I Must Be Goofy - Goofy Challenge 2013 - Update 1/7

[jrmint427]

As I mentioned in my first trip report, I am catching up on my trip reports! I have a 3 month DD and I am counting down the days until I can take her to WDW for the first time. In the meantime, I am living vicariously through you guys and collecting ideas for DD's first trip to the most magical place on Earth.

Travel Dates: January 10 - 15, 2013
Resort: Contemporary
Cast of Characters (ages 27-28):
Jessica (me)
Pat (DH)
Maggie (friend)

The "Why":
In 2012 the three of us traveled to WDW for a 9-day trip so Maggie and I could run the WDW Marathon. That was the first time any of us had traveled to WDW as adults and also the first marathon that we ever ran. It was an amazing trip and after the race we felt very proud of ourselves. And then we saw the Goofy medals. We wanted to know, what do we have to do to get one of those??

Well we may have been sorry we asked. To get the Goofy medal, you have to run the WDW Half Marathon on Saturday followed by the WDW Marathon on Sunday. 39.3 miles in 2 days.

What started as "we could never do that" quickly turned into a "maybe we could do that" and by May 2012, it was "we are GOING to do that!" We registered and started writing our training plan. Of course, we also started planning our next trip to WDW! As seasoned veterans at this point, I did more research on where to stay and where to dine this time around.

As we're coming up on the 2015 WDW Marathon weekend, is anyone who is reading this running this year?? If so, I am jealous and cannot wait to read your trip report!

 

[jrmint427]

Planning Posts
Trip Planning
Goofy Training Plan

Day 1: Travel Day (1/10)
Travel Day and The Contemporary Resort

Day 2: Race Expo, Animal Kingdom, Dinner at Boma (1/11)
The Race Expo
Animal Kingdom - Part 1
Animal Kingdom - Part 2
Dinner at Boma

Day 3: WDW Half Marathon, Hollywood Studios, Dinner at California Grill (1/12)
WDW Half Marathon - Pre-Race
WDW Half Marathon - Miles 1-8
WDW Half Marathon - Miles 9-13.1
Hollywood Studios
Dinner at California Grill

Day 4: WDW Marathon, Epcot, Dinner at Via Napoli (1/13)
WDW Marathon - Pre-Race
WDW Marathon - Miles 1-6
WDW Marathon - Miles 7-14
WDW Marathon - Miles 15-21
WDW Marathon - Miles 22-26.2 (and beyond)
Epcot & Dinner at Via Napoli

Day 5: Magic Kingdom (1/14)
Magic Kingdom - Part 1
Magic Kingdom - Part 2
Magic Kingdom - Part 3

Day 6: Travel Home (1/15)
Post-Trip Thoughts

 

[jrmint427]

We first started thinking about where we wanted to stay. Although we had a good experience at the Hilton at Downtown Disney last year, we really wanted to stay somewhere on Disney property. We didn't want to leave the bubble that is Disney magic - the Hilton was nice, but the customer service and experience was just not the same as Disney's.

We also wanted to have an easier time getting to the races. With two race mornings, even 30-60 minutes of extra sleep would be a bonus. So, the monorail resorts were very appealing to us. We decided to pay a little extra for the Contemporary since we were only staying 5 nights this time and would be splitting the room three ways (Pat and I paid 2/3). We figured we were also saving money by taking the Magical Express bus from the airport instead of a cab, and by not having to pay for transportation to the race both mornings.

Park days were planned based on our priorities. We had four days and knew we wanted one day in each park. We knew we wanted to have the most amount of time in Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, which meant we needed to fit these in on our non-race days. Animal Kingdom is closer to the Wide World of Sports where the expo was being held, so it made since to do that on Friday before the race and Magic Kingdom on Monday. We wanted to eat in Epcot for our post-marathon dinner on Sunday, which left Hollywood Studios for Saturday.

I made our ADRs further in advance this time, but still missed the 180-day mark. We made reservations just over 3 months before the trip. We only wanted ADRs for dinner. I am a vegetarian (and was eating vegan at the time of this trip), so that was a factor in picking our restaurants.

Our top choices were:

Boma: Jiko was one of our favorite dining experiences the previous year. We knew we wanted to go back to the AKL, but it was a tough choice between Boma and Sanaa. In the end, we decided that part of the draw for Sanaa was the view of the animals, and we would be missing that by going at night. Also, a buffet sounded good so we could try more food and load up before the half marathon the next morning.

