If You are Going to Jump at the Finish Line, Be Sure You Stick the Landing – A 2018 Dopey Run TR

[Sailormoon2]

we saw a CM turning people away saying the monorail was down.

a park that was INSANELY packed!

I met friends of mine (with their kids) there that day (their first ever, 1-day only trip to MK) and as a result of the above, took over an hour from the TTC. So, our touring plan kind of got thrown out the window. It was basically ride the FPs and wander around. Unfortunately, I think it really coloured their experience at Disney. I abandoned them at about one, becuase I couldn't deal with the crowds anymore to head to HS. LOL!

I'm really impressed with your TS-game! 2 in one day sounds awesome, unfortunate that Citricos was underwhelming.

 

[amazingact21]

An hour to get to the MK from the Poly? Ouch. I guess the race weekend brought with a lot of crowds. Your pictures reminded me of holiday-level crowds.
I had heard the Wave underwent some changes and was curious what the restaurant was like now; sounds like it was a nice lunch. Your sandwich, especially, looked really good and probably much needed after running the 5K.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Sounds like a great, chilly day at MK!
I have actually never been on SDMT (is that the right abbreviation?) because of the wait!
I love the Mickey cappuccino!

Bummer about the monorail- seems like things only break down at the busiest times!

Looking forward to the 10K!

 

[ZellyB]

MK looked insanely busy! Looks like you had a solid plan with great FP and meal selections! Cold busy day for you two! Looking forward to your 10K.

It was nuts! But, yeah, since we really had no plans to get a lot done, it worked out well for us.

I think every park was busy on that Thursday. AK was crazy too. The Wave looks good. I had it booked for our arrival day but we cancelled to give us more time for the expo and such which actually worked out best. I hope to try it soon. I have never been to Citricos either but it does look nice. That sucks it wasn't exactly what you were hoping for though.

I saw some people come back from the BLT pool when walking to our room one of the days and I was like WHAT?!

Can't wait for the 10K report!

I was reading posts from people here saying how crazy AK was as well. I would say that Citricos WAS very nice. I think I just had it built up a little too much in my head maybe?

CUTE Pluto picture!!

Totally agree with your thoughts on the redhead scene. and on Citricos - one of Will’s favorites but i think there are better signatures at WDW.

Yay, 10K and DIS’ers next!!

I really like that Pluto shot too! And, yes, exactly on Citricos. It was good, but I've had better at WDW.

Excited to join in. Excited to see how your 10K day went. I have to agree with you on the redhead scene, it is time.

Glad you are here!

Following along!

Welcome!

Yikes on that MK crowd. When I was there in December, there were 5 if the headliners down at once, and they actually ended up extending park hours because so many people were angry.

My friend and I left midday when we were overwhelmed by crowds, and we walked to the contemporary for lunch, air conditioning, and phone charging. I think it saved us from losing our minds.

I was glad it was easy for us to make the decision to just bail out and was probably smart honestly given that we still had a lot of racing ahead of us.

I met friends of mine (with their kids) there that day (their first ever, 1-day only trip to MK) and as a result of the above, took over an hour from the TTC. So, our touring plan kind of got thrown out the window. It was basically ride the FPs and wander around. Unfortunately, I think it really coloured their experience at Disney. I abandoned them at about one, becuase I couldn't deal with the crowds anymore to head to HS. LOL!

I'm really impressed with your TS-game! 2 in one day sounds awesome, unfortunate that Citricos was underwhelming.

Oh, man. I can't imagine that day being someone's first and only time to experience MK. It was a really rough day. I hope it didn't ruin your friends forever on WDW.

An hour to get to the MK from the Poly? Ouch. I guess the race weekend brought with a lot of crowds. Your pictures reminded me of holiday-level crowds.
I had heard the Wave underwent some changes and was curious what the restaurant was like now; sounds like it was a nice lunch. Your sandwich, especially, looked really good and probably much needed after running the 5K.

We've been to Disney at the height of summer and on spring break and this was by far the busiest we've ever experienced. I would recommend The Wave at least for lunch. We thought it was delicious.

Sounds like a great, chilly day at MK!
I have actually never been on SDMT (is that the right abbreviation?) because of the wait!
I love the Mickey cappuccino!

Bummer about the monorail- seems like things only break down at the busiest times!

Looking forward to the 10K!

I thought that Mickey cappuccino was pretty clever and cute! I would not wait in a long standby line for SDMT, but with a FP, it's a very fun little ride.

