Coast to Coast and Back Again: A runDisney Journey

[Mimsy Borogove]

Hello and thank you in advance for reading!

My name is Kim and this is my third DIS trip report (see below for others). I'm an avid runDisney-er, and I originally hail from Wisconsin, though I've been in Florida long enough for my blood to have thinned and to have been a WDW AP Holder for the better part of 20 years. It's just me and DH (no human children) and he's a good sport about accompanying me on all my running adventures.

2017 was to be my third consecutive year of going Coast to Coast (in runDisney terms, that means completing at least a half marathon on each coast, at Disneyland and at Walt Disney World), starting with WDW Marathon Weekend and then the two Star Wars Half Marathon (Light Side in California, Dark Side in Florida) weekends. I'm a huge Disney fan and an even bigger Star Wars fan, so I'll serve up that warning straight away!

Hope you enjoy my ramblings and feel free to comment! Let's get started, shall we?


(me with my 2016 runDisney medals, traditional Castle-medals shot with a twist)

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Table of Contents

January 6, 2017
Expo Day
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

January 7, 2017
Wait, this isn't Frozen Ever After!

January 12, 2017
California Love
~Interlude~

January 13, 2017
We're Going to Disneyland!
Dang Near Fainted
She's Real Fine, My 409

January 14, 2017
10K Races Are Built On Hope
Running in the Dark (But Not Dark Side)
Backstage Passes
More Disneyland Running!
Keep Running!
Never Stop Running!
Park Time!
We Got Detoured!
Lessons With A Youngling

January 15, 2017
A Princess Runs Again
Do or Do Not, There is No Try
The Force Will Be With You, Always
Luminous Beings Are We, Not This Crude Matter
Away Put Your Weapon, I Mean You No Harm
All Your Life You Have Looked Away to the Future, the Horizon
When 13.1 Miles You Reach, Look As Good You Will Not
Go Back to Jakku?!

January 16, 2017
A Very Full Day
Yodel-Lay-Hee-Hoo!
Jingle Shells, Jingle Shells
Drink Up, Me Hearties, Yo Ho!
We've Gone Plaid!
Disneyland Night Life
You'll Be In My Heart
In the Tiki (x5) Room
Fantasy and the Force
One Last Time (George Washington's Going Home...)
World of Color Dessert Party!

~Interlude~
Festival of the Arts at Epcot (January 28, 2017)

April 20, 2017
Off to the Races!
You Don't Know the Power of the Dark Side

April 21, 2017
May the Course Be With You
Let the Games Begin
Been Around the World and I-I-I, I Can’t Find My Baby
Never Mind the Dark Side, Behold the Power of Cheese!
Sold Out!
Laissez les bon temps roulez!

April 22, 2017
I Am No Jedi
I'm the One with Enthusiasm
She'll Always Be Royalty to Me
He's No Good to Me Dead
Light the Lamp, Not the Rat!

April 23, 2017
Great, Kid. Don't Get Cocky.
Coatee-cha tu yub nub!
I've Got a Bad Feeling About This
“Your focus determines your reality.” – Qui Gon Jinn
Never Tell Me The Odds
A Finisher, I Am
Elbows Off the Table!
Cassian Said I Had To

April 24, 2017
Course By Course, One By One, Til You Shout, “Enough I’m Done!”
How You Doing, You Old Pirate?
You Think of a Wonderful Thought
#allthefood at Flower & Garden Fest
Kaboom!

April 25, 2017
There's No Crying in Science!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Expo Day

Originally, I wasn't even going to participate in WDW Marathon Weekend; I'd already registered for the Light Side and Dark Side challenges for my coast to coast challenge (Kessel Run!), but then I realized that it was an anniversary year and we are fortunate to live close enough to WDW that we could pop in for a night so I could run the half marathon. I'd done the Dopey Challenge in 2016 and felt like I didn't properly enjoy the half marathon course because I was nervous about my first full marathon. So long story short, I registered through a running club and I was set!

When you run Disney races, part of the deal is attending the race weekend expo, if nothing else to pick up your race packet (bib and shirt) and merchandise if you are so inclined. So with the WDW half marathon happening on Saturday, January 7, both DH and I took that Friday off from work and left home early in the morning, dropping our labrador off at the boarding kennel for the weekend. As we were driving to WDW, we got a call from the kennel saying that he had been attacked by another dog, who'd since been removed from the kennel, and they were taking him to the vet. We were horrified - he's been going to this facility for 8+ years with no incidents - but we were familiar with the kennel's vet and the kennel folks said he was fine, they were just taking him as a precautionary measure for possible infection. So we decided to continue on with our plans, our pup was going to be fine (they updated us a short while later during our drive) and they were keeping him separate from the other dogs. This may sound heartless on our part, but we know our dog and he'd be just as happy laying around in a room (his favorite pasttime!) as running around outside. As it turned out, he was perfectly fine, just a couple scrapes on his snout. And the attacking dog? A golden retriever, go figure.

Our first order of business was to hit the outlets because I've gotten some really great deals there (and this time I got a 2016 runDisney wine glass and coffee mug for $3 each, DH got a Hank the septopus mug for $6, so yay!) and we'd tried the previous week for my birthday and since it was so close to Christmas, the outlets were a madhouse and we decided to skip that insanity.

After the outlet, we were back on the road to property for the expo.

"Where Dreams Come True" - unless your dream is to pull over to the side of the road for photographs!

