Official Wine and Dine 2017 thread

[FloridaGirl087]

Hi everyone! This is NRR, and I’m sure it’s a long shot, but I’m a little desperate at this point, and was hoping someone here might know someone who could help me. Forgive me for asking, but do you guys know of anyone that I could get 2 free Disney tickets through?

Ordinarily I wouldn’t ask here, but all of my Disney contacts no longer work there. My sister, who lives in California, is going through a nasty divorce and her two kids are in the middle of it all. They are coming to Orlando in December. Both kids have never been to Disney, and she wanted to treat them to get their minds off the tough time they are going through. She is now essentially a single parent, so affording 3 tickets to Disney is very difficult for her.

If anyone knows of anyone who would be able to help, I would so appreciate it!

Thank you!

 

[croach]

Crossing my fingers for decent weather this year! Last year was rather humid. Would love to have the same weather from this year's Princess Half, which I felt was perfect.

I'm trying to figure out my park plans for the weekend. I want DH to see the Christmas decorations/castle lights at MK. I'm assuming they'll be up by Saturday since they were last year, but I'd prefer to go Friday night instead. If it's neither due to MNSSHP on 11/1, then we'd probably skip doing any evenings in the parks.

Also rethinking my plans after the 10K. I'd like to head straight to a park from the race, grab some food, maybe a ride or two, and then back to the hotel. Last year I was in corral C for the 10K and was back at the hotel at 7:30, which is what I'm basing this all on. Currently have a PPO BOG reservation for 8:25. Second-guessing on whether I'll even make it in time if I take the Contemporary bus & walk to MK? I could cancel the reservation and just watch the opening show since I haven't seen it.

Or I could stick around after the race and wait for Epcot to open since I haven't ridden FEA and Soarin' yet. I'm assuming there's no chance that I could make it to AK for EMH in time by taking the race bus to AKL & then bus to AK.

Bummer that there won't be any be any 2018 DL races. I really wanted to do Tink this year to get pink C2C, but my sis "forgot" and made travel plans for Memorial Day week so she couldn't take off any additional days. Oh well. At least my wallet will have a chance to rest.

I don't see why you couldn't make the BOG ADR if you're going straight to the park. I do remember from when I stayed that the Contemporary that it shared a bus with FW and WL so that might slow you down some though. Even if you're a little late, I believe they would still seat you. Would be a long wait for Epcot to open right?

 

[croach]

So if they are taping in MK for those days, does that mean that we won’t be able to get pics in front of the castle after the Half?

Seems logical to me that they would be using the castle stage but don't know if it would be all day. Hopefully you can find a time to get your pictures.

 

[roxymama]

I have nothing of value to add, but my ticker now says I'm at less than 2 weeks. And that is exciting. But I have so many packing lists to start now!!!

@FloridaGirl087 I don't have any contacts. But if there is a holiday party on one of the nights of the vacation, if it falls on a lesser $ night she could take them from 4pm-late at a lower cost than a one day park ticket. Granted it would have to be on a night that isn't like Christmas or the $$$ ones, etc. Just throwing that idea out there.

 

[Figment1990]

Whoohooo! Just had to share that I just finished my last long run before the race. I'm a little early bc I would normally run this coming weekend but I have too much other stuff so I had to do it today. It was not my best 11.25 miles but it wasn't my worst either. And I usually am doing 12.5 by now but that just didn't happen this training cycle. I'm pretty sure I'll make it through the race with a little more walking than I normally would but during my run I realized that I just have to accept that this is where I am right now - and given all the setbacks I had early in training (and later), while it may not be my most athletic of wine and dine efforts, it doesn't mean I can't still enjoy it.

Anyhow - good luck to my fellow trainees on your long runs and remember, we are so close I can almost taste it! (Get it??? Sorry. Couldn't resist!)

 

[sunshine girl]

I have one last long run combo this weekend and then I think I will be pretty well prepared for the 2-course challenge!! I have no time goals, I just hope to be able to enjoy the race. Super excited!!

Now I wish runDisney would release some pictures of the merchandise! Probably still too soon for that, but I'm dying to see it.

 

[PrincessV]

Dopey training = a 2/8/16 back-to-back-to-back this weekend, a cut-back 9 next weekend, then W&D. I feel like W&D (10K+half) may feel like a little break at this point, lol!

 

[Pluto42]

Who has a good strategy for character stops? Is there a good way to judge how fast the line moves? I want to take more advantage of the characters than I have in the past but also don't want to take up too much extra time.

This is also a reason that I like the course so much. There are so many great opportunities for pictures that won't involve a line.

 

[FloridaGirl087]

I have nothing of value to add, but my ticker now says I'm at less than 2 weeks. And that is exciting. But I have so many packing lists to start now!!!

@FloridaGirl087 I don't have any contacts. But if there is a holiday party on one of the nights of the vacation, if it falls on a lesser $ night she could take them from 4pm-late at a lower cost than a one day park ticket. Granted it would have to be on a night that isn't like Christmas or the $$$ ones, etc. Just throwing that idea out there.

That's a good idea! Thanks so much!

