I See a Line, I Wait In It ~ A January 2016 TR - Completed 12/29

[stacy~**]

So happy you two had such an amazing trip. I'm looking forward to hearing about all of it!! So excited that you guys had so many new things.

Love that picture of Beth in your intros at mile marker 6. She is perfectly coordinated with it!

Since I am doing some walking on my treadmill on my "off" days I have just started watching/listening the DIS podcasts so I'll be looking forward to hearing about that meet. Very exciting!

 

[Waiting2goback]

Sounds like you got a lot of awesome stuff - I hope you'll share some of the videos!! I'd love to see some video of the marathon - that's one race I'll probably never do, so I'm really interested to see people's perspective of the races!



I didn't know Pete was there until I saw him. I was just looking for Craig. I don't know if I would have gone over if it was just Craig - he's probably my favorite person on the podcast, but I might have been a little scared of him. I think Pete seems more approachable. Which is why I'm glad he was there.

I am planning to make a video. I have just been uploading everything to my computer since I got home. I will start editing soon and hopefully will post on Youtube. I will post a link for you if/when I finally get it done. I want to do it a bit different than the others I have seen, to include all that leads up to the race so people who are new to these races will have a better understanding of the size. You can't always tell from the videos I have seen.

Who don't you like on the podcast? I like Craig too but there is one person I cannot stand. I'm dying to see if you think the same thing?

 

[Waiting2goback]

And don't rule out the marathon in the future. It is so much fun. Don't let the distance scare you.

 

[SarahDisney]

Thank you Sarah! Sorry I missed you at the MK on Monday, but I had a fantastic time! Look forward to starting my TR soon and I can't wait to read your TR! So far, I love all the statistics as I am a statistics nerd!

I'm glad yo hear you had such a good time!
And I love statistics too ... so I may try to throw some more in at some point.
Mostly,I'mjust a nerd.

So happy you two had such an amazing trip. I'm looking forward to hearing about all of it!! So excited that you guys had so many new things.

Thanks! We really enjoyed trying new things and I'm excited to share everything with my readers!
It was also really awesome that we got to see you (twice!)

Love that picture of Beth in your intros at mile marker 6. She is perfectly coordinated with it!

Thanks - I'll pass the message along. I think that's why she picked that picture!

Since I am doing some walking on my treadmill on my "off" days I have just started watching/listening the DIS podcasts so I'll be looking forward to hearing about that meet. Very exciting!

I love the podcasts - I listen while I'm working and whatnot. I really was excited that I got to meet them!

I am planning to make a video. I have just been uploading everything to my computer since I got home. I will start editing soon and hopefully will post on Youtube. I will post a link for you if/when I finally get it done. I want to do it a bit different than the others I have seen, to include all that leads up to the race so people who are new to these races will have a better understanding of the size. You can't always tell from the videos I have seen.

Sounds like it'll be a great video! I've watched a few videos of the 10K and it's almost always a shot of someone in the car, then starting the race, then world showcase and I didn't think it was a great representation of what's going on. So I'm definitely interested to see a video that actually shows the everything before the race and the size of everything!

Who don't you like on the podcast? I like Craig too but there is one person I cannot stand. I'm dying to see if you think the same thing?

So ... there isn't really anyone I dislike, but Kevin rubs me the wrong way sometimes. I think he may be my least favorite. And sometimes JL gets on my nerves, but mostly I like her.
I'm really curious who you can't stand...

And don't rule out the marathon in the future. It is so much fun. Don't let the distance scare you.

So, it's not the distance that scares me. It's the time. I'm a slow enough runner that even with no character stops (something that will never happen with me), the race would probably take me 6 hours. And I'm just afraid that after 3-4 hours I'll be bored and just not want to do it anymore. If I was faster, I don't know that I'd worry about the distance.
Also, I have some weird personal reasons to not want to do involving people's perceptions of marathons and the fact that my father ran 3 NYC marathons, and I don't want people to think I'm trying to "beat" him or anything like that. It sounds crazy, but it makes more sense in my head.

