Running... From Coast to Coast and Back Again - Tink 1/2 TR, Princess TR

[20thingamabobs]

Day 2: Friday, February 24 – Animal Kingdom / Expo / Epcot

We’ll be up rather early, grab breakfast at the hotel, and be out the door by 8:00am. Since we’ll have a rental car I think we’ll just drive to the park so we can go straight to the Expo too. We’ll be starting our day at Animal Kingdom and I hope to make it for rope drop. Our plans for the day:

- Ride Expedition Everest
- Ride Dinosaur
- Ride Kilimanjaro Safaris

That’s it. I’m hoping to be out of the park by no later than 11:00am but hopefully sooner. From here, we’ll drive straight to the Expo where we’ll pick up our bibs, race packets, t-shirt, and goodie bags. I’ll also be purchasing the traditional I DID IT t-shirt and probably a wine glass. With all our goodies in hand we’ll head back to the Beach Club. This is where the plan gets a little weird.

Once we’ve dropped our stuff off in our room, we’ll be making the short walk over to Epcot. Once through the turnstiles, I’ll be taking our tickets over to get Fast Passes for Soarin’ (if they’re left) while the others scope out somewhere to have lunch. My mom really likes the little bakery in France so maybe that. After lunch we’ll do a little exploring until I’m able to get a Fast Pass for Test Track (also assuming they’re left). Once we have our Fast Pass, we’ll head back to the Beach Club. We’ll spend most of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel and enjoying the amazing pool at the Beach Club (assuming it’s warm enough).

We’ll make the walk back over to Epcot around 5:00pm in order to use at least one of our Fast Passes before dinner but maybe both if we have time. We have dinner reservations at Via Napoli at 6:20pm. After dinner, we may use a Fast Pass that we didn’t have time before. Or we may just find a spot for Illuminations. I’m not sure we’ll stay for Illuminations yet, I’m just playing it by ear on how everyone feels. Whenever we’re finished, we’ll walk back to the Beach Club and head to sleep, we have another full day the next day!

 

[disneygeeks]

that is so awesome that they upgraded you. I think the poly would be nice to but if it's not a host hotel thats ok, but the beach club will be real nice as well

 

[20thingamabobs]

Day 3: February 25 - Tangled Royal Family 5k / Hollywood Studios / Magic Kingdom

For my mom and I, this day will start very early! We couldn’t talk my Aunt and/or cousin into coming with us but we’ll be heading over to Epcot to run in the Tangled Royal Family 5k! We take our time and take lot of pictures but they’re so much fun and the medals are so cute! We weren’t going to do it at first until we found out it was Tangled themed then we had to do it! My mom will be dressing up as Rapunzel and I’ll be running as Pascal. We’ll probably leave our hotel around 5:15am. Once at Epcot, we’ll drop off our bags, make a potty stop and head for the start. We’ll enjoy our 3.1 mile journey through Epcot and probably stop for at least one must have picture! We’ll claim our medals, change our clothes, and then head over to Hollywood Studios to meet up with my aunt and cousin.

Hollywood Studios has Extra Magic Hours this morning and while I know we won’t get there by 8:00am when the park opens, I’m still hoping to make it before the park opens to the public at 9:00am. Here’s the plan:

- Ride Toy Story Mania
- Ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
- Ride Tower of Terror

That’s it. Once we’ve done those three rides, we’ll head back to the Beach Club. We’ll grab lunch at our hotel and just hang out at Stormalong Bay (assuming the weather is nice). After a few hours by the pool, we’ll head over to the Magic Kingdom for the evening. Here’s the agenda:

- Fast Pass Space Mountain (the only ride Breanne wants to do)
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Tea Cups
- Haunted Mansion?
- Whatever else Breanne wants to do
- Use Space Mountain Fast Pass
- Ride Splash Mountain

We will head out of MK around 5:40pm and take the monorail to the Polynesian to have dinner at Kona Café at 6:15pm. We’ll be meeting up with a guy I went to college with (who is an usher in my wedding and a close friend of DF and I) and his girlfriend. After dinner, we may head back to MK to ride any last attractions we missed or we may just head back to the Beach Club. The goal is to be in bed by 9:00pm, the next day will be another very early morning!

 

[ZehnJahren]

You have been so busy! You must have a ton of airmiles accumulating!!

