"want to watch me run a half marathon?" a february 2018 trip report! *COMPLETE*

[xjillianpaige]

What great pictures you got! Love that you were selected to be part of the Monsters show. How fun.

Those lantern shots are fantastic.

Thank you! It was such good luck that I was chosen!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Day 6: Epcot Part 1
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Sidebar: this weekend I traveled to Martha's Vineyard to run my second (second!) half marathon. Can you believe that just a few months ago I was running the Princess half? And that I'm STILL recapping it? I can, actually. Of course it's taking me this long to finish...

Anyway! The next morning we gathered all of our belongings and made our way to Epcot for yet another rope drop. We lined up at the gates, and then tapped in, and then waited for a bit underneath Spaceship Earth for them to let us in for real. There was a show there - maybe the jammitors - but I'm too small to see over heads so I could only sort of hear it.

They finally let us in and we made our way over to Test Track for our first ride of the day. I was pretty excited for this, because the last time I had been on Test Track was in 2010. Our goal in designing a car was obviously to make the ugliest car we could, and we made this beauty.

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As ugly as the Green Monster is (I just made that name up - but it fits as we're Bostonians), she was the number 1 car for capability. When we got off the ride, we were waiting for Katie, Todd and Vic. I think we had a FastPass for this one (although I might be thinking of the day before when we had a Space Mountain Fastpass) and so we tapped in before it could expire then waited for them. On second thought, we probably did not have a FP for this since we went to it for RD and I have my rides and stories mixed up...

Rewind... Pause... Resume. The day before was when we had a FP for Space Mountain and we tapped in, then waited for the lollygaggers as to not lose it. In this case for Test Track, we did not have FP for the ride, so when we realize how far behind they were, we hopped on for ride number two as the wait was still very short.

Instead of a BIG car, we decided to go with a tiny one... and pink and covered in butterflies.

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I don't think this one was winning any awards or the top in anything... in fact I think it came in very last every time. But when we got off the ride, the Green Monster was still on the leaderboard for Capability!

After Testing the Track, we had a FP for Mission Space. In my brain we rode this twice, but I could be wrong. I do know that Jenna went to Frozen to ride it while we were doing this, then she met back up with us. I think that there was a very short line for the green side, so we all got on and went for a ride. Katie didn't want to do the orange side, so when Jenna came back from Frozen, she took Katie's FP and we all used our FP for the orange side. I had no problem with the G force on this ride at all. If anything it sort of was more pressure on my throat than I would like which made it sort of hard to breathe, but that was only for a quick second and when I readjusted I was fine.

Our next FP was for Spaceship Earth (I think) so we headed over there and made lots of jokes about taking a photo in front of the bubblegum wall the way the girls on instagram do, but we never did. Missed a great opportunity for me to take a photo in front of the bubblegum wall with my rose gold ears, a Starbucks pink drink, and fake laughing at something in the distance. Oh well, maybe next time.

This ride was the same as always. Judi Dench has the best voice to listen to.

(I'm looking at photos and I might be totally off... all I know is that at some point Jenna went and rode Frozen twice and also met Anna and Elsa, I think this was when we had FP for Spaceship Earth. I do know that we rode Mission Space together because she took Katie's FP - that I remember clearly.)

Anyway, after hanging out in Future World for a little bit, we made our way to the World Showcase. I think we had our Frozen FP, so we skipped Mexico and went right to Norway to ride. While we did that, I think Jenna stopped to meet Donald Duck in Mexico, then we all met up to meet Anna and Elsa. Interestingly, they split our groups up for these? I thought for sure that they would send all six of us in together, but they did two groups of three.

After Norway, we circle back to Mexico for drink #1 of the day: margaritas!

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I like to call this photo "tired soccer mom looking for peace and quiet with her margarita." My kids - I mean... the group - wanted to ride the 3 Caballeros, but I wanted to meet Belle REALLY BAD so I decided to walk all the way to France in the heat with my very strong margarita to try to meet her... and the line had already been cut off.

I also took this selfie.

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I was quite bummed that the Belle line had been cut, but mostly because I thought for sure I would make it in time and my friends said I wouldn't and we'd just meet her later and I do NOT like to be proven wrong. Anyway, I started my walk of shame back to the Mexico area from France and decided it was imperative to stop and do a photo shoot with my medal at Snow White's spot in Germany.

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Check out that portrait mode - not bad, huh? The gold spinner is a little bit over-exposed, but otherwise a nice photo. I was texting my friends and asking them to meet me here, because I figured we should meet Snow White and she was due out any minute according to the events guide for the day... except the guide was wrong and Snow White wasn't out that day.