And we were soon turning off Osceola Parkway into ESPN Wide World of Sports (WWOS) for the expo. It seemed like parking took a lot longer than it should have; DH was getting impatient and I told him that these were volunteers, so don't get too upset with them, it's not like they do this for a living. I think it took at least 10-15 minutes for us to get from the entrance to our parking spot. And then the longish walk to the expo.




Packet pick-up wasn't too bad, not a lot of people there and I was in and out very quickly. DH was outside exploring (= finding a smoking area) so I quickly headed upstairs to check out the race merchandise. The Dooneys looked nice, but since I was headed to Star Wars Light Side the following weekend, I wasn't looking to spend a lot on WDW weekend merchandise. Even though I had a bunch of gift cards due to my birthday the previous week (yay!). The merchandise in the Field House also didn't include the I Did It! shirts or magnets, so I headed to the Jostens Center to pick up my race shirt, pick up a previous order from Raw Threads, and check out the runDisney merchandise.


OMG, I love love love the Haunted Mansion-themed New Balances, but having purchased Ariel the previous year and not really having worn them all that much (except to the parks), I couldn't justify the cost. But look at the gloriously purple shoes!!


Then it was on to Raw Threads to pick up my order and also my swag (I signed up for this race through them) from our "troop leader" Kate. I had a really nice conversation with her for at least 10 minutes.



Then I picked up my race merchandise, just the I Did It! shirt (I used to be superstitious about them, but am also a sucker for the race course maps on the back) and a couple of magnets. With my AP Holder discount, I think I spent $42. Or my family who sent me Disney GCs spent $42.

Uplifting Walt Disney quotes. <3

By this time, DH had headed back to the car, so on the way out, I had to ask a random person to take my photograph in front of the half marathon sign - I thought I'd regret it if I didn't do that. Dun dun DUN [that's foreshadowing, by the way, in case you can't hear the music in your head]


Then back to our car, collected the mister (hmm, HIMsy Borogove?), and we were on our way to my favorite on-property resort that isn't the Polynesian: BoardWalk Inn! We have been lucky enough to have stayed there several times, and I had no intention of staying there for WDW marathon weekend, but when I'd tried to book rooms for the weekend through our AP, it was literally the only place that was less than $450/night. Except for the All-Star resorts, which were clocking in at a ridiculous $250+/night. So BWI it was, and I was really looking forward to it as a special treat.

However, our room wasn't quite ready just yet because it wasn't even 2pm, so we just parked our vehicle with all our stuff inside and headed over to Epcot! What I found interesting is that they were running everyone through a metal detector, so we didn't even get to experience the AP Holder special line for entrance. Sadface. But I am glad that they were being vigilant, though also sad that these are the times in which we live.

But anyway! On to Rose & Crown for a little libation.


I had my standard G&T (they just taste better when made by a British person, you guys!) and DH had a Leaping Leprechaun (at left). Because we were staying in the pub, my drink was even served in a real glass. And it wasn't crowded at all, which is how I like my Rose & Crown. AND our favorite bartender was there, too, but we didn't get a chance to talk to him. Just a nice little relaxing time at the R&C. As a sidebar, if you haven't seen The Crown on Netflix, it is fantastic. I'm not a Royals-watcher, but I am an Anglophile, and I loved it. It was also nice to see Matt Smith (the Eleventh Doctor) get some work.

Once we finished our drinks, it was in to the shops. I love the shops in the UK because they feature almost everything I love: The Beatles, Alice in Wonderland, Monty Python, and Doctor Who, among others. Also, we had a little time to kill before our Soarin' FP+ and ADR at Via Napoli.


They really won't react to anything, you guys!

I'd made late afternoon (2:45pm) ADR at Via Napoli because their pizza is magical and a pre-race staple for me, and then just a light snack at night the day before a race. Unfortunately this also meant that I missed out on a DIS meetup at Beach Club, which was a big bummer, but I'm also a giant nerd with a hint of social anxiety, so it's probably better for everyone that I missed out. Sadface.

Anyway! On to Via Napoli. Even at that late hour of the day, lots of people were being turned away at the door if they didn't have ADRs. Which I really didn't understand because there were plenty of empty tables around us?

We ordered a pepperoni pizza, I had a quartino of pinot grigio (I really wasn't taking this half marathon very seriously at all since I had another the following weekend), DH a quartino of Chianti (sans the fava beans. And census taker liver). And I had a great view of Stromboli, Vesuvio, and Etna:


By this time, we'd received a text that our room was ready, so we made our way home for the weekend. Yay!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

BTW, I'm not sure why these photos are showing up SO LARGE, but sorry!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Joining in!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

We walked back to BWI (home for the weekend, yay!) and since we already had our room number, we bypassed the lobby and headed to our room. We've stayed at BWI or BWV at least 4-5 times over the years and this would be the first time our room was not in the main building. Truth be told, I don't think I'd ever even noticed the accessory buildings! But we made it to our room from Epcot just to see where it was in relationship to the parking lot. In looking at the map, it seemed you should be able to cut through the pool area (not the large one with the scary clown waterslide) and the parking lot would be right there. But never underestimate Disney's skill in making you go the long way around! Ultimately, we ended up having to go up the back stairs to the main building, through one of the side hallways (just past the elevators and lounge), then walk ALL the way to the parking lot to get our stuff. Sure, we could have pulled the car up and had bell services, but where's the fun in that?!

