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

[wdwnut61]

Thank you! Wow 10 days at CR, lucky!

My youngest DD goes to college in Florida so we always go every Spring Break and Thanksgiving.

Haha I wish but we don't have kids, these are my dear nieces! I actually have 3 nieces going to WDW this August. The third one is only 6 months old right now. I will have to do a little family intro post in my PTR for my august trip!

Beautiful nieces

the Tower rooms are so expensive and DH and I are like, well we are still young, we can walk just fine, but nowadays...not so much it seems!

I agree we splurged one year when the kids were younger and stayed in a theme park view. The second time we booked GW and received some pixie dust and were upgraded to the tower with a Bay Lake view. The GW rooms are identical and the savings is substantial.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Loving your report! We were there the exact same time and Lordy I have never seen the parks so crowded! It was crazy!!!!! I am glad I'm not the only one who thought so!!!

Hi Emily! Thank you! I know, I can't believe how crowded it was. We barely did any standby lines if we didn't get to the park super early, it was just too long! If I'm not in any more races...I'd definitely not be going race weekends! It was really cool to see everyone with their medals though. I congratulated everyone I saw with one (or more!).

Yea! I love your trip reports. Your outfits are always perfect and you guys always eat the best meals! Can't wait to hear about the 5k. I love the Tangled photo!

Thank you so much! I've totally been bit by the Disney dress-up bug. I didn't own a single Mickey or Disney item of clothing until 2011 which is when my sisters and I came to WDW together and we got to go shopping! That got me hooked!

My youngest DD goes to college in Florida so we always go every Spring Break and Thanksgiving.

How fun! That's a lovely way to spend family time!

Beautiful nieces

Thank you! They are so cute but they are a handful!

I agree we splurged one year when the kids were younger and stayed in a theme park view. The second time we booked GW and received some pixie dust and were upgraded to the tower with a Bay Lake view. The GW rooms are identical and the savings is substantial.

I love some pixie dust!! How wonderful!

 

[cinderkelly]

I'm here! I'm here! So sorry I'm late! Wow, page 3 already! I still have to go back and start reading, but I LOVE that Tangled magic shot of you guys!!!

I'm still trying to get back into the schedule of all work and no play and all I want to do is sleep!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 2 Part 1: Here we go...the start of our first Run Disney Experience!

Taking a step back to the night before the race: I was texting @Elevationist to see if she was still running. I think she was having some doubts because it was an exhausting week for her doing power Disney with her family in WDW. And goodness I can relate because I've only been at WDW for a day and I was already exhausted! She was drinking with the fam bam and she said she was still going to run. Yay! And I was like, you're drinking the night before the 5k?!?! I wish I had thought of that! I should have had a glass of wine to wind down or something as I was kinda nervous. I tend to get like that before any new experience. But anyways too late now! I took a bath in some Epsom salt, iced my ankle, set our alarms, took some super strength naproxen, rubbed some eucalyptus oil on my ankle and went to bed. DH was asleep really quickly having downed his medication. I felt bad for the guy but he said he was OK for the run and so I guess he's running too!

At 3am, I woke up to my alarm which I then snoozed for 20 minutes. Then panicked and woke up really quickly. DH was already awake. He said the Water Parade woke him up at 10pm and he couldn't get a good night's rest after that. Darn water view room, LOL!

We got ready, changed, put on our bibs, and I tried really quickly to do something with my hair. I never wear my hair up except to the gym. I have a pancake shaped face and a flat head and I really just don't like accentuating it but I knew if I didn't put it up I'd be annoyed by it so I just tied a high ponytail and tried to do a middle part like Belle. I put on eyebrows, blush, and lipstick so I wouldn't look like death, and only realized after we left the room and on the way to the bus that I drew in my eyebrows too dark! I look a bit like Mommy Dearest but oh well, the eyebrow stuff I use is pretty smudge-proof so apparently that's how I'm running! Guess I was inspired by Prince Charming's look the night before.

I was not so happy with this hair do of mine: It looked so crooked!

So I just re-did it in the bus. I pretty much just french-braided my hair and ended it in a ponytail. That was the best I could do.

