dvc at last !
DVC Member 2006!
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Enjoying your TR.
11/23 COMPLETE! Course by Course, One By One...A 2016 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Trip Report!
- Thread starter Ariel484
- Start date
ZellyB
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2010
I'm here!! I'm here!!! 
Excellent start to the report. Love all your outfits and ears. You look adorable as always. Tell me of this magical purple wall. I don't know about it.
Looks like a great day at Food & Wine. I loved wandering through the showcase with Chris and enjoying all the offerings.
Excited to read more!
Excellent start to the report. Love all your outfits and ears. You look adorable as always. Tell me of this magical purple wall. I don't know about it.
Looks like a great day at Food & Wine. I loved wandering through the showcase with Chris and enjoying all the offerings.
Excited to read more!
Sailormoon2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
Great start!!! I can't wait to read the rest 
emilyindisney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2012
The Joffrey's stands were advertising so many yummy things this year- regret that I didn't try any! That Tiki Torch sounds great! You knocked out a lot of stops from Food and Wine on your first go- hoping you made lots more rounds later in your trip
Assuming you hoped on an expo bus somewhere in the Boardwalk area which met you were in our neck of the woods!! Excited to here about what you were able to get at the expo- pickings were limited by Friday morning when we went. Hopefully you had good luck!
Assuming you hoped on an expo bus somewhere in the Boardwalk area which met you were in our neck of the woods!! Excited to here about what you were able to get at the expo- pickings were limited by Friday morning when we went. Hopefully you had good luck!
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Gotcha! I really could not figure them out, so thanks!
Yeah, I am not a fan of spicy food. Mr. A enjoyed the butter chicken at least!
We did! It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we were able to check out the booths on a weekday.
Gingerbread latte is my FAVORITE Starbucks drink! I wouldn't turn down a nice vanilla latte though.
Looking back, I probably should have drunk the champagne right when I got it instead of using it as a photo prop. Probably would have been colder that's way!
It was!! At least I had someone "on my side!"
I was sad about that too.
It wasn't! I took your advice of going later in the day and it was SO
When you notice that you are a day behind on an @Ariel484 trip report...
and then you realize that there's already pics of the Polynesian...
Definitely try it if you go to Food & Wine - really good!
Thanks! And hey - congrats on finishing the half!Great start so far!I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your report and hearing about your thoughts on the races.
OMG YES. I loved it so much! I totally think I could live there as well.
Yeah, we were there that day as well.I'm so sorry about the Indians losing. We were really hoping they'd win. We were at the Magic Kingdom on Saturday when they had the Cubs victory parade, and it was torture for us. We were waiting for Festival of Fantasy and it was Cubs fans everywhere even though the victory parade was later. I know not all Cubs fans are bad, but some of them were extremely rude that day. One group had staked out a spot right on the curb and were sitting, but then stood when the parade came. They were blocking our view down the street the whole time and refused to sit when we politely asked them. Everyone else on the curb was sitting.Needless to say we avoided Main Street when the actual parade was going on and hid out in the Monsters Laugh Floor!
Took us a minute to figure out what was going on...That's pretty rude that they blocked your view for FoF! I agree that not all Cubs fans are bad, but come on!
Probably a good call to hide out with the Monsters. Once we figured out what was happening we were OUTTA THERE!It totally was! I've been wanting us to "properly" do Food & Wine for a couple of years now, so I was very happy with how our day went!
Wow, great resorts for your trip! I love AKL!!Loving your report!!!
First, I can't believe we were at poly at the same time! Love it there! You are right though, it's tight with 4 of us! We use the big bathroom for a lot of storage! Plus, we have two strollersWe transferred to AKL Friday-through Monday and were spoiled with a 1 bdrm! Omg it was heaven! A king bed which was great for going to bed at 8:30 Saturday night...sorry, I digress! Lol
Two strollers would be rough in those rooms for sure, but a 1-bedroom sounds heavenly!!
Haha, yep, that was me! Oh nooooo. That just means you have to renew your AP and go back next year!!
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Thank you!
Thanks for reading so far!Yay! Hi!!I'm here!! I'm here!!!
Thanks, appreciate that!
So it's this wall in Tomorrowland, by Tomorrowland Terrace...like if instead of going into the hub to get to Tomorrowland, you take a right in front of the Plaza and take that "hidden" path to Tomorrowland...it's the wall there. It's a big thing on social media, especially Instagram. If you search #purplewall or something similar you'll see a bunch of pictures of people in front of this wall. Somehow it's just a flattering background for everyone! Disney magic!
Ahhh, it was! Great daytime date, wouldn't you say? We loved it too!!
Thanks!Great start!!! I can't wait to read the rest
Yes, I agree! The Tiki Torch was great...I tried their cold brew later in the weekend and unfortunately I wasn't impressed. I should have gone for the vodka/Kaluha one!The Joffrey's stands were advertising so many yummy things this year- regret that I didn't try any! That Tiki Torch sounds great! You knocked out a lot of stops from Food and Wine on your first go- hoping you made lots more rounds later in your trip
We had a list of things to try and knocked out most of them on this first day, but we did go back!
Yes ma'am! Where were you staying? I love the Epcot resorts!! That's the area of Disney that really feels like "home" to me, as much as I loved the Poly. I had a few times where I would be riding back to the Poly on the monorail and it wouldn't hit me that I was going back to "my" resort because I still had it in my head that "my" resort was the Boardwalk!
They really are!! I can highly recommend the Italy pavilion cannolis and their crunchy shells. Boy, I could really go for one right now...I'm with you soggy cannoli shells are the worst!
