See you @@ the Finish Line- Our Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend Adventure

[rteetz]

Love Tusker House! I have done both dinner and breakfast there and neither have been bad. So cool they gave you the popcorn buckets!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

That lantern shot is so cool, I totally forgot about it and the carriage too!

I thought the carriage was only for special occasions like Valentine's day? I was surprised to see it, I guess it is permanent now.

So cool they gave you the popcorn buckets!

Yes! I had no clue they were even doing that.

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

EXPO

We got to the expo around 1pm. We were hoping that we were getting there late enough that the morning crowds were gone. The plan worked because it was one of the least crowded expos I have ever been to. It was nothing like Marathon or Princess this year. First we grabbed our bibs. All of us were running the 5k and I was running the half. The 5k shirts were also in that building so we got our shirts on the way out.

Here are the bibs, I loved the colors.



We had the boys pose with the Tie Fighter silhouette.



I tried to get them to pretend fight because of their shirts and this is what I got



Then we walked upstairs and made our way to the Josten Center. Posted outside the doors were Storm Troopers on guard. They were not too happy with Killian's hat.



They pulled him to the side, "scanned" his Magic Band and looked under his hat before letting him in.

In the Josten Center I picked up the running capris I had preorder from Raw Threads. Then I grabbed my shirt and we headed forthe Official Merchandise area. That was probably the most crowded part of the expo but still wasn't too bad. Everything was well stocked, a much different story than last year. I ended up getting the usual, some magnets, a sweaty band and a pint glass.



I like to put the magnets on the back of our front door with the Mickeys we take on our cruises. And my collection is coming along nicely.



Then we stopped to look at the medals and I asked about registration links for Paris. They said we should be getting them in mid to late May, so fingers crossed! Next Liam and I went to the Havaianas flip flop booth where I bought him a new pair. I kinda wish I had gotten myself a pair but they were mostly Star Wars, so maybe next time. We stopped for a picture with the 5k course map.



After that we went to the New Balance Booth, I needed to pick up a pair of Toy Story shoes for my mom to give to my brother for his bday. Then we perused the rest of the booths. We stopped to talk to the Hot Chocolate race people and the Noah's Light Foundation people (such a great cause I am thinking about running for them in 2018).

As we left I grabbed a drink and then we walked back to the car. It was so hot we decided to go back to POP and let the boys swim for a bit. They had a great time in the Hippy Dippy pool and it was hard to pull them out but we had to get back to AK for our ROL passes.







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[cavepig]

I tried to get them to pretend fight because of their shirts and this is what I got

That pictures is awesome!

Posted outside the doors were Storm Troopers on guard.

I'm bummed we missed Stormtroopers, they must have been on break, but that picture is great and how fun!

Oh your door looks so cool with all the magnets. We have a small official magnet, I regret not getting them for our first few race weekends, collection we put on cabinets in our office along with each weekend we pick one character race photo to make a magnet out of (I throw into sports photography orders so already have our Dark Side ones up).

 

[firstwdw]

Following along! Thanks for the invite over on the rundisney page where I asked about the 5k for 10 year olds! I see the boys are not having much trouble keeping up with a parks vacation prior to the race which is exactly what we would do. I also see you drove to the Expo-we will likely have a rental car so this seems to make sense instead of relying on buses. Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[ZellyB]

Love that the Storm Troopers stopped Killian and scanned him because of his hat. Very fun! Glad that the expo wasn't too crazy. We are planning an afternoon trip to the Tink expo hoping to avoid crazy crowds. Great idea to display your magnets on your door too!

 

[Sailormoon2]

On the way to our table they gave us light up lotus flower popcorn buckets

Was that some awesome pixie dust (again) or were they giving them out to all patrons with ROL dinning package reservations?

And my collection is coming along nicely.

I love your collection!!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Was that some awesome pixie dust (again) or were they giving them out to all patrons with ROL dinning package reservations?

They were giving them out to everyone that had the ROL package. But stay tuned because there will be more pixie dust later in the trip

Love that the Storm Troopers stopped Killian and scanned him because of his hat. Very fun! Glad that the expo wasn't too crazy. We are planning an afternoon trip to the Tink expo hoping to avoid crazy crowds. Great idea to display your magnets on your door too!

I have never seen them interact that much with someone before, the boys were in heaven!

