perlmutter.me

DFPP 59 – The Princess and the Frog

Todd Perlmutter — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:46:00 +0000

This week the DFPP team heads to the bayou for some Swamp Gumbo and finds themselves running head long into a horn playing Alligator mississippiensis and his talking frogs in the 2009 animated feature The Princess and the Frog.

Show Notes can be found at http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/2012/02/disney-film-project-podcast-episode-59.html

Sponsored by TouringPlans.com. Providing pre-made or custom Touring Plans that help you avoid long lines while you’re in the parks.

Also sponsored by MAGIC 24.7 - Where Disney Park Magic Lives at magic247radio.com. Listen Live Now.

You can find us at the Disney Film Project website http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/ or at our PodBean websitehttp://disneyfilmproject.podbean.com/

Please visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DisneyFilmProject or contact us on Twitter as @DisFilmProject (http://twitter.com/DisFilmProject) or email us at disfilmproject@gmail.com.

You can hear our show on Stitcher SmartRadio, Stitcher allows you to listen to your favorite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, BlackBerry or Palm phones. Find it in your app store or at http://stitcher.com/

The Disney Film Project website http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/ is also the home to Ryan Kilpatrick’s blog where he is attempting to view all the Disney films, including shorts, features, and whatever else comes along. Ryan can also be found on Twitter as@RyanKilpatrick (http://twitter.com/RyanKilpatrick)

Todd Perlmutter’s lifestream can be found at http://perlmutter.me/ - and is a collection of his various activities around the Internet. Todd can also be found on Twitter as @tperlmutter (http://twitter.com/tperlmutter)

You can follow the adventures of Briana Alessio at The Adventures of Brie found at http://adventuresofbrie.blogspot.com/ or find her on Twitter as @BufferflyBrie (http://twitter.com/BufferflyBrie)

Cheryl Perlmutter is our podcast Producer, Editor, and Girl Friday. You can find her at http://about.me/cherylp3 and also find her on Twitter as @cherylp3 (http://twitter.com/cherylp3)

Blogs by Todd and Ryan can also be found at the TouringPlans.com Blog (http://blog.touringplans.com/) where they write about their experiences at Walt Disney World.

Ryan is also the Film Blogger for the Disney Driven Life (http://thedisneydrivenlife.com/) where you’ll also find Todd working his technical wizardry as the Chief Technical Officer and Briana as the Attractions Blogger.

Thanks for listening.

Park Plugged in Magic Kingdom – Part 1

Todd Perlmutter — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:30:26 +0000

Imagine if you will a seemingly normal 24-hour day, only this time you’re getting to spend it in the Magic Kingdom. Well that day is almost here: February 29, 2012. Disney is calling it “One More Disney Day,” and it’s occurring in both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. This is both great and fantastic, and I don’t know about you, but I’m taking time off from work to experience it. My Outlook Calendar literally says “Magic Kingdom for 24 hours” for all the office to see. I fully intend to stay in the park for all 24 of those hours. However, as a mega-geek, I realize that I’m going to run into some power problems with my iPhone during this time.

For starters, my #1 rule is that it pays to be portable. I carry my own water while running because I don’t want to have to wait for a water table when I’m thirsty, and I certainly don’t want to make my iPhone wait for power. Now, if I was an Android user, I could have extra replaceable batteries for my particular phone. I’ve got friends who carry as many as 5 extra batteries for their phone, and that’s great. Generally they’re fairly portable, and not terribly heavy to carry around.

Life isn’t so easy for an iPhone – Apple doesn’t like you checking out the innards of its phones. So instead you have to resort to external means of power. Note, however, that not all of these will work with an Android device – many are made for iPhones only. However, if you get a device that can charge via USB, you’ll find you have complete flexibility. Since December 2009 my personal go-to device has been a Zagg Sparq (typically “Zagg” for short). It’s a very strong and fairly durable device, capable of charging a phone in under 30 minutes an average of 3 times before it is out of juice. In an effort of disclosure there are three things I should mention about the Zagg:

While I love this device there are some who dislike it greatly.
I am on my second one, as I had an original model that was recalled for a manufacturing defect.
My wife, Cheryl, did manage to break the optimized plug on her Zagg – so we just bought her a new one, and I took her old one as a backup – yup, I’ve got two now.

