Tonight I ran through the neighborhoods of Providence and I captured some of the natural beauty that abounds. It seemed at time as if the city was one large garden and I was allowed to tip toe my way through the splendor in my running shoes. You all know I love taking pictures. Well now I am sharing them in a whole new way with the Story app from Disney.
What do you think of the presentation format?
I learned about the Story app while at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Disney also mailed me a promotional kit about the Story app.
I was invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort May 9-12, 2013. The conference fee permitted me access to special events and experiences made available to conference attendees and their families. I am voluntarily writing about these events and experiences. These are my own thoughts, opinions and photographs unless otherwise stated.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Disney Social Media Moms - We arrive in Orlando
The Disney Social Media Moms event was two months in the waiting. I was totally surprised and thrilled when the invitation arrived in my email and the wait leading up to the day of the trip was only made easier by all of the Tweets that @DisneySMMoms was putting out on an almost daily basis. Over those months the attendees had a chance to not only learn about the upcoming trip, but also to get to know their fellow attendees. There were also a couple of gifts along the way.
Here my Three Caballeros are riding in style in my new American Tourister 4 wheel bag. When it arrived I thought...I already have a carry-on that I love, but I will take this one with me on the trip since they sent it too me. I am so totally sold on the 4 wheel action it is crazy. I could not believe the physical stress that was removed by 2 extra wheels. The bag literally glided with a push. My three buddies loved the view!
How many of you consider the monorail ride at the airport the first ride at Disney? Anything that gets me closer to WDW makes me happy!
How many of you take the following Orlando airport shots each and every trip you take to WDW? I even did it on my solo trips this year! I guess you could call them our "we're back" shots!
This was the first visit to WDW during which my niece and nephew were getting to stay on property! They have some very generous grandparents who take care of all of us when we visit the world. Our usually digs are at Bonnet Creek...luxury close at hand! So this was their first trip on the Magical Express. They were trilled to say the least and giddy at the thought that their luggage would magically appear in their room!
So off we went to discover what Disney Social Media Moms had to offer. We had an idea of what was in store, but we were also prepared to be blown away!
I was invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort May 9-12, 2013. The conference fee permitted me access to special events and experiences made available to conference attendees and their families. I am voluntarily writing about these events and experiences. These are my own thoughts, opinions and photographs unless otherwise stated.
Here my Three Caballeros are riding in style in my new American Tourister 4 wheel bag. When it arrived I thought...I already have a carry-on that I love, but I will take this one with me on the trip since they sent it too me. I am so totally sold on the 4 wheel action it is crazy. I could not believe the physical stress that was removed by 2 extra wheels. The bag literally glided with a push. My three buddies loved the view!
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| The American Tourister luggage was a gift and I was not required to post about it, however I love it and wanted to share! |
My bag safely secured in the overhead, we took off for Orlando. One travel tip I would like to pass along for those of you who fly SWA: book your departing and returning flights on two separate tickets and check back frequently for lower fairs and better flight schedules. I was able to change my departure from a 2 leg flight to a direct flight that left an hour later in the morning and arrive an hour earlier into Orlando all for $4 extra. Huge score in my book.
Touching down in Orlando. I loved watching our shadow get bigger, and bigger, and bigger!
How many of you consider the monorail ride at the airport the first ride at Disney? Anything that gets me closer to WDW makes me happy!
My sister and her kids were accompanying me on this amazing adventure. They arrived at the airport 45 before I did and were already sending me airport photos while I was still in the air. They were thrilled to see me and my happy band of stowaways.
How many of you take the following Orlando airport shots each and every trip you take to WDW? I even did it on my solo trips this year! I guess you could call them our "we're back" shots!
This was the first visit to WDW during which my niece and nephew were getting to stay on property! They have some very generous grandparents who take care of all of us when we visit the world. Our usually digs are at Bonnet Creek...luxury close at hand! So this was their first trip on the Magical Express. They were trilled to say the least and giddy at the thought that their luggage would magically appear in their room!
So off we went to discover what Disney Social Media Moms had to offer. We had an idea of what was in store, but we were also prepared to be blown away!
I was invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort May 9-12, 2013. The conference fee permitted me access to special events and experiences made available to conference attendees and their families. I am voluntarily writing about these events and experiences. These are my own thoughts, opinions and photographs unless otherwise stated.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
What motivates you during a runDisney race?
Who and/or what motivates you most at runDisney races? Let's try and stick to the course entertainment. I know friends, family and ourselves probably top most lists, but lets talk about the things we all experience.
