Grumpy Challenge 2017.... A Marathon Weekend TR (Updated 3/19 Final Thoughts)

[SarahDisney]

I think free food in the middle of a marathon may be the #1 reason to run. I love that people were giving out food!
Congrats on finishing the marathon - that's a huge accomplishment, and I'm so glad that you were able to do it (and enjoy yourself during the race!)

MK is definitely the best place to celebrate a marathon!I love all of your medal pictures - it has to be so hard to post with all of those medals, and I'm always impressed that people can do it!

I love your Festival of Fantasy pictures! I still haven't seen that whole parade ... it looks amazing, I just never take the time to stop and watch. Maybe next trip...

Great Space Mountain picture. I guess after last year your grandma was serious about never riding it again...

You guys got a lot done after the parade!

How have you never sat in the ballroom at Be Our Guest? It's my favorite room (it's also the only one I've ever eaten in...). All three rooms are amazing, though ... I'm hoping I eventually get a chance to sit in each of them.

 

[rteetz]

Playing catch up today!

I really loved reading about all the races. I saw on Facebook about the 1/2 marathon being cancelled and was sad for you and everyone else I knew that was supposed to run it!

I'm just starting my planning for next year's trip for the 5K. How did you find the crowds? I'm a little scared since it's New Year's week.

Yeah the cancelled half was sad but it ended up being fine.

Crowds were definitely higher this year compared to past years. That's because of the holiday but it was still manageable. I don't know how long you plan on staying but I found the weekend to be less crowded than earlier in the week.

I think free food in the middle of a marathon may be the #1 reason to run. I love that people were giving out food!
Congrats on finishing the marathon - that's a huge accomplishment, and I'm so glad that you were able to do it (and enjoy yourself during the race!)

MK is definitely the best place to celebrate a marathon!I love all of your medal pictures - it has to be so hard to post with all of those medals, and I'm always impressed that people can do it!

I love your Festival of Fantasy pictures! I still haven't seen that whole parade ... it looks amazing, I just never take the time to stop and watch. Maybe next trip...

Great Space Mountain picture. I guess after last year your grandma was serious about never riding it again...

You guys got a lot done after the parade!

How have you never sat in the ballroom at Be Our Guest? It's my favorite room (it's also the only one I've ever eaten in...). All three rooms are amazing, though ... I'm hoping I eventually get a chance to sit in each of them.

Free food was literally one of the best parts besides finishing.

Thanks! I really did enjoy myself.

It takes some practice to hold the medals that is for sure. If you look at my post race photos my medals are overlapping compared to my MK photos.

I highly recommend you stop and watch it at least once.

Well.... we will talk about that later....

I did sit in the ballroom a long time ago for lunch but I've never done it for dinner. It's nice but the west wing is my favorite. Now I just need the other room.

 

[rteetz]

So I am a really bad TR writer and realized we did do something after BOG before heading back to the resort. We had a FP scheduled for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!



As you can see my grandma was still cold.



Photobucket does not like Photopass videos.

I found this one though.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Congratulations on finishing the marathon - what an accomplishment! That must have been such a great feeling to see that mile 26 marker and know you just have the final stretch. Great picture with high-fiving Minnie at the end!

That's neat they had that 1/2 point and were able to have the 1/2 marathoners run in the full and then exit there (obviously didn't help you as you were running the Dopey challenge, but a good option for those that wanted to take advantage of it)

I never really thought about people watching from the sidelines and handing out food and stuff - sounds like a fun activity. Plus you get to hand out the best tasting twizlers ever!!!

I love how all the runners get their pictures taken with the medals in the parks - and with your six that is amazing!

Great pictures of the parade, especially considering it was just your iPhone

So I was a bit surprised to see you having the medals on when you rode Space Mountain. It made for a great picture, don't get me wrong, but I would have been worried about one smacking me in the face or even flying off my neck!

We finally did BOG for dinner our last trip and really enjoyed it. Love the pictures with the Beast too!

Thanks for sharing your video - love the song choices!

 

[rteetz]

Congratulations on finishing the marathon - what an accomplishment! That must have been such a great feeling to see that mile 26 marker and know you just have the final stretch. Great picture with high-fiving Minnie at the end!