 

[Waiting2goback]

Sounds like it'll be a great video! I've watched a few videos of the 10K and it's almost always a shot of someone in the car, then starting the race, then world showcase and I didn't think it was a great representation of what's going on. So I'm definitely interested to see a video that actually shows the everything before the race and the size of everything!



So ... there isn't really anyone I dislike, but Kevin rubs me the wrong way sometimes. I think he may be my least favorite. And sometimes JL gets on my nerves, but mostly I like her.
I'm really curious who you can't stand...



So, it's not the distance that scares me. It's the time. I'm a slow enough runner that even with no character stops (something that will never happen with me), the race would probably take me 6 hours. And I'm just afraid that after 3-4 hours I'll be bored and just not want to do it anymore. If I was faster, I don't know that I'd worry about the distance.
Also, I have some weird personal reasons to not want to do involving people's perceptions of marathons and the fact that my father ran 3 NYC marathons, and I don't want people to think I'm trying to "beat" him or anything like that. It sounds crazy, but it makes more sense in my head.

I plan to start the video with the walk to the monorail in the morning, then the walk through security, etc... I want to put some of the pre race area (Oh my, the people) then the start of the race. We'll see how it comes out.

Kevin can be pretty negative and also acts like he is better than people, IMO. But he also has some good things to say. But Julie. Oh boy does she bug me. She offers very little valuable info and all she does is laugh at the stuff SHE says. I had a tiny crush on JL at first but she has worn off on me though. I LOVE Theresa, she is hysterical to me. And I miss Dustin.

As for the marathon. I ran with my friend. It was his first. I didn't care about time and it took us 6 hours. I wouldn't want a normal marathon to take me that long at all. But this I didn't care. It hurt so for that reason I was ready to be done but I also never wanted it to end. I was running through Disneyworld. I just couldn't get enough of it. I was soaking it all in. I understand the thing about competing with your dad but don't rob yourself of the experience if it is something you want to do. You could always not tell anyone you are doing it and then nobody will think you did it for that reason. Just something to consider.

 

[SarahDisney]

I plan to start the video with the walk to the monorail in the morning, then the walk through security, etc... I want to put some of the pre race area (Oh my, the people) then the start of the race. We'll see how it comes out.

I definitely think including the pre-race area is a good idea. Going into my first runDisney race, I think that was the part that I knew the least about, and I wish I had known more!

Kevin can be pretty negative and also acts like he is better than people, IMO. But he also has some good things to say. But Julie. Oh boy does she bug me. She offers very little valuable info and all she does is laugh at the stuff SHE says. I had a tiny crush on JL at first but she has worn off on me though. I LOVE Theresa, she is hysterical to me. And I miss Dustin.

That's exactly how I feel about Kevin - he offers some valuable information and insights, but I don't like his attitude.
I definitely get what you're saying with Julie. I don't mind her just because she's not on the show every week, but I do sometimes get sick of her laughing at her own jokes. I definitely prefer when Corey is on the show (he's just happy to be here...), since they rarely seem to be there together.
I started watching shortly before Dustin left, so I wasn't bothered by his leaving. But then I went back and started to watch earlier episodes, and now I miss Dustin. He's such a character, and as much as I like Craig, Dustin is irreplaceable.

As for the marathon. I ran with my friend. It was his first. I didn't care about time and it took us 6 hours. I wouldn't want a normal marathon to take me that long at all. But this I didn't care. It hurt so for that reason I was ready to be done but I also never wanted it to end. I was running through Disneyworld. I just couldn't get enough of it. I was soaking it all in. I understand the thing about competing with your dad but don't rob yourself of the experience if it is something you want to do. You could always not tell anyone you are doing it and then nobody will think you did it for that reason. Just something to consider.

Marathon is something I'm not going to even think about for a while. Maybe in a year or two I'll revisit the idea, but for now ... not a goal for me.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Joining along! My husband and I are going to do our first Disney race this year and I can't wait to read all about your experience!