California Grill: None of the restaurants at HS really stood out to us. CG kept popping up as a highly rated dining experience. It was in our hotel (Contemporary), which meant we would not have to go far. We knew we would be tired from the half marathon and that we would not want to be out late the night before the full marathon, so this seemed like an excellent option.

Via Napoli: We knew we wanted to eat somewhere new in the World Showcase but there were so many good options. Our top three picks were in Morocco, France and Italy. TouringPlans gave Via Napoli a score of 100 at that time, so we decided this couldnt be missed. Plus, pizza, wine and gelato after running 39.3 miles? It would be the perfect reward.

Be Our Guest: Of course, this was top of our list. It was just opening in December 2012. I should have realized how hard it would be to get a reservation, but we really hoped it would work out.

We were able to get all the reservations we wanted except for BOG. They said I could keep checking for cancellations right up to our trip, so we decided not to book another ADR; we would either get into BOG or just do QS on our last night.

 

[jrmint427]

Our official Goofy training began in late August. I have included pictures of the plan below, but to be honest, we followed this somewhat loosely.

A lot of the yoga did not happen (but some did). The one thing we stuck to pretty well was running two long runs every weekend – the first long run being about half the distance of the second. Sometimes we ran Friday/Saturday and sometimes it was Saturday/Sunday. I read mixed reviews of whether this was a good idea or not (running two long runs every weekend), but it worked for us. We got used to doing our longest runs on tired legs. I will also mention that we were run/walkers. We ran/walked the 2012 WDW Marathon due to an IT band injury that I suffered during training. Since it worked out well for us, we thought this would be a good strategy for the Goofy Challenge given the extra distance. We planned around run/walk intervals of 6 minutes running/4 minutes walking.

 

[jrmint427]

Day One: Travel to Orlando & Check-In at Contemporary (1/10)

We traveled to WDW after a full day of work the evening on January 10th. Our flight was delayed just 15 minutes, and we got into Orlando very late. We found the Magical Express desk and I knew we were in good and organized hands as soon as we got there. I didn't have the paper tickets we needed but they were able to print us a new set.

The lines are divided based on the resort you are going to. We didn't have to wait very long to board the bus to the Contemporary but we did have to wait a long time before the bus took off. They were playing old school Disney cartoons, so at least we had some entertainment while we waited.

On the drive to our resort they played a video about WDW which made me giddy with excitement to be going back to the parks. We stopped at the Wilderness Lodge and then we were the next stop.

I apparently missed online check-in but our check-in process was still quick and painless. My only disappointment was that I did not realize we were staying in the South Garden Wing of the Contemporary and not in the building where the monorail goes through. The walk to our room wasn;t too bad, although it became more painful after our races.

Our room was nice. We had plenty of space. I was excited to find the Mickey Ears towel!

The bathroom was really nice, but I did not like the sinks. They were huge and took up all the counter space, so we had to store everything underneath the sink. I wished I had brought an over-the-door case for our toiletries.

We got settled in and went right to bed!

In case I forget to fit them in later, here are some more pictures from the Contemporary. We had some beautiful views, and even staying in a separate building, we appreciated the ease of staying at a monorail resort. This made our race mornings especially easy.

My DH even captured an awesome picture of the monorail coming out of the resort!

 

[emilyindisney]

Hi Jessica!

Thanks for sharing your Goofy experience! Can't wait to hear about the races!

We were actually in Disney the week after the marathon that year- we flew in the evening of the marathon. I remember that I just heard about the Goofy Challenge a few days before we arrived (I'd already heard of the marathon) and thought that was crazy! I couldn't believe someone would do that! Haha!

The Contemporary sure is beautiful!

 

[ZellyB]

Hi, Jessica,
Signing on for your report. My husband and I are going to be running Goofy for the first time in less than two weeks! I love reading race reports, so looking forward to reading all about your trip.

 

[jrmint427]

Hi Jessica!

Thanks for sharing your Goofy experience! Can't wait to hear about the races!

We were actually in Disney the week after the marathon that year- we flew in the evening of the marathon. I remember that I just heard about the Goofy Challenge a few days before we arrived (I'd already heard of the marathon) and thought that was crazy! I couldn't believe someone would do that! Haha!

The Contemporary sure is beautiful!

Hi Emily!! Thanks for joining in I saw your Jan 2013 trip report and we overlapped for one day! But it looks like you were in AK while we were at MK. I thought the Goofy was crazy and only for elite athletes the first time I heard about it, but I'm so glad we did it, you will have a great time!

