beyond it, which is just before a cliff!!! And for the next few seconds, everything seemed to have come to a halt..... and before you knew it... the land before us started to crack and give way as the shuttle tilted forward and lean towards a LONG DROP. Ha ha... I thought we were in for another ride, but it just ended there. What an anti-climax.

I was still wondering.... where was the spin? Are they just gonna leave us in Mars? We're not returning to Earth? That's it? Okay.... secretly I was glad that it's over, coz I was getting kinda dizzy and a bit nausea. We were advised not to close our eyes and to look straight into the screen to avoid being disoriented.... so I stick to that advise and still felt dizzy. Darn can't imagine if I didn't follow their advice.

We shopped a bit, walking pass the fountain yet again..... and went into this Innoventions hall where they had all sorts of educational computer games. We decided to go out for lunch and get an early rest for my run the next day.

After we reach the hotel, we decided to take short nap before we go out for lunch, and that was like 2pm? When I woke up..... it was 10pm!!!!! man..... talk about Jetlag!!!

Thank goodness for 24-hr IHOP!!! ha ha ha..... so we managed to eat at 11pm, our lunch, dinner and breakfast all rolled into 1..... how's that for a money saving tip?

Anyway, since I'm up and about..... started to prepare for my race the next day. Check out the race pack:

I collected a total of 3 dri-fit long sleeves tee (left-to-right) The Goofy Challenge in dark blue, Mickey Mouse Marathon in grey & the Donald Duck Half-Marathon also in grey.

My race number for the half & full - 25577 & 11446. Tons of brochures for other races in U.S..... and a invitation to attend the post race dinner on Sunday night.

Some biscuit thingie, a keychain tag.... that's about it.


Oh yes, I forgot, I also bought the 15th Anniversary (limited edition) collar pins for the Walt Disney World Marathon. Looks really nice.

And here's a snap shot of the long sleeve Goofy tee, with the names of all the theme parks printed on the left sleeve.

Day 2: Animal Kingdom & Race Pack collection

Woke up for my planned 'climatization' run with a headache..... maybe it's due to the lack of sleep, or the erratic sleeping pattern in the past few days. Anyway, decided to head out to Disney Downtown which according to my map..... shouldn't be too far away. I was just wearing a short sleeve tee and shorts, but still survived the cold morning air.
Turns out, to and back from Disney Downtown was just slightly short of 8km. The shops were not open yet so I just took some snap shots of the buildings and stuff.

Something very interesting was the noch ness monster built using lego bricks, and it's in the lake!!! Wah.... great stuff!!!

Anyway, the weather was fantastic, and there is a proper running path along the road all the way. Not forgetting that the run is also scenic with lots of trees and greenery along the way.


Ran there and back, getting lost here a bit, there a bit.... and finally reach back to the hotel in 51mins. Good run.... but cold arh!!! Glad I brought along my long sleeve saucony tee!!! Think I'll definitely need it for the weekend run.

Went back to the hotel just in time for the weather forcast....
Thu - Sunny and bright
Fri - Cloudy with chances of rain 20%
Sat - Cloudy with chances of rain 30%
Sun - Cloudy with chances of rain 40%
Mon - Sunny

Darn..... the two days that I'll be running... may potentially be raining!!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!! *sob* *sob*

Thought a good breakfast may cheer me up.... but NO..... it depressed me more..... WAAHHHYYYHH..... the so call 'full continental breakfast' was a farce!!! Cold bread wrapped in plastic sheet, small oily meat patties, supposedly-fried-egg-which-looked-suspiciously-like-pancakes, 2 types of cereals, some-very-sweet-looking-donut-with-some-red-sticky-stuff-in-the-middle, oranges, apples. *sniff* So disappointed..... sorry, I didn't even have the mood to take photos of the food.

An interesting incident: We saw an A4 paper placed on each table at the breakfast area, citing tickets to the theme park at USD65 per PAIR of tickets. (Official price is $71 per PERSON) Man!!! That's a real money saver!!! We went over to the ticket counter after breakfast (It's situated inside the hotel) and turns out, we can only get it at this rate IF we attend a 90-minutes of time-sharing sales pitch at 7.30am the next morning!!! NO WAY..... NEXT!!!!!

