After dinner and taking a shower, I left the house at a little after 8 pm to head out to LAX to catch a red-eye flight on Southwest Airlines. The drive was not too bad and took about an hour. Normally, I would take the 105 freeway, but I followed the navigation and took the 60 all the way over to the 405 freeway. Per the usual, I parked at the LAX Economy Parking Lot. I had recently learned that you actually needed to be plugged in and charging if you wanted to park in an EV stall. With that, I headed up the ramp and parked in a standard parking stall on the 2nd floor.
LAX Economy Parking
It was kind of odd, but it took a while before a bus showed up. There weren't too many passengers, but there was a ton of traffic as the bus got closer to the horseshoe. Thank goodness, I only needed to get to Terminal 1. When I got in line for TSA screening, I saw that there was only 1 lane open and it was moving as slow as molasses on a winter's day. Good thing I always get to the airport with plenty of time buffer.
Southwest Airlines
Snacks from flight
Wednesday 1/7
The flight landed at MCO about 30 minutes ahead of the scheduled time of arrival. That worked out great as I used a restroom for my usual morning BM before heading down to the ground floor to pick up my rental car from Budget. I think my account with Budget had been set up for Fastbreak as I didn't have to deal with the usual paperwork. I just showed my driver license and credit card before I was given a slip of paper with the rental car info and the stall number to find my car. I had reserved a compact vehicle, but was given an intermediate SUV, grey Mazda CX-5 AWD, as a "free" upgrade.
Budget rental counter
Rental car
After I adjusted the seat, the mirrors, and steering wheel, I started heading out to the breakfast spot that I had picked out prior to this trip. I drove over to Lake Cay Commons at Universal Blvd and Destination Pkwy to check out a restaurant called @ The Diner. Per the usual, I came here because it was participating in the AAdvantage Dining program. Once I was seated, I ordered coffee and their grilled ribeye & eggs with potatoes and rye toast. Although the steak was sliced quite thin, it was well seasoned and delicious.
Breakfast @ The Diner
Coffee
Steak & eggs with potatoes and rye bread
After settling the bill, I used the restroom before heading out. I then walked across the parking lot to the Publix to buy some drinks. I was planning to do some cooking in my unit for this trip to keep my costs down. However, I couldn't buy any food until I was checked-in later today. I bought a gallon of Publix drinking water and a 1.5L bottle of Zephrhills spring water just to make sure that I stayed hydrated.
Buying some water at Publix
From there, I drove down to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex for the race expo. After I parked the car, I started walking up to the gate. It wasn't opened yet as the race expo was scheduled to open at 10 am. There appeared to be 2 queues that had formed. Off to the right was for the official merchandise over in the AdventHealth Arena. The other one was for the race packet pick-up over in the State Farm Field House. I quickly spotted a fellow Perfect Dopey. I made it a goal to take as many selfies with people in that group for this trip. Thank goodness that runDisney gifted us with the trucker hats for year #10 which made it much easier to spot among the crowds. Prior to 10 am, the cast members that were guarding the gates opened the place up to get the queue going to enter the State Farm Field House. I bumped into a few familiar faces as I was in line to pick up my bib.
Parking at ESPN Wide World of Sports
Perfect Dopeys!
State Farm Field House
Bib pick-up
runDisney stickers
Richard!
Sean!
After getting my bib, the next step was to head over to the Athletic Center to pick up my race shirts and to check out the vendor booths. While doing so, I bumped into a few more Perfect Dopeys. It was pretty crowded, but I did manage to peruse each booth and picked up some samples. I didn't have much time as my group for the merchandise virtual queue had already been called.
Race shirts
5k shirt
10k shirt
Half marathon shirt
Marathon shirt
Dopey Challenge shirt
Ted's friend, Kim, and Ted
Vendor floor
Samples
So the virtual queue ended up being just a queue to get into an hour long physical queue inside the AdventHealth Arena! That kind of defeated the purpose. Eventually, my friend joined me after realizing that those that had pre-purchased items could've skipped the virtual queue! Near the end of the queue, the folks from Brooks were handing out order sheets for their runDisney shoes. Although I really wanted the Stitch shoes, at the moment I did not need yet another pair of shoes. I was able to successfully resist and passed on making a purchase.
