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

[Glam]

Wow. Great trip report. And you make the 5k look like so much fun!

 

[chunkymonkey]

haha this cracked me up...when I saw that pictured of prince charming on I think it was insta I even showed my sister and was like "Look at this prince!!!" He was a bit much! You looked great though.

Yeah crazy makeup on the dude. He wears more makeup than Gaston, and that is a LOT, haha. Thank you!

DH cracks me up!

Yeah I don't know where this obsession began but I think he thinks of Gaston as more macho than other Disney dudes, haha.

Glad the race went well and again, so glad I got to meet you two!

Thank you and it was great meeting you too! Hopefully our trips will coincide again!

Just joining now! Love all your photos! You looked great while you were running! It must have been such an amazing feeling to finish and get those medals. I hope I can do a Disney race in the near future!

Hi! Thank you and Welcome!! Thanks for the kind words. It was a really fun experience and now I can say we did a Run Disney race! We signed up for the Food and Wine 5k and I have high hopes of doing the Dark Side 5k or maybe even the 10k one year. Hey, if I can do it, anyone can do it. We were in corral A and by the time we were done Corrals E, F and G were already caught up to us...but we didn't care!

Up to date now and sliding in for the rest! I'm sure that shirt would be the only thing my husband would disney bound in too lol

Thank you for reading and welcome! Yes, my DH is not into the whole Disney dressing up thing unless it's Star Wars. So maybe for a Star Wars race he'll do something again! He was Han Solo on our Star Wars Day at Sea cruise (my profile pic) and he quite enjoyed it.

Catching up again!

I am definitely signing up for a 5k in the future - don't know if I can get in for January still, but it looks like so much fun! I love the route, too - I was a little disappointed that the half course really didn't include World Showcase at all, so I'd love to be able to run through it And your characters and costumes were so good!

I'm sure the 5k would seem so easy to you after running halfs! But I guess it's a good warm up race? Oh I didn't know the half didn't go through World Showcase! That is interesting, I would think it'll be included. But I hear they change the courses occasionally.

Thank you! Can't wait to read about your experience on the half! And BTW, you looked great during your run! I would be a sopping mess.

Glad that you both enjoyed it, despite not being 100% - that's a plus for runDisney!

We did have a really great time. We didn't know what to expect so I think part of the fun is discovering a new experience. DH loves anything that involves activity and sports so I know he'll always be game for it, but it's a bummer he was still sick when he ran. he was a trooper though!

Also love the Contemporary room, very clean and nice looking. We have only stayed at BLT which is awesome, but not at the regular Contemporary. And good Photopass pictures! I have a few that look awkward, but in general they did a way better job than the other professional photographers at races I've been to. I usually look like I'm dying in race pictures and actually got some great ones from Photopass

I did enjoy the Contemporary room. Resort wise, I like the Poly more. I'm a child of the tropics so it's just a fun feeling to be there. But the rooms I remember were lit very poorly aside from of the bathrooms. It was hard to read anything in that room because the lights were so dim. I wonder if they changed it to better bulbs?...did they?

Looking forward do your PP pics!

Great job! 5K in the books now, the pictures are a nice timeline for you two. Mickey waffles awesome reward.

Thank you! We tried. It was a really fun race and I'd do it again!

Wow. Great trip report. And you make the 5k look like so much fun!

Thank you and Welcome! The 5k was a lot of fun! Yes we were tired and grumpy and sick, but it turned out to be a great time! It's not as hard as I thought it would be definitely a few tough moments but nothing major.

 

[Tracy161]

Congrats on finishing the race, especially not at 100%! It's ironic, though - this whole time you've been saying a few unflattering things about yourself I just keep thinking to myself... there had to have been a typo about how old you turned on your birthday. You look AMAZING - running pictures or not! I've always wondered whether I should do a Disney race - though I'm not a great runner, I do enjoy a few miles on the weekends. And it just looks SO fun! My favorite part would be dressing up in something fun. Might be worth considering in the future!

Looking forward to more!!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Congrats on finishing the race, especially not at 100%! It's ironic, though - this whole time you've been saying a few unflattering things about yourself I just keep thinking to myself... there had to have been a typo about how old you turned on your birthday. You look AMAZING - running pictures or not! I've always wondered whether I should do a Disney race - though I'm not a great runner, I do enjoy a few miles on the weekends. And it just looks SO fun! My favorite part would be dressing up in something fun. Might be worth considering in the future!

Looking forward to more!!!

