lurkergirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2011
Harveys! *swoon*
I know I'm local, but I haven't been to the new store. I really have to fix that.
I know I'm local, but I haven't been to the new store. I really have to fix that.
A Pink Pixie Princess...FINALLY! A 2017 Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend Trip Report!
- Thread starter Ariel484
- Start date
ZellyB
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2010
roxymama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2015
SarahDisney
So ... Yeah
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2014
Yay park time!!
I love that you got a button for your first Dole Whip. Such a good way to celebrate!
Okay, I'm not a ToT fan, but I have to say ... the Guardians ride just looks weird. I don't know if it's something related to the movie (which I haven't seen), but to me it just kinda looks ugly. Tower of Terror looked a lot less weird.
I think I remember hearing about changes to the menu at Paradise Garden Grill, but I don't remember when. I don't really pay attention to food stuff because I mostly can't eat it. But I definitely agree that it's annoying that they'd take away a unique menu for more fried garbage.
Also ... cupcakes are significantly healthier than anything fried. Because they're cupcakes and cupcakes are perfect. (They're actually very mentally healthy because they make people happy ... that's a thing, right??)
(Also, I love that "Internet Ariel" is now your actual name)
I love that you got a button for your first Dole Whip. Such a good way to celebrate!
Okay, I'm not a ToT fan, but I have to say ... the Guardians ride just looks weird. I don't know if it's something related to the movie (which I haven't seen), but to me it just kinda looks ugly. Tower of Terror looked a lot less weird.
I think I remember hearing about changes to the menu at Paradise Garden Grill, but I don't remember when. I don't really pay attention to food stuff because I mostly can't eat it. But I definitely agree that it's annoying that they'd take away a unique menu for more fried garbage.
Also ... cupcakes are significantly healthier than anything fried. Because they're cupcakes and cupcakes are perfect. (They're actually very mentally healthy because they make people happy ... that's a thing, right??)
(Also, I love that "Internet Ariel" is now your actual name)
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
Nice walk around the park. That menu at Paradise Garden Grill does not look good! We ate there in 2015 and it totally had better options! Pacific Wharf Cafe is super yum! That sourdough is the best! Don't blame you for staying on east coast time when it's a race weekend!
AuntieBean
ChEAR Squad
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
The Internet Ariel bwahahahaha
I still imagined you as a mermaid...just one with a laptop that also somehow only grew legs for race weekends...
McNs
NZ
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2014
Easily fixed - just book yourself another trip! I've had 3 DLR vacations and still haven't done Splash - I'm sure it's a dub conscious thing so I have an excuse to return!
Cupcakes, they are so light and tasty they must surely be negative calorie foods? That Paradise Garden Grill menu looked nasty!
As for Guardians, I've not seen the movies nor do I plan on it. Not a superhero blockbuster movie fan. ToT was about as perfect ride as you could get, spot on theming, nostalgia, awesome ride story, and the thrill part being awesome but never as bad as you imagine it would be. Looking forward to trying the WDW version later this year.
jewdmeister
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2015
So I get to Paradise Garden Grill and actually look at the menu - it was TOTALLY different than what I was expecting.I am behind the times, I guess, because there had been a complete menu overhaul at some point.
Not my scene - I mean, obviously I am not a 100% A+ healthy eater (for evidence, see previous post that detailed what I had for lunch!). But I was annoyed that they’d taken something that sounded unique and turned it into another place to get fried $^&@.Oh well.
They were renovating the Corn Dog Castle while you were there and unfortunately, the Paradise Grille is the temporary spot until they finish. Those darn tourists (like myself!) who can't get enough of their corn dogs! It's a bummer you missed out on their usual rotating menu; they usually have really yummy choices. It's one of my personal favorite places to stop for a bite.
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Yep, once I get started I like to finish them up quickly!You are already on page 3 of your TR? You are in turbo TR mode!
Yes, that was awesome! The departure day was less awesome, but let's not focus on that.Isn't traveling to the west coast from the east the best? You get there and have a full day, and it is perfect for rD races since 3am feels like 6am!
I think my expectations were unrealistically high after hearing how amazing In-N-Out was for years, but it was really good!
Yes I did! I saw the big room where they assemble everything, which was cool...along with some stuff that was in production and some older pieces.The new InknBurn HQ is a little underwhelming. I'm sure there is more to it than just your pic shows - did you get to go behind the scenes at all?
I think it really depends on when you go - when I went back to the official merchandise area it was later in the afternoon, so it had died down by then!
I LOVE the course maps! Maybe the bad race shirts were on purpose so we'd buy the other shirts??
I love it too! I love WDW as well but I think I may love both places equally.
Meh. I really liked the opening scene but after that it didn't hold my attention at all.
Okay, did you know that Happily Ever Tees has a Dole Whip shirt? I just ordered it the other day!
I think I am fully converted over to the pineapple soft serve. It was so good!
I never did either! But I did get a churro and Dole Whip, so I think that evens it out.
*swoon* is right - I just saw their bags for D23 and I think I kind of want the backpack! I don't have a backpack from them yet and I LOVE the Epcot patch on it!
I thought so!It does look weird. Especially since the building shape is still the same. I did like the colors at certain times of the day - the sun would hit it and make the colors look really nice - but overall I am just not a fan of Marvel having such a big presence in the park.
Yeah, I do sort of regret not doing some more research on the counter service options. I'm sure I missed some other good spots!
And yes...cupcakes are natures perfect food.
And this one did make me happy, which totally counts for something! It seems appropriate!AHHH I know. It sounds like it may be temporary, so hopefully it'll be back to normal on my next trip! I was excited for it!!
