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

[nenglim]

that Le Cellier steak is fork tender! we still talk about that steak to this day. is there a bus to the expo from every host hotel? we will be at the BC for the princess half marathon... i will be attempting to finish the 5k, my first run ever. i am excited. i am even thinking of doing the half next year! Ambitious, i know! And like you i love my sneakers. I want to check out the rundisney NB, i especially want Ariel's.

 

[rteetz]

that Le Cellier steak is fork tender! we still talk about that steak to this day. is there a bus to the expo from every host hotel? we will be at the BC for the princess half marathon... i will be attempting to finish the 5k, my first run ever. i am excited. i am even thinking of doing the half next year! Ambitious, i know! And like you i love my sneakers. I want to check out the rundisney NB, i especially want Ariel's.

Yes it was quite good. As of right now for all WDW races, all WDW resorts are host resorts which means they will have buses to the expo. Ariel's are last year's shoe so they won't have them on the expo. Fit2run at Disney Springs or your local New Balance outlet might have them though.

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

I'm with you on drop rides. I love fast roller coasters and am totally fine going upside down, but straight dropping freaks me out! I do think ToT becomes less scary the more I go on it though.

I'm glad to hear a good review of the park to park bus service. I wish I took advantage of it when I was there.

Le Cellier looks great! I've never been there, but its definitely on my list to try!

Also, I love that you have a shoe obsession! I can definitely relate

 

[rteetz]

I'm with you on drop rides. I love fast roller coasters and am totally fine going upside down, but straight dropping freaks me out! I do think ToT becomes less scary the more I go on it though.

I'm glad to hear a good review of the park to park bus service. I wish I took advantage of it when I was there.

Le Cellier looks great! I've never been there, but its definitely on my list to try!

Also, I love that you have a shoe obsession! I can definitely relate

Yeah I'll do RnRc all day.

I recommend both the bus service and Le Cellier!

I just love shoes, and they have to match my outfits.

 

[natebenma]

ACK!!!!

Just realized I never subscribed to the watch thread for this report!

The most impressive thing about these two EPCOT updates are how you managed so impressively to eat your way around the World Showcase. Wow!!!



But with two teenaged boys of my own, it shouldn't surprise me.

Liked your comments about Frozen. I will say that the queue is a huge improvement from the one for Maelstrom. Needs to be, too. The girl in the front row in the ride photo is hilarious- she looks so scared!

Beautiful photos throughout the World Showcase. The sorbet cone is a piece of art. And I love the group shot!

I have never had the Fish and Chips in the UK. My husband and I both worked at a seafood restaurant that specialized in Fish and Chips and we have had our fill. Like you, it is not a vacation food for us.

Got to appreciate the commitment of the woman on the right who color-coordinated her phone with the background color of the building. ^^^

 

[rteetz]

ACK!!!!

Just realized I never subscribed to the watch thread for this report!

The most impressive thing about these two EPCOT updates are how you managed so impressively to eat your way around the World Showcase. Wow!!!



But with two teenaged boys of my own, it shouldn't surprise me.

Liked your comments about Frozen. I will say that the queue is a huge improvement from the one for Maelstrom. Needs to be, too. The girl in the front row in the ride photo is hilarious- she looks so scared!

Beautiful photos throughout the World Showcase. The sorbet cone is a piece of art. And I love the group shot!

I have never had the Fish and Chips in the UK. My husband and I both worked at a seafood restaurant that specialized in Fish and Chips and we have had our fill. Like you, it is not a vacation food for us.






Got to appreciate the commitment of the woman on the right who color-coordinated her phone with the background color of the building. ^^^

I have actually never eaten my way around the world. That won't be the last time I do that now.

I know, that drop isn't bad at all. I guess Elsa didn't sing let it go long enough or something.

The fish and chips were good, they just weren't something I would get every time.

I didn't even notice that woman! Lol!

 

[MRL214]

Loving this trip report! It's helping me get through the five more weeks of depression until Princess haha

I laughed when I saw you wearing your Donalds. I still find it funny that I inadvertently bought them for you haha

Le Cellier was the last meal I had before I turned vegetarian. Glad I went out with a bang.

