Tale as Old as Time...a Feb 2017 Princess 5k and B-Day Trip! NEW 4/7 THE END of our trip!!

[chunkymonkey]

Tale as Old as Time: A Princess 5k and Birthday Trip Report
with
Chunkymonkey and Chubbyhubby!

(yes we got the Tangled Magic Shot!)

OK I'm not gonna lie, it was really hard to come up with a name for this trip report...because so many great things happened on this trip! It was our first Run Disney event (5k), we did the 7-hour Star Wars Guided Tour (it was great!), we ate really well (Tiffin's is now our fave restaurant on property), and met a TON of Disboard friends both old and new. Other titles of this TR that were in consideration included:
​

Chunkymonkey and Chubbyhubby March with the First Order - because we did!

Chunkymonkey and Chubbyhubby run the World! - well we didn't exactly "run" the entire 5k so that would be misleading...

An Unexpected Fruitiness Trip - an inside joke with me and another Disboarder but would have probably been taken the wrong way, LOL​

But on this trip, I turned 41 years old. So I'm definitely older, probably not as old as time, but I feel close to it (why does my body ache so much!?!). So there you have it, a Belle-themed Princess 5k Birthday Trip with some Star Wars and some fruitiness thrown in.

Introductions:

On the Right you have me: I'm Su-Lynn, aka Chunkymonkey! I'm a Disney-addict and have been to WDW many times as well as a few trips to Disneyland and even Tokyo Disneyland when I was very young. My favorite park is Epcot, my favorite characters change all the time but currently are Minnie, Belle, Daisy, and Eeyore. I love to eat and my favorite table service are Tiffins and 'Ohana, and favorite counter service is Be Our Guest. My favorite rides are 7DMT, Soarin', Peoplemover and BTMRR. I work in IT/Finance and we hail from the NY/NJ region.

On the Left you have my DH: Steve, aka Chubbyhubby. He's also 41 years old and although he won't admit it, he probably loves Disney as much as I do. (He tells everyone it's my idea to plan these trips). He was really on board when I suggested we do a Run Disney event though as he's really into sports but not really a runner. He thought it was a fun new experiences at WDW. He also works in Finance and loves to eat, garden, and play softball, basketball, pretty much any sport! He loved his meal at Tiffins in AK, and he also loves anything Star Wars as well as (most) thrill rides.

I signed us up for the Princess 5k last year when it was first announced. In fact my Disboard friend, @Elevationist was the one who inspired me to sign up for it! I had never ever run any sort of event in my life and it only took 41 years to do so. DH had run a few 5ks before but he was never serious about it. I did a loose version of a couch to 5k program and I was able to do a jog-walk and made it up to 2.5 miles, just a little more and it would be a full 5k! Since it was so close to my birthday we made it into another birthday trip! (See last year's 40th Birthday trip report). Since we were planning more trips to the world we got ourselves some Annual Passes too, and our first trip using them was in December 2016.

Then this happened at the beginning of 2017:

I fell and thought I sprained my ankle. Turned out to be a stress fracture and I had to wear a cast for a week and a brace for 4 weeks and pretty much keep off my feet. I was so miserable. As soon as the brace came off I went through a lot of prep to get myself ready for this trip: physical therapy, acupuncture, reflexology. I did a lot of homeopathic treatments: salt soaks, arnica pills, medicated oils etc., just so I could withstand long days at the park. Because when I'm at Disney, I'm non-stop and I'm not going to let a little ankle injury sideline my trip!

Then right before our trip, DH got really sick with an upper respiratory infection. He was on antibiotics and other medications and wasn't sleeping well. He was really miserable too. I hoped he wouldn't have to pull out of the race, but he was having trouble breathing and was coughing a lot.

How did we do? Well, we survived, that's for sure! Here's proof:

Hope you're in for our magical trip report!!

