I can’t “heart” this post. Sorry to hear. I hope everyone either avoids contracting it or recovers quickly. Sending positive thoughts my friend.
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Bummer about DD3. I wish your family a speedy recovery.
I hear that! It was nuts the high number of people in the corrals that did not think twice about covering their faces. My family did a lot of dodging and face covering when the crowds got thick.
…All that being said, we made it out without contracting COVID.
I wish you all the best and look forward to when you finish your trip report.
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The only time we really felt uncomfortable was at Oga’s. The last two times I was there, I had plenty of space. It did not feel crowded. But this time, as soon as we went in the door we almost turned back around. It was shoulder-to-shoulder in there. And boisterous. People were laughing and yelling at each other because it was so noisy. I could feel the COVID in the air… We chugged our Fuzzy Tauntauns and bolted.
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It was VERY squishy and normal in a pre-pandemic way in there. I agree it was the only time it felt questionable.
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Hello again everyone. I’m finally going to start sharing a complete, detailed trip report. I’m going to keep it in this thread for simplicity, and I’m going to start back over at the beginning. So, there will be repeated content from the thread above, and from my race reports (Legs for Luke). Over the last 2 weeks I’ve gone back through all my photos and other sources of info to outline the trip in detail, but some parts are still lacking color. I know I’m missing some things that have faded from memory. Especially the last 2 days or so when I was trying to stay in the moment with DW and off my phone. So my photos really dwindled the last part of the trip.
So what the heck took me so long to start this report? When we got home from WDW, the kids had COVID, then DW got it. I must have had it before unknowingly, because I tested negative 6 times during our 2-week quarantine. Working from home with 3 young kids was incredibly stressful. I was to lead a 2-day short course at my office in late January, present a major project to management (promotion is hinging on this), and also getting DS7’s Tiger Cub Den back up and running after a 2-month hiatus (I’m the den leader). And that is just the tip of the iceberg of craziness that January was.
I’m just now starting to feel caught up on things I was behind on. But more is coming. Due to my fundraiser’s wild success, St. Jude has asked me to be their North Texas Ambassador starting this month. An honor I will not take lightly. More relevant to you all is that we are planning our first DL trip in June, and that is starting to consume major brain space. However, I have somehow managed to get most of this report done (still working on the last few days). As it is right now, I’ve already written 13,000 words and have 700 pictures to share. WOWEE!
Ok enough rambling. Let’ get on with it.
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Dopey Dos: Legs for Luke (the full report)
Preface
Although this is primarily a trip report, the purpose of the trip deserves a proper introduction.
THE BEGINNING… In 2018 I discovered passions for running and fighting Childhood Cancer when my then-2-year-old son became a cancer survivor. The next year I joined the St. Jude Hero team and with them ran the Wine & Dine 2-Course Challenge at Walt Disney World. This is a 10k race followed by a half marathon the next day. It was a life-changing experience. I raised $2,500 for St. Jude thanks to the generosity of my friends and family and shared a “live photo report” from the races. This sparked my imagination for future fundraisers.
THE YEAR WAS 2020… I had signed up to do the next Wine & Dine with St. Jude as well, but because of the COVID pandemic almost all racing events were sort of canceled – they became “virtual” events. I decided to postpone my fundraiser to 2021, but I still ran the “virtual” races for St. Jude locally. To make this more interesting, I filmed it and talked about childhood cancer and St. Jude to raise awareness in a unique way: Runcast for St. Jude (23min). Little did I know that almost at that very moment in November 2020, Luke, a neighbor’s child, was being diagnosed with Leukemia and starting a year-long fight for his life.
LEGS FOR LUKE… Near the end of last summer, Luke came home on hospice care when treatment was no longer recommended. The news hit me like a brick. I did what I always do when life seems out of balance – I went for a run. And my passion for running for St. Jude was renewed. I used to run for St. Jude because the research done there helped save my son’s life. This year I’ve been doing it to honor those that are no longer here to run alongside us, like Luke. In August, I renewed my commitment to St. Jude and ran the 2021 Wine & Dine races to kick off my #LegsForLuke campaign.