On the bus:

When we arrived at the corrals, we were greeted with a whole swam of people. It was pretty cool to see so many runners!

We all walked over to the main part of the corral where there was a stage set up, announcers, and a ton of people! There was music playing and stuff going on on stage.

I saw a huge line of people and asked what they were waiting for. Pictures with the princesses they said, so sure enough, we got on line too! There really wasn't much we could do for the next hour and a half or so. I texted Billie to see where she was and she was hanging on the bleachers with her cousin's wife, who's also running, and I said come meet us and they did!

Here's pictures of my first Dismeet of the trip with Bille (@Elevationist)!! She's everything I thought she would be, a ton of fun, and super sweet. I'm so glad you made it to the race Billie!

Here's all of us together:

When you get your bibs you're given a clear plastic bag. This is the bag you can check and put your jackets, water bottles, and anything you brought with you to the races that you don't want to run with. I put my stuff in DH's bag so we only had to check one.

Billie took the next picture. Here you can finally see DH's outfit:

Yes he was Gaston and he LOVED his look. I'm actually quite concerned how much he LOVES Gaston now. I keep telling him, hey you know Belle does not end up with Gaston, right? He just puts on his best Gaston voice and says "I will keep you, woman!"
Sigh...I guess this is his way of Disney-bounding. But hey, I got him to Disney-bound, right?

While on line for the princesses, which took a bloody looong time, I had my second Dismeet of the trip! My friend Ann! Ann was one of the first people I met off the Disboards back in 2012. She was running the ToT 10 miler and that was her first Run Disney race. She caught the bug pretty quickly and now runs Disney races all the time! She was actually doing all the races that weekend! Her and her daughter, Zoe were doing the 5k together. It was great catching up after all this time. We are actually going to have drinks on my birthday which I was looking forward to!

I love Snow White in the background giving her most sultry dead-tired look.

Still waiting...

We chatted with Bille and her cousin's wife and had a grand time just chilling. Billie was telling me all about her trip so far and how it rained all day on Wednesday, the day we arrived. I would take a rainy Disney day over a sunny day at home for sure!

Finally it was our turn. They switch out the princesses every so often. We did not see Belle, but we did see...Rapunzel!!

There were actually two separate lines for princesses on either side of the stage. But both lines are long so you'd probably have to come super duper early or just be ok with getting one picture. Think Snow White was on the other line. Soon they said it was time to begin heading for our corrals, so we said goodbye to Billie and her cousin's wife. We were in corral A. Yes I did sign us up for the "fastest" corral basically so we'd not be the last people crossing the finish line because I knew we'd be stopping for pictures. But there were a ton of walkers in A and it didn't' really matter. If you were fast, you wouldn't even notice us stragglers anyways!

My look says "Oh dear, did I really sign us up for Corral A?!?"

Even within each Corral, they divide you into sections anyways. So the first section goes then a couple minutes later the next, etc. I think it's like a hundred runners at a time. We were in the second section of Corral A.

WE CAN DO THIS YES WE CAN!

The nice part of Corral A is that you get to be front and center when ther do start the race!

Almost there...

It's our turn next!

HERE WE GOOO!!!

We're moving we're moving!

Part 2 of Race Day coming soon!

​

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Yay! I'm glad you got up and went! You would have totally regretted it if you hadn't! I'm looking forward to hearing how it went. There is something so special about that first RunDisney experience!

 

[wdwnut61]

I love your and DH outfits perfect
Congrats on running looking forward to your next update.
Yay for Dismeets

 

[Ariel484]

Yay for DIS-meets! I LOVE your outfits, they are perfect for the race weekend!

LOL at Snow White in the background of your photo with Ann Can't wait to hear what you thought of the race!

 

[AV007]

Then she looked at DH and screamed really loudly throughout the restaurant:

"You haven't bought her any diamonds in 9 years?!?"

Me (to DH): I think I like this Drizella character!!
DH (to me): No wonder she's still single...

This is AWESOME!!! Enjoying the trip report!!!

 

[bcwife76]

Man, look at all those people.....in the dark.....wanting to run.....