Pluto
Chip & Dale
Daisy and Donald
Mickey and Minnie
Goofy
On the way to join the very long queue
Dopey
Very long queue!
Shoe order sheet
Marcia!
Another Perfect Dopey
Once we actually got inside, there was another long queue for the Dopey Challenge merchandise. After listening to our feedback, this was the first time where they only allowed Dopey Challenge participants to purchase Dopey Challenge merchandise on day 1. The hot item this year was a beige Dopey Challenge sweatshirt. It was rather nice looking, but I really don't need a sweatshirt while living in Southern California! However, I couldn't resist a 100% cotton Dopey Challenge t-shirt. I paid for the item using mobile checkout. I did a quick sweep of the rest of the official merchandise before heading out.
Queue for Dopey Challenge merchandise
The 1 Dopey Challenge shirt that I bought
No time for dragon our feet!
Bottle
Red carpet
After that, my friend and I went our separate ways as she still needed to pick up her race packet and shirts. On the way out to the car, I bumped into a few more Perfect Dopeys sporting either the Perfect Dopey cap and/or their customized Perfectly Dopey baseball jerseys!
Perfectly Dopey
ESPN Wide World of Sports arch
More Perfectly Dopeys!
It was just after 1 pm, not quite time to check-in at my timeshare, Club Wyndham Cypress Palms. Still I decided to just drive out and see if they had a unit ready for me. I was able to check into unit 103 in building 1. However, I had to stop by the concierge station again. I seriously dislike this routine. The girl told me that there was an indicator on my account that I just needed to set up my login credentials for the new Travel & Leisure website. Since it would be a quick meeting to do that, the best she could give me was a $50 AMEX gift card. It turned out to be yet another bait & switch tactic just to get me to see a sales rep. This one was another prick that was so full of himself. Not once did we talk about login credentials. He got me fired up enough that I was going to give him an easy time. I was going to let him hear me complain about their mismanagement of owners for a full 1 hour. It turned out to be practically a pissing contest as he tried to one-up me on who was wronged in this entire scenario. Eventually, he told me that he was kicking me out and that he doesn't want to see me here again if I had zero intention of buying. The smug asshole said that with a shit face grin on his face. He even told me to use the same energy that I used on him the next time to tell the concierge that I was not going to attend another sales pitch.
Found a local country music radio station
Asshole sales rep
AMEX gift card for a wasting my time
I then hopped in the car and drove over to building 1 on the other end of the property. My unit was right next to the swimming pool. For the duration of my stay I would hear music coming from the pool area, but it was never too loud to disturb me. I got settled into my room, went through the race packet, and laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's 5k.
Club Wyndham Cypress Palms
Flat runner
It was a bit disappointing to see that the unit only had a kitchenette. That's normally not a problem, but the sink was a tiny one that you would find for a wet bar. That made it quite difficult to do any cooking. For dinner, I decided to just drive over to the nearby Chick-fil-A. On the mobile app, I ordered a cobb salad with grilled nuggets. I cashed in my reward points for the salad to be free. They had an interesting drive-thru system where I had to do a loop around the restaurant in order to queue up. I supposed that they do that so cars don't even up spilling out into the roadway.
Chick-fil-A
Cobb salad with grilled chicken nuggets
Thursday 1/8
Man, I was pretty anxious to get going this morning for day 1 of the Dopey Challenge. I was more so afraid that I would oversleep my alarms and miss the race! I got up well ahead of the alarms that I had set. I arrived at the EPCOT parking lot and was parked by 2:45 am for the 5 am start! The security screening wasn't even letting people in until 3 am!
Walt Disney World arch
EPCOT 5k parking
Once I had gotten inside, I headed over to the stage area. People were getting in line for character photos, but I decided to save that for post race. I found a spot on the bleachers to sit down and wait for the corrals to be open.
