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

[ZellyB]

Great pictures. I haven’t been to The Wave yet, I’ll have to try it. That’s crazy getting over there. I thought about taking Uber to the Contemporary and then decided to go to EPCOT so I could ride the monorail. Glad I didn’t do that! Love your review of CBJ!

You were much smarter than us. At one point when he was making u-turns and trying to get us where we needed to be, we went through the Epcot parking lot and I almost had him just drop us there to take the monorail but thought he had it figured out at that point. I was wrong.

So now I'm going to be spending our spring break trip staring at walls at Disney...

HA!

Great Pirates photo (practicing your photopass smiles). That has got to be the most awkwardly placed ride photo ever! I either forget it’s there (and have a ridiculously inquisitive look on my face...) or I remember it’s there and tell myself “look natural, look natural, look natural“. Neither has worked for me very well. I need to try your technique next time!

I love the pink poodles at Minnie’s meet and greet! I collect pink poodle figurines from the 50’s (I have my Grandma’s). They are on display in my kitchen, which has a bit of a 50’s Prime Time feel. I’ve never done the character meet and greet in Fantasyland. I will need to check it out!

I love the setup at the Fantasyland meet-up with Minnie. She just looks so adorable!

 

[ZellyB]

No school like the old school

After Incredibles 2 came out, I had decided I thought going old school on the Incredibles costumes would be a fun costume idea. We custom ordered them through an Etsy shop, iGlow running, and we were really pleased with how they turned out. I was desperately hoping for an Incredibles character stop that included Edna Mode. I knew she’d been out at some recent races including the half the day before, and I LOVE her, so fingers crossed even though the spoiler info said she wasn’t going to be out for the marathon. I was still hopeful!!

We were up early as usually and got ready for the race. Drank a quick cup of coffee and a snack and headed for the bus. We were on the first bus out and arrived quickly at the starting area. We opted again to get a quick shot with the mascot of the race. I’d had my sister help me make some masks for our costumes figuring we’d pull them out for photos with characters… Yeah, this is the only shot we got with them. HA! They were not comfortable and it was too much of a pain to pull them out and get them situated. Still this shot turned out cute!



Mickey’s line was pretty long and while in line we got a text from a work friend who was there with her daughters running the races. They had run the half, but her daughter was running the marathon alone, so she asked if we’d hang with her before the race and walk to the corrals together. She’s young and speedy and was in B, but it was fun talking with her before the race. It meant we missed out AGAIN on the pre-race meet. #DisMeetLosers

We headed off to the corrals and got settled right at the front of the D corral. The closest I’ll ever get to C.


I snacked on an Uncrustable (don’t know who on here first mentioned those as race fuel, but YUM). And we just relaxed and eventually the walk to the start began. We watched the fireworks for each corral ahead of us and the excitement was building.


We were at the front and holding the tape as we moved forward. Eventually it was our turn!! And we were off!!!


We knew this race was going to be a hot one, so we’d really been hitting the fluids the day before and this morning. It also meant that because we had staked out the front of the corral early that we already needed to pee. HA! So we pulled off within the first mile or so for a potty break. And just like that 1 mile down.


We were already getting character texts from @croach so knew the first one was a Ducktales stop. I was tempted by that one but we have had it before and the line was stupid, so we decided for those characters where we didn’t stop, we’d just take shots with random runners again.

Hello, Random Dopey Runner!!



Mile 2!



And then these lovely gates were ahead!! We know from experience that it’s still a long way to Magic Kingdom, but we are always excited to see this!


Mile 3!

You can sort of see in the background that there was this thick ground fog rolling across the field behind here and it looked really cool!

We’d gotten a text that a new-to-us character stop was up ahead. Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. We saw it ahead and slipped over into the long line. When we were about 6-7 people from the front, a CM came through saying Judy was leaving shortly but would be right back. Fine we thought, they do the change outs quick on the runDisney meets, so we thought if we got to the front we’d just step aside and wait for her to come back as we wanted both of them. As we let a few go in front of us and we saw Judy coming back we got ready for a picture. The CM standing by us said, “Just so you know, as soon as Judy gets back, Nick is leaving.” Really? Sigh. Oh well, we didn’t want to wait anymore and I wanted Judy more than Nick, but still a bit disappointed. She’s so cute though!!