In the beginning, this trip was going to be a simple overnighter: get to the parks on Friday, spend the night, half marathon the next day. But after I'd registered for the race, I had a thought. What if we stayed two nights and then spectated at the marathon on Sunday? I've never spectated a Disney race before. I've run my fair share of them, but never watched one. We were at the Boardwalk, which is right on the course near the end. I know how it felt the previous year to have so many awesome people out cheering on that last little stretch along the Epcot resorts. DH was excited about the prospect, too, so we booked the two nights and I set about making proper Disney-themed race signs the weekend prior. These are the signs:


I love Zootopia; Judy Hopps is one of my favorite characters and DH tells me all the time that "Try Everything" is basically my theme song. #bestcomplimentever


This sign was for DH; we'd seen Moana on Christmas day (we live far from family) and he wanted something Moana-themed. So I came up with a Tamatoa sign since I'm pretty sure he'd be all about that bling.


Welcome Home!! I adore this resort. We are Epcot/Studios people for the most part, so it's nice to just pick up and go to those parks without waiting for any transportation.



I read The Shining when I was way too young, and so now pretty much every hotel hallway makes me think of the Grady twins.




I loved our room and it just seemed so big! We were on the first floor, which was a little alarming, but I figured that we could barely find our room, so it's not like on a main pathway or something. Funny story: if you look at the photo above, you'll notice that the bathroom area is dark. It took both DH and I like 5 minutes to find a light switch - I honestly thought there wasn't one because there was a switch panel next to the toilet, but it didn't do anything - and ended up finding it UNDER the towel rack just inside the door. Why they didn't install the towel rack 1-2 feet higher on that wall (it was for hand towels, very small rack) so that the light switch was visible, I'll never know. But at least we figured it out! Hee!

By this time, it's around 4:30 or so and DH decided he'd like to run to a store to get some libations to keep in the room fridge, so he took off and after perusing the DIS boards, I decided it might be worthwhile to head to Hurricane Hannah's for a few minutes to say hi to whomever might still be there. And if nothing else, I had some beer from my Wisconsin hometown to drop off for one of the DISers staying there. So I headed to Hannah's from BWI. Boy, you guys, you just don't realize how far those Epcot resorts are spaced until you're trying to be mindful of time on your feet. I think it took me 15 minutes to walk to Hannah's. Of course, 5 minutes of that was escaping the labyrinth of accessory buildings at BWI.

Arriving at Hannah's I didn't see any large group of people, or even any small groups of people. So I backtracked to the lobby and dropped off the beer at the front desk for the DISer. I hope that the message was passed along, the CM told me they would!


View of Boardwalk from Beach Club - so pretty!

So that was my little jaunt for the evening. I returned to the room and DH was back. We had planned taking the rest of the night easy - DH has accompanied me on enough of these race weekends that he knew what it would entail, and that's why he went to the store, less expensive libations! I tend to set out my race costumes the night before, snap a few photos if I'm feeling Instagrammy, and ensure to hydrate, all the while getting tucked into bed around 7ish. My costume for this race was Hank the Septopus from Finding Dory! I was so looking forward to wearing this.



I don't necessarily go to sleep at that early time, but I'll read or peruse the internet/social media until I feel like it's time to get some shut-eye. At this point, I check the DIS marathon weekend thread and there is talk about the half marathon getting delayed due to weather. I'd watched the weather the previous week like a hawk and knew we were in for a very rainy race (Saturday had a 90-100% chance of rain with some mixed t-storms), and knew that it was probably going to be miserable. I also knew that a delay or course-shortening was a distinct possibility as well. So I was on pins and needles checking every source I could find and then the news dropped: runDisney was canceling the half marathon and the kids races scheduled for Saturday. I felt like the breath was knocked out of me. And once I got over the initial shock, I got on my weather app and looked at the radar. There was a nasty line of storms on the way, and while they might dissipate by the time the race started, it wouldn't be enough assurances to keep volunteers, cast members, and runners safe if something were to happen.

In my opinion, runDisney did the absolute right thing. If there is one thing in Florida you don't mess with (and I'm including alligators and sharks here), it's lightning. I know someone who's been struck by lightning twice, both times on sunny days. We are the lightning capital of the world (the world? That seems grandiose, but I think so?), and in central Florida particularly. But boy, were people UPSET! And to be honest, I was really disappointed, too. I love the course, I was looking forward to photo ops as Hank (I have no idea if I'll get to recycle it anytime soon), and I was looking forward to getting the 20th anniversary medal.

I do feel horrible for the people who would be running their first half marathon, or running it as part of a challenge, that disappointment would be incredibly high, I imagine. And runDisney did, in my opinion, the best they could do to mitigate that disappointment. We were essentially given compensatory damages, and options for that compensation. I think that is above and beyond because when you sign up for a rD race, there are no refunds, cancellations, transfers, deferrals, etc. So for them to not only refund us, but give us the options they did, was outstanding.

Of course, we were still out for travel expenses, hotel, meals, etc. But we're at Disney!

At this point, DH and I looked at each other and kind of went, "so what now?"

 

[lovingeire]

As a sidebar, if you haven't seen The Crown on Netflix, it is fantastic. I'm not a Royals-watcher, but I am an Anglophile, and I loved it.

The Crown is AMAZING! Finally got to watch a few episodes on the plane home from Light Side & I'm hooked! But I am a bit of a royal watcher...

I set about making proper Disney-themed race signs the weekend prior

Super cute signs!