So we ended up purchasing the normal 3-day pass that allows us to go to 1 theme park per day for 3 days. (And it doesn't have to be consecutive 3-days, it has an expiry date of 14 days from first use) And the pleasant surprise was..... they upgraded us to a 5-DAYS pass free of charge!!! So now, we can go to 5 theme parks on 5 separate days!!! YAY!!!!! hee hee my day doesn't seem so bad after all.

Headed down to Animal Kingdom since (1) Race Pack collection at Wide World of Sports only starts at 3pm today, (2) Wide World of Sports is near to Animal Kingdom.

Just follow the signs..... not that difficult to drive around... or so I thought.... cartoon me... found Animal Kingdom, paid the $11 parking, drove into the carpark... went a few rounds... and ended up exiting the park!!! darn!!! So I had to loop back into the entrance again *embarrassing*.

Good thing is, the parking tickets allow us to park at ANY of the theme park, for ANY number of times for the day it was purchased for. Phew!!! The guy at the counter must have thought I was nuts.... to reappear before him just minutes after I went in. *sigh*
Animal Kingdom was AWESOME!!!!! #1 Ride to go is Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. We immediately went to get the FastTrack ticket for this ride the moment we enter the park at 12pm. The FastTrack tickets read to come back between 2:50pm - 3:50pm. Cool, so when we're back between this time, we'll go to a priority queue and that saves us much time!!! Anyway, the ticket also reads, the next time I can get another FastTrack Ticket (for any of the other rides) will be 1:40pm. Not bad, this prevents people from getting FastTrack Tickets from all the rides first!!!

So with so much time on hand, we headed to AFRICA: Kilimanjaro Safaris!!!
It's something like the Night Safari back in Singapore, but we sit in what looked like a old-fashion truck, complete with fake luggages and camping gears piled on the roof top.
The driver (tour guide) also had some make-believe conversation over the 'radio-set' to make it more realistic.
The land is more open and vast then the Night Safari, and feature both the forest portion as well as the Savannah portion. Unlike Night Safari, where most of the animals are kept in enclosures.... the Kilimanjaro Safari is REALLY OPEN!!!!! Except for the lions.... hee hee who are kept in their 'cliff' enclosure for obvious reasons. The entire ride was very satisfying and enjoyable.

Hungry hungry hippo!!!






Zebra up-close..... their stripes are supposedly like our thumb-prints, unique to each zebra!!!



Some kind of buffalo..... their horns look pretty neat eh?





Buttress Root Tree.... it's so swollen with water that it can last long-periods of drought without dying.



We went over to the Kali River Rapids next.... and surprise!!! The queue was almost non existence!!!
We were seated in a round raft, 8 in a raft. They even have a water proofing central compartment for us to store our bags!!
Wah... so thoughtful!!! Wait... water proof storage space? hmmmm well... the title did read 'Rapids'..... it's like white water rafting without the paddling part. And the ride did have a disclaimer that reads: "You will get WET and you may get SOAKED!!!" So our fate will be determined by how the raft rotate during our journey.

Ha ha... okay... so we got wet!!! 8P But it was fun anyway, some of the riders in our raft were doing it a second time.... and they were screaming and laughing all along the way. We even had to endure going down a mini waterfall which needless to say, provided lots of splashes.
That done..... still have time to spare... so we headed to Dino-land to take the DINOSAUR ride. Before we even reach the ride, we stopped briefly in a room that explains how the dinosaurs got extinct, due to the meteor that hit the earth, creating such an impact that clouded earth for many years, no sunlight can get through, plants die, living things die... blab blab.....

Next room, we were treated to a short 'Briefing' on a monitor by one of the scientists, (Played by Halle Barry) who explains that we're going to go through a time machine back to the Cretaceous Period which was the last period of the dinosaur age before the meteor hits.

