Faith, Trust, And 58% Less Pixie Dust: A 2016 Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend Trip Report!

[Sailormoon2]

I LOVE all your photos!!!! Photopass did amazing! Looks like I'm going to have to splurge on MM for my Wine&Dine race weekend. I really love that medallion, the villains never get enough "play" so I'm super happy to see Hook on there Great comments on the race as a whole. I am new to rundisney but I can totally relate to wanting to do ALL the races. I've been creating my own "challenges" at local races for the last 10 years-so I totally get where you're coming from. It's good though that you've reached a place where you can step back and re-evaluate.

 

[rteetz]

Starting in Disneyland sounds awesome!

That corral situation seems very weird to me. I wouldn't have been happy had I arrived later either. I know Rudy wasn't announcing this race which was a big controversy how was the announcing?

I can't wait for January and race photos because everything I'm seeing from photopass looks great and yours back that up.

That time outside the park with no entertainment would be weird but I know from reading other reports that's normal.

Congrats on the finish and I really like the medal.

 

[roxymama]

I forgot the most important thing I wanted to comment on...PAIN FREE!!!???!! Woo-hoo!!!

 

[pxefig]

Hooray on the pain free! That's the win.
Yeah, it seems they've changed the course quite a bit from when I last ran it- when I did it finished along Paradise Pier where the orange swings are. It was really cool to walk around with your finishers medal and the WoC fountains going- I have so many pictures from that. I know for a while I was kicking around trying to get out there to do the 5k since you can't defer it, and honestly after reading your report I'm kind of glad I didn't jump through huge hoops to do it. And believe it or not, it's actually okay to #NOTrunalltheraces Other than Tink the only Disney 5k I've done was Avengers just because the first time they had the race there wasn't a 10k. But since most 5ks now are on Fridays which is one more day off of work, one more night hotel, lots of money for a little race- it's hard to feel like they are worth it. Especially once you get over the need to buy the official merchandise and be there the first day- the savings just start adding up really!
I love all of the pictures you took. Were those just on your phone? I didn't realize how much of an upgrade the 6s got from the 6 because those are pretty sharp shots!
What did your mom think of the race?

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

I for one am jealous of the rolling-out-of-bed-to-the-race thing! That combined with the time zone change probably made for a pretty easy morning getting up to the races. Those early mornings are seriously killer for me!

I LOVE that Disney has included race photos with photopass. It's a nice change when disney actually makes something "cheaper!"

That leap pic was definitely my favorite. But I love the ones with you and your Mom too. What a fun thing to do together. I'm still trying to get my MIL to run a Disney race with me!

I got to give you props on your attitude adjustment mid race. That's not easy to do, when you are disappointed with how things are going. It sounds like there were some legitimate things that would've rankled too!

 

[baxter24]

Congrats on finishing, especially pain free! Do you like running in your arm sleeves? I was able to buy some at the end of winter but not sure if I will like them or not.

 

[Ariel484]

Mile marker three...my first thought was how cool it would be to get a shot sitting in the chair...and then I started thinking about all the other sweaty people with the same thought, LOL.

I had the same thought! They did something similar at Princess the year I ran it - except that was a bed, so you were supposed to be like Sleeping Beauty and lay in the sweat of others? NOPE.

Your outfit really lent itself well to pictures. Just looking at the saturated colors against the dark sky background, really cool!

You're totally right, I didn't think about it but it does really pop since it was dark during the race. I love that outfit.

I had to take a double take at your picture with your medal. The icon on the bib matches the medal exactly and at first I thought you got awarded two medals.

looking at the picture I totally see what you are saying!! Maybe they just thought I was special and gave me two medals...! LOL

On the same page as you that maybe if I do Tink weekend I will likely do just the challenge. Especially since I have never done three races back to back. I say that now of course.

Yeah, I just don't know. Especially with the Disneyland races, there isn't as much variety in the courses - you're ALWAYS gonna go through the 2 parks and Downtown Disney. It just makes me think I wouldn't be missing much, ya know?

And you TOTALLY should do Tink weekend next year. All the cool people are doing it.

I LOVE all your photos!!!! Photopass did amazing! Looks like I'm going to have to splurge on MM for my Wine&Dine race weekend.

I know!! Especially for this being their second race weekend and first in Disneyland. So impressed!