There are, of course, several other options as well, and I’ll mention some:

3GJuice makes three chargers: the 3G Juice, 3G Juice Deluxe, and the 3J Juice Major Mojo. The latter was recommended in Episode 3 of Betamouse. I suggest buying these on Amazon, as they’re cheaper than buying direct. Note that only the Major Mojo would support non-Apple products.
mophie juice pack air is a very popular iPhone-only product. It’s basically a battery built into a case that recharges your iPhone as you use it, making the battery last a few hours longer. There is also the mophie juice pack powerstation, which is a general USB charger, and a new higher power capacity charger on the way.
Energizer and Duracell make very popular charging batteries.

Some other nifty devices I’ve seen friends use are:

Go solar. The Solio Bolt Battery Pack + Solar Charger is a nifty little device that is both a charger and a battery. Its power output is only 1000 mAh, so it won’t charge your phone very quickly. However, it has the added benefit of being able to recharge using solar energy. In a pinch, should the Zombie Apocalypse occur, and you’re finding yourself trapped in Cinderella Castle, this charger will keep your phone charged for years to come. Alternatively, you could use a solar backpack.
HyperJuice. If you’ve ever wondered how Lou Mongello can run “The Box” for 40 hours straight, this is his secret. These do not come cheap, but they carry quite a lot of power – the smallest model claims to charge an iPhone 14 times.

The other best way to make your smartphone’s battery charge last a long time in the park is to manage it. The following things cover any smartphone where you can control these features:

Use Airplane Mode, especially inside of attractions where signal is generally poor or non-existent. This mode just turns off all phone and Internet functionality of your phone. It will turn off everything that follows in this section. Pros: one toggle does it all. Cons: your phone is off, you can’t receive calls.
Turn off Wi-Fi in the parks. Currently, there’s no Wi-Fi in the parks for guests. This means that unless you’re using a MiFi device, there’s no reason to have it on ever when inside a park. When you’re not connected to a wireless network and this feature is on, your smartphone will be “spinning” trying to find and connect to a network. It’s not so bad if there are no wireless networks to be found, but there are wireless networks in the parks for Castmembers that the phone will keep trying to connect to. Those connection attempts eat a lot of power. Pros: saves a lot of power. Cons: you rely on your phone’s data plan.
Turn off your GPS when inside or better yet, altogether. On an iPhone there is a toggle for “Location Services” that does this for you. On Android there is a button with a picture of a satellite. Similar to Wi-Fi, if your phone can’t find a minimum of 3 satellites to connect to, it will keep spinning to try to find them. Outside this is not a problem, but when you’re indoors, it’s going to eat a lot of power to look for those satellites. Pros: saves a lot of power. Cons: you have to keep turning it back on to check into foursquare.
Turn off Notifications or at least as many as makes sense. Sadly, however, doing this for either an iPhone or Android phone is annoying these days. iOS used to have a single button to disable all notifications, but now this is gone – you now have to disable each notification individually. For Android, search the market, there are several apps that will let you do this, but there is no default way to just turn them off. Pros: saves power. Cons: you might miss an important notification.
Turn off Bluetooth. Do you really need to be walking around in the park with your earwig in your ear ready to make or receive a call every waking moment? No, probably not. In general, Bluetooth–like Wi-Fi and GPS–is a huge waste of power whether it’s connected to a device or not. So turn it off, conserve, and free your ears. Pros: saves still more power, Cons: you brought your headset into the park for nothing.
Kill apps you don’t need running. For iOS if you control the items above, you control the power consumption of background apps (suspended apps already do not expend power). Apps still be in the background and not suspended will be doing one of the following: playing audio, tracking location, waiting for incoming calls, downloading content, or attached to an external device. Android apps aren’t quite so limited because Android does almost-true multi-tasking and therefore unless you kill an app it is still considered running and still drawing power. There are several apps you can download to manage this better. Pros: saves power. Cons: your phone isn’t operating your way.

Overall, there’s a lot you can do to keep your phone charge available, and to recharge your phone on the go for while you’re in a park and any length of time, let alone 24 hours. Of course, there’s another option: cold, hard, raw, power fresh from the power company provided to you via an electrical socket. Next week I’ll go over all the locations I’ve managed to find in the Magic Kingdom with some pros and cons to using each location or type of location.

What about you? How do you keep your phone going when in the parks? Is this something you worry about? Will you be in Magic Kingdom on February 29? Disneyland? More power to you…

Park Plugged in Magic Kingdom – Part 1 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook

DFPP 58 – The Aristocats

Todd Perlmutter — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:05:25 +0000

This week the DFPP team decides that they all want to be cats, so they head to Paris to learn the fine arts and end up assisting a big old alley cat help three kittens and their mom get home in the 1970 animated feature The Aristocats.