Then this other 'crazy' scientist took over and explains that we're actually on a special mission to obtain a Iguanodon egg which is at the END CRETACEOUS PERIOD..... smell a rat here..... (Fact: Iguanodon actually exists in the mid cretaceous period, not the end) so which means we'll be 'teleported' to the period where...... the Meteor can strike anytime!!!!! You get the picture !!!*wink*

So the ride was full of dinosaurs cowering over your head, meteors flying and crashing around you, and along the way, having the computer announcing to you "Meteorite impact in 90 seconds..." and of course, by some good fortunte, we manage to meet the Iguanodon at the last second, and came back to the present!!! TA-DA!!! Talk about perfect timing!!! Where else but... eh... at... erm.. DINOSAUR?
Almost time for the Expedition Everest ride!!! Along the way, we stopped to watch this group of jugglers.... they were very good and humorous... and we managed to reach the start at 2:48pm. They promptly let us in and we got our turn almost immediately. Nice feature, this FastTrack thingie. hee hee

All I can say about the ride is..... YOU GOTTA TAKE IT TO EXPERIENCE IT!!!!! They actually build a Mt Everest, complete with snow capped peak, and Nepalese buildings and artifacts.
And not forgetting our dear friend YETI!!!!! Who made a special guest appearance during the ride. 8)

It has everything, something unexpected, something scary, something fast, something dark, something steep, something... eh... broken..... I shall not disclose more. A *MUST* go!!!!!

Ohhhhh.... lunch was a simple BBQ-ed Half-chicken, comes with side dishes of a very sweet baked beans (YES.... SWEET!!!) and a yucky-tasting muffin. It wasn't as expensive as we anticipated, cost us USD8+, not as ex-orbital as we thought it would be.
We went to the It's Tough to be a Bug! 3D movie near the Tree of Life. The movie was really intersting, as it comes with Sight, Sound, Smell and even.... hee... FEEL!!! Ha ha ha!!! Don't ask, coz I won't disclose more so as not to spoil the surprise. But it was Fun!!!
The Tree of Life was another interesting exhibit. It is a HUGE.... and I mean HUGE..... tree with its trunk hand-carved with 300 intricate animal images!!! So beautifully carved!!!
Can you spot some of the animals that are engraved on the tree?

We, we came out of the 3D movie just in time for Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade!!!



It has lots of cartoon characters dancing along the streets, lots of man-made 'animals', lots of music, lots of dancing, creating a very lively mood and atmosphere.


The parade occurs once a day at 4pm and there's a dedicated route. So we can actually lined ourselves behind the rope barrier to catch a glimpse of the whole parade.

We took our leave at around 5pm, completed satisfied with the park and headed to the Wide World of Spot to collect my race pack. It was so difficult to find parking here, and I can only guess how many runners there will be this coming weekend. The parking space for the theme parks here are so huge that I never thought they'll run out of lots!!! Well.... in this instance..... IT DID!!! Fortunately for me, I managed to catch a car leaving after 5-10mins.

On to the expo!!!!! Very well organized, with 8 counters for the Goofy Challenge, 13 Counters for the Full Marathons and another 10 Counters for the Half-Marathons. They held the 5K collection in a separate stadium nearby to avoid jamming up the place.

I had to obtain my waiver at another counter before I could collect my race pack. Waited around 5mins before I obtain my waiver form. Took another 5-8mins before I collected my race pack. We were given a dark blue long sleeve dri-fit Tee, with none other then Goofy printed in the front. NICE!!! I have two race bibs, one for the half-marathon, and one for the full-marathon. They also put this orange tag around my wrist that says "Goofy Challenge 2008" and I'm not suppose to take this out until I complete my half marathon on Saturday!!! Okay... looks like I can't bath for 2 days..... ha ha ha

Went down to the main expo area to collect 2 more tees, a grey long sleeve dri-fit Tee with Donald Duck for the half marathon and a grey long sleeve dri-fit Tee with Mickey Mouse for the full marathon. I'm loving this run already..... *BIG GRIN*

The expo was about the size as the Standard Chartered expo in Singapore. You have the usual stuff on sale: shoes, apparels, watches, nutrition food... etc. Saw this massage stick selling from USD29.90 - USD44.90 depending on the 'Strength' of the stick. Tried it and it was pretty painful arh!!!!! It's a stick with a lot of movable rollars, and you can use it on your quads, hamstring, ITB, calves, neck, back.... etc. Well... still decide that the price is too steep, so..... will stick to Tennis ball for the time being. hee hee *cheapskate* la la la la la

Surprisingly, I couldn't find Powergel nor Sports beans on sale here!!!!! Darn..... there goes my fuel for this weekend. So I ended up buying this organic gel stuff. Good thing is, we get to taste it first. Well, to me, it doesn't taste a lot different from Powergel, except perhaps it's less sweet. Beggars cannot be choosers.... so bought 2 packs of vanilla and 2 packs of strawberry.