That's neat they had that 1/2 point and were able to have the 1/2 marathoners run in the full and then exit there (obviously didn't help you as you were running the Dopey challenge, but a good option for those that wanted to take advantage of it)

I never really thought about people watching from the sidelines and handing out food and stuff - sounds like a fun activity. Plus you get to hand out the best tasting twizlers ever!!!

I love how all the runners get their pictures taken with the medals in the parks - and with your six that is amazing!

Great pictures of the parade, especially considering it was just your iPhone

So I was a bit surprised to see you having the medals on when you rode Space Mountain. It made for a great picture, don't get me wrong, but I would have been worried about one smacking me in the face or even flying off my neck!

We finally did BOG for dinner our last trip and really enjoyed it. Love the pictures with the Beast too!

Thanks for sharing your video - love the song choices!

Thanks Phil!

Yes they were very accommodating to the half runners.

Those were the best tasting twizzlers ever!

Getting photos is one of the best parts!

I love the iPhone 7+ camera it's just trally good.

I had my hand over the medals during space to make sure they didn't fly all over the place.

Glad you enjoyed BOG!

Thanks for watching the video!

 

[ennjay]

Great report! You must be so fit to run a marathon and barely look winded at the end. Did you hold your phone in your hand the whole time to take all the photos, or how did you do that?

 

[rteetz]

Great report! You must be so fit to run a marathon and barely look winded at the end. Did you hold your phone in your hand the whole time to take all the photos, or how did you do that?

Thanks! I did hold onto my photo the entire time but Disney also has photopass photographers out.

 

[LindseyJo22]

Congratulations on your marathon finish!

Loving the TR - I just signed up for Goofy, so your report is getting me geared up for a fairly terrifying round of training

Everything looks like it was a lot of fun, and it seems like you guys also ate a ton of good food (my favorite part of vacation).

Can't wait to read the rest

 

[rteetz]

Congratulations on your marathon finish!

Loving the TR - I just signed up for Goofy, so your report is getting me geared up for a fairly terrifying round of training

Everything looks like it was a lot of fun, and it seems like you guys also ate a ton of good food (my favorite part of vacation).

Can't wait to read the rest

Thanks and congrats on signing up for Goofy! You are going to have a blast!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Hi, Ryan!

I have spent this week binge reading your TRs and loving all the details about runDisney and the expo. I signed up for my first Disney 5K and 10K for January 2018 and am SO beyond excited to finally get a chance to do these runs.

I'm from Chicago and we have lots of family and friends in Wisconsin, so I loved the part of the marathon where you got to hear your fight song and stay pumped up to finish! The best part, I have to say, is that you rode Everest in the middle of the marathon!! Amazing

 

[rteetz]

Hi, Ryan!

I have spent this week binge reading your TRs and loving all the details about runDisney and the expo. I signed up for my first Disney 5K and 10K for January 2018 and am SO beyond excited to finally get a chance to do these runs.

I'm from Chicago and we have lots of family and friends in Wisconsin, so I loved the part of the marathon where you got to hear your fight song and stay pumped up to finish! The best part, I have to say, is that you rode Everest in the middle of the marathon!! Amazing

Thanks for reading!

You are going to rock that 5K and 10K! The fight song was so awesome and really helped carry me through WWoS.

 

[rteetz]

A little alone time in the Magic Kingdom

After finally getting a decent nights sleep I was ready to go Monday. This was our last full day in the parks too so I was excited to make the most of it.

My grandma and sister were sleeping in so I decided I was going to head to MK and try and check the new Magic Kingdom Welcome show that started today. I didn't end up making it in time because they also started a new security procedure. They pushed the security barrier a bit further out and were making everyone go through. I watched the new welcome show live on my phone while waiting in line for security. Once I got through I took an easy stroll down main street and decided to get some pictures with the medals.











It would have been awesome if they had a Dopey Statue.











I loved these shots around the hub.

Then I headed into Tomorrowland.

I checked the wait time for Space Mountain and it said 20 minutes so I was like why not? It ended up being only like 10-15 minutes which was even better.



After Space Mountain I decided to try something I had never done before. Astro Orbiter!