Show Notes can be found at http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/2012/02/disney-film-project-podcast-episode-58.html

Sponsored by TouringPlans.com. Providing pre-made or custom Touring Plans that help you avoid long lines while you’re in the parks.

Also sponsored by MAGIC 24.7 - Where Disney Park Magic Lives at magic247radio.com. Listen Live Now.

You can find us at the Disney Film Project website http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/ or at our PodBean websitehttp://disneyfilmproject.podbean.com/

Please visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DisneyFilmProject or contact us on Twitter as @DisFilmProject (http://twitter.com/DisFilmProject) or email us at disfilmproject@gmail.com.

You can follow the adventures of Briana Alessio at The Adventures of Brie found at http://adventuresofbrie.blogspot.com/ or find her on Twitter as @BufferflyBrie (http://twitter.com/BufferflyBrie)

Cheryl Perlmutter is our podcast Producer, Editor, and Girl Friday. You can find her at http://about.me/cherylp3 and also find her on Twitter as @cherylp3 (http://twitter.com/cherylp3)

Blogs by Todd and Ryan can also be found at the TouringPlans.com Blog (http://blog.touringplans.com/) where they write about their experiences at Walt Disney World.

Thanks for listening.

DFPP 57 – The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Todd Perlmutter — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:21:14 +0000

This week the DFPP team heads to visit their friend Quasimodo in Paris only to discover that he and some golden haired dude have gone to rescue a gypsy girl from being burned alive in the 1996 animated drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Show Notes can be found at http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/2012/02/disney-film-project-podcast-episode-57.html

Sponsored by TouringPlans.com. Providing pre-made or custom Touring Plans that help you avoid long lines while you’re in the parks.

Also sponsored by MAGIC 24.7 - Where Disney Park Magic Lives at magic247radio.com. Listen Live Now.

You can find us at the Disney Film Project website http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/ or at our PodBean websitehttp://disneyfilmproject.podbean.com/

Please visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DisneyFilmProject or contact us on Twitter as @DisFilmProject (http://twitter.com/DisFilmProject) or email us at disfilmproject@gmail.com.

You can follow the adventures of Briana Alessio at The Adventures of Brie found at http://adventuresofbrie.blogspot.com/ or find her on Twitter as @BufferflyBrie (http://twitter.com/BufferflyBrie)

Cheryl Perlmutter is our podcast Producer, Editor, and Girl Friday. You can find her at http://about.me/cherylp3 and also find her on Twitter as @cherylp3 (http://twitter.com/cherylp3)

Blogs by Todd and Ryan can also be found at the TouringPlans.com Blog (http://blog.touringplans.com/) where they write about their experiences at Walt Disney World.

Thanks for listening.

Upcoming Walt Disney World Races

Todd Perlmutter — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:08:11 +0000

When I finished up last week’s post on the Walt Disney World Half Marathon, I started to think about the runDisney races that I was considering doing between now and Marathon Weekend 2013. It got me thinking that there are a not only a large number of runners in the Disney community, but there are also a number of people who might be interested in running a race at Walt Disney World. Between now and next January, there are 5 race weekends, and one or more of them may fit your needs.

Disney’s Princess Half Marathon Weekend
February 24 – 26, 2012

$150 per person / $300 per team, limited space remains

In 2011, this was the weekend of my first Disney World race, the Royal Family 5K. This weekend race was sort of a validation moment for me, and I have nothing but good memories of it. It’s designed as a family race, and parents are encouraged to run with their kids. There’s even a stroller division that allows for you to push along a child as you run. This race starts and finishes in the parking lot of Epcot and travels through backstage areas as well as World Showcase. Plenty of characters can be found along the way it’s a lot of fun.

The big race of the weekend is the Princess Half Marathon. Disney presents this as a race for women, but the truth is that anyone can run it, because as with every Disney race the only current requirement is a pace of 16 minutes or less per mile. What I enjoy most about this race is that it has more costumes than the WDW Half and Full Marathons. This year I’m looking forward to being able cheer for a number of friends running in this race – the very first Disney race for some of them. The race follows the same course through Magic Kingdom and Epcot as the WDW Half Marathon.