DOPEY DOS… Wine & Dine was just the beginning, the warmup. The real finish line was to be the WDW Marathon in January. But more than that even: the Dopey Challenge. This is a four-day race series including a 5k, 10k, half, and full marathon for a total of 48.6 miles. To go along with this, I raised the bar on my fundraiser to $10,000: 4x the miles, 4x the money, 4x the impact. The #LegsForLuke campaign was an incredible success – I raised $13,618 from 82 donors, and St. Jude asked me to be the North Texas Ambassador for 2022-2023! As a St. Jude Hero, I strive to carry a message of hope that tomorrow can be better than today.
So, in January 2022, I completed the Dopey Challenge with the St. Jude Heroes team. This is that story, along with plenty of non-running shenangians.
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Day 0: Dodging Omicron Bullets
For future readers (and a reminder to those reading now), I need to give a little more context before starting Day 1. In late December, Omicron was ramping up and by January it was spreading like wildfire. We had ample opportunity for exposure, and I was starting to think the trip was doomed. If anyone in my house were to get COVID, I would likely have to cancel.
We did the most we reasonably could to limit exposure prior to our trip. The biggest mitigation step was working from home the second half of December and first week of January. I work in an office where the general attitude is that COVID is over. No masks, office-wide happy hours, etc. Yeah, even with Omicron spiking and double-digit deaths every day in our area. I won’t say more.
We had Christmas with DW’s extended family – it was the first time we were all together during the pandemic, and likely the last time we’d all get together at DW’s grandparents house (they are in their 90s). So a big deal that nobody wanted to cancel or postpone. Everyone was testing like crazy, and some people were not able to come because of positives. One was negative on their second test and decided to come. Talk about a queasy feeling…
Our neighbors hosted a big party the week after which we decided to not skip. We have really fallen out of the loop during the pandemic, and DW has debilitating FOMO. We also had DS7 in a soccer camp that week, but it turned out to be at the high school’s indoor practice facility and our neighborhood is like my office – the general attitude is that COVID is over. No masks, and there were like 100 people in that facility, most running around breathing heavily. I could see the COVID in the air. After 2 days we pulled him out.
Finally, some high-school friends were having a big New Year’s Eve party. Well, actually a lot more significant than that. One of DW’s life-long best friends got married on New Year’s Eve ten years ago, so they had planned this big shindig to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Missing it was out of the question for DW. We finally decided that she would go, but I would not.
Miraculously, we stayed healthy though all that cross-contamination, and we are now caught up in our time machine to January 4th. The trip report can now begin. “I’ve been dodging Omicron bullets for weeks now, Matrix-style, but I’m about to board my plane, so Dopey 2022 is happening!“
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Day 1: Tuesday January 4th
I left the house around 430p and drove to Love Field (DAL) via the tollway. I usually take the free route to justify another drink or two at WDW, but wanted to get to the airport early enough to eat dinner and not feel rushed. Turns out there was no reason to rush, but I’ll get to that in a minute. I parked at 515p, was through security via TSA pre-check, and sitting at Cantina Laredo at 535p. Got an IPA (can’t remember the brand), and cheese enchilada dinner. Queso instead of chili con carne sauce. Cheese on cheese enchiladas. My favorite. The food was subpar though.
There was not a single person in the security line and the terminal seemed about half as busy as I’m used to seeing. Maybe less. Very odd feeling. Found an empty gate to sit at around 635p. Flight delay announcement – hour delay. Went to look at arrival/departure board, and nearly every flight was either delayed or canceled. Never seen anything like it before. Went to my gate to see if plane was there. It was. I asked if the flight would happen, and they said there was no issue with the plane. So it was a staffing issue.