I really love that medallion, the villains never get enough "play" so I'm super happy to see Hook on there

I so agree! They need a villains race weekend, I would be ALL over that!!

Great comments on the race as a whole. I am new to rundisney but I can totally relate to wanting to do ALL the races. I've been creating my own "challenges" at local races for the last 10 years-so I totally get where you're coming from. It's good though that you've reached a place where you can step back and re-evaluate.

Yeah I'm sure my opinion/view is different from someone who is newer to the races, for sure. The challenges are addicting but I would say maybe my mindset is starting to shift - it's just so tiring and expensive to do Disney challenges!

Starting in Disneyland sounds awesome!

it was very cool, especially with access to real bathrooms and the Tink fly over!

That corral situation seems very weird to me. I wouldn't have been happy had I arrived later either. I know Rudy wasn't announcing this race which was a big controversy how was the announcing?

he was not, it was Carissa and another woman (Kara?). To be honest, I heard no mention of Rudy all weekend and the announcing seemed fine to me. BUT - full disclosure - I have NEVER cared to listen to the announcers and always tune them out, so to speak, so I may not be the best person to ask.

I can't wait for January and race photos because everything I'm seeing from photopass looks great and yours back that up.

Photos were really great. If I hadn't gotten them for free there were 2 that I liked so much I definitely would have purchased them (the jumping one and one from the 10K).

That time outside the park with no entertainment would be weird but I know from reading other reports that's normal.

Congrats on the finish and I really like the medal.

Thanks!

I forgot the most important thing I wanted to comment on...PAIN FREE!!!???!! Woo-hoo!!!

Right??! Yay!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Hooray on the pain free! That's the win.

Yes it is!! It's a great thing!

Yeah, it seems they've changed the course quite a bit from when I last ran it- when I did it finished along Paradise Pier where the orange swings are. It was really cool to walk around with your finishers medal and the WoC fountains going- I have so many pictures from that.

Aw man! Now that you mention it, I remember looking at last year's map and thinking how awesome it would be to start AND end in a park. That sounds so cool.

I know for a while I was kicking around trying to get out there to do the 5k since you can't defer it, and honestly after reading your report I'm kind of glad I didn't jump through huge hoops to do it. And believe it or not, it's actually okay to #NOTrunalltheraces Other than Tink the only Disney 5k I've done was Avengers just because the first time they had the race there wasn't a 10k. But since most 5ks now are on Fridays which is one more day off of work, one more night hotel, lots of money for a little race- it's hard to feel like they are worth it. Especially once you get over the need to buy the official merchandise and be there the first day- the savings just start adding up really!

"Lots of money for a little race" - EXACTLY. It's definitely a lot! And doing multiple races in a weekend takes park time away and it's tiring! I just don't know if it's worth it anymore. ???

I totally need to look at it as saving money. I'm so responsible!

I love all of the pictures you took. Were those just on your phone? I didn't realize how much of an upgrade the 6s got from the 6 because those are pretty sharp shots!

Thank you! Funny you bring up the pictures - that is Revelation #4 from the trip!

The room pictures, wristlet pictures and the close-ups of the Ariel shoes were on a Canon DSLR. The rest of the non-PhotoPass pictures and the little videos are from my iPhone 6+ - not a 6S. I wish I had a 6S though, because other than the camera I am sick of this phone!!!

What did your mom think of the race?

She liked it! She said it was fun...I was like, "so you're totally doing the 10K next time, right?" And she's like "uhhhhhh"

So that's what may make me do the 5K next year - if SHE does it I would likely sign up, too. Or if my brother does it (he was non-too-pleased to not be on this trip with us).

I for one am jealous of the rolling-out-of-bed-to-the-race thing! That combined with the time zone change probably made for a pretty easy morning getting up to the races. Those early mornings are seriously killer for me!

the time zone change was awesome for this. The 5K was the earliest race (started at 5) and we were up at, like, 3:45. So that's an hour later than I'd get up for a WDW race, and it felt like 6:45 to us!

I LOVE that Disney has included race photos with photopass. It's a nice change when disney actually makes something "cheaper!"

So nice! And I bought my pass before that was included, so I was shocked to get them!