Hosted at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the Fit for a Princess Expo is a great place to pick up some new running gear, or some last minute items you might need for your race. The Complex will also be hosting race packet pickup, so why not stop by since you’ll be there. You could also head out to the Track & Field area to see the Royal Family Kids’ Races complete with a Diaper Dash (yes, racing babies). And all the big race weekends have a Pasta in the Park Party, this one takes place in the Wonders of Life Pavilion and finishes up with IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.

Expedition Everest Challenge
May 5, 2012

Individuals:
$89 between December 13 – February 26, 2012
$99 between February 27 – April 15, 2012
$109 between April 16 – May 5, 2012

Teams:
$175 between December 13 – February 26, 2012
$190 between February 27 – April 15, 2012
$205 between April 16 – May 5, 2012

Without a doubt the most fun of the 5K races I’ve run was the Expedition Everest Challenge. As the name implies, it’s not just a race, it’s a challenge. Several in fact. There is of course the race itself, a 5K course that leads individuals and teams of two around the parking lot of Animal Kingdom through the park and out to Conservation Station, and back to the parking lot again. There’s running through back stage locations, as well as characters along the way. And don’t forget the obstacles. While not as bad as they might sound, they are available to try along the way if you want to.

The fun of this race lies in part with its backstory. You are a member of a expedition team headed up Mount Everest in hopes of capturing a glimpse of and possibly catching the elusive Yeti. First there is the trek to the base of the mountain itself – the 5K. Then once you “arrive” you need to solve a few puzzles as part of a scavenger hunt in order to be able to complete the race, and “climb” Everest.

I highly recommend doing this race as a team, it’s the sort of thing you really want to get to experience with someone else. This year I’m hoping to get to run it with my wife, Cheryl. Of all the races I’ve run so far, this one has the coolest looking medal, and that alone might be enough to incentivize you to run. And if it’s not, the race is now held at night and is followed by a post-race party in Animal Kingdom where you can ride Expedition Everest as much as you like. It brings a whole new perspective to the ride if you’ve never done it before.

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler Weekend
September 28 – 29, 2012

$150 per person (approximately, cost currently unknown)

This race has me more excited than any other coming up right now. It’s a new offering from runDisney, that both resurrects and pluses the old Tower of Terror 13K (about 8 miles). This is a 10 mile race through Disney’s Hollywood Studios and is sure to be a blast. Based on prior races, it’s very likely that this race will not actually start inside the Studios but will more likely start outside the park. The most likely starting point would be the ESPN Sports Complex itself, but another spot that has potential is Blizzard Beach.

No matter where it starts though, this race is going to end somewhere in Hollywood Studios. The most desired finish would be near the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – after all the race is named after this attraction. This race is sure to be a thrill as it’s also going to be dedicated to all the Disney Villains, and they’ll be out all over the race course to delight and maybe even scare the runners. This race goes on sale February 14, 2012.

I’m expecting this weekend to not have a race expo, similar to how there is no expo for Expedition Everest.

Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend
November 9 – 10, 2012
* projections based on the Relay and Half Marathon deferral pages

Relay: $230 – $250 per team (projected cost)

Half Marathon: $145 – $165 (projected cost)

While no specific details have been revealed about this years race, we do know that it was moved from the first weekend of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival to the last weekend in order to make way for the new Tower of Terror race. Overall the weekend offerings should be very similar to last year. This means that there will be a Half Marathon and a Half Marathon Relay. There is some question as to when the Halloween 5K race will be held – it could potentially remain at the beginning of Food & Wine with the Tower of Terror Race.

One thing I recommend is that if you’re training for the January 2013 races, consider running one of the two parts of the Wine & Dine Relay like I did. Doing this was a great milestone in my training to get me prepared for what was ahead. It also helped removed a lot of my fear and doubt about doing a Half Marathon.

Since this is a Half Marathon Weekend, there should still be a race expo to attend.

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (still for 2012)
January 10 – 13, 2013 (projected dates)
* projections based on the Half Marathon & Full Marathon and Goofy deferral pages

Full or Half Marathon: $140 to $160 (projected cost)

Goofy: $310 to $330 (projected cost)

It’s hard to think about Marathon Weekend when it just passed less than a month ago, but I chose to include it to complete a look at the year ahead. You can expect a Full Marathon, a Half Marathon, a return of the Half Marathon Relay, and a 5K as well as the largest of the Health & Fitness Expos put on by Disney during the year.