That is very exciting about the BC; I would really like to stay there. What a great upgrade! It's too bad about the Princess rooms not yet being available, but a free upgrade to a deluxe just about makes up for it.

So what is your training schedule like? How many days a week do you run, and for how long? You must be in great shape to run these races and manage not to injure yourself; I hurt myself anytime I even THINK about running any type of distance.

That's so cool you have friends to go with you to Disney; I am having trouble finding companions to go with (including family or DBF) so I have started just taking solo trips. I hope I don't have to do that all the time, though.

 

[KTgE]

So, I'm a little late but I'm here and subscribing! Your title hooked me. Thank you so much for all your photos and details! My husband and I are planning on the F&W 1/2 this year and my SIL are planning to run next years Princess 1/2. (My long term goal is a Coast to Coast medal. )

We leave in two weeks and we'll get new annuals while we are down there. After I looked at your pictures for Everest I had to show them to my husband and he's seriously mulling us going back down in May for the weekend to run it. We are thinking about doing it as a quick anniversary get away since our anniversary is April 30th and last year, for our 5 year, I was 32 weeks pregnant and in my sister's wedding! Ha. Anyways, thanks for the inspiration...can't wait to read more!

 

[jdd]

Finally, it was around noon and we were off to our first park! Epcot!

Great report(s)!! I came across it because I did a search on Kidani - we're staying there for the first time in August. But I just kept reading....

And, this is funny, my middle son and I were in Epcot this very same day! I was looking for us in the background of one of your pictures, but no luck

We were also at Animal Kingdom on the day of the marathon (we saw some of the runners as we left at the end of the day), so maybe we saw you

Anyway, enjoying the report, and can't wait to be back in the World!

 

[20thingamabobs]

that is so awesome that they upgraded you. I think the poly would be nice to but if it's not a host hotel thats ok, but the beach club will be real nice as well

Yea, I was so excited! The Poly was a host resort but they're not running the monorail on race morning anyway so I'm glad I stuck with the Beach Club since I've never stayed there!

You have been so busy! You must have a ton of airmiles accumulating!!

That is very exciting about the BC; I would really like to stay there. What a great upgrade! It's too bad about the Princess rooms not yet being available, but a free upgrade to a deluxe just about makes up for it.

So what is your training schedule like? How many days a week do you run, and for how long? You must be in great shape to run these races and manage not to injure yourself; I hurt myself anytime I even THINK about running any type of distance.

That's so cool you have friends to go with you to Disney; I am having trouble finding companions to go with (including family or DBF) so I have started just taking solo trips. I hope I don't have to do that all the time, though.

Yea, I was bummed about the princess room but you can't beat paying the "moderate resort price" for a deluxe!

I typically run at least 3 times a week. I do 3 miles twice a week (typically Tues and Thurs) and then on Saturdays I alternate between 4 mile and a long run. I typically follow Jeff Galloways schedule on distance.

That was the only time that I've gone to Disney with friends. Usually I drag my mom along but even that's becoming difficult. I occasionally wish that I could make a Disney friend specifically to take trips with Either that or I'll just take DF on It's a Small World enough times that it brainwashes him into thinking that moving to Disney is a good idea

So, I'm a little late but I'm here and subscribing! Your title hooked me. Thank you so much for all your photos and details! My husband and I are planning on the F&W 1/2 this year and my SIL are planning to run next years Princess 1/2. (My long term goal is a Coast to Coast medal. )

We leave in two weeks and we'll get new annuals while we are down there. After I looked at your pictures for Everest I had to show them to my husband and he's seriously mulling us going back down in May for the weekend to run it. We are thinking about doing it as a quick anniversary get away since our anniversary is April 30th and last year, for our 5 year, I was 32 weeks pregnant and in my sister's wedding! Ha. Anyways, thanks for the inspiration...can't wait to read more!

I really enjoyed the wine & dine last year! I just finish uploading my actual race pictures so once I do the write up on it, I'll post some pointers that I learned. This is my first time doing the Princess so I'll let you know how that goes too! My Coast to Coast medal means so much to me! Some people complain that it's the same medal every year but I don't mind, I love both! I definitely recommend the Tinkerbell Half if you're going to do one in CA, it was awesome!

I totally recommend doing Everest too! It was a blast! Even DF really enjoyed it and he's not really a Disney person. The scavenger hunt adds some extra fun and since it's such a short race it allows plenty of time to enjoy the after party and the rides have such short lines! We're going back this year and I can't wait!

