Running a 10k to Celebrate Ten Trips! Updated 5/28

xoSamma

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Running a 10k to Celebrate Ten Trips

Every mile is magic!!!

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Sam, Erin and Brittany


To start off, Rundisney has always been on my list of things I wanted to do when it comes to a disney “bucket list” if anything it was right after visiting all the parks in the world. My need to do a disney run was when the Everest challenge was a thing, as soon as I learned about that I said that would be the run I would do. Basically it was a 5k/obstacle course followed by a scavenger hunt and then once you finished you got to play in AK. However it always fell on the weekend of finals at school and then shortly after that run was no more.

So with the everest challenge not a thing I could sign up for anymore, I had my eye on signing up for the food and wine run in 2018, when I got into my running phase it took a toll on my body…specifically my awful lower back. So 2018 was a no go but I told myself I would sign up next year. With being an AP holder I got an email telling me about the early sign ups for the Wine and Dine race weekend. Right away I texted Brittany, I honestly thought that she would say no because she didn’t want to pay the price for it. She surprisingly agreed to my spontaneous invitation. I then asked Erin, she was the one out of the two that I expected to say no but she said yes. So next thing I know I was signing us up during my lunch break at work.

When it came to what race we would be doing came down to a few things.
5k - we could do it, 3 miles, easy but in my mind I wanted to be more challenged.
1/2 marathon - lets not get crazy 13.1 miles I would die
10k - the nice middle guy, 6.2 miles. Manageable. So thats what we did
Sign ups were in March giving us about 7 months to get our run on.

The 10k was also chosen to celebrate 10 trips to Disney with Erin, how that happened who knows? Didn’t see that one after coming back home from my DCP 5 years ago. I just assumed no one would put up with the amount I talked about Disney and heres Erin agreeing to go to Disney every time I randomly ask her.

This trip would be a short trip, literally a weekend. The race weekend fell weird, it started the day after halloween. While I could have left on halloween, thats one of the best days at work for me so we decided to leave Friday morning do the expo Friday, run Saturday morning, and leave Sunday night.







So lets get onto the crazy weekend and what it had in store for us!​
 
It's a Disney Day!

It was a bright an early morning, Erin texted me at 4am up and ready to go and there I was just trying to pull myself from my bed. I managed to do so….because Disney. At this point, being 4am I thought my parents would be sleeping just kidding they were up with the crazy windstorm. So what does one do when they can’t sleep at 4am? They were watching a video of Alish in Hong Kong getting approved in the Moana show.

I on the other hand was throwing stuff in my suitcase and waited for Erin to come scoop me up on the way to the airport. We get to the airport around 4:30 and it was dead. Thats the best because it makes security quick and easy. We found our gate and SO MANY PEOPLE were flying to Florida for race weekend. It was crazy. Then the thought of racing at this time in 24 hours got me good. Like did I make a mistake?! Yeah probably.

The flight was anything but fun, normally I’m a pro at sleeping on the flight but today it just was not working for me. We made it to MCO and the Magical Express area was BUMPING! Excited runners everywhere.

We got on the packed bus to All Star Movies. Our room wasn’t quite ready yet so we put everything in storage and I regretted listening to Erin when she said I didn’t need my hoodie.
Our first stop for today was DAK.

First thing firsts, when we arrived we headed right for pandora because we were hungry! So off to the canteen we went. When we don’t have the DDP I tend to go for the kids meals and thats what happened today.
Welcome to Florida in November when they still blast the AC in doors so you opt to sit outside where it still feels a bit chilly. Today I was tempted to buy a hot chocolate thats how cold I was. Erin then told me how it was 73 degrees and I needed to stop complaining.

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As we were finishing our lunch Erin said something I thought I would never hear her say…that she is over the bowls here. While I do like the canteen I wouldn’t mind eating at other QS in DAK on future trips.

As we left Pandora it was Erin’s mission to take as many photo pass photos this trip because it was our last trip with our AP.

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We headed over to harambe to get in line for FotLK, we got there super early but with nothing else to do we waited with everyone else. And once they started moving the line we were pointed in the direction of the ramp to the left side of the building, normally not a way I ever enter but ok.

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We were taken through the back of the giraffe section and there we got some really good seats.
The show, like always, was a 10 out of 10. The monkeys were great, the can you feel the love tonight harmonies were perfect and our costumes from 3 weeks back for the halloween party were better than I thought they would turn out. The only weird thing about the show was that Kiume who is normally an older man was played by some young kid today and it really threw me off.

After the show we headed out and just started to aimlessly walk around the park.

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We ended up on the whole other end of the park over in Dinoland. First off, the christmas decorations were making there way out

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Secondly, Erin asked if we could meet all the ducks. And once again I was taken back. We normally aren’t the “lets meet character” type of people. But I will never not say no to meeting characters. So we got in line to meet Launchpad. As we got in line I asked Erin if she even knew who he was….she did not. Duck tales was big in my household…along with talespins and chip n dales rescue rangers.

After Launchpad we decided to get in the short line for Scrooge. But right when we got in line scrooge needed a break. It was all good because the sun was finally coming out and the warm DAK that I know and love (but actually really dislike when I’m melting to death)

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It was then finally time to get ourselves on a ride and what better way than to go catch us a dino. The amount of dinos I have caught in my day is a lot…but were still off to bring more back cause why not?
And surprise surprise we were in the back being a tossed salad, my favorite

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Before we headed back to the resort for a little siesta we had one last FP to use…so we headed off to Mt Everest. It was a nice ride up the mountain and it was nice seeing the disco yeti.

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:wave2::wave2: we did Wine and Dine as our first runDisney event too but were only brave enough to do the 5k lol.
 


:wave2::wave2: we did Wine and Dine as our first runDisney event too but were only brave enough to do the 5k lol.

Well first off congrates! When we got off the ME and saw everyone in their shirts and medals from the 5k I was so excited for the next day to get mine. Honestly the 10k was not as awful as I was expecting it to be.
 
A Night At The Expo

After our ride on Everest we decided to call it a day at DAK, the early 4am wake up call was taking a toll on us and we just wanted to take a nap before we had to head to the Expo to get our race bib. Then of course as we were walking out that Florida sun was coming out and it was getting nice and toasty out. Tis the season of not knowing what to wear when taking a trip to Disney, the mornings/nights were chilly and the afternoons were hot.