Pacific Wharf WAS super yum, so at least by missing out on Paradise Garden Grill, I got to try Pacific Wharf instead!
Well I never actually met you in person over the weekend, so who knows...you could be right!
I was so bummed! Like, really...corndogs are SO important that they had to take over a whole other CS location? (I probably just made a very controversial statement...)
YES, I am totally with you. You will LOVE the WDW version - it's got just a bit more going on than the DL version did. It's awesome!
ARRRG! Well thank you for letting me know - clearly I did not do my research! I am glad to hear that it is temporary!
It'll be on my list for sure the next time I go back to DL!
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Day 2: Friday, May 12, 2017
2017 Never Land 5K! The Start
**Okay, so before I get any further into this...I was not impressed by this race. If you are looking for a 100% happy review of the Never Land 5K, this isn't it. You've been warned!**
Off to Never Land!
While the two longer race courses changed from last year to this year (to accommodate the Star Wars construction, I guess), this one stayed exactly the same. I’d run this race last year and remembered having mixed feelings on it when I was done, but when registration opened this year, I couldn’t resist signing up again.
But first - my room location. Every night without fail, I was woken up by something going on, on Disneyland Drive. You know that really loud beeping noise big trucks make when they back up? I was woken up by that each night at about 1AM. I think they were emptying trash dumpsters or something...and sometimes I could hear people talking on the street below, or a loud motorcycle or car, etc. It's possible this wouldn't have been an issue if I were on a higher floor, and luckily I was able to fall back to sleep pretty quickly each night. The bigger problem would come the morning of the half marathon...
Once I decided I was up for good, it was time for a slight heart attack. Even though my phone had said it was 3:30 or whatever, I was freaked out to turn my Garmin on and see that it read 6:30!!
I quickly figured out that it was still on East Coast time, and the time updated once I synced it to my phone...but yikes! Why you gotta be like that, Garmin?
The race program had suggested arriving in the park by 4, so I left my room by 3:45. On my way, I ate a bagel with peanut butter that I had brought from home and drank coffee I had made in the room (which I would do for each race). I went through bag check at Downtown Disney and headed toward Disneyland Park. There was a line to get into the park but it started quickly moving shortly after I arrived. Only runners were allowed in the park.
Right after I got into the park, I made a bathroom stop (real bathrooms!! #blessed) and headed down Main Street toward the starting line at about 4:10 - the corrals wound around the hub.
On my way, I passed a runDisney staffer with a walkie talkie, and I heard someone over the radio say that “corral A is closed.” UM...you said what now? I was in corral A! And I’d arrived at the park at 4 just like they said - and my corral was closed?
I headed over to where I knew the corral was (based on last year’s start - it wasn’t marked this morning). A runDisney employee was there and I told him I was in corral A. He said something about how “the numbers didn’t matter for this race” and I was all, “pardon me, sir?”
If I had a Corral A assignment, I was taking it - purely for less course crowding and short character lines! He said I could squeeze into the back of Corral A or move to Corral B - I chose to scoot into A and started to creep up as close to the front as possible. Last year I hadn’t had a letter printed on my bib (no one did), and they had started us in waves that they (the announcers) had referred to as Corrals A, B, C and D - but the waves we were in were just based on when we’d showed up (so Corral A was whoever had showed up first - Corral D was whoever had showed up last). What they were doing this morning seemed exactly like last year...since I had had an A on my bib, I thought they were actually assigning corrals based on bib number this year. Apparently not. So why did I have an A on my bib??
Later I learned that EVERY bib given out for this race had Corral A printed on it…??? So every person thought they were assigned to corral A…??? Why even print the letter then? How many people were annoyed like I was, thinking they weren't being allowed into their correct corral?
For the larger races, each runner is assigned to a corral based on their expected pace for the race - the fastest runners are in the earlier corrals. With this race starting on Main Street, they can’t do that. They just need to fill in the area as people show up since they don’t have the space to have people pass the later corrals to get up to the earlier corrals. For this reason, and a few others, I personally think the start needs to be moved off of Main Street. There’s just not enough space. The corralling confusion was the first problem I had with this race.
I did end up leaving the corral again briefly to use the bathroom by the Plaza (again...real bathrooms! #legitblessed). The announcers blabbed on for awhile (“which corral can sing ‘yo ho yo ho a pirate’s life for me?’ the loudest?!” Over and over)...sigh. It was HUMID out - 89% humidity! But the temperature was a lovely 57 degrees.
Tink flew over the castle, which was awesome. My phone decided to be drunk and take a blurry, terrible video of it, which was not awesome. So trust me when I say that it was cool!
A CM dressed as a pirate sang the National Anthem while playing a little ukelele thing - also cool! I thought there were some neat touches before the race began. But that’s where it ended.
After the National Anthem, we were walked up to the starting line, which is in the path between the castle and the Matterhorn. It hadn’t really been marked at all last year, but it was this year…
I had to laugh at the balloon arch...I get that it would be tough to put up some giant thing like they do for the longer races since they need to get the park ready to open to day guests, but this was just...cheap-looking.
The wheelchair race started at 4:59 and the male race announcer (Kevin? Funny how it was such a huge deal last year to only have female race announcers, but this year Kevin comes along...) counted us down just before 5. He was pretty tough to hear - no speakers near where I was in the corral. He actually had everyone around him join him in shouting “3...2...1...GO!” It just seemed weird that they couldn't bring in one speaker…
Between the non-corral corrals, the silly-looking starting line and not being able to *really* hear the announcer start the race, I was already a little perturbed by how things were going. Normally runDisney races are super organized and well-done - already this one didn't have that same feeling. It just seemed like it should have been more high-quality than this, if that makes sense. And I do think all of these things had to be done to start the race in the park.