​

 

[chunkymonkey]

Table of Contents:

• Introductions

Day 0 and Day 1

• Day 0 and Day 1 Part 1: Departure, Run Disney Expo, Check in at Contemporary Resort
• Day 1 Part 2: First Afternoon at MK!
• Day 1 Part 3: Pre-Race Dinner at 1900 Park Fare

Day 2: Princess 5K

• Day 2 Part 1: It's Race Day!
• Day 2 Part 2: And We're off! Our first Run Disney 5k!
• Day 2 Part 3: An Epcot Afternoon!
• Day 2 Part 4: Dinner at Tokyo Dining and a Dismeet at Trader Sams!

Day 3: Hollywood Studios Star Wars Guided Tour

• Day 3 Part 1: We "Wave" Goodbye to Billie and head to DHS!
• Day 3 Part 2: Start of our Star Wars 7-Hour Guided Tour (Part 1)
• Day 3 Part 3: Star Wars Launch Bay and Dessert Party (Part 2 of Tour)
• Day 3 Part 4: Chewie & Kylo, Star Wars Galactic Fireworks (Part 3 of Tour)

Day 4: AK and Epcot

• Day 4 Part 1: A Relaxing Morning, Tiffins Lunch
• Day 4 Part 2: Another DisMeet, Yachtsman Steakhouse, and maybe, just maybe, Rivers of Light

Day 5: My Birthday at MK!

• Day 5 Part 1: A Strap Mishap and PPO Breakfast at BOG
• Day 5 Part 2: Party on the Bayou! Tiana's Riverboat Ice Cream Social!
• Day 5 Part 3: Birthday Festivities! Top of the World, California Grill, Closing down MK!

Day 6: The Last Day

• Day 6 Part 1: Having breakfast and staying for lunch at Tusker House!
• Day 6 Part 2: The Final moments...

 

[Raeven]

Yay! Following along! So glad you had such a great birthday trip! I loved all the pictures I saw on instagram.

 

[ariane37]

Following! I saw you in a few other Disboarder's trip pics I also love reading about the RunDisney events since, as much as I'd love to do one in theory, I don't think I'll ever actually commit to doing one since I, um, don't run
Your trip sounds awesome, can't wait to read about it!

 

[bcwife76]

Following!!! Sounds like a lot of great things happened on this trip, can't wait to read more!

 

[Neverland_Girl]

Yay I love your reports! So glad you guys had a great trip and you both came back in one piece. We just got back today and I already have the post-Disney blues BAD! I may or may not have been chuckling to myself seeing all of the half marathoners limping around the next day, but good for them. Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Yay! Following along! So glad you had such a great birthday trip! I loved all the pictures I saw on instagram.

Hi Raeven! So happy you're here and you get the First Poster award!!

Following! I saw you in a few other Disboarder's trip pics I also love reading about the RunDisney events since, as much as I'd love to do one in theory, I don't think I'll ever actually commit to doing one since I, um, don't run
Your trip sounds awesome, can't wait to read about it!

Hi Ariane! I'm so happy you're here! I'm a lurker on your great TRs and am reading your dining report - sooo delicious! Nice to formally "meet"

Following!!! Sounds like a lot of great things happened on this trip, can't wait to read more!

Yay! It was a jam-packed trip that's for sure but we had so much fun!!

Yay I love your reports! So glad you guys had a great trip and you both came back in one piece. We just got back today and I already have the post-Disney blues BAD! I may or may not have been chuckling to myself seeing all of the half marathoners limping around the next day, but good for them. Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Thank you! Great to see you here. I know about the post-Disney blues because I totally have them now. I want to relive my trip so that's why trip reports are so much fun to write. I hope you do get to write a little recap of yours. It's fun to see what others did during that time. I was kinda envious of all the half marathon runners. I wanted their medal so badly, lol. Maybe in a few years, haha. For now I'm ok with the 5ks.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 0 and Day 1 Part 1: Departure, Run Disney Expo, Check-in at Contemporary Resort

We left for our trip on Wednesday, February 22nd. The night before we left I had dinner with my family and I had to say goodbye to these sweet little ones:

They are two of my nieces, Caylee (3) on the left and Eva (4) on the right. They are the daughters of my sisters, Chunkytwin1 and Chunkytwin2, respectively. We are all going to Disney for the first time in August of this year and I'm planning the whole thing. Right now Disney seems like an idea that they don't really have much concrete experience of, but they hear me and our other sister, Chunkysis, talk about it all the time. I can't wait to show them the World!

