i want adventure in the great wide somewhere - running journal! (comments welcome)

[xjillianpaige]

Actually there is. It’s the perception of “look good feel good”. There was a study where runners were told they would run in either a basic kit or a Nike kit. When they ran in the Nike kit, they ran faster. Truth was, both kits were basic. They believed the Nike kit made them faster and so it did, despite being the same. So if you believe the glitter makes you faster, then it will.

You’re my favorite person on these message boards. *buys all the glitter*

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Race Recap Post #4
Trip Recap Part 1: Epcot & DATW​

The moment you've all been waiting for... Epcot & Drinking Around The World

​

We woke up nice and early and got dressed. I wore my new tank top from Fit2Run (I want all of their I Hate Running products) and realized I should have brought a raincoat because rain was in the forecast. I spent time curling my hair FOR WHAT? Rain. That's what. Anyway, as far as my legs were feeling, the transition from sitting to standing was Not Great, but once I was moving I felt pretty good. Whenever we stopped for a drink or to wait in line I would spent a little bit of time stretching my quads, hamstrings, or calves and I do think that made a difference in the long run.

Anyway, we got to the park and decided to rope drop Frozen, then head into Mexico for a margarita as the first drink of the day from Cava. I got The Wild One, as per usual, and it was delicious. I want it intravenously.

​

We then left the world showcase where we ran into Minnie!

Our purpose for leaving our drinking for a moment was an all-time favorite: The Land for Living With The land and Soarin' followed by The Seas to find Nemo. On our way out we saw Pooh frolicking in the gardens.

​

Then we were right back to the World Showcase to continue our drinking. Well, mostly for Eric and Alex to drink - they were more committed. I've been there done that. So I took a taste of a drink here and there, but decided to focus on just a few favorites. The first stop was Canada for an Ottowa Apple before heading to the UK for fish & chips and a Snakebite (me) and the Welsh Dragon (Alex and Jenna). This is where it rained for the first time, but we had a table underneath an umbrella that kept us... mostly dry.

​

Next up was France! And Crepes! It started to rain again, so we sprinted for cover - Alex, Jenna, and Eric went into Plume et Palette for cover with some drinks while I hid outside under the awning. Made for some funny photos and boomerangs as they cheers-ed while my face was peering through the window in the background.

When the rain came to a stop, I was texting Ashley because Emily was driving home and so Ashley decided to come join us for the rest of the day! We had a ratatouille LL reservation for later that day, so we divided and conquered. Alex got into the crepe line. And once Ashley arrived, the rest of us brought her over to the CMs working Ratatouille to see if they would be able to add her to our group. We made it very clear that we would pay the $9 to add her, and that she's only one person and that we also understood if they couldn't do it. If they couldn't do it, Jenna was going to give Ashley her pass since Jenna had done the ride in October.

Once again, we got the absolute best CMs. I just think asking for something is very simple. You ask nicely and you accept "no" as an answer. We, again, were fully ready to pay if necessary and to put a Plan B into place if they couldn't make it work for us. But because Ashley was one person and we were kind and patient and willing to manage it on our own, the CMs helped us out! They added an anytime LL pass to Ashley's account and told us that we could all just go on the ride once we finished our crepes. The crepes were great, I did eat mine way too fast, and then we rode Ratatouille! It was very cute! We met Belle on the way out.

Following our French adventure, we headed over to Morocco for more drinks/some photos. Then Japan where they were NOT selling the frozen beer much to Alex's dismay. And then the American Adventure for my third drink, the Tennessee Lemonade. I won't bore you with too many details, but yes drinks were had and not had in Italy, Germany, China, and Norway. I did have the caramel popcorn in Germany for the first time and it was life changing. SO GOOD. How do I get it in my house and for me to eat forever?

(Hi, if you're new, I make every attempt to not show my friends & families faces since they didn't say I could share it on the internet in this capacity. So instead you get this weird smiley face. Thanks for understanding!) ​

Once we were done drinking, we had a list of final rides to hit. Eric did Mission Space (orange). Normally I would be a mission space girl, but I didn't want to be trapped in a small, rapidly moving container after Eric had consumed as many drinks as he had. I trust my stomach but not his. I could have done green but just didn't feel like it? It's not a must do for me. Instead, I did single rider for test track with Alex and Ashley. Ashley want ahead of us because the guy at the front of the single rider door said single rider was looking like a 25 minute wait. Well he was simply incorrect. Ashley texted a few minutes later that it was a complete walk on.

