Per the usual, I had a red eye flight out of LAX headed for MCO. I had pre-paid to park at the usual LAX Economy Parking structure. I arrived just before 8 pm. Normally, I try to fly with American Airlines, but their airfare was significantly more expensive in the months leading up to this trip. Instead I went with JetBlue. My flight was assigned gate 51A in terminal 5. However, after getting through TSA screening, I would find out that we needed to get on a bus for a ride over to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The plane was flying out of gate 210B. JetBlue actually sent out an email prior to my flight detailing this out-of-the-norm boarding process.
LAX Economy Parking Structure
Bus ride over to TBIT
Tom Bradley International Terminal Gate 210B
On the flight over, I watched The Creator. There had been a bit of hype when this movie was first released. The story was somewhat interesting, but I thought the execution was poor. As an Asian born American, I'm not sure how to feel about this movie. It had too much of an us versus them sentiment for my liking. Overall, it just was not a must-see movie. After that, it was time for me to try and catch some Z's.
Boarding the plane
Personalized screen
Departing LAX
Ginger ale, my drink of choice when flying
Wednesday 1/3
My flight was a tad late in landing at MCO. That was perfectly fine with me since my friend was arriving a bit later. After getting off of the plane, I stopped at the Starbucks in the Palm Court of terminal C to get some breakfast. It was pretty cool to check out the new terminal. Shortly after I finished my breakfast, I got a text from my friend that her plane had landed. I grabbed my bags and made my way over to terminal B where I met up with her at baggage claim. I joined the virtual queue for the runDisney Merchandise Shop during my walk over. Even though, I joined right when it opened, I only managed to get into Group 97. Once we got her luggage, we headed over to the rental car parking garage to get our car. We located our car, but my friend had forgotten to pick up the visitor toll pass that she had reserved. She actually had to run over to the terminal A side to pick that up.
Approaching MCO Airport
Breakfast at Starbucks
Bacon, sausage & egg wrap and grande Pike Place medium roast
Terminal C Palm Court
Joined the virtual queue for runDisney Merchandise Shop
Rental car
Once we were on our way, we started heading over to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to pick up our race packet. I must say that it was nice to take the toll roads. In all of the years that I'd been coming here, I had always just opted to take the side streets and avoided the tolls. We arrived and parked at about 10:30 am. One of the first things that I noticed was that there was no queue outside of the State Farm Field House. Instead they had us snake through the queue inside. That was a smart adjustment in case the weather turned bad.
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
State Farm Field House
Queue area
Bib pick-up
After picking up our bibs, we headed over to the Athletic Center to get our race shirts as well as to check out the race expo. There weren't too many freebies or samples being passed out by the vendors this year. We did get some stickers. On the way out back to our car, we bumped into Nadia and Tony.
Race expo
Race shirt pick-up
5k race shirt
10k race shirt
Half marathon race shirt
Marathon race shirt
Goofy race shirt
Dopey race shirt
AdventHealth stickers
runDisney stickers
Tony and Nadia
My friend was quite famished, so we drove over to the nearby Cracker Barrel to get lunch. I normally would order the Country Boy Breakfast, but for this visit, I opted for the meatloaf and mashed potatoes with fried okra as my side. As usual, it was a good meal. I could easily eat all of my meals here for the entirety of this trip!
Lunch at Cracker Barrel
Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and fried okra
Since we still had some time before checking into the timeshare rental, we headed back to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to check out the official merchandise over in the AdventHealth Arena. We didn't have to wait too long before our assigned group was called on the mobile app. As expected, all of the popular merchandise was picked clean. It wasn't a total waste of a trip back here as my friend ended up buying an item. All I was interested in was the Dopey Challenge hooded jacket. I was told by friends that it was sold out by 10:20 am!