The next day after work, we drove home and my dad picked us up to drop us at the airport. We had a 9pm flight out of Newark on United. We grabbed some burgers near home and headed on our way. Traffic was ok, not terrible. The TSA even had these new conveyor belt machines at the TSA which was supposed to make it more efficient. Not sure if it really did but hey, not complaining either way. We spent time in the United Lounge which is a so-so lounge but our United credit cards give us some passes every year so we had to use them anyways. I would not pay out of pocket to enter the lounge.

Our flight was full and we arrived at Orlando close to 11:30pm. It was pouring rain! Luckily we did not have to go outside at all. We made our way over to baggage claim and then the Hyatt Regency MCO. Here's a tired looking me:

I chose to stay one night at the airport Hyatt for a few reasons:
1) I had a free night certificate from Hyatt hotels that we have to use every year by May. Only hotels of a certain category are offered and there aren't any in NYC that we could use. We usually use this for our stays at Hyatt MCO the night before our Disney cruises.
2) I didn't want to pay the price at the Contemporary Resort for a very short night.
3) We knew we'd be really tired after the late flight and we just wanted to crash instead of waiting for ME.
4) ME at this late hour means we'd have to collect our bags anyways, and then the ME bus is usually not the fancy Disney bus, it's a blah Mears van or something like that.

This was probably one of the best decisions I've made as we were exhausted and I needed to rest my ankle. We collected our bags and walked to the Hyatt, went up to our room and were asleep in about 35 minutes. We woke up the next day refreshed ready to tackle the day! I had packed everything we needed for our one night in our carry on so we didn't open our big luggage at all.

Lobby of the Hyatt Regency MCO

I had packed a lot of snacks knowing we'd be on the go a lot so we ate granola bars, protein bars, fruit, and cheese for breakfast. We checked out and headed towards ME. Oh yeah, and ME was PACKED. I've never seen it so packed.

I knew we were in for a crazy weekend! DH does not seem so thrilled, but he was still sick and not feeling it for the first few days.

Thankfully we made it into the first bus for the Contemporary Resort. We were one of the last people to board and there were no seats for 2 people. Just a random one off seat here and there. I was prepared to sit separately from DH but then we noticed the reserved seats in the front and we just asked the driver if it was ok, and he said, sure! So he removed the reserved sign and we got the coveted seats in the front! Doesn't hurt to ask, huh?

Here we are in the front seat of the ME bus!

Pretty soon we were crossing under this beautiful sign:

And our home for the next five nights:

Oh yeah, all my pictures were taking with my iphone because my camera decided to stop working on the trip. I don't know what's wrong with it! It just won't turn on even with a fully charged battery. I'm so sad because it was a really expensive camera (Canon G7X) and I've only had it for a little over a year. Canon is not winning any points with me right now as this is the 2nd point and shoot I've had which has broken. I'm probably going to have to send it in for servicing but the 1 year warranty has just expired so I'm sure it's going to cost a lot anyways. Hmmm, new camera maybe?

Our room wasn't ready yet so we just dropped our stuff off with Bell services and went to find the Run Disney Expo buses. We were told it was in front of the Convention Center. This was our first time staying at the Contemporary so we didn't know our way around too well but we found our way to the stop.

When we got to the stop, there was a Mears representative telling us we were in the right spot. Amazingly enough an expo bus had just turned into the Contemporary. Good luck with buses today I guess!