 

[jrmint427]

Hi, Jessica,
Signing on for your report. My husband and I are going to be running Goofy for the first time in less than two weeks! I love reading race reports, so looking forward to reading all about your trip.

Thanks for joining! I love reading race reports as well, it was fun to read your 2013 Marathon report having run the same race! I bought the photo package for 2013 so I will also include more race photos and details than I did for 2012.

I'm so excited for you to be running Goofy and can't wait to read about your experience!

 

[jrmint427]

Day Two: Race Expo, Animal Kingdom, Dinner at Boma (1/11)

The next morning Maggie and I headed straight to the expo while Pat went ahead to the Animal Kingdom. We didn't know how long the expo would take and planned to meet up with him when we were done.

We got there just after the expo opened. It felt like there were crowds of people already, but we were able to get right in. It sounded like there were longer lines later in the day.

Since we were picking up Goofy Challenge packets we were going to a different room than everyone else and there was no line for our race numbers. It was so quick! One bonus for being Goofy :-D

We headed next door to pick up our shirts and check out the expo. We didn’t spend as much time at the expo this year since we were eager to get to Animal Kingdom. However, there was one thing I was looking for. I couldn’t find my running belt when I was packing for our trip so I knew I needed to buy a Spi Belt at the expo. I picked out a red and white polka dot belt to add a touch of Minnie to my running outfits.

On our way out we picked up a couple of pretzels to snack on for breakfast. We needed to carb-load right? They were delicious.

We took a few pictures, signed up for race tracking, and then we were off to Animal Kingdom! There was no bus directly to the park so we took a bus to AKL and from there to AK. We were eager to get to AK and start our first day at the parks!

 

[emilyindisney]

I love how Disney puts out all the giant runDisney banners in the expo area. We took a bunch of funny pictures with them at ToT (which is funny because you caught someone posing in front of it in your picture, haha!)

You new (at the time) Spi belt sounds cute! Love the Minnie themed stuff!

 

[courtneybelle]

Hi Jessica!!! That's so exciting that you have a 3-month-old, I can't imagine how awesome her first trip to WDW is going to be!

I was actually in WDW that very weekend in 2013!! Not running the marathon, just touring

Those pictures from the Contemporary are gorgeous!!

 

[ZellyB]

I love the expo. Although it's way too tempting to spend a bunch of money. Looks like it wasn't too crowded when you were there. We've always arrived late in the day and the place is packed.

Great shot in front of the marathon medal!

 

[jrmint427]

I love how Disney puts out all the giant runDisney banners in the expo area. We took a bunch of funny pictures with them at ToT (which is funny because you caught someone posing in front of it in your picture, haha!)

You new (at the time) Spi belt sounds cute! Love the Minnie themed stuff!

I had to go back to look at that picture and you are right, that is so funny! I love the Minnie theme too I'll have race pictures to show it off... it didn't match my outfit for the full marathon but I wore it anyway!

Hi Jessica!!! That's so exciting that you have a 3-month-old, I can't imagine how awesome her first trip to WDW is going to be!

I was actually in WDW that very weekend in 2013!! Not running the marathon, just touring

Those pictures from the Contemporary are gorgeous!!

How funny! We might have run into you You'll have to let me know if you turn up in any of my pictures!

I love the expo. Although it's way too tempting to spend a bunch of money. Looks like it wasn't too crowded when you were there. We've always arrived late in the day and the place is packed.

Great shot in front of the marathon medal!

Oh my gosh, yes it is way too tempting. The first year we went to the expo we just walked around the expo for a long time exploring all of it and I bought way more than I meant to (including a "stick" like a foam roller that I did not really need - I use my foam roller at home way more often). That's why we went in with more of a plan this year, but it was way less crowded when we were there in the morning.

 

[jrmint427]

When we arrived at AK I was so happy to see that the Christmas decorations were still up!

Animal Kingdom has the most beautiful scenery and I love how easy it is to find a playful animal throughout the park.

The monkey island is my favorite. Is there a name for this place?

We texted Pat and headed straight to Expedition Everest to pick up a fast pass. He was already in line for the ride.

We were hoping we could get a quick ride in but the roller coaster actually shut down while Pat was on it. He was stuck for awhile, and after he was able to get off, they closed down the ride temporarily. It was already after 11am so we decided to find some lunch nearby.

We ate at Yak and Yeti the year before and loved it. I ordered the same dish I had before – the sweet n’ sour tofu. Disney does tofu well.