Maybe that's just me being picky, though...
2017 Never Land 5K! The Start
**Okay, so before I get any further into this...I was not impressed by this race. If you are looking for a 100% happy review of the Never Land 5K, this isn't it. You've been warned!**
Off to Never Land!
While the two longer race courses changed from last year to this year (to accommodate the Star Wars construction, I guess), this one stayed exactly the same. I’d run this race last year and remembered having mixed feelings on it when I was done, but when registration opened this year, I couldn’t resist signing up again.
But first - my room location. Every night without fail, I was woken up by something going on, on Disneyland Drive. You know that really loud beeping noise big trucks make when they back up? I was woken up by that each night at about 1AM. I think they were emptying trash dumpsters or something...and sometimes I could hear people talking on the street below, or a loud motorcycle or car, etc. It's possible this wouldn't have been an issue if I were on a higher floor, and luckily I was able to fall back to sleep pretty quickly each night. The bigger problem would come the morning of the half marathon...
Once I decided I was up for good, it was time for a slight heart attack. Even though my phone had said it was 3:30 or whatever, I was freaked out to turn my Garmin on and see that it read 6:30!!
I quickly figured out that it was still on East Coast time, and the time updated once I synced it to my phone...but yikes! Why you gotta be like that, Garmin?The race program had suggested arriving in the park by 4, so I left my room by 3:45. On my way, I ate a bagel with peanut butter that I had brought from home and drank coffee I had made in the room (which I would do for each race). I went through bag check at Downtown Disney and headed toward Disneyland Park. There was a line to get into the park but it started quickly moving shortly after I arrived. Only runners were allowed in the park.
Right after I got into the park, I made a bathroom stop (real bathrooms!!
#blessed) and headed down Main Street toward the starting line at about 4:10 - the corrals wound around the hub.
On my way, I passed a runDisney staffer with a walkie talkie, and I heard someone over the radio say that “corral A is closed.” UM...you said what now? I was in corral A! And I’d arrived at the park at 4 just like they said - and my corral was closed?
I headed over to where I knew the corral was (based on last year’s start - it wasn’t marked this morning). A runDisney employee was there and I told him I was in corral A. He said something about how “the numbers didn’t matter for this race” and I was all, “pardon me, sir?”
If I had a Corral A assignment, I was taking it - purely for less course crowding and short character lines! He said I could squeeze into the back of Corral A or move to Corral B - I chose to scoot into A and started to creep up as close to the front as possible. Last year I hadn’t had a letter printed on my bib (no one did), and they had started us in waves that they (the announcers) had referred to as Corrals A, B, C and D - but the waves we were in were just based on when we’d showed up (so Corral A was whoever had showed up first - Corral D was whoever had showed up last). What they were doing this morning seemed exactly like last year...since I had had an A on my bib, I thought they were actually assigning corrals based on bib number this year. Apparently not. So why did I have an A on my bib??
Later I learned that EVERY bib given out for this race had Corral A printed on it…??? So every person thought they were assigned to corral A…??? Why even print the letter then? How many people were annoyed like I was, thinking they weren't being allowed into their correct corral?
For the larger races, each runner is assigned to a corral based on their expected pace for the race - the fastest runners are in the earlier corrals. With this race starting on Main Street, they can’t do that. They just need to fill in the area as people show up since they don’t have the space to have people pass the later corrals to get up to the earlier corrals. For this reason, and a few others, I personally think the start needs to be moved off of Main Street. There’s just not enough space. The corralling confusion was the first problem I had with this race.
I did end up leaving the corral again briefly to use the bathroom by the Plaza (again...real bathrooms!
#legitblessed). The announcers blabbed on for awhile (“which corral can sing ‘yo ho yo ho a pirate’s life for me?’ the loudest?!” Over and over)...sigh. It was HUMID out - 89% humidity! But the temperature was a lovely 57 degrees.Tink flew over the castle, which was awesome. My phone decided to be drunk and take a blurry, terrible video of it, which was not awesome. So trust me when I say that it was cool!
A CM dressed as a pirate sang the National Anthem while playing a little ukelele thing - also cool! I thought there were some neat touches before the race began. But that’s where it ended.
After the National Anthem, we were walked up to the starting line, which is in the path between the castle and the Matterhorn. It hadn’t really been marked at all last year, but it was this year…
I had to laugh at the balloon arch...I get that it would be tough to put up some giant thing like they do for the longer races since they need to get the park ready to open to day guests, but this was just...cheap-looking.
The wheelchair race started at 4:59 and the male race announcer (Kevin? Funny how it was such a huge deal last year to only have female race announcers, but this year Kevin comes along...) counted us down just before 5. He was pretty tough to hear - no speakers near where I was in the corral. He actually had everyone around him join him in shouting “3...2...1...GO!” It just seemed weird that they couldn't bring in one speaker…
Between the non-corral corrals, the silly-looking starting line and not being able to *really* hear the announcer start the race, I was already a little perturbed by how things were going. Normally runDisney races are super organized and well-done - already this one didn't have that same feeling. It just seemed like it should have been more high-quality than this, if that makes sense. And I do think all of these things had to be done to start the race in the park.
Maybe that's just me being picky, though...
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
2017 Never Land 5K - Miles 1 & 2
Anyway...let's all shout together now!
3-2-1-GOOOOOO!
I was off!!...and then I wasn’t. I’d managed to creep pretty close to the front and almost immediately after the race began, I came up on an impenetrable wall of walkers. And look, there is NOTHING wrong with walking during a race - I do it at all of my races - and I swear I'm not trying to pace-shame, but what these participants were doing was more like a casual stroll. And it was probably 10 people across, RIGHT at the beginning. The entire path was pretty much blocked. I was not impressed (a phrase I will use a few times in this recap - when I say “I was not impressed” it likely means I was angry and swearing - don’t worry, I don’t think it was loud enough for the children to hear). It was frustrating.
