May the MAGIC Be With Us! (Star Wars Half Weekend PTR & TR)

[Eclectic Goddess]

Enough said.

Now I need sleep.

 

[tdizzle]

Yeah!!!!!

 

[Eclectic Goddess]

So, to recap:

Woke up today at 4:30 and ran six miles through Anaheim, the past, the future, and lands of the imagination. Got a sparkly medal. Crashed for a few hours.

Ventured back into the park. Holy crowds, Batman. Grabbed a FP for Star Tours, then we retreated to Tortilla Joe's, where I ate an almost inappropriate amount of rice and beans and cheese. After that, DF headed back to PP and I went back into the park to do some Star Trader shopping while I waited for Star Tours. Built a couple of custom droids for a co-worker, and got one free!

I collect the Series 12 mini figurines. This was the first pack I opened today:

In case the photo isn't clear enough, that's Han, Boba, and Grevious. I don't have any of those. So awesome. (I've been Pixie dusting my duplicates. Today a spare Star Destroyer went to a very cool little Darth Vader who ran the 10k.)

After my Star Tour, I met DF back at the hotel and we agreed to have another mellow night. The parks are just too crazy to enjoy, and we both have big days tomorrow. I take my Sparkle Minion duties very seriously.

 

[tnbrowne2004]

Hi- Hope your DF's half went well! I just got back from doing the half and it was the best run ever! How long did you have to wait at the expo? We got there at 10:30 AM on the 15th and it was already a 2 hour wait, we came back around 4pm and got in immediatly but I think all the good stuff was probably gone, I did get the half marathon pin and a run disney vinylmation. I thought the crowds this weekend were out of control in the parks, maybe I am used to Disney World and not having everyone crammed into 2 parks. But it was still a very memorable weekend, hope you had a good time as well!

 

[Eclectic Goddess]

Hi- Hope your DF's half went well! I just got back from doing the half and it was the best run ever! How long did you have to wait at the expo? We got there at 10:30 AM on the 15th and it was already a 2 hour wait, we came back around 4pm and got in immediatly but I think all the good stuff was probably gone, I did get the half marathon pin and a run disney vinylmation. I thought the crowds this weekend were out of control in the parks, maybe I am used to Disney World and not having everyone crammed into 2 parks. But it was still a very memorable weekend, hope you had a good time as well!

I got too busy to recap and was having trouble with the service on my phone, but now that I'm home, I fully intend to update.

As for the Expo, we got there around 10am on Thursday. It was a 90 minute wait at that point, but we stuck around. I really wanted one of the black jackets, but unfortunately, the fit was so bad I decided not to spend the money on it.

The crowds were crazy, but I think it had less to do with the smaller parks and more to do with the holiday weekend overlapping the race, plus NAMM starts up this week and always draws huge crowds. We knew that going in and planned to take it easy. Turned out to be a good plan.

 

[Eclectic Goddess]

Sunday was Half Marathon day. When DF is running a race that I’m not, I step up as her “Sparkle Minion”. I woke up with her and mostly just pestered her to eat something, since we hadn’t followed our plan to carb-load the night before. After walking her to the corral, I went back upstairs to get myself ready. I’d made her a couple of small signs. One spelled out her name with Star Wars characters. The other had Yoda and “Much sparkle, I sense in you!” in green glitter on one side, and R2D2 and “Beep beep bloop bleep!” in blue glitter on the other. I attached them both to a dowel so I could carry them like a flag.

I hadn’t been able to plan very well from the course map, but in the end, I found four places where I could watch her run by and be there if she needed something. The first three were pretty close together, as the course looped in and out of the parks. The final spot was down near mile 10. Because so much of the race was straight out and back, I didn’t try to go further, in case I missed her at the finish. It was a long walk down there, but I was glad I went. There were a handful of other people there, and it really seemed to make a difference to the runners to have someone cheering them on.

I firmly believe that everyone deserves to be cheered, by the way. I hate it when people just stand there, waiting for their runners to pass. There was a very sweet moment when a woman who was obviously struggling, in tears, thanked me and I got genuinely choked up in response. Even the runners who didn’t acknowledge us there seemed to run faster as they passed. That made it worthwhile. I felt badly for leaving after DF had gone by me, but I had to hurry back to the finish line.

After seeing DF across and getting some photos of her with her medals, we went back to the hotel and crashed again. After all, DF had done over 19 miles in 2 days, and I estimated that I ran at least a 5k myself that morning!

In the early afternoon, we went back out, grabbing a bite to eat at Uva Bar, where we met another runner who was enjoying an adult beverage while her husband recovered from the race. She told us it was her first trip to DLR without kids, and very seriously said, “If you order chicken tenders, I’m going to have to ask you to move.” It was great to talk to someone else who had been inspired by the Disney races.

After our snack, we wandered around the parks a bit, but it was too crowded to really do much of anything. We did stumble upon Donald Duck in DCA, and got our photos taken with him. Getting a character photo taken with our medals is becoming a tradition. We happened to go into DL just before the Soundsational Parade and found a great spot on the curb right next to another runner.

We had reservations for the Chef’s Counter at Napa Rose at 5:30, so we returned to our hotel briefly before going to dinner. It got off to a bumpy start, to be honest. We watched the rest of the chef’s counter be sat and waited another ten minutes before going back to the podium to remind them we were there. We then waited at the counter for several minutes before our server acknowledged us. The people sitting next to us already had their amuse bouche eaten and cleared before we got menus. We also had to ask for bread after first course arrived and there still had been no sign of it.

The rest of the meal was amazing! I’m mostly vegetarian, but have an aversion to onions and don’t like mushrooms, so they have to get pretty creative. Every course was perfect. I had a roasted beet amuse bouche, pear salad, pumpkin ravioli with sautéed kale, a composed salad of apples, cranberries and rice, and almond gnocchi with Brussel sprouts, golden cauliflower, and potatoes. For dessert, they often just ask, “Fruit, or chocolate?” and we both went for fruit. I wish I could remember what mine was called. It was frozen and lemony, with a cranberry sorbet. Perfect, after a pretty big meal.

Last time we were there, DF loved her meal, but felt like about half her dishes were from the regular menu. She’s an adventurous eater, so she asked to have a vegetarian meal too. While she liked all of her dishes, she liked mine better. Almost everything she got had mushrooms as a main component. While she likes them, it got to be a little much. I also felt like I got bigger portions, and since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to finish everything anyhow, I was quick to share with her.

The best part, though, really was getting to sit by the kitchen and watch them work. Danny, the chef whose station was nearest to us, was very entertaining and happy to talk to us when he had time. He ended up making several of our dishes, and we often found ourselves commenting that they looked amazing BEFORE they were served to us. Andrew Sutton wasn’t there that night, but Gloria filled in very well for him. I actually watched her make one of my dishes herself. She chatted with us briefly about the races, and admitted that she tried the Avengers Half, but got swept. Our server was also very good once we got moving, and had a bunch of great stories about the inner workings of the kitchen, the origins of the restaurant, and the individual chefs.

We left much poorer, but well-fed and happy. We plan to limit our visits to special occasions, and after seeing how great the kitchen is with special orders, I definitely feel like we could have dinner there at a regular table and I’d still get something great.