13.1 Royal Miles

Who:

I’m Lindsay, a 26 year old vegan who has been going to Disney World since I can remember.

Hayley, 22, currently working in the Orlando area.

My mom (doesn’t care for having her picture taken), who has been the driving force for my sister and my Disney obsession.

Why: The Disney Princess Half Marathon

Where: Disney’s Pop Century Resort

The seed for this trip was planted right here on the boards. I had been reading trip reports in anticipation of an upcoming trip I little over a year ago and came across a report on the Disney runs. I read the report and thought it was interesting. I mentally filed the info away not really thinking too seriously about it. I have never been athletic or in any shape or form a runner. I didn’t think that I would ever be able to complete an event like this. Months later I came across another trip report. It was @WishIWasAtWDW ‘s 2012 princess half trip report and while reading it the wheels started turning and I started thinking that if I started training early just maybe I could do it.

Fast forward to the beginning of July…by this point for better or worse the decision had been made I was going to sign up. I started to train around this time using the Jeff Galloway method of run/walking. I started all the way at the beginning running three days a week starting with run 15s walk 45s to 20/40 to 30/30. My first 5k was able three weeks after I started training and I ran it using 30/30 on a crazy hot day 90 degrees and humid at the race start at 9am. It was not pretty but I did it in 37 minutes. I continued training working with up to and with a 1m/1m routine and ran my first 10k on Nov 10th. I was able to complete the course in 1:12:30 and submit the time to Disney for corral placement.

After that I started to work on the official program and increase my distance little by little. I was doing well until the week of Christmas. We went to Disney for a week and we were trying to fit so much in that I wasn’t able to run at all. It was a great holiday trip, but crazy busy. I came back and pushed to put myself back on schedule as I was a bit behind. Then things really started to go downhill around mid January. I developed a bad cold that made it hard to breathe let alone run. Once I thought I was over it I went out for a few more runs. Apparently this was not a good idea just yet. I ended up with bronchitis that pretty much nixed 90 percent of my runs and def canceled all of my long runs as the air was just too cold in Jersey (below freezing for most of the time) and my lungs couldn’t handle it. This was so far from ideal and from the training that I was picturing for myself leading up to the race…so frustrating.

With rest and luck I was able to get rid of most of the cough in time for the race. I had to cross my fingers and hope that the miles that I put in previous would be enough to carry me across the finish line.

 

[rani8600]

Once we got back to the room I was able to get a hot shower, this really helped with some of the muscle aches. While the others were getting themselves together I took the chance to have one of the Babycakes cupcakes that my mom and sis had picked up before I arrived. I have the Blondie, it is one of my favorites from there. Sooo yummy.

We took our time getting ready for the day and left for Epcot a little before 12. We got a bus pretty quickly and were on our way. I was excited to finally be going to a park and not to just run through one.

We had to make a quick stop at guest relations as I wasn’t able to locate my annual pass. I looked everywhere I could think of, but just couldn’t find it. The process was rather simple, I told them I lost my pass the checked my ID then printed me off a new one. They must have people who loose annuals all the time.

Pass in hand we made our way through into the park. We have to use the old entrances as annual passes have not been converted to the new systems yet. The park had been open for hours at this point so we didn’t try to make it on to anything. Our plan was to go straight to World Showcase and get some celebratory margaritas! I felt I deserved one, what do you think . We stopped quickly as Cool Club for some free soda (rehydrating is important). I had my usual, the watermelon from China…its my favorite.

Once we had our fill we started our journey to Mexico, slowly. This was something I had to remind my mom and sister frequently for the remainder of the day. I would say we are going to have to walk slow, they would say ok and walk on…then I start my repetition of slower please, no still slower than that.

Eventually we made it to Mexico and to La Cava Del Tequila.

I didn’t take picture inside as it is too dark, but I borrowed this one from their website

I had a delicious Wild Passion Fruit Margarita (100% Agave Tequila Reposado, ginger liqueur, passion fruit, mango nectar and fresh lime juice, topped with mango foam, served on the rocks). I was going to get the Midnight Blue (100% Agave Tequila Reposado, blue Curacao, fresh lime juice and agave nectar, served on the rocks with a hibiscus Himalayan salt rim), but changed my mind at the last minute. My sister ended up staying with the Midnight blue and enjoyed it. I tried it, but was glad I changed to the passion fruit.

We took our drinks to go (its small in there, and there were people at the tables) to continue our journey around the world. They already had some of the topiaries up for the flower and garden festival.

