A Cancellation, A Proposal and A Lot of Food - Marathon Weekend 2017 COMPLETE!

[pkondz]

Unacceptable.

Stupid life. Always getting in the way...

It can't cost that much to ship them to Canada...

Nah. Practically free.

That sounds right. Or maybe it was Charles?

Nope. Too snooty. Sorta sounds like a future Monarch of ours or something.
I wonder if he'll keep his name? Thoughts?

You must check it out on your next trip!

By then, maybe it will have been replaced in the remodel of Disney Springs to Disney Vista.

*pulls out calculator* $387.48 actually.

I was rounding up for brevity.

It was great! We used it on our Disneyland trip as well, and I saw the vending machines in the Orlando airport and the Minneapolis airport as well.

Oh, really! Hmmm.... must look into this a bit more I think.

I'll let you know once we book our flights for our next trip, so you can be at the airport ready to jump in my suitcase.

Sounds good!

 

[CatNipRules]

Joining in. My dog is also more comfortable staying at home with his dog sitter. He doesn't like the car and always panics whenever we mention go for a ride. So, our sitter comes to the house.

Looking forward to reading more...

 

[fallonkendra]

January 4, 2017 - Part One​

Our original plans included a breakfast ADR at 8:15am on this morning, however once we found out that the Race Expo wasn't opening until noon (as opposed to the 10am we thought), we were able to move our reservation to 9:15am. I will always agree with more sleep! Our alarm went at 7:30, but we hit snooze and slept until a little after 8am. Once I was able to drag myself out of bed, we got ready and headed to the bus stop - which was right across the road from our room - so handy!

I can't remember if I mentioned it already or not, but we were in building #35 - here's what it looked like:

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Our room was on the first floor, on the left side of this picture (kind of underneath that staircase that you can see there).

Once we arrived at the bus stop, the internal shuttle came almost immediately! We could have hopped on any bus that came along, but this was just the first one We didn't have a very long ride, the Turtle Pond Bus Stop was the last one before Hospitality House (the main building) - which is where we hopped off. Our breakfast reservation was at Olivia's Cafe - you can read that review here

After we finished eating, we went back to our room and brushed our teeth and packed my purse. Then it was back to the main building so we could catch the shuttle bus to the Race Expo!

We ended up arriving at the ESPN Wide World of Sports around 11:30, and the race expo wasn't scheduled to open until noon, but quite a few things were already open. We were able to grab our 5k tshirts and bibs with zero wait.

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Once we had our 5k stuff in hand, the line for the half and full marathon had begun moving so we jumped into that line so Luke could grab his half marathon shirt and bib. I love that the race shirts show the parks you run through on the sleeve (Luke's 10k shirt from last year had Epcot, the half marathon shirts show Epcot and Magic Kingdom and the full marathon has all 4 parks).

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When the 2017 runDisney New Balance shoes were released online, Luke got excited since the Toy Story ones were the exact style of shoe he wears for running. He tried to sign up for the Virtual Queue the night before, but the website wasn't working properly - by the time he got it to work it kept giving him times in the evening, which wasn't going to work for us. We decided to stop by anyway, and one employee said she could help us since Luke did technically have a time. Luke knew he wanted the Toy Story ones, and they are awesome!

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The lady helping us asked me if I wanted to try a pair on, and I made a spur of the moment decision and asked for the Haunted Mansion ones . I tried them on, and even though I don't typically wear New Balance shoes (I love my Asics), they were so pretty they just had to come home with me...

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The shoes are pricey, but they are so comfortable! We both wore them on our Disneyland trip at the end of January, and had zero issues or pain. Luke told me that his Toy Story ones are even nicer than all his other sneakers despite being the exact model he always buys. He thinks they might have extra cushioning?

We also spent a small fortune on runDisney merchandise:

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We each bought one of these bright orange shirts. The actual tshirts you get for the 5k are just cotton, but I wanted a technical shirt from the race and this one was really cute

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I also bought the 2017 runDisney Christmas ornament, but I don't have a picture of that...

I loved the runDisney Dooney & Bourke, but I couldn't justify the price tag since I had just bought myself the Haunted Mansion Dooney a few month prior...

We then caught the bus back to OKW to drop off our purchases, and pack a park bag.

Next: Time for our first park!

 

[Raeven]

I like the yellow long sleeve and the Haunted Mansion NBs a lot. So cute!

 

[fallonkendra]

Joining in. My dog is also more comfortable staying at home with his dog sitter. He doesn't like the car and always panics whenever we mention go for a ride. So, our sitter comes to the house.

Looking forward to reading more...