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Thursday, November 3: Day 2, Part 2 (Expo, Part 1)
We headed to the Beach Club to catch a bus. I think the bus stopped at the Boardwalk first before continuing on to Wide World of Sports
We arrived at 2:45PM.
First stop was the HP Field House.
Two things I noticed immediately that you can see in this picture: 1. It was empty (Mr. A was so happy - the last expo he’d been to was for Princess in 2011, back when they had both bib pick-up AND the expo in the same building - so glad they don’t do that anymore!) And 2. LUMIERE WAS MEETING!!! AHHHHH! I gasped when I saw him!
I headed to get my challenge bib and Mr. A got his 10K bib, and we hopped in line!
EEK!
I had no idea he’d be here...apparently he did a set from 2-6 today. I've recently decided to just stop caring as much about runDisney merchandise - I have too much of it already and I'm sick of the craziness that happens when trying to buy stuff, I don't feel like lining up 2 hours before the expo opens, etc. So I decided I wanted us to arrive sometime later in the afternoon to miss the crowds. If it meant missing a t-shirt that had sold out that morning, whatever - it would still be a more pleasant experience. So now I’m extra glad we waited, because if we’d been there that morning - no Lumiere! Maybe this is the universe’s way of rewarding me for shopping less...
And as you can see, I was VERY happy to meet him! WHEEEE!
I headed back to get my 5K bib and then picked up my race shirts (for the 10K, half marathon and challenge).
Loved these quotes along the wall. As I was taking this picture (which, man - I need to put this on my bathroom mirror ASAP), @Dis_Yoda walked by and said hi! It was so funny because she said it super casually, like “hey Shannon.” And I'm like “hey.” Mr. A was surprised that it was the first time we'd met in person because he said we acted like we already knew one another. It was awesome to meet her!
This one really struck a chord with me. I'm ready for 2016 to GET OUTTA HERE!
I’d been given a card to go upstairs and pick up the race pins I had pre-ordered, so I went to do that. Here they had more merchandise, as well as MOST of the pins. I say MOST of the pins because there were no 10K pins - apparently the word “inaugural” had been misspelled on the pins ("inauguaral") as well as some of the other merchandise! The hilarious thing is, this is not the first time runDisney has had trouble with that word. I believe the same thing happened for the first WDW 10K in January. Oh, runDisney…
The CM told me there was some kind of shipping error...I just smiled and nodded (I’d seen the picture of the misspelled pin on Facebook, and there was a picture of a misspelled shirt in the merchandise preview on Disney Parks Blog, soooo...no great mystery there). Apparently the pin will be mailed to me at some point. We’ll see!
Continued in Next Post
We headed to the Beach Club to catch a bus. I think the bus stopped at the Boardwalk first before continuing on to Wide World of Sports
We arrived at 2:45PM.
First stop was the HP Field House.
Two things I noticed immediately that you can see in this picture: 1. It was empty (Mr. A was so happy - the last expo he’d been to was for Princess in 2011, back when they had both bib pick-up AND the expo in the same building - so glad they don’t do that anymore!) And 2. LUMIERE WAS MEETING!!! AHHHHH! I gasped when I saw him!
I headed to get my challenge bib and Mr. A got his 10K bib, and we hopped in line!
EEK!
I had no idea he’d be here...apparently he did a set from 2-6 today. I've recently decided to just stop caring as much about runDisney merchandise - I have too much of it already and I'm sick of the craziness that happens when trying to buy stuff, I don't feel like lining up 2 hours before the expo opens, etc. So I decided I wanted us to arrive sometime later in the afternoon to miss the crowds. If it meant missing a t-shirt that had sold out that morning, whatever - it would still be a more pleasant experience. So now I’m extra glad we waited, because if we’d been there that morning - no Lumiere! Maybe this is the universe’s way of rewarding me for shopping less...
And as you can see, I was VERY happy to meet him! WHEEEE!
I headed back to get my 5K bib and then picked up my race shirts (for the 10K, half marathon and challenge).
Loved these quotes along the wall. As I was taking this picture (which, man - I need to put this on my bathroom mirror ASAP), @Dis_Yoda walked by and said hi! It was so funny because she said it super casually, like “hey Shannon.” And I'm like “hey.” Mr. A was surprised that it was the first time we'd met in person because he said we acted like we already knew one another. It was awesome to meet her!
This one really struck a chord with me. I'm ready for 2016 to GET OUTTA HERE!
I’d been given a card to go upstairs and pick up the race pins I had pre-ordered, so I went to do that. Here they had more merchandise, as well as MOST of the pins. I say MOST of the pins because there were no 10K pins - apparently the word “inaugural” had been misspelled on the pins ("inauguaral") as well as some of the other merchandise! The hilarious thing is, this is not the first time runDisney has had trouble with that word. I believe the same thing happened for the first WDW 10K in January. Oh, runDisney…
The CM told me there was some kind of shipping error...I just smiled and nodded (I’d seen the picture of the misspelled pin on Facebook, and there was a picture of a misspelled shirt in the merchandise preview on Disney Parks Blog, soooo...no great mystery there). Apparently the pin will be mailed to me at some point. We’ll see!
Continued in Next Post
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Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Thursday, November 3: Day 2, Part 3 (Expo, Part 2)
Next up was the Josten Center - we needed to get my 5K shirt and Mr. A’s 10K shirt. I had a couple of other stops to make as well.
Not too crowded!!
We picked up our shirts and pulled to the side to try them on to make sure we were happy with the sizing (they have a booth set up to switch shirts if you need a different size). Once we decided we were, I headed to the official merchandise area. Hey...I said I was going to cut back on the merch, I didn't mean I was going to cut it out completely!