Dopey Challenge hooded jacket
We then headed over to Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek to get checked into our unit. Originally, I had a reservation at the usual WorldMark Kingstown Reef. In fact, I had even downgraded from the 1 bedroom unit to a studio unit. However, when my friend wanted to join me for the Dopey Challenge, I jumped on the opportunity to get a reservation at this highly touted flagship Wyndham property. I reserved a 2 bedroom deluxe unit. Although it was a bit of an overkill for just the 2 of us, I didn't want one of us sleeping on a pull out sofa bed. I was pretty tired during check-in, but somehow I was convinced by the concierge to attend another one of those useless owner updates while picking up wristband room keys. Supposedly my account was missing some setup. I agreed to attend the update on Monday morning before we were scheduled to go to EPCOT. He collected the standard $40 deposit just to make sure that I show up. We were assigned unit #358 over in Tower 3.
Club Wyndham Bonnet Creek
The view of the lake from the balcony was obstructed by a palm tree
View of the lake from my room
We got into our unit, settled in, and rested a bit before we went back out for our dinner reservation at the STK Steakhouse over at Disney Springs. We parked at the Orange Parking Garage as it was the closest one to the restaurant. We had a reservation so we were seated right away when we got there. Since it was before 6 pm, the place was still rather empty. After looking over the menu, I ordered their NY strip steak with the king crab Oscar topping. We got the asparagus and crispy brussels sprouts as our sides. The brussels sprouts were good, but probably the unhealthiest way to eat it. That was one of the better steaks that I had eaten. I had heard about and been wanting to try STK for quite some time. The only location that I was aware of prior to tonight was the one in Las Vegas at The Cosmopolitan. I never managed to check that place out as I really dislike going anywhere near The Vegas Strip.
Orange Parking Garage
STK Steakhouse
NY strip steak with king crab Oscar topping
Pull apart bread topped with blue cheese butter and accompanying chive oil
Crispy brussels sprouts with bacon cider glaze
Asparagus
Perfectly cooked, medium rare
Before heading back to our unit, we drove over to the nearest Publix Super Market on Vineland Ave to buy some snacks and drinks for the weekend. I bought the usual gallon of drinking water and a large bag of frozen vegetables. However, this time, I opted for the Birds Eye brand instead of the generic store brand as it happened to be cheaper.
Gallon spring water
Birds Eye California Blend frozen vegetable
After getting back to my room, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race and took a shower. I laid in my bed just scrolling through Facebook and Instagram. I was planning to set my alarms for tomorrow, but apparently, I fell asleep before doing so.
5k flat runner
Thursday 1/4
Without any alarms set, I was very fortunate to wake up at 2:09 am. It wouldn't have been my first time oversleeping a race! I guess even if I hadn't gotten up when I did, my roomie would've awoken me. At about 3 am, we hopped in the car and drove over to the EPCOT parking lot for the first leg of the Dopey Challenge. We parked in the Dory Parking Lot 406 which I believe used to be the Imagine Lot.
After getting through the security scanners, we made our way over to the starting area. We walked over to the gear check area for my friend to check her bag. As with years past, there were the usual portapotties. However, I noticed that in the far corner, there was no gap for the walk over to EPCOT Center Dr for the half marathon and marathon. After we were done using the portapotties, we headed over to the corrals.
Day 1
Gear check area
I didn't start very close to the start line, so there was a bit of weaving through the crowd during the first mile. I maintained roughly a 7:45 min per mile pace. As was the case for the shorter races in the Dopey Challenge, I didn't stop for any character photos. I treated it as a speed workout to gauge my current level of fitness. I had slowed a tad in the third mile before I made the final sprint to the finish line.
5k start line
Approaching the 5k finish
5k finish: 24:38
Click here for my Garmin data.
5k finish line
I was very pleased with my run for the 5k. In the days leading up to the trip, I had felt a weird sharp, but fleeting pain in my right heel during one of my regular walks around my neighborhood. I was a bit worried that I had done some damage, but it wasn't at all noticeable in today's run. After collecting my medal, I continued down the finisher chute where I picked up a mylar blanket, post race drinks, snack box, and a banana. I used the mylar blanket as a makeshift hobo bag to carry all of my stuff. I then headed over to the stage area where I got a photo with Pluto, Clarice the chipmunk, Oswald the lucky rabbit, Dopey, and Clara Cluck. I wasn't familiar with some of these older Disney characters.