Maggie and Pat had the lettuce cups.

Our server acted like she was impressed that we were running the Goofy Challenge, but then she let it slip that she had run Boston. I was more in awe of that!

Lucky for us, Expedition Everest was open after we ate. Yay! We walked right on with our fast passes.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture of this ride without beautiful clouds behind it. Also, look closely at the cloud just to the right of the mountain. Do you see Mickey Ears to the right of the ride?? I am now convinced that Disney creates its own clouds.

Our next stop was an attraction we had skipped the year before - the Pangani Trail!

 

[jrmint427]

I love the expo. Although it's way too tempting to spend a bunch of money. Looks like it wasn't too crowded when you were there. We've always arrived late in the day and the place is packed.

Great shot in front of the marathon medal!

I just finished reading your 2014 race report, and I can't comment there but just wanted to say - I love your race shirts! I was also disappointed to hear they didn't have the Cars characters at the Speedway and fewer characters overall. One of the reasons I bought the photo package in 2013 was because it felt like we had so many character pictures. But I don't remember seeing the dog character stop with Pluto and friends, I would have loved a picture with them!

Also - that snake is really scary, that would have freaked me out! I thought it was fake when I first saw that picture. I would have been running really fast to get away from that!

 

[jrmint427]

After facing the Yeti we walked the Pangani Trail. This was something we had missed out on the year before.

We saw more Disney magic in action. It seemed like so many animals were awake and playing at any given time.

Except Pumba he was sleeping.

It was such a fun trail! I cant believe we missed this last time. The best part was the gorillas. There was a mom, a dad and a 3-year-old that acted like a toddler. The baby gorilla would run up to his dad and then run away! He was so adorable. He was doing somersaults and climbing trees. At one point he climbed a tree and you could see the branch he was on was slowly bending backward until he fell all the way back to the ground.

After walking the trail we met up with Pats cousin and his wife who were at the park at the same time. We got snacks (chocolate bananas with nuts) and then went to see Nemo the Musical.

Our cousin was pregnant, so we split up after the show to go on Mount Everest again. We had finally discovered the Single Rider line and it was a wonderful discovery! We could basically walk right on the ride. Pat and I even got to ride together because we ended up being paired with two other singles who waited in the normal line!

We also wanted to ride Kilimanjaro Safari before leaving. It was close to 5pm and the sun was already setting. I was worried that we may have missed a lot of the animals already but we still got to see quite a few.

We did get to see the lion standing up this time!

It was a fun day! There was a lot of walking though, and that made me a little worried for the races ahead of us. After our day at the park we met up with our cousins again for dinner at Boma.

 

[MickeyWanaBe]

As we’re coming up on the 2015 WDW Marathon weekend, is anyone who is reading this running this year?? If so, I am jealous and cannot wait to read your trip report!

I am reading this and yes I am running this year! My husband and I did the full in 2013. It was my first marathon. We couldn't commit to the 2014 race weekend because his mom wanted to do a family vacation somewhere, but that didn't happen. And it was too late to enter. We were so jealous watching all the action from home through Instagram. We developed medal envy and decided we had to have the Dopey bling! So we are headed down next Tuesday and we can't wait! I have never done a trip report, but I am on Instagram if you want to follow along.

 

[emilyindisney]

Your Yak and Yeti food looks so yummy! We have our reservation there after the half marathon this year so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it there.

 

[ZellyB]

I've got Yak and Yeti tentatively planned for our lunch on our AK day. I've not eaten there before, so I'm glad to hear that you enjoy it. Your meal looks delicious!

I love all your pictures from the park and you got some great animal shots. We've never had good luck seeing the lion on the safari ride, but I'm hoping this year will be better.

I just finished reading your 2014 race report, and I can't comment there but just wanted to say - I love your race shirts! I was also disappointed to hear they didn't have the Cars characters at the Speedway and fewer characters overall. One of the reasons I bought the photo package in 2013 was because it felt like we had so many character pictures. But I don't remember seeing the dog character stop with Pluto and friends, I would have loved a picture with them!

Also - that snake is really scary, that would have freaked me out! I thought it was fake when I first saw that picture. I would have been running really fast to get away from that!

Thanks for reading it. I'm hoping the characters and pictures will be back to the 2013 standard we enjoyed on our first run. This year I told my husband I want to stop for the dogs if they have them out again.

And, yeah, that snake was CRAZY!