5k finish line preview
5k stage
Starting corral
Thor!
Runner with Mickey space helmet
5k start line
Eric!
Amy, a fellow Perfect Dopey
Pluto on stage
My goal for the race was to finish in under 24 minutes. After covering the first mile in 7:31, I decided to see if I could hold onto that pace. As per the usual with runDisney races, with the ground being wet, I just couldn't get good traction while running through sections of the park. While I was able to maintain that pace through the second mile, I faded in the third mile. Still I was content with meeting my goal.
(7:31, 7:33, 7:52, :58)
Rounding the last turn for the finish line
5k finish line
5k finish: 23:53
Click here for my Garmin data.
After crossing the finish line, I received my finisher medal. That was followed by a bottle of water and a bottle of Powerade. Next I was given a banana and a runDisney snack box. I got out my plastic bag so that I could carry everything. I then headed over to the stage area to get a photo with Donald Duck in an astronaut outfit, Dopey, Stitch, and Pluto. It was cool to see a few familiar faces.
5k finisher medal
Post race snack box
Astronaut Donald
Dopey
Heather!
Stitch
Lumiere light saber
Estelle aka Casey's friend
Pluto
Chavet and Eric
Ka-chow!
On the drive back to my timeshare, I stopped at the Chick-fil-A to pick up breakfast. I ordered 2 breakfast filets and a berry parfait with granola. After eating breakfast I lounged around a bit before I hopped into the shower to get cleaned up.
Chick-fil-A breakfast
After taking about a 2 hour nap, I hopped in the car and drove over to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to check things out at a more leisurely pace. The first thing I did was to get in the long queue inside the State Farm Field House to meet Mickey and Minnie. I also got in line to get a picture with Goofy in a detective outfit. I checked out the gingerbread houses before moving on to the Athletic Center.
Back at the race expo
Photo queue
Mickey and Minnie
Inspector Goofy
Ginger bread houses
I got a sample of their chocolate hazelnut wafer from Bauducco. While picking up some runDisney stickers, I ended up chatting with a runDisney rep concerning the upcoming hiatus of the Disneyland races. For once, he actually offered up some information. He said that the construction project was slated for 3 years, so the hiatus would be a minimum of 3 years. Other than that, he said nothing was planned in terms of any announcements. Before heading out to the AdventHealth Arena, I did come across a couple pairs of Dopey socks by Rock 'Em that looked nice. They also had Star Wars socks!
Vendor samples
Dopey socks
Star Wars socks
This was day 2 and most of the popular official merchandise was picked clean. I mainly stopped in here to check out the Coast-to-Coast Challenge merchandise. Although the graphics were nice and actually sublimated, the quality was pretty poor!
Coast to Coast Race Challenge
On the way back to my timeshare, I stopped at the Publix to pick up some food and snacks. I ended up buying a large bag of mixed frozen vegetables, a party sized bag of Cape Cod potato chips, and a whole lemon pepper oven-roasted chicken.
Frozen vegetables
Cape Cod chips
Roasted chicken
Veggies
After eating dinner, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's 10k. I then took a shower and called it a night pretty early. I double-checked to see that my alarms were set. I won't have my friend to bail me out this year!
10k flat runner
Friday 1/9
I didn't get to EPCOT quite as early today for day 2 of the Dopey Challenge. I allowed myself some time to get a bit more shuteye. Still I was parked at just before 3 am. It was the same routine as yesterday. After going through security screening, I headed over to the stage area and found a vacant spot on the bleachers where my friend eventually joined me.
EPCOT 10k parking
10k stage
When the corrals opened, we headed over. My friend went into her corral B right away. For me, I headed over to the water station and just milled around, checking out the buses that were parked nearby for safety reasons. I used one of the portapotties one last time at 4 am before heading inside my corral.