You can see the GF from up here.





I enjoyed the ride but I still like Dumbo better.

I decided I needed a snack. I headed over to Liberty Square and got a Cookie Ice Cream sandwich at the place where they sell the waffles.

I then went over to watch the new Muppets show in Liberty Square. My grandma and Sydnee showed up right about this time too.















A quick ride on the Haunted Mansion was next.



Then we ended up going back to Space Mountain for a FP we had.



After that we headed out to Disney Springs as we had a lunch reservation at The Boathouse!

Up Next: The Boathouse!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love your medal pictures! The Donald & Goofy statue pictures are really cool!

How have you never done Astro Orbitor before??? I agree that Dumbo is better, but it's still a nice ride with some cool views.

Sounds like a good start to the morning!

 

[rteetz]

I love your medal pictures! The Donald & Goofy statue pictures are really cool!

How have you never done Astro Orbitor before??? I agree that Dumbo is better, but it's still a nice ride with some cool views.

Sounds like a good start to the morning!

Thanks! I really liked taking pictures with them and of them.

Hey now you've never done my beloved country bear jamboree. I have a few other things I need to do yet like Tom Sawyer Island.

 

[natebenma]

on the free food during the marathon.

Loved all of your marathon pictures and description of the course along the way. The picture with Referee Chip & Dale is really great.

Congrats again!!!



The pictures of you and the medals and the medals in the hub are fantastic!!! I love the way you are draping them on your arm and when they are hanging from the fence. Impressive set up!

Wow- those pictures of FoF were from your iPhone? They are incredible!

You had some fun rides and meets before dinner.

I'll have to try Be Our Guest some time for dinner, but we are rarely at MK at that time.

I haven't been on Mine Train at night. Really nice ride pictures!

I have only been on Astro Orbitor once, and going around and around in circles in the sun made me sick.

 

[rteetz]

on the free food during the marathon.

Loved all of your marathon pictures and description of the course along the way. The picture with Referee Chip & Dale is really great.

Congrats again!!!



The pictures of you and the medals and the medals in the hub are fantastic!!! I love the way you are draping them on your arm and when they are hanging from the fence. Impressive set up!

Wow- those pictures of FoF were from your iPhone? They are incredible!

You had some fun rides and meets before dinner.

I'll have to try Be Our Guest some time for dinner, but we are rarely at MK at that time.

I haven't been on Mine Train at night. Really nice ride pictures!

I have only been on Astro Orbitor once, and going around and around in circles in the sun made me sick.

Free food is the best!

Thanks!

Thanks, I've seen other people do special shots with their medals so I was like why not?

Yes, I was really happy with the iPhone shots.

I recommend BoG for dinner at least once. It's a fun and different atmosphere.

Every trip I try to get a mine train FP during the day and at night.

I can understand that, it didn't make me sick but it was just okay. Some great views though!

 

[momabaarjo]

Congratulations Ryan. Love the video! You are my hero for EE ride during marathon, my goal. I love the celebration afterwards, but frankly I think I would have died.

 

[rteetz]

Congratulations Ryan. Love the video! You are my hero for EE ride during marathon, my goal. I love the celebration afterwards, but frankly I think I would have died.

Thanks! You wouldn't die you'd be fine!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of taking pictures of your medals around the hub!! I'll only have 5 and 10 K ones to work with, but I am SO stealing this idea for 2018 and hoping to eventually work my way into a Dopey--someday.

I know you didn't start out doing marathons...how did you go about training/prepping for your first half and eventually the full 26.2?? I'm pretty comfortable in a 5K

 

[rteetz]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of taking pictures of your medals around the hub!! I'll only have 5 and 10 K ones to work with, but I am SO stealing this idea for 2018 and hoping to eventually work my way into a Dopey--someday.

I know you didn't start out doing marathons...how did you go about training/prepping for your first half and eventually the full 26.2?? I'm pretty comfortable in a 5K

Whether its a 5K medal or Dopey everyone should get photos of and with their medals.

Well there are several training plans out there for people from beginners to advanced. I looked at those first. For my first half I used the Galloway training plan. For my full I used Hal Higdon method.