So, Alex and I hopped in line and walked right on. The family in front of us tried to play like someone had told them they could use the single rider line to all ride together? Clearly trying to game the system. The CM separated them all and I was like, "good." Anyway, we rode that. Then we headed to the front for a trip on Spaceship Earth. Love you, Judi. And then we did Figment and Alex fell in love with the little guy.

I'm a little bit out of practice on my glamour shots. I promise they get better. Also we literally forgot to take photos until after the sun went down and I'm kicking myself because flash photography is not kind or forgiving.​

From there we did a couple quick photos on the side of Spaceship Earth. Then we split - Eric went to watch the show (Harmonious?) with some family friends while the rest of us went to the front of the park for the first of many photo shoots. Ashley headed out of the park and to go home because she was tired (but she stopped for more pictures on the way out). Alex, Jenna, and I went shopping. Then back to the front of the park to wait for Eric and another photo shoot. Then Eric made it and we did ANOTHER photo shoot! Our photopass CMs were hilarious. Lots of laughter from them.

We walked to our car and made our way home for another good night's sleep. Tomorrow... a rest day.

​

 

[GollyGadget]

wish I could tell you where our glitter came from.

I really thought this was going to go in a different direction and you just woke up covered in glitter.... Not that this has happened to me or anything

I love your medal picture with spaceship earth. I was too lazy/tired to walk around the construction walls so mine is a bit lackluster.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I really thought this was going to go in a different direction and you just woke up covered in glitter.... Not that this has happened to me or anything

I love your medal picture with spaceship earth. I was too lazy/tired to walk around the construction walls so mine is a bit lackluster.

omg listen, I've worked with kids for over a decade now. sometimes I do wake up covered in glitter, but it's not because I had any sort of fun.

feel free to steal the photo and use it for yourself!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Race Recap Post #5
Trip Recap Part 2: Rest Day​

We sort of got to sleep in. Jenna and Alex had to wake up early because they were going to pick up another rental car so Jenna could head out to visit her grandparents after breakfast. So they were up on the earlier side. When I woke up, they were gone. So Eric, Ashley and I got ready for the day and I confirmed that Alex and Jenna were coming back to the hotel. We still took 3 cars to breakfast anyway so that Ashley could go off on her own if she wanted and the rest of us could do our thing.

Anyway, the three of us headed to the Yacht & Beach Club for breakfast at Cape May Cafe! I've stayed at the Beach Club before with my parents and I LOVE the resort. I have a candle that smells like the lobby. But I've never eaten at Cape May Cafe.

Currently, Cape May Cafe is still without characters and is served family style instead of buffet style. I'm a little bummed we don't get the cute little beach Mickey & Minnie, but we'll live. The food was very good. The freakin' cinnamon bread stuff? I looked up the menu just now and what they have on the menu does not sound like what she described. I thought she said that it was a vanilla glaze, but it's cinnamon streusel? I don't know, this is what the Disney website says: Salted Caramel Pull-apart Bread topped with Cinnamon Streusel. IT WAS SO GOOD.

After that came out, our waitress (the best most wonderfully sweet lovely woman) brought our fruit parfaits. Listen, I hate yogurt. Can't stomach the stuff. It makes my tongue feel like sandpaper. BUT THIS PARFAIT? The granola was incredible, and the raspberry sauce? And it had some fruit in it? I loved it. And then we all got our own bowls of fresh fruit. This is a freakin' four course breakfast meal and I want to eat it forever.

​

After our fruit they brought out the platters of eggs and meat and French toast and MICKEY WAFFLES. If you know me, you know that I love Mickey waffles. Anyway, the eggs were your typical scrambled eggs. Good with salt. There was bacon and sausage, as well as some sort of hash browns with steak, and your classic tater tots. We were also able to get a plant-based version of the hash brown/steak dish for Jenna (she's vegetarian).

What I love about this is that it's $25 for the meal (per adult) and all of our drinks (none of us had alcohol this morning) were included. Lots of juice, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and chocolate milk. Worth it to me.