 

[rteetz]

Loving this trip report! It's helping me get through the five more weeks of depression until Princess haha

I laughed when I saw you wearing your Donalds. It still find it funny that I inadvertently bought them for you haha

Le Cellier was the last meal I had before I turned vegetarian. Glad I went out with a bang.

Well I am sure you'll make it, good luck with Princess!

I love those shoes, thanks again!

Oh boy, that is going out with a bang!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Looks like some fun at EPCOT - the fountains are great

Glad you enjoyed Le Celier - the kids meal looked really good! (we haven't eaten there as my wife doesn't eat beef or pork so we tend to avoid the steak houses)

Was the Expo crowded? that is one of the complaints I see that it is just crowded and confusing and long lines, etc.

Hey, there are worse things than sneakers to spend money on

 

[rteetz]

Looks like some fun at EPCOT - the fountains are great

Glad you enjoyed Le Celier - the kids meal looked really good! (we haven't eaten there as my wife doesn't eat beef or pork so we tend to avoid the steak houses)

Was the Expo crowded? that is one of the complaints I see that it is just crowded and confusing and long lines, etc.

Hey, there are worse things than sneakers to spend money on

Avoiding steak houses.... My dad would go insane lol.

The expo was decently crowded but it died down from earlier in the day. There were no lines really for anything when I got there. Earlier in the day he line just to get into one of the buildings wrapped around a couple of the fields at WWoS. I don't find the expo confusing, it is definitely beneficial to read the event guide to figure out where everything is before hand.

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm glad you enjoyed your firs signature restaurant. Every time I see pictures from Le Cellier, the food looks so good.

The Beach Club carousel looks amazing - so colorful!

I love those Space Mountain shoes - they're amazing. I didn't love this year's shoes (my all time favorites are still the Cinderella ones from a few years ago), but from what I've seen, the Space Mountain are my favorite.

Sounds like a good night at MK. 25 minute wait for Mine Train is amazing!

 

[rteetz]

I'm glad you enjoyed your firs signature restaurant. Every time I see pictures from Le Cellier, the food looks so good.

The Beach Club carousel looks amazing - so colorful!

I love those Space Mountain shoes - they're amazing. I didn't love this year's shoes (my all time favorites are still the Cinderella ones from a few years ago), but from what I've seen, the Space Mountain are my favorite.

Sounds like a good night at MK. 25 minute wait for Mine Train is amazing!

It was quite good and recommend it if you can.

The carousel was so much better this year than last year!

I saw so many toy story ones on people that weekend I was surprised the space mountains were not more popular. However the toy story ones stand out more.

Tell me about it! We all looked at each like heck yeah we'll get in line.

 

[rteetz]

WE GONNA RUN A 5K!

Well its time for one of my favorite parts of race weekend trip reports! A RACE RECAP! Of course the first race of the Dopey Challenge is the 5K. I would be running this race with my mom and several friends.

I believe I set my alarm for 3AM. The race begins at 6AM but I was using Disney transportation and I would much rather be early than late. If you are driving you usually can arrive a bit closer to start time. Anyways I was the first one at the race area. My mom and the rest of our group were meeting with me later.





I was in the Dopey meet and greet line when my group arrived. The line was quite long and slow moving. I was lucky enough to have some people behind me save my spot so we could take a quick group picture.





If you are wondering about the Heavenly Roasted Nuts shirt, our friends own a business here which I work for. They sell roasted nuts, like the kind you can buy at Disney and in other locations. They also own an excellent candy store.

Finally, I got my Dopey picture.



Two people in my group were in corral A. For those that don't know runDisney separates runners in corrals based on how fast you are as a runner. For the 5K you tell them your expected finish time. Corrals for the 5K and 10K are A-F. I and the rest of my group were in E. Normally I can run a 5K in less than 30 minutes which would get me in a higher corral but because I was a Dopey runner and submitted a okay half marathon time it put me in E for this race.



The first two runner here were actually done before the rest of us started...



There were some awesome FP costumes in our corral.



Hi Rudy!



They also did something new with the 5K and 10K this year that they did in Disneyland Paris. They started the corrals in 4 mini waves (at least that's what they called them). They were supposed to relieve congestion at the start. I think we were in the second wave of E. I thought they did their jobs BUT the biggest downside is no fireworks start for each corral. They only did the firework start for the start of the race. In the past they would do a firework start at the start of each corral.