Welcome! Thanks for reading

Yeah, my little dog hates the car...even more so after getting in a car accident last week when he was with me. Poor little guy - none of us were hurt, but the dogs did not know what was going on.

I like the yellow long sleeve and the Haunted Mansion NBs a lot. So cute!

The sneakers are so comfortable! I love them, and can't wait until I can actually wear them - it's way too gross here, I can't wear them in the snow and risk ruining them!

 

[ariane37]

I love those HM sneakers! @Whit64130 recently showed me other NB RunDisney shoes including a gorgeous pair of LM ones she has, I had no idea they all existed! I need to find me some.......

 

[fallonkendra]

I love those HM sneakers! @Whit64130 recently showed me other NB RunDisney shoes including a gorgeous pair of LM ones she has, I had no idea they all existed! I need to find me some.......

I know the Little Mermaid New Balances were one of the 2016 runDisney shoes, and I regret not buying them at the Expo when we were there in January 2016.

The Haunted Mansion ones glow in the dark! They are so awesome!

You'll just have to sign up for a runDisney event so you can buy some

 

[fallonkendra]

January 4, 2017 - Part Two​

After dropping off our runDisney merchandise (and our awesome new sneakers), and packing up a park bag, we headed back out to the bus stop. I loved how close it was to our room - I'm sure I'll mention that a lot in this trip report! We didn't have to wait too long before our bus pulled up and we were finally off to our first park - Epcot!​

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Once we reached the park, we had to stop by a ticket booth to activate our tickets - we had purchased 7-day tickets using the Canadian discount, so we needed to show our passports to prove we were Canadian citizens. This was very easy, and it wasn't too long before we were heading over and tapping our Magicbands to enter the park ​

We stopped for our first photopass pictures of the trip -​

Before I start posting too many pictures of myself, I feel like I need to explain something. You'll notice in some of my pictures that my hair is insanely messy, or I'm wearing scarves, or you can see a bit of a rash on my face/neck. I started noticing problems with my skin shortly before leaving on this trip, and right after I returned to Canada from this trip, I ended up on a round of antibiotics due to how bad my skin was. It's all due to psoriasis - an auto-immune disease that leads to abnormal skin. It's mainly focused on my scalp, so it was sometimes really difficult to brush my hair - and by the end of the trip I just gave up due to how painful it was. So, I apologize now for the terrible hair you will see in this trip report, but I wasn't going to let anything bring my trip down (if you read my 2016 trip report, you know I also have Crohn's disease and it did take me down and out for a day on that trip - I did have zero issues with that disease on this trip though - so win?).​

And now, back to the trip report...

My mom was currently in New Brunswick visiting my grandmother, who has been hospitalized for months now, so I decided to Facetime them so they could see some of the park We started walking while Facetiming until we reached the Starbucks. The one thing Luke told me he really wanted to get on this trip was the Starbucks "You Are Here" mugs that they make for each park, so he headed in to buy his first one These things are really nice, and are quite large.

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While he was in Starbucks, I said my goodbyes to my mom and Nanny, with promises to Facetime them again the next day. When Luke came out, he had also made the decision to order drinks for us both - a Berry Hibiscus Refresher for me and some fancy iced coffee for him. Apparently we were both thirsty, since we had our drinks polished off by the time we reached Norway for our first Fastpass (and first ride) of the trip - Frozen Ever After!​

The line for this was insanely long, no way would I wait 105 minutes for any ride!​

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The Fastpass line was long, but it was moving fairly quickly. We were right behind a family with a teenage girl who was snapchatting EVERYTHING. Seriously, why do you need to take 4 million pictures of the wall, or your feet, or you making weird faces while in line? Ugh, anyways... we finally made it to the front of the line and were placed into the front row of a boat. My pictures aren't the greatest, but I didn't feel like pulling my real camera out of my bag, so these were all taken with my iPhone.​

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We also had no idea there was an on-ride photo, since I had refused to do much research on the ride (I wanted it to be a surprise ), so that's why we look so stunned in the picture hahaha...​

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As for the ride - I'm one of those people who LOVED Frozen, so I loved this. I know there's a lot of complaints about it being in Norway, and not really fitting with the original Epcot theme. My first time to Epcot was in 2016, so I never had a chance to ride Maelstrom. I personally have no issues with Disney adding more of their own characters to the park.