I was proud of myself for only buying a few things: I Did It shirts for the challenge and half marathon, Sweaty Bands for the challenge and half marathon, and a Wine & Dine weekend Christmas ornament. I have wanted race-specific Christmas ornaments since I started doing these things in 2011 and they FINALLY had one! Woohoo! I was able to use my AP discount on these things and my Disney Visa rewards.
Next, we headed to the runDisney booth to oogle the medals a bit. Seeing the 10K medal in person made Mr. A pretty excited!! Spoiler alert: it is, in my opinion, the best medal from the weekend. Here I ran into @bananabean and chatted with her for a bit, which was fun!
After that I made 2 more stops: the KT Tape booth (I’d experienced some IT Band pain during my last long run before this weekend, so I wanted a roll of tape just in case) and the SpiBelt booth (where I bought an original SpiBelt with a Minnie Mouse-inspired pattern). And we were heading out of the expo at 4PM!
It was SO nice to wait to come to the expo like this - in past years I have been there right at opening or even a few hours before opening, if possible, and have been scrambling for merchandise. This time we had space to move around and weren’t rushed at all...we could take our time looking at stuff and I didn’t spend as much money. I’m definitely going this route from now on!
We headed to our bus (which shared with the Grand Floridian and Shades of Green) and were back at the Polynesian. Mr. A hopped into the shower while I took pictures of all of my goods!
Bibs:
I Did it Shirts and Sweaty Bands:
3 of 4 pins...LOL:
And ornament:
I also got all of my stuff together for the 5K the next morning - how festive!
SIDENOTE: All of my race outfits and my chainmail capris are from here.
Continued in Next Post
Next up was the Josten Center - we needed to get my 5K shirt and Mr. A’s 10K shirt. I had a couple of other stops to make as well.
Not too crowded!!
We picked up our shirts and pulled to the side to try them on to make sure we were happy with the sizing (they have a booth set up to switch shirts if you need a different size). Once we decided we were, I headed to the official merchandise area. Hey...I said I was going to cut back on the merch, I didn't mean I was going to cut it out completely!
I was proud of myself for only buying a few things: I Did It shirts for the challenge and half marathon, Sweaty Bands for the challenge and half marathon, and a Wine & Dine weekend Christmas ornament. I have wanted race-specific Christmas ornaments since I started doing these things in 2011 and they FINALLY had one! Woohoo! I was able to use my AP discount on these things and my Disney Visa rewards.Next, we headed to the runDisney booth to oogle the medals a bit. Seeing the 10K medal in person made Mr. A pretty excited!! Spoiler alert: it is, in my opinion, the best medal from the weekend.
Here I ran into @bananabean and chatted with her for a bit, which was fun!After that I made 2 more stops: the KT Tape booth (I’d experienced some IT Band pain during my last long run before this weekend, so I wanted a roll of tape just in case) and the SpiBelt booth (where I bought an original SpiBelt with a Minnie Mouse-inspired pattern). And we were heading out of the expo at 4PM!
It was SO nice to wait to come to the expo like this - in past years I have been there right at opening or even a few hours before opening, if possible, and have been scrambling for merchandise. This time we had space to move around and weren’t rushed at all...we could take our time looking at stuff and I didn’t spend as much money. I’m definitely going this route from now on!
We headed to our bus (which shared with the Grand Floridian and Shades of Green) and were back at the Polynesian. Mr. A hopped into the shower while I took pictures of all of my goods!
Bibs:
I Did it Shirts and Sweaty Bands:
3 of 4 pins...LOL:
And ornament:
I also got all of my stuff together for the 5K the next morning - how festive!
SIDENOTE: All of my race outfits and my chainmail capris are from here.
Continued in Next Post
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Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Thursday, November 3: Day 2, Part 4
We headed to the bus stop - the only time we would do so all weekend - and caught a bus to Animal Kingdom. I think we had to stop at the Grand on the way.
We were about 5 minutes late for our ADR at Tiffins.
This was a reservation I’d been really excited to get. But as the trip got closer, I kept wondering if we should cancel. Mr. A seemed excited about it, so I kept it.
We checked in and checked out Nomad Lounge - very cool!
Lots of neat touches in our dining room.
Our server, Giancarlo, was awesome. He brought us some bread with a vinegar/molasses mixture:
Didn’t like this at all, unfortunately. The vinegar was overpowering and the bread was just so-so.
We stuck to water with this meal (well, mostly...I also ordered a Coke). For our entrees, Mr. A went with the Chermoula-rubbed Chicken, served with couscous, dried fruits, picholine Olives, Preserved Lemon and Harissa Yogurt:
He really liked this a lot. I tried some of his dish and it was good, but a little on the spicy side for me.
I ordered the Wagyu Strip Loin and Braised Short Rib: rainbow carrot, roasted peruvian potatoes, chimichurri:
WOW was this dish disappointing. The Wagyu beef was excellent, but the chimichurri wasn’t that good with it - I ended up scraping it off. The short rib was awful. It was just a lump of meat with a big portion of fat running through it...I had a small bite and it was dry and tasteless, not at all like other (excellent) short rib dishes I have had inside or outside of WDW. The potatoes were good, the carrot was okay. I ended up eating only half of this dish (the Wagyu and some of the potatoes), so it felt like a waste. I ended up getting a survey about this meal after we were done and I tore this dish to shreds (but made sure to compliment our server).
We settled the bill and got some kind of AP discount...may have been 20%? I’m not sure I would want to come back to Tiffins, unfortunately - this beef dish was really the only one that stood out to me and I didn’t even like it overall! The atmosphere and CMs were excellent, but it’s too much money when half the dish isn’t even that good to me. We’ll likely pick Yak & Yeti or go to Animal Kingdom Lodge the next time we want dinner in that area of WDW.