We took our time wandering through the world. As we were passing through America, we heard the Voices of Liberty. They were performing on the main stage as part of limited time magic. They were about halfway through so we made a plan to come back for the next set. To waste some time we wandered off to Japan. Maiyuki was just about to start her show; we hadn’t seen it in a few trips so we wanted to watch. As we were waiting for the show to start my sister commented on my lack of progress through my drink. This afternoon I was discovering just what a 13.1 mile run will do to you tolerance level. I was felling my drink just shy of halfway through and SLOWLY made my way through the remainder as I had no plans to fall over that afternoon. I think it took me about 45 minutes to drink the whole drink.

After we saw some fun candy animals we walked back to the American theater. We were able 15 minutes early for the show and it was nice to sit and wait for it. The Voices of Liberty are one of my favorite shows to see and I always try to make sure to see them once per trip. I was pretty excited to hear that they were going to be part of limited time magic while I was there.

Some medal shots while we wait

The show was really nice and longer than their usual 10 minute set, about a half hour. After the show we finished wandering around the lake, not really going into many of the countries. Once we were finished with the WS we wanted to check the wait times for Test Track, we knew that there was no way that we would be able to get on Soarin, but thought we might through the single rider line at Test Track. The wait said about 30 minutes. That was as short as any line was going to get. My sister and I went in the single rider line while my mom chose not to ride and made some phone calls.

While we were waiting in line we chatted with a woman just behind us. She had run the race that morning as well and we had fun discussing the different parts of the course. We had very different races though as she was a more serious runner (she was preparing for a marathon just a few weeks later). It was nice to compare notes and made the line go by quickly.

Soon enough it was our turn. My sister and I were lucky and able to ride in the same car different rows. After our ride we met mom and talked about what to do next. There wasn’t that much that we were interested in that didn’t have a huge line so we decided to head for the monorail and the MK resort area. PS they really need to put an elevator up the Epcot monorail ramp or something, that ramp was trying to kill me…lol

 

[Figgy1]

AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!! After all that I would have opted for a bubble bath!! But I am old enough to be your mother! LOL Old bones and all!!!

 

[meyeet]

Congrats on the race! My wife and I were in Corral C as well. Actually I think we were standing near you before the start. We went to Epcot Monday and watched Voices of Liberty and two of the singers were wearing their Princess medals. It was pretty cool.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Some medal shots while we wait

MMMMMM, margaritas!!

And excellent medal shot!

 

[Ariel484]

Congrats!! Sorry you had hip pain - that's no fun. Is it an IT Band issue or something else? Any more runDisney races in your future?

 

[rani8600]

AWSOME!!!!!!!!!!!! After all that I would have opted for a bubble bath!! But I am old enough to be your mother! LOL Old bones and all!!!

Lol...i seriously thought about it. If i didnt keep moving though i dont think i would have made it out of the room.

Congrats on the race! My wife and I were in Corral C as well. Actually I think we were standing near you before the start. We went to Epcot Monday and watched Voices of Liberty and two of the singers were wearing their Princess medals. It was pretty cool.

You too! Thats really cool about the singers wearing their medals. Im surprised Disney allows them to bend the costuming rules though...

MMMMMM, margaritas!!

And excellent medal shot!

They were delicious

Congrats!! Sorry you had hip pain - that's no fun. Is it an IT Band issue or something else? Any more runDisney races in your future?

Thanks Not sure what causes the pain. I will have to go and get it checked out before my next long race. I think i will run another Disney race in future, the biggest thing is timing. Im looking at a local half the the Fall so maybe back to Disney in 2014.

 

[rani8600]

We transferred over to the resort monorail at T&T (more ramps) and rode over to the Grand Floridian. My sister wanted to look around the Basin shop to pick out some soap. We still had a little before we could go for our dinner reservations as they were at the Wave and first seating wasn’t until 5 so we looked around the gift shop as well. There was nothing we found that we wanted so after a look around we went out to catch the monorail over to the Contemporary.

At this point my muscle and joints were starting to stiffen up every time I sat for more than a minute…not so fun. We wandered for a little bit, I took some more pictures of my medal (I was more than obsessed with it for the rest of the trip, I mean it’s just sooo pretty!) I also uploaded some to facebook and twitter; accomplishments don’t count unless you do after all .

At about quarter to we made our way down the elevator to the Wave to try to check in. We waited in a little lounge area by the bar.

The area slowly started to fill up as people arrive for dinner. Soon it was five and we were seated. I was really excited to try the Wave as I had heard it was really good and I like the idea of fresh local food. Our waitress came out quickly as took our drink orders. I told her that I was vegan and she said the chef probably won’t come out. This was a shift that I really began to notice this trip. In the past the chef always would come out to help you with the menu or offer something different if nothing on the menu could be veganized. I asked if she could then verify that I could have the vegetarian option to make sure that it didn’t have egg or dairy. She ran back to ask the chef and said that it was okay and I could have them make it with tofu as well. We placed our orders and our food came out fairly quickly. I thought I took a picture but I can’t find it anywhere.