 

[Ariel484]

Who has a good strategy for character stops? Is there a good way to judge how fast the line moves? I want to take more advantage of the characters than I have in the past but also don't want to take up too much extra time.

This is also a reason that I like the course so much. There are so many great opportunities for pictures that won't involve a line.

It's hard to say with the lines, for the mostpart they move quickly because there are no autograph books and minimal interaction - everyone else wants to get the picture and move on. If there's one CM manning the cameras (normally there are 2), that can make the line go slower. Sometimes the lines are just gigantic and there's no getting around that it'll be a long wait...I think the longest one I have waited in was 11 minutes (for the Evil Hag during this year's Princess 10K) - just a super rare character that a lot of people wanted to wait for.

I guess you need to decide who you are okay with skipping. For me, if it's a character I've met before or can easily meet in the parks, I skip them to bank that time for rarer characters, for example.

Oh, and make sure auto-pause is turned off on your Garmin.

 

[jeremy1002]

Half-marathoners: What is your longest run you are doing for training and which weekend are you doing it?

 

[AbbyJaws2003]

Half-marathoners: What is your longest run you are doing for training and which weekend are you doing it?

This Sunday is my last long run, my plan is a minimum of 12 but if I am feeling good I will push to 13 or even 14. I already have a 12 in the bag this training cycle and I know I personally don't need more than 12 before a race to still complete the half in good shape but I would like to. If I feel good though I will go over 12, which is more for my mental side of the race than the physical!

 

[PrincessV]

Who has a good strategy for character stops? Is there a good way to judge how fast the line moves?

I do't have a strategy: I just stop when I have a sudden feeling of "Ooo, I want this pic!" I have a strong suspicion that usually correlates to a subconscious "Ooo, I'd really love to stop moving for 60 seconds!" lol! I've only waited in one truly long line, and that was for the Heroes during a PHM - just under 15 minutes from the time I joined the line until I was taking off again. I usually only stop if the line has fewer than 10ish people in it and that usually only take a couple minutes.

Half-marathoners: What is your longest run you are doing for training and which weekend are you doing it?

Mine's predicated on Dopey training, so way more than I'd normally do for a half, but my usual half training is a 10-12 miler 2 weeks out.

 

[jennamfeo]

Half-marathoners: What is your longest run you are doing for training and which weekend are you doing it?

This is only my third HM, but statistically I can't stick to a training plan to save my life, so 6.2 miles is the farthest I have ever ran during HM training.

 

[roxymama]

Half-marathoners: What is your longest run you are doing for training and which weekend are you doing it?

My recent HM I did 11 miles two weekends before my race. The one previous I did 10 miles and same timing.

 

[jeremy1002]

I should have added another question: For those who do their last long run 2 weeks out before a half, how many miles do you do for your "long" run the final week? I am debating something in the 6-8 mile range.

 

[flav]

Half-marathoners: What is your longest run you are doing for training and which weekend are you doing it?

My last and longest long-run before the challenge was last Sunday (October 15th) and it was 18km (a bit more than 11 miles). Per my trainer, there wouldn’t be anymore benefits to another long run now, just added chances for injuries. So, cheers to tapering!

 

[roxymama]

I should have added another question: For those who do their last long run 2 weeks out before a half, how many miles do you do for your "long" run the final week? I am debating something in the 6-8 mile range.

Probably depends on your # of days you run per week and your goals for the race.
My last HM I was running 4 days a week (so I probably would have gone longer if i was running less) and I was trying to go for speed (which I won't be doing at my race coming up AT ALL.)
So I did
Sun: 11 mi long run pace
Tue: 5 mi easy pace
Thur: 2 mi easy. 6 mi hard, 1 mi easy = 9 miles
Sat: 5 mi easy
Sun: 5 mi easier
and then I had like 2 or 3 really short runs the final week before the race and all at really easy pace.

I hope that helps a little. I'm not a huge half vet.

 

[PrincessV]

I should have added another question: For those who do their last long run 2 weeks out before a half, how many miles do you do for your "long" run the final week? I am debating something in the 6-8 mile range.

I do cut-back runs every other week, and I make them half the distance of my long run the following week. So for a half, my cut-back the week before would be 6ish.

 

[Figment1990]

I should have added another question: For those who do their last long run 2 weeks out before a half, how many miles do you do for your "long" run the final week? I am debating something in the 6-8 mile range.

Normally, I think I've usually done 5 the weekend before the race. However, this year, I'm pretty sure I'll do only 3's from here on out.

Regarding the other question about how long for the last long run, I normally aim to do 3-10 milers, 1 11.25 miler (I have determined that all 11 mile attempts I've made stunk so I switched to 11.25 instead and well, my head tricks seem to work), and then a 12.5 miler.

That clearly didn't happen this time. I got two 9's, one 10, and and 11.25. I usually only run 3 days a week, but last year's avengers training I did 3 days on my own and 1 with my son that were usually only 1-2 miles and walk/run method, and it actually worked really nicely. I felt well prepared. Life just didn't work out that way for me this year.

I second the request for merch pics! I can't wait to buy all. the. stuff. (If anything's left by Saturday)