I'm sure it was disappointing, but definitely think it was the right call!

 

[cavepig]

Your Hank outfit is amazing, it's so sad the half was canceled, but yeah I agree right call by Disney. Hope you get to wear Hank soon, just wear him at Darkside Throw an Empire symbol on him!
That Boardwalk room looks gorgeous too & those signs are so cute!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

The Crown is AMAZING! Finally got to watch a few episodes on the plane home from Light Side & I'm hooked! But I am a bit of a royal watcher...

I was so transfixed by their trip to Nairobi, watching all the animals and surroundings and then realized I had to back up because I'd missed the dialog! #biologistproblems

Super cute signs!

I'm sure it was disappointing, but definitely think it was the right call!

Thank you! I was excited about them. It definitely was disappointed but runDisney did make the right call and also went above and beyond in response. In my opinion, anyway!

Your Hank outfit is amazing, it's so sad the half was canceled, but yeah I agree right call by Disney. Hope you get to wear Hank soon, just wear him at Darkside Throw an Empire symbol on him!
That Boardwalk room looks gorgeous too & those signs are so cute!

Thank you! I actually thought about using Hank for Dark Side, too! We'll see what happens because I did have a few ideas in mind. We love the Boardwalk, it's one of my favorite places to stay and I was so happy we'd be there for marathon weekend.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Alternate Plans
***Edited to add that I'm not sure why the photos disappeared, but I'm trying to add them in again***

I will say that I have been critical of runDisney's communications prowess in the past (cough - new costume rules the night before WDW marathon weekend last year - cough), but they did an amazing job with this event. There were tweets. There were Facebook posts. There were text messages if you'd signed up for runner tracking. And if you were staying on property, there were voicemail messages on your resort phone. They really did a bang-up job.


First Facebook post announcing the cancellation at around 7:15pm.

Once it was official, and I processed that I wouldn't be getting up at 3am to go running 13.1 miles, I looked at DH and said, "what do you want to do? Because I'd like a drink." [sidebar: I hope you all don't think we're a couple of boozies, but there's something relaxing about sitting at a Disney lounge and enjoying a cocktail, something we otherwise never do] He agreed and then the discussion turned to where. He wasn't interested in the Belle Vue Lounge, which would have been a short walk, but instead we decided to head over to Yacht Club since we'd never really gone inside before. We'd perused the menu for Ale and Compass Lounge and it looked like a great option, with bonus nautical theme. So I got out of bed, got dressed, and we headed out for a night on the Boardwalk!


This is the only photo I took inside Yacht Club.

When we arrived, there was a lot of bustling activity in the lounge and we weren't quite sure if we'd even get a table! But we kind of loitered around the entrance and waited until one freed up. The lounge was offering some seasonal drinks so I ordered one, the Jingle Juice. It was apple-themed with Crown Royal Apple being the main ingredient and accompanied by some hard cider and other mixers. It was tasty! DH ordered a simple Jack and Coke. And we were feeling a bit hungry, so split an order of truffle fries. Protip: if you order the truffle fries, bring some mouthwash or gum with you, because hello garlic! We probably spent an hour or so there and there was a flurry of runner drama: people wearing the yellow race shirt, people asking random other people if they were among the fallen, and the bartender CM telling me that the canceled race significantly increased her business for the evening. So it seemed that I wasn't the only one drinking my feelings that night!

It was a nice little field trip, but then we both started feeling a bit tired. Drama and excitement can do that to you. So we headed back to Boardwalk, where it seemed that the ducks were having a better nightlife than we were!



And in the BWI lobby, we spotted the sign which kind of made the cancellation officially official.



runDisney had promised an update around 10pm and sure enough, I soon received a text message, information was tweeted and Facebooked, and I clicked on the link to see the official refund options.


This is way past my normal bedtime, too, in case you were wondering!

I fell asleep pretty quickly and then woke up all on my own at 3am (haha, joke's on me!) with my mind swirling. Weather was nasty, our dog was hurt, my race was canceled, my parents would be arriving in a couple days to house/dog/cat/bird-sit for us while we were in California for Star Wars Light Side Half Marathon weekend, we didn't really have any reason to be at Disney now (we wouldn't have come if I hadn't had a race), and I started thinking about the cost of the hotel room and associated meals and how those costs could be applied the following weekend to our California trip. So I decided to ask DH about it in the morning and went back to sleep.

When I woke up for good in the morning, I checked social media and it seemed like a lot of half marathoners/Dopey-Goofy challengers were going to run their own impromptu half marathon. I looked outside and saw storms off in the distance, and have I mentioned about how you don't mess with lightning in Florida? So good for those people, I hoped they'd be safe, and I'm glad they turned a negative into a positive, but I really didn't feel an overwhelming urge to do it myself. Maybe if DH had not been along or I'd been planning to run with someone else, but I made the decision to not take the time to do it. Especially since we discussed leaving and DH agreed that with the nasty weather coming in, we'd be paying a lot of money to not really have much fun. So we packed up our stuff, returned it to the car, and checked out. I was disappointed to not spectate the marathon (I was really looking forward to that, and we were going to hand out Starburst candies, too) and also disappointed I wouldn't meet any DISers that weekend (with the race canceled, so was the pre-race meetup), but we both felt we needed to get home.

