In addition to receiving in the mail, an evening park pass for Epcot on Sunday, I also received via email a $15 Disney gift card to be used during the International Food & Wine Festival. Unfortunately I had already booked my return flight for that evening after the race. It would turn out that my friend had also done the same thing, so we planned to go there Saturday instead.
$15 Disney Gift Card
Post Race Party Ticket
Thursday 11/2
I took an evening JetBlue flight out of LAX headed for MCO.
Friday 11/3
I landed in Orlando at about 6:30 am. I made a beeline for the Disney's Magical Express located on the B side of level 1. The ride took about an hour before I was dropped off at All-Star Movies Resort. My room wasn't ready yet, so I checked my larger bag with baggage check and waited for the shuttle to Disney Springs.
All Star Movies
It was super quiet and empty when I arrived at Disney Springs at about 8:30 am. It had slipped my mind that most places won't open until about 10 or 11 am. Too bad I was planning to have breakfast here while I waited for my room to be ready. During my walk through Disney Springs, I contemplated watching Thor: Ragnarok some time during this weekend. After walking through most of Disney Springs with nothing open, I decided to head back to my hotel and catch a shuttle to the race expo.
Disney Springs
I waited for the first All-Star resort shuttle to arrive which happened to be the one for Sports. From All-Star Sports, I took the expo shuttle over at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. It was the standard packet pick-up procedure. I first went into the HP Field House to pick up my bib and to have my photo taken for the two course challenge. On my way out, I said hi to the doctor that I had volunteered with during the Dopey Challenge back in January. One thing that changed a bit was that the official merchandise was on the bottom floor instead of over at the J Center.
HP Field House
Welcome
Bib pick-up
Official Merchandise
Expensive ornament!
I thought about buying this one
After I was done checking out the official merchandise, I headed over to the J Center to pick up my race shirts and to check out the vendor booths. Nothing really stood out except for the runDisney event medals especially the ones for the upcoming Walt Disney World races in January. I really liked the Dopey one!
The reality is that all of the Disneyland races will go on hiatus starting in 2018
Dopey Challenge 2018
Walt Disney World Marathon 2018
After I was done with the expo, I took the shuttle back to All-Star Sports. From there, I walked over to the nearby McDonald's to eat an early lunch. I saw that they had the McRib sandwiches, so I ordered that along with a Quarter Pounder with cheese meal. During my meal, I received a text that my room was ready.
McDonald's
After I was done eating, I made the long walk back over to the All-Star Movies Resort. This was my first time staying at Movies. I mostly stayed at Sports with one other time at Music. Before going to my room, I collected my bag from baggage check. Since I had booked a preferred room, my room was really close by at the 101 Dalmatians building. Besides the convenient location, there wasn't anything special with the preferred room. In fact, I had to walk by the "smoking" picnic table every time I walked back and forth from my room.
After I got settled in and unpacked, I took a shower and relaxed a bit. It looked like they had updated the packaging for their toiletries. I then went through the race packet and the race shirts. The shirt design for all 3 shirts were of Mickey and very similar to each other. I always like their clean and simple designs for their shirts. After that I took a nice long nap until it was time to eat an early dinner.
New toiletries
Wine & Dine 10k shirt
Wine & Dine Half Marathon shirt
Two Course Challenge shirt
I thought about walking over to McDonald's, but it was so far away! So I settled for eating at the World Premiere Food Court. The decor for the food court might be different, but it was the usual offerings that you would find at Music or Sports. I got their tried and true roasted chicken.
World Premiere Food Court
Back at my room, I got my flat runner ready for tomorrow's 10k.
10k flat runner
Saturday 11/4
Per the usual, I got up early to get ready for the shuttle ride to the starting area. I'm a morning person and don't like rushing to get ready, so I don't have too much of a problem getting up so early. It was nice staying in a preferred room this time as the bus pick-up location was pretty much right in front of my building. After getting dropped off at the starting area at the Magic Kingdom parking lot, we were separated into 2 lines, one for those with bags and another for those without. It was on the warm side, so I didn't have to bring any extra clothing. There were the usual character photo ops on both sides of the stage. The lines were already long, so I skipped them as they would be available after the race. Instead I walked over to the corral entrance area to wait for them to open. Once it was opened for us to enter the corrals, there was a separate large cache of portapotties with no lines just adjacent to the corrals. I really do like this setup!
10k staging
10k start line
While waiting for the race to begin, I was still wondering how my race will go. Apparently I had slept wrong or something, but my upper back was all achy. I was only hoping to go just under 50 minutes. The race DJ was having us do a karaoke battle between the corrals. The songs ranged from popular Disney songs to Summer Nights from Grease. That sure helped pass time as most people were singing along.