Thank you Tracy! You're too kind. It's a lot of smoke and mirrors now. But I guess I have to thank good genes, a lot of sunscreen, and the fact that I've still retained all my baby fat. Haha. I assure you there is no typo, although I do tell people I just turned 29. HAhaha
I think you would LOVE doing a Run Disney experience, it sounds perfect for you. The 5k is nothing for people who even run just a little bit, and that's coming from a non-runner like me. Although I'd really like to do a 10k one year.
I loved looking at all the running outfits. Some really creative ones. I can't wait to dress up in something fun again! The worst part is really just the waking up super early, and dealing with crowds and lines, but hey, that is nothing new when at Disney right?

 

[Neverland_Girl]

He was indeed...very charming...and very Ken doll-like.

He has better eyebrows than I do! I must learn his secrets...

I don't think Prince Charming has hit puberty yet

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.

You look much better than I would at that ungodly hour

Here's the first character we encountered, Meeko from Pocahontas!

I love Meeko! I think runDisney would be the only races I would willingly sign up for to meet the different characters.

Here's Abu whom we saw at Morocco, of course. But his face looks so funny. Like drunken Abu. Hahaha. I posted this on Instagram and everyone agreed!

This is slightly disturbing

And we're done!!!

Yay!!! Congratulations! Pretty impressive considering your ankle and DH being sick.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I don't think Prince Charming has hit puberty yet

He was so...interesting. He was very nice and sweet though, but his makeup was distracting. It's too bad.

You look much better than I would at that ungodly hour

Thanks but I did put some effort into it. It was not a pretty sight when I just woke up.

I love Meeko! I think runDisney would be the only races I would willingly sign up for to meet the different characters.

That's why I signed up! You could totally do it. I'm not a runner at all but I signed up for another 5k this fall!

This is slightly disturbing

It's actually a lot disturbing when you think someone at Disney Ok'ed this version of Abu to be let out in public. Maybe that's why you don't see him much.

Yay!!! Congratulations! Pretty impressive considering your ankle and DH being sick.

Thank you! It was fun and despite our lack of health the excitement and adrenaline helped push us through! We slept for a while after though!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 2 Part 3: An Epcot Afternoon!

When we woke up it was close to noon. We decided to forgo our first FP+ for Character Spot because we wouldn't be able to make it and I didn't want to rush. Unfortunately there were non available for for the rest of the day. We decided to just play it by ear. We decided to eat all the Run Disney snacks in the snack box they handed out and then go sit in the hot tub for about 20 minutes bit before we got ready. It was really nice and a beautiful afternoon!

We got ready and headed to the monorail. On the way I snapped this pic of this metal Mickey sculpture:

Soon we were in Epcot again! Hard to believe we ran through this just this morning. And now it was packed! Realized at all the parks now they make you go through the metal detectors. Wish I could go bag-less but I am one of those people that likes to carry her life with her every day in a big tote bag, and when I got to Disney I pare it down to a smaller cross-body bag and I still feel like I need more stuff. Haha.

Made it into Epcot!

Everyone told us to wear our medals on the day we got it so we did. Many people noticed and congratulated us and we would congratulate people with medals as well. It was a cool feeling to be part of something. I wanted to tell everyone, "but I just walked it!" still, it was a nice feeling of accomplishment.

We saw Daisy! I love Daisy and never get to see her. So it was a must-do for me to stop.

What's even funnier is that more people asked if DH went to Shanghai Disneyland than if we ran the 5k that morning because of his t-shirt. No we have not, we got the t-shirt at Uniqlo and I especially love any article of clothing that has food on it and the shirt has dumplings on it. It's awesome.

We walked all the way to Norway because our FP window for Frozen Ever After was almost over! When we arrived there was a huge standby line, as usual, probably 110 minutes or something insane. Thankful for FP+! Although we still waited almost half an hour. Blech. At least we were not in the first row. In our Dec trip, we sat in the first row on the two occasions we rode it and got wet! 2nd row is much better as you have the people in the first row acting as splash shields. Hahaha.

I swear DH loves this ride more than I do.

We got some pictures outside of Frozen:

After Frozen we went to get something to eat. Since all we really ate were carbs that day, I wanted something hefty and meaty. The perfect snack was waiting at the America Pavilion:

It was bigger than it looked in the picture, so we shared it. But since DH is sick I had to eat half of it first before passing it to him and I could have totally eaten more than I did but after he ate it it was too late. It's been a while since I've had a turkey leg and it really hit the spot for some salty, smokey, meaty goodness.

Since I had to push our FP+ for later there were only certain times available so it was back to back. We walked back to Futureland to ride SE.

On the way we got some PP pictures with the Flower and Garden stuff. It's sad we were leaving the day before the festival started but no worries we'll be back for it on May 3rd!

Here we are on Spaceship Earth!

