It's Just a 13.1 Mile Walk in the Park - Feb. 2013 (10/9 Finally, It's Done!!)

[Eight]

Hello and welcome!

Im Eight, or Rachel, and I will be your host for this trip report.

A little bit about me, Im 23, I live in the Seattle area, I love Disney (like you couldnt guess!), and more recently, Ive discovered I actually kind of like running, especially at Disney parks.

So you may be thinking, based on the title, my runDisney shirt in the first photo, Minnie in her princess dress, and the fact that I just hinted I like running, is this trip report is about the Princess Half Marathon?

And if you were thinking that, you would be correct! (and if you werent thinking that, thats cool too. we can definitely be friends still.)

I ran my first half marathon in Disneyland in January (which you can read about here!), and the Princess Half Marathon was set to be my second. Would I finish? Well, I cant give everything away in the first post, now can I?

Starring in this report is me (well& obviously!), my mom, and later, my moms friend, who I shall refer to as B for her privacy.

What else?

This trip report is turning out to a long one so far! My goal was to get everything written before posting anything, but I got so excited about it tonight, that I wanted to start posting! I hope I don't regret doing that. Im about halfway done writing this, and its about 20 pages so far, so if you love overly detailed trip reports, then this is for you!

What can I say, I can be pretty wordy.

Lets see& anything else I should cover?

Oh yes. Like most people who write trip reports, I love getting comments, so please, say hi! I love hearing what you think, about your experiences, if you have questions, whatever is on your mind! I always appreciate it and I like making friends. I promise Im friendly.

I think that covers it!

Until the next update!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

My Running Story
Oh, and something cool that happened while I was gone?
Mini Disneyland Trip Report Part 1
I Have Become Addicted to Resort Changing
Mini Disneyland Trip Report Part 2

Thursday, February 21, 2013
A Slightly Boring "Getting There" Update

Friday, February 22, 2013
Princess Half Marathon Meet Up
A Near Meltdown in Merchandise
Somehow We Get Signed Up For a Sales Pitch and I Fall in Love With Chicken Wings

Saturday, February 23, 2013
The Most Lackluster Sales Presentation in the History of Sales Presentations
Last Minute Expo Purchases and We'll Never Come Back to Disney Again (Not Really)
DRIVER, STOP

Sunday, February 24, 2013
The Princess Half Marathon!
Finally, My Immune System Gives Up and I Get Sick

Monday, February 25, 2013
My Dream Resort (That We Booked 8 Days Before We Checked In)
Awkward Selfies With Everyone's Favorite Scientist

Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The Ride Whose Smell I Could Write Poetry About
My Reputation is Almost Tarnished

Wednesday, February 27, 2013
So Much For New Fantasyland, a VIP Bus, and I Actually Stay Up Past 9PM

Thursday, February 28, 2013
An EPIC Morning

 

[laurenvic1312959]

I'm in I've recently taken to reading about run disney event as I'm determined to do one myself some day
Great start to the TR x

 

[MK2010]

Hi!! I'll read along! I'm always looking for new trip reports. I warn you in advance, I am a really good lurker! But I'm always reading. I'm impressed that you can even THINK about running. I can't even run from my office to the front door when the doorbell rings!

 

[JessM]

I can't wait to hear about your experience! I'm training for my first half taking place at home this summer. I want to see how that ones goes and if I like it I want to sign up for a RunDisney event! I'm a little afraid I'm going to get addicted

 

[StitchsGurl]

I'm joining in as well!~

I'm really wanting to do a marathon at Disney someday, and I cannot wait to read about your experience!

 

[rani8600]

Im in I ran the Princess Half as my first half and first Disney run. Cant wait to hear what you thought of it as someone who has run another RunDisney event.

 

[Eight]

Do you know how cool it is to wake up and have several comments? It's way cooler than waking up and having none, that's for sure!

Thank you all!

I'm in I've recently taken to reading about run disney event as I'm determined to do one myself some day
Great start to the TR x

Welcome! Do you have an idea of what one you'd like to do in the future? Of course, while I have not yet done all of them, all the ones I've done have been great and the ones I haven't done, I am so tempted to sign up for! I don't think you can go wrong.

