"Every fiber of my being hurts, but this is SO cool".. Our 13.1 Mile Disney Journey

[Soopafly]

Joining in!!

I just read through and am really enjoying it so far

You are so lucky the overall travel time is so quick lol, we fly 9 hours from the UK and don't get to the resort until 7pm so we are drained but I am glad you got to get back out for dinner in the end. Next time you go to Kona though make sure you get the Kona wings They are so good it's unreal.

Love the AK Magical Express bus, we have never gotten that before.

How did you find the stay at Bay Lake? I have never stayed there but saw the rooms during a DVC showing and loved that technically, I could sit in the tub and still watch the fireworks

I can't believe you were up that early but even more so that you probably didn't get to sleep until 10:30 Love the story about the husband and wife, very touching and glad they got to 'see each other'.

One thing I have learned in life is that people SUCK. We get the same problem here with people pushing and shoving just to get on a bus and it just makes you wonder why they feel the need to do it. I'm glad you didn't let it ruin an otherwise great event though

Just reading along with the marathon is tiring me out, I could never run from Epcot to the MK so major props for doing it.

Look forward to reading more

 

[20thingamabobs]

Sorry I missed the update (we were out of town for DH's birthday this weekend...went to see our youngest son). Congratulations on the race; the video is great and I lovve that there are character spots.

Aw, that's ok. I hope your DH had a very happy birthday and you both had a wonderful time visiting your son! The character spots were cute and I wanted to stop at all of them but the lines were so long and I promised my DBF I would only stop if I saw someone really cool...

I'm loving it. I wish the miles would go by as fast as you make them seem. Then I could make it too. LOL! Well maybe not even then

HAHA they actually do go by pretty quickly... I couldn't believe how quickly we made it to the castle. It's miles 8-11 that you have to worry about...

The videos are great! I can't wait for more!

Thanks! Unfortunately, our videos get a little shaky after this point because we took most of them while running so I'm sorry about that...

Joining in!!

I just read through and am really enjoying it so far

You are so lucky the overall travel time is so quick lol, we fly 9 hours from the UK and don't get to the resort until 7pm so we are drained but I am glad you got to get back out for dinner in the end. Next time you go to Kona though make sure you get the Kona wings They are so good it's unreal.

Love the AK Magical Express bus, we have never gotten that before.

How did you find the stay at Bay Lake? I have never stayed there but saw the rooms during a DVC showing and loved that technically, I could sit in the tub and still watch the fireworks

I can't believe you were up that early but even more so that you probably didn't get to sleep until 10:30 Love the story about the husband and wife, very touching and glad they got to 'see each other'.

One thing I have learned in life is that people SUCK. We get the same problem here with people pushing and shoving just to get on a bus and it just makes you wonder why they feel the need to do it. I'm glad you didn't let it ruin an otherwise great event though

Just reading along with the marathon is tiring me out, I could never run from Epcot to the MK so major props for doing it.

Look forward to reading more

Welcome! I'm glad your enjoying my TR! It's funny because I feel like we live so far from Disney but you're right, we really do have a quick trip. And we're lucky that it's close enough that a short Fri-Sun trip is possible. I couldn't imagine flying for 9 hours. YUCK! We're going back to Kona for our March trip so I will definitely try the Kona wings when I go, I love that restaurant.

I liked the AK bus too. When we went in December I got an Epcot/Turtle Talk with Crush bus which was cute too! I really like the new themed buses.

I toured BLT last April and loved the resort but we aren't DVC members. I had originally booked us to stay at All-Star Music but as I was doing some research, I realized that we'd be better off staying at a monorail resort so that we could take a monorail to the race instead of messing with a bus. I obsessively was checking pricing online (room only discount) to find the best deal on a monorail resort and one day a Standard Studio - Standard View room at BLT popped up so I hurried up and booked it. Funny enough, it was actually the cheapest monorail option I found too!

We did get to bed around 10-10:30 so we got about 5 hours of sleep but I hope so much adrenaline it didn't matter. And I don't get people either, it was just silly. I'm glad we'd got to stay in the front just because we'd waiting in the front for almost 2 hours and talked the whole time about how excited we were about it. I was so excited I brushed it off but it really is annoying...

Running the half marathon was tiring but it was so much fun! It wasn't bad in the beginning, it's mile 8-11 that are rough...

 

[20thingamabobs]

Hi DISers. I'm sorry I've been MIA for so long. Things have been a little crazy at work and I had to pick up some overtime. Also, I started grad classes again last week so that's an additional work load to fit in. But, I also have some exciting news that's been taking up my time...