Great report(s)!! I came across it because I did a search on Kidani - we're staying there for the first time in August. But I just kept reading....

And, this is funny, my middle son and I were in Epcot this very same day! I was looking for us in the background of one of your pictures, but no luck

We were also at Animal Kingdom on the day of the marathon (we saw some of the runners as we left at the end of the day), so maybe we saw you

Anyway, enjoying the report, and can't wait to be back in the World!

Welcome! I LOVE Kidani! Well, I mean it holds a special place to me since I got engaged there but I also just love AKL in general. The resort is amazing and Disney went above and beyond on it. The decor and atmosphere are unparalleled and the pool is really nice! We'll be returning to AKL in May again and I'm so excited! We have a reservation to have our engagement photos taken at the resort and I can't wait to see how it goes!

That's so crazy that you were in those parks those days! As I'm walking through the parks, I sometimes wonder if any of the other people have picked the same park schedule I have. I mean people everyone has their own reason for picking certain parks on certain days so I always wondered any two groups ever had the same exact plan of attack I know that sounds weird but I really have considered it before...

Have you checked your photos? Did I make my way in to the back of any of yours? That would be awesome if you randomly found another DISer in your picture

Anyway, thanks for reading and I too can't wait to be back in the World!

 

[jdd]

Welcome! I LOVE Kidani! Well, I mean it holds a special place to me since I got engaged there but I also just love AKL in general. The resort is amazing and Disney went above and beyond on it. The decor and atmosphere are unparalleled and the pool is really nice! We'll be returning to AKL in May again and I'm so excited! We have a reservation to have our engagement photos taken at the resort and I can't wait to see how it goes!

We're so excited about the trip - visited AKL once just to walk around and have lunch, and we just loved the feel of the resort. The Poly has been our favorite so far, but I think AKV may just top it!

That's so crazy that you were in those parks those days! As I'm walking through the parks, I sometimes wonder if any of the other people have picked the same park schedule I have. I mean people everyone has their own reason for picking certain parks on certain days so I always wondered any two groups ever had the same exact plan of attack I know that sounds weird but I really have considered it before...

Have you checked your photos? Did I make my way in to the back of any of yours? That would be awesome if you randomly found another DISer in your picture

Well, we had our own reasons for picking Epcot that day. Long story, but this was a surprise trip for my 11-year old. Last April, my sister decided to take her youngest daughter for a quick Sept trip since she was off school for a couple of days, and jokingly said to me "you could join us, of course!". Well, that's all you have to say to me . I had already taken my oldest on a mom/son trip, and it was Nick's turn! He always said he wanted to be surprised with a trip someday, and somehow I pulled it off. But, I'm off on a tangent....a couple of months before the trip, I asked Nick where he'd like to have his birthday dinner (birthday is 9/30) and he smiled and said "the Biergarten!". I thought this was awesome, since he still didn't know we'd actually be in DW for his birthday! So, of course, we planned Epcot for the 30th and he had his birthday wish come true

As for pictures, that's another long story! My husband bought me a new camera just before this trip - I was so excited to get pictures of my son during the big "reveal"! I did get pictures (his face was priceless) and then we scurried around to get to the airport, forgetting to pack up the camera!! So, I have a few pictures from my camera and Nick's ipod, but my sister has all the good shots, and I've yet to see her pictures . She's not the same "disney-crazy" person as me....But I will definitely check them when I get the chance!

Sorry to hijack your thread!! Looking forward to reading more of your adventures!

 

[amazingact21]

It's incredible how many runDisney races you've been able to participate in! I'm very jealous! And I think it's so cool that you, your mom, aunt, and cousin are going to be there for the Princess Half. I'm really close with my aunt and cousin, and now I am putting that possibility in my mind.


A free upgrade! Awesome! And Beach Club is such a gorgeous resort. One of the better choices for a girl's trip.

 

[20thingamabobs]

We're so excited about the trip - visited AKL once just to walk around and have lunch, and we just loved the feel of the resort. The Poly has been our favorite so far, but I think AKV may just top it!