 

[SarahDisney]

Joining along! My husband and I are going to do our first Disney race this year and I can't wait to read all about your experience!

Thanks for joining in!
runDisney races are awesome and hopefully you guys will love your experience! Which race are you doing?

 

[huggybuff]

Glad you're back Sarah! I'm here and following even though I'm still at DL.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Thanks for joining in!
runDisney races are awesome and hopefully you guys will love your experience! Which race are you doing?

We're doing the Jingle Jungle 5k for sure and are almost ready to commit to the Wine & Dine Half!

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm in... trying to catch up on the Dis this morning.

I look forward to seeing where we might have had some near misses on Monday afternoon/evening.

 

[SarahDisney]

Glad you're back Sarah! I'm here and following even though I'm still at DL.

Thanks for following along. I hope you're having an awesome time and I can't wait to read all about it!!

We're doing the Jingle Jungle 5k for sure and are almost ready to commit to the Wine & Dine Half!

That is awesome! Wine and Dine sounds like a really fun race - hopefully you guys will love it!

I'm in... trying to catch up on the Dis this morning.

Thanks for reading along! I know you'd probably rather be at Disney than catching up on the DIS (really, who wouldn't?)

I look forward to seeing where we might have had some near misses on Monday afternoon/evening.

I'm going to be very entertained if you're in the background of one of my pictures (or vice versa). I'm excited to find out if we had any near misses!

 

[SarahDisney]

Day 1: I Want To Stuff Some Chocolate In My Face
Tuesday, January 5th, 2016​

Based on the reactions from when I told this story to my family, I’m going to go ahead and skip telling you about my morning. Suffice it to say I woke up early, went into the city, and got good coffee. Then I went home and finished packing and whatnot.

Meanwhile, Beth was at home, making and drinking her own coffee, finishing her last minute packing, and generally sitting around twiddling her thumbs waiting for me to come home (or so I assume).

Anyway … on to the interesting stuff. At around 1:30ish we hailed an Uber, which took us to JFK airport. We managed to make it through security with no difficulties and only one minor injury (Beth had a small boo-boo). Since Beth is crazypants, we were there quite a while before our flight, but we didn’t need to do any shopping or anything, so we just hung out at the gate.

Here is a picture of us hanging out at the gate:

It was while we were at the gate that we got an email. From runDisney. The day before the race expo started, and two days before the first race. This email was about new guidelines for race costumes.
For those of you who are not quite familiar with runDisney races … some people run in costume. There are some pretty intricate costumes out there. There are probably people who spend months working on their costumes. So maybe runDisney should have given them more than about 36 hours’ notice about these new guidelines for costumes? I haven’t heard any personal stories, but I’m sure there were people who had to change their costumes at the last minute because of these new guidelines. rD kinda dropped the ball there a little bit (I understand that everything about the costume thing was last minute … but the new WDW rules came out like 2 weeks before the race, and I think rD could have announced a few days earlier).
Thankfully, the two skirts I made (one for me and one for Beth) were acceptable under the new guidelines, so we were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Anyway … back to the interesting parts. We boarded the plane around 3:30 PM, and then proceeded to take a plane selfie:

After confirming that everyone on the plane was, in fact, headed to Orlando, our pilot announced that our flight time would be 1 hour and 86 minutes. Because that sounds better.

About two and a half hours later … we were in Orlando. JetBlue lands in terminal A, so we made our way over to terminal B and down to level 1 for Disney’s Magical Express. We boarded a bus right away, but sat on the bus for a little bit before we left. But finally we were on our way and eventually we saw …

For those of you who are not quite as familiar with my camera … it doesn’t so much take decent night pictures. But I just discovered that I have a high ISO mode on my camera, so I kept trying the night pictures. They didn’t always come out so great. See above for proof (although this one isn’t terrible … it’s just not so great).

Oh yeah, and then there was this …

Not the best picture ever, but … that’s the Star Wars Symphony in the Stars Galactic Fireworks. We could see it from the bus.
SPOILER ALERT: That’s not the only time we saw these fireworks.