For a brief moment, it was like I was jogging in place - looking at my Garmin data, I was at a 13:00/mile pace right at the beginning. After 0.05 miles, I found a hole and TOOK OFF- my pace dropped 3-4:00/mile. Don’t keep me from my character lines, people!
I wanted to get a good amount of distance between myself and the rest of the pack, so I kept going at this fast-for-me pace. Passed Small World and went through Toon Town...and just like that, no more Disneyland Park for the rest of this race. And no characters yet, except for some random pirates (like Streetmosphere but lots more “arrrrg” and whatnot - these do not count as character stops, in my humble opinion).
The rest of this first mile was back roads, and my picking up the pace was paying off - suddenly, the course was empty. It was awesome!
There was basically nothing going on though - I think they may have played the “yo ho yo ho” song on repeat. And it was a little darker than I would have liked (in some areas there were large flood lights set up, but I think they could have done better with this).
But that was okay - I knew I’d be back in a park soon.
Mile Marker 1 - immediately I noticed that
1. There were no clocks by the mile markers - this race is not officially timed (no Disney 5Ks are - they are “fun runs” and the bibs do not have timing chips - the one exception being the WDW 5K as part of the Dopey Challenge), but I cannot recall any of the other Disney 5K races I have done not having clocks by the mile markers...and
2. The set-up was a lot less elaborate than last year (see last year’s mile marker 1 here).
Alright, California Adventure time! And time for a character stop!
I was excited to see that there was NO LINE for Hook and Smee! But it quickly became clear why. Apparently this stop was “selfie only” per the Streetmosphere Pirate hanging out with them (“arrr, it be selfie only!”) - they even had a line of cones set up, and we were not allowed to cross over the cones to get closer. I thought this was INCREDIBLY lame (a “***” may have slipped out), but what the heck - I was standing there anyway, may as well get a selfie and move on - surely there would be a real photo-op coming up!
Look at how far away they are!
Soon after, the course briefly left the park. These projections were used a lot this weekend…
Back into the park! Hello, Cars Land!
That empty course, though…not a lot of runners, which was great - but ZERO PhotoPass photographers. I was surprised and disappointed by this (I’d bought a PhotoPass package - the $78 one-week package - and was hoping for some good race pictures).
And mile marker 2 (2016’s mile marker 2 here).
Probably my favorite thing to see in a Disney park.
Anyway...let's all shout together now!
3-2-1-GOOOOOO!
I was off!!...and then I wasn’t. I’d managed to creep pretty close to the front and almost immediately after the race began, I came up on an impenetrable wall of walkers. And look, there is NOTHING wrong with walking during a race - I do it at all of my races - and I swear I'm not trying to pace-shame, but what these participants were doing was more like a casual stroll. And it was probably 10 people across, RIGHT at the beginning. The entire path was pretty much blocked. I was not impressed (a phrase I will use a few times in this recap - when I say “I was not impressed” it likely means I was angry and swearing - don’t worry, I don’t think it was loud enough for the children to hear). It was frustrating.
For a brief moment, it was like I was jogging in place - looking at my Garmin data, I was at a 13:00/mile pace right at the beginning. After 0.05 miles, I found a hole and TOOK OFF- my pace dropped 3-4:00/mile. Don’t keep me from my character lines, people!
I wanted to get a good amount of distance between myself and the rest of the pack, so I kept going at this fast-for-me pace. Passed Small World and went through Toon Town...and just like that, no more Disneyland Park for the rest of this race. And no characters yet, except for some random pirates (like Streetmosphere but lots more “arrrrg” and whatnot - these do not count as character stops, in my humble opinion).
The rest of this first mile was back roads, and my picking up the pace was paying off - suddenly, the course was empty. It was awesome!
There was basically nothing going on though - I think they may have played the “yo ho yo ho” song on repeat. And it was a little darker than I would have liked (in some areas there were large flood lights set up, but I think they could have done better with this).
But that was okay - I knew I’d be back in a park soon.
Mile Marker 1 - immediately I noticed that
1. There were no clocks by the mile markers - this race is not officially timed (no Disney 5Ks are - they are “fun runs” and the bibs do not have timing chips - the one exception being the WDW 5K as part of the Dopey Challenge), but I cannot recall any of the other Disney 5K races I have done not having clocks by the mile markers...and
2. The set-up was a lot less elaborate than last year (see last year’s mile marker 1 here).
Alright, California Adventure time! And time for a character stop!
I was excited to see that there was NO LINE for Hook and Smee! But it quickly became clear why. Apparently this stop was “selfie only” per the Streetmosphere Pirate hanging out with them (“arrr, it be selfie only!”) - they even had a line of cones set up, and we were not allowed to cross over the cones to get closer. I thought this was INCREDIBLY lame (a “***” may have slipped out), but what the heck - I was standing there anyway, may as well get a selfie and move on - surely there would be a real photo-op coming up!
Look at how far away they are!
Soon after, the course briefly left the park. These projections were used a lot this weekend…
Back into the park! Hello, Cars Land!
That empty course, though…not a lot of runners, which was great - but ZERO PhotoPass photographers. I was surprised and disappointed by this (I’d bought a PhotoPass package - the $78 one-week package - and was hoping for some good race pictures).
And mile marker 2 (2016’s mile marker 2 here).
Probably my favorite thing to see in a Disney park.