5k medal
5k medal and post race goodies
Pluto
Clarice the chipmunk
Oswald the lucky rabbit
Dopey
Clara Cluck
Originally, we were planning to drive out to Kennedy Space Center today, but my friend discovered that they needed at least a day in advance in order to use her discount. The discount was a significant amount, so we decided to postpone the trip for tomorrow. With the change in our schedule, I took the lakeside walking path and headed down to the lobby to see if I could get that owner update out of the way. They were able to accommodate the change in plans. Lo and behold, it would turn out that there wasn't anything missing in my ownership setup. They just wanted to convince me to buy into Club Wyndham so that I would have better access to Club Wyndham properties instead of having to rely on there being inventory available via Club Pass. I guess I was a bit too tired during check-in as my incentive was a lousy inventory directory. Although I had a nice conversation with the rep, it was still a complete waste of my time! This was the second time I had ended up with this lousy incentive. You can bet that there will not be a third time!
Miniature golf
For lunch, we drove over to Disney Springs. This time we opted to park at the Lime Parking Garage. We went to my favorite restaurant, Raglan Road Irish Restaurant & Pub. The place wasn't open until 11 am, so we walked around Disney Springs a bit. After checking out World of Disney, my friend got a chai latte at a Joffrey's stand while I got a pistachio cream cold brew at Starbucks. On the way back to Raglan Road, I showed my friend the long line for Gideon's Bakehouse. I am still ignorant to the appeal of this place, but I did take an info card from the employee that was there managing that line. Maybe next year, I'll stand in that line to see why it is so popular.
Lime Parking Garage
Pistachio cream cold brew
When the restaurant opened, we opted for seats at the bar. Since they only served the Full Irish Breakfast for brunch during the weekend, I had to look through the menu for an alternative meal. I went with their Serious Steak. It was not bad at all! I finally had a couple of the Guinness 0.0 with my meal. They were really good even without the alcohol! I'm glad that more breweries out there are brewing good non-alcoholic beer!
Raglan Road
Guinness 0.0
Irish soda bread
Serious Steak
So good that I got a second one!
For dinner, we joined our friend for dinner at Sanaa located inside Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village. Per the Disney website, it was where you could experience the art of African cooking with Indian flavors as exotic animals roam the Sunset Savanna. I'm always grateful when my friends take me to places that I don't normally frequent. It's always nice to expand one's horizons. We shared the Indian-style bread service. The bread service consisted of five breads (traditional naan, garlic-ginger naan, spiced naan, onion kulcha, and paneer paratha) and nine accompaniments (cucumber raita, roasted red pepper hummus, mango chutney, tomato-date jam, tamarind chutney, coriander chutney, garlic pickle, red Chile sambal, and spicy jalapeño-lime pickle). However, being that it was race weekend, I wasn't too keen on being too adventurous with my food choices. I opted for the grilled New York strip steak with mukimo (traditional Kenyan dish), harvest vegetables, herbed emulsion, and fig sauce. My steak and the bread service were both very good and I would not hesitate to come back here again to try other menu items.
Indian style bread service
Grilled New York strip steak
After getting back to our unit, it was the usual race routine. I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's 10k and took a shower before calling it a night. This time I was awake enough to set my alarms. Once again just like last year, I went with The Book of Mormon musical t-shirt, hoping that someone out there would get the reference.
10k flat runner
Friday 1/5
We left a tad bit earlier today, but it was the same routine. However today, I opted to check a bag just so it would be easier to carry all of the postrace stuff. I bumped into Nadia and Tony while getting ready to check my gear bag. Nadia was dressed up as Tinker Bell and Tony was Peter Pan. We also bumped into another Tony who was dressed up as Cinderella. His friends were dressed up as the step mother and step sisters.