When our corral was released, I shot out a lot quicker than I had expected. The ache in my back wasn't even there anymore. As I went through the first mile marker at about 7 minutes, I knew that I needed to pull back a bit. I haven't run that fast in a while so I knew that it would quickly become a complete disaster if I had attempted to maintain that pace. After getting through the first 5k, I took a quick walk break as the humidity was starting to make things uncomfortable for me. The second 5k had us going through Disney's Hollywood Studios followed by Epcot. The last couple of miles were a bit of grind as I paid for that fast opening mile.
10k finish: 50:08
Click here for my Garmin data.
I came within 10 seconds of my goal. I suppose that's close enough. It certainly felt good to be moving faster again without it feeling as if I was breathing through a straw.
The finisher medal was pretty amazing for a freaking 10k! Only runDisney could ever give out such a nice medal for running a 10k! It's definitely worth the higher registration fees if you're able to see the value given in return. Besides the medal, we received a cooling towel, water, Powerade, banana, and a snack box.
10k medal
10k medal closeup
Post race snack box
I then proceeded to get in line for each of the 4 character photos. After I was done with that, I hopped on one of the buses headed back to the All-Star Resorts.
Minnie & Mickey
Goofy
Donald Duck
Chip & Dale
Back at my room, I opened up the snack box and ate the apple berry medley and the tortilla chips. I threw away the fake cheese and saved the rest to take home to my coworkers. I then got ready and headed over to the Magic Kingdom to meet up with my friend. When I got to the park, I got in the guest relations line to upgrade my Signature Plus pass to a Premier pass. Unfortunately the cast member had trouble trying to upgrade me as she informed me that Disneyland and Walt Disney World were on two different systems. She was unable to get help from someone at Disneyland as they were not opened yet on the west coast. As a temporary fix, she sold me a 1 day park hopper ticket to use in the meantime. I would then need to see guest relations again later in the day if I still wanted to upgrade to the Premier pass.
Upon entering the park, my friend and I stopped in front of the castle to take some obligatory photos.
Magic Kingdom
We then discussed our Fast Pass status. I haven't selected any yet and my friend had a Fast Pass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride. The standby line was ridiculously long so we split up. I checked out Gaston's Tavern before heading over to check out the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It wasn't quite the same as the Astro Blaster ride back at home. The next ride that I went on was the Haunted Mansion. I was somewhat disappointed that it didn't have the Jack Skellington decorations. I then used my Fast Pass for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. After that I met up with my friend again at the Haunted Mansion.
Gaston's Tavern
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Haunted Mansion
We then exited the park and got on the bus to Disney's Hollywood Studios. On the way out I noticed that they had an entrance just for Annual Passholders. I think they should have one at Disneyland.
Annual Passholder Entrance
Before going into Disney's Hollywood Studios, I stopped by Guest Relations to see if I can now get my annual pass upgraded to the Premier pass. The line wasn't moving and when I finally got to the window, it took forever for them to upgrade me so it was a good thing that I had sent my friend in first instead of waiting for me.
Upgrade to Premier Passport
We didn't go on too many rides as most of the lines were long and we were starting to get hungry. We went on Star Tours, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Rock n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith. As we were leaving, I noticed that my phone was missing. Apparently it slipped out during the fast Rock n' Roller Coaster ride. I was preoccupied with the medal smacking my face that I hadn't noticed that my phone had slipped out. Lucky for me, the cast member at the ride exit spot was able to retrieve it for me. I had to describe the phone to her and unlock the phone in front of her.
Star Tours
We then headed over to Epcot via the Friendship Boat. The line was long, but the wait wasn't too long. The boat made a stop at Swan & Dolphin followed by Yacht & Beach Club which was where we got off. You could stay on the boat until it arrived at the Epcot International Gateway entrance, but it would make a stop over at the Boardwalk first which took a bit longer. This was my first time using this entrance which conveniently put us in between the United Kingdom and France pavilions of the World Showcase.
This was my first time at an International Food & Wine Festival. We ended up pretty much taking a clockwise loop around the World Showcase before deciding on what to eat. There was so much to choose from! There was so much delicious looking food everywhere we turned! With that said, it was super crowded. The $15 gift card was good for about 3 items. All 4 items that I had were great!