That leap pic was definitely my favorite. But I love the ones with you and your Mom too. What a fun thing to do together. I'm still trying to get my MIL to run a Disney race with me!

the leap picture is my #2 favorite (#1 favorite comes on 10K day). I like the shoes with my mom too, of course.

Mom was totally game to do the 5K! I'll have to see if she wants to do it again next year. Keep working on your MIL!!

I got to give you props on your attitude adjustment mid race. That's not easy to do, when you are disappointed with how things are going. It sounds like there were some legitimate things that would've rankled too!

That's definitely something I have been trying to work on - life is too short to be pissed off all the time, ya know?!

But having said that, yeah...it wasn't perfect. Hence my hesitation to sign up again for 2017.

Congrats on finishing, especially pain free! Do you like running in your arm sleeves? I was able to buy some at the end of winter but not sure if I will like them or not.

Thank you!!

Yeah, I did like the sleeves. I didn't expect to have them on the entire time, but once I got going I didn't notice they were there. I got "fitted" for mine, so to speak, so I think the fact that they were the right size made them comfortable. I hope you like yours!

 

[cavepig]

Yay for pain free! yeah like everyone & you said, that corralling is weird, getting there early should give you the front you would think, but lucky for you to end up in "A".
It is easy to get caught up in 'do all the races' syndrome, so it's probably good to rethink things. At least you got some great pictures & ran with your Mom.

 

[BigEeyore]

Congratulations! Your photo pass pictures are great! I was very happy with ours for the Dark Side last month - SO glad Disney made the switch! And free downloads with an AP? Yes please!

When I first looked at the course map you posted, I thought "how cool! They start IN the park by the castle!", but then the reality of that sinks in, especially with no corral assignments, and you have yourselves a bona fide cluster. They really could have done more with on course entertainment, too. I guess when you are limited to Peter Pan characters, the list just isn't that long, but still...they could have done better! The mile markers were amazing though, and your outfit really looks great in the pictures!!

 

[Ariel484]

Yay for pain free! yeah like everyone & you said, that corralling is weird, getting there early should give you the front you would think, but lucky for you to end up in "A".

Super weird. There were no markers or anything. It worked out really well for us, obviously, but not for those that got there earlier!

It is easy to get caught up in 'do all the races' syndrome, so it's probably good to rethink things. At least you got some great pictures & ran with your Mom.

Exactly, and I feel like maybe I'll make me appreciate the races I do participate in more? It's definitely something to think about.

Congratulations! Your photo pass pictures are great! I was very happy with ours for the Dark Side last month - SO glad Disney made the switch! And free downloads with an AP? Yes please!

Thank you! Yeah normally I'm not that into the race pictures, but boy, PhotoPass sure did do a nice job. I was happy to get them, such a nice perk for passholders!

When I first looked at the course map you posted, I thought "how cool! They start IN the park by the castle!", but then the reality of that sinks in, especially with no corral assignments, and you have yourselves a bona fide cluster. They really could have done more with on course entertainment, too. I guess when you are limited to Peter Pan characters, the list just isn't that long, but still...they could have done better! The mile markers were amazing though, and your outfit really looks great in the pictures!!

I had the EXACT same thought, about how cool it would be to start in the park! In reality, it was really not any better than starting outside of a park, and I could definitely see some limitations from it. It wasn't BAD for me (but then again, I did end up starting at the front).

Thanks for the compliments on the outfit!

 

[Ariel484]

Post-5K Breakfast!

We headed back to the room to shower and clean up.

Here's what was in the snack box...I only ate the applesauce (weirdly good) and the Oreos...because Oreos.

Random little shopping post, because I can’t remember the exact order of when I bought this stuff, so I’ll just toss it in here...

L-R: Disneyland 60th Anniversary Poster Wallet by Harveys (I have a larger version of this but I wanted the smaller one to use with smaller purses), Disneyland Hotel Pin, runDisney SweatyBand (the only official runDisney merchandise I purchased over the weekend - I think I went back to get this later Friday evening), 60th Anniversary Christmas ornament (because I must get a Christmas ornament during every Disney trip!) and the race pins:

We had an 8:30AM breakfast reservation right in our hotel at Steakhouse 55!