The only hitch was we had lunch ADR at Be Our Guest at 1:40pm. So we still had a bit of time to kill.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Wait, this isn't Frozen Ever After!
***Edited to add that I'm not sure why the photos disappeared, but trying to add them back in***

Once we had our Jeep packed up and we checked out of BWI (CMs were very understanding, I guess we weren't the only ones who left early!), we decided to bus over to Magic Kingdom so as to avoid the fustercluck that is TTC on Saturday mornings. So we walked across the street from the BWI parking lot to the bus stop and a Magic Kingdom bus pulled up almost immediately! We boarded and headed to the park. While walking from the parking lot, I was trying to decide if I wanted to bring my hoodie, but I had several layers on and figured I'd be OK in the parks.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom and decided we'd try a few things we haven't in years, especially indoor venues, so we headed over to Liberty Square to visit the Hall of Presidents. As usual, there were very few people waiting to go inside, which is always a nice bonus, too. While waiting, we looked around at the historical artifacts. I think my favorite was Abraham Lincoln's book of Lord Byron poetry. I just like that we had a president with such romantic tendencies (English Literature minor in college, here).




Presidents 1 through 44.

By this time, it was getting chilly outside, it was spitting rain - not nice, warm typical Florida rain. Evil, cold, spitting needle rain. Yuck. So at this point, our strategy was to stay as warm and dry as possible until our BOG ADR. You'd be surprised how difficult it is to kill time in Magic Kingdom when you are cold! After the Hall of Presidents, we decided to visit those mischievous hitchhiking ghosts and the other 996 happy haunts. Stand-by wait was 10 or 15 minutes, so why not? And it's always fun to stroll through the grounds of the Gracey estate.



So that killed another 10 minutes or so, but always fun. When we came back outside, I swear the temperature had dropped another 5 degrees or so and now my teeth were chattering. We walked past the Tangled restrooms and decided to do Philharmagic since neither one of us remembered the last time we'd done it. Once we sat through it, we remembered why. I don't particularly care for the 3-D attractions (those darn glasses never sit right on me), and there was a group of sing-along-ers just behind us who dominated the sound. So we were feeling much like a frazzled Donald afterwards, but at least we were out of the wind, rain, and cold for a bit!

We still had a lot of time to kill - can you even believe I'm saying that about being at Magic Kingdom?! - and DH was looking for a smoke break, so we wandered over to Dumbo and then the pathway to Tomorrowland so he could smoke. There was no way I was going to stand there and in hale his secondhand smoke AND freeze to death, so I went ahead and wandered around the Space Mountain gift shop until he was done, and then we did the absolute best time killer of all: the people mover! So we made our tour of Tomorrowland attractions, enjoyed the corner whooshes, and plotted our next move. By this time, we still had about an hour. So Carousel of Progress it was! And you know you're humming the tune to yourself now - you're welcome.

After that, it was finally time to head to BOG for lunch! DH wanted one more smoke break on the way, so I went ahead again to the big top gift shop and bought a hoodie because I couldn't take it anymore. I was fantasizing about soup and cocoa and coffee at BOG and so it was time to warm up. I bought the new white hoodie with the sparkly and starry accents, put it on immediately and felt sooooooooo much better.

Ahhhhhh. Warmth, sweet warmth. And it was at this point that I realized I'd seen a couple in half marathon shirts jogging the path between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, and good for them! Now that I was finally warm, my brain thawed and caught up to where it needed to be.

We checked in for our ADR, the CM scanned my MagicBand and we were granted access to Himself's drawbridge. Upon entering, we were directed to a rather full queue on the right side of the knights in shining armor hallway and ended up waiting for quite a bit, which gave us time to firm up our choices for lunch. I'd forgotten to pre-order, so oops on me. DH ended up ordering the quiche, and I had the turkey sandwich, and we each had a soft drink. Typically, when we eat at BOG, we've eaten in the ballroom, and one other time in the Rose Gallery. But I was determined to sit in the West Wing just once and we were lucky! There was an empty table just off to the side.


Our lunchtime view.

The food was good, it was nice to warm up a bit, and also to watch the scenery change (lightning and other light changes in the West Wing).


So pretty.



I could tell that DH was fading fast, he was ready to go home. So we did and I even ended up driving home because he was done, and that was it for WDW Marathon weekend! We were sad to be leaving and not being able to spectate, but with my parents arriving from Wisconsin in a few short days (and we needed to do some housecleaning!) and then us heading out to California shortly after, it was probably the right thing to do. I followed the marathoners virtually the next day through the DIS and via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. What a bunch of troupers to run in that cold!

Coming up next: We're going back to Cali...

 

[DLHNYC]

Following along! Sorry about the half, how frustrating that must have been! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip (and hopefully getting to do those other two halfs).

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I don't blame you for checking out early especially when you are not that far from home and you had a pup emergency!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Following along! Sorry about the half, how frustrating that must have been! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip (and hopefully getting to do those other two halfs).

Thank you for following! It was frustrating and disappointing, but it was the right call and so I don't fault runDisney at all. Stay tuned!

I don't blame you for checking out early especially when you are not that far from home and you had a pup emergency!

Yes, he was very glad to see us and definitely worked it to his advantage. Dogs just have a way of looking so sad and pathetic when they want love and attention. Which we were all too happy to give him, poor guy.