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Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
2017 Never Land 5K - Part 2
Time to run around the Pier...not much going on at all, except that I finally found PhotoPass. “Yo ho yo ho” still playing on a loop...surely other pirate songs and/or songs from Peter Pan exist, runDisney?!
Last year I had gotten a nice PhotoPass picture in front of the Death Wheel, but there was no photographer there this time - I was disappointed by that. Another runner took a picture for me.
Now it was time to leave the park for good. Last year there had been one last character stop before leaving California Adventure (Peter & Wendy) and I was hoping for the same this year.
But there was no one there, and since the rest of the course went through Downtown Disney, I knew that that was it for this race, character-wise. I was miffed, but hey...things could be worse, right? I just sort of shrugged it off and moved on.
Mile Marker 3...
...and me!
And the finish.
And the bling!
I got my water, Powerade, banana and snackbox.
They were making runners go back through bag check to get into Downtown Disney, and there was a huge line by the time I got there. Eventually they opened up a second “runner’s only” lane and just waved us through.
I made a quick stop at one of the Downtown Disney Starbucks locations and walked back to Paradise Pier. For the second year in a row, I came away from this race with mixed feelings.
During the actual race, I definitely enjoyed myself. But as I was thinking about the things I had noticed during the race - things that were a little confusing to me, but I had shrugged off in the moment - I realized that, to me, they added up to a subpar runDisney experience. I always enjoy running in the parks in the dark, but this morning it seemed like they’d reserved all of the special touches for before the race (Pirate National Anthem, Tink castle flyover) and then got lazy for the actual race. The non-corral corrals were sort of a mess, and starting on Main Street meant that the course was narrow from the word “go.” It was too dark in areas, and I noticed a definite lack of on-course photographers. And my biggest gripe: ONE CHARACTER STOP, which was selfie only, so in my book, it 100% doesn’t count (like - I bought PhotoPass. I’d like to actually USE it rather than take a selfie).
And like I said, maybe I'm picky. But I don't think I've ever been as disappointed by a runDisney race as I was by this one - between what I paid to register for this race ($80 + fees) and past awesome runDisney experiences, my expectations were high, and this race didn't measure up. Initially I wouldn't say I was angry about it, but I wasn’t super happy with it, either.
(Sidenote before I go on: this was my first race having my bib on a belt. I did like not having to mess with safety pins or magnets to attach the bib, but I didn’t have the belt adjusted quite right and had to stop a few times to tighten it, since it was scooting up on me. But overall, two thumbs up for the SPIbelt/toggles!)
Up next - I get angry!
Time to run around the Pier...not much going on at all, except that I finally found PhotoPass. “Yo ho yo ho” still playing on a loop...surely other pirate songs and/or songs from Peter Pan exist, runDisney?!
Last year I had gotten a nice PhotoPass picture in front of the Death Wheel, but there was no photographer there this time - I was disappointed by that. Another runner took a picture for me.
Now it was time to leave the park for good. Last year there had been one last character stop before leaving California Adventure (Peter & Wendy) and I was hoping for the same this year.
But there was no one there, and since the rest of the course went through Downtown Disney, I knew that that was it for this race, character-wise. I was miffed, but hey...things could be worse, right? I just sort of shrugged it off and moved on.
Mile Marker 3...
...and me!
And the finish.
And the bling!
I got my water, Powerade, banana and snackbox.
They were making runners go back through bag check to get into Downtown Disney, and there was a huge line by the time I got there. Eventually they opened up a second “runner’s only” lane and just waved us through.
I made a quick stop at one of the Downtown Disney Starbucks locations and walked back to Paradise Pier. For the second year in a row, I came away from this race with mixed feelings.
During the actual race, I definitely enjoyed myself. But as I was thinking about the things I had noticed during the race - things that were a little confusing to me, but I had shrugged off in the moment - I realized that, to me, they added up to a subpar runDisney experience. I always enjoy running in the parks in the dark, but this morning it seemed like they’d reserved all of the special touches for before the race (Pirate National Anthem, Tink castle flyover) and then got lazy for the actual race. The non-corral corrals were sort of a mess, and starting on Main Street meant that the course was narrow from the word “go.” It was too dark in areas, and I noticed a definite lack of on-course photographers. And my biggest gripe: ONE CHARACTER STOP, which was selfie only, so in my book, it 100% doesn’t count (like - I bought PhotoPass. I’d like to actually USE it rather than take a selfie).
And like I said, maybe I'm picky. But I don't think I've ever been as disappointed by a runDisney race as I was by this one - between what I paid to register for this race ($80 + fees) and past awesome runDisney experiences, my expectations were high, and this race didn't measure up. Initially I wouldn't say I was angry about it, but I wasn’t super happy with it, either.
(Sidenote before I go on: this was my first race having my bib on a belt. I did like not having to mess with safety pins or magnets to attach the bib, but I didn’t have the belt adjusted quite right and had to stop a few times to tighten it, since it was scooting up on me. But overall, two thumbs up for the SPIbelt/toggles!)
Up next - I get angry!
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lurkergirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2011
*swoon* is right - I just saw their bags for D23 and I think I kind of want the backpack! I don't have a backpack from them yet and I LOVE the Epcot patch on it!
I *ahem* might have recieved the RSP email and yelped. I may need all the bags. Ha!
Wow that corral situation is odd. If everyone gets "A" why even put a corral on the bib. That balloon arch is definitely sad.
The whole character situation just made runDisney look bad. I voiced my opinion about that here and on Twitter. Thankfully they didn't continue that the rest of the weekend.
I do like the medal but it sucks that it wasn't a great race for you. It just seems like they tried to get away with as little as possible for the 5K that weekend.