So we did what any sane adult would do and grabbed some Schofferhoffer Grapefruit beer.

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Oh, and we also organized a photo shoot with the almost finished Snow White topiary. We did photos with us and our medals and then decided to try to get fancy with our medals. I did what it took to get the shot, which meant I was on the ground, my grapefruit beer right to my side and safe from harm. Shout out to the other folks who wanted photos of Snow White's topiary who were kind enough to let us do our thing.

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Personally, I think the hard work was worth the shot. Just take a look!

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Now, it's time for me to go grab dinner in real life, so I'm going to put a pause on this and we'll resume the day a little later! What do you have to look forward to from our last day in the parks? A win, a loss, some more drinks and characters.

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Day 5: Magic Kingdom Part 2

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Day 6: Epcot Part 2​

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[ZellyB]

Great shot with the Snow White topiary. Love it!

 

[StacyStrong]

Reading!

I am trying to run in the Princess next February!!! Sooo much training to do though lol. Not a runner...

 

[xjillianpaige]

Great shot with the Snow White topiary. Love it!

Thank you!

Reading!

I am trying to run in the Princess next February!!! Sooo much training to do though lol. Not a runner...

Welcome! You can TOTALLY do it! You have lots of time - start training! The run/walk method made it doable for me. Come over to the RunDisney side of the boards and learn more!

 

[StacyStrong]

I started checking it out thanks to your training report!

I'm currently doing couch to 5k but admittedly I'm a bit behind.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I started checking it out thanks to your training report!

I'm currently doing couch to 5k but admittedly I'm a bit behind.

Awesome! Good luck with your program. You've got this!

 

[xjillianpaige]

Day 6: Epcot Part 2
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We left off with my fantastic picture-taking skills in Germany. From there, we made our way to Italy and began to explore, and that is when tragedy struck. Somehow, when trying to maneuver my phone in one hand, I knocked my drink out of my own hand and all over the ground. A true party foul.

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From Italy, we breezed through the American Pavilion (the stand with the beer we wanted wasn't open yet) and Japan. (Quick sidebar: I'm looking at the map of Epcot and totally forgot to mention that we stopped in China to meet Mulan.) After Japan was Morocco where we stopped for lunch at Tangierine Cafe. Now, I don't want to be hyperbolic, but this was the best falafel I've had since my trip to Israel in 2012. No, never mind, that's not hyperbolic. That was truth.

After Morocco was France, and my long-awaited meet with Belle. Unfortunately the line attendant let too many people into line for this meet, so when it was our turn we were informed that we had to pick between a group photo and individual but couldn't do both, so we decided to get individual photos.

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She obviously was a big fan of my shirt. Also, I'm slowly mastering the princess pose. Now, at this point I think we had split with Katie, Todd and Vic. Katie went to meet Aurora and I'm not sure what else they did. We moved onto the UK to see if Alice was meeting, but we had missed her (Jenna's a big Alice fan). Instead, we wandered through the shops and then over to see a bit of British Invasion.

British Invasion is one of my favorite parts of the UK. I am such a big fan of (1) the UK and (2) music, so it's like being home. Anyway, we were standing in the back (Jenna and I - Devin had popped into the shop behind us) and the lead singer informs the crowd that sometimes celebrities come to the show, and then points out the three runners in the back. Needless to say, Jenna and I look around and behind us to find the people who had run the half marathon... If I could use phone emojis here I would, because it was a total face-palm moment. He meant us. And we turned around to see who he meant. And on that note...

Anyway, we listened to a few more songs, wandered through the rest of the shops, and then made our way through Canada and back into Future World.

I don't know the exact order of things, but we managed to get a LOT in this park done thanks to being here open to close. Pretty sure that we first went to the Visa Character Spot (love my Disney Visa card!) to meet some friends and it was Minnie and Pluto! Minnie loved our medals and held one out for the picture. After that we did a ride I had never done before - Figment! It was an absolute walk on. Honestly, this day was super quiet over at Epcot and most rides never got much of a line - not even the popular ones. Also, the park just felt kind of empty in general - there were no crowds to fight.

I think from there we stopped into The Land for one of my favorite rides - Livin' With the Land. I think I'd like to do that tour one day. And then we did The Seas with Nemo and Friends and walked right on. We might have gotten a FP for this, though we definitely would have needed one. Anyway, we went on Nemo and then decided to do Turtle Talk with Crush, which I had never done but is SO cute. One of the kids asked where all the animals in the sea went to the bathroom. Everywhere, it turns out. This is a cute little experience, and I'd love to do it again one day. I feel like with a good group of kids to ask questions it can be pretty funny.