He was fine, we just had to put some Neosporin on the scrapes until they healed up, but he didn't need stitches or anything else, so it was a very lucky attack. If attacks can be lucky. See: poor, dejected puppy totally working it:



And this is from about a week earlier, on his 8th birthday. We brought home a Sprinkles pupcake from our day trip to Disney Springs on my birthday. Happy puppy!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

California Love
Thursday, January 12

This would be our third trip to Disneyland in 2 years (how lucky are we?!), the first was in 2015 for the inaugural Light Side half marathon weekend, and the second was last May for the Tinker Bell Half Marathon weekend (TR in my signature). DH and I love going to DL and the other two trips we flew out of MCO to SNA (OC to OC!), but MCO is about 2 hours from us, and then there's the matter of parking and all the other fun things about MCO. For this trip, I managed to find a decently-priced itinerary out of Palm Beach International (PBI), which is only about an hour from us, parking is a lot more convenient, and so is getting to/from the airport. Our first flight was to DFW, where we had a 3-hour layover, then on to SNA and DL!

My parents had arrived in Florida the previous day, which made leaving our furkids and featherkid, as well as the house, all the easier because we knew they'd be in good hands and no one would get attacked. And it worked out for my folks, too, as they were able to escape the Wisconsin winter for a bit, have a free place to stay just minutes from the beach! Everybody wins!!

Our flight from PBI was early in the morning (because I just want to get to where I'm going and have at least part of the day to explore), so we quietly left the house, didn't even wake the dog (!), drove the hour to the airport, made it through security (also a bonus over MCO) rather quickly and then to our gate. The flight to DFW was rather uneventful and when we arrived, we found out that was a good thing since the gate for our next flight to SNA was a goodish distance away. We had to pass many, many, many Dallas Cowboy (grumble, grumble) paraphernalia shops and bars, then we found our gate. We had an awesome lunch at a burger joint there, the only downside to that was that any plans we may have had to find an In N Out in CA was now done for that day. But that was DH's choice, I didn't really care either way.

Our flight to SNA came soon enough and then we were up in the air! DH was a good sport and let me have the window seat (usually I let him have it), and that was good because he slept the entire way. I watched Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which I actually enjoyed, though I do like Tim Burton's overall style. And then mountains came into view and nearly every home below us had a swimming pool. We were in soCal!


Hello mountains!

We used Super Shuttle for transportation, easy-peasy, and arrived at our hotel (Hilton Anaheim next to the convention center) around 3:30. I was hesitant to try and check in before 4 - the last time we'd been there, they didn't check anyone in a minute before 4 - but I checked with the front desk and our room was actually ready! Hooray! For Tink weekend, we'd stowed our luggage and tried to freshen up as best you can without your own space, but this time we could unpack a little, change clothes (I don't know who those women are who arrive at their destination looking like they just stepped off a magazine cover, but I tend to look pretty rough after a day's travel), and get ready to hit the expo.

It was a little drizzly outside, but California rain (and goodness knows they need it) and not a Florida deluge, so it was tolerable to make the walk to the expo in the Disneyland Hotel. Disneyland race expos are a little different than WDW expos and I actually prefer them. Bib pickup is down a ramp in an underground parking garage, and then you come upstairs to the exhibitor hall in the ballroom of the hotel.

Along our walk, we spotted a Disneyland cat (they're so cool, and I have yet to see my favorite one, a long-hair tortoiseshell that tends to hang out near Grizzly Peak) but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo and this seemed to be one of the more feral ones since we saw it duck under some foliage to avoid people walking by. See if you can spot the gray long-haired kitty below:



On to the expo!

The other two race weekends I've done, there was a carpet with the weekend's logo on it here, but maybe they didn't put it out because of the rain? Did anyone attend the expo later than Thursday afternoon?

Down the ramp you entered bib pick-up.


Bib pick-up was easy, my photograph was taken since I was participating in the Rebel Challenge (10K and half marathon) and they want to make sure that the same person is running both races. Another sad commentary on the world in which we live. The commemorative items and Dooney & Bourke purses were also located in this portion. I'd warned DH ahead of time that there was a good possibility I'd buy a D&B purse from this weekend because hello, Star Wars, and I felt totally justified with the money we'd saved the previous weekend at WDW. #justificationqueen

Here, the purses were hanging on a wall, and there were cash registers set up on a table maybe 15-20 feet in front of the Wall of Purses. I first went over to the side, where you were allowed to look them over at your leisure while a CM looked over you. I decided that I wanted one, and chose the cross-body. When I went to get in line for purchasing, things got a bit interesting. There were a couple of older ladies, both in motorized scooters, with approximately 10 bags in front of them at the register and they were inspecting those bags more intently than TSA patting you down. I'm not going to pass judgment (OK, I totally am), but I'm kind of thinking that maaaaaaybe they weren't runners participating in the races that weekend? And they were obviously going to purchase a goodish amount of the race-weekend-exclusive D&B purses, which likely nab a healthy profit on eBay. But whatever. We all know this is a problem at Disney races and until something is done to ensure that merchandise stays available to the actual participants, I am not going to worry about any "must-have" items. It's just not fun to get stressed out over spending money on stuff. You know?

Anyway, the CM who checked me out was super-friendly and asked me which character on the purse I liked best. The response to that is BB-8, of course (I already have the Loungefly BB-8 purse and love it), so she went back to the Wall of Purses and selected on that had BB-8 prominently displayed on front-middle. So nice of her! And bonus: I got a discount for using my DVC, so yay on that, too! After that, I collected DH (he was wandering around up top) and we headed inside to the expo, where I picked up my race shirts (not thrilled about the colors, but oh well) and wandered around a bit.