Nadia
Tony as Cinderella
10k start line
My plan for this race was to run at a 8 min per mile pace from start to finish. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind some slower runners in that first mile. I ended up running the first 2 miles a bit too fast (7:53 and 7:48) while weaving through traffic. Then for the second half of the race, all I could manage was 8:15 min per mile. I couldn't get too good of a grip with my shoes as I ran through damp sections of EPCOT. The weather was cold enough that I kept the gloves on for the entire race.
10k finish
10k finish: 50:41
Click here for my Garmin data.
10k finish line
10k finisher medal
Even though I was off a bit with my pre-race goal of finishing in under 50 minutes, it was still an encouraging run as I continued to work on getting some speed back into my legs. After getting my gear bag, I headed over to the stage area to get photos with Chip & Dale, Miss Bunny, Jiminy Cricket, and Daisy Duck.
Chip & Dale
Miss Bunny
Jiminy Cricket
Daisy
Well trained dog
After getting back to the unit, I ate through the snack box and got cleaned up. We hit the road at about 9:30 am for the drive out to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. It actually wasn't too bad of a drive, but we were routed to the incorrect entrance off of A. Max Brewer Memorial Parkway. The guard at that station had pre-printed directions on how to get to the correct location. We were definitely not the first ones to make this mistake. The 2 cars ahead of us had to make the same u-turn. The detour added about an hour to our drive. We arrived at just before 11:30 am and left right before 4 pm.
Overall, I would say that this space center was more geared towards younger kids. Coming here reminded me of the field trips back when I was in grade school. Here were the exhibits and attractions that we checked out during our visit:
- Heroes and Legends featuring the Astronaut Hall of Fame: While we ducked in here primarily to use the restrooms, there was plenty in here to check out. There were a lot of astronauts that I did not recognize!
- Space Shuttle Atlantis: This was a must-see exhibit for me as my earliest recollection about the space program was the Space Shuttle Challenger back in 1986. I remember doing a report on that disaster. I found that the shuttle launch experience was somewhat disappointing as it was rather underwhelming. A couple kids did not make the height requirement. They didn't miss out on much. Don't bother with that if you're short on time.
- Orbit Cafe: We had lunch here. They had several kiosks for you to place your order. There was quite the crowd when we were there, so they had a couple of employees there taking food orders the old fashion way. There were other food options around the complex, but it all looked to be average at best. I ordered a cheeseburger with a small side salad. It reminded me of grade school cafeteria food.
Orbit Cafe menu
Cheeseburger and small side salad
- Apollo/Saturn V Center: The bus tour out to this center was included with admission. The ride each way was about 30 minutes, just long enough for you to take a quick cat nap. This was also a must-see exhibit for me. Since the Apollo missions had occurred before I was born, it was cool to fill in some gaps with my limited knowledge concerning the race to the moon.
Taking the bus over to the Apollo/Saturn V Center
Nike Pro Dri-Fit boxers
For dinner, we stayed in and ate the leftovers and some of the frozen vegetables. Just as I was laying out my flat runner for tomorrow's race, we received the dreaded email that the half marathon course would be shortened to 7.12 miles. In addition to the race being shortened, it would be starting 15 minutes earlier so that everyone can be safely out of the area before the inclement weather had arrived.
Half marathon flat runner
Saturday 1/6
Even though today's race was going to start 15 minutes earlier, we still left around the same time as the prior 2 days. We figured that the only difference would be the waiting time inside the corral. It was nice that we were able to drive along EPCOT Center Dr to get into the EPCOT parking lot. That's one of the major positives for moving the start line and corral queue into the EPCOT parking lot. It took away the bottleneck for the buses and cars trying to get into the parking lot. Per the usual, after checking our gear bags, we headed over to our corrals.
Found Marcia in corral B
Found Kim in corral B
Half marathon start line
Since the race was shortened, I thought that I would run it at a decent effort like I had done for the past 2 days. After a rather quick first mile (7:54), my body began to not cooperate. The weather had gotten over 10 degrees warmer compared to yesterday. Even though I had slowed it down in the second mile (8:52), I was still struggling. It was strange to be making a u-turn on World Dr at around mile 2 instead of continuing on to the Magic Kingdom! It was at the Clopin and Esmeralda character stop that I decided to pull the plug on racing. From that point on to the finish line, I jogged from one character stop to the next.