And we were off! I split off from my group pretty quickly.

The first character stop was Thumper and his girlfriend (sorry don't know her name). Line was quick long so no stop here.



Mile 1!



Backstage at Epcot! What you are seeing here is Test Track.



Soon enough we were inside World Showcase.



Look at those awesome Moana costumes next to me!





Mile 2! There were more character stops in there, like the Norway Vikings, Minnie, Canadian Donald, and one more that is not coming to my mind right now. One big thing with this race and starting farther back is the character lines were super long! I planned on stopping for as many as I could but man the lines were just not worth it to me.







One meet that I did get in line for is Astronaut Goofy! Another line that was pretty long but shorter than some of the others. The main reason I got in this line was because I knew someone who was one of the character attendants, @hiroMYhero knows her as well .



Past Imagination...



Past the Seas...





Hello Spaceship Earth!



And done! I thought this photo was hilarious because that lady and I were both on our phones at the finish.





Another change to this year was runDisney changed the 5K medals to real metal instead of the rubber medals of the past.



And my mom did it too! Her first 5K in the books!





We didn't stop and wait for any characters after. We headed right for the bus and back to SSR to shower and get ready for the day. I ate a celebratory Sprinkles cupcake for breakfast.



Up Next: Its time to get wild at Animal Kingdom!

 

[Ariel484]

Great 5K recap! I think the other character stop you're thinking of is Chip & Dale in Morocco.

Pretty hilarious finisher photo! Interesting that there's a service dog behind you

That is an excellent post-race breakfast!

 

[rteetz]

Great 5K recap! I think the other character stop you're thinking of is Chip & Dale in Morocco.

Pretty hilarious finisher photo! Interesting that there's a service dog behind you

That is an excellent post-race breakfast!

Yes Chip and Dale! Thank you!

That service dog was on the bus back to SSR with us as well. They even gave the dog a medal!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hi Ryan,

I just found your trip report. That is fast work to get it started so promptly. I haven't read it yet but I will. In the meantime I just want to say that I was sorry to hear that Disney cancelled the half marathon. That must have been rather upsetting, to say the least.

And I am rooting for Green Bay this weekend.

 

[rteetz]

Hi Ryan,

I just found your trip report. That is fast work to get it started so promptly. I haven't read it yet but I will. In the meantime I just want to say that I was sorry to hear that Disney cancelled the half marathon. That must have been rather upsetting, to say the least.

And I am rooting for Green Bay this weekend.

Thanks for joining in! I have been working much faster than normal on this trip report. I probably won't don't more updates this weekend so you'll have some time to catch up. I'll get into my thought so on the cancellation later thanks for that though!

Go Pack Go!

 

[ariane37]

So I have a bit of a shoe obsession... I have somewhere around 35 pairs of shoes

You sound like my son! New sneakers every 2 or 3 months, different ones for basketball of course and he needs ones that match everything he owns

Next we went by Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and it was only a 25 minute wait

WOW! The only time I've ever seen a wait that low for the Mine Train was at the tail end of MNSSHP a couple years ago!

Congrats to your mom (and you!) on finishing the race. Not being a runner myself in ANY way I can't imagine doing it, but the character meets along the way always look so cool to me

 

[rteetz]

You sound like my son! New sneakers every 2 or 3 months, different ones for basketball of course and he needs ones that match everything he owns


WOW! The only time I've ever seen a wait that low for the Mine Train was at the tail end of MNSSHP a couple years ago!

Congrats to your mom (and you!) on finishing the race. Not being a runner myself in ANY way I can't imagine doing it, but the character meets along the way always look so cool to me

I never really played basketball and I still love shoes.

I had never seen that short of a wait either. It was also my first time in the standby queue.

Well, anyone and I mean anyone can do a Disney 5K. They aren't timed and just a lot of fun. As long as you can walk you can do it. Even if you can't walk they have a wheelchair division. The one thing they don't allow is strollers on course. Character meets are what helps make the races special.

 

[Anisum]

Just realized had been missing this trip report! Looks like you had a great time at the 5k. Can't wait to see what's next.