The whole character situation just made runDisney look bad. I voiced my opinion about that here and on Twitter. Thankfully they didn't continue that the rest of the weekend.
I do like the medal but it sucks that it wasn't a great race for you. It just seems like they tried to get away with as little as possible for the 5K that weekend.
SarahDisney
So ... Yeah
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2014
That corral A situation is weird. I'd rather have no corral on the bib than have everyone have "A." I don't get it at all.
As much as I would love for every runDisney race to be magical for everyone ... sometimes it's not. It's disappointing and frustrating, but ... sometimes you just have to admit that this isn't the race for you. I guess I won't be seeing you at next year's Neverland 5K (not that I'll be doing next year's Neverland 5K...)
At least you enjoyed the running through the park parts somewhat ... so it wasn't all bad!
As much as I would love for every runDisney race to be magical for everyone ... sometimes it's not. It's disappointing and frustrating, but ... sometimes you just have to admit that this isn't the race for you. I guess I won't be seeing you at next year's Neverland 5K (not that I'll be doing next year's Neverland 5K...)
At least you enjoyed the running through the park parts somewhat ... so it wasn't all bad!
VandVsmama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2011
A friend of mine ran in the Tinkerbell half marathon that weekend. She was really irritated at how Disney handled the whole race. She mentioned the same things that you did...the mile markers were kind of pathetic and lame. The character photo stops were mostly selfie only and you couldn't even get close to the characters...and there were hardly any characters at all. She was annoyed enough at the whole experience that she's considering not doing it next year. She said it was definitely like Disneyland did a half baked job on the whole thing.
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Agree on both counts!!
I know, I'm not sure what they though the reaction would be - like they'd take away characters and no one would notice/care? Very odd.
Oh the medal is great - I love that they are metal for the 5Ks now! Thankfully this was the one bad race of the weekend and it only went up from there.
I agree! I don't understand what the thinking was there. I looked on Instagram last night and I found someone with a bib # of 44xxx that also had an "A" printed on their bib, so yeah - everyone was in corral A. ?????
No but I am sure we will see one another at a runDisney race some day!!
I totally did, and I mean - I could have been at work instead. So while I was unhappy with the race, I was still in Disneyland, which was pretty great.
Yeah, I'm glad to know it's not just me - I've been accused of being too hard on runDisney in the past (what can I say, I expect a lot from them at this point).
Now that all is said and done, I WOULD do the Pixie Dust Challenge again, but not the 5K. I hope they make things better next year!
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Never Land Tea > Never Land 5K
I got back to the room, got cleaned up, and then headed to Jazz Express in Downtown Disney for breakfast.
My new Belle purse came with me! Isn't it cute? The bag check CM knew what it represented right away, so clearly he's a really cool person.
It's small, but a perfect size for the parks.
Bag of beignets (with a side of bacon)! Yum!
I headed to California - it was about 8:30AM. Early entry for hotel guests only! Yay!
I grabbed a fastpass for Radiator Springs Racers (I was surprised the FP machines were going, I thought they didn't start until the park opened to everyone?) and walked on via the single rider line...once that first ride was done I exited and went right back through the single rider line for round 2!
And then used my fastpass to go on again!
Ka-Chow!
I decided I wanted to have lunch at Cove Bar today (my #1 favorite counter service spot) and since the line is always huge, it seemed like a good idea to “rope drop Cove Bar”! I took a quick spin on the Little Mermaid ride before lining up at Cove Bar at about 10:40. I was not the only one who had this idea (I was the 10-15th person in line).
While in line, I hopped online (on the internet, I mean) - and that’s when I saw the apparent reason for the lack of characters at that morning’s 5K. Per PrincessV here on the DIS, whose friend had talked to runDisney at the expo afterward, the 5K had been a test - they thought too many people were getting swept off of the course for failing to maintain the minimum required pace, so their solution was to reduce the characters on the course and make the ones that were there selfie only. That meant, for this weekend, there would be no characters for the 5K and 10K and “reduced” characters for the half. I read similar reports on Facebook from people who had visited Runner Relations and been told the same thing.
Part of why I started doing runDisney races (my first was in 2011) was the allure of meeting rare characters on the race courses. I get that not everyone likes to meet the characters, but for me, it’s a big deal and part of how I justify the inflated costs of doing races at Disney (example: my Never Land 5K registration cost $80. A 5K at home would be less than half of that). So when I read that they would be going away with little/no warning, I was LIVID. And the reasoning was just insane to me - punish everyone because others were getting swept? And how was this not an issue at last month’s Dark Side races, where there were tons of characters on the courses? It seemed incredibly unfair to me that having tons of characters out at Dark Side was fine, but we were getting screwed.
This put a HUGE damper on my day. I had been so excited to run the 10K - the course looked awesome and I was excited for character stops - but now I was just angry. I felt like I’d been ripped off!
Food helped.
I drowned my sorrows in a Never Land Tea from the Secret menu (peach schnapps, pineapple juice, Sprite, vodka, gin and rum). It was good!
And chicken fajita rolls, one of my favorite Disney meals.
By the end of lunch, I was still stewing over the race. I was actually starting to think about heading back to the expo to complain in person - why not? It probably wouldn’t solve anything but at least I’d feel like I *did* something, rather than just stay upset all day.
Right, ya big Goof?
I didn’t want to go right away...I decided to take a little time to sort of calm down and collect my thoughts a little better. I headed across the way to Disneyland - needed a picture of Hook with the medal! Like...a *real* picture.
But first...my girl. There was no one around to take a picture for me so we took...a selfie.
Apparently this was just the weekend of the selfie.
One thing that is really striking to me about Disneyland is all of the flowers that are in the parks - flowers and trees. So different from Disney World (more benches, too).