Corrals
10k start line
Chip & Dale on stage
My goal was to run a sub 50 minute race. I covered the first mile in 7:42. It felt way harder than it should have. During the second mile, I saw Agent P and stopped for a photo. I covered that mile in 8:02. By the third mile, the humidity was already doing a number on me. I pulled over for a photo with Miguel and decided to just cruise the rest of the race. The third mile was a slow 8:59. I took walk breaks at each aid station. My last 3 miles (8:42, 9:12, 9:05) were quite slow for a 10k. My legs were feeling pretty rubbery during the last couple of miles!
(7:42, 8:02, 8:59, 8:42, 9:12, 9:05, 2:30)
Agent P
Miguel
10k finish line
10k finish: 54:09
Click here for my Garmin data.
After receiving my finisher medal and the usual post race goodies, I headed over to the stage area to get pictures with Chip & Dale, Duffy, Dopey, and Monterey Jack. It was cool seeing Duffy as he's way more prominent over at Tokyo Disney. Apparently, I missed Fat Cat. I believe they were swapping him out with Monterey Jack.
10k finisher medal
Post race snack box
Chip & Dale
Duffy
Dopey
Monterey Jack
Monterey Jack, take 2
EPCOT parking
On the way back to my timeshare, out of my norm, I stopped in at the Krispy Kreme to get some breakfast. The moment I went inside, an employee offered me a free sample of their hot glazed donut. I ordered a 3 pack with raspberry cheesecake, chocolate truffle, and NY cheesecake as my choices. Since they weren't standard donuts, there was a 40 cent surcharge each. I got a medium classic coffee to go with the donuts. I didn't want to accumulate too much trash in my unit, so I ate them there before going back to my unit.
Breakfast at Krispy Kreme
Free sample
My order
3 donuts and coffee
Raspberry cheesecake, chocolate truffle, and NY cheesecake. Medium classic coffee
Magic on display
For a late lunch, I drove back over to Chick-fil-A to pick up food. On the mobile app, I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with pickles and pepper jack cheese and a bowl of tortilla soup. I cashed in my reward points for the soup to be free.
Chick-fil-A
Grilled chicken sandwich with pickles and pepper jack cheese, bowl of tortilla soup
I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's half marathon before I started winding down for the evening. As it was Friday, I watched the usual WWE Friday Night SmackDown! I boiled some of the frozen vegetable to eat while watching the show.
Half marathon flat runner
WWE Friday Night Smack Down!
More veggies
Jordynne Grace called up to the main roster
Saturday 1/10
It was day 3 of the Dopey Challenge. My body was definitely getting used to the time zone, but nonetheless, I was tired as confirmed by my Garmin watch. I stuck to the normal pre-race routine. My only goal for today's race was to finish it in under 2 hours with or without any photo stops.
EPCOT half marathon parking
Half marathon stage
Half marathon start line
So many people!
Half marathon start line stage
Things felt okay on the run out to the Magic Kingdom. I kept a nice comfortably hard pace. However with all of the turns and slippery surfaces inside the park, my pace dropped a bit by the 6th mile as I ran through Cinderella Castle. With a good time buffer and about 7 miles left for the run back, I was in good shape to meet my goal.
(8:23, 8:15, 8:24, 8:39, 8:44, 8:56)
Half marathon castle at about mile 6
The run back to EPCOT turned out to be a total grind. The humidity just absolutely wore me out by mile 9! My time buffer was shrinking with each successive mile! Shortly after reaching mile 11, I pulled over for my one and only character photo. It was for Mr. Carl Fredricksen, a character from one of my favorite Pixar movies! I seemed to always miss him most years! I just had to make the quick stop since I knew that I had my goal in the bag. With about a mile to go, I heard my friend Brian at the bus parking lot, shout out my name.
(8:53, 8:57, 9:14, 9:33, 9:37, 9:59, 9:23, 1:56)
Mr. Carl Fredricksen!
Half marathon finish line
Half marathon finish: 1:58:51
Click here for my Garmin data.
