Okay, so by popular request (see, Kristi, you are more popular than you knew!
), here is part 3:
One thing I forgot to mention about post-race accomodations -- scattered around the parking lot there were water coolers with packages of dixie paper cups. That water was even better than the bottled water and powerade that was at the table. It was nice and cold!
When we left the parking lot we had no idea where to go and ended up at the regular bus stop that takes you from EPCOT to AK. While waiting for the bus (20+ minutes, I think) I left a message for Judy and spoke with Liz.
Once back at SSR, I made us a hodgepodge brunch of cheese on bagels, almonds, apple, and goldfish, I think. After a quick shower, we headed to the DVC Preview Center to get Rhonda a replacement membership card. The preview center was gorgeous and there are beautiful murals of national landmarks on the upper walls which have a lighting effect where it looks like there are fireworks on certain scenes and then pixie dust scattering over other scenes. Beautiful!
We left the preview center and met with the resort manager for about 1/2 hour about our very uncomfortable encounter with a security guard Friday night, and ended up giving sworn statements. The manager was very generous in putting a credit on our account to buy us dinner that night. (We had the dining plan, though, so we ended up using it for a nice lunch and drinks at the Turf Club after our spa appt.)
Our spa pedicures were very nice -- the maple sugar exfoliating scrub they used on my legs was decadent -- it smelled good enough to eat. And whatever they next put on our legs, before wrapping them in foil, went a long way toward comforting our tired legs. Very nice! After our pedicures, we popped in to the women's locker room where one of the lockers had a glass front instead of wood, and there was Minnie's dress -- apparently Minnie had changed her clothes and was partaking of the spa, too! Gotta LOVE those Disney details. The women's locker room had showers and a wonderful whirlpool -- the jets felt amazing on my lower back and my hip. There were two saunas -- a dry one with gorgeous cedar-looking wood benches that were very comfortable, and a steam sauna that had eucalyptus in the air and immediately cleared my sinuses. From there, we headed to the Turf Club where we shared crab cakes and buffalo chicken and a cheeseburger and I had a delicious raspberry seabreeze.
There is a gorgeous pool near our building and we spent the next couple of hours napping, reading and doing sudoku puzzles. It was absolutely gorgeous to stand right outside the pool area and look across the water to Downtown Disney's West End. What a great location!
Our next stop was the Poly for some browsing in the shops, a monorail ride and dinner at Ohana's. I was disappointed that they'd run out of pineapples, so unfortunately, I had to forego a lapulapu. Whatever drinks we ended up with were delicious! We had the perfect window table for 2 to watch WISHES and later, it was fun to realize we'd been watching WISHes when something very special was going on at the castle, unbeknownst to us (remember the loveydovey couple?
)
We had been looking forward all day to another foray to Adventurers' Club, and it was fascinating to me that the actors we had seen Friday night were playing different roles on Sunday night! We stayed through the final show and then headed back to get some sleep.
Monday morning was a flurry of packing, then exploring Port Orleans Resort. We wanted to check out the Sassougoula Food Factory for the WISH meet in January and concluded that it would be the perfect location -- lots of food choices and plenty of seating. I had a muffaletta sandwich and beignets and both were absolutely delicious. Rhonda said her veggie sandwich was delicious.
We spent the rest of our morning and afternoon at DTD. Lots of shopping at WoD, then we picked up chinese chicken salads (in cool chinese takeout containers) at EoS for airport or plane dinners for both of us. Then off to Goofy's candy company where we got mickey head marshmallow treats for our families.
Next stop was Wolfgang Puck's for an early dinner. The service was excellent and the food was out of this world -- we shared crab cakes and fried calamari for appetizers, pumpkin ravioli and sesame crusted mahi mahi for entrees, and key lime pie and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for dessert. We couldn't finish any of it but loved all of it.
We stopped back at SSR to make sure Rhonda's luggage had been sent to the airport and to make sure my credit card wasn't charged for food that day -- there was some confusion about our meal plan ending when we checked out instead of at the end of the day.
I wanted to pause for a minute to mention the
Disney Dining Plan and how it worked out for us. I definitely would say we ate more food than we would have without the plan. Or we ordered it, I should say. I left more food on my plates this weekend than normal, just because we had the luxury of trying food without the cost.
We certainly saved a small fortune by using the dining plan. Our counter service meals were: Friday night at SSR (I had rosemary chicken and Rhonda had a chicken & spinach flatbread); Monday at Port Orleans food court; and salads w/grilled chicken & cookies & fountain drinks at Earl of Sandwich.
We also made the most of our table service options: Chef Mickey's on Saturday, Ohana's on Sunday and Wolfgang Puck on Monday.
We never used our snack options so we each got 3 chocolate eared mickey marshmallow treats to take home.
Heading to the airport was sad and our goodbye was tearful. I was especially worried because Rhonda had been really, really sick all weekend and was so congested that she'd lost hearing in her right ear and had horrible ear and sinus pain. She was such a trooper and never slowed down so that we maximized our time away, but I was concerned that the plane ride might really damage her ear. We went to our separate gates, and I settled in for my 2 1/2 hour wait with the
Disneyland books Rhonda had brought me (now I can plan for the DL 1/2!).
Shortly before my flight, I noticed the lovey dovey couple . I re-introduced myself and asked if they had fun. He said "great" with a huge grin on his face and she said "We got ENGAGED!" with more animation than I'd seen Friday night the whole flight. He said he proposed at the castle and she elaborated that he'd proposed Sunday night right after the fireworks and that she'd burst into tears and said "YES!" I was so excited to realize Rhonda nd I had watched WISHes the night they got engaged. Her ring was gorgeous! I sat with them on the ride home and learned they'd met on match.com and were looking forward to a happy life together. They were so cute and their story was wonderful. As my DD17 would tell you "wishes do come true" at Disney!
Well, I am sure I have left out lots and lots, but this turned into a novel by a very untalented author (who I'd never read, given a choice!
)
I'll try to post pix later of the highlights!
Thanks to all the WISHers who supported and inspired me before the race and for all the great company throughout the weekend! Love you guys, mean it!
I'm so sorry I missed your call.
You know, I think they have one in Disney World sometime... 
My story will hopefully be an inspirational one... or at the very least.. a message on what NOT to do when you want to do a Race! 
.. I found where I needed to sign in... and then I asked about volunteering for the 15K.... I figured since I was here, I might as well support the "real" runners too! 