Clopin and Esmeralda
Hercules and Megara
Mushu
Kerchak
Max "Powerline" Goof
Winnie the Pooh
Genie!
Pocahontas and Meeko
Cast member tried to give her my phone
Minnie Mouse
Choir
Modified half marathon finish
7.12 miles modified course finish: 1:24:58
Click here for my Garmin data.
Modified half marathon finish line
Half marathon medal
Wow, that was a miserable run for me! After getting my gear bag, I headed over to the line for Donald Duck. While waiting in the line, I saw a lot of runners getting in those 6 miles by running around the perimeter of the reunion area. Unfortunately, just as I was in the final stretch of the queue, they pulled the characters away as rain drops were starting to come down. The DJ made several announcements in which he said something along the lines that while he admired people's dedication and commitment to finishing the entire 13.1 miles, they were advised to leave the area as soon as possible. That was Disney's nice and professional way of telling people to GTFO! At first I thought that I might have to find a dry spot to wait for my friend, but she finished not too long after I walked away from the character photo area.
After getting back to the unit, it was more of the same. However, this time I was feeling quite worn out while I ate through my snack box. Once again, the humidity did a number on me as it left me with a headache and feeling lethargic. I drank water and Powerade to make sure that I was hydrated.
We had lunch at The Polite Pig over at Disney Springs. We got in line where we were handed menus. Once we got up to the counter, we ordered the Butcher Board for 2. It included polite pork, smoked chicken, prime brisket, cheddar sausage with slaw, house pickles, and 2 corn breads. For the 2 sides, we got the crispy brussels sprouts (whiskey-caramel) and burnt ends chili. We were given a pager to let us know when our food was ready. It was somewhat difficult to locate an open table as most of the tables had a reserved sign on it. We got a table just as another party was leaving. We then got all of the sauces to try with our food. My 2 favorites were the brisket and burnt ends chili.
Sauces
Butcher Board for 2
Before heading back, we stopped by Publix to see if we can buy some ready-made food. There wasn't much to choose from, so I ended up only buying 2 cans of Campbell's chunky soup so as to not waste a trip. I got a can of Old Bay seasoned clam chowder and a can of steak and potato.
Campbell's chunky soup
With a little bit of convincing, I got my friend to agree to picking up dinner at Chick-fil-A. I had to convince her that for fast food, it was much better than something like McDonald's. I placed our order on the mobile app. I got my usual Cobb salad with grilled chicken nuggets and a frosted lemonade. I believe it was only her second time at a Chick-fil-A. She got a market salad with cold chicken filet. We took it back to our unit to eat.
Frosted lemonade
Cobb salad with grilled nuggets
For some reason, I was feeling quite stuffed eating that salad. I was wondering if running in high humidity was taking a hit on my appetite. Oh well, it should be more of the same high humidity for tomorrow's marathon. I laid out my flat runner. Once again, I will be running as Russell from UP. I then took a shower before calling it a night.
Marathon flat runner
Sunday 1/7
Here we were, the final early morning wake up for the last race of the Dopey Challenge. It was nice again to be able to drive along EPCOT Center Dr to get into the parking lot. However, unlike the past 3 days, we ended up parking in the Crush Parking Lot which would mean a little bit farther of a walk after the race. After checking our gear bags, we headed over to the corrals. I found my faster friend in the corral. We both wanted to start near the back of the corral.
Crush parking lot
Fellow perfect Dopey, Marc
Patti
Marcia
Marathon start line
Just like yesterday, it was kind of strange to start the race in the EPCOT parking lot instead of out on EPCOT Center Dr. While strange, it was a nice welcomed change after 12 years of running this race! Today was picture day for me with the plan to stop at as many photo stops as possible. The first stop was at about mile 1.25 for Elvis Stitch. Stitch is my favorite, so I just had to make the stop. At about mile 8.5, I reached the Magic Kingdom.