Pluto, my love! You know he really loves me because he allowed us to take an actual picture together!
So pretty.
Gideon was hanging around in Fantasyland…again, it was selfie or nothing. It felt like I was in some weird, selfie-themed episode of the Twilight Zone today!
And finally - Hook! He tried to take my ears but Peter wouldn’t let him!
Side note: I saw this particular “friend” of Peter around a LOT this weekend. He always had a ton of energy...must be all that Pixie Dust.
I got back to the room, got cleaned up, and then headed to Jazz Express in Downtown Disney for breakfast.
My new Belle purse came with me! Isn't it cute? The bag check CM knew what it represented right away, so clearly he's a really cool person.
It's small, but a perfect size for the parks.
Bag of beignets (with a side of bacon)! Yum!
I headed to California - it was about 8:30AM. Early entry for hotel guests only! Yay!
I grabbed a fastpass for Radiator Springs Racers (I was surprised the FP machines were going, I thought they didn't start until the park opened to everyone?) and walked on via the single rider line...once that first ride was done I exited and went right back through the single rider line for round 2!
And then used my fastpass to go on again!
Ka-Chow!
I decided I wanted to have lunch at Cove Bar today (my #1 favorite counter service spot) and since the line is always huge, it seemed like a good idea to “rope drop Cove Bar”! I took a quick spin on the Little Mermaid ride before lining up at Cove Bar at about 10:40. I was not the only one who had this idea (I was the 10-15th person in line).
While in line, I hopped online (on the internet, I mean) - and that’s when I saw the apparent reason for the lack of characters at that morning’s 5K. Per PrincessV here on the DIS, whose friend had talked to runDisney at the expo afterward, the 5K had been a test - they thought too many people were getting swept off of the course for failing to maintain the minimum required pace, so their solution was to reduce the characters on the course and make the ones that were there selfie only. That meant, for this weekend, there would be no characters for the 5K and 10K and “reduced” characters for the half. I read similar reports on Facebook from people who had visited Runner Relations and been told the same thing.
Part of why I started doing runDisney races (my first was in 2011) was the allure of meeting rare characters on the race courses. I get that not everyone likes to meet the characters, but for me, it’s a big deal and part of how I justify the inflated costs of doing races at Disney (example: my Never Land 5K registration cost $80. A 5K at home would be less than half of that). So when I read that they would be going away with little/no warning, I was LIVID. And the reasoning was just insane to me - punish everyone because others were getting swept? And how was this not an issue at last month’s Dark Side races, where there were tons of characters on the courses? It seemed incredibly unfair to me that having tons of characters out at Dark Side was fine, but we were getting screwed.
This put a HUGE damper on my day. I had been so excited to run the 10K - the course looked awesome and I was excited for character stops - but now I was just angry. I felt like I’d been ripped off!
Food helped.
I drowned my sorrows in a Never Land Tea from the Secret menu (peach schnapps, pineapple juice, Sprite, vodka, gin and rum). It was good!
And chicken fajita rolls, one of my favorite Disney meals.
By the end of lunch, I was still stewing over the race. I was actually starting to think about heading back to the expo to complain in person - why not? It probably wouldn’t solve anything but at least I’d feel like I *did* something, rather than just stay upset all day.
Right, ya big Goof?
I didn’t want to go right away...I decided to take a little time to sort of calm down and collect my thoughts a little better. I headed across the way to Disneyland - needed a picture of Hook with the medal! Like...a *real* picture.
But first...my girl. There was no one around to take a picture for me so we took...a selfie.
Apparently this was just the weekend of the selfie.
One thing that is really striking to me about Disneyland is all of the flowers that are in the parks - flowers and trees. So different from Disney World (more benches, too).
Pluto, my love! You know he really loves me because he allowed us to take an actual picture together!
So pretty.
Gideon was hanging around in Fantasyland…again, it was selfie or nothing. It felt like I was in some weird, selfie-themed episode of the Twilight Zone today!
And finally - Hook! He tried to take my ears but Peter wouldn’t let him!
Side note: I saw this particular “friend” of Peter around a LOT this weekend. He always had a ton of energy...must be all that Pixie Dust.
Last edited:
Ariel484
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
Back to the Expo
Now it was time to head out. Wanted to get one ride on the monorail before it went down for refurb on the 15th!
As you can see...I got photobombed. The guy that did was so proud of himself and yelled, “photobomb!” Yes, that is a photobomb. Kudos to you, sir.
How about them Cavs, though?!
I headed back to the room to grab my I Did It shirt for the half...planning on taking it to the expo to return it (somehow it made me feel a bit better that runDisney would be getting a little less money from me since I was displeased with them). Once I did that, I returned to the runDisney booth (the same employee that I’d talked to the previous day was there and didn’t seem as happy to see me this time). I told the other employee first and foremost that I understood that she and this other guy don't make the decisions, but that I wanted to register a complaint. Basically I just said that I was unhappy that there were no characters on the course. I was sort of expecting her to just say, “we understand and we’ll take it up to management” and have that be that - really, that’s all I WANTED her to say, because I just wanted to feel like someone heard my dissatisfaction, but I was surprised when she gave me pushback on it, saying that there WERE in fact characters on the course. She did confirm that it was to “alleviate course congestion - safety is our #1 priority!” and that it would be the same way at the 10K. (BTW, here’s a way to alleviate course congestion: DON’T START THE 5K IN DISNEYLAND PARK!!)