Once we got past the fireworks, we were headed to the hotels. Our bus stopped at Art of Animation, Pop Century, and Caribbean Beach, in that order (at least I assume it was in that order … I got off at Pop Century, so I can’t comment on what may have happened after I left the bus). While we were waiting for our luggage to be unloaded, I was approached by a DISer from the Marathon Weekend thread over on the runDisney part of the boards, which was pretty awesome. I had been on property for less than an hour and I had my first DIS meet! Yay!

Once we got our bags, we headed over to the 70’s section and into room 6131. We dumped our stuff … and then I remembered to take pictures:

Look, there’s a Mickey in the carpet!

Once we had dumped our stuff, we quickly packed our smaller bags because we had plans. We walked through the lobby to the bus stop, where we waited for a bus to…

As some of you may know, I was looking forward to getting an updated version of this picture:

So, what did I get?

It’s gone! Just gone! No more Marketplace sign! What is this world coming to??????

Once I got over the disappointment of the lack of sign, it was time for some shopping. First on our agenda was a very important purchase … jelly beans to fuel our running. These, of course, were purchased at…

We wandered the store a bit, and I saw something I hadn’t noticed on previous visits:

I did not know that Goofy had an advanced degree. That’s pretty cool – maybe that’s why he got his own candy store. Ladies and gentlemen, higher education always pays!

After purchasing an appropriate number of pink jelly bellys (we got some non-pink ones as well, but everyone knows that the best flavors are all pink), we left the candy store and headed over to the sock store. But once again, as they have for about 3 years now, little miss matched’s new management (which is not so new anymore) disappointed me, and I did not love any of the socks there. After that disappointment, I knew it was time for our favorite Disney Springs dinner spot:

Ice cream for dinner. It’s a thing. Except that we didn’t get ice cream, we got shakes.

Beth got a Sea Salt Caramel Quake Shake - A Chocolate Bar Infused Milkshake with fresh Banana. Topped with Whipped Cream, Sea Salt and creamy Ghirardelli® Caramel.
I got a Quake Shake with Caramel - A Chocolate Bar Infused Milkshake.

Beth liked hers a lot. Mine was okay, but upset my stomach about halfway through. So that was a little unhappy … but at least we had stopped in the store first, so we had some free chocolate stashed away just in case.

Dinner in hand, we headed over to one of my favorite stores at Disney Springs…

I always say that if I had my own kitchen, I could stock it entirely with things they sell at Marketplace Co-Op. I really love some of the kitchen stuff and dishes they sell there!
Also, I stared at the Vera Bradley bags. But I have one already, so I can wait a little bit to get another one.

Next stop was Marketplace Fun Finds, where we were not impressed by the selection of merchandise. That was a disappointment. Thankfully, our next stop gave us lots of stuff to look at:

Fun character statues:

We also looked at some pins. But we didn’t buy anything, it was more of an exploratory trip. After some looking around, we were ready for our next stop:

But before we went in, we had to take some pictures:

We looked around at some toys (and were not surprised by the presence of Star Wars stuff), but we realized that Once Upon a Toy was not where we truly wanted to be. Our favorite store was calling to us, so we made our way over to …

We weren’t planning to do our big shopping this night, so we mostly wandered around, looking at the new layout and seeing some new merchandise. There were also some in-store decorations that we had never noticed before (I don’t know if they were new or we’ve just never looked at the ceiling before), so I had to snap pictures of those:

We wandered around World of Disney, but we just weren’t having a great night (we were both tired and I was still sick from the shake), so we called it a night. After a very crowded and bumpy bus ride, we got back to our room just as our luggage was arriving – perfect timing! We unpacked what needed to be unpacked and then headed to bed.

End of Day Stats: (Sarah Only)
Steps: 14,1468
Miles: 6.13
Flights of Stairs: 25

Coming Next – Our First Rope Drop Rush!