We noticed that the wait time to meet Anna and Elsa wasn't terrible, it was listed as being only 20 minutes so we got into line for our first character meet of the trip (and surprisingly, the first face characters we've ever met!). The wait time was pretty much exact, and 20 minutes later we were led into a room to meet the sisters. They were so much fun, really in character. They were very intrigued by Luke's tshirt, and decided that Gerald was an anterless reindeer . One of the character handlers in the room was extremely friendly, and very bubbly - she made up a song on the spot about Gerald the anterless reindeer (sung to the tune of Rudolph) and sang it to us.​

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The thing in Luke's hand is what we decided to get autographed - it was the sleeve from a record that was released as a Record Store Day limited edition release in 2016. It ended up getting pretty beat up by the end of the trip, but I love how it turned out!​

 

[Raeven]

I also didn't read anything about the ride and had no idea there was a picture which turned out not well at all because I was trying to avoid the splash because it was cold out when we rode

I don't get Snapchat. I asked my younger sister about it and she laughed apparently if you have to ask how/why to use something like that you're old now

I don't think your hair looks messy at all! I like your braids. Florida makes a horrible mess out of my hair most the time.

 

[ariane37]

we headed back out to the bus stop. I loved how close it was to our room -

When we stayed at OKW back in 2007 we had a bus stop right outside our building and it was awesome, especially since the boys were 5 and 2 then. I just can't remember what building lol!

So, I apologize now for the terrible hair you will see in this trip report,

Please I'm so sorry you're dealing with that but your hair looks 100% better than mine when the Florida humidity gets to it, and I don't have psoriasis!

teenage girl who was snapchatting EVERYTHING. Seriously, why do you need to take 4 s million pictures of the wall, or your feet, or you making weird faces while in line?

Um, this isn't limited to teen girls, Ricky and his friends do it, too. We'll be in the car and he'll take a picture of his feet-what??? and post on snapchat. I guess I'm old because I don't understand that crap!

The thing in Luke's hand is what we decided to get autographed - it was the sleeve from a record that was released as a Record Store Day limited edition release in 2016.

I don't think I ever commented on that when you posted about it in your PTR but I think it's such a cool idea! I'd love to see a picture of the finished product

 

[pooksma]

Looking forward to Frozen and like you, I haven't researched-just looked at pics!
Florida is the worst on most people's hair...you look great!

 

[minoh]

Such a fun TR to read and a very memorable trip

 

[SarahDisney]

I love all of your expo purchases! Both pairs of shoes are amazing ... I actually really want the Toy Story ones (I know they're men's shoes, but I still really love them!)

I'm glad to hear that you loved Frozen Ever After. I'm also a big Frozen fan, and I'm really excited to eventually ride FEA, so it's kind of disappointing when people complain because it's not Maelstrom (which, btw, I didn't actually like). I'm excited that a fellow Frozen fan enjoyed it, and I'm hoping that means I will enjoy it too!

Haha Gerald the anterless reindeer. That's hysterical. I love when the characters and CMs enjoy having fun with the guests!

 

[fallonkendra]

I also didn't read anything about the ride and had no idea there was a picture which turned out not well at all because I was trying to avoid the splash because it was cold out when we rode

I'm just glad we didn't go on it during our second Epcot day, it was freezing that day!

I don't get Snapchat. I asked my younger sister about it and she laughed apparently if you have to ask how/why to use something like that you're old now

Haha, my boss tried explaining Snapchat to me, I guess he loves it - it just seems silly to me...

I don't think your hair looks messy at all! I like your braids. Florida makes a horrible mess out of my hair most the time.

Oh, just you wait haha. Thank you though!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I made it over here!!! Sounds like a fabulous start to your trip!

Not gonna lie, I am a little anxious about the Expo!! I keep reading horror stories of entire days wasted in line there, etc. Looks like you were able to get lots of great items and still make it for plenty of park time, so I'm hopeful!!! How does the whole New Balance shoe thing work?? I need insider info, here, Fallon!!

 

[Chaitali]

I'm just joining in! I signed up for the 2018 marathon as my first full marathon so I'm enjoying reading about your trip since we'll be there next year around the same time. I'm sorry you had to deal with the psoriasis, it sounds painful I'll chime in that your hair looks fine, though

 

[happybear025]

Joining your report - thanks for sharing!


Love all the merch, and really your hair looks great! Very appropriate for meeting Anna!

 

[Elsaalltheway]

It's reports like these that have encouraged me to try to run a Half Marathon next year, and this from someone who gets winded walking to the fridge, ok thats an overstatement.

 

[buzzrelly]

Joining in! Loving your trip report so far I am signed up to do Lumiere's Challenge this fall with DH and I am a little anxious now that I've actually committed to it!

We have a lot of auto-immune illnesses in my family…my niece had lupus and my sister has psoriasis. She has it so bad that it's debilitating. It's all over her hands and feet and she is in pain much of the time. I give you so much credit for doing what you do, despite having psoriasis. And your hair looks fabulous No worries!

 

[pkondz]

Sorry! Been away and now trying to catch up!