Look who I spotted! I would have stopped to chat, but he seemed busy and I knew DH would be bored to tears, so we kept going.

All the usual suspects were there (if you've been to a runDisney expo, you know) except for Sparkle Skirts, which was a bit disappointing because they had also been absent at WDW Marathon weekend. Oh well. Their absence saved me at least $80! I then found GET travel and picked up our pre-ordered DL parkhopper tickets, so easy, this was the third time we'd purchased from them and they are really nice folks. And finally, on to the official runDisney merchandise! But there was a line. A long line. An obnoxiously, omg what is this thing, long line. Thankfully, Disney is really great at the details, and there was a popup bar right next to where you leave the ballroom to get in the first of three (at the time I was there) - yes, you leave the area to get in line - and there was a runDisney specialty drink. We needed glasses for the hotel room (I don't do hotel glasses, I've taken too many microbiology courses) and some immediate libation, so it was a winning decision.

Ladies and gents, I present the Kessel Rum Run:



It was tasty, but on the sweet side. One was plenty. So we got in line and DH was a saint for doing so with me. He also held my place while I ran to get our complimentary ART (Anaheim Resort Transportation - basically your Disney transportation for the weekend) passes, which took about a minute. So fast! I got back into line and enjoyed my buzz. The line moved somewhat quickly but I think we still ended up waiting about a half hour. This was before we could even see what merchandise was available! Sometimes I think we Disney runners are a bit nutters.

Finally, after two queues outside the ballroom, we finally made it in!



OK, so if you follow ahead of the bald dude in front of me, that line swings around the back for an out-and-back line, which then comes back around toward me, then curves around again to the rD merchandise entrance. Craziness! But along the way, I got a peek at some of the merchandise:



When we finally made our way to the front of the line, DH left and told me to take my time, he took my Kessel Rum Run glass with him so I'd have hands-free, and went outside (he likes to people-watch, too). I had initially intended to buy all three I Did It! shirts for the 10K, half, and Rebel Challenge, but I didn't love the 10K or half shirt colors and so ended up with the royal blue Rebel Challenge one. I also picked up a short-sleeved running shirt (long sleeves don't come out to play often in sunny Florida) to commemorate the weekend, and a couple of car magnets. I think I showed remarkable restraint. There was also a shirt I really, really wanted, but I am positive it will show up again for Dark Side weekend when I can use my WDW APH discount:



Appropriate since I love Han Solo and I have the tendency to run by myself most of the time. #introverted

I checked out, the CM very nearly didn't put my magnets in my bag, minor panic attack, world soon righted, and then I headed to find DH. We decided to grab something at Earl of Sandwich for dinner and take it back to the hotel. Some changes since we'd been to Disneyland in May, there is now a security checkpoint between the Disneyland Hotel and Downtown Disney. I actually think this is a good change, for a lot of reasons, but it was just kind of disconcerting at first. DH ordered the All American and I had a Chicken Caesar Salad. No photos because we basically collected our dinner and headed back to our hotel.

Tomorrow: Disneyland!!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Hi everyone, just wanted to apologize for not keeping on this, but the end of January/beginning of February was pretty rough. My grandpa died and I had to travel up north for the funeral and then I had a professional conference immediately upon my return. So basically, I am behind in every aspect of my life, but I'm hoping to get back to this TR in the next few days, if not sooner. Thanks for hanging in there!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

~Interlude~

Just a few photos of expo-related things. I was surprised that I didn't purchase more, because I'd warned DH ahead of time that I might go a little crazy. Sure, getting the Dooney was a lot of out of character for me, but I had intended to buy all three I Did It! shirts for the 10K, half, and challenge and that didn't happen. I suppose I can go crazy at Dark Side weekend since I have my GC refund from the WDW half!


Drive-by shot of the DL hotel as we were exiting Earl of Sandwich and the security checkpoint to head back to our hotel.


The official race shirts for the 10K (BB-8!!), half, and challenge, as well as my Rebel Challenge bib. I was a little disappointed in the shirt colors because I now have 3 or 4 of the gray and black long-sleeved race shirts from various runDisney weekends. But oh well. I guess that there isn't a lot they can do with Star Wars colors.


The shirts I purchased: up top is the Champion short-sleeved running top for the Rebel Challenge, at bottom is (obviously) the I Did It! for the challenge. The 10K I Did It! shirt was maroon with white/yellow accents (yuck) and the half was black with blue/red/white accents if I remember correctly.


This isn't a great photo of the Dooney, just because of dim hotel lighting combined with flash on my camera, but trust me that it's a beautiful purse in daylight/normal light conditions and I get a lot of compliments on it. I read later on Facebook that it had sold out completely by Friday, so any doubt or niggling buyer's remorse disappeared at that point.

OK, next up for real now is Disneyland Day!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

January 13, 2017 - We're Going to Disneyland!

One of the best things about going to Disneyland for us east-coasters is the time change. It's super-easy to wake up early in the morning, no alarm is needed, and sometimes you end up waking up much earlier than you'd actually like. DH and I had gone to bed a bit late the night before because we'd arrived back at the hotel around 7pm, then ate our dinner, and just got settled in the room. Next thing I knew, it was 9pm (midnight for our bodies) and so it was time for bed! I actually set an alarm for 7am just because of our extremely long Thursday day of travel and expo madness and because I wanted to be sure to get up and get going early so we could hit up Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen Express for breakfast, one of my favorite things about Disneyland (one word: beignets).