Hi!! I'll read along! I'm always looking for new trip reports. I warn you in advance, I am a really good lurker! But I'm always reading. I'm impressed that you can even THINK about running. I can't even run from my office to the front door when the doorbell rings!

Hello! I understand, I lurk on almost every TR I read. I'm actually pretty shy, even on the internet. There was definitely a time, as recently as a year ago, when I never, ever thought I'd consider doing a half marathon. I hated running! Though to be fair, running and I still have a love/hate relationship many days.

I can't wait to hear about your experience! I'm training for my first half taking place at home this summer. I want to see how that ones goes and if I like it I want to sign up for a RunDisney event! I'm a little afraid I'm going to get addicted

Awesome! I hope your training is going well! And be careful, they are addicting! My first one was the Tower of Terror Ten Miler, then the Tinker Bell Half, and now you'll get to read about the Princess Half, and I'm signed up for the Dumbo Double Dare at the Disneyland Half this August, and I might do the ToT Ten Miler again..... I might have a slight problem.

I'm joining in as well!~

I'm really wanting to do a marathon at Disney someday, and I cannot wait to read about your experience!

Glad to have you reading! What one would you want to do? I would definitely recommend doing one, so far, I have loved every runDisney event I've done.

Im in I ran the Princess Half as my first half and first Disney run. Cant wait to hear what you thought of it as someone who has run another RunDisney event.

Really? That's great!! Do you have a trip report? It would be fun to read your experience of the same event.

 

[laurenvic1312959]

Do you know how cool it is to wake up and have several comments? It's way cooler than waking up and having none, that's for sure!

Thank you all!


Welcome! Do you have an idea of what one you'd like to do in the future? Of course, while I have not yet done all of them, all the ones I've done have been great and the ones I haven't done, I am so tempted to sign up for! I don't think you can go wrong.

Well I'm not sure to be honest cause as you said they all look so good because I live in the UK I guess the one I end up doing will depend on the time of year we go. I really like the look of the princess half so far tho, my DF has already said he'd be up for doing it with me as well so it may well be the one x

 

[Eight]

Well I'm not sure to be honest cause as you said they all look so good because I live in the UK I guess the one I end up doing will depend on the time of year we go. I really like the look of the princess half so far tho, my DF has already said he'd be up for doing it with me as well so it may well be the one x

Princess is pretty awesome, let me say. The only negative I had was that the course felt crowded, but I've heard rumors they may be expanding it next year, like maybe adding another race? I'm not entirely sure, but that seems to be the word.

 

[Eight]

Please note, this should give you of how long my updates will be. Hopefully it's okay, but I'm willing to put them in smaller chunks if it's easier to read. Let me know! Most of them will have more pictures though, I promise!

At first I wasn’t sure I would do this, but then I figured, my running story is almost as important as the trip report, it's how I got here after all.

Let’s go back in time to mid-April 2012. I was browsing the DIS one afternoon, when I saw someone mention the Tower of Terror Ten Miler. Huh, I thought to myself, that sounds intriguing.

Which, please understand, was a really weird thing for me to say. I was that kid who was the slowest kid in PE in middle school, and after taking all my required PE courses, vowed that I would never run again. I would do other things, like…. Well, let’s be real, I didn’t exercise a lot.

So for me, to see mention of a ten mile race and for my immediate reaction to NOT be make a face and wonder who was crazy enough to do that, it was weird.

But reasons I cannot totally explain, I wanted to do this race so badly, never mind that I hadn’t run a mile in years! Okay, I can probably explain it a little, I wanted an excuse to go to Walt Disney World, and you got a cool Hollywood Tower Hotel medal out of it. What’s not to like?

I mean, besides the running ten miles part. Although, the thought of running ten miles was way less intimidating than the thought of a half marathon.

But alas, there was a problem. Registration for the race was full! There was a waitlist though, so I put my name and information on that, and crossed my fingers that someone would cancel.