I think from there they wanted to go back to The Land for Soarin' because it had a short line, and I was dying to see the shorts in the Short Film Festival, so we quickly split up and I made my way back over toward Figment and the Visa spot for the festival. This is another one of my favorite attractions. I'm not someone who goes to many movies in theaters, so I don't see the shorts in front of films very often. My dad does own a lot of the shorts on DVD from the Disney movie club, but I rarely use my down time to watch movies. ANYWAY, I forget what three movies they were, but I do remember loving them.

Even with my short wait, I beat Devin and Jenna out of the ride so I went back to the character spot and could see through the lit up window that it was Mickey and Goofy! So I got back in line. Unfortunately, by the time I made it in, Minnie and Pluto were back out. Oh well! I still got some cute shots with some of the OGs.

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The three of us finally met back up and went back to the UK for our reservation at the Rose & Crown. This restaurant has been one of my bucket list meals, and I am SO glad I did it. I obviously got a snakebite pint (half lager half cider) and the fish & chips. Devin wasn't super hungry, so she got the cheese platter + crackers. I think Jenna also got Fish & Chips.

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We timed this perfectly and had finished our dinner just a few minutes before Illuminations started. So I ordered another drink to go and we watched the fireworks. We had been seated outside on the top deck of the patio, so we had to maneuver a bit to see the show, but that's okay. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think that this show is in serious need of an update. Honestly, I think a fair amount of Epcot feels kind of stale, and all the empty buildings make me feel sort of sad. There's so much work that needs to be done. With that said, it's still one of my favorite parks and I have a ton of fun there, but I think that Epcot improvements should be their next project.

Okay, hopping off my soapbox... we watched the show. I covered my ears because I hate the loud noises that come with fireworks. Oh! The temperature for the day had been beautiful all day. The temperature was totally perfect - warm but not hot and not humid. At night it cooled down, but for us northerners it was still gorgeous. Those Floridians, on the other hand, were freezing and so they turned the heat lamps on while we were at dinner and we laughed because there was no need.

After the show and finishing dinner, I took my pint to go and we began walking out of the park. I think there were extra magic hours, but Jenna wasn't technically staying on property and honestly, I was just super tired. Plus, we had an early morning coming up for a reservation and our flight home.

So we started walking and got this perfect photo on the way out.

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See! I do travel with other people!

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Day 6: Epcot Part 1

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Day 7: Heading Home​

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[docsoliday1]

Day 6: Epcot Part 2
​

We left off with my fantastic picture-taking skills in Germany. From there, we made our way to Italy and began to explore, and that is when tragedy struck. Somehow, when trying to maneuver my phone in one hand, I knocked my drink out of my own hand and all over the ground. A true party foul.

That's it, you're cut off. Oh wait, I guess if it's months after the fact, that really doesn't have much impact, eh?

British Invasion is one of my favorite parts of the UK. I am such a big fan of (1) the UK and (2) music, so it's like being home. Anyway, we were standing in the back (Jenna and I - Devin had popped into the shop behind us) and the lead singer informs the crowd that sometimes celebrities come to the show, and then points out the three runners in the back. Needless to say, Jenna and I look around and behind us to find the people who had run the half marathon... If I could use phone emojis here I would, because it was a total face-palm moment. He meant us. And we turned around to see who he meant. And on that note...

Wow, can I get your autograph if we have a DISmeet? You're a celebrity now!

I don't know the exact order of things, but we managed to get a LOT in this park done thanks to being here open to close. Pretty sure that we first went to the Visa Character Spot (love my Disney Visa card!) to meet some friends and it was Minnie and Pluto! Minnie loved our medals and held one out for the picture. After that we did a ride I had never done before - Figment! It was an absolute walk on. Honestly, this day was super quiet over at Epcot and most rides never got much of a line - not even the popular ones. Also, the park just felt kind of empty in general - there were no crowds to fight.

I went to EPCOT the year it opened and Figment has always been one of my fondest memories from that first trip and still one of my favorites. I know it's more for kids, but I'm just a BIG kid.

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We timed this perfectly and had finished our dinner just a few minutes before Illuminations started. So I ordered another drink to go and we watched the fireworks. We had been seated outside on the top deck of the patio, so we had to maneuver a bit to see the show, but that's okay. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think that this show is in serious need of an update. Honestly, I think a fair amount of Epcot feels kind of stale, and all the empty buildings make me feel sort of sad. There's so much work that needs to be done. With that said, it's still one of my favorite parks and I have a ton of fun there, but I think that Epcot improvements should be their next project.