Dr Alan Young
Elvis Stitch
Fellow perfect Dopey, Tricia
Bowler Hat Guy aka Michael Goob Yagoobian
Daisy
Running down Main Street, USA
Boo in disguise
Prince Naveen
Rapunzel and Flynn Rider
At about mile 10.75 near Disney's Grand Floridian, I saw Perry the Platypus (Agent P) up ahead. Unfortunately, the rain had just started to fall, so the cast members were taking him away just as I got there. Bummer. He is my favorite Phineas & Ferb character! At about mile 15, I entered the Animal Kingdom. For the first time since I had started running at Walt Disney World, I got in line to ride Expedition Everest. The cast member at the entrance said that we had the option of going into either the lightning lane or the single rider line. I opted for the lightning lane. Lo and behold, my friends that had started in corral C were just a few runners behind me in line! It was as if we had planned to meet here at this exact time! After the ride, my GPS was now registering about one extra mile. I tried to hang with my friends, but I could not keep up with them. Just as I was entering Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park at almost mile 20, they were exiting.
Princess Vanellope von Schweetz
Dug!
Expedition Everest
Sofia the First
Goofy
Anna and Elsa
Miguel
At almost mile 23, I made the right turn and headed into Hollywood Studios. Per the usual, they were passing out chocolate. The runner just ahead of me took about 10 pieces as she was grabbing the chocolate from every volunteer! I only got 2 pieces. Shortly after that I was caught by another friend. After that short jog through the 3rd park, I hopped on the EPCOT Resorts-Hollywood Studios Connector trail to head towards EPCOT. Once I made that right turn onto the Boardwalk, I knew that the end was near!
Ian Lightfoot
Gretchen
Bruno and Maribel
After going around the International Gateway entrance, I entered EPCOT at the UK Pavilion at about mile 24.5. All that was left was a counter-clockwise loop around the World Showcase before heading up to the choir and the finish line.
Peter Quill and Gamora
Choir
Marathon finish: 6:26:09
Click here for my Garmin data.
Finish line
That was my slowest WDW Marathon since I started running this race back in 2011! However, I knew that there wasn't a fast race in my legs today. I might as well take my time and thoroughly enjoy myself using as much as the allotted time as possible! I met up with my friends and since they had finished ahead of me, they waited for me to get my post race character photos. Along the way back to our car, we stopped to use the portapotties. We bumped into Kevin Brosi. He's quite the prolific Marathon Maniac and international marathoner! It was great to finally meet him in person.
Marathon medal
Goofy medal
Dopey medal
Wilderness Explorers
Goofy
Mickey and Minnie
Pleakley
Dopey Challenge year #11 completed!
Lilo
Kevin Brosi
Back at the unit, I ate through the post race snack box and heated up the can of Old Bay seasoned Clam Chowder. Man, that was a great new flavor for soup! This might have to be one of my go-to soups in the future!
We had dinner at Cracker Barrel. I got my usual Country Boy Breakfast with sirloin tips. My usual sides were grits and fried okra. However, for some reason the waitress told me that I couldn't pick okra as it was a "breakfast" side. This was the first time that I was ever denied that as a side when ordering it outside of breakfast hours. Oh well, I can be flexible. I went with the hash brown casserole instead.
Country Boy Breakfast
Monday 1/8
It was nice not having to wake up at 2 am. Still I got up pretty early and watched the news. I ate some of the frozen vegetables for breakfast. For today's park visit, I packed a couple bottles of water, a power bank, and my phone charging cable. Our one and only trip to a Disney park was EPCOT. At 7 am, I tried to get us a group for the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride but was unsuccessful. We arrived at the park at about a quarter to 9 am. We parked in Wall-E Parking Lot. For some odd reason, my drawstring bag was flagged by the scanner for extra inspection. Fortunately, once it got to me, it was quick as there was nothing for the security guy to search. After getting into the park and before heading to the first ride, I took my obligatory post race park picture of my Dopey Challenge medal with Spaceship Earth in the background.
