A Ghostly, Incredible, Totally Wicked Couple of Runs(Plus DATW with DISsers) Marathon Weekend Report

[Smilelea]

Wow on Beaches & Cream! On our first visit we immediately realized why it is so hard to get into. We do our best to eat, enjoy and get out. It quickly became our traditional lunch place before catching DME on our last day. Sadly this trip we had to cancel because DME was scheduled to pick us up too close to our ADR time and we were afraid we'd miss it (which almost did happen on our September trip).

 

[Chaitali]

That’s impressive you made it on FOP three times! I love Tiffins, probably my favorite restaurant in the parks. We ate in the lounge there this trip and it was good too.

 

[ZellyB]

Wow thats a long time at Beaches and Cream! I have only done ice cream there. Your meals looked good though.

Tiffins is one of my favorites. I had it scheduled for this trip but cancelled and did other things instead.

Glad you accomplished your goal!

The food at B&C is pretty tasty honestly for just a soda shop type of place. You should try it some time. I really love Tiffins. Chris was sorta "meh" about going again, but he ended up really enjoying his dish so I think I could get him to go again.

I'm loving reading your report! I was having such FOMO about the race weekend this year that I decided to run the full in 2021! (2020 will be a fairytale challenge year).

I LOVE Beaches and Cream and cannot believe someone was there for almost 2 hours! I love the All American sundae and always get the grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Excited to hear about how the 10k goes!

Glad you are here! Yeah, I'm always sort of debating right after the weekend if I want to do it again, but I always remember the year (2016) we didn't run it and how much I missed being there. I'm still undecided about 2020, but I suspect FOMO will get me there again.

I LOVE your 10k outfits! And I'm ashamed to admit I could spend 2 hours eating at B&C....I haven't, but I could...

Hey, I get WANTING to linger that long, it's just that it's so small, I don't think I'd ever actually do it. Anyway, it was all fine and we seriously were in no hurry, but that little CM at the podium was beside herself about it. I think she thought we were going to be mad at her about it!

Awesome job ridding FOP 3Xs! But where did you get your running outfits?

The shirts are actually from the Disney Park. Memento Mori had them. They aren't really running shirts (Chris' is cotton and mine some kind of polyester blend) so I wouldn't have wanted to wear them for a longer race, but for the 10k they were fine!

Wow on Beaches & Cream! On our first visit we immediately realized why it is so hard to get into. We do our best to eat, enjoy and get out. It quickly became our traditional lunch place before catching DME on our last day. Sadly this trip we had to cancel because DME was scheduled to pick us up too close to our ADR time and we were afraid we'd miss it (which almost did happen on our September trip).

I'm sorry you had to miss it. This is our second time eating there and I really enjoy it.

That’s impressive you made it on FOP three times! I love Tiffins, probably my favorite restaurant in the parks. We ate in the lounge there this trip and it was good too.

I want to try out the lounge next time I think. It was my second favorite meal of the trip! My favorite comes later.

 

[BigEeyore]

Impressed you guys managed 3x on FoP in one day! I've never actually waited in the line - always done a FP - so I have yet to see that floating Avatar guy myself!

Love your HM outfits! Best ride in MK! I am sure you have the HM Dooney too!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Yay for a great AK day! I also enjoy dinosaur- I remember it terrifying me as a kid though! The dinos are scary!

My husband and I were SO thankful that we talked to you and Chris about FoP at the HH meet-up. I had always planned to rope drop Navi River, but we changed to rope dropping FoP so we could ride it 2x and we were SO GLAD we did! Great advice!

 

[ZellyB]

Impressed you guys managed 3x on FoP in one day! I've never actually waited in the line - always done a FP - so I have yet to see that floating Avatar guy myself!

Love your HM outfits! Best ride in MK! I am sure you have the HM Dooney too!

I wished I hadn't seen a million pictures and videos of the floating Avatar before because I think it really dulled that first impression. HM is Chris' favorite ride, so when I saw those shirts I just thought how cute it would be for running.

Yay for a great AK day! I also enjoy dinosaur- I remember it terrifying me as a kid though! The dinos are scary!

My husband and I were SO thankful that we talked to you and Chris about FoP at the HH meet-up. I had always planned to rope drop Navi River, but we changed to rope dropping FoP so we could ride it 2x and we were SO GLAD we did! Great advice!

Oh, I'm so glad you liked it and got to ride it twice. I think it's a fantastic ride.