Boy was it humid out there! I looked like I had jumped into a swimming pool! After receiving my finisher medal, I received a wet towel. Then it was the usual post race goodies. I then headed over to the stage area to get pictures with Donald & Daisy, Dopey, Goofy, and Flik & Atta. The lines were definitely not as long with the longer distance.
Half marathon finisher medal
Donald and Daisy
Dopey
Goofy
Flik and Princess Atta
Back at my timeshare, I got cleaned up and vegged out while watching TV. Eventually at about 11 am, I rolled out of bed, got ready and drove over to Disney Springs to eat brunch at my favorite restaurant, Raglan Road Irish Restaurant & Pub. Per the usual, I opted to park at the Orange Parking Garage.
Orange parking garage
Per the usual, I walked right in and found an empty seat at the bar. I started things off with a Guinness 0. Then I ordered my usual, their Full Irish Breakfast. While waiting for my food, I asked the bartender about their soda bread as they used to be complimentary. He told me that they had stopped that a while back as they were throwing away a lot of uneaten bread.
Guinness 0 and finisher medal
Full Irish Breakfast
After I was done with my delicious meal and paid my bill, I used their restroom before proceeding to take a lap around Disney Springs. I went over to the World of Disney to check out an item for my friend. I then checked out Swirls on the Water to see if they had any special Dole Whip flavors on their menu. On the way back to my car, I bumped into my friends.
Starbucks mug
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Coco
Toy Story
I stuck to my usual routine. I went back to Chick-fil-A to pick up an early dinner. On the mobile app, I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with pickles and pepper jack cheese and a medium fruit cup. As I was queuing up for the drive-thru lane, I saw that the paramedics were picking up someone from the dining area. That cannot be a good omen, but then again, I'm not your typical Chick-fil-A customer. I also boiled the remaining frozen vegetables to go with my dinner.
Grilled chicken sandwich with pickles and pepper jack cheese, medium fruit cup
More veggies
After dinner, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow. For this year, I finally decided to take a break from running as Russell during the marathon. It was probably a good choice as it was going to be a warm day. With the popularity of Bluey these days, I decided to go with a Bluey t-shirt that I had purchased off of Amazon.
Marathon flat runner
Sunday 1/11
With the marathon scheduled to start at 4:30 am, I had to get to the race a bit earlier today for the fourth and final day of the Dopey Challenge. I arrived at EPCOT and was parked a little before 2:45 am. I wasn't sure why I didn't use the park entrance restroom on the prior days, but today I used it before heading over to the stage area.
EPCOT marathon parking
EPCOT
Marathon stage
As with the prior days, I hung out near the water station until an hour before the start of race before heading into the corral. Unlike the prior 3 days, I was planning to start near the back of the corral with my friend. While waiting for my friend to show up, I bumped into a few of my other friends including a guy that has run all of the runDisney marathons. That included the one and done marathon over at Disneyland!
Kim, Alan, and Grace
Stephen
Start line
Start line fireworks
Even starting near the back, we still crossed the start line about 3 minutes after the gun. Goes to show that there's really no reason for slower runners or walkers to push their way up to the front! Since the weather was going to be hot and humid, I had no time goals for today. It was just going to be a picture day with the characters out on the course!
1st Half: 2:22:40
~5.25 miles, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger
~9.4 miles, Captain Barbossa and Jack Sparrow
~10.4 miles, Sample 258 and Reuben 625
~12.4 miles, Shivam Parikh
The day quickly warmed up when the sun came out! I made sure to take a full banana whenever they were being passed out. Leg cramps for me on hot days were inevitable! The Star Wars section along Bear Island Rd was still my favorite part of the course. It was pretty much like running through a set on Endor! I was pretty wiped out by the time I had reached the dreaded Blizzard Beach parking lot. Those last 5 miles were quite the struggle!
2nd Half: 3:06:02
~13.6 miles, Doc McStuffins
~14.4 miles, entering the Star Wars section of the course!
~15 miles, Vader! Pew! Pew!
~15.2 miles, Jawas... utini!
~15.4 miles, Rey and Chewbacca
~16.1 miles, Kylo Ren, my favorite Disney princess!