 

[rteetz]

Arrival day is always the best day. It's the start of a bunch of incredible things to come. That's cool that you had your first dis meet so soon.

I enjoy Disney springs. I love going to Goofys candy shop, it's a must every time. I haven't been to ghirardellis yet. Marketplace co-op is my favorite store these days.

Can't wait to hear more.

 

[momabaarjo]

Late but here

 

[stacy~**]

Sorry the Ghirardelli shake didn't sit well with you. I know you were looking forward to it. As you know you inspired us to have a Ghirardelli dinner and I have to admit it was pretty tasty and very well may happen again on a future trip.

I enjoy Goofy's Candy shop too and my new favorite is the specialty Rice Krispy treats although we didn't make it there this time. Love the pink candy comment. Anything pink is better. Always.

Loooove the Co-op too! They just need to change the mens/sports store that's off to the right. We always have fun playing with the make your own phone cases (Lucy actually made one this trip and it turned out really cute), the art store, the girls tween shop, kitchen stuff and the purses. It's basically perfect. <3

We noticed a few things at WOD that we hadn't before and I was wondering if it was new stuff or just the new arrangement in there made me look at things I didn't normally look at.

 

[afwdwfan]

For those of you who are not quite familiar with runDisney races … some people run in costume. There are some pretty intricate costumes out there. There are probably people who spend months working on their costumes. So maybe runDisney should have given them more than about 36 hours’ notice about these new guidelines for costumes? I haven’t heard any personal stories, but I’m sure there were people who had to change their costumes at the last minute because of these new guidelines. rD kinda dropped the ball there a little bit (I understand that everything about the costume thing was last minute … but the new WDW rules came out like 2 weeks before the race, and I think rD could have announced a few days earlier).

Yeah, that's definitely frustrating that they wouldn't get that information out sooner. But then again, the runners are running through Disney World, and therefore, should be aware of Disney World rules as well. Hopefully it wasn't anything that was too big of a deal for most people.

After confirming that everyone on the plane was, in fact, headed to Orlando, our pilot announced that our flight time would be 1 hour and 86 minutes. Because that sounds better.

End of Day Stats: (Sarah Only)
Steps: 14,1468
Miles: 6.13
Flights of Stairs: 25

Come on! You aren't racing or going to any parks yet! Take it easy!

 

[disneywlf]

Sounds like despite Beth's boo-boo and your stomach upset, you had an awesome start to your trip? It's pretty awesome that you used an Uber to JFK as I think they work very well and that you had no delays or anything like that. I will admit that I am like Beth as I like to arrive at the airport early to allow for any unanticipated delays. If everything goes smoothly, I could always grab a bite (JetBlue and Delta's terminals (both 2 and 4) at JFK have some solid choices in my experience), shop, or better yet, plane spot . Disney Springs is pretty amazing and I love your World of Disney pictures. Plus, while I did not stop there on this trip as I fulfilled my craving for ice cream at two other spots, Ghiradelli is one of the best places to enjoy ice cream and/or chocolate on property. Can't wait to read more!

 

[KathyM2]

but the new WDW rules came out like 2 weeks before the race, and I think rD could have announced a few days earlier).

That is really inconsiderate...they must know how much planning and effort people put into those costumes...really not smart on their part...sigh.

I had been on property for less than an hour and I had my first DIS meet! Yay!

That is sooo awesome!!! I so long to meet other Disney minded peeps IRL

everyone knows that the best flavors are all pink

OMG so true. I like Cotton Candy jelly beans the best.

but we just weren’t having a great night (we were both tired and I was still sick from the shake)

Oh no!! I hope that didn't last long!

 

[SarahDisney]

Arrival day is always the best day. It's the start of a bunch of incredible things to come. That's cool that you had your first dis meet so soon.

Totally agree on that - arrival day is awesome!

I enjoy Disney springs. I love going to Goofys candy shop, it's a must every time. I haven't been to ghirardellis yet. Marketplace co-op is my favorite store these days.