But before we left we needed those photo pass photos

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The best feeling is when you get to the bus stop and the bus is there waiting for you. We were basically the only ones but then we got stuck with the bus driver switch out that takes quite a bit.
Luckily the all stars are literally a stop away from DAK, but we had the joy of going in search of our room. I requested Toy Story because its toy story and we had the joy of being in the buzz building.

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When I tell you we passed out immediately, its true. There was no settling in, no unpacking our suitcases. Pretty sure we left our suitcases right by the door, Erin did not even give me a say before she turned off the lights, we hit the pillow and fell asleep fast.
I made sure to put on an alarm because if not I knew we would not be getting up and that would end badly. I gave myself 45 minutes, I needed to check the expo bus times and as soon as I woke up Brittany texted me saying she would swing by to pick us up after work. So with that I had about another 45 minutes to waste before Brittany arrived. I let Erin sleep while I unpacked and settled myself in for the next 2 short days we had.

I let Erin sleep for almost a good 2 hours, I gave her enough time to figure out her life before Brittany arrived. At 4:30 we headed to the front, a guy was sitting on the bench and asked if we were heading to the expo. He let us know that a bus should be here shortly.

The bus didn’t arrive, but Brittany did and she was driving around the parking lot. Cute.
We were off to the expo and if you didn’t think we would jam out to the Lover Album you don’t know us at all.

Welcome to the ESPN Wide world of Sports. Can we say a whole new Disney experience for us. Since this was our first Rundisney expo we had no clue what we were doing. We parked and just followed the crowds.

First up pick up the essentials…AKA your race bib.

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Before anything I will say this expo is organized so well, there were a lot of people but it was constantly walking through with little waits. So we headed to the first building to get our race bib. Before arriving they tell you to print and fill out your waiver, this is all they ask from you. I had mine and Erin’s but Brittany did not follow directions so she had to print it off there. As soon as you enter the building they have computers to print out your waiver, so if you forget theres no need to panic. Just expect to wait in a line for a computer, luckily we came late in the day so there was less people.

With waivers in hand we then headed down a long hallway to the next room.

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The bib pickup room was a very open room. Here they had stands set up with bib numbers, we headed to the stand with our number on it. There they take your waiver, you sign you name in a book next to your number and they give you your bib.

After the bib room you take another walk down a long hallway and that led us too the room I was waiting for. The rundisney merchandise room.

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The merchandise was seriously picked over. And I already knew what I wanted before coming. I had my heart set on the run disney spirit jersey and they were all out of smalls and mediums. I was bummed. The amount of xs they had was ridiculous, I tried it on but it was not the big comfy spirit jersey look I was going for. A lady found a small and was so excited to give it too me…it was just a XS on a S hanger though. I walked around to see other race specific merch but nothing was calling out too me. So I ended up getting a large spirit jersey and was ok that I wold swim in it.

Also in this area you can pick up your pre bought merch, if you did that option when you registered for the race. We did not do this. We checked out and then checked out what else they had.

Also in this room they have a bar set up, cause everyone needs that before they run the next day. They had every races course map as well as every medal displayed.

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Here there was a mickey meet and greet and I made them wait in the short line because tomorrow I knew the meet and greet lines would not be this short at all. And it was patriot Mickey how many times can you meet him?!

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And with one more photo op we headed out and headed to the next building

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The last stop of the night was the expo expo part, a big room filled with so many different vendors. From running outfits, sneakers, medal holders, food, sign up for more disney runs. A lot but what we were here for was our racing shirts and those were of course located all the way in the back.

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We scoped out the vendors and found the volunteers handing out the shirts. On your bib you have a tab for your shirt, when you sign up you choose the style of shirt and size. So I headed to the table with the mens shirts because I didn’t want the v styled women shirt. Here they give you your shirt and a huge plastic bag to use to put belonging ins for your race.

There the guy gave me the wrong size, why? who knows. Because he read it and decided to give me a smaller size. I tried to exchange it there saying they gave me the wrong shirt, but they said they weren’t allowed and that I had to head to the other side of the room to see if they had the size I wanted over there. So when I made the trek there the lady side I had to go back because they didn’t read it right so its there fault and she couldn’t do anything for me. and that they didn’t have the size I wanted. So I headed back to the other side and told them what was happening and finally got my right shirt.

As Brittany and I were getting our shirts figured out Erin ditched us to get in line for KT taping.​
 
Reunited With The Mountain Melt

One of the vendors was KT tape and at there station they had workers taping up the runners. Honestly one of the best things here at the expo. They had a good line going, nothing awful. However we didn’t know how it would work, did you pay for a roll of tape and they did it for you for free? Did you pay for them to tape you and on top of that you bought tape? Erin didn’t care because Erin has a busted up knee and needed to be taped up either way.

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Brittany and I found her and turns out them taping you up was free of charge. And with that so many people were buying it afterwards. With that Brittany and I jumped in line. They had 3 people taping so it did take a while, and while you waited they had to fill out a waiver on their ipad.

Erin got her knees taped, Brittany got her ankle taped, and this girl got her lower back taped and I wish I would have asked for extra sheets. I noticed someone after me get more to go and I didn’t know that was an option.

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Erin was the first one done but then the lady at the table asked who did hers because it was all wrong, meaning we had to wait for her to get taped up yet again. We weren’t planning on staying till close at the Expo but we were.

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The expo was closing, we had our bibs, shirts and taped up ready for the early morning ahead of us.

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We hopped back into Brittany’s car, turned up the taylor swift music and headed to an old time friend. If you live, lived in orlando or have every done a DCP you will know the hype of the Ale House mountain melt. When Brittany asked if we would want to go there for dinner I could not pass that up.

The Ale house was jumping tonight and while we tried to find parking we were also looking for Joe who was meeting us there. Now in the long run, is a mountain melt the best thing to eat before a run? I’m guessing no. However its good for the soul and I have never been happier.

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We gave Joe the 411 on the expo and Brittany told me how Joe was actually a runner. So when I asked why he wasn’t running with us he said he wouldn’t pay that much to run when he can do it for free. I mean makes sense but when something says Disney in front of it I automatically throw my money away. I don’t know why I am the way I am, it’s just who I am.

After dinner it was probably 8:30ish, a nice early night for us. So we said goodbye to joe who was off to watch the dog and Brittany was staying with us for the night. When we got to the resort we played the game of “Is disney going to charge us for Brittany’s car for the night” With the amount of cars we had at the cabin back in October we were never charged, and to our surprise she wasn’t charged this time either.