 

[ZellyB]

Let’s start the Mouse Challenge!

Off to the races and it was 10k time!!!



I love the 10k course for this weekend because running through Epcot in the dark with the torches and music playing is second only to running down Main Street to the castle.

We were up dark and early and got dressed, ate a quick bite and headed out for the bus. We are the type who worries about getting there early and we like to be at the front of our corral, so we were on the bus and headed to Epcot right at 3:30. It didn’t take long to get through security and we headed for the stage area.

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The DJ was going strong and we decided to get into the line for Minnie which was already pretty long. The character text group was already rolling and so we knew others were there. Hey, girl!!

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Our original plan was to head over to the DisMeet and say hey before heading to the corral, but the line for Minnie took so long, once we were done the corrals were open so we just headed straight there. I’m sorry we didn’t make it by though as we missed meeting some folks!!

It was a little chilly this morning, but with our sweatshirts and blankets, we were pretty comfortable and before too long we were being marched toward the start line. The wait went pretty quickly and we watched each group get sent off with some fairly anemic fireworks. LOL

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But, finally it was our turn and we were off! Our plan was to just run at an easy pace and stop for characters we wanted to stop for, but otherwise just keep rolling on if the line was too long or we’d had the picture before. Our character group was hopping with @croach giving us updates on character stops ahead.

Shortly after starting Mary Poppins was on an overpass above us waving and encouraging runners.

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There was a character stop a bit before mile 1 and I cannot remember who it was! LOL. I know it was someone we’d had before so we skipped the long line and were thinking we’d stop for the next characters.

Mile 1



Shortly after that we heard somebody say “hi” and looked over to see @rteetz next to us. It was fun to see someone on the course, so we chatted a bit as we approached the next character stop which was Chip and Dale in Rescue Ranger gear. Our original intent was to stop for this one, but the line was STUPID long, so we opted to pass it by, but Ryan stopped off. We cruised on but decided on a quick shot of them with a random runner. This was our plan, the Random Runner Character shots when we didn’t want to wait.

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Before we knew it, we were passing by Mile 2

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The next character stop was the same one as last year at this point and had another ridiculously long line, so “hello, random runner” and Old Hag

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I really do like this setup but we just weren’t wanting to spend that much time in line. I had a @keels booze stop to hit up after all! Except we were getting texts that Disney security was running Keels and her cooler off, but I was still hopeful she might find a way!

We decided to stop for a quick potty stop at some porta potties along in here and as we were leaving, there was a short line of people yelling at some woman who just ran right past the line and into an open potty. It was ridiculous. She was just ignoring them and went right in. As we were heading back out on the road, this one man says, “Well, she’s not coming out for awhile” and he went down and physically blocked the door. YIKES!! I was really curious how that was going to turn out, but we had a race to finish.

And just like that

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Next up: Now let’s get to the good part of the 10K race!!

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[Neon Cactus]

Love reading the report. Congratulations on FoP 3 times. I love Beaches & Cream. Their burgers are really good there and the No Way, Jose sundae is amazing.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

All I can think about now is what happened to that woman... Is she still in there? How'd she get out? Getting trapped in a potty is my worst nightmare.

 

[Jules76126]

All I can think about now is what happened to that woman... Is she still in there? How'd she get out? Getting trapped in a potty is my worst nightmare.

OMG me too. Or I am worried that it is going to tip over.

 

[Ariel484]

Porta-potties are serious business at races. I was in line for one before a race a year or two ago and someone cut the line and an absolute screaming match ended up happening. I mean - no cutsies, obvious, but DANG!

I LOOOOVE that picture of you two with Minnie, definitely worth the long wait!! Your outfits are the best!

 

[ZellyB]

Love reading the report. Congratulations on FoP 3 times. I love Beaches & Cream. Their burgers are really good there and the No Way, Jose sundae is amazing.

We had a No Way, Jose the last time we went and it was delicious!

All I can think about now is what happened to that woman... Is she still in there? How'd she get out? Getting trapped in a potty is my worst nightmare.

OMG me too. Or I am worried that it is going to tip over.

I know, right? I was kinda worried about her too although she was really obnoxious about it. I mean multiple people were yelling at her and no way she didn't realize she was cutting, so ya know... I don't the guy held her in there for long. Just enough to cause a moment of panic.

Porta-potties are serious business at races. I was in line for one before a race a year or two ago and someone cut the line and an absolute screaming match ended up happening. I mean - no cutsies, obvious, but DANG!