DBF and I are adding some fur to our life. I've wanted a puppy for a long time and I even promised that if he let me have one, I would spend as much time taking care of it and training it as I do on my Disney trips Anyway, that argument at least got him to agree to look at one. So, I did my research and found a breed that I felt we would be compatible with. I found a breeder/rescue shelter that uses all proceeds from their puppies strictly to support the shelter. So, last Friday we went to look at a little black and white Morkie (Maltese/Yorkie mix). She was sooo cute! We spent about an hour there talking to the owner about the breed and what to expect, etc. Well, the whole time we were there, I was holding the little girl and the owner had handed her brother to DBF to hold. Well, I look over and there is the little boy licking DBF all over. Then, a little later, he feel asleep in his arms. Well, as our visit was nearing an end, I asked DBF if we could get one. I really wanted the little girl but DBF had fallen in love with the little boy... So, when I told him I wanted the girl, he looked at me and says "maybe, we could just take them both." Are you serious? The person who didn't want any dog now wants two? He said "at least they could keep each other company while we're not home". So, there it was... we walked away the proud owners of two new puppies. Now, they're only 3 weeks old so we have to wait 3 more weeks before we can go pick them up so we've been busily gathering up everything we're going to need.

So, what did we name them? Well, you know I had to choose a Disney related name so I named the little girl, Lilo. Then, DBF took his time naming the little boy but finally decided to name him Otis (as a tribute to Milo and Otis ) So, we now have Lilo and Otis:

We get to pick them up on Valentine's Day (they'll be exactly 6 weeks old)!

 

[Shannon84]

Oh my gosh, HOW CUTE!!!!! I am actually more of a cat person (probably because I dont have the patience to train a dog ) but they look adorable and its great that DBF is on board with it as well!! How exciting!

 

[mla1977]

That is an adorable puppy! Congrats on doing the race. I was there for my first marathon this year.

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

Oh my gosh they are so adorable! Congratulations! I have a mini dachshund that I just love to pieces. I am deployed to Kuwait right now and I miss her as much as I miss my DS! Seriously! It's tough because It's not like I can talk to her on Skype (I have tried) so I can only hear her barking in the background when I'm on with the human family members!

 

[draybook]

Good job on the marathon!

The longest I've ever run at one time is 6.5 miles and that was a forced battalion run every week. For a guy with asthma, that was pure hell. I don't know though, being at Disney would be some pretty good motivation.

Looking forward to more from this trip!

 

[20thingamabobs]

Oh my gosh, HOW CUTE!!!!! I am actually more of a cat person (probably because I dont have the patience to train a dog ) but they look adorable and its great that DBF is on board with it as well!! How exciting!

Thanks! I'm definitely more of a dog person but I'm terrified about them being difficult to train... too bad they aren't more like cats and just teach themselves I'm so glad my DBF agreed, but it was a long haul getting to that point.

That is an adorable puppy! Congrats on doing the race. I was there for my first marathon this year.

Thank you and Thank you! and Congrats to you as well! Wasn't it so much fun? I can't wait to plan my next one!

Oh my gosh they are so adorable! Congratulations! I have a mini dachshund that I just love to pieces. I am deployed to Kuwait right now and I miss her as much as I miss my DS! Seriously! It's tough because It's not like I can talk to her on Skype (I have tried) so I can only hear her barking in the background when I'm on with the human family members!

Thank you! I can't wait to pick them up in a couple weeks! I can't imagine being away from my family and pets like that but thank you for all you do! I see we're going to be at WDW at the same time in March and we're both running the 5k so hopefully we'll run into each other (no pun intended lol)!

Good job on the marathon!

The longest I've ever run at one time is 6.5 miles and that was a forced battalion run every week. For a guy with asthma, that was pure hell. I don't know though, being at Disney would be some pretty good motivation.

Looking forward to more from this trip!

Thanks! Disney was definitely the motivation I needed! It was a nice excuse for another trip to WDW and I couldn't back out because the registration was non refundable . But, it was really rewarding and it so nice to say I was able to do it and now I can't wait for my next one!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Gee I almost want to run a half marathon now..... almost.

 

[draybook]

Gee I almost want to run a half marathon now..... almost.

I don't know about running in it but I might show up at the next one on that overpass with the other guy cheering the runners on!