After dinner, I was hoping to catch the Tree of Life Awakening or a possible soft opening of Rivers of Light. But first, I wanted to check out the nighttime safari.
I HIGHLY recommend this!! It was totally different than the daytime safaris! I can’t remember the name of our CM, but he was hilarious - just way looser, I guess, than what we get during the day. And we saw tons of animals. There was a deer (whose name escapes me) just tearing around running laps, a black rhino, and 4 - yes, 4!! - lions! 1 male and 3 females, and they were walking around and everything! I’ve only ever seen lions sleeping during safaris, so this was extremely cool - especially to see so many of them!
For the most part I didn’t try to take pictures...but the LIONS!! You can sort of maybe see them here? Possibly?
It was interesting because we didn’t take quite the same path as the daytime safaris (no elephants during this one, for example). Apparently it wasn’t safe to do so? But really, very cool - a highlight of the weekend for sure.
We made our way back toward Discovery Island to stare at the Tree of Life for a bit...we saw the projections for a second and decided we were good, and headed out of the park. Of course now since I have been back, I have realized this was NOT the full awakening, so I’ll have to try to watch again in January.
Oops!
We grabbed a bus back to the Polynesian and headed straight to Trader Sam’s to grab a pager. There were only a couple of groups ahead of us!
We walked out back and sat down at one of the tables on the deck, only to get kicked out when a skipper realized we weren’t going to order anything. Makes sense I guess. Not a big deal though because our pager went off soon after!
In we go!!
This was my second time to this Trader Sam’s. Mr. A had only been to the one in Disneyland, so I was excited for him to see this one since there are so many more effects at the WDW location compared to the one in Disneyland.
The only open seating was at bigger table, so I was sure we’d be joined by others. Sure enough, a couple from Oregon and another from South Carolina sat down and we all chatted for the hour or so we spent there. It was fun! We were there long enough to see most of the “special” drinks get ordered (Krakatoa Punch - which I ordered, and which seemed to be the most popular of the night, Uh-Oa!, Polynesian Pearl, the Nautilus, HippopotoMai-Tai, Shrunken Zombie Head, Dark & Tropical Stormy…). Mr. A had a Castaway Crush and liked it. We each stuck to just one drink - Trader Sam’s does NOT skimp on the booze, no matter the coast!!
Krakatoa Punch!
We settled our bill, said goodbye to our tablemates and skipper and headed out. Fun evening at Trader Sam’s, but it was bedtime!!
Up next: Mickey’s Holiday 5k!
We headed to the bus stop - the only time we would do so all weekend - and caught a bus to Animal Kingdom. I think we had to stop at the Grand on the way.
We were about 5 minutes late for our ADR at Tiffins.
This was a reservation I’d been really excited to get. But as the trip got closer, I kept wondering if we should cancel. Mr. A seemed excited about it, so I kept it.
We checked in and checked out Nomad Lounge - very cool!
Lots of neat touches in our dining room.
Our server, Giancarlo, was awesome. He brought us some bread with a vinegar/molasses mixture:
Didn’t like this at all, unfortunately. The vinegar was overpowering and the bread was just so-so.
We stuck to water with this meal (well, mostly...I also ordered a Coke). For our entrees, Mr. A went with the Chermoula-rubbed Chicken, served with couscous, dried fruits, picholine Olives, Preserved Lemon and Harissa Yogurt:
He really liked this a lot. I tried some of his dish and it was good, but a little on the spicy side for me.
I ordered the Wagyu Strip Loin and Braised Short Rib: rainbow carrot, roasted peruvian potatoes, chimichurri:
WOW was this dish disappointing.
The Wagyu beef was excellent, but the chimichurri wasn’t that good with it - I ended up scraping it off. The short rib was awful. It was just a lump of meat with a big portion of fat running through it...I had a small bite and it was dry and tasteless, not at all like other (excellent) short rib dishes I have had inside or outside of WDW. The potatoes were good, the carrot was okay. I ended up eating only half of this dish (the Wagyu and some of the potatoes), so it felt like a waste. I ended up getting a survey about this meal after we were done and I tore this dish to shreds (but made sure to compliment our server). We settled the bill and got some kind of AP discount...may have been 20%? I’m not sure I would want to come back to Tiffins, unfortunately - this beef dish was really the only one that stood out to me and I didn’t even like it overall! The atmosphere and CMs were excellent, but it’s too much money when half the dish isn’t even that good to me. We’ll likely pick Yak & Yeti or go to Animal Kingdom Lodge the next time we want dinner in that area of WDW.
After dinner, I was hoping to catch the Tree of Life Awakening or a possible soft opening of Rivers of Light. But first, I wanted to check out the nighttime safari.
I HIGHLY recommend this!! It was totally different than the daytime safaris! I can’t remember the name of our CM, but he was hilarious - just way looser, I guess, than what we get during the day. And we saw tons of animals. There was a deer (whose name escapes me) just tearing around running laps, a black rhino, and 4 - yes, 4!! - lions! 1 male and 3 females, and they were walking around and everything! I’ve only ever seen lions sleeping during safaris, so this was extremely cool - especially to see so many of them!
For the most part I didn’t try to take pictures...but the LIONS!! You can sort of maybe see them here? Possibly?
It was interesting because we didn’t take quite the same path as the daytime safaris (no elephants during this one, for example). Apparently it wasn’t safe to do so? But really, very cool - a highlight of the weekend for sure.
We made our way back toward Discovery Island to stare at the Tree of Life for a bit...we saw the projections for a second and decided we were good, and headed out of the park. Of course now since I have been back, I have realized this was NOT the full awakening, so I’ll have to try to watch again in January.