That's so awesome you've already caught up with two Disboarders by this point!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm here! I'm here! So sorry I'm late! Wow, page 3 already! I still have to go back and start reading, but I LOVE that Tangled magic shot of you guys!!!

Hi Kelly! No worries! Just wanted to get started on this TR quickly!

I'm still trying to get back into the schedule of all work and no play and all I want to do is sleep!

Haha yeah it's been non-stop since I got back. I am dying to go down for a weekend in June just to check out Pandora...it's sooo tempting!

Yay! I'm glad you got up and went! You would have totally regretted it if you hadn't! I'm looking forward to hearing how it went. There is something so special about that first RunDisney experience!

Thank you! I wasn't not going to make it. It was the purpose of the trip! DH was a trooper, he was stuffed full of medication but he thought it was still fun!

I love your and DH outfits perfect
Congrats on running looking forward to your next update.
Yay for Dismeets

Thank you!! I definitely felt self-conscious at the beginning though, but in the company of Disney friends I felt very comfortable. I don't like my hair up, I don't really like racer-back tanks because my shoulders are so broad and it makes them look broader...but oh well, I didn't care at the end! Next time I think I'll do a tutu!

Yay for DIS-meets! I LOVE your outfits, they are perfect for the race weekend!

LOL at Snow White in the background of your photo with Ann Can't wait to hear what you thought of the race!

Thank you! I really didn't' know what to wear but I knew we wanted Belle and Gaston. I got myself a sparkle skirt but after that I kinda wishes I got a tutu. I guess there's always next time!
I know that Snow white is so funny because she summed up how I felt...tired! But I liked her snow white shirt. I'm gonna have to copy that for my next outfit!

 

[chunkymonkey]

This is AWESOME!!! Enjoying the trip report!!!

Thank you so much!! Welcome!

Man, look at all those people.....in the dark.....wanting to run.....

That's so awesome you've already caught up with two Disboarders by this point!!

I know, who are those crazy people who signed up for this?!?

Yay for Dismeets! hopefully we get to meet one day too!!

 

[iivye]

Next time I think I'll do a tutu!

Yeah! Sounds like you might have been bitten by the RunDisney bug!

You two look great in your race outfits! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[BlvInMagic]

Joining in! Yea - so happy to see another Chunkymonkey TR I love the PP shot with the Tangled lantern -- so awesome!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Your outfit is so cute, I think your hair looks very nice and you look pretty darn good for 3am. I love your husbands Gaston look, you two look great together. How nice to meet up with other Disers. I am a fast walker and try to get 3-4 miles in most days but I have never been in any races, Disney would be the way to go.

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

Following along. My DH and I were there as well for the half. DH ended up having issues leading up to the race and didn't end really being able to train so he ended up sitting it out. But we had a great weekend and I had a lot of fun finishing my first half. Just talked my sister and sister in law into going next year and doing the challenge! Can't wait to hear about your run!

 

[Sajchinook2015]

Hi, I normally am a lurker, but wanted to chime in and tell you I always enjoy your trip reports. Thanks for writing them.

 

[soniam]

So glad you got to hang out with @Elevationist. The race looks fun. I wonder if it will be cold in November. Man, I am not looking forward to all of the waiting around before the race. But hey, I can bum around with you guys Poor DH will be by himself for the half, because I am not waking up early to hang out with him. Bad wife, I know I will meet him at the finish though. I ended up running 1 mile Sunday and did it in 13 minutes. I am going to slowly add, and I am hoping to get down to 12 min/mile.

 

[Raeven]

and only realized after we left the room and on the way to the bus that I drew in my eyebrows too dark! I look a bit like Mommy Dearest but oh well, the eyebrow stuff I use is pretty smudge-proof so apparently that's how I'm running! Guess I was inspired by Prince Charming's look the night before.

I was not so happy with this hair do of mine: It looked so crooked!

So I just re-did it in the bus. I pretty much just french-braided my hair and ended it in a ponytail. That was the best I could do.

On the bus:

​

I think your eyebrows look fine but I did get a laugh out of you copying Prince Charming's eyebrown technique. I also don't think your hair looks bad, but having the part not be perfectly straight would bother me too.