You have to go to Ghirardelli! They have the best ice cream sundaes. And if you go into the store part (it's divided into a store and a "soda fountain"/cafe area), you get free chocolate. And there is nothing in the world better than free chocolate.

Late but here

Yay! Hi Tammie!
Thanks for stopping by!

Sorry the Ghirardelli shake didn't sit well with you. I know you were looking forward to it. As you know you inspired us to have a Ghirardelli dinner and I have to admit it was pretty tasty and very well may happen again on a future trip.

I think its because we went shakes instead of sundae. I've learned my lesson ... ice cream sundaes only for dinner from now on!

I enjoy Goofy's Candy shop too and my new favorite is the specialty Rice Krispy treats although we didn't make it there this time. Love the pink candy comment. Anything pink is better. Always.

Yes. Pink is always better.

Loooove the Co-op too! They just need to change the mens/sports store that's off to the right. We always have fun playing with the make your own phone cases (Lucy actually made one this trip and it turned out really cute), the art store, the girls tween shop, kitchen stuff and the purses. It's basically perfect. <3

Marketplace Co-Op is really starting to compete with World of Disney for my favorite store ever. I could just walk through there for hours staring at everything...

We noticed a few things at WOD that we hadn't before and I was wondering if it was new stuff or just the new arrangement in there made me look at things I didn't normally look at.

I think they did put in some new stuff ... but it may have also been the layout. I never remember what I've seen on previous trips. I'm getting old, so my memory is starting to go

Yeah, that's definitely frustrating that they wouldn't get that information out sooner. But then again, the runners are running through Disney World, and therefore, should be aware of Disney World rules as well. Hopefully it wasn't anything that was too big of a deal for most people.

Eh. runDisney has always had separate costume rules from the parks. So I get why people might think the new parks rules don't apply to races. There was actually a lot of discussion here on the boards about it over the weeks before the race. Whatever, it is what it is.
Also ... enforcement was not so great.

Come on! You aren't racing or going to any parks yet! Take it easy!

Most of this was actually when I was still in NY ... I did take it easy once I got to Florida. On that day, at least. I may or may not have aggravated my still-slightly-injured knee the day before the 5K.

Sounds like despite Beth's boo-boo and your stomach upset, you had an awesome start to your trip? It's pretty awesome that you used an Uber to JFK as I think they work very well and that you had no delays or anything like that. I will admit that I am like Beth as I like to arrive at the airport early to allow for any unanticipated delays. If everything goes smoothly, I could always grab a bite (JetBlue and Delta's terminals (both 2 and 4) at JFK have some solid choices in my experience), shop, or better yet, plane spot . Disney Springs is pretty amazing and I love your World of Disney pictures. Plus, while I did not stop there on this trip as I fulfilled my craving for ice cream at two other spots, Ghiradelli is one of the best places to enjoy ice cream and/or chocolate on property. Can't wait to read more!

It was a great start to the trip!
I really don't like getting to the airport early ... but I've also been close to missing my flight a few times in the past, so I understand why some people do. I guess it's just personal preference.
And there are a lot of great places to fulfill your ice cream needs at Disney, so I can understand skipping Ghirardelli once in a while.

That is really inconsiderate...they must know how much planning and effort people put into those costumes...really not smart on their part...sigh.

I think it was a mixture of the timing and short notice. This all happened during the holiday season, right before their biggest event, and the people at runDisney were probably scrambling to communicate with theme park security and get it all taken care of in a few weeks. I do think it could have been handled better, but I kinda get the delays.

That is sooo awesome!!! I so long to meet other Disney minded peeps IRL

This was only the first of several DIS meets ... it was really cool to put faces to some of the names of people I've been communicating with here.

OMG so true. I like Cotton Candy jelly beans the best.

Yes! And Tutti Frutti! (But I also really love Buttered Popcorn, which is not pink)

Oh no!! I hope that didn't last long!

Thankfully, we were both feeling better the next morning. But I was not happy about getting sick on my first night.