~18.3 miles, Baloo
~20.9 miles, Anna and Elsa
~21.7 miles, entering the dreaded Blizzard Beach portion of the course
~21.9 miles, Russell and Dug!
Choir
Marathon finish line
Marathon finish: 5:28:42
Click here for my Garmin data.
Man, I felt pretty cooked in this race. I was just happy to have finished! After receiving my finisher medal and a wet towel, I continued on to receive the usual post race water and Powerade. Then it was the Mickey ears. I was then directed over to the left to receive my Perfect Dopey lanyard from 2 lovely ladies. Further down the line, I received my Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge medal and the Dopey Challenge medal. Finally, I received a banana and a post race snack box.
Marathon finisher medal
Marathon Mickey ears
Perfect Dopey lanyard
Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge medal
Dopey Challenge medal
I then made my way over to the stage area to get pictures with Minnie & Mickey, Dopey, Goofy, and the Mad Hatter & Alice. My friend, a fellow Perfect Dopey, joined me for a picture with Dopey. On the way out, I bumped into another fellow Perfect Dopey who also was a Perfect Goofy.
Eric and Chavet
Minnie and Mickey
Dopey year #13
Just a couple of Perfect Dopeys!
Goofy
The Mad Hatter and Alice!
Andy Doyle, Perfect Dopey and Goofy!
One thing bad about staying off Disney property was that I had to drive myself back after completing a marathon. It was a good thing, that after 283 marathons, I knew how to manage my body in less-than-ideal conditions so that I could function relatively well after the race. Still, I was pretty wiped out! I got cleaned up and was KO'd for a couple of hours. When I woke up from my slumber, I went out to pick up some food as I was feeling quite famished. I was a bit surprised to see it raining outside, so I had to grab my umbrella. I drove over to Publix and picked up another whole oven-roasted chicken. I think the grease and salt was a bit too much for this aging body as I spent most of the early morning on the toilet. I knew everything was pretty much out of my system once I started pooping out only clear water. It was bad enough where I felt like I was prepping for a colonoscopy!
Roasted chicken
Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
Monday 1/12
With the GI distress, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get to the park for rope drop at EPCOT. I was feeling good enough that I decided to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The place was pretty empty at about 8:30 am. After I was seated, I started things off with coffee. Then I ordered their NY steak & eggs with grits.
Coffee
New York steak & eggs with grits
Medium
After finishing my breakfast and settling the bill, I actually made good time and arrived at the parking gate shortly after 9 am. It was nice to show up at a more sane hour of the morning, however it was not so nice to have to pay $35 for standard parking!
After parking, I strolled right past the finish line that I had crossed the past 4 days. It was eerily empty and quiet. I will see you again next year! Once I entered the park, I took my usual post Dopey Challenge medal photo with Spaceship Earth in the background.
The final turn for the finish line
Post Dopey Challenge at EPCOT
I then walked over to Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind to meet up with my friend. I was a bit anxious and joined the standby line thinking that it would be a slow moving line. Prior to today, I had only ridden this ride while it was available through the virtual queue. I was surprised by how fast the line moved. When I got to point after being teleported up to the station, I waited for my friend. Thankfully, he was only 2 groups after mine. We rode it twice in a row before moving on to Test Track. Although it was the same track, I liked how the overall ride experience had been updated a bit. It looked like instead of just Chevy vehicles, they had brought in all the lines owned by General Motors. Next we went over to the World Showcase to ride Frozen Ever After. We then went our separate ways as he was meeting up with his friends over at Magic Kingdom.
Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind
From there I continued on the loop around the World Showcase. Over at the Germany pavilion, I bumped into a couple of my fellow Perfect Dopeys. I got a selfie with them before continuing on to Canada. My plan was to ride Remy's Ratatouille Adventure before checking in for my late lunch reservation at Le Cellier Steakhouse for 1:45 pm. I checked out some of the merchandise in Canada while I waited for my time slot.