Billie took the next picture. Here you can finally see DH's outfit:

Yes he was Gaston and he LOVED his look. I'm actually quite concerned how much he LOVES Gaston now. I keep telling him, hey you know Belle does not end up with Gaston, right? He just puts on his best Gaston voice and says "I will keep you, woman!"
Sigh...I guess this is his way of Disney-bounding. But hey, I got him to Disney-bound, right?

I'm concerned with how much Josh likes Gaston too. He always poses with the statue then brags about his muscles. I think he needs to meet him so they compare. I managed to get him to say yes to a Gaston shirt, but I don't think I've sold him on Disneybounding yet.

I love Snow White in the background giving her most sultry dead-tired look.

​

 

[chunkymonkey]

Yeah! Sounds like you might have been bitten by the RunDisney bug!

You two look great in your race outfits! Can't wait to hear more.

Haha that may very well be so. I really love my medal. I hope the Fall Feast 5k has a metal medal for the 5k too. I don't know if I want to do longer races yet. LOL
Thank you!!

Joining in! Yea - so happy to see another Chunkymonkey TR I love the PP shot with the Tangled lantern -- so awesome!

Thank you so much!!
Yeah that was such a cool shot. I was so happy I was able to get this. I thought I wasn't because I hadn't checked the hours at MK for a while and I thought it closed at 9 on our last night there and we had dinner plans and would have been cutting it close. But turns out it closed at 11pm so I was able to get my shot!

Your outfit is so cute, I think your hair looks very nice and you look pretty darn good for 3am. I love your husbands Gaston look, you two look great together. How nice to meet up with other Disers. I am a fast walker and try to get 3-4 miles in most days but I have never been in any races, Disney would be the way to go.

Thank you! I tried. I had high hopes of waking up earlier and doing something funky with my hair. I even brought one of those donut "buns" that you wrap your hair around, but so much for effort at 3am, haha. The thought was there though!
Thank you! I will him you said he good in his outfit and I bet he will respond with "Don't you think there's more to life than being really really really good-looking?" in his best Zoolander voice.
We had a really fun time meeting other DISers. It was just a coincidence we were all there for the weekend and so had to meet!

Following along. My DH and I were there as well for the half. DH ended up having issues leading up to the race and didn't end really being able to train so he ended up sitting it out. But we had a great weekend and I had a lot of fun finishing my first half. Just talked my sister and sister in law into going next year and doing the challenge! Can't wait to hear about your run!

Oh cool! Sorry your DH had to sit out but I can imagine how much the half can take a toll on your body. Congrats on finishing the half! I loved those medals, so pretty!
Good luck next year!

Hi, I normally am a lurker, but wanted to chime in and tell you I always enjoy your trip reports. Thanks for writing them.

Thank you so much! I appreciate the kind words!! and Welcome!

So glad you got to hang out with @Elevationist. The race looks fun. I wonder if it will be cold in November. Man, I am not looking forward to all of the waiting around before the race. But hey, I can bum around with you guys Poor DH will be by himself for the half, because I am not waking up early to hang out with him. Bad wife, I know I will meet him at the finish though. I ended up running 1 mile Sunday and did it in 13 minutes. I am going to slowly add, and I am hoping to get down to 12 min/mile.

It was a lot more fun that I would expect at 4am that's for sure! The race itself was fun. It was cool to be running through Disney. There were tons of people cheering us on. Even though I could barely run half of it, it was still an experience I'd do again. I don't think it will be that cold in November. It is still the beginining of Nov. The one thime we went in October it was really hot. In Feb it did get cold at night at in the early morning but nothing that you coudln't live without a jacket for a few hours. And when you're running it was quite nice. I actually hope it's not too hot in Nov!

that's great you are doing so well with your running. I can barely manage a 14 minute mile. I feel like I'm going to fast and I look down at my pace and I'm like, OH. Of course that was before the injury so who knows what I'll be able to muster right now,

We should definitely hang before the race. There isn't much to do anyways aside from check your bag in which took no time at all, and wait for character pictures. It was fun to see everyone's costumes though. Loved them!

 

[Shrfleen]

I can't wait to see how the rest of your trip went!