When we got back to the room the first thing we did was pull out all our merchandise from the expo.

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Like I said we planned for an early night. But our biggest thing was trying to figure out breakfast for the morning. We clearly weren’t thinking because we should have had Brittany pick something up from the grocery store before we got to florida. Instead Brittany and I headed down to the food court to find something.

The options were slim and it was either a danish, muffin or cookies.
Personally for me I can’t eat anything super early in the morning without wanting to puke nor do I eat before I run. But I know I needed to eat something so we opted for a muffin.

As soon as we headed to the check out we saw that they had runner boxes. Wish we would have seen that earlier! So we went up to the CMs and said we made a mistake. The worst part was that we knew they were just going to throw it out…and thats exactly what they did. So we grabbed 3 boxes, overpriced boxes and headed back to the room.

By the time we got back, laid everything out for the early morning a head of us, it was already going on 10. How did it get that late? Who knows. But we tried out best to call it a night because are alarm for 2:50 am was going to come early than we would want it too.​
 


Do You Wanna Run a 10k?

The alarm went off at 2:50am and like always I managed to be the first one to pull myself from the bed. Surprisingly with the lack of sleep, this wake up call wasn’t as bad as I was thinking it was going to be.
The theming of the run was Frozen, was it my favorite theming? Not really but it could be worse. And honestly the whole reason to run at Disney is mostly for the costumes. This run however we stayed super basic, while we were going with the frozen theme we were also really crafted out after making our Halloween costumes a few short weeks prior.
So I decided to go with a coronation Anna disney bound, Erin decided to do the Elsa coronation outfit and Brittany wanted to be Sven. Turns out Brittany ditched us and just got a frozen tank.

We all managed to get ready in a efficient amount of time. Brittany played mom and made sure I ate all my runners box because if she didn’t I probably wouldn’t have eaten any of it.

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Everyone had their race bibs on, we threw all our stuff in the huge plastic bag that they gave us at the expo, honestly just the essentials, wallets, deodorant and body spray for after the run. I believe both Brittany and Erin also put their phones in there as well…I kept my phone on me during the run because pockets are great to incorporate into your outfit.

So with that we headed off to the bus and caught the first one at 3:30am

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At this point Erin was regretting being talked into this race and I was dropping my bagel on the floor. So that was sad.

The race started in the magic kingdom parking lot and when we pulled up it was hectic. With this being my first race it was all overwhelming, but it was all very well managed and set up. We joined the herds of fellow racers and walked to the first step, bag check.

I was in charge of our bag so Brittany and Erin headed right on in while I waited in the quick paced line. Once I got in first things first was make a potty stop…use the porter potties before theres a line. So many porter potties you had so many options to choose from

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After the potty they have a lot of things set up and honestly I was just walking around aimlessly at 4am trying to take it all in and figure out where I needed to be.
So note at this point families can be with the runners in this area, they can hang out there but have to say their goodbyes at the corrals checkpoint.

As we were walking around the MK parking lot, Brittany saw a food truck for coffee and decided to join in on the line. Coffee was not something I need in the morning, nor do I need extra liquids in me making me have to use another porter potty.

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Once Brittany got her small cup of coffee the next thing to do was figure out what we do with our bag. We walked a bit further and found the bag drop off. This process was so easy, we walked up to a volunteer they took our bag, put a sticker labeled on the back of my race bib and thats it.

At this point we had nothing better to do so we decided to enter our corral. Before even getting into the corral they have a wall of volunteers making sure only runners are entering this area, no race bib no entrance. Heads up you will walk a LOT before the race even begins

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Then from there you go into your correct corral, which once again volunteers are there to make sure you aren’t entering the wrong one. However if you are running with a friend or group but they are in a later corral you may move back corrals, they cannot join you in yours. Lucky for us we didn’t have that problem.

We were in corral E and after looking around there was at least one other corral after us. But I want to say there were actually 2 corrals after us, which made me feel better about not being swept.

We entered our corral and made ourselves comfy, it was 4:30 at this point and we had an hour till the race started and we were 5 corrals back so we had a long time.

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One big thing I would recommend is if you can get in your corral early do so. They actually split the corrals in half when they let them go, so the closer you are to the front of your corral is always better.

While it was only 4:30 and I shouldn't be pumped up on life, I randomly was. They had a DJ killing it this morning and we were thriving. Some memorable moments during this huge dance party was…hand jive, wake me up before you Go-Go, mmmbop, Jump and my personal favorite was Hannah montana Hoedown throw down.

After maybe a half hour of fun and the camera guy running from coral to coral getting people dancing, it then turned into announcement time. The mood died and everyone was getting ready for why we were all here…running

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Today we learned that there were 2 people in the crowd that have done 130 rundisney events. That is a LOT of running and a LOT of money.
It was getting close to 5:30 and they started lining up the first corral. You could see and feel everyone getting anxious, excited, nervous and for some odd reason I was chill as can be. This was not at all how I thought I would be because I had yet to run 6 miles, 4.5 miles is the furthest I ran and that was over the summer.

We went through 8 sends off, 8 fireworks before we got to go maybe 45 mins after the start. And honestly the people who left were probably finishing up there run and that was a crazy thing to think about.

When Corral E was open it was like a herd of cattle, no one wanting to be last. We were close to the front of it and managed to get into the first E group send off. However before you even get to the starting line you line up and then walk a big U. As we were turning the corner I looked over and saw a guy in front of us trying to pull apart the gate. Next thing I know he is jumping over the gate and I look at the end of our corral still across from us and someone is down on the ground against the gate. So many people at this point were trying to pull apart the barriers and it was a scary sight to see because we had no clue what was happening and had to keep moving.

Crowds upon crowds and we were so close to the starting line

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When the fireworks went off we thought it was us, we were off. But just kidding we still had one group a head of us

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At this point we headed closer to the starting point and now we were all jamming out to Mariah Carey, All I want for Christmas because hopefully tomorrow Disney will be in the Christmas swing.

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Next thing I know we were getting ready to go, was I ready for this? Who knows. Was I ready to finish these 6 miles so I could go back and sleep, ABSOLUTELY! And before we took off I told Brittany and Erin that Mile 2 is where I hit a wall…every single time. But after that I am totally fine. Its weird and I know its more mental than anything but when they loose me they know why

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3….2….1 READY OR NOT HERE WE GO!