Well, we had our own reasons for picking Epcot that day. Long story, but this was a surprise trip for my 11-year old. Last April, my sister decided to take her youngest daughter for a quick Sept trip since she was off school for a couple of days, and jokingly said to me "you could join us, of course!". Well, that's all you have to say to me . I had already taken my oldest on a mom/son trip, and it was Nick's turn! He always said he wanted to be surprised with a trip someday, and somehow I pulled it off. But, I'm off on a tangent....a couple of months before the trip, I asked Nick where he'd like to have his birthday dinner (birthday is 9/30) and he smiled and said "the Biergarten!". I thought this was awesome, since he still didn't know we'd actually be in DW for his birthday! So, of course, we planned Epcot for the 30th and he had his birthday wish come true

As for pictures, that's another long story! My husband bought me a new camera just before this trip - I was so excited to get pictures of my son during the big "reveal"! I did get pictures (his face was priceless) and then we scurried around to get to the airport, forgetting to pack up the camera!! So, I have a few pictures from my camera and Nick's ipod, but my sister has all the good shots, and I've yet to see her pictures . She's not the same "disney-crazy" person as me....But I will definitely check them when I get the chance!

Sorry to hijack your thread!! Looking forward to reading more of your adventures!

How fun that you surprised your son with a trip! I always secretly wish that someone will surprise me with one but I don't think anyone in my family is crazy enough to do it because I'm such an obsessive planner

That's too bad that you forgot your camera though but thank goodness you were traveling with your sister or else you may not have any pictures!

It's incredible how many runDisney races you've been able to participate in! I'm very jealous! And I think it's so cool that you, your mom, aunt, and cousin are going to be there for the Princess Half. I'm really close with my aunt and cousin, and now I am putting that possibility in my mind.


A free upgrade! Awesome! And Beach Club is such a gorgeous resort. One of the better choices for a girl's trip.

You should do it! My cousin and I are only 5 weeks apart in age so we've been close our whole lives so I think it'll make for a really fun trip!

I have been lucky to get to participate in so many this year. I think next year I'll definitely need to scale back. Probably only 2 races if that. I was hoping to run Disneyland again this year because my brother will be running this time as his first half marathon but it's the week after my honeymoon so I just can't make it work.

I was so excited for my upgrade! You just can't stay at Deluxe for this type of price! Plus it is nice to stay here for a girls trip! I can't wait to be able to walk to Epcot!

 

[20thingamabobs]

Day 4: February 26, 2012 - Race Day / Departure Day


The alarm will go off around 2:15am. I get ready and put on my tutu, tiara, race pack, and garmin watch. The goal is to be out the door and at the bus stop around 3:15-3:30am. It should be a fairly short ride to Epcot where we’ll drop our bags at baggage claim, use the potty, and then hang out until the corrals open. Once open, we’ll make the 20 minute walk to the start line of our Corral. Since Breanne didn’t have a time to submit, I didn’t submit one either. I’m pretty sure we’re in Corral D which is the fourth corral out of eight. I’m happy with this. If we are in Corral D then, while the race starts at 5:45am, we won’t actually start until around 6:00am. We’ll run to and through the Magic Kingdom where I hope to find our Moms waiting on Main Street to cheer us on! After that, it’ll be back to and through Epcot. The finish line is right outside Epcot where once again, I hope to find our Moms cheering us on. (I say hope because I’m a little afraid they’ll get lost). We’ll receive our tiara medals and then wobble our way back to the Beach Club.

Once back at the hotel, we’ll shower, finish packing our luggage, and then take it out to the car. We’ll grab a quick lunch either at the hotel or possible Downtown Disney. Around 1:00pm, we’ll get in the car and make our way back to the Orlando/Sanford airport. I hope for an uneventful flight home where I can catch up on my lack of sleep. Once we land at home, I’ll hope in my own car and make the drive back to my house in order to go back to reality on Monday morning.

 

[disneygeeks]

boo to reality...just wish we could all stay in WDW forever

 

[KTgE]

Good luck this weekend! I can't wait to read all about it...

 

[amazingact21]

It's kind of a bummer that you have to leave immediately after the race, but when you only have a weekend to play, it's understandable. I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun running the course and hopefully your mom and aunt won't get lost!