 

[20thingamabobs]

We'd made it 5 miles and we're about to enter the Magic Kingdom. This is the part of the race that I'd been envisioning for the past 4 months. I was so excited and I was starting to choke up a little as we got closer. Finally, we made our way from the back stage area into the entrance of Main Street, USA. We were approaching from the right so City Hall was to our left. This is what we were greeted by (sorry about the shaking, I was still running):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkVzKqe3soI&feature=player_detailpage

As we turned the corner, Cinderella castle finally came into view. As we made our way down Main Street towards it, they fans we cheering us along. It was so better than I'd imagined. I couldn't help but smile as we made our way up the street. As I was taping, DBF snapped this picture:

I was once again surprised to find the Christmas decorations still up but it was nice to get that little reminder from my trip the previous month. This portion of the race moved slowly. We were taking our time to enjoy the moment plus the running pathway had narrowed so even if we had wanted to go faster, there wasn't really a way around people so we just took it all in. We made our to the hub:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAUpuJMUZRM&feature=player_detailpage

Once we were in the hub, we made a right turn and headed towards Tomorrowland. We ran across the bridge and under the entrance sign:

As we were running past Stitch's Great Escape and Monster's Laugh Floor Comedy club, DBF turned and snapped a picture of myself. It's certainly not the most flattering picture as it was starting to get warm and my face is red:

Once we reached the end of the pathway, we made a left and headed towards Fantasyland past the Tomorrowland Speedway:

As we approached the Tea Cups, we noticed a few of Wonderland's famous characters, Alice, the Mad hatter and the Queen:

Like usual, their line was really long so we kept moving. Once past the Tea Cups, we made another left to run through Fantasyland. I was sure to take a quick peek towards Mickey's Toontown though because I knew I wouldn't be seeing it again. As we made our way past The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Rapunzel was greeting runners with her only really long line. Sorry no pic. We kept moving and found Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, and Mr. Smee greeting runners near Dumbo:

These are some of my favorite characters but I had promised DBF we wouldn't stop unless it was someone I had never met before so we kept going. Right as we approached them, we made a left turn and headed towards the back of Cinderella Castle:

This was it, to me this was the highlight of the whole race. DBF snapped another quick picture:

Right before entering the castle, we passed the Fairy Godmother, Cinderella and Prince Charming on our right and the Evil Stepmother and stepsisters on our right. Once, again we skipped these opportunities and unfortunately don't have any pics... But, then it was time to make our way through:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFn3Zn-Ye0M&feature=player_detailpage

The trumpets were an awesome welcome and it was so cool to exit and be able to view all the guests and other runners still on Main Street. I was so excited and beaming. We headed down the ramp to the right and there were ASI photographers and I was hoping they'd get us but unfortunately we got missed. There was a separate line to stand in if you wanted to get you pic in front of the castle but it was probably the longest of any of the lines so instead we kept heading right towards Liberty Square. DBF did snap this quick pic though:

As we were about to cross the bridge to Liberty Square DBF wanted to stop and take a pic of each other but I told him to wait and instead we stopped after we crossed the bridge to take these pics:

Where we stopped to take these pictures was also Mile Marker 6:

There was an ASI photographer here too so we had him take our picture in front of the sign too. Then, we entered Liberty Square where Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen and Louis were greeting runners. Sorry no pic. Then we passed the Hall of Presidents and made another left. We were headed towards Frontierland. Outside Country Bear Jamboree, two of the bears were greeting runners but unfortunately I don't have a pic and I can't remember which two they were. It was about this time that some of the adrenaline of running through the castle was wearing off and I looked at DBF and said "Every fiber of my being hurts... but this is SO cool" note where my title came from. When we reached the Splash Mountain area, we made another slight left and were headed back stage again. This turned out to be a cool area. First we passed one of the Walt Disney Railroad trains:

Then a bunch of scurvy pirates aboard a pirate ship and none other than Captain Jack Sparrow himself:

I thought this was a really cool picture stop but it had one of the longest lines and I'd actually got to meet Jack Sparrow at the Pirate & Princess party in 2008 so I couldn't justify waiting... Next, we made our way past the area where they store all the parade floats. They were in a coated glass building so you could tell what they were but I didn't bother taking a pic because I knew it wouldn't come out well. Then we exited Magic Kingdom and started heading towards the Grand Floridian. Right before, we passed Mile Marker 7:

Then by the entrance to GF, Mary Poppins, Bert, and one (maybe two) of the penguins were greeting runners. Now, from about mile 7 1/2 to mile 11 1/2... things start to get "a little boring". Now there's still alot of entertainment but your body hurts and it feels like each mile drags on forever... That being said we were still moving along and had only stopped once to use the bathroom and for those quick photo ops. We reached Mile Marker 8:

We decided to take a 1 minute walking break then we started running again. Every muscle was sore so starting to run hurt but we eventually got back into our groove. As we passed the golf course, Goofy and Donald were there greeting runners dressed in their best golfing attire. About now, the sun was really starting to rise and was coming up directly in front of us so it got really hot. Around mile 8 1/2 we stopped to use the restroom again. This took about 6 minutes again which is really frustrating but when ya gotta go ya gotta go... Then it was usual DJ and music at Mile Marker 9:

Now, was the point when DBF showed his lack of Disney knowledge... We were coming up on another photo op that was big enough to see from a distance and DBF looks at me and goes "look Whit, EPCOT, we're almost there.. this is the final stretch" I kind of laughed and said "Ha, I wish" and DBF goes, "No, look.. right there is Epcot, that's where the finish is" At this point I slowed down my pace and just kind of looked at his weird. Mind you, we were only at mile 9 1/2 and "Epcot" was no where is sight... so, what was DBF referring to you ask...

This balloon of course. As we got closer and the ball got smaller, DBF laughed at his mistake but I was surprised he made it in the first place. I mean the things was filled with hot air and kept blowing in the wind. Oh well.. it gave us a good laugh...

continued next post...

 

[20thingamabobs]

Gee I almost want to run a half marathon now..... almost.

you should do it!!! It really is a lot of fun

I don't know about running in it but I might show up at the next one on that overpass with the other guy cheering the runners on!

that could be cool too... Sunday morning, we could see the full marathon runners as they were running past BLT and that was pretty cool. It was neat to see what we must have looked like the day before

 

[Shannon84]

I am really enjoying following with your race...this is making me really want to run next January!! I think there is WAY more entertainment throughout your race so far than what we had at the Wine and Dine...then again it was the first year and it was at night

Running towards and through the castle would be the highlight, the video was awesome to see that, though you guys did look packed in that area with quite a crowd!

 

[Nermel9]

Great update!!

I can't believe all the characters they have out that you can meet! That pirate boat with Jack Sparrow was so cool! And running through the caste with the trumpets playing was awesome, I would have cried! I really want to do a half marathon sometime!

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

Awesome update! I'm trying to watch the videos but the internet here is so slow sometimes and they keep freezing on me Great pictures though! I can't wait for the next installment!
Have you done any of the 5Ks' at Disney before? I'm kind of curious about entertainment along the way. Though the fact that most of the race in in a park is enough for me.
It's getting close!

 

[NMW]

Subscribing

 

[jenseib]

I'm getting tired thinking about the running. how cool that they had al lthe characters along the way. But if you stop, won;t that mess up your time ...badly. I thought you had to do 16 minute miles and if you wait for a character wouldn't that put you out of the run then?

 

[Pongo53]

20thingamabobs: What a great trip report! I'm loving the pictures, and hope to see what you post from mile nine on to the finish. I'm putting up some pictures from our Goofy Challenge bit by bit over on the thread "An Extremely Goofy Trip Report," and will be adding my Donald Half pictures tomorrow. I have a pic of Tiana, Naveen, and Louis that you are missing. This one is from Sunday, but I got Louis in there too, that way. I didn't see him Saturday.

Not sure if links work on this forum, but my thread is at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2635465, last I looked.

Congratulations on your finish, your courage in undertaking the event with your DBF, and your determination to have fun and take pictures during it. The Disney races are good courses, but more than that, they are all about fun and Disney magic more than about personal bests. Your trip report shows that through and through. I hope we see y'all there next year again.

If the Princess is not full, you might give it a try. My wife liked it because she did not have to deal with the men at the start, and she also got the first corral instead of the second. If nothing else, it pays to be at the front for easier porta pottie access. (sorry--but this seems to be DW's main criteria for whether a race is a success or not.)

Anyway, hope to see your finishing pictures soon!

 

[natale1980]

This balloon of course. As we got closer and the ball got smaller, DBF laughed at his mistake but I was surprised he made it in the first place. I mean the things was filled with hot air and kept blowing in the wind. Oh well.. it gave us a good laugh...

continued next post...[

Thats one of those things that is going to turn into a joke for years to come.

I can see it now, Ten years from now:
DBF - We are almost at Epcot (said while riding the monorail)
You - Are you sure it's not just a balloon??