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There's Nothing Holding Me Back

Once we passed the starting line we were at a good pace, because with so many people you at this point are forced to take an easy pace. What I will say is that this race route is not the best and actually quite boring to some.

We were headed to our first mile when about .5 miles in we lost Erin, we stopped with her as she tied her show and then she disappeared somewhere behind in the crowd. We just made it to the car rental outside of the parking lot when we lost her…how?! Luckily she had her apple watch so I was able to text her during the race.

Going into this run I was expecting me to stop for all the characters and stay with my friends. We weren’t even at mile one and we lost Erin and our first character meet and greet was Mary and Bert…probably the best of the whole entire run. And spoiler alert we stopped for no characters, being in a late corral leaves you with obnoxious lines and you are basically forced to get in line before you even know who the character is.

Also on Mile 1 they had Beauty and the Beast Be Our Guest playing on a jumbo screen on the overpass.

Mile 1 - Complete
And thanks to that Florida weather, we were dripping in sweat already.

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Onto mile 2, or in my case my normal death mile.
However this morning it was not and I was living my best life weaving through the crowds. This is the point where I learned so many people just walk the races, this is totally ok in my book unless there is a wall of walkers you can’t managed to pass.
Also at this point so many men where running off the course and peeing in the near by woods because waiting in line for the porter potties a few feet ahead is just to hard.

Mile two was just your basic highway from MK to Epcot nothing all that exciting.
And the characters for this mile were Chip n Dale and Daisy.
They also had a water stop with a line of volunteers just holding out paper cups.

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As we were close to finishing mile 2 Brittany asked me how and why she couldn't hear me breathing, because she said she was breathing so heavily. Also at this point I told myself to keep Brittany’s pace and not run ahead because I was not planning on running this solo.

Mile 2 - Complete

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Mile 3 - the worst mile in my opinion.
It wasn’t the worst running wise, course wise it was the worst.
But before that they had the Green Army men meeting on the side of the road.
Here we took the exit to Epcot and the course slimmed down. At this point it was a sea of walkers and we struggled to try to get through. So I did the only thing I could do and ran most of it on the grass so pass the crowds.

Also at this point we managed to run passed the scary busses…the sweep busses that are there and ready for runners to get put on for running to slow. And passing those busses is a relief.

As we ran on the overpass to Epcot we saw down below the sea of people still running behind us. It was a crazy sight. Here we could see Epcot all light up in the dark and that gave us hope. Also on this overpass was a DJ. And something I learned during this race was how much they loved to play Shawn Mendez - There’s nothing holding me back.
But props to all these DJs because it would just make me want to run faster.

Mile 3 - Complete

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We hit the 5k mark and I was ready to run the rest of the 3 miles. And at this exact moment I turned to Brittany and said I’m ready to sign up for a half marathon. Running a disney race was changing me, 3 miles at home is death to me here I was loving life. This is the point where I was loosing Brittany though.

Also here we had an announcement “CAUTION…CAUTION” we were heading towards a sharp turn mixed with a small area to enter Epcot. And right at the curve they had yet another jumbo screen playing duck tales this time.

We were met again with yet another overpass hill and we were for sure feeling that in our legs. This is when Brittany was dying and told me to go without her because she was slowing me down. For a split second I might have considered running on ahead but decided to join her in a nice walk to Epcot.

We finally made it too the Epcot bus loop and there we saw a group of cheer squads. Which Brittany responded “Next time we are going to pay for people to come and cheer us on” Here we also passed by the last stop for a bus sweep. We were in the clear and ready to finally get into a park.

Mile 4 - Complete

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The next mile consisted of finally running in Epcot. However the first half consisted of backstage. This might be an awesome idea for some runners, backstage Disney yes! However for me it was worse than running on the highway. With the amount of runners, the backstage areas aren’t wide enough.

The character ready to meet in this mile was Carl from Up and the longest line I had ever seen. But at this point you passed the last sweep so might as well get in line. Me I just wanted to keep going.
We ran behind the land pavilion, with yet another DJ playing There’s Nothing Holding Me Back and over every speed bump in the road we made sure to jump over them obnoxiously.
At this point there was also another water stop and millions of paper cups crumpled on the black top.

After way with the mile and we were entering the park, we came out by Figment and I asked Brittany if she wanted to use an actual restroom but we ran right passed it. And right away there was another line meeting for the Bowler Hat guy. Not interested. We officially were in the park and I was ready to run the whole thing.

And thats when we saw them…the green pop up tents with Photopass CM sitting in them taking pictures. This will soon become my favorite mile just because of the photo pass photos and turning it into a game

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But honestly running through a park is the best

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some lovely photo pass photos too mile 5

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Mile 5 - Complete

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We officially hit our last full mile and the runner high is real…or maybe its just Disney helping me…or what it really was was trying to scope out the photo pass CMs along the course and get the best jumping pic. This was actually a lot harder than it seemed.

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But after what felt like a million tries and tiring myself out more than I probably should. We finally got a good one.

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As we were passing France, Marie was out meeting and Brittany informed me that she would like to stop at America for the restroom…literally we will always hold out just to use this restroom. Its the best one on property, the more you know.

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She told me to leave without her and I just stood in front of America waiting for her and watching my time dwindle. But the joy of a disney run is that few people do it to get their best time. So with that in mind we stopped for a few pics.

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When we made it to Mexico we cut back by donalds meet and greet and ran backstage once more. Ran passed Test Track and then down a long service road. That seemed never ending.
Back here the character to meet was Thumper and then down the road was lighting mcqueen and with that I was sort of bummed with the character selections.

We saw the mile 6 marker up ahead and this is when we saw so many people waiting by it. Not to take pictures but to wait for the groups they lost. We decided to join the group and wait for erin so we could get that finish line picture together.

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She was about a mile - mile and a half behind us so we waited a good amount of time on the side of the road. This was a perfect time to watch all the runners pass us and to scope out all the creative costumes.

after about 15- 20 minutes she came walking up too us. She didn’t die!!!!