And our future....ooooh!

The lines for Character Spot, Baymax, and Inside Out were way too long. Every line was just long! We decided to go get our Disney Visa picture instead. There wasn't a long line but I think there was a character switch of something because we waited behind one other family for a really long time. But it was cool as we got to meet Mickey and Goofy! I find I meet Minnie and Pluto way more often in Disney visa meet n greets.

Next was our FP+ for LWTL, DH's favorite ride! Hahaha. He is so into gardening, he's actually taking a three-hour hydroponic class next week. I will be going for a facial during this class, hahaha.

I don't think I managed to FP anything else at this time since it was close to our dinner and DH wanted to get back to rest. So we headed back to World Showcase for our dinner at Tokyo Dining! Stay tuned...​

 

[Raeven]

2nd row is much better as you have the people in the first row acting as splash shields. Hahaha.

Haha I've done that on Pirates before! I ducked behind the front row people

 

[nenglim]

i am clueless on how to attach a pic. i will pm...most of my running pics where horrible that when i saw them i cringe! the ones where i stopped were better. i guess in time i will get that running pose down pat...maybe next race...

just caught up with your last post. we love staying at the BLT. It is our home resort. although we are starting to love the BC even more. It was close to noon time when we got back to BC after the kids races. We all crashed! but had to get back out to celebrate at Beaches and Cream, where we finished THE kitchen sink. the waiter was so impressed! there was 5 of us so i guess he just was trying to make us feel good about eating a whole gallon of ice cream and toppings.

 

[LindseyJo22]

Wish I could go bag-less but I am one of those people that likes to carry her life with her every day in a big tote bag, and when I got to Disney I pare it down to a smaller cross-body bag and I still feel like I need more stuff. Haha.

I am plotting how to try and not have a bag for our next race weekend trip. Bag check lines were totally insane over Princess weekend, and so I didn't take a bag when we did our BOG lunch on Sunday and it was the best thing ever! Well, that plus the AP entrance that was totally empty as opposed to the crowded regular turnstiles I don't actually carry much on a Disney trip, but we do like having our ponchos, and I haven't thought of a good way to keep them that isn't in a bag :/

In our Dec trip, we sat in the first row on the two occasions we rode it and got wet! 2nd row is much better as you have the people in the first row acting as splash shields. Hahaha.

Oh no! I did that on Pirates one time and got totally soaked in the front. Not fun at all! You guys have a much better picture than we got - I didn't realize they'd added a picture, and just look really boring Next time I'll try to make a more interesting face.

Every line was just long!

Yes! It was so so so busy this weekend - we really weren't thinking it would be that bad, but have now decided that race weekends are just crazy. At least we are now prepared for the future!

 

[kastoney]

Looks like a great post race day. What a great idea to hit the hot tub afterwards. Hubby is doing the wine and dine 10K and half, so I'll have to remember that.

I've never seen that frozen magic shot before, so cool. My daughter would be in heaven! Can't wait to see how Tokyo dining is for you all.

 

[disnygirl55]

Next was our FP+ for LWTL, DH's favorite ride! Hahaha. He is so into gardening, he's actually taking a three-hour hydroponic class next week. I will be going for a facial during this class, hahaha.

I'm like you. I really couldn't care less about trying to grow anything - a facial sounds much better! Have you taken the Behind the Seeds tour at LWTL on past trips? Sounds like that would be right up his alley!

 

[Disneyhayes]

Great update! I couldn't imagine walking back and forth from FW to Norway after the morning you had!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Trying to get out these TR posts quickly...our next trip is in 52 days!

Day 2 Part 4: Dinner at Tokyo Dining and Dismeet at Trader Sams!

We headed all the way back from Future World to to Tokyo Dining aand checked in. I had done an immense amount of walking today with the 5k and then back and forth from World Showcase...and surprisingly I was feeling ok! I knew I'd feel it later on tonight though, but it's a good thing I got to rest a bit this morning. We got a buzzer and then went into Mitsukoshi for a bit. I actually ran out of facial cleanser on this trip, so I bought a bar of some Japanese charcoal facial soap. It smells a bit medicinal but I've heard stuff like that is good for your complexion and it wasn't too bad, about 12 dollars or so for a very large bar. (I used it the entire trip after that and my skin seemed healthier.) We continued the browse the store - one of my favorites in all of World Showcase - and I like the new section where they have a ton of Pokemon and anime toys.

After we were buzzed about 15 minutes later, we headed upstairs and were shown to our table.

I forgot to take pictures of the inside of the restaurant. I think cos I was really hungry again and all I could think about was food! But the space was nice and modern and it was really bustling! We sat in front of the sushi bar.