For Tink last year we drove from LV and got there early afternoon on the first day. It was busy but not a mad house. They had been lining people up in the parking garage underground but stopped shortly after we arrived. It is a smaller expo than WDW but I felt like they did better crowd control. It's funny because I actually met @wehrengrizz at Tink (I feel like I just had a full circle moment). Your going to have soooo much fun!!

Following along! Thanks for the invite over on the rundisney page where I asked about the 5k for 10 year olds! I see the boys are not having much trouble keeping up with a parks vacation prior to the race which is exactly what we would do. I also see you drove to the Expo-we will likely have a rental car so this seems to make sense instead of relying on buses. Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Yay! Glad you came over. I'm sorry I'm so slow at posting, Strep is running ramped through my house right now The boys had no trouble at all! I think we had more trouble than them.

Oh your door looks so cool with all the magnets. We have a small official magnet, I regret not getting them for our first few race weekends, collection we put on cabinets in our office along with each weekend we pick one character race photo to make a magnet out of (I throw into sports photography orders so already have our Dark Side ones up).

Thanks! I wanted to put them on my car but don't want them ruined or stolen. The door is probably the next best thing. I get to see them everyday before I go out for a run.

I love that you have ones made out of your race photos! I always get magnet for my kids pictures because they are easier to hang up than ones in frames.

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Rivers of Light

When we got back into AK there was a couple running and yelling. It took us a minute to realize they were high fiving everyone because it was national high five day. Becky loves high fives so she was very excited. After that excitement we went to meet safari Mickey and Minnie. I just realized those pictures never showed up in my photopass account (just put in the missing request)

We had wanted to ride EE again but we couldn't make it work. By this time it was getting close to ROL. Our entrance for the dining package was by Finding Nemo so we headed over that way. We got there after they had opened up the seating so we didn't have to wait but we were still able to get great seats. That was the whole goal of doing the dining package

While we waited for the show to begin Becky took our popcorn buckets and found a cart to get them filled I think we waited about 30 minutes for the show to begin. It was a beautiful show.



When ROL was over we stayed in our seats for an extra 10 minutes to let the crowd die down. One of the dancers on the boat walked right by us and it was neat to see her costume close up.

The crowds were still crazy when we did decide to leave. The way they had the traffic going didn't make sense. We were funneled through Dinoland and as we passed by the Primeval Whirl the boys asked to ride it. Becky didn't want to get a headache so I volunteered to take them while she browsed the gift shop.

When we got off the ride we found Becky talking with a cast member in Chester and Hester's Dinosaur Treasures. We told her the story about the boys being pen pals and how they were meeting for the first time. She was so excited that they wrote actual letters to each other that she took them over to the key chains and told each of them to pick out a lightsaber.




Like I said before the cast members on this trip were amazing!!!

Liam decided he wanted to wear Mickey ears so I bought him a pair. I was so excited he decided to come out of his shell even more and he picked the perfect pair, the death star!

On the way out of the store the boys spotted a hidden Mickey in the asphalt.


We stopped to do a little more shopping on the way out and watch the tree awaken.



We made our way back to the car and then on to POP. The next day was going to be a super early wake up call so we tried to get some sleep.

Up Next: 5k


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[run.minnie.miles]

ROL was so different- I really enjoyed it! And watching the tree awaken never gets old

You all were blessed with the best cast members and pixie dust this trip! So cool! I bet the boys will remember it forever

 

[Sailormoon2]

WooHoo!! for awesome Cast Members, DH and I too always seem to luck into these! So, in your opinion ROL Dinning was defintiely worth it? Did you happen to notice the line for the non-dinning entrance? I'm trying to work on convincing the family (who are super cheap) to do this, because I think they will really love the show.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

WooHoo!! for awesome Cast Members, DH and I too always seem to luck into these! So, in your opinion ROL Dinning was defintiely worth it? Did you happen to notice the line for the non-dinning entrance? I'm trying to work on convincing the family (who are super cheap) to do this, because I think they will really love the show.

When we went in Feb, the general entrance line was CRAZY and people were lined up so early. We had FP+ seating, which was great. We didn't have to do the dining package, but also didn't have to wait in line. But I guess I'm not sure that they they still do the FP+ for this?

 

[wehrengrizz]

Love that the Storm Troopers stopped Killian and scanned him because of his hat. Very fun! Glad that the expo wasn't too crazy. We are planning an afternoon trip to the Tink expo hoping to avoid crazy crowds.