Oops!We grabbed a bus back to the Polynesian and headed straight to Trader Sam’s to grab a pager. There were only a couple of groups ahead of us!
We walked out back and sat down at one of the tables on the deck, only to get kicked out when a skipper realized we weren’t going to order anything. Makes sense I guess. Not a big deal though because our pager went off soon after!
In we go!!
This was my second time to this Trader Sam’s. Mr. A had only been to the one in Disneyland, so I was excited for him to see this one since there are so many more effects at the WDW location compared to the one in Disneyland.
The only open seating was at bigger table, so I was sure we’d be joined by others. Sure enough, a couple from Oregon and another from South Carolina sat down and we all chatted for the hour or so we spent there. It was fun! We were there long enough to see most of the “special” drinks get ordered (Krakatoa Punch - which I ordered, and which seemed to be the most popular of the night, Uh-Oa!, Polynesian Pearl, the Nautilus, HippopotoMai-Tai, Shrunken Zombie Head, Dark & Tropical Stormy…). Mr. A had a Castaway Crush and liked it. We each stuck to just one drink - Trader Sam’s does NOT skimp on the booze, no matter the coast!!
Krakatoa Punch!
We settled our bill, said goodbye to our tablemates and skipper and headed out. Fun evening at Trader Sam’s, but it was bedtime!!
Up next: Mickey’s Holiday 5k!
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Sailormoon2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
I loved the White "I did it" shirts. I almost bought the long-sleeve version, but stayed economically frugal. Your ornament and 5K outfit are both soooo adorable. Really too bad about Tiffins, but there is such amazing dinning at AKL it's not that big a loss...now if only HS could get some better restaurants.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
I know I rather people greet me by my real name when I've 'known' them online long enough - makes it feel way less weird than "hey ariel!" I've gotten Dis_Yoda before which is fine too. It was nice meeting you and your husband! Too bad my husband was visiting his favorite ride (the lovely side effect of keeping hydrated for races!) or your husband might have known someone in his corral if you guys weren't running the 10K together!
We discovered the afternoon Expo relief at Dark Side this year and really enjoyed it. We also did Princess on Day 2 this year and it was a much better experience. We save our early morning Expo Rush for Star Wars - Light Side as I like their set up better for the Expo. I rather hang out in an air-conditioned conference center ballroom with a movie playing than the outdoor mess that is WDW Expo waiting line! It becomes a weird fun bonding experience with everyone in the room and if you have to get out of our square to get a coffee or use the restroom - people don't give you issues on going back to your spot!
Glad you guys had a better night time safari experience! Mine in September was a bust - it felt exactly the same as the day time safari we had done a few hours before (it was my girl friend's first time to Animal Kingdom and she LOVEs hippos and giraffes)
That sucks you got a bad short rib! You would think with the 72 hours that fat would have rendered out more and it would have been flavorful (I've gotten it twice - once with the dish you got and at lunch as part of the Taste of Tiffins) At least there are other great options at Animal Kingdom to eat lunch at with Yak & Yeti! Nomad Lounge also has a ton of fun cocktails to try!
Glad you were able to get in Trader Sam's quickly and got some yummy drinks! Can't go wrong with cocktails! Smart to stick to only 1 before the 5K the next day though.
We discovered the afternoon Expo relief at Dark Side this year and really enjoyed it. We also did Princess on Day 2 this year and it was a much better experience. We save our early morning Expo Rush for Star Wars - Light Side as I like their set up better for the Expo. I rather hang out in an air-conditioned conference center ballroom with a movie playing than the outdoor mess that is WDW Expo waiting line! It becomes a weird fun bonding experience with everyone in the room and if you have to get out of our square to get a coffee or use the restroom - people don't give you issues on going back to your spot!
Glad you guys had a better night time safari experience! Mine in September was a bust - it felt exactly the same as the day time safari we had done a few hours before (it was my girl friend's first time to Animal Kingdom and she LOVEs hippos and giraffes)
That sucks you got a bad short rib! You would think with the 72 hours that fat would have rendered out more and it would have been flavorful (I've gotten it twice - once with the dish you got and at lunch as part of the Taste of Tiffins) At least there are other great options at Animal Kingdom to eat lunch at with Yak & Yeti! Nomad Lounge also has a ton of fun cocktails to try!
Glad you were able to get in Trader Sam's quickly and got some yummy drinks! Can't go wrong with cocktails! Smart to stick to only 1 before the 5K the next day though.
Expo doesn't look crowded at all. I am planning on going to the WDW marathon expo in the afternoon instead of right away this time so I hope its not crazy then. Awesome that they had a Lumiere meet and greet!
Love the ornament. The I did it shirts are nice too.
Interesting thoughts on Tiffins. I have heard very good things about it. Glad you had good service though.
I can't wait to experience the night safaris.
Trader Says looks awesome. I don't know if it is worth it not being 21 yet. I know they have non-alcoholic drinks but I don't know.
Love the ornament. The I did it shirts are nice too.
Interesting thoughts on Tiffins. I have heard very good things about it. Glad you had good service though.
I can't wait to experience the night safaris.
Trader Says looks awesome. I don't know if it is worth it not being 21 yet. I know they have non-alcoholic drinks but I don't know.
TeeterTots
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2014
I am obsessed with your 5K outfit! I can't even tell you! It looks like they are sold out online so maybe I'll try the blue cable knit pants.
Omg I saw on your bib we were in the same corral for the half. Wish I would've seen you. I'll save my comments until then!
That's awesome you ran into Melissa "Dis_Yoda!" I promise I'll address you all by your first name and am often curious if fellow disers would recognize "TeeterTots" if I ever introduced myself.