I bought a pair of running shoes, and began going up and down my block, very slowly.

About two weeks later, I received an email saying my credit card had been charged, and I was officially signed up! I was simultaneously thrilled and terrified.

I spent most of the summer of 2012 training, until about August. I am slightly embarrassed to say that after August, my training became very infrequent due to some real life stuff. I don’t want to get in to all that, but my longest training run before the ToT Ten Miler was about 5.5 miles. Trust me, I could write a book how to do things all wrong. I am still working on the book of how to do things the right way.

So to say I was nervous was an understatement. I was panicking the day of the race. I honestly was not sure I would get through it. It did not help that the conditions were nothing like anything I had ever trained in.

It was at least 80+ degrees that night at 10PM when it started, plus the humidity was just ridiculous. Remember, I’m from Seattle, where it’s not often above the 80’s even in the summer and humidity is non-existent.

So I had very good reasons to be nervous.

Despite all that, I finished somehow, and not only did I finish, I smiled almost the entire way. Yes, I felt ridiculously sweaty and tired by the end, but I had an amazing time. And by amazing time, I mean it was fun. My actual time was pretty slow.

I didn’t stop for any photos though, as I was afraid of getting swept. In retrospect, I really wish I had been able to get one with the hyenas from the Lion King.

In June of 2012, I had signed up for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon in January. Then, later that fall, I signed up for the Princess Half Marathon. runDisney and the ToT Ten Miler had started an addiction.

Currently, I’m registered for the Dumbo Double Dare at the Disneyland Half in Augst, which is running a 10K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday, as well as the ToT Ten Miler in October, and I’m still debating, but I think I may sign up for the full WDW marathon which is next January.

One more thing I should mention is that right now I use a run/walk method most of the time, due to my exercise-induced asthma. Which is exactly what it sounds like, when I exercise vigorously, I get asthma. I’m sure you can imagine how fun that is. But walk breaks definitely help. Ideally I'd like to cut down on my walk breaks in the future, I think it’s possible.

Okay, I think I'll finally get to the actual trip report next.

 

[Eight]

Thursday, February 21, 2013

I know some people find the “getting there” part of a TR boring, but I really like them. Maybe it's the build up of excitement and anticipation?

My mom and I were scheduled to leave early Thursday morning from Seattle. I had packed most of my stuff on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning, I finished the last minute things I had to do and drove over to my parents’ house. Because we were leaving around 5AM, we figured it would be easier to spend the night at my parents’ than having to pick me up at my apartment super early.

I spent most of the afternoon relaxing and catching up on some TV shows. I went out to dinner with my parents at Red Robin, and then my mom and I went to the mall to pick up a few last minute things for the trip.

I was a little worried because I had been feeling rundown the past few days, and that evening my throat was pretty scratchy. I had been taking my vitamins religiously and sucking on zinc tablets. I kept telling myself, “you just have to make it through until Sunday afternoon and then you can get as sick as you want, body!”

I chalked it up to stress about leaving, and that once I got to Florida, I would feel better. I had felt similarly before leaving for the Tinker Bell half marathon, and didn't end up getting sick, so I crossed my fingers that I would be fine.

I wanted to get a good night’s rest on account of the whole not wanting to get sick thing, not to mention I planned on getting up at 3:45AM, so I think I ended up going to bed around 10PM. Of course, then I couldn't fall asleep, and you know how when you start thinking about how you can’t fall asleep, then it’s even more difficult? Yeah.
That happened.

I probably only got about 4 hours of sleep that night. 3:45 came too quickly.

We had hired a driver to pick us up at 5. Our flight didn't leave until 7AM, but the last driver we had drove very slowly, and then there was a huge line at security, and we had to run to our gate. Naturally, this time, our driver was speedy and security went quickly!

I didn't mind having some extra time at the airport as it allowed us to get some breakfast.

Our first flight was from Seattle to San Francisco. It went by quickly as I slept most of the way. My mom and I were a bit worried about making our connection as we only had about a 45 minute layover in San Francisco, but thankfully our flight from Seattle left on time, and we had no problems.