 

[PCFriar80]

Joining in a little late....I'll get a hall pass if I need to! Enjoy following along and it was also nice to meet you at HHs on the 5th! Great updates and attention to detail so far!!

 

[ZellyB]

10K Race and I spy Dissers!!

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Day 2 of our Dopey races and we again had our alarms set for 3 AM. We knew we were in for another cold one and had everything set and ready. Not too bad of a time getting up again, thankfully, but I could certainly tell that by day 4 of this, I’d be ready to sleep past 3 AM!

We were dressed quickly and headed back out to the bus stop where we again had a bus waiting. We climbed aboard and settled in for the ride. Uneventful for a second day (HOORAY – I’ve since read from others that it didn’t go that smoothly for everyone) and we were arriving at Epcot in short order. We were early enough today that some of the character lines were pretty short and I suggested we just go ahead and get in Dopey’s line since I wasn’t sure we’d get a better chance with him. I’d say we only waited about 10 minutes, but I’m glad we got in line when we did because it grew rapidly.

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With that done, we next headed to try and find the Dis meet and this time we did it!! I saw lots of people, but only talked with a few but it was fun to see everyone. We didn’t linger too long because we again wanted to be toward the front of the corral since that had worked well for us before. We had the same blankets and mylar and this time I’d added an extra hand warmer to the front of my shirt to go along with the one in the back and in my hand. LOL But, it worked and I was pretty comfortable while we waited.

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Like the day before, they walked the corrals around and had us lined up for the start and we again packed things up right after the national anthem and before we knew it, we were at the start.

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We decided this time that we weren’t going to stop for characters we had from before, but rather keep a decent pace going unless there was someone unique or new that we really wanted to get. We stuck with our plan to just run continuously until we decided to stop for photos. So, as we were approaching the first character stop, I was figuring we’d cruise on past until I got a glimpse…

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Meeko and Pocahontas! I think we’d maybe had Meeko before but certainly not Pocahontas, so into the line we went. It was kinda slow moving, but whatever, our pace is never important to me at Disney races. We scooted out of that line and got on the move again and in a pretty short amount of time saw another line and OOPS or YAY it was another new one for us.

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Flick and Princess Atta. Did somebody at runDisney hear our plan about character stops?? The line was fairly lengthy again, so not sure how long we stood there, and I was so excited when we ran up I think I grabbed Princess Atta by her rear carapace. Sorry for the grope there, Princess!

Shortly after came the Mile 2 marker.

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Yeah, look at that blazing speed!

I told Chris that unless the next character was really special we were going to cruise past. We saw a BIG line formed on the right hand side of the road and then we could see the backdrop as we approached and I could make out an old, dead tree I thought and then the character came into sight. ACK! The Evil Queen/Hag!!! Well, no way I was passing her by, so we got to the side of the road and walked the LONG walk back to the end of the line. We timed it and I think we waited about 20 minutes for her (she had to do a change out while we were in line). But, it was totally worth it.

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We charged out of there trying to run at a pretty good pace, but we were amongst a lot of walkers by this point, so we sort of made a game of weaving our way through the crowds. Before long, we were entering Epcot again and it was just as magical as the day before. We did see another new to us character, but the line was INSANE by this point, so we decided a selfie was good enough.

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Hey, Pinocchio! We saw @rteetz in line for him, but I was already too far past him when I realized and missed a shout out.

Yo, Spaceship Earth!

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We were approaching France when we saw another character. I was planning to blow past, but then saw it was yet another new to me character who I happen to love, so

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Marie! Luckily her line wasn’t too bad. While we were waiting a very enthusiastic French contingent was cheering, so I jumped out to get their picture.

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On we went and out to the Boardwalk. I love the Boardwalk.

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We saw vacation Genie again, but just did another selfie

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and then said hello to mile 5 and back into Epcot.

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Spaceship Earth was so pretty with the sun coming up.

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Once again, we were having a great time

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There was an official photographer set up as well. I told Chris I wanted to try to jump and he said, he’d just squat down so it looked like I was jumping even higher. HA! That’s true love right there – plus then he didn’t have to jump.

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Mile 6 (boy, we were so fast right?)

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https://flic.kr/p/JwXmEk[/URL]​

And on to the finish!!

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Such a fun race and I was so happy to get some new character photos. Race #2 down and feeling good!

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https://flic.kr/p/23r2tdYhttps://flic.kr/p/23r2tdY​

https://flic.kr/p/23r2tdY[/URL]


Next up: AK, HH Meet up and some carb loading before the Half!