To drink I got an iced green tea, and DH got a hot green tea. I was going to order one of the fancy cocktails but I knew if I had a drink now that I wouldn't make it to tonight's drink session at Trader Sams with @LindseyJo22, @Elevationist, and @cinderkelly and I was really looking forward to that. So iced green tea it is.

We perused the menu and placed our order with our friendly server. To start I got the shrimp ramen noodles. It wasn't like the traditional ramen I am used to which is usually in a pork-based broth, and this one had a more clear and lighter colored broth, but it was really quite flavorful. I think they should start serving big bowls of this! This bowl was small but it was an appetizer portion. I ate most of it and left some for DH who agreed it was quite tasty.

I noticed that @Elevationist had texted and she was having dinner at Teppan Edo right next door! Although she said she had just finished by the time we had started. They were going to stake out spots for Illuminations which I thought was a good idea considering how crowded the park was.

We also got the salmon sashimi to start which had some sort of yuzu truffle dipping sauce. This was good, but the portion was small.

I liked the dipping sauce which was a distinct yuzu flavored soy sauce with a hint of truffle. I think the flavors were a good match.

For an entree, DH got the black cod with miso.

The cod was cooked really nicely and the sauce had a distinct miso-sake flavor. It looked like the fish was cooked and then dressed with sauce, but with most miso black cod dishes I've had, the fish has been marinating in the miso for a long time and then cooked so the flavor is embedded in the fish. (Morimoto makes a killer version of this.) This version resulted in a lighter tasting fish but the sauce was a bit salty and had a strong sake overtone. Not the best version of this dish but if it had been less sauced I would have liked it more. It was served with some roasted kabocha squash (which I really like), and colorful cauliflower. DH thought it was pretty good, however his taste buds were dumbed down a bit so he thought everything just tasted "pretty good" LOL.

I got a very large and colorful Bento Box served with sushi, tempura, chicken teriyaki, ahi tuna poke salad, and beef teriyaki.

It was a pretty and delightful-looking box! How did it taste? Well, the sushi was what I expected it to be, good but nothing special. The poke salad was yummy. I really liked the sesame dressing they had. The tempura was great, and I liked the buttery teriyaki sauce on the chicken although the chicken itself was a bit dry, The steak was also a bit dry so I gave it to DH. The little thing of power in the middle was some seasoned salt for the tempura. I thought it added some nice flavor while still keeping the tempura crunchy!

Overall a solid meal at Tokyo Dining although I won't be clamoring to come back here right away, there are just more exciting places for us to eat at Epcot. We skipped Illuminations just so we could rest a bit before heading to Trader Sams so we headed back out towards the monorail.

After one last picture with SE, we trudged back to the Contemporary:

Billie texted that she was too tired to come out tonight and I don't blame her. She had gone to the parks right after the 5k and didn't rest at all! What a trooper! When we got back to our room, DH also proceeded to pass out once so he was out as well. So it was just me tonight and I was rearing up to go - I wanted a souvenir glass and I was going to get one! I changed into some capris because it got a little chillier and headed out to the monorail. Only 2 stops to the Poly, so I should be there in no time, right?

Tonight was the night of bad monorail juju apparently.

I waited and waited on the line for the monorail for about 20 minutes with no action at all. People were starting to murmur thing about "monorail shut down" "door wasn't working" "stalled at the GF" - Oh no! I texted Lindsey and Kelly to tell them I was going to be late, and Lindsey said she and her DH Will were also taking the monorail after their dinner at 1900 Park Fare...and they were stuck too! Kelly and her DD had managed to get us a table outside at Trader Sams though, so that was awesome!

People were beginning to leave the monorail line and soon I found myself at the front of the line. I spoke to some of the monorail CMs and they said a monorail was stalled at the GF and because of that no monorails can move. But they said it was going to be operational...really soon. So I waited.

And waited.

Oh look Wishes!

I felt bad for the people who were actually heading into MK to watch Wishes on the monorail...I think they missed most of it. Hopefully they could see it while walking over.

Finally after a half hour delay we had an ETA! I texted everyone that we saw movement on a monorail, and Lindsey said they were on one right now, so I told her we may actually be on the same monorail!

And we were!

When the monorail finally arrived I got into the last car of the monorail because it had a bunch of open space. Turns out they were in one the first few cars. We met just as we were exiting at the Poly! Took us about 35 minutes longer than we would have liked to get there!

We went downstairs to Trader Sams, and saw @cinderkelly and her DD Devin waiting patiently at a table. So sorry we were late! Crazy monorail issues, I tell ya. I was so relieved to finally be sitting down after an entire day of waiting...waiting at the corrals, waiting for buses, waiting in lines, waiting for monorail. I needed a drink...and I settled on the Polynesian Pearl because I always wanted to take the pearl cup home. FYI, it's made from a thick plastic and not ceramic.