Illuminations has been one of my least favorite (until I saw ROL) night shows. I agree there could be many improvements here (especially making Bier Garten 3 or 4 times bigger --- oops, my bias is showing isn't it?)

View attachment 325408
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See! I do travel with other people!

I see no proof. That could have been a picture of three random people...how do we know that's you or anyone you know?

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[xjillianpaige]

That's it, you're cut off. Oh wait, I guess if it's months after the fact, that really doesn't have much impact, eh?

Wow, can I get your autograph if we have a DISmeet? You're a celebrity now!

I went to EPCOT the year it opened and Figment has always been one of my fondest memories from that first trip and still one of my favorites. I know it's more for kids, but I'm just a BIG kid.

Illuminations has been one of my least favorite (until I saw ROL) night shows. I agree there could be many improvements here (especially making Bier Garten 3 or 4 times bigger --- oops, my bias is showing isn't it?)
I see know proof. That could have been a picture of three random people...how do we know that's you or anyone you know?

I wish I had good reason for dropping my drink. Literally I'm just a klutz. Autographs cost $5. Figment (and Disney) are for everyone! We're all young at heart at Disney. I've only seen Rivers of Light once, but I liked it! There's some cool technology, like how they literally made water light up and sparkle. Exhibit A +B: I'm wearing the pink shirt in the second to last photo also and the ears in multiple photos.

 

[xjillianpaige]

A Weekend Getaway
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So! I have a quick, crazy story to tell you my small but mighty crew of readers... I'm going back to Disney! This is a COMPLETELY unexpected trip, but I'll be starting a pre-trip & trip report soon! The basic gist is that my cousin's pass is expiring soon, just before she leaves for her first year of college. I was hoping to have surprised her for her graduation in May, but couldn't make it happen so figured this was the time to do it! I'll be surprising her for a weekend trip in August! Pre-Trip Report coming soon!

In terms of finishing up this trip... it'll be done this weekend! One more day! (But don't be sad - the next one will be here before you know it!)

 

[xjillianpaige]

Day 7: Heading Home
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After our night at Epcot, we got a good night's sleep and then woke up early again so we could pack our bags since it was sadly departure day. But don't fret - we weren't leaving right away! We had a very important breakfast.

But let me slow down. Devin and I packed up our suitcases and brought them down so we didn't have to lug them around at breakfast. Jenna also headed down with her bags as she was going to Disney Springs via bus to shop a bit before meeting her mom and going back with her family. Devin and I decided to take a Minnie Van to our reservation at the boardwalk instead of taking a bus to a park and then a resort. I liked using this service. It's so much easier for resort hopping, especially when you have a fairly early reservation.

Anyway, Devin and I had a reservation for the Bon Voyage breakfast at Trattoria Al Forno on the boardwalk. This was really cute. We were quickly seated (we were very early - even tried to kill time by wandering the boardwalk) and I ordered a yummy mimosa. I was still on vacation, after all. They announced the first "prince" - Eugene a.k.a. Flynn Rider from Tangled was first. He went around to a few tables before they announced Rapunzel and he went into the middle to meet her and escort her around to some music from Tangled before resuming going to each table.

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He was a real hoot to interact with - very cocky and flirty. Rapunzel was adorable!

I'll take a moment to talk food real quick. They first bring out pastries in a frying pan, which were SO yummy. As usual, Devin has her nut allergy so they can't guarantee there isn't cross contamination but also as usual she was fine eating them. She ordered mickeys waffles and scrambled eggs off the allergy menu. I ordered the pancakes with the fruit compote on the side so I could have it with maple syrup. They were very filling and delicious. I think they came with bacon, too. But I have little memory of this now.

Okay, back to the princes and princesses. Next up was Prince Eyebrows - I mean... um... Prince Eric. That's right. Eric. Whoops. He wasn't great, but Ariel was fantastic. So sweet.

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After breakfast we decided to go to Disney Springs because we still had plenty of time before our Magical Express. We grabbed a bus from the Boardwalk and were the only ones on it for the first part of the ride over to the Swan and Dolphin, where one pair joined us. We were at Disney Springs before anything was open, so we sat outside of the still very tiny World of Disney and did some wandering. I didn't buy anything there. Then we left to wander some more. Devin checked out the virtual reality Star Wars thing. I bought more candy to bring home. We checked out the fit2run store. We also ran into Jenna and spent some time with her while she waited for her Mom.

From there we took the bus back to the resort so we could get our bags. Next was the Tragical not Magical Express to the airport and home to Boston.

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Day 6: Epcot Part 2

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