As far as on course runDisney motivators go this guy has my vote for top notch motivator! Who dosn't love giant Mickey hand and good music in the early morning?
But I also find myself digging in running the ramps to the encouragements of the Green Army Men.
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| Okay the miles (or maybe just the sun) might have been getting to me at this point! He sure looks great though! |
Maybe it is the race crew out there on the course supporting us all...and the thought that you could just borrow a bike for a mile or two...
Or is your greatest motivator the finish line and the bling?
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| WDW Marathon weekend '13 with Marcia Barton @TravelRunEat |
Whatever your motivation is, I think it is great! It might be all of the above or none of them. It might change over the course of the race or stay consistently the same. I tell myself and my husband that it is okay to repeat to yourself "recalculating, recalculating" when you need to adjust your race strategy and motivation. The finish line will never move, but how you get there may differ, and I never pass up a motivational moment.
I would love to hear what motivates you on race day. It does not have to be runDisney related, but you know I will love it if it is!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Disney Social Media Moms runDisney 2 mile fun run
I was invited to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort May 9-12, 2013. The conference fee permitted me access to special events and experiences made available to conference attendees and their families. I am voluntarily writing about these events and experiences. These are my own thoughts, opinions and photographs unless otherwise stated.
One of the experiences that I was most looking forward to was the 2 miles runDisney fun run at ESPN. A large number of conference attendees had never been to Disney before and an even larger number had never runDisney. Pictured below are all of the lovely ladies and gentlemen who woke up early Friday morning before a full day of sessions just to runDisney. I count 44 of us...which includes one presenter, one conference organizer, and one motivational runner and her mom (Ali & mom). So 40 conference attendees out of about 165 total took on the challenge.
I wanted to participate because I of course love runDisney and I wanted to share that love with as many people as possible. I heard over and over the same thought that I hear so often "I am going to run these two miles and nothing except Disney could motivate me to do it!" That is why I love Disney so much. It is an amazing motivator and runDisney has harnessed that power to get people active.
I of course was rocking my Minnie Mouse ears and runDisney New Balance shoes as well as my Team Sparkle Minnie Skirt. Never fear a woman with credentials is here. That's right I wore those credentials everywhere...because we had to and even when we didn't, like in the parks, I still wore them. Hey what can I say the lanyard was covered in black shimmery beads and I liked it. Okay I like the "Disney Social Media Moms" logo as well!
We headed up the hill to the entrance of the complex and stopped to chat for a bit and oh you know...take a few pictures!
I tried to say hi to Tony Morreale, but you know he was kind of busy getting his runDisney social media on! Tina Trybus is over there on the left in the pink dress.
Faron Kelley welcomed us to the facility and explained the run and run/walk groups. I was torn, but went with the run group for my first run around ESPN.
What an amazing group of ladies! Some of them only started running three weeks before the event when the runDisney fun run was announced. They did what they could with those 3 weeks and darn it they ran/walked that morning and everyone crossed that finish line!
Every now and then I take that extra shot. The one you don't even know you took while running. The thing is that I usually like them for one reason or another. "Disney!" I also like them because they remind me of the effort that I put into my running and #TweetandRun!
At this point I hung out at the finish line for a few moments and then doubled back to bring everyone home! We wanted to make sure everyone finished their first runDisney event. There would be no balloon lady on this course!
Ali ran/walked it with the second group. She was out there motivating everyone to keep going!
Everyone finished and we headed up the back steps to move on to the presentation portion of the event in the ESPN Grill.
Faron Kelley kicked off the formal presentation with a discussion of what happens at the ESPN Wide World of Sports facility. Youth sports and professional teams converge to play at one amazing facility that occasionally gets overrun (my term) with avid runDisney lovers on the race weekends that we utterly love! (I might be tearing up here at little.)
Then they did a give away. Yes one pair of runDinsey New Balance shoes was given away and the lucky winner walked about with a voucher.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for a full day of sessions.
I stopped to chat with Faron on my way out and of course grab a picture. He was great out there on the run. He let Bob lead the way and he drifted around the course chatting with people. I ran the first 1/2 mile or so with Faron. I went ahead and asked him our big question: What about Paris? He said they are really working on it and they really want to do it, but when I asked him about fall 2014 he settled on 50/50! So there you have it Paris is a big fat 50/50 for fall 2014. Not because they don't want to do it, because they do, but it is complicated.
