#Wine&DineHalf: I'm Only Running for the Food & Wine FINISHED

[momabaarjo]

That DVC Villa looks so relaxing ... I love the color scheme.

Thanks for the review of Beach Club! I'd love to stay there one day ... I have a few other resorts that are further up on my list (*cough*MK Resorts*cough*), but I've consistently heard such great things about the Beach Club and I really want to stay there some time!!

Oh I have some MK resorts on my list too...but now I wonder if I will ever stay at one of them.

Jan and I decided 5Ks are meant for all the character stops! But we've also adapted a much more relaxed attitude towards Disney races and have slowed down our pace and stopped more often as time goes on so we can really enjoy the race!

I think my attitude is changing too...although if they would put me in a decent corral. lol

I can't help it, I'm still giggling about the magic bag and the new sunglasses, but sad you lost the ones you liked!

Beach Club is on my Disney bucket list. But preferably for a Food & Wine trip. the Contemporary was my dream resort and it was everything I expected it to be. (And now my husband refuses to stay anywhere else...)

What was even funnier is I did not realize the change until about 2 hours later. UGH

Glad you liked BC! I love it as well. I didn't stay in a DVC villa but in a regular room and loved the resort so much. I would be back there in a heartbeat as well.

If only I could afford a regular room at BC...lol. That is okay, I have DVC and I am pretty darn happy with that!

 

[rteetz]

That race box never changes. I do feel a sense of pride that they use Wisconsin cheese lol.

That sucks that the soup wasn't as good. I haven't had lunch there in a while. I'll be having dinner there after the marathon.

Onion rings oh so good but oh so bad before a race.

 

[momabaarjo]

2 days before Christmas vacation...mounds of end of semester paperwork and assessments on my desk...and a building full of grinchy people...shutting my door, turning off the lights, doing my paperwork and letting Walter & Rosie take me home!

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[SarahDisney]

The tortilla chips are my favorite thing in the box. I can't have the cheese, so I usually then either plain or with tuna that I bring from home, but really ... those tortilla chips are excellent.

Onion rings are delicious, but ... I can understand why they wouldn't be a good idea the night before a race. Sometimes you have to give up the yummies for the bling...

 

[momabaarjo]

That race box never changes. I do feel a sense of pride that they use Wisconsin cheese lol.

That sucks that the soup wasn't as good. I haven't had lunch there in a while. I'll be having dinner there after the marathon.

Onion rings oh so good but oh so bad before a race.

I miss the almond roca little nugget! The cranberries were gross and hard (throw away), loved the peppermint chocolate cliff bar and the apple sauce came home for someone's lunch bag. However, I do have some cheese hidden away...

The tortilla chips are my favorite thing in the box. I can't have the cheese, so I usually then either plain or with tuna that I bring from home, but really ... those tortilla chips are excellent.

Onion rings are delicious, but ... I can understand why they wouldn't be a good idea the night before a race. Sometimes you have to give up the yummies for the bling...

I forget where someone posted that these chips could be found...lol. The are pretty low quality tortilla chips that normally I would never touch, but after a race they are like little salty nuggets of bliss. The cheese is found at Dollar Tree...no I have not personally checked the source.

I honestly do no know what possessed any of us to order onion rings, not something I usually order...UGH and 2 of us paid the price for that choice.

 

[momabaarjo]

Saturday: Best Day Ever
November 5, 2016​

No top five for Saturday, because I did what I dreamed, said and wanted to do from the very start of the planning for this trip…​

1. Inaugural Wine & Dine 10K

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2. Parisian Breakfast


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3. Relaxing Day at the Beach Club​

From the moment that I started planning this trip my whole purpose was to have a trip to WDW where I just took the time to stop and relax. Saturday was that day. After breakfast, I went back to the BC and took a nap. Then from there I sat on the deck space for a time, read and took in the sunshine (which I was thankful to have since the weatherman was not predicting such a great day). By mid afternoon I was at Stormalong Bay floating in the lazy river (AMAZING) and soaking in the hot tub. Then it was reading in the little nook back at the DVC villa before finally heading back outside and checking out the hidden gem of the QUIET pool (and trust me it was quiet and WONDERFUL).

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[rteetz]

Three photos where you can see your feet up. That definitely means you were relaxing. I'm young and adventurous I don't know what relaxing is.

 

[momabaarjo]

Three photos where you can see your feet up. That definitely means you were relaxing. I'm young and adventurous I don't know what relaxing is.

This was the first trip EVER that I found myself relaxing and not hopping from attraction to attraction or park to park...and I found you really can have down time at WDW...and it will be part of my trips from here on out. Maybe even more if I ever get over this ankle injury and do Dopey. With Dopey this is all I see doing for 4 days and possibly several days after!

