Now that we are getting down to logistics time, I'm thinking of questions I had or things I was nervous about last year. Here are just a few things I thought might be helpful to first-time princesses:
1) You will not specifically find out your corral until you pick up your bib at the expo, but in early Feb. they will send out waivers by e-mail with your bib # on it. Lots of speculation will occur on this board regarding who is in what corral based on bib #. The lower the #, the faster the corral. Many people were posting what their bib #'s were and what their pace is, so we could kind of piece together a guesstimate of who was in which corral. Then, solos can start finding running buddies!
2) You prob. won't get a lot of sleep the night before. YOu'll be excited, maybe strung out from travelling, noisy hotel, et cetera. I slept horrible, got up at 3, ran, closed down the MK that night and was fine. I mean, once we got back I fell asleep with all the lights on while Julie was talking to me, but it didn't affect my run!
3) Lay out all your stuff the night before. 3am is no time to decide what you are taking with you! Make sure your timing chip is secure. If it's the shoe thing again this year, follow the directions closely. Saw a couple of those on the ground early in the race last year. Tragic!
4) Prep your camera! I have a camera that takes AA batteries. Between the flash use in the early hour and the telephoto lens, my batteries were draining, pronto. I had to miss some shots I wanted due to conservation! Julie's issues were more severe - she has a camera with a rechargeable battery cartridge. Left this in the room. Again - tragic!
5) Potty stops - I thought there were plenty of opps for this, and I should know since I drank WAY too much water and had to pee every 5 minutes. If you are fussy about portas, you will go right by real restrooms in Tomorrowland. I saw some princesses head to the royal forest <ahem> last year, but my pride was larger than my relief needs to be doing that.
6) The drive to Epcot was relatively quick and there is NO WAY you can get lost. The only people out driving at that moment are all going to the same place! Julie said that leaving the parking lot afterwards, however, was a nightmare. Might want to plan to hang out!
7) I ran solo last year, which was fine and there were plenty of people and things to keep your spirits up, but there was a definite letdown at the finish. You cross the finish line, get your medal and then...... you are ushered out to the big parking lot area. There are places to get your pic made, and the usual post-race snacks, but it is a bit of a lonely feeling. I would highly rec. solo runners to find a buddy from this board and stick together!
8) After the race. The LAST thing you want to do (unless you are injured) is sit on your tuckus! Hit the parks, swim, walk somewhere, but keep moving or you will be so stiff! J & I toured the parks most of the afternoon and evening and we felt really good the next day.
9) Characters I missed - I know there were 2 I blew by. The first one you might want to look for is right before you enter the castle; Cinderella was there last year. I saw her, but the line was pretty long. Oh, and speaking of the castle, after you come out, you will see a line to the left forming. This is to get your pic in front of the castle. These are the prof. photogs and they are trying to get people in and out ASAP; they most likely will not take a pic with your camera. All other photo stops have a CM there to help out. The castle shot IS cool b/c they make it look like you are the only person there. I didn't buy mine, thoug, b/c the way I had my legs made me look like I had to pee again
The other shot that I just completely missed was Mickey & Minnie in royal clothes RIGHT before the finish line. I had no idea they were there!
Okay - I think that's about all I can think of right now. Any other veteran princesses have anything to add?
)