Seems like maybe there was another character stop somewhere in here that I’m forgetting and didn’t take a photo of, but I can’t remember now. LOL

I know we ended up stopping AGAIN somewhere in here to go to the bathroom and I think we both knew at this point we had probably over-hydrated, but we were paranoid about the heat we knew was coming so we still were drinking some at each aid station.

Mile 4!


And then we saw this looming ahead and knew we were nearly to that most magical portion of the race.


Mile 5!


That portion of the race went by soooooo fast it felt. Now, just hoping that it would stay that way.

Next Up: The most magical miles!
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[Jules76126]

Definitely want to try out the wave at some point. The breakfasts always look so good.

 

[Ariel484]

Love your outfits, you guys look so awesome! I can totally see how those masks would be annoying.

That's a bummer that you missed Nick Wilde, but Judy Hopps! I am so jealous, she's so adorable!

 

[baxter24]

I am with you on being over hydrated during the race. I had to stop and use the bathroom three different times during the race!

I think the guardians of the galaxy characters were out before the Nick and Judy stop.

Great costumes!

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm younger than you and have two Instagram accounts, and I still don't get the purple wall thing. The internet is a scary place.

Okay. So. Five miles into the race I already have two "near misses":
1 - I was on the first bus from Beach Club, so we were probably on the same bus
2 - I got to the Nick & Judy line while Judy was gone and ended up getting a picture with her after Nick left, so I was probably waiting in line while you were getting your picture. (Yes, I know they probably take a lot of breaks, but your mile 4 picture is 1:09 and mine is 1:10, so it was probably around the same time )
Next time we're at a race together, we need to make these not near misses and actual hellos.

Also, I love how your costumes came out! They're really cute even without the masks.

 

[ZellyB]

Definitely want to try out the wave at some point. The breakfasts always look so good.

Do it!

Love your outfits, you guys look so awesome! I can totally see how those masks would be annoying.

That's a bummer that you missed Nick Wilde, but Judy Hopps! I am so jealous, she's so adorable!

I was pretty happy to get them. They meet more on the regular at DL I think and Chris and I tried to get them a couple of times when we were there for Tink but kept missing them, so it was great to get Judy at least.

I am with you on being over hydrated during the race. I had to stop and use the bathroom three different times during the race!

I think the guardians of the galaxy characters were out before the Nick and Judy stop.

Great costumes!

YES!! It was Gamora who was out and we actually almost went back for her. We didn't see her until we were halfway past the end of the line and it would have been really difficult to work our way back to her.

I'm younger than you and have two Instagram accounts, and I still don't get the purple wall thing. The internet is a scary place.

Okay. So. Five miles into the race I already have two "near misses":
1 - I was on the first bus from Beach Club, so we were probably on the same bus
2 - I got to the Nick & Judy line while Judy was gone and ended up getting a picture with her after Nick left, so I was probably waiting in line while you were getting your picture. (Yes, I know they probably take a lot of breaks, but your mile 4 picture is 1:09 and mine is 1:10, so it was probably around the same time )
Next time we're at a race together, we need to make these not near misses and actual hellos.

Also, I love how your costumes came out! They're really cute even without the masks.

Wow, we were close to each other!

I was super happy with the costumes. Although the tank inadvertently ended up in the dryer at home after the race and the Elastigirl symbol came off. So, that was a one shot deal.

 

[rteetz]

Great costumes!

I didn't stop much myself in the first 4-5 miles. I had the same luck with Guardians though. I got in line and only got Starlord instead of him and Gamora.

 

[emilyindisney]

Those costumes looks great!

 

[cavepig]

Love the outfits. Great photos. I was running for time in the marathon and so only stopped a couple times, so running passed Judy (I didn't see Nick) I was like oh so cute.