While no official dates have been announced, I did find the deferral pages for people who were unable to attend the 2012 races. These pages allow them to use money they had paid toward a 2012 race and apply that payment toward a 2013 race. From these pages, I was able to determine a set of projected dates for the 2013 Marathon Weekend as well as project the cost of the race packages. Otherwise there is not much info at this time.

Which race is right for you? Are you a princess? A frog? Perhaps a Sherpa far from home? An undertaker who fancies a midnight run? Like to end your runs with a glass of wine or a beer? Or just a bit Goofy or Dopey?

Interested in learning more about Walt Disney World races from the TouringPlans.com brain trust? What about resort running? Favorite running paths? Tips about running? Training for the Walt Disney World races? Etc. What if we took all that knowledge and boiled it down into an eBook that you could download and take with you? Please let us know in the comments below. Thanks!

Upcoming Walt Disney World Races is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook

DFPP 56 – Real Steel

Todd Perlmutter — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:43:09 +0000

This week the DFPP team heads to the future only to discover that in a world where boxing has gone to the robots only one boy, his robot, and his dad can survive the Japanese YouTube sensation in the 2011 science fiction drama Real Steel.

Show Notes can be found at http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/2012/01/disney-film-project-podcast-episode-56.html

Sponsored by TouringPlans.com. Providing pre-made or custom Touring Plans that help you avoid long lines while you’re in the parks.

You can find us at the Disney Film Project website http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/ or at our PodBean websitehttp://disneyfilmproject.podbean.com/

Please visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DisneyFilmProject or contact us on Twitter as @DisFilmProject (http://twitter.com/DisFilmProject) or email us at disfilmproject@gmail.com.

You can follow the adventures of Briana Alessio at The Adventures of Brie found at http://adventuresofbrie.blogspot.com/ or find her on Twitter as @BufferflyBrie (http://twitter.com/BufferflyBrie)

Cheryl Perlmutter is our podcast Producer, Editor, and Girl Friday. You can find her at http://about.me/cherylp3 and also find her on Twitter as @cherylp3 (http://twitter.com/cherylp3)

Blogs by Todd and Ryan can also be found at the TouringPlans.com Blog (http://blog.touringplans.com/) where they write about their experiences at Walt Disney World.

Thanks for listening.

Running the Walt Disney World Half Marathon – Part 2

Todd Perlmutter — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:07:46 +0000

The race through Walt Disney World, continued from last week…

7:00 am

The Sun has begun to rise, and the scene is gorgeous. I start to cry a bit as I realize where I am. I’m about to cross under the “Underwater Bridge” that connects Bay Lake with the Seven Seas Lagoon. The early sunshine is glinting off of Space Mountain and the Contemporary. For the past year I’ve joked with Cheryl about running right here on this very spot. I take a few pictures and then prepare to head underwater by holding my nose, something my father used to have me do at this spot. Moments later an arm comes around me, and I’m caught off guard. It’s Len and Laurel, we talk a bit and pass a few bad jokes back and forth before they run off ahead. I text everyone on Main Street, U.S.A. to let them know I’m coming.

7:10 am

From the backstage entrance to Magic Kingdom, I get my first glimpse of Cinderella’s Castle, and I get excited. There has been no part of this race I’ve enjoyed more in the past few years than cheering for the runners on Main Street. Now here I was, one of those runners. I know to stay to the left side and exactly where to look for my friends. Arriving, I see friends including Dana and Shalon. I’m shaking hands and hugging a lot of people, and then I find Cheryl and give her a big hug and a kiss. I remember saying hi to Beci, Lou (who was excited to see me wearing a WDW Radio hat), MoJo, and the “Box People”.

7:15 am

Heading through the Hub, they send us into Tomorrowland. Once there, I stop for pictures with Buzz Lightyear and then Stitch near the entrance to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Again, I make a quick call to the Be Our Guest Podcast live show. The connection is much better for me this time, we chatted briefly, told them I was having an awesome time, and said good-bye. Then I’m off again.

After a quick dash, I stopped in front of the Mad Tea Party to take a picture with the Queen of Hearts. Texting with Cliff, he pointed out I was going to want to stop again for Flynn Rider and Rapunzel who were just around the corner past The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I started to run again, but just past Snow White’s Scary Adventures, and before going through Cinderella’s Castle, I stopped for a picture with the Castle itself and then again with Donald and Daisy.