 

[20thingamabobs]

We got ready in our room and headed out to catch the bus around 7:30-8pm. The line was so ridiculously long it was unbelieveable. It stressed me out just looking at the wait so I asked the CM at the stand how much a taxi would be and he said $10-12 so we took it. I’m so glad we did. When we arrived, we spent some time looking around and listening to the music. Here’s some pics:

When it got close to the time for the corrals to open, we made our way over to wait. When they dropped the rope, we headed in and grabbed a spot almost at the front. Here’s some pics of us waiting some more:

The race had a 10:30pm start which I felt to be just a tad too late. Even a 10pm start would have been better. Since we were in the fourth corral (D), we actually started closer to 10:45pm. Here’s our start:

We made our way out of the Wide World Sports and began our journey towards Animal Kingdom. Here’s what we saw along the first few miles:

A little after Mile 3, we made our way inside the park:

I knew Alison was going to keep up are pace and became unfortunately aware that we probably would not all finish together. So we made sure to get a pic in front of the tree as a group just in case, along with some others:

Shortly after leaving AK, we reached Mile 5. By the time we made it to Mile 6, Alison was nowhere in sight. We tried to wait for a little then finally headed on without her and hoped she’d make alright on her own. Now we were headed to Hollywood Studios and here’s our journey:

Continued Next Post...

 

[20thingamabobs]

We entered the park just after Mile 9 and it felt like despite only being 3 miles, it had taken forever. That being said, HS was my favorite part of the race. Especially when we ran through and parts of the Osbourne lights were on:

We exited somewhere between Miles 11 and 12. From here, we ran towards the boardwalk resorts. Once there, we ran the entire loop and then up towards Epcot. We found the finish line just to the right of the front of Epcot, though I’m not really sure how we got here. Here’s that portion:

We received our medals:

Then we went to bag check and picked up all of our bags. We waited about 20-30 minutes and then finally saw Ali cross the finish line! I don’t have any more pictures of the night but I can say this. We didn’t ride any rides and w
e only visited about 3-4 food stands. Lauren and Alison were definitely dragging. Plus, it was freezing and we didn’t have anything to put on. We left the party and caught a bus back to our hotel. We shakily walked back to our room, took turns in the shower and fell asleep quickly.

 

[amazingact21]

The Wine and Dine Half looks like so much fun. Personally, I think it'd be my favorite just because it's a night race and you get to go through some of the Osbourne Lights.
10:30 seems like a really late start time.

Now I can't wait to hear how the Tangled 5K and the Princess Half went!

 

[pinkxray]

I thought I would be so behind on your TR, but I am only behind by about 2 pages It looks like you have had a pretty busy 2012.

Congrats on all the races you have done already this year I can't wait to hear about the rest.

 

[Shannon84]

You should be a RunDisney reporter you have done like all of the races that is awesome!!

Sounds like the Wine and Dine went well!! was the party afterwards crowded??

I know it stinks you all couldnt stay together the entire time, but its great that you were able to at least get some pictures together
Love the outfits!!

 

[20thingamabobs]

The Wine and Dine Half looks like so much fun. Personally, I think it'd be my favorite just because it's a night race and you get to go through some of the Osbourne Lights.
10:30 seems like a really late start time.

Now I can't wait to hear how the Tangled 5K and the Princess Half went!

It was fun and I wasn't sure how I would feel about running at night but I actually really enjoyed it! I thought I would be more tired but I actually held up well! My favorite part was the Osbourne lights!

I thought I would be so behind on your TR, but I am only behind by about 2 pages It looks like you have had a pretty busy 2012.

Congrats on all the races you have done already this year I can't wait to hear about the rest.

Yea, I've had a busy start to 2012 and so I haven't had the chance to DIS much... I've typed up a brief TR on my first Jan trip and I started one for my Tink Half. Once I get my pics uploaded I'll post them. Thanks for sticking around!

You should be a RunDisney reporter you have done like all of the races that is awesome!!

Sounds like the Wine and Dine went well!! was the party afterwards crowded??

I know it stinks you all couldnt stay together the entire time, but its great that you were able to at least get some pictures together
Love the outfits!!

I would LOVE that! To be a runDisney reporter! How fun! I enjoyed the W&D and I think they handle the crowds well. As least compared to what I read about last year. It actually wasn't too bad. Some of the popular kiosks had longs lines but I don't think we waited more than 5 minutes for anything.

Yea I was sad when we lost Alison but it worked out better this way. I'm glad we at least made it through AK together though! Thanks! We had a fun time being Princesses and got lots of compliments! I reused this costume for the Princess!