Coffee was a must:

Mom ordered the Two Times Four: Two slices of French Toast or two Pancakes, two Eggs any style, plus two Strips of Bacon and two Links of Sausage and choice of Fresh-cut Fruit or Roasted Potatoes with Peppers and Onions. She did not eat all of it!

I ordered the American Breakfast: Two Eggs any style with Ham, Bacon, or Sausage served with Toast or Bagel and choice of Fresh-cut Fruit or Roasted Potatoes with Peppers and Onions.

No picture of my wheat toast, but I trust you can imagine what that looks like!

Really solid breakfast. The place was about half-full, so we didn’t need the reservation, but I was glad I’d made it.

After breakfast, we headed to the Esplanade to upgrade mom’s ticket - as part of my buying the Travel Agent bib, I had to buy a 1-day base ticket, which I could give to my mom at the time since I already had my PAP (TA tickets are no longer transferable). We stopped to convert the ticket to a 1-day Park Hopper.

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Rain, rain, go away!

We headed into California Adventure! First stop: Radiator Springs Racers Fastpass distribution. My mom didn’t want to ride, so I got to get 2 fastpasses for myself!

No worries on getting sunburned during this trip!

We headed back up to the front of the park to grab some Starbucks. The place was almost empty! We put in our orders and I ran into @MommaoffherRocker and her husband - yay for DISmeets! They were there to run the half and we chatted for a bit.

Mom and I took a seat to drink our coffees. While there, I made some reservations for the Wine & Dine trip Mr. Ariel484 and I are taking in November!

And suddenly, Starbucks was starting to fill up - it was raining outside!! So we stuck around for a bit until it lightened up, then went to the front of the park to browse the shops.

Donald and Daisy were inside, hiding from the rain! And Donald was wearing...something!

Seriously...whaaaat is he wearing?!

He tried to mime that he liked my ears, and I just so did not understand what he was trying to “say.” He stamped his foot in frustration at my stupidity. Hence my laughing in the picture.

After coffee, we headed over to pick up a Tower of Terror Fastpass!

Single rider actually ended up being way shorter than the FP return for Radiator Springs, so that’s what I did (twice). Love this ride!

After those two rides, I cashed in my ToT fastpass and we headed over to Paradise Pier. We checked the wait time at Cove Bar - 1 hour! Ouch! It was weird because they had TONS of open tables in the newer section, but maybe they didn’t want to seat people because the tables were wet? I was confused.

But they took my cell number down to text me when a table was ready for us, so we decided to just walk around the pier and browse the shops.

Mermaid was a walk-on, so we did that too. My mom occasionally suffers from vertigo (I was hoping she could try RSR, but she said just watching it made her dizzy ) but I figured she could handle mermaid. She could!

We did get stuck at one part though - right here!

Right when we got out of our clamshell, I got a text from Cove Bar - our table was ready! The wait had only been 25 minutes, not an hour like they had said. We had a 10-minute window to check in after the text was sent, so we headed on over.

I ordered a Melrose off of the secret drink menu - this was sooooo good, but a little strong. I’m a lightweight though!

My mom ordered a Hard Root Beer. It was one of those things where she liked it on the first sip, but less so as she drank it more. You'd think the alcohol in the drink would have the opposite effect...

We both ordered Fajita Quesadilla Rolls - yum!!!

@Mimsy Borogove was also at Cove Bar and she came by to say hi on her way out! Yay!! So happy to meet her and chat for a bit.

After lunch we walked around the rest of the park. My big regret from this trip is that we didn’t get to ride Soarin’ - I know she could have handled that one, and I wanted to ride the “California” version one last time. But if I remember correctly, the wait time was 50 minutes or something and fastpasses didn’t work for some reason. Boo!

I wasn’t sure exactly what our plans would be for this evening, so we grabbed World of Color fastpasses in case we decided to come back later. My big goals for this trip were to see the nighttime offerings: World of Color (because LOVE), Paint the Night and Disneyland Forever. I’ve seen World of Color a few times but hadn’t seen Paint the Night or Disneyland Forever yet.

By now we were both ready for a nap! We headed back to the room to pass out for a bit. Once we woke back up, I got my stuff together for the 10K the next morning:

Continued in Next Post

 

[Ariel484]

Hop!

Then we headed to Disneyland Park!

It was a double Starbucks kind of day!

