Marathon Weekend/9th B-day Celebration trip

[Mouse Skywalker]

Greetings Everyone:

I am planning a trip for the beginning of January. Here are the players in our me, DW, DD8 , DD5 , and "Cool" Aunt. We'll be staying at WL. My DD8 will turn 9 on January 6th, and I am planning on running the full WDW marathon the next day January 7th. I could use some advice on ressies:

For the b-day celebration on Saturday, Jan 6th I have a 8:05a ressie for Cindy's b-fast royal table. We plan on spending the day at MK. I also have a dinner ressie at 5:40p for Chef Mickey's. I thought that would be a fun b-day place. I'm hoping I can get to bed early on Saturday to get up for the marathon on Sunday.

I have a b-fast reservation for 9:00a Sunday morning (of the marathon) for the rest of my family at Crystal Palace. My DD5 Looooooooooooves Pooh. However, I have a couple of concerns about this ressie.

1.) I'm hoping my family can see me run through the MK during the marathon, go in, eat b-fast, and then come meet me at the finish line at EPCoT. I think that might be pushing it with time.

2.) This will be the 3rd character meal in a row. Cindy's b-fast, Chef Mickey dinner, and Crystal Palace b-fast. My DW and Cool Aunt are not "into" the characters as much as the kids, and it may be too much for them.

So I'm thinking of cancelling Chef Mickey on Saturday. Maybe scheduling lunch with Pooh on Saturday and then dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe (which would allow me to turn in early for the marathon). But it's DD8's b-day, and I don't think she would be into Pooh as much as DD5 would be.

Maybe I should schedule Pooh another day? Aaagh, help!!!!

 

[welovedis]

Hi Dave-
Long time no talk! lol! There is another NYer thread ongoing on both the DVC & families board and lots of new members on the local (Rochester) Disney group. I believe we're planning on another meet soon, perhaps you guys could come.

Ok, here's what I think of your plan. If you plan your really early morning at Cindy's on Sat and then dinner at Chef Mickey's are you planning on staying at the park all day that day? Just wondering if you might be better taking a bit of a rest or what...... Wake-up call for the marathon is going to be pretty early to get you over to the start area, just my .02 from when I ran the 1/2. We did a resort restaurant that night so that I could unwind in the room & hit the sack early. WCC might be a better bet, then the family could maybe look around the resort, play checkers, etc.. and you could get to bed early???

Also, I don't think that your family would definitely make it to their ADR @ CP and then over to the finish line at Epcot for sure. I would think to pick one spot or the other, like seeing you run into MK or run down Main Street, OR meet you at the finish line. My DS & DH barely made it to the 1/2 finish at the MK parking lot (back when they did it that way) after watching me run into the MK, it was that crowded. Do you have any idea of what your anticipated finish time will be?

I would schedule the Pooh lunch for a completely different day, and do Cindy's for breakfast for your DD's b-day & dinner at WCC if it was my family.

HTH!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Hello Karen:

Thanks for the reply. Good to hear from you, and thanks for the advice too. For my DD8's b-day, I think I am going to cancel Chef Mickey's and book WCC instead. So we'll have Cindy's for b-fast, hang out at MK, I might go back to WL to relax, and have the fam meet me at WCC for dinner. We can do Crystal Palace the day after the marathon for DD5.

 

[welovedis]

That sounds like a good plan! Good luck with your training program, I'm sure it will be in full swing before you know it.

Another thing I was thinking, not sure if your family would go for it, but some families try to meet somewhere else along the path instead of the usual "inside the MK" or whatever. Some runners we know that faithfully do the WDW full every January meet their families on the path along the Boardwalk area, that way they can meet up without the big crowd just inside the MK or other busier areas and get some good pics too! It is one of those places where a "pick me up" in the run really helps, IMO.

And I saw your post about WCC for your DD's b-day. I was only there once and our experience was just "ok" but many, many people love that place. I would say that if you tell your server that it is your DD's b-day but to let her see how involved she wants to get, that would be good. There are the usual silly things, like the ketchup call, the horse races (at least there were when we went) and the like, but I think she might get involved when she saw all the other kids doing so.

HTH!