 

[20thingamabobs]

I am really enjoying following with your race...this is making me really want to run next January!! I think there is WAY more entertainment throughout your race so far than what we had at the Wine and Dine...then again it was the first year and it was at night

Running towards and through the castle would be the highlight, the video was awesome to see that, though you guys did look packed in that area with quite a crowd!

You should definitely try this one next Jan! It was so much fun and we took our time to enjoy but since we didn't stop at a lot of the entertainment spots, it was fun and entertaining without being time consuming. I think I'd liek to try the wine & dine or princess next. Running through the castle was definitely the highlight of the race. I loved the trumpets! There were a couple places where it went from being a really wide running path to funneling into a narrow area like the path through the castle that really congested things for the moment. Overall though it wasn't too bad.

Great update!!

I can't believe all the characters they have out that you can meet! That pirate boat with Jack Sparrow was so cool! And running through the caste with the trumpets playing was awesome, I would have cried! I really want to do a half marathon sometime!

You definitely should! There were several times during the course the I almost cried... the TTC with everyone cheering, the castle, and the finish line.. in fact in one of our finish line videos, you can hear me get choked up. And the characters were great! I wish the time limits were different so I would have felt more comfortable stopping.

Awesome update! I'm trying to watch the videos but the internet here is so slow sometimes and they keep freezing on me Great pictures though! I can't wait for the next installment!
Have you done any of the 5Ks' at Disney before? I'm kind of curious about entertainment along the way. Though the fact that most of the race in in a park is enough for me.
It's getting close!

Oh, that's annoying about the internet. I wish the videos would work better for you. The half marathon was actually my first race ever and I've never ran any type of 5k. I would think they would offer a decent amount of entertainment though just because it's Disney lol. We'll see, I'm so excited.. just over a month now!

Subscribing

Welcome!

I'm getting tired thinking about the running. how cool that they had al lthe characters along the way. But if you stop, won;t that mess up your time ...badly. I thought you had to do 16 minute miles and if you wait for a character wouldn't that put you out of the run then?

All the character spots were a lot of fun but one of the reasons we didn't stop was because I was afraid it would take too much time. However, we were running approximately 10 minute miles so we had an extra 6 minutes per mile to play around with. So in the end, we could have used another 78 minutes for entertainment without going over our limit. That being said, we were in Corral F and two more behind us and the cut off doesn't start until 16 minutes after them so the farther you start in the pack, the more time you have as long as you stay in front of the 16 minute pace of the last corral. You just cant worry about your own personal time.

20thingamabobs: What a great trip report! I'm loving the pictures, and hope to see what you post from mile nine on to the finish. I'm putting up some pictures from our Goofy Challenge bit by bit over on the thread "An Extremely Goofy Trip Report," and will be adding my Donald Half pictures tomorrow. I have a pic of Tiana, Naveen, and Louis that you are missing. This one is from Sunday, but I got Louis in there too, that way. I didn't see him Saturday.

Not sure if links work on this forum, but my thread is at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2635465, last I looked.

Congratulations on your finish, your courage in undertaking the event with your DBF, and your determination to have fun and take pictures during it. The Disney races are good courses, but more than that, they are all about fun and Disney magic more than about personal bests. Your trip report shows that through and through. I hope we see y'all there next year again.

If the Princess is not full, you might give it a try. My wife liked it because she did not have to deal with the men at the start, and she also got the first corral instead of the second. If nothing else, it pays to be at the front for easier porta pottie access. (sorry--but this seems to be DW's main criteria for whether a race is a success or not.)

Anyway, hope to see your finishing pictures soon!

Aw thanks for the pic! We got a video of them but that's all. and I'm glad you're enjoying the report! I think the "Goofy" people are crazy so I'll have to come over and read your report to see what it's actually like. My DBF and I really enjoyed the whole experience and it was a lot of fun to do it together. We really did just enjoy it rather than worry about times. I'd like to go again next year but I think we may try another one instead. I've been trying to talk one of my girlfriends into running one with me so maybe the Princess would be a good one! I could totally judge a race by pottie access.. waiting 6 minutes for your turn was HORRIBLE!

Thats one of those things that is going to turn into a joke for years to come.

I can see it now, Ten years from now:
DBF - We are almost at Epcot (said while riding the monorail)
You - Are you sure it's not just a balloon??

Yes, I'm sure it will be and I can totally see something like that playing out too. DBF is so funny when it comes to Disney because I am SO obsessed and he enjoys but just lets me take the lead and never really "learns" about the place... oh well, maybe some day...