We headed back to Fantasyland. I’m sure we went through Tomorrowland first so I could check on/get Hyperspace Mountain fastpasses, but I can’t remember for sure (I picked up SO many fastpasses this trip that I never ended up using - oops!).

LOL at the guy in the grey shirt!

Okay, mom...I know you can handle this one!

She could! Yay!

This one too! I wanted to make sure we went on Pirates because I was pretty sure I’d read that it was going down for refurb at some point this weekend!

I can’t quite remember what else we did. I know we checked on Haunted Mansion, but the wait was too long. Ditto for Splash. Should have gone to the Tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki room! Fail on my part.

Dinner was at the Plaza!

After dinner, we decided to stay in the park and attempt to watch Paint the Night. Before this trip, I’d been to Disneyland twice since this parade premiered, and that was enough to tell me that watching it anywhere but Main Street was probably the best idea. We’d already seen that Main Street was packed and that people were saving spots with blankets and whatnot...sigh. So we headed back into Fantasyland and found a spot close to Small World, which is right where the parade begins. I believe we got there 20-30 minutes before it started.

And then it began! We were happy with our spot - we could see well and had room to breathe!

I’m not really a big parade person, but after hearing how amazing this one was, I wanted to make sure to see it. I did enjoy it!

After the parade ended, we waited a bit for the crowds to thin out and headed toward the front of the park. I wanted to stay to watch Disneyland Forever, but Main Street was still SO crowded, and I did have another early wake-up call for tomorrow, so we decided to just bag it. Plus, to go with Revelation #2 (“Maybe I don’t need to do alllll the races”), I was already feeling a little worn out from the first wake-up call. That’s definitely not as much of an issue if one does less races during these weekends.

We stopped at Starbucks on the way out - mom wanted to buy a coffee mug at some point, and I really like the Starbucks 60th anniversary mug that I have at home, so I wanted to show her that as a possibility. She liked it too, so we stopped to grab one.

(from here, because I am to lazy to take a picture of mine)

After that, we headed toward the exit. It’s a good thing we did, too. As we had been making our way to the front of the park, an announcement played that the fireworks would possibly be delayed due to high winds. I’ve heard that it’s not uncommon for this show to get canceled, so I wondered if that would happen here. They were playing the “this show may be canceled” announcement just as we were leaving the park.

Later in the trip we realized that we could hear the fireworks from our room...we never heard them that night. So the show did end up getting canceled! Eek!

We headed back to the room and I think we were in bed before 10. 10K recap is here!

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

How fun that you met up with some Dis-ers! I love that.

I am so excited to finally see Paint the Night. I like my small town parade every summer, but it wasn't until FOF that I was really entertained by a parade. I'm sure Paint the Night is even better. If you're not a parade person and liked it, that says something

 

[Sailormoon2]

Radiator Springs looks very cool, that wasn't there on my last trip to DL. And It's clearly much easier to navigate the DL paper FP system, just more walking, which I am never opposed to.
That parade looks incredible. Again, it's been years since I've even seen MSEP, so that's on the list for November (and FOF) when I go solo as DH is not a parade person (like you).

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Wow, great recap of the 5K! I totally agree on the easiness of DL races, especially with the time change (EDT for me) it felt like I got to sleep in! So strange about the corral-less 5K, you'd think that they'd have something to help everyone line up in a more orderly fashion? I run a local 5K that usually has a few thousand participants and they still have pace signs on sticks that you line up behind. But maybe since rD 5Ks are more "fun run" than a race, that's why? I don't know. I totally agree on not running #alltheraces - Dopey was only my second rD 5K and they're really not my thing because of ROI; of course I reserve the right to change my mind if my husband decides he'd like to do a Star Wars one with me next year!

PhotoPass was amazing! I thought they did a great job at Dark Side weekend last month and of course I was pleased to get the photos free when I'd just paid over $100 to MarathonFoto in January! So awesome that they included yours with your previously-purchased PAP (which I'm still really jealous of, BTW!). Love the mid-leap shot, too! Girl, you don't look like you just came off a major injury to me, and that's a very, very good thing! Yay!

So nice that you were able to do a race weekend on Mother's Day with your mom! And I'm glad she was able to go on a few rides with you. My mom has similar issues, so I know exactly what you're talking about. It's the reason I love coasters - my dad coerced me on accompanying him on them from a young, formative age! It sounds like a really nice weekend so far.