After this, we went out to the beach for a mini photoshoot with our medals and finisher hats (which we all brought with us to get embroidered) and then Jenna left to go see her grandparents and the rest of us went for a walk around the boardwalk. Did a bit of shopping there and then made the impulse decision to ride the skyliner to art of animation so that Ashley could take some photos with Lightning McQueen and the rest of the crew at Radiator Springs.

​

A quick shot of the behind the scenes of a medal shot. It's a serious business, taking photos of this stuff. We're truly influencers. Influencers in the wild.

Anyway, skyliner. Art of Animation. We did the photos and then went back to the hub and Ashley went to Hollywood Studios for a few hours while the rest of us went back to our car and headed out to Disney Springs.

Our first order of business was to get our ears embroidered, so we walked over to the store where they do that. It's across from the Christmas store, that's all I know.

​

Next up was some shopping followed by some eating. We went to Gideons for cookies and then went to Cookes of Dublin for onion rings and a bacon cheese sauce. Both were so delicious.

​

After some more wandering and shopping, Alex left to go drop off the second rental car to the company so it would be back in time since Jenna was going to be late for the return time. Somehow, she was on her way back at the same time as Jenna and Ashley were going to be arriving back at Disney Springs, so we all met at the Boathouse for a light dinner and drinks at the bar. Drink number 1 for me was the Strawberry Gin Fizz. Eric and I also got some shrimp as an appetizer. Drink number 2 was the Duck Duck Razz. And for dinner I got a Caesar salad. I needed something light after everything I had eaten and drank over the past two days.

​

Ashley and I got our share of the check and headed out before the rest of the crew because I was tired. On the walk to her car, we facetimed my Mom. We made it home and promptly fell asleep. Didn't even hear Eric, Alex and Jenna come home.

Next up... Magic Kingdom.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Influencers in the wild.

This is literally what I captioned one of my photos on Instagram with haha. Also that duck drink looks adorable and amazing.

 

[xjillianpaige]

This is literally what I captioned one of my photos on Instagram with haha. Also that duck drink looks adorable and amazing.

it was... strong. good. and strong. what I did not mention was that my baby cousin was driving my very buzzed butt home. I don't know how Eric and Alex drank a second one and could stand up at the end of the night.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Race Recap Post #6
Trip Recap Part 3: Magic Kingdom​

I'm 2 for 2 on haunted hotel rooms. If you all remember, our room for Princess 2020 was haunted and the morning of the half, our phone rang (with no one on the line) twice as Jenna and I got ready.

This time... Ashley and I were startled awake when all of a sudden the light in our room turned on. I hopped out of bed after cursing and turned it back off. A few moments later our fan (which was on the middle setting) turned ALL THE WAY UP to high and then turned off. So Ashley hopped out of bed and turned it back to middle. So weird. No other issues the whole time, though. But I have a ghost that follows me to Disney. I actually said, out loud to the ghost, "Please leave us alone and let us sleep."

And it worked. Maybe. The weirdness stopped, at least.

We woke up for real and got dressed, then drove over to the TTC. We decided to do Genie+ for this day since it was our only one and we wanted to skip lines if we could. Jenna and Eric have used it before and so they took the lead for it. We parked our cars and then bought our Genie+ and headed over to the ferry and took that over to the park. Our first order of business was to head over to Haunted Mansion (with a quick photo stop on the way). We waited in the regular line for this since our first LL was Big Thunder Mountain a little bit later.

After being followed home by yet ANOTHER ghost, we went over to Gaston's for breakfast buns. We all know how much I love his buns.

​

I should get the other two photos I've taken with his buns... maybe later you'll see a post with all three! So that was breakfast (buns and a chocolate milk) and then we went on Under the Sea. After that, we headed back to the front of the park to do some photos with our medals. Y'know, I really think I'm underselling what we did. There was a costume change, guys. I was in a sweatshirt at breakfast, a tank top for photo shoot one, and my dad t-shirt for photoshoot 2.

Anyway, we started with some photos by the castle. And then we moved to the hub grass. Some on the side of the castle. Some with the partners statue. Photos with our medals. With our hats. With our hats and our medals. All iterations of a photo. ISN'T THIS WHY PEOPLE RUN A MARATHON?

​

While we were taking this one, a gentleman asked to borrow one of our medals because he forgot his and wanted a photo. We helped coach his photoshoot (how funny would it be if he's on this forum?) and then we continued with more and more photos. Also yes, this tank top says "run all the miles eat all the snacks."