Here we are at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. Our first time here!

We went to collect our bibs and t-shirts and also to pick up my pre-ordered Dooney and Bourke. Since it was my birthday I decided to splurge on a letter-carrier bag. How could I not, right? Haha. I really wanted to buy many other things at the expo but the line to pay for the Princess stuff was just way to long. Maybe we came at the wrong time since the expo just opened today but we really didn't have a choice as our race was the next morning and we just wanted to get our bibs and go. I was also looking for a tank top which @LindseyJo22 was looking for, as well as a princess shoe ornament that my friend @tankgirl427 wanted but I didn't see either of them. Not sure I would even attempt to wait on that line even if I did!

Line to pay for merchandise.

We did not see any characters but my friend did get a picture with Belle like 2 days later so I know they do come out, just not sure when. So I had to settle for a picture with a picture of Belle and Beast:

As we were leaving we got a picture with this little sign holding our bibs:

Mission accomplished! Now we were ready to hit the parks!

(BTW, this was the first time I've worn shoes other than sneakers for the first time in 2 months. My ankle felt ok. I'd always be tired and slightly in pain at the end of every day but that was because of the amount of walking I did. I iced it daily and soaked it in warm water and it felt much better.)

We took the bus back to the Contemporary and surprise, our room was ready. I was hungry at this point as it was past 1pm but I wanted to eat in MK. We just went directly to the room and had bell services deliver our luggage. We were in the Garden Wing which I knew was in a separate building but we were literally in the room that I swear is the furthest away from everything. So I was tired just walking there. Sigh. I think our room number was 6122.

Finally we arrived, and our room was delightful. I know the Contemporary gets a bad rap for being the most un-Disney of all resorts because of it's modern theme, but I liked it. The room was very comfortable. Lots of table space, outlets to charge, and comfy beds, although not as comfy as the ones in the Swan and Dolphin, you can't argue with a Heavenly Bed!

The bathroom was very nice with a separate large toilet area. However the sinks were just a massive waste of space. They were large flat sinks and took up most of the counter space. We ended up just mostly using one sink and putting all our stuff in the other. Haha. They looked cool though and the bathroom was very well lit.

Overall, a very comfortable room, with lots of storage space and shelves in the main room area. The best part was this view, however:

I hadn't asked for a water view at all but I guess this lovely view makes up for the distance to the front of the resort. Just slightly.

We got a knock on our door and thinking it was our luggage, we were surprised to see a maintenance guy. He was replacing a light bulb and he showed us where (you can see in one of the pictures above that a bulb is out). He also told us of the shortcut to the main building. We had to go past the volleyball courts and past the pool. Oh ok, we'd try that next! As he was leaving our luggage came. Now that we had everything we were ready to hit the parks! Woohoo!

Coming up...our first afternoon at MK and dinner at 1900 Park Fare!
​

 

[ariane37]

I thought the ME line was scary ridiculous but Holy merchandise line at the Expo Yeah no way would I have waited on that line and even if I did, I don't think DH would,have waited with or even for me lol.
That's a by nice view from your room but I hear you on being in the farthest one. That happened on our last BWV stay. I swear it was like a 15 minute walk to the lobby!
Thank you for the compliment on my TR's
I didn't know you're in NYC, I'm about 90 minutes north of you

 

[Kari0180]

Following along! Love reading your reports and can't wait to hear about your race!

 

[KnK]

Looking forward to your adventure. It seems to long ago when you first started talking about the run.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 1 Part 2: First afternoon at MK!

We headed out using the shortcut from our room to the front of the resort and it was so much better! We had to walk in the sand of the volleyball courts though for the really short route, but we could also walk on concrete around the pool area as well, just won't be as quick. I was quite relieved that we didn't have to go the super long route through the other Garden Wing buildings every time!

A monorail had just come and gone so we decided to just walk to MK. One of the advantages of staying there! I would say it's about a .5 mile walk from the resort but from our room, probably .75 miles, haha. I was wearing sneakers now so I felt I could do more walking.

