We have all been there. Hopefully you know that your trip report and updates are making everyone else's days a whole lot better.
That is so nice of you to say. Thank you so much!
Loved your take on the 10k. I think your right on the corral system bc I registered 10 mins after it opened and I was in corral C which to be honest I should not have been in. The 10k sold out super fast so people who registered an hour later would have been further back it seems.
I kinda wished they had spread out the big characters like Mickey and chip and dale. By the time I got to them I had hit my stride and didn't want to wait in the lines. Which I now totally regret! (Another reason to do another race right?)
Ahhh, I agree with you on spreading the characters out!! That would have been nice...they must have decided it wouldn't really work for the first 3 miles. But I was really expecting more in World Showcase.
What other races are you doing this year?
Right now I'm signed up for a local 10-miler in April and a local 10K in May...I'm also planning on the
Disneyland 5K and the Dumbo Double Dare for this year. My brother has mentioned wanting to do a local marathon
so if he signs up for that I likely will as well...I keep going back and forth. And if the rumors are true and the
Castaway Cay 5K has changed to the rubber medals and is still free, I'll probably do that race in July or October (even though I swore I never would again...)
Not sure other than that! Mostly I just want to focus on getting a little faster this year.
Your drawing of Donald is so cute! What a fitting character for the day before the half! Now that I've done Animation Academy a couple times, I've decided that having a good artist can really make or break the experience.
Thanks! I should have posted a picture of Courtney's - her's was the best of the 3 of us, for sure. And I agree about the animator...since she was newer I think she went a little slower in the beginning and then we had to rush a bit toward the end of the class.
Oh man I have to stop looking at these food pictures while I'm already hungry-I would kill for a disney baked good right now!
I knew I wanted to try Beaches and Cream eventually, but after that review I'm feeling like I need to get there ASAP. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is one of my go to meals, but that looks waaaaaaaayyy better than the one I make at home!
And that sundae...
Definitely try it! It's sooooo good. The grilled cheese sandwich is incredibly, incredibly rich...the only way I can handle it is to dip it in the soup, to be honest.
Ok, so I'm going to play devil's advocate here and defend the race announcers on the "just" a half marathon thing.
First off, I wholeheartedly agree that it should NOT be referred to as "just" a half marathon or "just" a marathon-running 13 miles is a huge accomplishment and nothing should be taken away from that. However, I remember them making that comment before the race, and while my first reaction was similar to yours, I really do not think that was their intention with comments like that. I felt like they were trying to pay attention to/bring up excitement for the group that was not doing a challenge, since they were about the cross the same course and work just as hard that morning as challenge runners were. However, how do you call out that group, without phrasing it the way they did? Not trying to be snarky here, genuine question. I haven't thought of any way (also why I am not an announcer for anything, lol). I feel as if with the challenges, the announcers are put in a bit of a tricky spot-if they only acknowledge challenge runners, someone will be disappointed. If they ask who is "just" running a half, someone else will be disappointed. However, rundisney certainly employees enough minds-you would think someone could come up with a better way!
Sorry for the long novel/tangent! I have seen multiple people complain about them using that phrase and have thought a lot about how there must be a better way....
Oh no, I totally get what you're saying. It just made me cringe every time they said it...there HAS to be a better way to say it, what that is though, I'm not sure.
I read comments here from people who say stuff like that...like "I'm just doing the full." Like their accomplishment isn't as worthy as a challenge runner's...like they're diminishing their own accomplishment, and I hate that for them. And I have read that it bugs people. Personally I didn't feel like I, as a Dopey runner, needed to be recognized every morning. I would have been fine if they didn't call out the challenge runners separately at all, but that's just me.
Back to a happier note, the vocalist that morning was SO good! And I enjoyed hearing Metallica at the start...not Disney-like, but it is on my running playlist so it pumped me up for sure.
Yes, so impressed that they could sing such a hard song that early in the morning in the cold and still sound awesome!
LOL at the Mr. Incredible mental picture....
Yeah, that was something I thought I'd never see, for sure...
Was it me, or were the character lines very very long at the start of the race? Certainly longer than I saw at PHM or ToT, but I wondered if that was due to the corral I started in (J, compared to D/E in other races). Glad you got some good pictures in though
I did think they were longer. They're always pretty sure toward the very end, I guess...but maybe they were longer because they were more rare (i.e. Jack and Sally)? Who knows. I'd always be okay with shorter lines, for sure!
Yup, that is where I saw them too-also with a very short line!
Darn! Was I blind or what? Maybe they were switching out when I went by...
I'm with ya on the wake ups-I think the extra 2 wake up calls would be much rougher than the extra 9 miles.
And I would agree with your assessment on that!!
We got Metallica for the full. Loved it! Nothing like Enter Sandman to get your blood pumping before a marathon.
NICE! I forget what they played for our corral, but it wasn't Metallica.
I know I've made a few comments along the way, but I just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying your posts!! It's like reliving my trip all over again with new ideas for next time. So, I know I never said I will do Dopey again....but your posts are making me want to go back right now!
Thanks!!
Thanks for reading.
I want to go back too...SOOO BADLY!!!
Gotta love those weights!
Quite the visual...Mr. Incredible peeing on the side of the road. The things you see during a Disney race...
I'd love to get to run through Epcot and the boardwalk area at that time. And, if I'm going to mess with the 10K, that probably means I might as well do a Dopey right? 
Not to mention the cuteness of the Minnie medal.
Of course the timing really doesn't sound that bad!! You always hear horror stories every year though...
We were SO excited!
Could you not??
) and this thread is so informative. Thanks so much! And I bow down to you for taking on the Dopey, wow! 