 

[SarahDisney]

Sounds like the perfect day!
I'm usually someone who wants to be busy doing something all the time, but sometimes you just need that perfect relaxation day ... and relaxing is something you never regret later.

 

[momabaarjo]

Sounds like the perfect day!
I'm usually someone who wants to be busy doing something all the time, but sometimes you just need that perfect relaxation day ... and relaxing is something you never regret later.

Nope never regretted a moment I spent that Saturday just relaxing...in fact I wish I would have just done this more! Crazy to think that I have gone from OCD planning every second of the day at Disney from rope drop to last kiss in the parks and now I enjoy the down time the most. Of course it is easy when you have such a beautiful resort to do it at.

 

[momabaarjo]

LINK TO YOUTUBE VIDEO
click to view​

The Inaugural Wine & Dine 10K was my first RunDisney 10K and it certainly won’t be my last! Early wake up call day 3 in a row (Thursday travel day counts because I was up just as early as I would on race day) was a killer! When we got down to the bus stop (with about 20 minutes to spare before the first bus would arrive) the line was already forming (which we used as a signal that tomorrow we needed to be even earlier). We did make it on the first bus, which is always nice and the crowd was still pretty low when we got to the Epcot Parking lot staging area. We immediately got in line for Remy and by the time we got up to Remy…we ended up with Emile instead. The photopass people were awful! Not a single decent picture in the whole lot, because they were trying to rush people through so fast! In fact the ones taken with my phone looked like he just started clicking as I walked up and I was never able to stop and pose! This was the best out of both what was on my camera and from photopass...GRRR



A highlight of the wait was finding Kafi and finally meeting her in person. I have no idea why I do not have a picture of this meet up. I treasure her friendship and praying for whatever she is going through at the moment, I miss her daily chatter on FitBit. Our meet up with Kafi was brief because we all had to move to the corrals as they were already filling fast. I decided to drop back a couple of corrals and run with Buffy, just because I knew how she had trained for this weekend and our times/pace/intervals were a very good fit. I knew I would be running a lot more to stay clear of the helium filled things in the next corral, but it was worth it to me to run with someone from the start.

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Our plan was to run the first mile and then start intervals until we made it to Epcot which should give us plenty of time to enjoy World Showcase without worrying. We stuck to the plan and when we made it to Epcot it was selfie time at each country with the CMs and signature icons in each country.



Our plan was working great until we found a photo stop going out of France that we decided was completely worth waiting for…




The wonderful French Boy was making sure that he was taking lots of pictures for each person…10 minutes later we watch the balloon ladies pass us as we were having our pictures taken. Thankfully we caught them and were able to pass them at the International Gateway, but then it was full out run until we made it back to World Showcase. The Boardwalk was not a great place to have to run…it was very slippery that morning and very congested with runners. My grumbling about the situation was immediately halted near jelly rolls…




I was humbled and inspired! I don’t know who you are, but thank you for your service and your inspiration that morning! Back in World Showcase we knew we were safe and settled back into intervals until the finish where we not only were rewarded with our medals but yet another beautiful sunrise.

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Liked
1. Course through World Showcase
2. Selfie Photo Stops
3. Running & Finishing with Buffy
4. Another beautiful morning
5. Huge medal with Remy
6. Meeting Kafi face to face

Disliked
1. Rushed character photos in the morning prior to race start
2. Wet BoardWalk…I think they should have waited until AFTER the race to wash it down.
3. Humidity…terrible that morning
4. Getting behind the balloon ladies again UGH
5. Emile and not Remy
6. Missing Amy H and Brandy in the phone booth in the UK​

 

[CherieFran]

Congrats on the 10K! What a great idea to take selfies with the CMs in the countries! I loved that they were all out cheering that morning.

 

[rteetz]

Congrats! The runDisney 10K's are a lot of fun. I love the medal for this race.

 

[SarahDisney]

Congrats on the 10K!
I love that you guys posed for pictures with the CMs in each country. That's such a great idea!

 

[tigger536]

Love your report so far! That stinks re having to haul it to catch the balloon ladies, but that wine/ baguette picture was worth it though! What an awesome shot! The boardwalk was super slippery, I agree. The line for Remy was awful by the time we got there before the race. I waiting after though and it took forever, but got a shot with both Emile and Remy.

Looking forward to more!

 

[momabaarjo]

Congrats on the 10K! What a great idea to take selfies with the CMs in the countries! I loved that they were all out cheering that morning.

Congrats on the 10K!
I love that you guys posed for pictures with the CMs in each country. That's such a great idea!

The CMs are my favorite parts of the runs around world showcase. They are such great young people who love to take selfies.

Congrats! The runDisney 10K's are a lot of fun. I love the medal for this race.