I didn’t know how to convey how not okay this was without sounding like an insane person or getting REALLY angry (I’d been pretty calm to this point), and I got so flustered that the other points I'd wanted to bring up (lack of PhotoPass, the non-corral corrals) flew out of my head. I did ask why they couldn’t at least have characters in the finish area. I’d said a few other points that she had argued, but I did stump her with the “why no characters in the finish area” question. I mean - I get that she wanted to defend the decision, and I guess I should have been happy to have some sort of explanation, but at that point I felt like from a customer service standpoint, I just wanted her to let me say my piece (as nicely as possible) and be on my way. I wasn’t expecting a mini debate out of it...and I wasn't satisfied with the reasoning she'd giving me because, frankly, I thought it was stupid. So there's that.
I quickly decided to let it go. The 10K course still looked like a lot of fun, and I didn’t want this to put me in a bad mood anymore. Later in the day I read a rumor that runDisney was going to reverse its decision to run this “test” and have characters out the next day, but I wasn’t about to get my hopes up.
And really...I was at Disneyland instead of work.
Life could be a lot worse! And after this weekend I am 100% done with the Never Land 5K, so I guess runDisney is saving me some money going forward...
A Dole Whip float with rum will ease the pain!
I headed back to the room to chill for a bit and get my stuff together for the next morning.
At about 5:30, I headed back out.
I took a quick spin through World of Disney...ended up buying this perfect keychain later!
Once I got into the park, I wandered around the stores a bit before trying to check in for my reservation at Wine Country Trattoria early (I was soooo hungry). I was seated at about 7:15.
I went with the caprese and the chicken parm. The caprese was WAY more tomato-y than I would have liked, but it was okay overall.
This was my second time eating here. The first time I came away thinking it was pretty plain, and I thought the same thing this time. I think it’s off the list for me.
I headed out of the park through the Grand Californian and back across the street to Paradise Pier for a little chill time before heading to bed at about 9:15.
Up next: the 2017 Tinker Bell 10K! Time to redeem yourself, runDisney!!
Now it was time to head out. Wanted to get one ride on the monorail before it went down for refurb on the 15th!
As you can see...I got photobombed. The guy that did was so proud of himself and yelled, “photobomb!” Yes, that is a photobomb. Kudos to you, sir.
How about them Cavs, though?!
I headed back to the room to grab my I Did It shirt for the half...planning on taking it to the expo to return it (somehow it made me feel a bit better that runDisney would be getting a little less money from me since I was displeased with them). Once I did that, I returned to the runDisney booth (the same employee that I’d talked to the previous day was there and didn’t seem as happy to see me this time). I told the other employee first and foremost that I understood that she and this other guy don't make the decisions, but that I wanted to register a complaint. Basically I just said that I was unhappy that there were no characters on the course. I was sort of expecting her to just say, “we understand and we’ll take it up to management” and have that be that - really, that’s all I WANTED her to say, because I just wanted to feel like someone heard my dissatisfaction, but I was surprised when she gave me pushback on it, saying that there WERE in fact characters on the course. She did confirm that it was to “alleviate course congestion - safety is our #1 priority!” and that it would be the same way at the 10K. (BTW, here’s a way to alleviate course congestion: DON’T START THE 5K IN DISNEYLAND PARK!!)
I didn’t know how to convey how not okay this was without sounding like an insane person or getting REALLY angry (I’d been pretty calm to this point), and I got so flustered that the other points I'd wanted to bring up (lack of PhotoPass, the non-corral corrals) flew out of my head. I did ask why they couldn’t at least have characters in the finish area. I’d said a few other points that she had argued, but I did stump her with the “why no characters in the finish area” question. I mean - I get that she wanted to defend the decision, and I guess I should have been happy to have some sort of explanation, but at that point I felt like from a customer service standpoint, I just wanted her to let me say my piece (as nicely as possible) and be on my way. I wasn’t expecting a mini debate out of it...and I wasn't satisfied with the reasoning she'd giving me because, frankly, I thought it was stupid. So there's that.
I quickly decided to let it go. The 10K course still looked like a lot of fun, and I didn’t want this to put me in a bad mood anymore. Later in the day I read a rumor that runDisney was going to reverse its decision to run this “test” and have characters out the next day, but I wasn’t about to get my hopes up.
And really...I was at Disneyland instead of work.
Life could be a lot worse! And after this weekend I am 100% done with the Never Land 5K, so I guess runDisney is saving me some money going forward...A Dole Whip float with rum will ease the pain!
I headed back to the room to chill for a bit and get my stuff together for the next morning.
At about 5:30, I headed back out.
I took a quick spin through World of Disney...ended up buying this perfect keychain later!
Once I got into the park, I wandered around the stores a bit before trying to check in for my reservation at Wine Country Trattoria early (I was soooo hungry). I was seated at about 7:15.
I went with the caprese and the chicken parm. The caprese was WAY more tomato-y than I would have liked, but it was okay overall.
This was my second time eating here. The first time I came away thinking it was pretty plain, and I thought the same thing this time. I think it’s off the list for me.
I headed out of the park through the Grand Californian and back across the street to Paradise Pier for a little chill time before heading to bed at about 9:15.
Up next: the 2017 Tinker Bell 10K! Time to redeem yourself, runDisney!!
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cavepig
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2001
Did your snack box not have any sort of bar? It looks identical to our Dark Side boxes but we had a Yummy Bar except my half box had a nature granola bar instead.
Glad to hear Disneyland still had benches, the lack especially at Magic Kingdom Main Street was humrous to us a few weeks ago!
Great pics even with the lack of characters, that open 5k course once you got around people looks rather lovely!
Glad to hear Disneyland still had benches, the lack especially at Magic Kingdom Main Street was humrous to us a few weeks ago!
Great pics even with the lack of characters, that open 5k course once you got around people looks rather lovely!
Last edited:
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