I LOOOOVE that picture of you two with Minnie, definitely worth the long wait!! Your outfits are the best!

People were TICKED! And that was just the 30 seconds or so we saw of it.

Thank you about the outfits. I loved them!!

 

[ZellyB]

You are too happy to be a Ghost Host

Finally after a few miles of dark highway running, we emerged into Epcot!! It’s such a boost to your spirits when you hit this part of the course and see all the lights shining across the water.

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We headed out around the World Showcase and passed the mile 4 marker.

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Up ahead in France there was a character spot I knew I wanted to take. Ratatouille!!

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The line wasn’t long at all for this, so we were back on our way quickly and just as quickly headed back out of the park and out to the Boardwalk!!

We cruised on around the first bend and I suddenly spotted Ryan, @rteetz , again and then immediately ahead I saw @jennamfeo and @Bree . So, I yelled out, “Hey, Jen” and “Hi Bree” and we had a nice little meet-up mid-course. It was great!

I think Sports Goofy was along in here, but we opted to run on past him, although we saw Jenn, Bree and Ryan in line. I was just having a great time taking in the Boardwalk area all lit up and decided to just shoot some pics along the route. I love this one of Chris.

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And then around the loop and Chris returned the favor

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It’s just so stinking pretty running along this area in the early morning and I could definitely feel my endorphins kicking up.

This was where we see some of the first photo pass photographers as well.

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We headed toward Yacht and Beach and saw the 5 mile mark (It felt like that mile between 4 and 5 just flew by! There were some cheering spectators here and she offered to take our picture.

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At this point we knew that @Keels booze stop had been shut down – but were still hoping to spot her for a quick hug, but I think I was looking in the wrong spot and missed her. BOO!

And, then, just like that, we were running into Epcot. This is the best part of the course. The torches are lit and the music is blaring and it’s a ridiculous runners high.



One of the first things you see are the phone booths in the UK, so like last year, we needed a photo stop.

Is the Matrix a Disney movie??

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Legit, Chris and I laughed about this for like 10 minutes!! We are easily amused.

Anyway, that Epcot running at this point had me at peak ENDORPHIN and I was so happy.

The song “Gaston” was blasting and I was just leaping along as I was running. Clearly WAY too happy to be a Ghost Host. My application would be summarily rejected if they saw this shot.

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What a dork!

But, they did get some great running shots of us through here.

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And this one I love

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[ZellyB]

Well, maybe it SHOULD be Gilbert!!

As we rounded the corner to head toward SSE, I saw another character we’d not had before with a fairly short line. I didn’t remember it from the character text group so I went to send a text out but could not remember this little dude’s name, so I sent, “Goofy’s nephew, Gilbert?? Is out”. Well, you can imagine I took some teasing about that one. Sorry, Max. But, I still contend Gilbert is a better name. Anyway, he’s cute regardless.
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And then on toward the finish.


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Still so happy!!

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Mile 6!!

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And across the finish line!

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I love the 10K race so much!! Very happy to earn another Minnie medal

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And then it was off to the buses as we had a park day (and a DisMeet) scheduled!!
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[Ariel484]

How do you look so good while running? You should teach a class!

Those sunrise pictures on the Boardwalk are AMAZING! That one of the two of you is frame-worthy for sure!

I agree, Gilbert > Max

 

[ZellyB]

How do you look so good while running? You should teach a class!

Those sunrise pictures on the Boardwalk are AMAZING! That one of the two of you is frame-worthy for sure!

I agree, Gilbert > Max

I look so good because I smile big for the camera and I never post the lousy looking shots!!

Right? Gilbert makes perfect sense!!! HAHAHAHA!!!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Your 10K pictures are gold! You both look like you're having a blast!

 

[jennamfeo]

OMG all of your photos are so amazing!!!!

 

[ZellyB]

Your 10K pictures are gold! You both look like you're having a blast!

Thank you! This race was so much fun. I just love the course and Epcot is magical.

OMG all of your photos are so amazing!!!!

Thank you!

 

[baxter24]

Great race photos! Add me to the list of those who love running around the Boardwalk. We stayed there for a family trip back in December and I got up early a few mornings to run around there. I think the Epcot resorts are the best places to stay. The convenience of a quick walk to two parks and the beauty of the resorts can’t be beat.

PS - also wondering how the heck that woman got out of the port o John???