I think I'll skip the early morning rush of future expos but I had no idea what to expect as a rookie.
Bummer Tiffins wasn't up to par, but Traders Sams is always a blast!
Omg I saw on your bib we were in the same corral for the half. Wish I would've seen you. I'll save my comments until then!
That's awesome you ran into Melissa "Dis_Yoda!" I promise I'll address you all by your first name and am often curious if fellow disers would recognize "TeeterTots" if I ever introduced myself.
I think I'll skip the early morning rush of future expos but I had no idea what to expect as a rookie.
Bummer Tiffins wasn't up to par, but Traders Sams is always a blast!
ZellyB
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2010
Bummer to hear the Tiffins wasn't very good. We aren't planning on going there in January, but it was definitely on my list to try sometime. I'm not sure we'll get a chance to try out the nighttime safari this go round, but glad to hear you had a good experience on it. I'd like to try it just to see the differences.
I'm a fan of going to the Expo later as well. We went early to W&D last year and it was insane and totally not worth it for any of the merchandise. I'll stick to showing up when it's convenient for us and if stuff is gone then so be it.
I've also got to give Trader Sam's a try. We've got the kids with us in January so we will have to wait for our Pixie Dust trip in May and give the Disneyland version a try.
I'm a fan of going to the Expo later as well. We went early to W&D last year and it was insane and totally not worth it for any of the merchandise. I'll stick to showing up when it's convenient for us and if stuff is gone then so be it.
I've also got to give Trader Sam's a try. We've got the kids with us in January so we will have to wait for our Pixie Dust trip in May and give the Disneyland version a try.
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
I was disappointed in Tiffins. But you're right about the amazing dining at AKL!
And TOTALLY right about HS!!I got a lot of "Are you Ariel-something"-type greetings that weekend!
Agreed, too bad the husbands couldn't meet. GAH, I am scared for Princess! I will be using the "go in the afternoon" approach for that one, for sure. I completely agree that the Disneyland set-up is WAY better. And I can see why you'd want to get there early for the Star Wars stuff!
Well that stinks! I guess that's the risk of doing a ride like that. Our driver said right after sunset is a good time to go, so I'm going to keep that in mind for the future.
Yeah...the fat was NOT rendered. I was surprised, and a little grossed out, to say the least. I did like the inside of the restaurant a lot and could see going back for cocktails - and I REALLY like Yak & Yeti so I know I'll be back there at some point!
Haha, yeah, 1 was the limit!
I mean...half of my dish was not edible. For $54, that's not acceptable to me.
They do have non-alcoholic options if you're able to get there before 8PM.
Yeah, their stuff is produced in limited runs, so it sells out. I have the blue cable knit capris but haven't actually worn them yet! They are so pretty.
Aw, bummer!
I definitely recognize people by their usernames! It's rare that I know people by their "real" names because I feel like they aren't mentioned as much here. It took me a bit to remember Dis_Yoda's "real" name because she doesn't mention it as much here.
I'm skipping the rush in the future, for sure. It was so much nicer this way!
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
FWIW, Mr. A did like teh dish that he ordered, and I liked half of mine...but for a signature I feel like the whole dish should have been good, and it wasn't.
This is my new attitude as well. So much better this way!
It's fun! The Disneyland one seems like it's a little easier to get into, I think because the WDW one is still new. Be careful - they DO NOT skimp on the alcohol at either location!
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Friday, November 4: Mickey’s Holiday 5K! Arriving
The alarm came at 4:15 or so this morning and I seriously contemplated just staying in bed...but I got up. I know, I know...I’m so brave, you guys.
I got dressed and made some coffee in the room. I think I was more nervous for this weekend than I realized, and now that it was finally here, my appetite was gone. I was suddenly feeling a lot of pressure...like, if the weekend went well, I’d gain a LOT of confidence for Dopey coming up in January. If it didn’t go well, it would confirm that I was rushing my recovery and was sort of an idiot who had wasted a LOT of money on a Dopey registration. I only took a few sips of coffee and had trouble getting the bagel down that I had brought from home...I only ended up eating maybe half of it.
Originally I had planned on getting an earlier bus for character meeting opportunities at the start, but sleep won out. I headed to the front of the Polynesian still well within the transportation time limits, and was surprised to find a group of irritated people waiting out front for a bus - apparently one hadn’t shown up for awhile. Thankfully there was a Mears employee there (Disney contracts their buses out for race weekends) and he was calling over and over to try to get us a bus for us and was apologizing profusely.
The buses officially stopped running at 5...our bus didn’t get there until after 5. And then we still stopped at Shades of Green and Grand Floridian before heading to Animal Kingdom. I knew we had plenty of time, though, as the race didn’t start until 6:30 and the staging area for this 5K is very small - just get off the bus and head right to the corrals!
We arrived at 5:30.
Here’s the whole set-up...finish line to the left, corral and starting line to the right:
I made a bathroom stop...Mickey and Minnie were meeting in their Christmas outfits, but since I’d chosen sleep over an earlier bus that morning (which...who knows if a bus would have even been there?) the line was huge. The race announcers said they’d be out after the race, so I decided to just head to the corrals a bit before 6 and get my M&M picture later.
Lemme say...it was toasty this morning, and each morning, for the races! The temperature wasn't bad at all, it was the humidity that was tougher to deal with. This morning it was 64 degrees with 92% humidity!
Snoap!
At one point, the race announcers asked where all the Cubs fans were...knife in my heart, guys, come on now!! To their credit, they did ask where the Cleveland fans were, and apparently I was the only one. Cleveland’s great, you guys, give it a try sometime!
The main mice came up to the stage just before 6:30...unfortunately they were blocked out by speakers and fake greenery!