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Mile 6 - Complete

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With Erin with us we crushed the .2 miles left to the finish line and we managed to finish the 10k non of us thought was going to be a good idea when we signed up for it

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We did it, we ran 6.2 miles and by the end of this I was ready to sign up for a half marathon.
And thats exactly what we did. Brittany and I enjoyed this experience so much that we signed up for the next wine and dine half marathon, Erin said never again. So heres to hoping running 13.1 miles is just as magical as 6.2.​
 
I Need a Nap

Right when we crossed the finish we received our beautiful medals and then it was a nice long cool down walk as you collected everything in your hands, which you will run out of hands with everything they give you. After your medal they gave us a cooling towel and I was not expecting this, it was probably the best thing they gave me.

Right after the finish line it first aid, ready for any runner injuries. The benches were filled with runners holding/wrapping. Brittany asked to stop here to get some cooling gel for her ankle/heel.

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Then we took the longest cool down walk ever, honestly it felt longer than the race itself. Here we walked down the line and got water, power aide, banana and the snack box.

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At the very end we then entered the photo pass area, this you can bypass. There so many lines little lines to get your picture taken with your medal. And with your hands full they had little tables to place all your stuff down. This was a quick process, get them in get them out.

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After our picture we headed out into the open epcot parking lot to finally sit down at enjoy our snack box. As we were looking for a place relax I heard my name being called behind me. My name is a common name, but I still looked not thinking it would actually be for me too hear. But it was. James, a fellow Diser spotted me in the crowd of thousands. He stopped to talk for a bit and asked if I was running the half tomorrow…oh no no no.

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It was then time to dig into the goodie box.

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And i’m pretty sure I ate most of my box before we left. One thing everyone always posted was the chips and cheese and thats all I wanted. But surprise they did hummus instead and cheese and I was not at all excited about that.

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After our nice relaxing short break we decided to head back to the resort to shower and sleep. But first we had to get our bag of stuff. Just like putting up bags to volunteers, this process was super easy. I headed over to the table a volunteer asked to see my sister on the back of my bib, they told another volunteer who pulled the bag, and boom we got it back. Super efficient.

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With our bag in hand we headed over to the bus area. There’s no sign with bus numbers and instead of walking the whole area I found a worker near by to ask what number our bus stop was. When we got in line we were the cut off for the bus and head to wait for the next one.
The wait was not long at all. As soon as the left another pulled up.
The bus was freezing cold, I get it we just ran blast that AC but I just needed a blanket.
When we pulled up into the resort it wasn’t even 9am. People were just starting their day and heading off to the parks where I felt like it was already 6pm and I was ready to go to sleep.

After a nice refreshing shower it was time for a nice solid nap.
We slept for a solid 2 hours before walking up, we didn’t want to sleep out day away or waste our precious disney time. So we got up, got ready and headed to Epcot. But before we could do that Brittany needed to go to her car to get her sunglasses. On our way back to the room there was a girl, about 8-9 years old sitting outside her room door, she looked at us and rudely said Hi like we were crashing an important meeting of hers.

It was a hot day in florida, 85 degrees and sunny. Brittany and Erin wanted to wear their new running shirts they bought at the expo but me wearing a heavy spirit jersey was just not the mood walking around Epcot.

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As we waited for a bus to Epcot, Brittany randomly said that she could see me finishing marathon. First lets get that half finished and we shall see where it goes from there.

The bus ride to Epcot was interesting. We got stuck standing, which wasn’t the interesting park. I was standing by sisters who half way through got into a fight. The one sister was texting someone who she clearly shouldn’t be and the sister was judging her hardcore. And once we got to Epcot they stormed off into different directions and I was confused.

It was 3 weeks since we had been to Epcot and they changed the bag check and I was confused. Once we made it through bag check, we rushed off to Soarin, we had 5 mins before our Fps were no more.

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All I needed was too relax and have my feet dangle as I soar around the world.
Once we got off Soarin we were in need of food. Of course we were all indecisive about what we wanted. So to keep it simple we decided to just eat at Sunshine seasons. And what I shock I went with there plain old caesar salad.

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Then we took a nice relaxing ride on Living with the Land.​
 
A Blast From the Past

We were in need of something sweet. Before we headed out of the land pavilion we headed back upstairs to the chocolate lab. Here they normally hand out free chocolate but apparent;y that was not a thing anymore. So we walked in, walked around for maybe 5 seconds and then left.

With no free chocolate we were on search of some dessert. It didn’t take us long to head over to the ireland stand to get the chocolate pudding. We love this so much in October that we needed to get it again before the festival was over. As soon as Brittany and I said Ireland Erin was super quick to respond because that meant she could stop to get poutine.

We dropped Erin at the outpost and headed to Ireland which was right before the UK pavilion. We got our puddings and headed back to get Erin. When we got back she was no where to be found. Just another casual time loosing Erin, but honestly when doesn’t this happen? Its always one of us but we found her shortly after.

At this point we decided to head out of Epcot and back to the resort before we headed out to a fun night ahead of us. But before we did that we of course got in line for a picture because its what you do when you see a Photopass CM just waiting for someone.

This CM was great she was super excited to see Erin eating poutine and asked if she eats the cheese curds first….no she just gets fries and gravy so fake poutine.

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As we headed out of the park we decided to jump in the nonexsisting line for Spaceship earth. We might as well take on last go around before it closes for refurb and chances completely from what we know it to be. My sleepy blood kicked in and I may or may not have rested my eyes for a bit.

Then after our last time saying “Papyrus” we headed to the front to take a full on photo shoot with our medals in front of Spaceship earth.

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And after spending way to much time getting all the right pictures and having so many people look at us funny decided to head out and back to the resort.
The bus ride back to the resort was amusing as we sat there watching all the photo pass photos from the run start popping up on our apps.

As soon as we got back to the room it was about 4:30 and we all decided it would be great to take a second nap for the day. The race really screwed us up on sleep. So it was a quick half hour nap before we got ready for the night.

Right after my lovely shut eye Brittany decided it would be a good time to break my heart as she sent me a tweet she found…Literally break my heart.
Now at this time star wars was nothing to me, I pretended like I knew anything from the movies when I went to Galaxy’s Edge. Now thanks to pre-quarantine time (which I should have waited for quarantine) I binged watched all the star wars movies and I’m hooked. Who would have thought I would love darth vader?! Not be but here I am. However, even with my new found love of star wars its still not worth the death of Osborne Lights.