I don't think anyone else got souvenir glasses except for me. Lindsey and her DH Will were actually heading to the Moonlight Madness thing for DVC so we all only really had time for one drink, but it was great to finally be able to meet! Oh and @cinderkelly and I are old friends from when we met back in December We had a fun time just chatting and talking about our trips, the food we ate and were going to eat, and how crazy crowded it was!



Before long, we were done with our drinks and we all parted ways, but not before a few group pictures:

I told everyone I look like a linebacker !

It was a really fun evening! We missed you @Elevationist! But no worries, we still had breakfast the next day at The Wave with Kelly and Billie. Unfortunately Lindsey and Will were having breakfast at...I think BoG? so they wouldn't be joining us. But it was sooo nice to meet them and have a drink together, hopefully our paths will cross again on another trip! We all wished Lindsey good luck with the half marathon on Sunday too!

You know my mind is a big blur - but I believe we all took the monorail together. My mind seems to have lapsed in between drinks and how I got back to the Contemporary but I'm pretty sure I took the monorail with Lindsey and Will and they got out at MK and I continued on to the Contemporary.

I do remember taking this picture though as I got out of the monorail. I had a great idea to wash out the souvenir cup and fill it with some ice water at the Contempo Cafe, LOL.

Back at the room I was tired as heck and promptly crashed. We were journeying to a Galaxy Far Far Away tomorrow...our 7-hour Star Wars Guided Tour! Stay tuned...


​

 

[Gigi@Disney]

Cant wait to read along! You have SUCH a beautiful family!

 

[ariane37]

I'm like you, no way can I go bagless! I switch to a smaller purse but I'd be lost with no purse at all.
Awesome on the group Dis-meet! I'm really bummed because we have two trips coming up, later this month and in May, and we're totally missing tons of my Dis friends by days in some cases.
Younger DS and I had a bad monorail experience trying to get to Narcoossee's in Nov. One was apparently backing in to their "garage"?? for the night, and when that happens no other monorail train can move and it takes awhile to get in the garage. So there was no movement for almost 30 minutes, the line was crazy backed up and people left and right were complaining about missed dining reservations

 

[natebenma]

Finally reading up on your trip.

Your nieces are adorable! Your August trip is going to be so fun!

Nice call on staying the night at the Hyatt, but YIKES! on the ME crowds. The advantage of the ME bus already being full is that you don't have to wait long to leave. But getting front row seats on the bus: Priceless! Awesome arch picture!

Uh oh! Sorry to hear about your camera issues. I hope it isn't something too expensive.

I have never been over to ESPN.

Your room at the CR looks very sleek. Not a bad view at all. I hope we will be seeing some sunrise shots.

That is great that you were able to get the hint about the short cut.


***********************************************************************

That first photopass picture with the castle is kind of neat with it washed out and the balloons in the background.

Bummer on the long FP line for Mine Train. I wonder if it was down earlier in the day. Probably.

Interesting mac and cheese.

That is definitely not a dancing Dole Whip!

Very cool photo with the castle reflection.

Adorable selfie with talking Mickey.

 

[soniam]

I have been curious about Tokyo Dining. We did Teppan Edo once, but I would much rather go to Benihana, so we won't go back. We got sushi at Teppan Edo that I know was from Tokyo Dining. It wasn't Morimoto, Nobu, or Uchi quality, but it was the best thing we had that meal. So, I have been wanting to try the actual dining room. After your review, we put it lower on the list for Epcot.

We love Trader Sam's. I think we have gone every time we could now. Except for the Black Pearl, we now have all of the souvenir mugs. Their Kalua pork tacos are awesome. We usually make a meal out of going there, because the food is so good.

Looks like you had a good time. Glad that one of you was able to make it to the meet. The monorail just annoys me lately. I am looking forward to that new gondola to Epcot/DHS from CBR and CSR.

EDIT: We love Mitsukoshi, DH, DS, and myself! It's one of my fondest memories from visiting Epcot as a kid.

 

[kastoney]

Your meal at Tokyo Dining looks great. We've only eaten there once but definitely need to do it again. That ramen looks delicious and love the idea of trying so many different things in the Bento Box.

Loving your dismeets. So excited you all got to meet up, even if Billie will have to wait until tomorrow. The stars rarely align for trips the same time as us, but hopefully in November.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Great Epcot day, we tried Tokyo Dining for the first time this February and really enjoyed it. I still have to try Trader Sam's, hoping the next trip.