7:34 am

Emerging from the Castle, I head around to the front to pose for the official race picture, only to bump into my friends Dee and Neil. Entering Liberty Square I passed by Mile Marker 6. Then its picture time once again, this time with Tiana, Prince Naveen, and Louis. I got to wait in line with Dee and Neil and talk with them some more. Entering, Frontierland I can’t resist a picture with the Country Bears. Heading out of Magic Kingdom I caught some pictures of the Pirate Ship parade float, the line was crazy-long and I wasn’t willing to wait for this one.

7:51 am

Just outside of Magic Kingdom I passed by Mile Marker 7, and saw Mary Poppins and Bert. Though I’d been warned this can be a fairly boring stretch of road, I decided that it was time for the trek back to Epcot, and I’d spent enough time with characters. I knew there were friends waiting for me up ahead. Once more I kept to the left along the orange cones, and not long after Mile 8, near the Polynesian Resort, I got to see, wave to, and blow kisses to my Disney Film Project Podcast co-host Ryan, his wife Sally, and the rest of Clan Kilpatrick.

8:16 am

Running along World Center Drive there was a table sponsored by the Clif Bar Company. They were handing out some of their new Clif Shot Gel flavors. Now the last time I had one of these it wasn’t something I enjoyed. However, at the Health & Fitness Expo table they had talked me into trying one, so I grabbed a mocha. Honestly, I’m sticking with the Bloks – it was like sticking raw brownie batter in my mouth. Not necessarily a bad thing, just not a taste I want in my mouth during a race.

8:30 am

It’s time for what Mike Scopa has referred to as the Heartbreak Hill Trinity. You start up the incline of one of the widest diameter butterfly exit ramps in perhaps all of Central Florida. At the top you get one of the neatest effects in the entire race. You can look down at the runners crossing underneath the World Drive overpass that you’re now standing on – I spent a few minutes cheering them on with some other guys.

Then you realize why he calls this a trinity. Sure you made it up the ramp, but now you see before you another hill. And beyond it you can see more runners heading up a third hill & second overpass that takes them over the entrance road for Epcot. Mile Marker 11 is at the top of the second hill. At this point my iPhone starts playing Life’s a Happy Song from The Muppets and it feels so perfect and right as I look and see Spaceship Earth. Another tearful moment for me.

8:45 am

On that third and final hill, my iPhone bids me farewell as it runs out of juice. That’s what I get for texting and taking pictures all race long. I wrap my earphones around the phone and tuck it into a belt pouch. Coming over the hill I see the bus stops and again know to stay to the left. Up ahead I again find Lou, and my wife Cheryl. I give her another big hug and kiss. And then I run off again.

8:50 am

Now I’m inside Epcot, passing by Spaceship Earth, heading past the Fountain of Nations, and down around the Christmas Tree at the entrance to World Showcase. This is it, the home stretch. Less than a mile to go until the finish line. They lead us backstage and past a gospel choir. Truthfully if all races don’t end with a gospel choir, they probably should (write your Congressman). Once again I stay to the left and get to see Shalon, Dana, and Kelly once more right there at Mile Marker 13.

9:05 am

At this point if you haven’t resigned yourself to being done, you will. One tenth of a mile from the finish line in the Epcot parking lot, and nowhere else to go, I bow to my friends and run off. Knowing I want a really good photo for my finish, I get a nice gap between myself and other runners. Giving a High-5 to Mickey Mouse, I cross the finish line and I’m done. Not far after that I get my Donald Duck medal, and I’m crying and laughing all over again.

The feeling of accomplishment and the emotion wrapped inside of it is incredible. I’m starting to plan more Disney races going into 2013, and I’m considering (but not yet comfortable with) doing the Full Marathon instead of the Half – a Mickey Medal does sound nice. I’d love to do the Expedition Everest Challenge again, and I’m planning to definitely do the Tower of Terror 10-Miler. Not to mention all the friends I’m planning to cheer for during the Princess Half Marathon, and helping to encourage others to also run. Running is an exciting part of who I am, and I intend to continue sharing it with you.

What about you? Did you run any races during Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend? The 5K? The Half? The Full? How did you do? Did you have fun? If not, are you interested in doing so in the future? Words can’t express what we’re all feeling at this very moment.

Running the Walt Disney World Half Marathon – Part 2 is a post from the TouringPlans.com Blog. Signup for a premium subscription today! Or get news via Email, Twitter, & Facebook

DFPP 55 – Dead Poets Society

Todd Perlmutter — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:01:40 +0000

This week the DFPP team heads to school to check out the local poetry scene, what they discover is that despite all the best intentions of their favorite professor Mr. Keating you can’t hide from life in an old cave in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society.