Getting hungry, so we left the place to hunt for dinner at around 7.15pm. Armed with only a discount coupon and a map, we went in search of "A Taste of Hong Kong" at International Drive. It seem to take ages to reach that place but we manage to find it at exactly where we thought it would be..... ha ha ha....

Ordered fried black-pepper crispy noodles with prawns and stir-fried broccoli with garlic. The noodles was pretty good, but the broccoli was slightly bland. Had wanted to order spinach "Don't have", tried water-cress "Don't have".... darn..... apparently it's difficult to get hold of vegetables here, and even if they did, it's not that fresh and nice.

Good meal and we headed back to the hotel, stopping by the supermart to get frozen pizza and Nature Valley granola bars (Peanut Butter). One for supper in case we get hungry, and one for breakfast before my runs this weekend.

Time to call it a day..... *yawnz*

Day 1: 24hrs - From Singapore to Orlando

Arrive at Changi Airport T2 around 9.15pm, thanks to my Brother who took the trouble to send us there!!! Excited that we’re going on a long vacation, but resigned at the idea of a 24hrs flight.

Okay, so we were excited, so we thought our flight was at 11pm, well 11pm and 11.55pm isn’t that far off right? *oops* With so much time on hand, we checked out all the stores in the transit area and even had time for a cuppa at Wang Cafe and some butter-sugar toast. *yum*

To reach Orlando Florida.....

08/01/08 (Tue) 2355hrs - Flight from Changi Airport to Frankfurt Airport
09/01/08 (Wed) 1300hrs - Arrive at Frankfurt Airport (0600hrs local time)
09/01/08 (Wed) 1500hrs - Board the transition flight to New York JFK Airport
10/01/08 (Thu) 0000hrs - Finally arrive at New York JFK Airport (1100hrs local time 9 Jan)

*phew*... it's a 24hrs journey just to reach Orlando.

But the good news is, during the transition from Frankfurt to New York, I manage to upgrade myself to the first class suite.... Didn't manage to sleep much during the 1st leg, so cramp in my seat. So the first class suite was a huge relief for me.....


and my wife to Business class.....

Many people complain about the food serve on board Flights.... here's a sample of what I ate:
Okay... maybe I should have taken the photo before I started eating... hey... I know my priorities man... when food is available.... 8P Frankly speaking, I love Airplane food and I'll usually polish off everything on my tray... as you can see from the photo... *yum*

Compared to JFK, which was quite 'boring', Orlando Airport (MCO) appeared more vibrant and lively. There's even a Hotel right smack in the airport itself.


Lots of people here for holidays even though it's not the peak... can't imagine what's it like during peak season...



Anyway.... you have to pay USD3 to rent an airport trolley here... *phew* and we always take it for granted at Changi Airport.....
Collected my rental car... which is a Ford Focus and proceeded to travel to my nest for the next 7 days in Orlando.... driving here in U.S. wasn't that difficult, though I had to consciously remind myself to do the exact opposite..... keep right instead of keep left... *phew*

Took us just 30mins to reach our hotel Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista and here's a view of our room. Not a bad hotel, located at Palm Pkwy. Mins from Disneyland Downtown and the rest of the theme parks. The rooms are very cosy and comes with a living room with a long sofa, a kitchenette complete with a huge fridge, micro-wave oven, washing machine, stove and coffee maker!!! The bed room is pretty big, with 2 queen sized beds. Attached bathroom with a bath tub and shower facilities in one.

We went to a nearby Chinese Restaurant: China 3 and ordered Wanton Soup, General Tso's Chicken and Brinja cooked with Chilli & Garlic. Both dishes came with rice and the portions were GIGANTIC!!! Okay... as you can see... taking photos of food before eating them is *not* high on my priority list..... so too bad... no photos!!! ha ha

The lady who served us was amazed we managed to finish the food... okay almost... we left a bit of the brinja, and only because I felt they tasted a tad bit sour for my liking. The rice was really piled like a mountain in a bowl slightly bigger then what we'll normally have back in Singapore.

*burp* nice feast..... we walked over to the nearby supermart and look around... Gosh... Ben & Jerry's pint sells for USD3.39!!! That's less then S$5!!! hmmmmm

That's all for now... must quickly get used to the jetlag (as you can guess... I'm blogging at 0200hrs in Orlando). *yawnz* Stay tune!!!