​

Love this one of me and Ashley. She rocked the ears, I - not so much. Not my style. Look sort of weird on my head. I'll stick with my Minnie ears. Fine for the photo from the back (also I'm still so obsessed with the embroidery) but now the ears will stay on a shelf.

Those are some of the "front of the castle" photos. Next we went to the side and that's where there was a costume change, but first, another "influencers in the wild" photo.

​

And then it was the hub grass where there was a super zoom camera! So, here's the first photo that you have to spot me in.

​

See me? Do you? C'mon, how hard could it be? Just zoom in a little bit. No a little bit more. A tiiiiiiny bit more.

​

There I am! In my dad shirt! Best Dad In The Kingdom. An old favorite. These are cool photos - you get a video too. Ashley and Jenna's photos are gold because they are NOT looking at the camera. Both looking off to the side. The camera is on the Plaza roof, by the way.

After our photo shoot, we browsed the shops and then went to have some lunch at Pecos' Bills. I wasn't super hungry/I didn't know what I wanted, so I shared some of Jenna's chips. While we had lunch, Ashley went to ride Pirates with her LL since she would be leaving before us to get home at a decent time (she had to get back for work). After Pirates, she came to join us and got her lunch. We also watched a bunch of cavalcades go by,. The best part of this is that Ashley somehow made it across the road from us and was dancing for the cavalcade. A CM was watching her dance and thought it was so great - she brought us churros!

Literally - Ashley came back after the cavalcade passed and went inside for some water. While she was there, the CM was waiting for a tray and the churros came back. "The water is good but I'd rather have those," Ashley joked with the CM.

"Good because these are for your table. Where are you all sitting?"

She literally had so much fun watching Ashley watch the cavalcade that she got us free churros! Another incredible moment of magic from an awesome CM. Also, I love this photo that Alex took of Jenna and me on the fence at Pecos Bills.

​

After that we had more rides! I don't remember exactly the order, but I think we started over in Fantasyland and did the PhilHarmagic (they added Coco!) and It's A Small World. We then went into Tomorrowland for Space Mountain (we got a LL and it was worth the money because it was available 3 minutes away from when we booked) and the Carousel of Progress and the PeopleMover. We also did Monster's Inc (my favorite) and had a great group of participants and some very good jokes. Jenna's jokes always make it in.

While we were in Tomorrowland, I grabbed my dinner - some mac & cheese and French fries and apple slices with a water. It was sooo yummy. After that we rode Pirates and had our LL for Jungle Cruise - my absolute FAVORITE ride. Our skipper was SO good. My skipper at Disneyland in September was not good... but our Skipper this time was just fantastic.

Did you know that elephants have the best memory? Who'd've thought? Not me. (She told this joke like, 7 times and I laughed every time). Eric didn't understand the O2H chant (Jenna, Alex, and I all chanted). She also had this great bit, calling herself Skipper Carmela (first name Skipper, Last name Carmela).

Next up was more food time. Jenna and Alex stopped for Dole Whips. Eric went to Sleepy Hollow for the cheeseburger egg rolls (I had a bite and they were unreal, I'm sort of jealous I didn't have one). Then we went to the hub so Jenna and Alex could get something from Casey's and I could get the All American Sundae from the Plaza.

Record scratch... THEY GOT RID OF THE ALL AMERICAN SUNDAE. I was devastated for half a second and then ordered a brownie sundae and added the peanut butter sauce to it. Modern problems require modern solutions.

​

I also think I have like, 3 photos of me with an ice cream sundae from the past few visits. Maybe even more than that. We tried to find a place to watch the fireworks but we didn't want to go into the crowd. They wanted to see the fireworks so they stayed over by Casey's while I moved over to the Tomorrowland/Fantasyland side of the castle so I could see the projections since I didn't really care about the fireworks. They were cool. The music was good. I don't get attached to the fireworks shows like other people.

What was most exciting, to be honest, was that Tinkerbell flew RIGHT ABOVE ME. I love her so much. And then once the show was over I bolted over to get in line for 7 Dwarves. It said it was an 80 minute wait but it was actually only 30 minutes from the time that Jenna, Alex, and Eric made it to the line (I pulled off to the side and joined them when they made it to me in the queue). After that we slowly made our way out of the park and said goodbye to Magic Kingdom. We took the ferry again because the monorail was going to take forever while the ferry had no line. Plus, we had all taken the monorail after the race when we went from the Poly to the Contemporary, so we had gotten that fix in.