Show Notes can be found at http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/2012/01/disney-film-project-podcast-episode-55.html

Sponsored by TouringPlans.com. Providing pre-made or custom Touring Plans that help you avoid long lines while you’re in the parks.

You can find us at the Disney Film Project website http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/ or at our PodBean websitehttp://disneyfilmproject.podbean.com/

Please visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DisneyFilmProject or contact us on Twitter as @DisFilmProject (http://twitter.com/DisFilmProject) or email us at disfilmproject@gmail.com.

You can follow the adventures of Briana Alessio at The Adventures of Brie found at http://adventuresofbrie.blogspot.com/ or find her on Twitter as @BufferflyBrie (http://twitter.com/BufferflyBrie)

Cheryl Perlmutter is our podcast Producer, Editor, and Girl Friday. You can find her at http://about.me/cherylp3 and also find her on Twitter as @cherylp3 (http://twitter.com/cherylp3)

Blogs by Todd and Ryan can also be found at the TouringPlans.com Blog (http://blog.touringplans.com/) where they write about their experiences at Walt Disney World.

Thanks for listening.

Running the Walt Disney World Half Marathon – Part 1

Todd Perlmutter — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:32:18 +0000

After more than a year of re-educating both my mind and body towards exercise it was time to put it all to the test. It was time for me to finally run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. The road I took to get to this point was purely my own. It was paved with the support and love of friends, family, and a community of people online who have been there for me throughout. Running has gone from something that I fought with myself over to the point of making me cry (C25K week 4 was the worst) to something I love and well… still makes me cry.

One thing I felt I never had a complete picture of was the race itself – the journey I had been looking forward to for so long. I’d heard about it from so many others, but it was something I was craving by the time it finally came around. And so it was that on the morning of January 7, 2012, I traveled along with more than 26,000 others from one end of Walt Disney World to the other and back again. It went something like this…

2:00 am

When I checked the clock I realized it was 15 minutes before my alarm was supposed to wake me. The rooms in Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge gets so dark at night you can easily lose your bearings. The pre-race meal of a Burger & Fries at the Turf Club Bar & Grill I’d had the night before was, as planned, ready to be burned off. Getting out of bed I stretched a bit and felt like I’d gotten plenty of sleep. Doing my best not to wake my wife, Cheryl, I put on a pot of coffee and then woke up our friend Dana. She was coming with me to the start of the race in Epcot, and the coffee was for her.

Grabbing my race clothes, which I’d known enough to lay out the night before, I went into the bathroom, washed up, and got ready. After running the Expedition Everest Challenge, I’d learned to lay out my race clothes the day before planning to use them. No one wants to futz with safety pins and a race bib last minute, especially in the dark. Cheryl decided to get up earlier than she had originally planned and go with us.

3:30 am

by Lindsay Thomason

We met Jackie and Lindsay in the Kidani lobby – our rooms were just down the hall from each other. Together, we headed out to catch one of the special event buses to Epcot. We had to wait about 10 minutes before one arrived. The morning was a little bit chilly and the bus was nice and warm when we got on. I took a moment to text our friend Cliff that we were on our way. Minutes later the driver tells us that World Drive is already incredibly backed up and he’d do his best to get us all there quickly. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had looked, but we did plan to adjust the following morning to leave at 3:00 am for the Full Marathon as a result.

4:30 am

Finally arriving at Epcot, I gave Cheryl a hug and a kiss good-bye; she was planning to see me run in Magic Kingdom and then back at Epcot. While we walked over to the pre-race area over in the Wonder parking lot, I got a text from Shalon that she was tied up on World Drive. Jackie, Lindsay, Dana and I hung out for a bit, as I needed to wait for Cliff. He and I were planning to start the race together in Corral E. Eventually as time wore on a bit, Jackie and Lindsay decided to make their way to the starting line. Dana and I gave them big hugs, we wished each other luck, and for the second year in a row I watched my two “cousins” head off to go run a race.

About 10 minutes later Cliff showed up with our friend Kelly who was planning to hang out with Shalon and Dana and cheer for everyone. After making introductions, I made sure that Shalon and Dana could contact each other. Then Cliff and I headed off. We waited about 10 minutes to use the bathroom, and then started the long walk to the corrals. Let me tell you this walk is insane. You walk along the backstage road at Epcot. At one point you’re literally walking toward a barbed wire fence and I’m thinking that Disney is planning to weed out some of the runners early. After surviving, we turned out onto Overpass Road and then again down a ramp, and we were on Epcot Center drive – the corrals were right in front of us.