Although the tank inadvertently ended up in the dryer at home after the race and the Elastigirl symbol came off. So, that was a one shot deal.

Is it vinyl? You can re-iron it on. Just make sure you have the right side down. Unless it got ruined in the dryer.

 

[jennamfeo]

ZELLY! You started the race LITERALLY right next to me and @Bree!!! We were right at the tape at the front of D but we were all the way to the left! Funny.

 

[BigEeyore]

Nice choice on the outfits! Retro Incredibles - well done! I love their individual theme songs that they play at the end of Incredibles 2 - such a fun movie!

I got lucky and got Judy and Nick together, also got Gamora and Starlord together. I do remember that fog too - it was really cool!

 

[ZellyB]

Great costumes!

I didn't stop much myself in the first 4-5 miles. I had the same luck with Guardians though. I got in line and only got Starlord instead of him and Gamora.

Thanks! Our plan was to cruise through until MK relatively quickly and skip most of the early long lines and then take our time from MK on.

Those costumes looks great!

Thank you!

Love the outfits. Great photos. I was running for time in the marathon and so only stopped a couple times, so running passed Judy (I didn't see Nick) I was like oh so cute.

Is it vinyl? You can re-iron it on. Just make sure you have the right side down. Unless it got ruined in the dryer.

It is vinyl but if got all buggered up in the dryer. There is one small piece of it that stayed on and now it looks like there's just this little smile on it.

ZELLY! You started the race LITERALLY right next to me and @Bree!!! We were right at the tape at the front of D but we were all the way to the left! Funny.

WHAT??? How did we miss you? We were closer to the right side of the tape, but oh so close!!

Nice choice on the outfits! Retro Incredibles - well done! I love their individual theme songs that they play at the end of Incredibles 2 - such a fun movie!

I got lucky and got Judy and Nick together, also got Gamora and Starlord together. I do remember that fog too - it was really cool!

JEALOUS that you got Nick and Judy together.

I really loved that moment with the fog. Cool and a little spooky.

 

[ZellyB]

HEY! That’s no rando!! I know her!!

And, just like that you are swooping into Town Square to cheering crowds and heading down Main Street!! I LOVE this picture of Chris…

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Mine’s not as good and I can definitely see the sheen of sweat starting to build. I was already wondering if those arm and leg sleeves had been a big mistake, but I had already decided before the race I was willing to jettison them if needed.

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Still, nothing beats this part of the race. The yelling crowds, the lights on main street and this lovely

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We cruised on around to Tomorrowland where I think Buzz was meeting and then Tweedle Dee and Dum possible (somebody from Alice and Wonderland anyway). We saw Donald near the entrance to Storybook Circus as well, but none of those were tempting us and I didn’t even stop for random runner shots. I did make Chris stop for a quick photo of the other tiny, toy “castle” on the hill though.

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And then we saw a character I wanted to get. We’ve gotten him before, but I just love him and the line was short for Ulf!

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HAHAHAHAHA!! I was so concerned about tightening my lips to match his lips that I apparently tightened up my hands too.

And then just a short distance ahead, another character I don’t think I’d had before.

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Fairy Godmother (and, oh yeah, some Cindy girl). While we were waiting in line I heard someone yell out “Zelly!” and I looked over to see @keels speeding by. Asked if she’d gotten Judy and Nick because she was really wanting them and she yelled back, “Only Judy, but that’s okay ‘cause she’s my girl!”

This line was a bit long, but not too bad and soon we were running through the castle. We stopped off for a castle pic. A little off to the side rather than straight on, but the line was shorter.

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Then off toward Frontierland. Hey! Hi!

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Woody and Bullseye maybe meeting here but we passed on by to Mile 6 and still so happy!

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And then to the backstage area where the Villians were meeting. LONG line, so, “Hi, random runner!” Cute Dopey costume.

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And just like that we were saying goodbye to the Magic Kingdom. We ran over the train tracks, but no train this year I don’t think. It was around this time I noticed how much less crowded the course seemed. This part of the course is usually really frustrating because it’s just so tight and crowded and while it was certainly crowded we were mostly able to maintain our intervals and not feel boxed in. So nice!!