 

[ZellyB]

Joining in a little late....I'll get a hall pass if I need to! Enjoy following along and it was also nice to meet you at HHs on the 5th! Great updates and attention to detail so far!!

I accept all late-comers! Welcome and great to meet you as well.

 

[TeeterTots]

I just love that medal! So much fun! Pocahontas and evil queen love love!!!!

 

[Capang]

What fantastic character stops! So much fun,

 

[run.minnie.miles]

It seems like runDisny overheard your plan and pulled out some great characters!
I love your jumping photo!! Chris looks to totally be sticking the landing

I love love love the 10K medal and ribbon. Congrats on another great race!

 

[Ariel484]

A+ character photo selection, not sure I would have done things differently myself!

Love the jump/squat picture - look at how high you went!

Lastly - WILDFLOWER TIGHTS!

 

[roxymama]

Yes those tights are purty!!!

The Epcot jump squat may be my new favorite pic from this trip report. (Sorry carrot purée pic)

Also shellfies are still better than bus selfies...because I can't think of a funny name for them

 

[SarahDisney]

Catching up ...

That expo story is insanity. Seriously, I can't imagine how much money runDisney and vendors lost out on because of the chaos.

Congrats on the 5K - looks like you guys had an awesome time!

An hour to get from the Poly to MK? Grr. At least it looks like you managed to have some fun once you finally made it!

Congrats on the 10K! So many awesome character pictures! Your Spaceship Earth jump picture is really awesome - you're jumping so high!

 

[FredtheDuck]

10K Race and I spy Dissers!!

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I just love love LOVE your pictures! You look like you're beaming when you're running, you and @Chris-Mo in the jumping pictures show what an adorable couple you are, and your joy crossing the finish line is legitimately contagious. This whole post just made ma happy to read.

 

[Sailormoon2]

I suggested we just go ahead and get in Dopey’s line since I wasn’t sure we’d get a better chance with him. I’d say we only waited about 10 minutes

So jealous! I never saw Dopey out for character shots in the morning

Dis meet and this time we did it!! I saw lots of people, but only talked with a few but it was

I saw you and Chris, but didn't get a chance to come over and introduce myself. Another

There was an official photographer set up as well. I told Chris I wanted to try to jump and he said, he’d just squat down so it looked like I was jumping even higher. HA! That’s true love right there – plus then he didn’t have to jump.

This is just fantastic, what a good plan! Plus your jump looks fantastic!
It is really awesome how much fun you two are clearly having out there.

Also love your InB "jeans"!!

 

[baxter24]

The line for the hag only had about 15 people in it when I ran up and I totally would have stopped but she’s was headed on a break! Great jump shot! There was a cast member organizing the the photo pass line in front of spaceship earth when I got in line and she kept saying very loudly, “there is one line (because there were two photographers) and NO jump shots!”

 

[rteetz]

Awesome recap of the 10K! Missed you that morning at the meet up and that's so funny you saw me in line at Pinocchio. Wish I would've seen you guys, I was probably on my phone in line or something lol. My only regret from the 10K was not stopping for the Old Hag but the line when I got there was huge! You guys really got some great character stops though! Great Spaceship Earth photo as well!

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

You look amazing in those wildflower tights!! And you have so many good 10K pictures!! Your character ones are awesome, and I love your finish line pics!! Oh and I'm pretty sure I'm going to enlist someone to help me out with a jump/squat picture for instagram- that idea is ingenious!

 

[cavepig]

joining in...I saw that lady with the balloons at the marathon and was like why does she have so many, now it makes sense that there were 26. I love seeing people get crazy with their outfits since I couldn't do it.

That expo man, how crazy! It was crowded Friday afternoon but no lines and not a lot of Dopey stuff but shirts left. Great 5k & 10k recaps...jealous of hag witch! That jump/squat photo should be framed, it's epic!!

 

[ZellyB]

I just love that medal! So much fun! Pocahontas and evil queen love love!!!!

I love that medal as well. The polka dot ribbon is really the cherry on top!

What fantastic character stops! So much fun,

It was an awesome race and perfect character selection Disney.

It seems like runDisny overheard your plan and pulled out some great characters!
I love your jumping photo!! Chris looks to totally be sticking the landing

I love love love the 10K medal and ribbon. Congrats on another great race!

Right? I'm pretty sure runDisney knew my plan - cause I'm just that important. Chris has great landing skills.