5:15 am

We made our way into Corral E, which was really easy to get into as you just had to walk into the back of it. We joked a bit, and got ourselves ready to run. This was the first Half Marathon for both of us, and we’d spent a lot of time “training” together long distance. And we were both very excited. Preparing, I loaded up the RunKeeper app on my iPhone and set myself up to listen to a shuffle of Disney movie soundtracks. Taking a moment, I call into the Be Our Guest Podcast live show to say, “Hi!” – I can barely hear them, but it was fun to do anyway. Next thing we know the Star Spangled Banner is being played. We hear the wheelchair racers get their start.

5:30 am

by Lindsay Thomason

The initial barrage of fireworks go off, and the race is officially underway. As we’re in corral E we have to wait almost 30 minutes to even cross the start line. Slowly we move up chatting a bit more and trying to get a glance of what might be going on. Somewhere along the way I hear my name and my friend Dan is there in the corral. We say hello and wish each other luck. Then just beyond him I hear my name again and there’s another friend, Moms Panelist Erin. This was totally cool, I remember when Erin first started running; now she’s a fellow blogger at TouringPlans.com and a fellow runner.

6:00 am

Crossing the start line finally, it’s wild – there’s fire spewing out above me, and I can see people in front of me finally starting to run. I hit “Start” on RunKeeper, flash Cliff a thumbs up and we’re off. We know to stick to the left as there’s a spot right near the beginning where I know Dana, Shalon, and Kelly will be cheering for us. I stop a second at the spot and manage to see the sign they’ve made for me, pointing them out to Cliff. We took a moment to jump up and down a bit, and scream back at them and then we headed off.

6:15 am

We were running a bit more than I was planning originally, so I have us slow down a second so I can pop a Clif Blok in my mouth and swig some water. The course took us past some guys on stilts, and down the off ramp from Epcot Center Drive to World Drive. Spotting our first character, we stopped for a picture with Ludwig Von Drake and then one in front of a hot air balloon. Finally, after stopping for a school band, and before the gate to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, Cliff and I split up. We sort of knew this would happen, but kept in touch via texting for the rest of the race.

6:35 am

After running through the parking lot gate, I stop in a line for a pic at mile marker 3. This is just before the 5K point in the race. Not far after that point, past the 5K marker, and over the music in already in my ears I hear the Darkwing Duck theme song. About a quarter mile later (no joke the music was that loud) there he is, the “dangerous” one himself. Of course, I stopped for a picture.

6:50 am

Winding my way through the Magic Kingdom Parking Lot with the other runners, I came upon a screen playing Chip and Dale cartoons, with a row of classic cars lined up in front of it. Stopping for a picture of them, I shook the hand of one of the owners, thanking him for bringing the cars out. They were a super treat to see. Then it was out through the parking lot, through the Transportation and Ticket Center, and then back onto World Drive again.

Continued next week. Don’t touch that dial. Stay tuned.

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DFPP 54 – The Jungle Book

Todd Perlmutter — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:14:21 +0000

This week the DFPP team finds themselves in the jungles of India in search of the elusive Wolf-Boy who manages save himself from the claws of the Tiger King with the aid of a bear, a panther, and some fire in the 1967 animated classic The Jungle Book.

Show Notes can be found at http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/2012/01/disney-film-project-podcast-episode-54.html

Sponsored by TouringPlans.com. Providing pre-made or custom Touring Plans that help you avoid long lines while you’re in the parks.

You can find us at the Disney Film Project website http://www.disneyfilmproject.com/ or at our PodBean websitehttp://disneyfilmproject.podbean.com/

Please visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DisneyFilmProject or contact us on Twitter as @DisFilmProject (http://twitter.com/DisFilmProject) or email us at disfilmproject@gmail.com.

You can follow the adventures of Briana Alessio at The Adventures of Brie found at http://adventuresofbrie.blogspot.com/ or find her on Twitter as @BufferflyBrie (http://twitter.com/BufferflyBrie)

Cheryl Perlmutter is our podcast Producer, Editor, and Girl Friday. You can find her at http://about.me/cherylp3 and also find her on Twitter as @cherylp3 (http://twitter.com/cherylp3)

Blogs by Todd and Ryan can also be found at the TouringPlans.com Blog (http://blog.touringplans.com/) where they write about their experiences at Walt Disney World.

Thanks for listening.