Continued in Next Post
The alarm came at 4:15 or so this morning and I seriously contemplated just staying in bed...but I got up. I know, I know...I’m so brave, you guys.
I got dressed and made some coffee in the room. I think I was more nervous for this weekend than I realized, and now that it was finally here, my appetite was gone. I was suddenly feeling a lot of pressure...like, if the weekend went well, I’d gain a LOT of confidence for Dopey coming up in January. If it didn’t go well, it would confirm that I was rushing my recovery and was sort of an idiot who had wasted a LOT of money on a Dopey registration. I only took a few sips of coffee and had trouble getting the bagel down that I had brought from home...I only ended up eating maybe half of it.
Originally I had planned on getting an earlier bus for character meeting opportunities at the start, but sleep won out. I headed to the front of the Polynesian still well within the transportation time limits, and was surprised to find a group of irritated people waiting out front for a bus - apparently one hadn’t shown up for awhile. Thankfully there was a Mears employee there (Disney contracts their buses out for race weekends) and he was calling over and over to try to get us a bus for us and was apologizing profusely.
The buses officially stopped running at 5...our bus didn’t get there until after 5. And then we still stopped at Shades of Green and Grand Floridian before heading to Animal Kingdom. I knew we had plenty of time, though, as the race didn’t start until 6:30 and the staging area for this 5K is very small - just get off the bus and head right to the corrals!
We arrived at 5:30.
Here’s the whole set-up...finish line to the left, corral and starting line to the right:
I made a bathroom stop...Mickey and Minnie were meeting in their Christmas outfits, but since I’d chosen sleep over an earlier bus that morning (which...who knows if a bus would have even been there?) the line was huge. The race announcers said they’d be out after the race, so I decided to just head to the corrals a bit before 6 and get my M&M picture later.
Lemme say...it was toasty this morning, and each morning, for the races! The temperature wasn't bad at all, it was the humidity that was tougher to deal with. This morning it was 64 degrees with 92% humidity!
Snoap!
At one point, the race announcers asked where all the Cubs fans were...knife in my heart, guys, come on now!! To their credit, they did ask where the Cleveland fans were, and apparently I was the only one. Cleveland’s great, you guys, give it a try sometime!
The main mice came up to the stage just before 6:30...unfortunately they were blocked out by speakers and fake greenery!
Continued in Next Post
Last edited:
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Friday, November 4: Mickey’s Holiday 5K! Part 1
The National Anthem was sung by a Disney Vocalist, the one wheelchair racer started...and then at 6:30, it was Corral A’s turn!
3-2-1-GOOOOOO!!!!
The first mile of this race is very boring - as you can see on the course map, it’s just parking lot. I decided to forego intervals for this race and just ran the first mile straight through at a very relaxed pace.
Rafiki was meeting at the entrance to Animal Kingdom - I have met him before so I passed him up. But I did not pass up @Keels, who was volunteering as a course monitor that morning! Thanks for volunteering, Keels!
After Keels, I saw Baloo (again, passed him) and kept running! I don’t recall seeing on-course photographers until I was actually in the park during this race (actually, thinking about that more, I think that’s true of all of the races). As an annual passholder, I got race pictures for free this weekend. I was so impressed with the pictures i’d gotten during Tink that I made sure to mug for the cameras as much as possible! Granted, not all of the pictures were winners (running is not a beautiful sport sometimes), but some of them were pretty good!
The first PhotoPass picture I stopped for was in front of the Tree of Life (I wouldn’t classify this particular picture as one I was super impressed with, but I still like it)...here was where I got a better taste of what the awakening was as music was playing and there were animations on the tree. Definitely stopping to check this out in January!
And please note the sunglasses on my head. The past 2 times I have run this race, the sun has been up for it, so I assumed I’d need the sunglasses. I should have checked the time the sun was due to come up because I TOTALLY did not need them this year, so they were just sitting on my head the entire time.
See? Pitch black.
Hands in the air like I just don’t care!
Terk was up next with a short line, so why not?! I only waited a minute or so for this one. SIDENOTE: no PhotoPass photographer here, so this picture is a phone picture.
See the hat I’m wearing? I originally wanted to wear it as a headband, but I couldn’t get it to look quite right, so I went with the hat instead. With the humidity, that was probably not a great call - it’s tech fabric, so it breathes, but it was still warm! The long sleeves were a little tough too...I suffer for my art, I guess. “Art” = character photos at runDisney races. LOL!!
But, seriously...the sun wasn't up and there was an occasional cool breeze, which was great, but with that humidity I was sweating buckets! Again, not a beautiful sport.
Ew...anyway. New Rivers of Light seating! This was bizarre to see, since I haven’t been following the construction in Animal Kingdom at all.
Part of why I do these races is that I LOVE running through the parks in the dark!
I passed up a meet with King Louie, but put the brakes on in Dinoland for my #1 Duck!
This line took about 4 minutes.
Continued in Next Post
The National Anthem was sung by a Disney Vocalist, the one wheelchair racer started...and then at 6:30, it was Corral A’s turn!
3-2-1-GOOOOOO!!!!
The first mile of this race is very boring - as you can see on the course map, it’s just parking lot. I decided to forego intervals for this race and just ran the first mile straight through at a very relaxed pace.
Rafiki was meeting at the entrance to Animal Kingdom - I have met him before so I passed him up. But I did not pass up @Keels, who was volunteering as a course monitor that morning! Thanks for volunteering, Keels!
After Keels, I saw Baloo (again, passed him) and kept running! I don’t recall seeing on-course photographers until I was actually in the park during this race (actually, thinking about that more, I think that’s true of all of the races). As an annual passholder, I got race pictures for free this weekend. I was so impressed with the pictures i’d gotten during Tink that I made sure to mug for the cameras as much as possible!