@Mimsy Borogove was also at Cove Bar and she came by to say hi on her way out! Yay!! So happy to meet her and chat for a bit.

Aw, you are too sweet to say so and it was so nice to meet you in person as well. In my awkward shyness, I forgot to tell you that your BB-8 hoodie was too cool and it's what caught my eye on my way out (I may or may not have a slight BB-8 obsession ). I also thought it was weird that that whole new section at Cove Bar was empty when they were telling everyone at least an hour wait. But maybe they underestimated crowd sizes and didn't have enough staff that day? I don't know, but they did open it up later in the weekend.

I love the Harvey's wallet, all those retro attraction posters are so cool! Enjoying your TR and race recaps, looking forward to the 10K.

 

[SarahDisney]

Okay, apparently I missed and lot and have to catch up now ...

We were up and on our way. The start for the 5K is actually IN Disneyland Park, so all we had to do was walk from our hotel through Downtown Disney and into the park. We headed through bag check and found ourselves on Main Street by 4:25AM.

That may actually be the greatest thing ever. Starting the race in the park. So cool!

So while we were standing there, I actually decided to pull up the course map (that's a bad habit I have - signing up for races and then not looking at the map ). And it occurred to me that by arriving late and ended up where we were, we were actually right at the front near the starting line! The announcers kept referring to "corrals" even though there were no assignments, signs, etc. Eventually it was confirmed that we had found ourselves in "corral A." And I felt sooooo bad for everyone that had arrived earlier, because they were in the back corrals. I would have been so angry!

So ... this is interesting. But good info to have ... because I would for sure show up first hoping to be in corral A. Now I know that I can sleep in a bit (because, well, sleep) and have a better chance to being in the first corral.

About 5 minutes before the race began, Tink did a flyover! Cool!

That is super awesome! Why can't they do that at WDW? Tinker Bell can totally fly over the Epcot parking lots, right???

I had my running watch with me, but really no idea when to start it since I didn't know where the starting line was! The 5K races at Disney are not officially timed (unless you run the WDW 5K as part of the Dopey Challenge), so with no timing mat to run over or starting line to run under, I didn't know where the course "officially" began. There was a small PANDORA sign off to the side of the course (they are the main sponsors of Tink Half Weekend), so I figured that must be the starting line. That's when I started the watch.

That would totally drive me crazy. The only time I ever did a race without a big start line was a small local race ... and that had timing mats (and I still started my watch early because I was nervous). No sign showing you where it officially starts? This is a weird race!

Like I said, I hadn't really looked at the course map ahead of time, so I was thrown for a loop when we left the park already! What?! The rest of the first mile was outside of the park near an overpass, and it was BORING. No entertainment whatsoever, except that I must've heard the song "Following the Leader" approximately 1345897394 times that morning. They just played that on the speakers. That doesn't count as on-course entertainment, Disney...not impressed! And I felt dumb because I'd assured my mom that it was no big deal that she'd forgotten to bring earphones to use during the race - Disney would keep her entertained! Oops.

Really? No entertainment backstage? That's kinda sad.

They sure did put some effort into the Mile Markers though...

Holy cow. That mile marker is awesome!

At this point the race was almost halfway over, and I was none-too-pleased about the lack of entertainment. I quickly decided to have an attitude adjustment - I was here in Disneyland for the weekend, I was running through the park, heck, I was running AT ALL! So why spend the rest of the race being upset about things I couldn't control when I could choose to have fun instead?

YES!!! I love this!
Sometimes it's easy to get discouraged when things aren't as amazing as you expect. But ... you're running in a Disney race. In the Disney parks. That's an awesome race, whether there's on-course entertainment or not!

So I stopped to greet these random pirates.

I love it!

And then it was time for Cars Land! Why not take some pictures?

Yay Cars Land!

It seems my umbrellas helped me take flight!

Okay, so ... either I have no sense of space (highly possible) or you're like 3 feet off the ground there. Awesome!

And Mile Marker 2!

This mile totally screams "Pirates of the Caribbean" to me!

Now it was time to head to Paradise Pier - my favorite area of Disneyland Resort! Surprised that the Death Wheel wasn't lit up.