Once we went through security and into MK I felt like I was home! It was the perfect feeling! Today was also a gorgeous day even though the previous day was a washout. I hoped the next 5 days would be this nice. We had missed our first FP+ for BTMRR. I couldn't get another one until later that night and we would be asleep (I hope). We changed it to Pirates instead. We stopped for a PP pic when we entered the park:

The sun was so bright and the photographer's flash kinda washed out the castle in the background so it looks like a backdrop! We raced over to Fantasyland to make it to our next FP+, Seven Dwarves Mine Train! My favorite ride in MK! I don't know why but the FP line had a backup and it was long! But it sure has hell beat the 140 minute wait time for standby. We waited about 25 minutes though which is pretty long for an FP line but I was grateful I had that FP+!

So I was starving now at 2pm but we had an early dinner at 1900 park fare in a short while so we decided to share something rich and decadent...the pot roast mac n cheese at Friar's Nook. It was packed there!! There was no seating so we ate at the counter seating but with no seats until finally something opened up. The mac n cheese was deliciousness!

Half of it was the perfect amount of food because the richness of the dish definitely filled you up. The mac n cheese was velveeta-like (yay for plastic cheese) and the pot roast was tender and flavorful. A winner!

After our mini lunch we went on Pirates. The park was so crowded that we didn't really do much aside from our FP+. I thought the only way to cut through the richness of the mac n cheese was to get a Dole Whip float, obviously.

Also grabbed this pic of the side view of the castle:

We grabbed some more PP pics and headed to our last FP+ of the day, meeting with Mickey!

Our FP with Mickey was the same time the FoF parade was going on. We were seeing it on Monday when we had the Tiana's Ice Cream Social so we didn't really stop as we had to make dinner in a bit. In passing I took these pics:

We headed into Town Hall. The CM there said there was no wait so he didn't even scan our magic bands! He said to change the FP to something else instead. Cool, but we didn't really have time to make another attraction (and Tinkerbell wasn't there apparently as her line was closed otherwise we'd have just gone over to meet her). So the only opening that would be worth it to come back was BTMRR at around 8pm. Not sure if we'd make it as we have such an early wake up time (race starts at 6am and we have to take the bus starting at 4am) but it didn't hurt to book something in case we did.

Here we are meeting with Talking Mickey! I haven't done this in a while and I think he says more stuff now than he used to. I love how these magic wands have roses on them so they look like flowers in a vase:

The PP Photographer was trying to cast his magic spell on the CM:

She did not seem to amused.

Here's our pic with Mickey!

And I managed to take a selfie:

It was almost time to head out of the park and head to the GF. First we stopped by SoTMK to get us some new cards. Steve does not really play this game but he likes to collect cards. I'm sure we have packs of unopened cards lying around.

Coming up...dinner at 1900 Park Fare!​

 

[chunkymonkey]

I thought the ME line was scary ridiculous but Holy merchandise line at the Expo Yeah no way would I have waited on that line and even if I did, I don't think DH would,have waited with or even for me lol.

Yeah insane! I heard it died down after that but then a lot of merchandise was gone too.

That's a by nice view from your room but I hear you on being in the farthest one. That happened on our last BWV stay. I swear it was like a 15 minute walk to the lobby!

I definitely prefer convenience over a nice view. I mean it's appreciated but I'd prefer to be closer to food and transportation.

Thank you for the compliment on my TR's
I didn't know you're in NYC, I'm about 90 minutes north of you

You're welcome! It's always fun to meet other prolific TR writers
Oh cool, we live in northern NJ - but we lived in the city for many years before that and I basically grew up in NYC. I kinda miss city life!

Following along! Love reading your reports and can't wait to hear about your race!

Thank you and welcome!! Race post is coming up very soon. It's kinda nice it was at the beginning of our trip so we could get it out of the way. On our fall trip our 5k is at the end of our trip. Just so happened to work out that way.