We then drove home (missing Ashley who was already back home 2 hours away) and went to sleep because the next day was another early morning.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

But I have a ghost that follows me to Disney.

It must be the Haunted Mansion ghost from a previous trip.

She literally had so much fun watching Ashley watch the cavalcade that she got us free churros!

Fun!

We also did Monster's Inc (my favorite) and had a great group of participants and some very good jokes.

Ooo, stay tuned for my Monday report!!! Monster’s Inc is also my fav.

 

[jmasgat]

Reading your race reports makes me feel happy that the magic is still there for so many people. Well done!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Ooo, stay tuned for my Monday report!!! Monster’s Inc is also my fav.

Yay can't wait!

Reading your race reports makes me feel happy that the magic is still there for so many people. Well done!

Thank you!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Race Recap Post #7
Trip Recap Part 4: Hollywood Studios​

It's Hollywood Studios day! Another early morning. I am not good at going on vacation and relaxing - something to work on. We stopped at Starbucks for breakfast on our way to the parks, then parked at HS and headed into line. We actually made it into line right as park opened this morning, but the lines were NOT moving. It felt like it took forever to tap in.

My priority this day was Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway since I hadn't ridden it yet. So we decided to buy a LL for it.

Listen, I gotta be honest. I was deeply against Genie + and paid LL when it was first announced. And I still think it's a jerk move. Chapek is a jerk face and it's wrong that people are paying more for less while he over doubles his earnings in a year when so many people lost their jobs and are still recuperating significant losses - both personal and financial. It's just gross. And I didn't want to wait in long lines during my vacation so I played into his stupid hands and I feel gross about it.

Oh wow, that got away from me. Anyway. We got into the park and went right to Tower of Terror for our first ride of the day. We couldn't stay in the area long enough to ride Rock 'n Rollercoaster too because we had a reservation. So we started heading out, stopping, of course, for a quick photo.

​

How great is that tie dye t-shirt? I got it for like, half off at the Disney Store in my mall a few weeks before they closed all the stores. It's a men's shirt, So comfortable. If it were warmer I would have paired it with bike shorts.

Anyway, that reservation. It was a 10 am reservation at Oga's. Yep. Drinking at 10 am. Guys, I am so exhausted at this point. I didn't even want to go. That's how early it was. Margaritas at 11 am? Sure. No problem. Margaritas at 10 am? I don't know about that.

But I'll do what I must. So we ordered the Batuu Bits because I was a bit peckish but it was too early for lunch. I also ordered the Outer Rim - my favorite margarita in outer space.

​

From there, we went to Toy Story Land to get more food. I got the totchos and they were okay. I ate them, but wasn't super excited about them. To be honest, I wanted the cheeseburger egg rolls from Magic Kingdom and that was putting me off of all the other food.

After lunch we hit Star Tours (and it was a new-to-me excursion). Alex gets motion sickness on this ride, so she wandered through One Man's Dream and then grabbed a flight at BaseLine Tap House where we met her.

We also went to the Frozen Sing-A-Long. At some point I wanted a nap, so we went to Muppet Vision 3D where I conked out for a solid 20 minutes. Our LL at Mickey and Minnie (very cute, by the way even though we broke down in the ballet room).

I stopped for a quick snack - a churro and a Mickey bar. Listen - it's vacati0n. I can do what I want.

​

After snacks, on a whim, we decided to go meet Minnie Mouse! It was a short wait - only 15 minutes. We did not expect to turn the corner and have her standing right there. The actual wait time was 0 minutes.

​

We went back into Batuu to hit the single rider line for Millennium Falcon and found Rey! I am obsessed with Rey. I want to be her. I should buy a costume and just be her for Halloween every year for the rest of eternity.

​

LOOK AT HER. I MEAN... SERIOUSLY!

Our next stop was dinner over at Catalina Eddie's. We finished dinner and went to see the single rider line for Rock 'n Rollercoaster, but it was closed! So instead we turned around and watched the projections start on Tower of Terror before we went to Slinky Dog (stopping along the way to walk through One Man's Dream again) where the wait was not the posted 80 again (closer to 40 minutes).