Yes! It was awesome, and really nuts. We saw them kind of pose with some people in front of us for quick pictures but if we TRIED to take a picture they blocked it. I almost got my phone out in time to record a clip of this but one of the storm troopers kept putting his hand out to block it Luckily I stepped back a bit and got some quick shots. So fun!!!

Was that some awesome pixie dust (again) or were they giving them out to all patrons with ROL dinning package reservations?

Those were to everyone with the ROL dining package! I had seen a few weeks prior that someone on facebook posted she got hers with their TH breakfast ROL package...I had my fingers crossed but my expectations were in check; this is WDW, you can't count on things still being around. **cough cough Rose Cups at BOG**

For Tink last year we drove from LV and got there early afternoon on the first day. It was busy but not a mad house. They had been lining people up in the parking garage underground but stopped shortly after we arrived. It is a smaller expo than WDW but I felt like they did better crowd control. It's funny because I actually met @wehrengrizz at Tink (I feel like I just had a full circle moment).

I had a crazy time at that expo, too, and that was even before we met at the expo, @MommaoffherRocker !! People were so confused on how to find it and even though I'd never been to DLR before I had no problem, and I was walking from a mile off-site Generally the masses of confused people just amused me but once we met up the trip definitely got way better! And if we really wanted to go full circle (spinning, even), we should have made sure we got to Trader Sam's this trip but that's a goal for another time I guess I digress. Definitely glad we waited to go a little later to the expo!!

 

[TCB in FLA]

Love the Tie Fighters shirts!

I'm enjoying re-living the race weekend through your TR!

 

[wehrengrizz]

When we went in Feb, the general entrance line was CRAZY and people were lined up so early. We had FP+ seating, which was great. We didn't have to do the dining package, but also didn't have to wait in line. But I guess I'm not sure that they they still do the FP+ for this?

they do still have ROL FP+! A friend of mine is going next week and she was asking me if she should dump her FP so she can finish 3 earlier in the day and then get more. For once, I had to say, well, NO. If you want to see ROL and NOT wait hours, and be SITTING, I'd say keep it. Until Pandora opens, I don't really think (with her group) it's worth worrying about extra FP at AK. I also told her we could see TONS of people lining the whole viewing area around the water (up high) able to watch the show. Hopefully that was helpful and not confusing

 

[ZellyB]

I'm excited to see ROL on our next trip. AK is my favorite park and I'm so happy to see it getting some love (and extended ours) with ROL and Pandora!!

I love all the pixie dust you got from Cast Members. So awesome!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

And watching the tree awaken never gets old

This was the first time I had seen it and I really didn't know what it was beforehand but I love all the projection shows they are doing now!

Dinning was defintiely worth it? Did you happen to notice the line for the non-dinning entrance?

I didn't see the other lines. We did see people lined up against the fence outside of the theater across the way but I think they were just standing there to watch the show. I do think the package was worth it for us because we were planning a character meal anyways so it was a great way to knock both things out. We had O'hana reservations and we ended up dropping it after getting this package. I have fastpasses for the show in a couple weeks, if you want I can post any differences after I see it that way.

Love the Tie Fighters shirts!

That was all @wehrengrizz she made them for the boys

AK is my favorite park and I'm so happy to see it getting some love (and extended ours) with ROL and Pandora!!

I'm so excited for Pandora! I was lucky enough to get an AP preview spot on the 21st. I agree that AK is a great park and love that they have a night time show now!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

5k

Our alarm went off around 3:15am. The goal was to get out the door before the first bus left at 4. Last year they had a ton of photo ops before the race so we wanted to be first in line for them this year. Becky, Liam and I got up and dressed but Killian was a little harder to convince hahaha.
I grabbed a mirror selfie with Liam



Liam was a Death Star officer. I made his rank from some foam paper and I think it turned out nicely.

At 4 we were all ready and headed out the door. We drove to Epcot, parked and then walked to the start. We were happy to see the photo ops were out but not happy to see the lines that looked insane. As a group we decided that we wait for Captain Phasma first. It was about a 20 minutes for her, which was much better than I thought.



We ended up having time to see Boba too.



And then we grabbed one of all of us


From there we headed to corral D.​

 

[ZellyB]

I love the race outfits and your ears!! The photo ops all turned out great.

 

[TeeterTots]

You all look great! Nice photos!!