Finally boarded at 830p with wheels up at 915p. Was supposed to depart at 745p and land at 1105p, so I guessed we’d be landing around midnight. Started to think I wouldn’t be rope dropping AK after all. But I can sleep when I’m dead, right?
I had planned to watch Hamilton on the flight. Set it to download to my phone on Disney+ the week before, but I got a replacement phone (camera stopped working so Apple sent me a new one), and I forgot to restart the download. Epic disappointment when I saw the download status was still incomplete. I had been looking forward to watching it on the flight for over a week. Even had “Not throwing away my shot” written on my itinerary. And got good and liquored up before the flight for full enjoyment. I listened to it on Spotify instead…
Landed at MCO and was walking through terminal at 1220a, so a little longer delay that I had predicted. Waiting for Lyft ($71) outside at 1230a. I’ve never seen the rideshare area so busy. It was insane. Usually only a few people and a few cars, but this time it was packed.
Welcome to Walt Disney World at 1255a and in the Pop lobby at 110a. Talked with bell services about my room – I had a one-night reservation tonight followed by a 4-night reservation and I wanted to keep the same room for both reservations if possible. I also wanted to try and get close to the Skyliner. Pixie Dust! I got the same building I’ve had every time at Pop: Building 5 (the Mogley/Baloo building). Closest to Skyliner and the food court. Perfect!
I was in bed at 130a.
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Awesome! 
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Wow! 
That itinerary is impressive!
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I’m slightly insane
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You are such an awesome person! We are all lucky to know you. Congrats on the honor from St. Jude. That’s quite impressive!
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Your fundraiser was impressive! Congrats!
Looking forward to reading along!
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I just can’t catch a break. Yesterday morning we discovered a hot water leak under our slab and it’s looking like our best option is repiping the house. Same cost as tunneling or jacking through the foundation to repair the leak. Was dealing with that all day calling plumbers and getting estimates.
Then last night DD2 woke us up at 1am with a 102 fever and none of us really got back to sleep. She obviously didn’t go to school today but the preschool wouldn’t let DS5 come either. So WFH tag teaming with DW today and tomorrow. Tested negative for flu and strep, doc thinks it’s some other virus. She just had Covid a month ago. DW is worried it’s meningitis because DD2 is complaining of a headache and sore neck.
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Just wanted to explain the lack of update here.
I’m thinking about just dumping my report outline and photos, then filling in later
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I hope DD feels better very soon!
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So sorry to hear about your stressful situation! Hope it resolves itself soon.
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Sending good vibes for the fam!
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Day 2: Wednesday January 5th
Woke up at 645a, figured I should get used to the whole no-sleep thing, and was getting breakfast at Everything Pop at 710a. Mickey waffles and bacon!
In line for AK bus at 720a, arrived at AK at 745a. I knew I wouldn’t be rope dropping, but my goal was to get in before regular park hours started. Success! I was walking by the tree at 755a.
Got in line for FOP at 800a, about 20-30 people down the boardwalk towards Africa. The CM with the lollipop sign said it was a 90-minute wait, which MDE also showed. I suspected it would be closer to 60, based on experience. Made it to the queue entrance at 808a, the large waterfall at 815a, the caves at 820a, the lab at 835a, and preshow at 845a. “Sivako!” at 855a. A 55-minute wait and I missed rope drop. Not too bad really, but this and ROTR are the only rides I would ever wait that long for and say it was worth it.
Walked across Pandora and got in line for NRJ at 905a and was on the boat at 925a. Posted wait was 50 minutes. Not sure why they lie on this one, it is a people eater as long as they keep the boats moving.
I love both Pandora rides, but this time it was just a bit too … familiar? FOP was not as thrilling, and NRJ not as inspiring. I think 4 WDW trips in one year is my saturation level. Anyways, next up I walked over to Kusafiri Coffee and got an “adult” coffee. Drank it while watching the Tam Tam Drummers for about 10 minutes or so. Then headed to the park exit and caught a minute or two of Winger Encounters in front of the tree.
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