Here's what I ate:
- Grilled sweet & spicy bush berry shrimp, Australia
- Crispy chicken, Farm Fresh
- Roasted Irish sausage, Ireland
- "Le Cellier" wild mushroom beef filet mignon, Canada
Grilled sweet & spicy bush berry shrimp, Australia
Crispy chicken, Farm Fresh
Roasted Irish sausage, Ireland
"Le Cellier" wild mushroom beef filet mignon, Canada
We then went on the Journey Into Imagination with Figment ride which I always found to be a nice relaxing kiddie ride. After that we went on Mission: SPACE. As we were near to getting on the ride, there appeared to be cast members doing vomit cleanup. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea after sampling the food from the food festival. I was kind of disappointed that Gary Sinise was no longer the CAPCOM in the pre-flight videos.
Figment
Mission: SPACE
My friend went on to Animal Kingdom so that she could get the most out of her park hopper ticket and I bailed since I was pooped. I took the bus back to the All-Star Movies Resort and ate dinner at the World Premiere Food Court. I ended up getting their pot roast which was pretty decent.
Pot roast
Back at the room, I laid out my flat runner for the half marathon.
Half marathon flat runner
Sunday 11/5
I normally carry my ID, a twenty, and a credit card whenever I run a race. I was already on one of the buses when I realized that I didn't bring any of that with me. At first I thought about running without them, but my OCD won out and I got off the bus to go back to my room to retrieve those items.
Once I had arrived at the starting area in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, it was pretty much the same routine as yesterday's race. I skipped all of the character photo lines and went over to the corral entrance to wait for it to open.
Half marathon staging
My friend usually starts in the same corral as me, but this time she was in corral B. We were still able to hang out a bit inside the corrals before corral A was opened and walked up to the starting line.
Half marathon start line
My strategy was to put in a harder effort for the first 10k and then cruise for the remainder of the race. My first two miles were a little quicker than I'd like, but it didn't feel like too hard of an effort until the humidity started getting to me. I slowed it down a tad and held that pace through 10k. My left ankle was already sore and protesting, but it felt okay when I slowed the pace down about 45 seconds to 1 minute per mile. I was running on fumes as I ran alongside the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts nearing mile 12. Familiarity with the course really came in handy with the mental aspect of this race. I kept telling myself to hold it together for just a bit longer because as soon as I get to the World Showcase at Epcot, I would be able to smell the finish line. I figured that I had the sub 2 hr in the bag with maybe just enough time for 1 picture stop, so as I rolled into the France pavilion, I stopped for a quick picture with Remy and Emile. The left ankle was quite sore, but I kept plodding along until I crossed the finish line right before the clock turned 2:00:00. That sure was cutting it close!
Remy and Emile
Half marathon finish line
Half marathon finish: 1:59:44
Click here for my Garmin data.
I wanted to stop for more photos during that last stretch around the Epcot World Showcase. With that one and only photo stop, I barely made it under 2 hrs. The pictures wouldn't have been very nice as I pretty much looked like I had gone swimming from dumping so much water on my head at almost every aid station.
I got my half marathon finisher medal and my two course challenge medal as well. Then I got my post race drinks and snack box. The challenge medal was really cool. I've run so many races in the past 15 years and this was one of the most unique medals that I've ever gotten. It was a passport medal. It certainly made it more worth it to tolerate the sore left ankle. Since I was pretty much a hot and wet mess, I decided to skip all of the post race photos and hopped on the shuttle back to my resort.
Half marathon medal
Half marathon medal closeup
Two Course Challenge medal
Two Course Challenge medal inside
Two Course Challenge medal outside
After I got cleaned up. I ate through my snack box, relaxed a bit, and packed up my bags. I then stored my bag with baggage check and headed to Disney Springs for brunch. I ate at my favorite restaurant, Raglan Road Irish Pub. I found a seat at the bar where I had an iced tea and their full Irish breakfast. It's such a protein rich and hearty meal which I usually crave after running a race here. They actually gave a 20% discount for the Wine & Dine race finishers.
Iced tea
Full Irish Breakfast
After I was done with my meal, I went through the rest of Disney Springs to do a little window shopping. I couldn't believe how much Disney has been marketing their merchandise for their Star Wars franchise. Afterwards, I met up with my friend to hang out before we both had to go to the airport for our flights home.
Porgs
I thought about buying this shirt to go with my PJ's
Once I was back at my resort, I claimed my bag from baggage check and went to wait for the Disney's Magical Express shuttle to the airport. It was actually starting to sprinkle a bit while I was waiting.
Disney's Magical Express
The general lines for the TSA were extremely long, but it was much more organized than in years prior. For some reason my brain was stuck thinking that I had an American Airlines flight which was my usual airline, so I took the wrong train to the wrong terminal. After having some trouble locating my gate, I finally realized that my flight home was with JetBlue! Good thing I was there early! I got back on the train to get back to the main terminal then took the correct train over to the JetBlue terminal.
Long lines for TSA
Snacks and drink
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