ZellyB
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2010
Hi and welcome to my trip report about our first trip to Disneyland in over 12 years and our first ever runDisney race in California - The Tinkerbell Pixie Dust Challenge!
First, let me introduce the cast – it’s a small one.
Just me, Gisele, and my husband, Chris ( @Chris-Mo ). That’s us right there during the Disney Marathon in Florida this past January. (Hint - Joy and Sadness are basically our spirit animals - guess who belongs to who)
Our love for Disney and racing came later in life - We took our kids to WDW for the first time way back in ’07 and then again a few years later. Back in 2012, I took up long distance running using the Jeff Galloway Run-Walk-Run method and I’ve been at it ever since. During that first training year a running friend clued me into runDisney and after running our first marathon in 2013, we’ve been hooked. We've got three kiddos and 2 dogs and a cat (and another puppy on the way) - so life is full and hectic, but as a little Mother's Day gift to me, I actually left all of it behind (including my kiddos) for this special weekend away with my sweetie.
We’ve done several race weekends in Florida including 4 marathon weekends and a less than ideal Wine and Dine weekend (storms cut the race short), but never attempted a race in California. But, this year that all changed with the lure of the 10th anniversary of the Coast to Coast medal, we signed up for the Tinkerbell Pixie Dust Challenge. That includes a 10K race on Saturday (MEDAL), a Half-Marathon on Sunday (MEDAL) completion of the Challenge (MEDAL) and the Coast to Coast (MEDAL) for completing at least a half-marathon on both coasts in the same calendar year. Booyah!!! #allthemedals
But, before we get there, we’ve got some ground to cover…
We spend our non-Disney lives in Missouri. For the sake of a cheaper flight (and non-stop), we opted to fly out from Kansas City which is about a 3 hour drive from our hometown. We both took off half a day on Wednesday and after wrapping up our packing, we were ready to load up for the trip.
Yep, that’s one checked bag and my backpack/purse. If that puppy doesn’t make it to Anaheim, we’re in trouble.
I’m usually cautious and take a carry-on in case the checked bag doesn’t make it, but the freedom of not worrying about carry on was too tempting. I also discovered the joy of packing cubes.
Now as long as we don’t exceed 50lbs we are all set.
After a farewell to our kiddos and pets, we headed out for Kansas City. I took the opportunity of having Chris as a captive audience to share all my best-laid plans. I'm a bit crazy about it, so I was armed with my travel portfolio of documents organized by date as well as my official Disneyland guidebook. Chris was enchanted. I'm fairly sure it's my obsessive planning nature that really sealed the deal for him back when we were dating...or not.
– and approaching our Comfort Inn hotel near the airport. This was a serviceable hotel and the price was reasonable, so worked for us!
A quick meal at the local Outback Steakhouse and we were tucked in bed and ready for our early wake up call.
Next up: California here we come!!
First, let me introduce the cast – it’s a small one.
Just me, Gisele, and my husband, Chris ( @Chris-Mo ). That’s us right there during the Disney Marathon in Florida this past January. (Hint - Joy and Sadness are basically our spirit animals - guess who belongs to who)
Our love for Disney and racing came later in life -
We took our kids to WDW for the first time way back in ’07 and then again a few years later. Back in 2012, I took up long distance running using the Jeff Galloway Run-Walk-Run method and I’ve been at it ever since. During that first training year a running friend clued me into runDisney and after running our first marathon in 2013, we’ve been hooked. We've got three kiddos and 2 dogs and a cat (and another puppy on the way) - so life is full and hectic, but as a little Mother's Day gift to me, I actually left all of it behind (including my kiddos) for this special weekend away with my sweetie.We’ve done several race weekends in Florida including 4 marathon weekends and a less than ideal Wine and Dine weekend (storms cut the race short), but never attempted a race in California. But, this year that all changed with the lure of the 10th anniversary of the Coast to Coast medal, we signed up for the Tinkerbell Pixie Dust Challenge. That includes a 10K race on Saturday (MEDAL), a Half-Marathon on Sunday (MEDAL) completion of the Challenge (MEDAL) and the Coast to Coast (MEDAL) for completing at least a half-marathon on both coasts in the same calendar year. Booyah!!! #allthemedals
But, before we get there, we’ve got some ground to cover…
We spend our non-Disney lives in Missouri. For the sake of a cheaper flight (and non-stop), we opted to fly out from Kansas City which is about a 3 hour drive from our hometown. We both took off half a day on Wednesday and after wrapping up our packing, we were ready to load up for the trip.
Yep, that’s one checked bag and my backpack/purse. If that puppy doesn’t make it to Anaheim, we’re in trouble.
I’m usually cautious and take a carry-on in case the checked bag doesn’t make it, but the freedom of not worrying about carry on was too tempting. I also discovered the joy of packing cubes.
Now as long as we don’t exceed 50lbs we are all set.
After a farewell to our kiddos and pets, we headed out for Kansas City. I took the opportunity of having Chris as a captive audience to share all my best-laid plans. I'm a bit crazy about it, so I was armed with my travel portfolio of documents organized by date as well as my official Disneyland guidebook. Chris was enchanted. I'm fairly sure it's my obsessive planning nature that really sealed the deal for him back when we were dating...or not.
Within a few hours we were driving by downtown Kansas City
– and approaching our Comfort Inn hotel near the airport. This was a serviceable hotel and the price was reasonable, so worked for us!
Next up: California here we come!!
Good to see you here!
Happy you are along for the ride.