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But then after breaking my heart she handed me the Remy AP magnet because Joe told Kiss he could have his. Those two are slowly becoming BFFs

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We all got ready and planned on leaving the room by 5:30. The original plan was to have a fancy dinner celebrating our run. We had reservations at Narcoossees but a week before decided to cancel and just spend all our money at trader sam’s. However we planned on still getting dressed up because anytime I have the chance to dress up I do it. I also know Erin will also join in with me. So while we were getting ready Brittany asked why we are always so fancy and that we both need guys to take us out when we look like that. This was coming from the girl who’s boyfriend would be meeting us at Trader Sam’s and paying for her drinks. Me on the other hand is very good at spoiling myself.

Brittany drove us to the Poly and the saddest thing about this was when I realized that our Taylor swift sing a longs were about to come to an end. RIP it was good while it lasted.
When we got to the Poly we headed straight for the monorail. While Trader Sam’s was going to get most of our money tonight we first wanted to try out the new Beauty and the Beast bar at the Gflo.

As soon as we got to the Gflo, it was like an instant pull to Basin. I just can’t help it. Plus we all love a good hand scrub. And if you don’t agree its probably because you have never done it.

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This new scrub smelled amazing!

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While we were scruba-dubbing a CM came up to us and let us know that since we had our medals on we got a discount on our purchase. This was an instant game changer for us and decided to come back later to get ourself something nice.

We headed across the way to the Enchanted Rose and it was PACKED. We walked into every room and every seat and table was taken.

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Then as we walked into the main bar room I saw a familiar face and booked it out of the room. I instantly pulled Brittany and told her too look at the bar…and there was a Randy. A person we haven’t seen since our DCP. And then there was Erin running back into the bar saying “He doesn’t know who I am!” as she took a picture of the “bar” and I sent it to my family.

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After a good laugh we found a group leaving a snagged there seat. As we looked through the menu nothing was jumping out at us and it was super pricey. So before the waitress came back over we decided to peace out and save our money for an extra drink at trader sams.

We ran out so fast, Enchanted Rose was a bust. But we didn’t want this trip to the Gflo to be a total bust so we headed back to Basin where we decided to use that runners discount. We spent far too long in here trying to figure out what to get.

Our CM friend told us to check out the bath salts (i believe it was this) and one of them smelled exactly like pandora. And she said they had this long before Pandora was a thing. This sold both Brittany and Erin, however I don’t do baths so while I loved the scent I wasn’t going to use it. So instead I went with a shower bomb.

And with our not really needed basin purchases we headed back over to the Poly for a night at trader sam’s.​
 
The Night Our Friendship Died

The monorail ride around the seven seas lagoon was setting us up for the night ahead of us…entertaining. There was a young child sitting behind us who was constantly pulling Brittany’s hair and at one point decided to give her a good old head bump.
Aye baby girl wanna kick it? Kick it to Trader Sam’s….absolutely. When we got to the Poly we first found Joe and headed to the Grotto.

Jokes on us the inside grotto had a wait of 2.5 hours…you’re kidding me?! If we didn’t waste all our time at Gflo maybe we would be already getting our drink on. It was ok though, while inside seating is by far superior we were ok with sitting outside. When we went out to the terrace it was also PACKED. Tonight was just not our night, was everyone else celebrating their 10k? Shouldn’t everyone be making it an early night for the half marathon tomorrow?!

It was getting late and Erin was determined to have a drink for every mile she ran today. So all we could do was get in the line for the walk up bar. A dad came up to us and told us that they were getting ready to leave and that we could have their table. He told us to come over and stand with them so no one else snuck in to get the table. As we were standing their awkwardly with our new family he told us if they give us a problem that he will just tell them that we are his nieces. Confused with why we would get in trouble but ok

We finally got the table and started the first round of zombies.
This round included just telling Joe how our first run disney event was and how Brittany and I already were planning out next one.

Round 2…Brittany and Joe tapped out after this one because they are responsible…and made their drinks last longer than us other guzzlers in the grotto. And on their round two we were already drink 3 in.

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Houston we have a problem. Erin asked me to join her to the bathroom and that was fine. The walk to the bathroom was like being in charge of a toddler. Out of no where she wanted to prove that she could still walk a straight line and next thing I know she whips her arms out, hits the wall and knocks a light on the wall. Bursting in laughter and we were unaware of a guy walking behind us until he started laughing with us letting us know no one say.

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When we got back Brittany and Joe wanted something to eat and came back with my captain cooks go to. And when she came back with the salsa and on the side no tomato and onions without even confirming my order….thats when you have a true friend or you just order this way too much. However its the best quick service on Disney property.

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By this point of the night we managed to end with 5 zombies….how, why, and who thought that would be a good idea?! Did we not see what was happening at 3? Well to late now. At this point I remember having a heated debate with Erin and Brittany being the judge. And even with my very convincing arguments, like always the two ganged up on me and Brittany was dying from laughter.

After paying one hefty bill, but with the help of Disney gift cards my pockets weren’t hurting, we decided to head over to the contemporary. Their Gingerbread house was up and we still had time to check that out before we needed to get back to MK to catch a bus home.

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With another monorail ride…this one left Erin with a broken pop socket coming from me. The aftermath when texts shouldn’t be sent. My bad.

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We made it to the contemporary and searched for the Gingerbread house.
This is the moment when we have two types of people after a night at Trader Sam's…those who sit in the middle of the crowd dying

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And my type who makes friends with a grandma standing next to me as we search for hidden mickeys on the gingerbread house.

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Brittany and Joe were about ready to ditch us but before they made their way back home Joe and I wanted some dessert. An M&M sugar cookie was calling my name. We headed over to Contempo cafe and they were all out of cookies. I was so sad and neither of us got dessert, so disappointment was in the air.

We said our goodbyes to Brittany and Joe and I found Erin sitting on a bench. Our plan was to walk to MK but before we did that we had to check into our flight for tomorrow night. As soon as our time hit I quickly signed in…and all I got was error. This was not ok. We sat there for about 5 minutes both getting errors and I don’t know what was wrong. But if we didn't leave we wouldn’t have a way to get back to our resort.

The annoyance of not being able to sign into the flight got me forgetting to walk to MK and we ended up hoping back onto the monorail. And this is the moment when I lost Erin…..

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Luckily for us the bus was at the bus stop when we got there and we got the nice big accordion bus. The ride home was just enough to put me too sleep. However I still hate sleeping on modes of transportation so I tried my best to fight off those sleepy eyes. Erin on the other hand slumped right on me

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As soon as we pulled into the movies resort it all went down hill. The lights came on and I got a horrified look from the couple sitting across from us. Next thing I know Erin is throwing up in her purse and on me…..friendship ruined right there.