It was a very pretty view flying in and out of San Francisco. I was able to see the Golden Gate Bridge!

On the way from San Francisco to Orlando, the woman next to us was also doing the Princess Half Marathon.

The flight to Orlando was uneventful albeit turbulent because of the winter storms across the Midwest.

Finally, about 5 hours later, we arrived in Orlando around 6PM!

I was so thrilled to be there, to say the least!

After getting our bags, we picked up our rental car and drove to Walt Disney World, more specifically, Coronado Springs Resort.

We saw a really beautiful sunset on the way there.

Well.... I tried.

We had never stayed there before, but as I had entered the run through a charity, part of the amount I raised went toward a room for one night there. Ultimately, we didn’t use that room because it would have been a hassle to change rooms just for one night and I had gotten a pretty good rate with my AP anyway.

Our room was in Cabanas 9B, as we had booked the business class room. I don’t have any pictures of the room, but it looked the same as most of the other rooms there, I’m sure. It was a good location. My only complaint is that our room was on the backside of the building, facing a small body of water, and the walkways were not well lit. While it wasn't a problem for my mom and I, admittedly I would have felt a little uncomfortable going back there if I had been by myself the whole time because it was so dark at night.

Before heading to our room though, we had something major to take care of. I needed food!! I hadn’t had a proper meal all day, aside from breakfast, and I was so hungry. We both got the Chipotle Turkey Panini at the Pepper Market to-go and we ate them at the room. That sandwich was delicious! I loved the chipotle aioli on it.

I watched the new episode of Community, and ended up going to bed around 9:30PM because a) I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, and b) I had to get up around 5AM to get ready for the runDisney Princess Half Marathon Meet Up.

Coming Up Next: Hopefully something more interesting than plane rides

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

I'm in! Looking forward to reading about your half experience. I'm planning on doing the half during marathon weekend in 2014 so I am really excited.

 

[Eight]

I'm in! Looking forward to reading about your half experience. I'm planning on doing the half during marathon weekend in 2014 so I am really excited.

Thank you for reading!

That's fantastic! Will this be your first runDisney event?

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Thank you for reading!

That's fantastic! Will this be your first runDisney event?

Yes! It will also be my first half. I've been training for short races this summer and will do a 10K in the fall. I can't wait!

 

[ZehnJahren]

I'm in too; I lurk a lot but I am planning on doing either the WDW half or the Princess half next year, so I want to see more about runner's experiences on the course and at the parks during that time! So I'll be here, waiting!

 

[laurenvic1312959]

Can't wait for more
I love reading race trip reports now since we've officially made the decision to do the wine and dine half marathon when we're in disney for our wedding (even if it is a couple of years away yet) plenty of time to train up

 

[Eight]

Yes! It will also be my first half. I've been training for short races this summer and will do a 10K in the fall. I can't wait!

I'm sure you will have an amazing time! I hope your training is going well!

I'm in too; I lurk a lot but I am planning on doing either the WDW half or the Princess half next year, so I want to see more about runner's experiences on the course and at the parks during that time! So I'll be here, waiting!

Alright, welcome! It might take a bit to get to the actual running part of this TR, but hopefully it'll be worth the wait. And that's awesome that you plan on doing one of the halfs! Best of luck with training!

 

[Eight]

Can't wait for more
I love reading race trip reports now since we've officially made the decision to do the wine and dine half marathon when we're in disney for our wedding (even if it is a couple of years away yet) plenty of time to train up

Ooh, Wine and Dine! I'd love to do that one someday! All of my friends who have done it, rave about it. I like the idea of getting to eat all the great food afterward.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Alright, welcome! It might take a bit to get to the actual running part of this TR, but hopefully it'll be worth the wait. And that's awesome that you plan on doing one of the halfs! Best of luck with training!

That's ok, take your time. I'll be around. Lol!

 

[Eight]

That's ok, take your time. I'll be around. Lol!

I'm about to put up the first update that's not mainly exposition, so things are starting to get more interesting, I think!