Wall-E Parking
Dopey medal with Spaceship Earth
Sitting with Walt Disney
Here were the rides and attractions that we went on as well as the food that I ate. While I normally would try to eat or drink something at each pavilion, I decided to go against that rule and just play it by ear.
- Soarin'
- Frozen Ever After, while I'm not a big fan of the Frozen movies, I do like this ride.
- Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, the line was pretty long and the annoying kid behind us had absolutely no self-awareness. He kept bumping into us repeatedly. He reminded me of a Ritalin poster child. His mom said nothing. I chalked it up to poor parenting as her other kids weren't that much better behaved.
- Sommerfest, I tried to order the usual bratwurst with sauerkraut on the mobile app, but the order kept dropping during payment. I had to get in line and order it the old fashion way by speaking to the cast member at the register.
Bratwurst with sauerkraut
- Karamell-Küche, I've been coming to EPCOT for the past 12 years or so and this was my first time stopping in here. My friend is a big fan of their caramel popcorn, so we got in line. When it was my turn, I ordered the Werther's caramel butter bar. While I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I do love caramel. It was a nice little delicious treat.
Werther's caramel butter bar
- Mission: SPACE, this was definitely a much better launch experience than the one over at the Kennedy Space Center!
- Test Track
- Disney Visa Cardmember Photo
- Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, this would be an awesome place to go through on a hot summer day!
I think Te Fiti wants my Dopey medal!
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
Bruce
- Journey Into Imagination with Figment
- Spaceship Earth, our last ride before leaving the park.
Morimoto Asia menu
Edamame, maldon sea salt
Duck ramen
Tuesday 1/9
I finished off the frozen vegetables and drank the last can of soup for breakfast. Sad, but it was time to pack up, check out of the unit, and head to the airport for our flight home. Prior to dropping off the rental car, we stopped at the Wawa just north of the airport to fill up the tank. For some odd reason, the tank wasn't full on the first try. My friend noticed, so we circled back and tried again. Thankfully, it filled up on the second try.
Filling up the gas tank at Wawa
Thought it was full...
Took a second try to get the tank full
We returned the rental car on the Terminal B side as my friend needed to check her luggage while I only had a carry-on bag. After dropping off the toll pass in the return box, we went our separate ways as my airline was over in Terminal A. After getting through TSA security screening, I hopped on the APM to head for Airside 2. Before getting settled in for the wait at the gate, I placed my order for the usual grande Pike Place medium roast coffee on the Starbucks mobile app. There was a ton of people here also getting coffee and food. Among those were a bunch of young high school or college kids that were super annoying. I couldn't wait to leave that crowd of idiots. I found an empty seat near my gate to enjoy my coffee.
Visitor toll pass return box
So many people!
Grande Pike Place medium roast
When it was time to board the plane, I just so happened to pick a window seat next to a cougher. She was nonstop coughing. She had also run the Dopey Challenge and was headed to Disneyland to run the Dumbo Double Dare. However, I was pretty certain that she had caught the dreaded Disney crud. I tried to sleep, but her incessant coughing kept me awake.
Leaving MCO
Ginger ale
When the plane landed in Austin, she got off to catch another flight. There was no plane change for me, so after they were done doing a headcount of those continuing on to LAX, I moved up closer to the front for another window seat. As my bad luck would have it, the passenger that sat in my new row was also coughing. At least the guy sitting next to me in the middle seat was not. During that second leg, I watched Blue Beetle. I would have to say that this was probably one of the better DC movies. While it did have a good balance of humor and action, it was really cheesy and awkward. Not really a must see movie, but it was entertaining. It was also a bit annoying that the movie kept coming out of full-screen mode on its own.
Short layover in Austin
More ginger ale and Blue Beetle
Once the plane had landed at LAX and I deplaned, I made a beeline for the restroom. Then I hurried out of the terminal to catch a bus back to the parking structure. The economy lot bus was right there and ready to leave when I got there. Fortunately, I was able to get the driver's attention and was allowed to board. The drive home was really long as I hit the road just in time to catch the evening rush hour traffic. That was pretty much my old work commute when I used to work at a web developing company located on Century Blvd just steps from LAX.
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