Our last item on the to do list for the night was to walk through Batuu at night, but while we were there we decided to hop in line for Rise of the Resistance. Yet again the posted wait time was significantly longer than the actual wait time. We were in line for 20 minutes and the posted time was 50. I'm not sure why they are posting wait times that are so inflated. Maybe to trick people into buying Genie+ and LL?

Anyway, we made it out of Kylo's ship and walked our way out of the park. Another day where we opened and closed the park!

Tomorrow is our last park day - Animal Kingdom.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Race Recap Post #8
Trip Recap Part 5: Animal Kingdom​

Last park day folks, last park day. I'm sad, too. Animal Kingdom was our last stop on this tour, and because we had bread and English muffins left over from the Marathon morning, we actually ate breakfast before leaving the hotel. Full disclosure, I slept through my alarm on this morning, so it wasn't much of a choice. I had about 10 minutes to get ready to go, so to give us time we decided to eat there to reduce stops along the way to the park.

So, I got ready in record time (dressed and make up - the hair was delegated to a messy bun for the day) and we left for Animal Kingdom.

Our first stop upon arrival was Flight of Passage (we didn't do any LLs today), so we hopped into the line which was, miraculously to me, in Pandora! The last time (and only time) I've done this ride was also a rope drop, and we were lined up way back in Africa. I don't remember our total wait time, but I'm betting it was about 45 minutes from getting in line to getting off the ride.

Oh look, it's those wild influencers again.​

Unfortunately, this ride made Alex quite motion sick, but once she was in the fresh air she was able to get her nausea under control.

Our next stop, naturally, was the safari. While we were in line (an early part of the queue before the actual entrance to the ride), Alex popped over to a popcorn stand to get a Mickey popcorn bucket for Makenna. Mickey became our child for the day and we took a ton of photos of him all over the place, like Flat Stanley. It was a lot of fun. Then she popped back into the line with us and off to the safari we went.

We had a great one with lots of active animals and giraffes that kept blocking the road. We did get a little stuck at the end of the safari because there was a vehicle that was having some issues at the end of the ride, but we were able to go to the other drop off area and hop off the ride. I didn't get a ton of photos of the animals - did more videos so that I can screenshot from good frames, but we did stop a few times and I got some good photos of the hippos (sleeping out of the water because the weather was relatively cool) and lots of the sleeping crocodiles, too.

​

Following the safari, we were ready for lunch. I think they went to Satu'li Canteen? I don't really remember, to be honest, because I didn't want that so I went over to Restaurantosaurus because a friend chicken sandwich caught my eye. I departed from them and headed to the opposite side of the park for my lunch, stopping at the Tree of Life on the way for a few photos of my medal.

​

Lunch was good, I spent the time alone on the phone catching up with my mom a little bit since I hadn't had a lot of time to check in with her. As I finished lunch, I texted the group to let them know that I was sitting directly across from Dinosaur so that we could ride that next.

I have a confession - I have found a way to avoid looking toward the dinosaur/being scared by it in the ride photo for years. I've pretended to be asleep. I once convinced my group that we should look the opposite direction because it would be funny. I've looked at my phone. This time, I put on my sunglasses and looked straight ahead so that I could close my eyes behind them and no one would be any wiser and it would look funny. It worked.

Anyway, we made it back before the meteor could crush us and went to watch the kite show! To be perfectly honest... we only went this show to watch the kites crash. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that, not only do the kites crash in a ridiculous fashion, they also look ridiculous in the air. Simba's nose gets blown in just right and his whole face looks wonky. It was hilarious.

I wonder what the people in the ideas room were thinking when they came up with this one.

Oh, and I turned our Mickey into Simba since we were watching a Lion King themed show.

​

Next up was A Celebration of Festival of The Lion King (and a popcorn refill). The show is much shorter right now than usual - they've cut out the monkeys doing acrobatics, which is a bummer because I was excited for that part. They also have removed the audience participation - they're still calling each section by an animal, but there's no cheering. Understandable why with lots of people indoors (even with masks, but we know that people are jerks and pull their masks down once they're out of view of a CM - no character, those people).

​

After the show, Jenna and Eric wanted to see It's Tough To Be A Bug, which both Alex and I refuse to participate in. I just don't like that show for all the reasons I hated Stitch in Magic Kingdom. Hard pass for me, thanks. So instead, we stopped for a Mickey Premium Bar (Alex) and a gatorade (me).