The fact that we were at the resort about to get off the bus makes in more comical, she was so close. What was not comical was the vomit on me. I got off that bus so fast and ran inside to the bathroom because I needed to wipe the puke off because I had to switch to mom mode.

I was gone maybe 2 minutes tops and Erin was M.I.A. Lovely, this is not what I needed tonight. I just wanted to jump into bed and sleep but instead I was running around the resort. I headed to the room and when I opened the door Erin was at the sink washing off her dollar bills telling me to shut up. Did I say a word…no, Did the room smell awful...yes, did she know I was going to say some sort of sassy comment, probably. All I know is that she must have ran back to the room and props to her on finding her way home.

And with a few more “Shut up Sam!” she told me she was showering in her close and bringing her purse in with her. This poor child. When I waited up to make sure she didn't die I was still trying to sign into my flight. Southwest was killing me, each time I was getting errors but finally it worked. Then I decided to text Brittany to share the events she missed when she decided to go back to her home instead of having another sleep over with us.

When she came back out it was like nothing happened, she was totally fine and said she could drink more….that’s because it all just left your system. She then yelled at me because I normally make her run around MK after going to Trader Sam's so she can walk it off? Sorry the park closed and it wasn't Wednesday where we normally do Trader Sam's early and spend EMH night in the kingdom. However this is why I wanted us too walk to the kingdom. Then she said "If this happened on our first trip there would be no more invites on future trips for me" and she's not wrong. But we are already 10 trips in and she is the only one who will agree to come to Disney with me, so its the price I have to pay.

After a drastic turn for the night, we made sure Erin was all good because I passed out and we were both very thankful for changing the clocks back tonight and getting that extra hour of sleep.​
 
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

It was our last day in Disney, we had a flight later tonight and planned to head to MK before we had to leave. However after the early morning yesterday for the run and an eventful night we had we decided to sleep in.

Our plan was to get the room packed up, get our suitcases checked and hopefully see MK decked out for christmas. So while I did my usual morning scroll on instagram I was super excited that people at the park were already updating the world that the tree was up on Main Street.

So we got ourselves moving and let me tell you my body was so sore! But I guess that would be expected if you have never ran 6 miles before. What I vividly remember from this morning was taking a hairdryer to Erin purse in hopes it dried. Around 9:30 we rolled out and said goodbye to our room.

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Before we headed to the park we needed to get our suitcase loaded up and sent to the airport.
Normally this process is nice and easy, Erin was on a struggle bus today as she didn’t know where she had placed her glasses. So she freaked out and asked to check her suitcase….it was not there

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But don’t worry she found them in her carry on, so our suitcases were good. But before we left Erin wanted me to take a picture of her and her crime scene from last night…and now whenever I come to this resort that is all I will remember

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And from there we jumped into the line for MK. While we waited for the bus we made a new friend in line. She just finished the half marathon this morning and was heading to the kingdom to celebrate. She was telling us how corrals matter, she ran with her friend for the 10k so she was pushed back and said the lines for characters were out of control and she could only stop for 2. But for the half marathon she ran it herself and the lines were nothing.

When we got to the park the first thing we had to do was take in all the christmas decor.

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The joys of christmas and the joy that the christmas dapper dans bring

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And then we were off to tomorrowland because shocker we had space Fps.
As we headed over there the castle show was going on and both Erin and I agreed that Frozen is a bop, it was just the fact that it was way too over played that killed it for us.

When we got to Space it was like they turned the speed up today and the group behind us was living their best life. So much that they were screaming their heads off….but that got old real fast.

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After Space we were on the hunt for something to eat. And like every other time we are in this park the pull to Pinocchios was strong. Erin decided to go with the classic nuggs, but today I was finally going to try something new. I stopped at the Friars nook to get some mac and cheese tots.

This sounded like a good idea, and it was a good idea. But the wait for these tots was way too long. Everybody seemed to want mac and cheese today (and honestly I couldn’t blame them) And while the line in front of me waiting for their food started to dwindle I realized a lot more people after me were also getting their food. I just stood there waiting for my number and still nothing, I kept making eye contact with the CM working and after a while I could tell he was confused like me. Like where is my order? Somehow it was lost and he went back to get me one…and while I appreciated finally getting my food, the sour cream dollop not the mood.

I took my mac and cheese bowl over to Pinocchio’s to find Erin who was already half way done with her meal.

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As we enjoyed our lunch we got a message saying that Splash was down and we could use our FP for anything else. So before we did anything we needed to figure out what we wanted to use it on. It wasn’t a hard choice because today was the first day of the jingle cruise and it was top on my list of things to do before we left today.

So with that we were off to Jungle all the way!
With all the christmas excitement, we also had to make sure to head over to the new castle walkway, because thats something to be excited about right?

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And of course as we were passing another round of the castle show was happening. So we decided to listen to it while we watched all the characters get ready “backstage” and that might be more entertaining then the actual show.

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Shortly after we headed over to adventureland.
As we entered the land my eyes scanned the ear stand like I always do and I thought I was dreaming. I have been looking for the arendelle aqua ears everywhere! And what do you know…I found them at a little stand.
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I immediately texted Brittany the SOS because this was my rose gold ears. The rose gold fad was not for me, but this was. I stood in front of these ears contemplating on should I buy? Should I not? Why are ears $30 now? Then there is Erin…”Get them!” But the “its your last day, you don’t know when your next trip is, don’t spend the $30” ended up winning. But no worries, I ended up getting a pair for christmas.

So we walked away from the ears and it was ok because the Jingle Cruise was waiting for us!

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I realize I just found your trip report and it's the last day but Congratulations on your Run Disney experience. You should be proud.

I couldn't stop laughing at Erin. Take away lesson is three drink limit. :drinking1:rotfl2: This is a trip you'll always remember for many reasons.
 
I realize I just found your trip report and it's the last day but Congratulations on your Run Disney experience. You should be proud.

I couldn't stop laughing at Erin. Take away lesson is three drink limit. :drinking1:rotfl2: This is a trip you'll always remember for many reasons.

Thank you! Disney has just found another way to take all my money.
To this day I still cannot stop laughing at Erin and that night.
 