Good morning view from our hotel room, taken while DH was still asleep.

I woke up around 6am on my own, which really surprised me since that was 9am east coast time and I haven't slept that late in over a decade. DH was still sleeping and so I thought I'd let him sleep in a bit, sure that he'd wake up on his own soon enough. So I got caught up on social media, started laying out the clothes I'd wear that day, and when my alarm went off at 7, I hopped in the shower figuring DH would want to use it just after me. When I came out of the bathroom, he was still. asleep. What the? But I figured he must be really tired and no sense in getting him up and going only to crap out early on during our first day at the parks. I think he finally got going around 7:30 or 8am and so I knew that my beignets would not happen that morning since DCA, and more specifically Radiator Springs Racers FP, was our first priority. We were soon ready to head out and walked to the Downtown Disney side of property - we typically cut between the convention center and the Hilton, link up with Katella sidewalk and take that all the way to Disneyland Drive, cross Katella, and then walk to Downtown Disney.


Upon arriving at the front of the Grand Californian - which we'd typically cut through to get to the mid-area of DD - we were stopped by security and told we would have to go through Disneyland Hotel area and enter DD through the security set up there. This was new since last May's Tinker Bell Half weekend, and kind of annoying because it's probably an additional quarter mile (at least) out of our way, but whatever. We weren't about to let that annoy us first thing! Also note our first monorail above of the trip!

We finally arrived at the security check point for DD, which is far more convenient (as security check points go) than the old set-up just outside the parks. Then we started walking through DD and just enjoyed being in California (and it NOT raining), in DD, and on our way to DCA.



We sort of sped-window-shopped along the way to DCA and soon arrived at our destination. For some reason, DH couldn't re-orient himself to his surroundings, so he's very lucky he has a wife who's good at that sort of thing. I directed us to where the Radiator Springs Racers FP distribution is set up, just outside A Bug's Land.



Luckily, the line for FP distribution wasn't nearly as long as it had been last May; then it had stretched almost all the way into ABL. This time, it was just curved around towards ABL entrance. Soon enough, we had our FP for the 11:35 hour and we were on our way. As I've mentioned, this was our third race weekend at DL within 2 years, and we had never really spent any time in ABL, so we decided to go check it out.



As a biologist, I did find some of the details really cool and interesting, but mostly this area of the park is set up for little kids and their parents. Some really cute rides, but mostly county fair level type stuff. So we headed back out towards the main thoroughfare, and a slight detour through Cars Land.


Interesting view of Grizzly Peak!


There were still a few holiday decorations out in Cars Land, really cute! I've mentioned before that I don't really care for the movies, but the design and details in Cars Land just blow me away every time we visit. We walked down Route 66, turned right at Flo's and made our way to Paradise Pier via Pacific Wharf. At this point, we were just sort of wandering, killing some time before our RSR FP and also reacquainting ourselves with the park. We got to the Wheel of Death, I mean, Mickey's Fun Wheel, and DH said he'd like to ride it.


Strolling through a nearly empty Paradise Pier!


The backside of terror.

We got into our car, and luckily had it all to ourselves, so we could take in the sights, take a selfie (which I shall spare your eyes, I'm really bad at selfies), and try to figure out our next move. Also, since neither of us had had breakfast, and it was nearing our internal clock's time of noon, we were starting to get really hungry, too! But nothing was yet open for lunch, so we just killed a little more time at Paradise Pier by riding Goofy's Sky School (basically DL's answer to the Barnstormer). While in line for that, there was a German couple behind us talking and laughing. My second language is German, so when we left them, I said, "have fun!" in German and they sort of looked at me in amazement. I love doing that. We boarded our little aeroplane and proceeded to have a terrible time. This ride is horrible, every time you turn a corner - which is a lot - you feel like your plane is about to go off the rails. It's not a good feeling. So we bid adieu to Goofy's Sky School and made our way to Golden Zephyr to kill a few more minutes. That was pretty fun, would do it again, and it had a nice view of the rest of PP.


View from Golden Zephyr.

Next up, how early is too early to eat lunch?!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I just want to say that I'm enjoying your trip report!

Your signs for the Marathon spectating (that you didn't get to do) were cute and clever. I really liked them, and your septopus costume too!

I have done some runDisney events, but not as many as you. I am hoping to do Glass Slipper and Pixie Dust next year to get the pink Coast to Coast. The last runDisney event I've done was the 2015 Pixie Dust.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

I just want to say that I'm enjoying your trip report!

Your signs for the Marathon spectating (that you didn't get to do) were cute and clever. I really liked them, and your septopus costume too!

I have done some runDisney events, but not as many as you. I am hoping to do Glass Slipper and Pixie Dust next year to get the pink Coast to Coast. The last runDisney event I've done was the 2015 Pixie Dust.

Thanks for following along and for enjoying!

We're not 100% sure, but I think we may try to go spectate Princess Half next weekend and bring along the signs, so hopefully they will be put to use! Not very princess-y in theme, but maybe that will make them unique? And I think I've already decided to just slap an Imperial insignia on Hank and use the costume for Dark Side Half - what with doing the 5K and 10K that weekend, and DH joining me for the 5K, I'm maxed out on costuming for that weekend!

The pink Coast to Coast is a cool one to do, and Tink is a fantastic weekend, definitely one of my favorites. I hope you get to do Princess/Tink next year!