After that, there was one last of the bird show (Feathered Friends in Flight) at 3:30, so we went to watch it. Funny story - my brother had a pet bird growing up and I was terrified of it. I hate birds. But I love the bird show? I think it's because they are SO well trained that they're probably not going to land on me and peck at me like my brother's jerk bird would do. Right now the bird show is back to basics - no Dug & Russell. They were fun, but they didn't add anything to the show so I don't miss them.

After that we had finished pretty much everything we wanted to do. With no Expedition Everest, the rides we cared about were finished and while the treks to see the animals or the train ride would have been nice, they weren't necessary.

A hidden Mickey on our way to Nomad's!​

So, we decided to cap the night with a drink and added our group to the waitlist at Nomad Lounge for some bread service and drinks. I got the Hightower Rocks, which was basically a watermelon Margarita. Jenna got Jenn's Tattoo. I forget what Eric got for his first drink (maybe Lamu Libation) but he didn't love it, but I think his second was the Leaping Lizards and he did like that (and he got sliders). I totally forget Alex's first drink, but her second was the Tempting Tigress, which she liked. The bread service was good, but I didn't love it.

​

While we were sitting there, we also saw some characters go by on the boats which was fun. I didn't take photos, though.

Finally, we were pretty much done for the night. The rest of the crew wanted to ride Dinosaur again, but I decided to go see Pandora at night since I've never seen it and I remember it being really hyped up. Not going to lie, it didn't live up to the hype. It's cool at night, sure, but it didn't WOW me like people made it sound like it would.

I used this time to call my dad and catch up with him, and while we were chatting I made my way from Pandora over to the Tree of Life. I realized there was a show and some projections, so my dad hopped onto FaceTime so he could see it with me. It was fun to watch with him!

We hung up and I wandered through shops while I waited for everyone. We met back at the tree and made our way out of our last park of the trip.

Another park - open to close.

Before I end this post, here's a funny photo from the Safari. Here's the question - two of the same animal side by side? A two headed animal? Or a weird camera trick because the vehicle moved? I guess the world will never know. (Tomorrow: Disney Springs and home!)

​

 

[lookingforsunshine]

like Flat Stanley

omg this just took me back

of the hippos

Those hippos remind me of my dog. I guess there’s a reason they call pitbulls velvet hippos.

Right now the bird show is back to basics - no Dug & Russell.

Dug!!! I love him. I’ve never seen the bird show but would have been sad if Dug was taken out.

 

[xjillianpaige]

omg this just took me back

Those hippos remind me of my dog. I guess there’s a reason they call pitbulls velvet hippos.

Dug!!! I love him. I’ve never seen the bird show but would have been sad if Dug was taken out.

I used to work at a YMCA and I made a branded flat Stanley and brought him to Iceland with me for the kids. But I never did flat Stanley as a kid (that I recall).

Dug was fun, but didn't really add anything to the show.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Disney Marathon 2022 Race Recap Post #9
Trip Recap Part 6: Going Home​

Our very last day... I woke up and we packed up to leave. Apparently check out time was 10 am, but someone came knocking on our door somewhere in the 9:00 hour to clean the room and no one ever told us check out was that early. We all assumed it was an 11:00 check out.

We called the front desk a little after 10:00 to find out what the time was we needed to be out, and it was 10:00, so we told them we needed about 20 more minutes to finish packing and tidying. We were pretty accurate, with everything in the car by 10:30 and we brought our keys to the lobby and left for Disney Springs.

For breakfast we got donuts at Everglazed. We kept it simple - a chocolate frosted with sprinkles, a vanilla frosted with sprinkles, and a glazed. Alex, Jenna, and Eric all got some sort of iced coffee or tea and I got a cup of milk. The donuts were good - really big and hearty. What gets me is the branding is just TOO close to Dunkin' Donuts to be legal. The font looks identical and the orange, too. The only difference is their colors are an orange and teal, while Dunks is obviously orange and pink.

After that we did some shopping - I had a full on meltdown outside of the sunglasses store because they have 50th anniversary Ray Bans and I'm on a Ray Ban time out since I've lost two pairs since 2019. Luckily, when I tried them on I didn't really like them because the blue is too light and almost see through - a little too iron man for my taste.