On the bus ride back Maria Bailey made sure we were all set to transition back into conference mode, but not before one final picture in front of the Contemporary!
You know me...anywhere is a photo op even the elevator up to our rooms. Look mom...I even got myself in the picture. See you soon! There is so much more to tell you about!
One of the experiences that I was most looking forward to was the 2 miles runDisney fun run at ESPN. A large number of conference attendees had never been to Disney before and an even larger number had never runDisney. Pictured below are all of the lovely ladies and gentlemen who woke up early Friday morning before a full day of sessions just to runDisney. I count 44 of us...which includes one presenter, one conference organizer, and one motivational runner and her mom (Ali & mom). So 40 conference attendees out of about 165 total took on the challenge.
I wanted to participate because I of course love runDisney and I wanted to share that love with as many people as possible. I heard over and over the same thought that I hear so often "I am going to run these two miles and nothing except Disney could motivate me to do it!" That is why I love Disney so much. It is an amazing motivator and runDisney has harnessed that power to get people active.
I of course was rocking my Minnie Mouse ears and runDisney New Balance shoes as well as my Team Sparkle Minnie Skirt. Never fear a woman with credentials is here. That's right I wore those credentials everywhere...because we had to and even when we didn't, like in the parks, I still wore them. Hey what can I say the lanyard was covered in black shimmery beads and I liked it. Okay I like the "Disney Social Media Moms" logo as well!
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Ali Vincent telling everyone about her pink grab bands. She gives them out to motivate people to think about what they are grabbing before the eat it. Wear it on the hand that grabs for things and think twice before you act.
We all hopped on a bus and headed to ESPN. I was so excited. Can you tell? When I hopped of the bus guess who was there to greet us? Bob Hitchcock - the head of runDisney PR. Okay so I was excited to see him! Enthusiasm goes well with runDisney!
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| runDisney PR photo |
We headed up the hill to the entrance of the complex and stopped to chat for a bit and oh you know...take a few pictures!
The formal shot! I finally got a women's cut black runDisney shirt and I love it!
I tried to say hi to Tony Morreale, but you know he was kind of busy getting his runDisney social media on! Tina Trybus is over there on the left in the pink dress.
Faron Kelley welcomed us to the facility and explained the run and run/walk groups. I was torn, but went with the run group for my first run around ESPN.
Action shot: caption the photo above!
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| runDisney PR photo |
What an amazing group of ladies! Some of them only started running three weeks before the event when the runDisney fun run was announced. They did what they could with those 3 weeks and darn it they ran/walked that morning and everyone crossed that finish line!
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| runDisney PR photo |
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| runDisney PR photo |
A Live Big with Ali Vincent moment before we all hit the road and were off and running.
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| runDisney PR photo |
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| runDisney PR photo |
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| runDisney PR photo |
Every now and then I take that extra shot. The one you don't even know you took while running. The thing is that I usually like them for one reason or another. "Disney!" I also like them because they remind me of the effort that I put into my running and #TweetandRun!
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| runDisney PR photo |
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| runDisney PR photo |
These shots were taken after the run group finished! Great job ladies!
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| runDisney PR photo |
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| runDisney PR photo |
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| runDisney PR photo |
At this point I hung out at the finish line for a few moments and then doubled back to bring everyone home! We wanted to make sure everyone finished their first runDisney event. There would be no balloon lady on this course!
 |
| runDisney PR photo |
Ali ran/walked it with the second group. She was out there motivating everyone to keep going!
 |
| runDisney PR photo |
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| runDisney PR photo |
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| runDisney PR photo |
I love this picture of happy runner post run!
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| runDisney PR photo |
After Faron, Bob had a few remarks before he introduced Ali!!!
Ali talked about her motivation and motivating others. She showed footage from her first runDisney race...the Tinker Bell Half in 2013. We all watched and tweeted!
Then they did a give away. Yes one pair of runDinsey New Balance shoes was given away and the lucky winner walked about with a voucher.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for a full day of sessions.
I stopped to chat with Faron on my way out and of course grab a picture. He was great out there on the run. He let Bob lead the way and he drifted around the course chatting with people. I ran the first 1/2 mile or so with Faron. I went ahead and asked him our big question: What about Paris? He said they are really working on it and they really want to do it, but when I asked him about fall 2014 he settled on 50/50! So there you have it Paris is a big fat 50/50 for fall 2014. Not because they don't want to do it, because they do, but it is complicated.
On our way back to the bus we stopped for a few final pictures.
I could not resist taking a pic with Ali and the ESPN globe!
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