Granted, not all of the pictures were winners (running is not a beautiful sport sometimes), but some of them were pretty good!The first PhotoPass picture I stopped for was in front of the Tree of Life (I wouldn’t classify this particular picture as one I was super impressed with, but I still like it)...here was where I got a better taste of what the awakening was as music was playing and there were animations on the tree. Definitely stopping to check this out in January!
And please note the sunglasses on my head. The past 2 times I have run this race, the sun has been up for it, so I assumed I’d need the sunglasses. I should have checked the time the sun was due to come up because I TOTALLY did not need them this year, so they were just sitting on my head the entire time.
See? Pitch black.
Hands in the air like I just don’t care!
Terk was up next with a short line, so why not?! I only waited a minute or so for this one. SIDENOTE: no PhotoPass photographer here, so this picture is a phone picture.
See the hat I’m wearing? I originally wanted to wear it as a headband, but I couldn’t get it to look quite right, so I went with the hat instead. With the humidity, that was probably not a great call - it’s tech fabric, so it breathes, but it was still warm! The long sleeves were a little tough too...I suffer for my art, I guess. “Art” = character photos at runDisney races. LOL!!
But, seriously...the sun wasn't up and there was an occasional cool breeze, which was great, but with that humidity I was sweating buckets! Again, not a beautiful sport.
Ew...anyway. New Rivers of Light seating! This was bizarre to see, since I haven’t been following the construction in Animal Kingdom at all.
Part of why I do these races is that I LOVE running through the parks in the dark!
I passed up a meet with King Louie, but put the brakes on in Dinoland for my #1 Duck!
This line took about 4 minutes.
Continued in Next Post
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Friday, November 4: Mickey’s Holiday 5K! Part 2
Mile Marker 2! Unfortunately, the park portion of this race was now done, and I later found out that I missed Santa Goofy somehow, so that's a bummer. Apparently my character radar wasn't fully functional this morning.
We headed out of the park, back behind Everest for an out-and-back before heading to the finish. I was very surprised to look over and see floats for Rivers of Light! They were under a huge roof with open sides and there were bright lights on...they were perfectly lit for pictures, so I stopped and took one. And was promptly scolded by a Cast Member who happened to be walking by!
I mean...if they wanted to keep this stuff secret, maybe put some tarps over this area when 12,000 people were about to run by?! I’m sure I’m not the only one who took pictures (because yes, I took another one on the way back. So there!).
So here it is, my illegal RoL picture - which, I'm pretty sure most of us have already seen pictures of this float *floating* around on the Internet (hardy har har) so…quite the scandal we’ve got here. I don't know about you, but I'm clutching my pearls in horror!!!!
Having said that, I'll embed this with a spoiler tag in case anyone is trying to avoid pictures…
Pluto was at the end of the out-and-back...by now I wanted to finish and hop in the Mickey and Minnie line, so I skipped him. The Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree was sitting nearby, not yet assembled.
Another RoL shot...I didn’t fully stop for this one, so it’s a little blurry. See?? They made zero effort to hide this!
Bye-bye Everest!
Mile Marker 3...
Hooray!
And the finish!
I collected my medal and post-race food/drink: a snack box, banana, Powerade and Water. And I hopped in the Mickey and Minnie line! It took 32 minutes (I timed it like a dork), but it was worth it! They really liked my Christmas Sweater.
And would you look at this medal?! Adorable and awesome!
I LOVE the plaid ribbon that matched the race bibs!
By now I was cutting it close to get to our breakfast ADR on time, so I high-tailed it out of there...I got on the bus back to the Poly a little after 8.
Snack box contents!
Up next - post-race face stuffing!
Mile Marker 2! Unfortunately, the park portion of this race was now done, and I later found out that I missed Santa Goofy somehow, so that's a bummer. Apparently my character radar wasn't fully functional this morning.
We headed out of the park, back behind Everest for an out-and-back before heading to the finish. I was very surprised to look over and see floats for Rivers of Light! They were under a huge roof with open sides and there were bright lights on...they were perfectly lit for pictures, so I stopped and took one. And was promptly scolded by a Cast Member who happened to be walking by!
I mean...if they wanted to keep this stuff secret, maybe put some tarps over this area when 12,000 people were about to run by?! I’m sure I’m not the only one who took pictures (because yes, I took another one on the way back. So there!).So here it is, my illegal RoL picture - which, I'm pretty sure most of us have already seen pictures of this float *floating* around on the Internet (hardy har har) so…quite the scandal we’ve got here. I don't know about you, but I'm clutching my pearls in horror!!!!
Having said that, I'll embed this with a spoiler tag in case anyone is trying to avoid pictures…
Pluto was at the end of the out-and-back...by now I wanted to finish and hop in the Mickey and Minnie line, so I skipped him. The Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree was sitting nearby, not yet assembled.
Another RoL shot...I didn’t fully stop for this one, so it’s a little blurry. See?? They made zero effort to hide this!
Bye-bye Everest!
Mile Marker 3...
Hooray!
And the finish!
I collected my medal and post-race food/drink: a snack box, banana, Powerade and Water. And I hopped in the Mickey and Minnie line! It took 32 minutes (I timed it like a dork), but it was worth it! They really liked my Christmas Sweater.
And would you look at this medal?! Adorable and awesome!
I LOVE the plaid ribbon that matched the race bibs!
By now I was cutting it close to get to our breakfast ADR on time, so I high-tailed it out of there...I got on the bus back to the Poly a little after 8.
Snack box contents!
Up next - post-race face stuffing!
Last edited:
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