10Ks are awesome...now to work on that time so I can enjoy them more. Actually we lost probably 20 minutes hamming it up in World Showcase, but it was so worth it!

Love your report so far! That stinks re having to haul it to catch the balloon ladies, but that wine/ baguette picture was worth it though! What an awesome shot! The boardwalk was super slippery, I agree. The line for Remy was awful by the time we got there before the race. I waiting after though and it took forever, but got a shot with both Emile and Remy.

Looking forward to more!

WELCOME! I am glad you are enjoying it. That 20 minute loss of time was so worth it to get behind the balloon ladies...it was not hard to get back in front of them and we knew really we had to just get around the boardwalk and it would be fine. There is some debate whether or not there is a "Parade bus" point right behind the UK. I can tell you it sure looked like it...with several empty vans and CMs waiting around. No worries though we were safe...and my goal of a Disney race is to enjoy...and that I did!

 

[momabaarjo]

Saturday: Eats & Drinks​

Parisian Breakfast​

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After the 10K we walked back to the Epcot entrance because we had breakfast reservations in France that morning. After someone of a mess trying to get in for early reservations and watching people grumble as we were let in we made our way to France via Canada/UK where we met up with Gretchen & Jan behind another rope. Right at 10 they let us across the bridge and we were immediately checked in at Les France and seated. By that time Buffy was fading fast with a headache and upset stomach, which really made me feel awful that she was not enjoying something we had looked forward to (she eventually just left and went back to the BC). Once seated, we were brought mimosas (this was Jan’s first one, ever)...

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and made our way through the buffet serving line of French pastries.

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By this time my stomach was not feeling so hot either, but there was no way I was going to miss this breakfast! I also did not want to have to make another trip to the serving line so I basically took 1 of everything!

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Tomato Cheese Tartine (so yummy), Croque Monsieur (good balance of protein and bread), Almond & Apricot Pastry (a little over baked, chocolate croissant-Pain au Chocolat (knew better, I was still burned out from our trip to France a few years ago, ended up leaving it…to rich), hazelnut roll (very dry) and nice assortment of cheeses and meats (loved).

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Then came the drinking chocolate, OH MY…forget the mimosas and just let me bathe in this stuff. So creamy, smooth and oh so yummy! I am not sure how many cups I ended up drinking, until my stomach revolted completely and I found myself “aller aux toilettes” or quite some time. DANG ONION RINGS!!!It was downhill from that moment on and I was just done with breakfast and ready to head back to the BC for some rest. I tried to put on a game face and enjoy the meal and moments with friends.

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When we left we were given a cute little bag with a small French cookbook and sample the French-made Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves that were being served with the meal, which I used last week to make thumbprint shortbread cookies. Oh is that jam yummy!Looking back I am so disappointed about the meal being ruined and not getting to really spend quality time with Jan & Gretchen like I had wanted too!

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The rest of the day I only drank…Gatorade and water trying to get my stomach to recover enough that I could enjoy one of my favorite places in Epcot, Via Napoli.

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No craziness at dinner tonight…in fact I ordered water and a pretty tame pizza…Prosciutto and Melon and then it was another bottle of water before heading off to very early night in bed, praying the revenge of the onion rings was over.

 

[rteetz]

That breakfast looks great. I have only done dinner at Chefs de France.

That's an interesting pizza. Not something I would probably order but that's because I'm boring and don't like adventurous pizza.

 

[SarahDisney]

That breakfast looks (and sounds) great ... I'm sorry that you didn't get to enjoy it (and the time with your friends) as much as you had hoped.

 

[ARmom30]

Saturday: Best Day Ever
November 5, 2016​

No top five for Saturday, because I did what I dreamed, said and wanted to do from the very start of the planning for this trip…​

1. Inaugural Wine & Dine 10K

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2. Parisian Breakfast

View attachment 211444
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3. Relaxing Day at the Beach Club​

From the moment that I started planning this trip my whole purpose was to have a trip to WDW where I just took the time to stop and relax. Saturday was that day. After breakfast, I went back to the BC and took a nap. Then from there I sat on the deck space for a time, read and took in the sunshine (which I was thankful to have since the weatherman was not predicting such a great day). By mid afternoon I was at Stormalong Bay floating in the lazy river (AMAZING) and soaking in the hot tub. Then it was reading in the little nook back at the DVC villa before finally heading back outside and checking out the hidden gem of the QUIET pool (and trust me it was quiet and WONDERFUL).

View attachment 211447 View attachment 211448 View attachment 211445 View attachment 211446 View attachment 211449 ​

Random question: were you reading a red book at Stormalong Bay? My mom and I walked by there Saturday afternoon and I thought I could see you across the pool!

I was glad we saw you for a few minutes after the 10K, even if we did t get to run together!