Perfect Dopeys
Do I want a turkey leg from Fife & Drum Tavern? :D
2D Ratatouille
Ten minutes prior to my reservation, I received a notification on the mobile app to check in for my reservation. After doing so, I went inside to use their restroom. Within 5 minutes, I received a text telling me that my table was ready and to return to the host station. After being seated, I looked over the menu. They didn't have much listed for non-alcoholic drinks so I asked the waitress if they had any coffee. They had French press coffee for $10. I ordered that and a 16 oz butcher's cut medium rare ribeye with brussels sprouts and Chardonnay truffle butter. Shortly after the coffee was brought out, the waitress also brought me some complimentary bread.
French press coffee
Bread
16 oz butcher's cut ribeye with brussels sprouts and Chardonnay truffle butter
That was a good lunch, but it might have been a bit too greasy. I was having some GI distress again, so I had to make a pitstop at a restroom before continuing on to World Nature. I went on Journey into Imagination with Figment. After the ride, I got in line to meet Figment. It must have been hard for the cast member to see because he/she bashed my head with the snout!
Pua and Hei Hei
Olaf
Rocket and Baby Groot
Miguel and Dante
Festival of Arts
Figment
Figment!
Next I went of to The Land to ride Soarin' Around the World. I was a bit surprised that the line wasn't very long. I'm pretty sure this ride will be popular again once they make the switch over to Soarin' Across America!
Going clockwise, I went on The Seas with Nemo and Friends. There was no line. It was a long dark walk straight onto the ride. With such low ridership, I wouldn't be surprised if this ride was replaced by something else in the near future.
To finish off World Nature, I went to Journey Of Water - Inspired By Moana. It was a bit too cold to be playing with water, so I walked through mainly to find the hidden characters. I also got a selfie with Te Fiti and my finisher medal.
Pua
Te Fiti
Manaiakalani
Baby Moana
Moana
Along the way over to World Discovery, I stopped at the Mickey & Friends character spot in World Celebration to get some pictures with Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Minnie Mouse. I stopped by to say hi to Walt Disney and let him wear my medal.
Mickey
Goofy
Minnie
Selfie with Walt Disney
Walt Disney wearing my medal
The only ride that I hadn't ridden yet today was Mission: Space. Per the usual, I went on the orange, more intense training. There was no line, so it was straight into the video briefing room. I'm not too sure how much longer this ride will be around as there wasn't enough people to field 4 men teams. I rode it solo.
Since I was done with rides, I decided to go around and check out merchandise. I decided to do a counter clockwise loop of the World Showcase. My first stop was in the France pavilion to check out the Emile shoulder plush at the Souvenirs de France. Unfortunately, the quality was poor especially for something priced at almost $30! They was a tumbler that I liked, but I really didn't need another one.
My next stop was at the Mitsukoshi Department Store in the Japan pavilion. On the way out, I checked out the Bijutsu-kan Gallery. After coming to EPCOT all of these years, I still continue to stumble across some non-prominent attractions that most people will overlook!
Shohei
Kawaii
At this point, I was pretty much done with this post marathon day in the park. I stopped in at the Creations Shop on my way out. This store rivaled the World of Disney at Disney Springs in what they had to offer. While there were a few items that caught my eye, I had to stick to my excuse of having no more space in the house as my reason not to buy anything.
Trash can containers!
Starbucks tumbler
Another Starbucks tumbler
EPCOT at night
I stopped at the Publix one last time before going back to my unit as I was out of water. In addition to the bottle of water, I was craving soup, so I bought a can of Campbell's Sirloin Burger Chunky soup. With the GI distress that I had been having, the soup really hit the spot.
Soup and water
Tuesday 1/13
I had a pretty early flight to catch, so I woke up early to take a shower and check out of my unit. I left at about 3:45 am to head for the airport. I drove over to the usual Wawa gas station just north of the airport to fill up the tank before heading over to the airport to return it. My flight home was with American Airlines. I was glad that it was a direct flight.
Fill up the rental car at Wawa
Wall art at MCO Airport
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