We went to the candy store so I could pick up some gummies and Rice Krispies for my family and me. I also was on a search for the Visa Cardholder pin but couldn't find it anywhere, so I'm guessing they just don't have one out right now. Speaking of pins, I normally get a pin for each year that I go. But the 2022 pin was identical to the 2021 pin and I didn't even like that pin design, so I was annoyed and skipped it.

What else did we do? Jenna got an ornament from the Christmas store to commemorate the marathon. We poked through World of Disney. Poked through Fit2Run again and Kate Spade and other stores.

We pushed lunch off as far as we could so that we could avoid buying dinner at the airport. I wanted poutine, but I had also been craving sushi for a few days, so I ended up going to the poke place - YeSake Kiosk (we all went to different places for lunch and then met at a table to eat together). I got rice with tuna, cucumber, carrot, onion, avocado, and tempura crunch with a spicy mayo and wasabi ponzu. It was good - the fish was fresh and I ate all of it. The sauces were a bit spicier than I wanted (and the sun was hot, making it seem spicier than it was). Normally I wouldn't get two spicy sauces, but of the choices, almost all had some level of heat. I wish the ponzu were just plain ponzu. Next time I'll get the spicy mayo and the sweet teriyaki for some balance.

I also got a strawberry lemonade with boba - I hate boba but Jenna ended up finishing it.

​

From there we headed back to the car, drove to MCO, dropped off the car, checked our bags, and said goodbye since we were going to separate terminals to catch our flights. Jenna and Alex had a direct to LAX and Eric and I had a layover in Atlanta before home to Boston.

Since our flight was so late, my parents dropped off my car so I could drive Eric home and then myself. Luckily there is no traffic at 1 am so I was home and in bed by 2 am.

And that's all she wrote! Thanks for reading my marathon & trip report. My training journal resumes this weekend as I will begin running again this week! Wish me luck - it's been a full two weeks!

 

[xjillianpaige]

OK I found a Marathon in exactly 18 weeks (Vermont City Marathon) and the Hal Higdon Novice 2 plan is 18 weeks and feels very doable to me. Maybe I already wrote it out.

And maybe also running a marathon is on my coworkers bucket list and she messaged me when I told her I was researching marathons and I sent her the novice 1 plan.

And maybe we also found a half marathon in March that's in the same city I'll already be in for a conference so she could literally drive up on Friday night and stay with me in the hotel that our job is already paying for (I'll just skip the last day of the conference - no has to know) and run that together.

IDK what do you all think? Has anyone run the Vermont City Marathon? Am I crazy for already trying to get another race on the books so soon? I just really want to see what I'm capable of when there's not character stops and margaritas tempting me and when I'm not stopping at med tents that I don't need to stop at.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Am I crazy for already trying to get another race on the books so soon?

I think if you are feeling okay physically after having taken two weeks off and you are feeling okay mentally (excited to keep running, motivated), then go for it!

 

[Herding_Cats]

I did my first marathon and then ran goofy 14wks later.

 

[DopeyBadger]

OK I found a Marathon in exactly 18 weeks (Vermont City Marathon) and the Hal Higdon Novice 2 plan is 18 weeks and feels very doable to me. Maybe I already wrote it out.

And maybe also running a marathon is on my coworkers bucket list and she messaged me when I told her I was researching marathons and I sent her the novice 1 plan.

And maybe we also found a half marathon in March that's in the same city I'll already be in for a conference so she could literally drive up on Friday night and stay with me in the hotel that our job is already paying for (I'll just skip the last day of the conference - no has to know) and run that together.

IDK what do you all think? Has anyone run the Vermont City Marathon? Am I crazy for already trying to get another race on the books so soon? I just really want to see what I'm capable of when there's not character stops and margaritas tempting me and when I'm not stopping at med tents that I don't need to stop at.

I guess my question would be, what do you plan to do after that? What's the next idea/race on the list for the Fall/Winter? Because where some runners fall into a trap/rut is that they schedule the same kind of race consecutively and it stunts their overall improvement. But if you come back and say, in the Fall I'd like to focus on a 10k or a HM or a 10 miler, OR if you say, gains are great and all, but I'm not really concerned about that right now, then I'd say, go for the marathon in 18 weeks. Ultimately, the game of life is a choose your own adventure. There are positives and negatives to doing the marathon, but ultimately what matters is what you want out of your running experience. To me though, the race and HM sound like they line up so well that if I were you, I'd probably do it. Especially since it sounds like you truly want to test yourself from a time perspective.