Now It's Time To Say Goodbye

The Jingle Cruise, a cruise which might even be better than your average jungle cruise. Now I love the jungle cruise but the christmas over lay is magical and a must do during the christmas season.

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Not only is the whole spiel christmas themed but they start the overlay starting from the entrance and in my opinion they go all out.

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We loaded onto Mistletoe Millie and we were ready to jungle all the way!

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It’s like the time I tried hosting a White Elephant party…bringing Elephants to a party isn’t something you should do…I learned that the hard way

Do you know the difference between and in law and and outlaw….the outlaw is actually wanted

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Hey rhino, I normally just string popcorn for my tree

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Who only showers for the holidays? Instead of showering the elephants in gifts….we gave them the gift of a shower.

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Trader Sam-ta
He has a cut throat deal for you today, today only during these trying holiday times…3 heads of his heads for 1 of yours.

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After our time on the jingle cruise Erin wanted to go on pirates because when doesn’t that girl want to go on pirates? It was a solid 40 min wait…and normally i’m not about that. However we had an hour to kill and nothing to do. So why not?
It turned out not to be a good idea…by body was killing me. My legs just wanted to give up on me and I was in need of sitting down. Getting into the boat was rough….getting out of the boat was rough and I never knew a run could kill me the way I was feeling (But running around Disney on top of running could also do that to a person)

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After Pirates we had our last FP of the trip and headed over to Thunder.
Although we got stuck in the first cart, which is never a fun time. We were blessed to have the CUTEST older couple sitting behind us just laughing at each other like children. Goals.

Once we got off of thunder it was about that time for FoF to makes it way through Frontierland. We knew we wouldn't be able to find a spot, there was maybe 5 minutes before the parade started. And while I would have never thought to go right in front of splash it was one of the best spots. They had it roped off on the side to let traffic go through so while we were at the front, we were in the back on the side with a great view of the very beginning of the parade.

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After the parade ended we waited for the crowds to disperse and then we headed for the exit. We walked through adventure land to main street and managed to beat the parade even with waiting. So While we waited for the parade to complete finish we took the time to browse through the Emporium. And it took everything in me to walk away from the onesie.

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We decided to leave MK for a short break and head over to Epcot. Mostly to get our AP coasters. As I headed to the monorail Erin was dragging behind asking if I was running another 10k, she was dead and my fast walking wasn’t helping her broken shins.

Today was a different day when it came to a day in disney for us. We were dead…walking zombies who had no need to communicate to one another. We were both super quiet and it was bizarre!

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It was a nice, relaxing ride to Epcot. When we got to the park we headed straight to get our magnet and coasters. The line for this was crazy! Luckily it seemed to go super quick. They had two separate lines, those waiting just for a magnet and those waiting for both magnet and or coasters.
After a lovely 4 visits to F&W APs got a “free” coaster set. It was my mission between October and November to make it those 4 visits. And we somehow managed to do it.

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With the AP freebies in hand we headed out of Epcot and back to MK.
We had about an hour left before we had to head back to the resort to get ready for that tragical express. And our main plan for the rest of our time here at MK was to get some pictures in front of the christmas tree.

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Christmas time is here

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And before we left we decided to walk in line to get a real photo pass photo in front of the tree

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It was about that time and I had to talk myself out of staying for the castle lighting. It was the first night for Elsa to light up the castle and we could have probably made it back to the resort in time if we ubered back but everyone told me it wasn’t a good idea. So we left before everyone got ready for the show.

We headed back to Movies, and as soon as we got back we grabbed our things out of storage and changed to get ready for the cold weather we were going home too.
Then with more time to kill we decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream treats.

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We had a good hour still to kill so we decided to take all our belongings and head to the pool. While swimming was out of the picture we decided to lounge by the pool and take a little nap.
We used so many pool towels to use as blankets…it was still 75 degrees out and we were acting like it was snowing out.
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Around 7 we pulled ourselves away from the pool and decided to make our way to the bus stop. As we were passing through the lobby we made sure to get a picture of the race weekend board. The important board that tells you all the times for everything you need to know.

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We then made ourselves comfy in the O of Movies as we waited for the tragical express to get us. It came rolling up about 10 minutes early and we were lucky we were there then because seats were very limited. And as soon as we found a free row in the back I put in my headphones and took a nap.

When we got to the airport we first grabbed some food and then we headed to security. I have never seen MCO security so dead….I was confused as too where I was for a moment. And just like that we found our gate, got on the plane and headed home. Since we had the last flight home, we got home super late and while it sounded like the best idea getting home after 1 am and having to work at 6:30am was not a good idea. But it was a thing I did and I wouldn’t have changed anything from that weekend.

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And like that another trip is over. Who knows when we will make it back? We have the wine and dine half marathon 2020 to look forward to but only time will tell if that will even be a thing.







A 10K to celebrate 10 trips.
5 years ago I came home from my program and was so use to Disney being in my backyard. We weren’t friends and Erin asked why I go to Disney so much. But since then she managed to join me on 10 trips and learn why I go to Disney so much

1. That December Erin jokingly asked if I wanted to take a quick trip to see the Osborne Lights one last time. I jumped on the fake request and next thing we know we were spontaneously going to Disney with barely being friends.
2. Erin tried making my birthday special by trying to surprise me with things I have never done in Disney, but alas cirque caught on fire the night we were suppose to see it. But that trip I also fell in love with a tumble monkey
3. My favorite time of year, Halloween and dressing up as our favorite parade dancers for the party. And spontaneously buying swim suits so we could swim in storm along bay on our last day.
4. Club level 10 day trip and becoming AP holders. Erin didn’t judge me while I balled my eyes out on Main Street and tried making a scene so no one would make a big deal out of it.
5. Celebrating Erin's big 21st Birthday and getting sick on TGIfridays marinara sauce
6. Squeezing one last trip in with our AP and a trip of new experiences. Aqua tour, toy story land and California grill
7. AP holders once again. There’s no place like home for the holidays but really the tour of HM was everything
8. The trip Erin became just another sibling of my family. How many times is too many times at jellyrolls? Celebrating Halloween in August.
9. Showing Erin how perfect Fort Wilderness is. And being forever thankful we got off the skyliner 10 minutes prior to the crash.
10. Somehow managing to talk Erin into running a 10k. Trader Sam’s....enough said.

Here's a big thank you to Erin for 10 memorable trips, maybe now she understands why I go to Disney so much.​
 

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