Yes! My favorite part of Disneyland Resort too But definitely weird that Mickey's Fun Wheel of Death wasn't lit up.

One of them yelled out to me asking if I had any stories for them. My mind was totally blank...oops!

I think you should have told them the story of Princess Shannon, who came back from injury to rock the 5K!

Met back up with mom in this stretch!

You both look like you're having fun!

"Oh, she brought umbrellas...we could fly away with those!"

OMG! I love that!
Also ... I was very excited to see this picture on INKnBURN's Instagram account!

Somewhere in here I got a text from my mom that she had finished! She beat me!!

Well ... it happens sometimes, I guess...

Eventually I finished, too!

Yay!!

But hey...I was able to complete the 5K pain-free, and my mom enjoyed it. That's what really matters!

Pain-free is awesome, and it's great that your mom enjoyed the race!
Every race is an experience, and even if what you learned from this race is that you don't want to do the 5Ks anymore ... you wouldn't have known that without doing this race.

L-R: Disneyland 60th Anniversary Poster Wallet by Harveys (I have a larger version of this but I wanted the smaller one to use with smaller purses), Disneyland Hotel Pin, runDisney SweatyBand (the only official runDisney merchandise I purchased over the weekend - I think I went back to get this later Friday evening), 60th Anniversary Christmas ornament (because I must get a Christmas ornament during every Disney trip!) and the race pins:

Lots of great merch! I've never really be interested in the Harveys wallets/bags, but they're definitely very interesting!

We headed back up to the front of the park to grab some Starbucks. The place was almost empty! We put in our orders and I ran into @MommaoffherRocker and her husband - yay for DISmeets! They were there to run the half and we chatted for a bit.

Yay DISmeet!!

Seriously...whaaaat is he wearing?!

I don't know. I really don't.
But you look great

Mermaid was a walk-on, so we did that too. My mom occasionally suffers from vertigo (I was hoping she could try RSR, but she said just watching it made her dizzy ) but I figured she could handle mermaid. She could!

Yay for your mom being able to do Little Mermaid! It may not be Radiator Spring Racers, but that's a solid attraction! (Even if they queue isn't as fun as the one in Florida)

@Mimsy Borogove was also at Cove Bar and she came by to say hi on her way out! Yay!! So happy to meet her and chat for a bit.

Yay DISmeet #2!

I wasn’t sure exactly what our plans would be for this evening, so we grabbed World of Color fastpasses in case we decided to come back later. My big goals for this trip were to see the nighttime offerings: World of Color (because LOVE), Paint the Night and Disneyland Forever. I’ve seen World of Color a few times but hadn’t seen Paint the Night or Disneyland Forever yet.

World of Color is the best.
(I mean, I haven't seen Paint the Night or Disneyland Forever yet, but ... World of Color!!)

It was a double Starbucks kind of day!

Double Starbucks days are awesome. Even if they sometimes mean there was less sleep than there should have been.

And then it began! We were happy with our spot - we could see well and had room to breathe!

Yay for finding a good spot!
And OMG those pictures ... looks beautiful!

We headed back to the room and I think we were in bed before 10. 10K recap is next!

Early bedtimes ... that's definitely one of the downsides of races.
I'm excited to read the 10K recap!

 

[rteetz]

That breakfast looks great! I probably would've ordered what your mom did.

Carsland looks awesome and it's one of the big reasons I want to go to Disneyland.

At first I though Donald was maybe wearing like a sports jersey but then I don't understand what's on his head. Such a weird outfit.

RSR is something I have to experience. That sucks your mom couldn't go on it.

The little mermaid ride is always fun.

The cove looks good. I think my being hungry right now makes it look even better.

I love the DL small world especially the way it looks at Christmas time and how it goes outside.

The plaza seems like a solid choice!

Paint the night looks awesome and I really wish they would change or update the MSEP in WDW.

That mug looks cool. I personally like the Starbucks you are here mugs.

 

[roxymama]

I know what Donakd is wearing!! I know because I have my pawpaw's old yearbooks. It's a freshman hat from the 20's/30's. Freshmen guys wore them in college (maybe high school too.). He's got his college sweater and beanie on!!! Here's examples




Edited to add... I finally made the connection that this is what Jughead is wearing in all the Archie comics!