cewait
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2000
- Messages
- 5,695
Pasta in the park night before marathon? Thoughts? Opinions from previous years?
We are toying with idea since tickets still available.
I have been to 2 of the 3 offered. You will read from many that it is an over priced rather bland pasta meal with little variety. If you have an annual pass or have been to the park on your pass, then I would concur about the pricing. Until 2013, the event was a Thursday event; it was also our first day on property. So we spent the day setting up camp, expo-ing and waiting on friends to arrive. We did not attend the parks. So having admission to Epcot be a part of the experience softens the costs, considerably.
The DJ at the event is excellent. You will see him at various events through the year. He is kind of the life of the party - he would probably be better received if folks were not trying to save energy. We find him entertaining and have seen him at the New Year's Epcot Celebration and a couple business events. He is also the guy with big Mickey gloves on the water bridge at mile 4 and change.
Obviously, with everything Disney, there is a character experience. Several will make the meal for photo ops.
Finally, they meal features a great spot for Illuminations.
Oh, I guess I should comment on the meal. I found the meal nice. It's not a meal that the buffet folks will gravitate towards due to the style and choices on the line. The food is of high quality, but not something I think I would eat the night prior to the run. It is actually a little too seasoned for my palette and knowing that i will be out and running the next morning. Generally, I try to avoid a heavy garlic load the day prior to a long run as my clothing tends to retain that smell for weeks.
I would say it a great meal to attend on Thursday or Friday if running the marathon. I would hate to 'waste' a lot of the park pass cost just to attend a meal then head back to the room 90 minutes prior to Illuminations.
Not sure if I helped, but my .02. Oh, if I did not have to wrangle 4 different arrivals on Thursday afternoon, I would attend this year.