Our original plans included a breakfast ADR at 8:15am on this morning, however once we found out that the Race Expo wasn't opening until noon (as opposed to the 10am we thought), we were able to move our reservation to 9:15am.

Good move.

Once I was able to drag myself out of bed, we got ready and headed to the bus stop - which was right across the road from our room - so handy!

Nice! I love being close. Especially after walking all day in the parks.

Once we arrived at the bus stop, the internal shuttle came almost immediately!

Good timing. You got the VIP transportation package did you?

We ended up arriving at the ESPN Wide World of Sports around 11:30, and the race expo wasn't scheduled to open until noon, but quite a few things were already open. We were able to grab our 5k tshirts and bibs with zero wait.

That's good timing. 30 minutes early is exactly when I like to show up.

When the 2017 runDisney New Balance shoes were released online, Luke got excited since the Toy Story ones were the exact style of shoe he wears for running.

Nice!

The lady helping us asked me if I wanted to try a pair on, and I made a spur of the moment decision and asked for the Haunted Mansion ones .

Good! Nothing better than HM.

Actually, I'm pretty impressed with all the gear you guys got.

I also bought the 2017 runDisney Christmas ornament, but I don't have a picture of that...

What?!?!?!?

What kind of TR is this, anyway???

Once we reached the park, we had to stop by a ticket booth to activate our tickets - we had purchased 7-day tickets using the Canadian discount, so we needed to show our passports to prove we were Canadian citizens. This was very easy, and it wasn't too long before we were heading over and tapping our Magicbands to enter the park

Glad to hear that. I may do that some day.

Cute shot of you guys.

Before I start posting too many pictures of myself, I feel like I need to explain something. You'll notice in some of my pictures that my hair is insanely messy, or I'm wearing scarves, or you can see a bit of a rash on my face/neck. I started noticing problems with my skin shortly before leaving on this trip, and right after I returned to Canada from this trip, I ended up on a round of antibiotics due to how bad my skin was. It's all due to psoriasis - an auto-immune disease that leads to abnormal skin. It's mainly focused on my scalp, so it was sometimes really difficult to brush my hair - and by the end of the trip I just gave up due to how painful it was. So, I apologize now for the terrible hair you will see in this trip report, but I wasn't going to let anything bring my trip down (if you read my 2016 trip report, you know I also have Crohn's disease and it did take me down and out for a day on that trip - I did have zero issues with that disease on this trip though - so win?).

Win.
And please don't feel like you have to apologize.
TBH. All I thought when I saw your picture was "pretty", so not to worry!

We started walking while Facetiming until we reached the Starbucks.

That was nice of you!

The one thing Luke told me he really wanted to get on this trip was the Starbucks "You Are Here" mugs that they make for each park, so he headed in to buy his first one

Glad he got one. Hope he got all he wanted.

The line for this was insanely long, no way would I wait 105 minutes for any ride!

No kidding. It was like that when I was there too. Just, no way. FP or nothing.

We were right behind a family with a teenage girl who was snapchatting EVERYTHING. Seriously, why do you need to take 4 million pictures of the wall, or your feet, or you making weird faces while in line?

....because she's the center of the universe?

My pictures aren't the greatest, but I didn't feel like pulling my real camera out of my bag, so these were all taken with my iPhone.

I'd say some of those pictures are really good!

We also had no idea there was an on-ride photo, since I had refused to do much research on the ride (I wanted it to be a surprise ), so that's why we look so stunned in the picture hahaha...

I did the same thing! Didn't want to watch a ride video or anything. And had no idea there was a picture.
I look particularly gormless in mine.

I know there's a lot of complaints about it being in Norway, and not really fitting with the original Epcot theme.

I'm okay with it. Actually, I think it fits in quite well there.
I wonder if the people complaining are just against changes at Disney in general.
I mean, I get it. People love a ride or have an emotional attachment and don't want it to go away.

We noticed that the wait time to meet Anna and Elsa wasn't terrible, it was listed as being only 20 minutes so we got into line for our first character meet of the trip (and surprisingly, the first face characters we've ever met!).

20 minutes. Not bad.
And... you could do worse for a first face character!

They were very intrigued by Luke's tshirt, and decided that Gerald was an anterless reindeer

One of the character handlers in the room was extremely friendly, and very bubbly - she made up a song on the spot about Gerald the anterless reindeer (sung to the tune of Rudolph) and sang it to us.

No way! That's awesome!!

The thing in Luke's hand is what we decided to get autographed - it was the sleeve from a record that was released as a Record Store Day limited edition release in 2016. It ended up getting pretty beat up by the end of the trip, but I love how it turned out!

Oh! So that's what that was. Cool!