A+ character photo selection, not sure I would have done things differently myself!

Love the jump/squat picture - look at how high you went!

Lastly - WILDFLOWER TIGHTS!

It's like a bionic jump, yes? Wilflower tights!! One good thing about it being so cold, I got to wear InB tights to a runDisney race!!

Yes those tights are purty!!!

The Epcot jump squat may be my new favorite pic from this trip report. (Sorry carrot purée pic)

Also shellfies are still better than bus selfies...because I can't think of a funny name for them

Yes, shellfies are absolutely superior. I've tried to come up with other funny selfie names since your epic shellfie one, but none compare.

Catching up ...

That expo story is insanity. Seriously, I can't imagine how much money runDisney and vendors lost out on because of the chaos.

Congrats on the 5K - looks like you guys had an awesome time!

An hour to get from the Poly to MK? Grr. At least it looks like you managed to have some fun once you finally made it!

Congrats on the 10K! So many awesome character pictures! Your Spaceship Earth jump picture is really awesome - you're jumping so high!

Expo was madness and it annoys me that I didn't plan better for the crowds. But, too late now and I guess live and learn.

And, Disney should really offer stunt squatters for all individuals wishing to improve the look of their jump shots. I should write to them and suggest it. Maybe Chris and I could do that in our retirement - when let's face it, squatting may be all we can handle.

I just love love LOVE your pictures! You look like you're beaming when you're running, you and @Chris-Mo in the jumping pictures show what an adorable couple you are, and your joy crossing the finish line is legitimately contagious. This whole post just made ma happy to read.

I wish I could explain how much fun I had during that 5K and 10K. I enjoyed them far more than I really thought I would. They were amazing races and I clearly couldn't keep that off my face. Plus, you know, I'm a total camera ham!

So jealous! I never saw Dopey out for character shots in the morning


I saw you and Chris, but didn't get a chance to come over and introduce myself. Another


This is just fantastic, what a good plan! Plus your jump looks fantastic!
It is really awesome how much fun you two are clearly having out there.

Also love your InB "jeans"!!

I wish I'd have had the chance to meet you. I didn't do a good job of making the rounds at the meet-ups. Next time, yes? It's taken me 5 years, but I finally have Chris won over to doing hokey things for pictures. Marriage success! InB

The line for the hag only had about 15 people in it when I ran up and I totally would have stopped but she’s was headed on a break! Great jump shot! There was a cast member organizing the the photo pass line in front of spaceship earth when I got in line and she kept saying very loudly, “there is one line (because there were two photographers) and NO jump shots!”

Only 15 people in the hag line? Jealous. I honestly thought it would take 30 minutes to get through that line, so I was pleasantly surprised at the 20 minute wait.

We had someone also yelling that there was only 1 line for the 2 photographers, but either they weren't saying no jump shots or I missed it. I know the people in front of us jumped. But, maybe the line was longer for you? There was practically nobody waiting for the picture when we got there.

Awesome recap of the 10K! Missed you that morning at the meet up and that's so funny you saw me in line at Pinocchio. Wish I would've seen you guys, I was probably on my phone in line or something lol. My only regret from the 10K was not stopping for the Old Hag but the line when I got there was huge! You guys really got some great character stops though! Great Spaceship Earth photo as well!

I should have just stopped and yelled at you, but that adrenaline gets pumping and it's hard to stop yourself sometimes. LOL And, yes, that hag line was crazy and I'm a bit disappointed we didn't stop for Pinocchio, but I think that would have been another 15-20 minute wait when we ran past it.

You look amazing in those wildflower tights!! And you have so many good 10K pictures!! Your character ones are awesome, and I love your finish line pics!! Oh and I'm pretty sure I'm going to enlist someone to help me out with a jump/squat picture for instagram- that idea is ingenious!

Chris is brilliant, I tell you. He really is just the best sport about indulging me on these races. I'm lucky!

joining in...I saw that lady with the balloons at the marathon and was like why does she have so many, now it makes sense that there were 26. I love seeing people get crazy with their outfits since I couldn't do it.

That expo man, how crazy! It was crowded Friday afternoon but no lines and not a lot of Dopey stuff but shirts left. Great 5k & 10k recaps...jealous of hag witch! That jump/squat photo should be framed, it's epic!!

Welcome! Thanks about the pictures. I was pretty happy with all of them. That was pretty much a perfect runDisney race.

I'm with you on the costumes. I admire people who do that stuff, but I could never manage it.