Looking forward to your adventure. It seems to long ago when you first started talking about the run.

Thank you and welcome!! I know, I think I signed up for this last summer. I remember because it was right after I got tickets for Hamilton and I got those like 9 months ago. The Day after we came back from our trip we saw Hamilton on broadway. It was a very tiring but good week!

 

[rndmr2]

Glad to see you started your TR. Congrats on finishing the 5K and that your ankle held up.

That ME line was nuts! I guess a lot of people wanted to get an early start.

Love this pic

I saw it on FB on the Disney Addicts page, that is a fun group! Helps me get my Disney fix between trips, LOL

can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

 

[rndmr2]

You posted an update while I was typing my reply. Looks like you had a nice day at MK.

Beautiful Shot!

Cute pic of the 2 of you!

Fun Magic Shot! I just Love Olaf!!

Looking forward to the 1900 Park Faire dinner!

 

[soniam]

Seems like a good start. I can't wait to hear about the 5k, since I will be doing my first one at Wine & Dine. I should probably go for a run right now.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Glad to see you started your TR. Congrats on finishing the 5K and that your ankle held up.

That ME line was nuts! I guess a lot of people wanted to get an early start.

Thanks! So happy I signed up for it. It was a fun new experience. Did not like the early wake up time but I guess that can't be avoided if we want to run when the park isnt' open to the public yet. The ME line was really long. It was the line where people check in, scan their magic bands, or if they don't have magicbands they have to check in with the host. Some people were confused so it was probably due to a lot of discussion with the CMs. The lines for the buses themselves were ok, with some lines longer than others.

Love this pic

I saw it on FB on the Disney Addicts page, that is a fun group! Helps me get my Disney fix between trips, LOL

can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

Thanks! Yeah that group is addicting and it's fun to see everyone's pictures!

You posted an update while I was typing my reply. Looks like you had a nice day at MK.

Beautiful Shot!

Thank you! The park was packed. Actually every park was packed all weekend. If I wasn't running I would not go that weekend. Last year we went pretty much the same dates and the parks were empty. The marathon was held the weekend before and by the time we arrived the crowds had emptied out. The only relief was that we got some extended hours at MK - it closed at 11pm every night which was nice.

Cute pic of the 2 of you!

Thanks! DH is blinking though, but oh well!

Fun Magic Shot! I just Love Olaf!!

I love the Olaf shots because it looks like we're dancing!

Looking forward to the 1900 Park Faire dinner!

Coming soon!

Seems like a good start. I can't wait to hear about the 5k, since I will be doing my first one at Wine & Dine. I should probably go for a run right now.

Oh we'll be in the Fall Feast 5k too! We should meet up! Yay!

 

[soniam]

Oh we'll be in the Fall Feast 5k too! We should meet up! Yay!

Definitely! DH is doing the half marathon, so it will just be me. Where are you staying in November? We will be at the Beach Club. We are thinking about doing the Castaway Cay 5K as a family in August, since we will be taking a cruise after our WDW trip.

 

[kastoney]

I'm here and all subbed up! So glad to hear your ankle was healed up before the race. Great birthday present!

We stayed at the Hyatt on points a few trips ago when we had an evening arrival and agree its a great way to save and so convenient. I think we were off the plane, had luggage, and were in bed within 30 minutes.

Love your Contemporary room and the view, despite the walk. Undisney or not, I'll take nice any day of the week We had a chance to stay there in a garden room a few trips back but ultimately didn't think the kiddo would be up for the walk after long days in the park.

I can't believe all the people at both ME and then the race, insanity!!!! We were contemplating going that time next year to coincide with my daughters bday, but just decided to do November instead. It's looking like that was hopefully a wise decision.

 

[Mom2m&k]

Enjoying your trip report! I get ankle foot issue....I fractured my foot last year before we went and it was luckily okay in time!