Hello, Mile 7

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and some cute penguins

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Then came Mickey and Minnie by the golf course. I really wanted to get them because, you know, Mouse Challenge, but the line was SUPER long. We initially got in it but I could tell we had a long wait ahead, so I told Chris we’d just run on and get a random runner shot. So, up we went and I pulled out my camera for this picture…

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@jennamfeo ! and then

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@Bree. We gave them a holler and had a fun little mid-marathon chat and then off we all went again!

Then came mile 8!



Almost 1/3 done y’all!!





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[rteetz]

Great pictures! You really got a lot of good stops in and around MK.

That’s awesome that you saw Jenna and Bree at Mickey and Minnie!

 

[jennamfeo]

YAY! I love that we got to be a part of your "Hello Random (not so random) Stranger" series! It was so good to see you both!

Y'all really did get some amazing pictures in MK. Can't wait to read about the rest!

 

[ZellyB]

Great pictures! You really got a lot of good stops in and around MK.

That’s awesome that you saw Jenna and Bree at Mickey and Minnie!

Best part of the race, hands down!! I really try to take our time going through MK because I never want it to end. I loved seeing Jenna and Bree!!

YAY! I love that we got to be a part of your "Hello Random (not so random) Stranger" series! It was so good to see you both!

Y'all really did get some amazing pictures in MK. Can't wait to read about the rest!

I'm so happy we saw you and it was so funny when it hit me after snapping that shot that it was you!

 

[Ariel484]

I can't believe more people don't stop for Ulf!

That's so awesome that you guys had more room on the course. Great pictures of the two of you running together as usual!

 

[ZellyB]

I can't believe more people don't stop for Ulf!

That's so awesome that you guys had more room on the course. Great pictures of the two of you running together as usual!

I know, right?! He's so cute and to my knowledge doesn't regularly meet anywhere else.

and, yes, the room on the course was the best I've experienced for any of our runDisney races. It was great!

 

[ZellyB]

Dude, What’s with the stank eye??

After this point of the marathon, the roads get a bit blurry to me because it’s some back roads that you run along. But, there are usually at least some characters or things of interest.

First up were these old ride vehicles. Hello, random runners!

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And then cute little Orange Bird

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And mile 9!

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And then a new to us character…

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Bowler Hat Guy from Meet the Robinsons. A movie I’ve never seen. But his costume was cool and his line was short!

And hello to miles 10, 11 and 12

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This is a pretty unpleasant stretch of the race as it includes a tight out and back before getting into Animal Kingdom. The sun was starting to get up in the sky some and the heat was rising, so I was getting a little worried about how we would fare later in the race.

But, eventually we made the turn toward Animal Kingdom. Hooray!!

Stilt dudes from FOtLK were out so, why not? They gave us some nice shout outs on our retro Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible costumes which was nice.

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And then some animals are usually lined up as you enter AK, so that’s always fun.

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I loved this Donkey!!

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And then into Animal Kingdom we went.

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And Mile 13! Half-way, folks!

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Then another new-to-us character

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Ballet dancing ostrich from Fantasia, I guess??? Anyway, my failed attempt at a ballet pose.

Hello, Everest! I opted not to ride this year since Chris wasn’t up to it and I didn’t want to make him wait.

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We stopped for a bathroom break again here and then lined up for a beer. There was an older Team Shenanigans guy in front of us asking if anyone knew if the Balloon Ladies had started earlier than usual. He was worried about it. Turns out, they had started a fair amount earlier than normal, presumably due to the reduced number of participants. We got our beer and walked on past EE – you can’t run with a full beer!

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BEER ME!!!

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It was after the race when I was looking at pictures that I noticed this other runner appearing to give us the stank eye – I’m guessing because of our beer? Now, it’s a moment in time and who knows what she is looking at, but I kind of got a kick out of it if she was silently judging our mid-race libation!

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And just like that it was mile 14 and goodbye Animal Kingdom.


Hello to the Heat!
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