I had the Curry Vegetable Stew with Butternut Squash, Asparagus, Heirloom Apples, seasonal Vegetables, and Jade Rice with the addition of tofu. It tasted like a Thai curry to me as opposed to an Indian curry. It was very good and I would get it again.

After sitting through dinner my legs were really stiff. It was a hard walk out of the restaurant, but I was able to quick stretch of whatever that muscle behind your knee is called outside for a minute and was able to almost walk like a normal person again.

The original plan was to walk from the Contemporary to the MK bus stops and take the bus back to Pop. Rather than the walking and the waiting we went with a cap ride instead We take cabs from hotel to hotel fairly often…we start with the intention of using Disney transportation but the process always seems like such a pain that we op to just take a cab.

Once back in the room I took the chance to gently but fully stretch for the first time since after the race. I was worried that if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to move the next morning. After that, we wandered over to the food court to get some drinks and snacks. We pretty much just hung out and watched some TV before calling it a night fairy early. Not sleeping the night before was starting to really show.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

First and foremost...CONGRATULATIONS ON FINISHING YOUR FIRST HALF!!!!!

I know how you feel with the humidity. My first runDisney race was the 10-miler in September and man was it hot and humid...people were dropping like flies. I ended up running a 2 min/1 min run/walk strategy the whole time. Worked for me and I finished in 2:19 and waited for a few characters. Are you planning on running any more races this year??? I was thinking of the W&D but it depends on how much flights are.

Princess 2014 IS A MUST for me though!

Sorry you had to go through all the delayed plane ride when you trying to get down to FL. That sucks, but at least you made it.

 

[rani8600]

First and foremost...CONGRATULATIONS ON FINISHING YOUR FIRST HALF!!!!!

I know how you feel with the humidity. My first runDisney race was the 10-miler in September and man was it hot and humid...people were dropping like flies. I ended up running a 2 min/1 min run/walk strategy the whole time. Worked for me and I finished in 2:19 and waited for a few characters. Are you planning on running any more races this year??? I was thinking of the W&D but it depends on how much flights are.

Princess 2014 IS A MUST for me though!

Sorry you had to go through all the delayed plane ride when you trying to get down to FL. That sucks, but at least you made it.

Thank you!!

Ahh, the TOT 10 miler…I heard that one was killer with the heat and humidity. Im not sure how I would have made it through that one. I was looking into running that one or maybe the W&D. Don’t think it’s going to happened this year unfortunately. Im so limited on vacation days…no fun. You are going to like the princess half though

 

[rani8600]

Day 3

Monday started off rather well. I was able to get some decent sleep Sunday night and my legs were feeling a lot better. I was actually walking like a normal person…big improvement on the night before.

I forgot to turn off my weekday alarm so at 6am it went off and I jumped out of bed to turn it off…of course it was charging on the other side of the room. I tried to lay down for a bit, but between the alarm itself and having to get out of bed to turn it off I was up. I figured I would start getting ready for the day so I was done and out of the way by the time it was my mom and sister were up.

They were up soon after and getting ready. While they were busy getting themselves together I took the chance to eat my leftover Lo Mein from Saturday night. I think it might have been just as good cold for breakfast as hot for dinner…lol.

We decided that this morning we were going to go to Animal Kingdom. We thought we had till nine to get there, but when I was online I just double checked the time. AK was having early opening…there was no way we were going to make it on time for early open. We ended up getting there just before the non magic hour opening at 9.

They made us go through the new gates and there isn’t a way scan annual passes. We have to walk through and go to a CM inside who scanned our passes with what looked like a phone (guess there’s an app for that). It seemed very chaotic, maybe it will seem less so as people get used to it and everyone is on the same system…I hope so anyway.
As the park was already open we chose to head straight for the safari. The weather was nice and we figured the line couldn’t be that bad yet.

The line was posted at 10 minutes, most of which was spent just walking up the line. The weather seemed perfect for the animals as we were able to see a lot, even the cheetahs and the lions which are fairly rare in the heat of summer.

This guy was just sitting there hanging out with the birds

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Congrats on your accomplishment, especially through the pain. Totally awesome! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Thank you!!

Ahh, the TOT 10 miler…I heard that one was killer with the heat and humidity. Im not sure how I would have made it through that one. I was looking into running that one or maybe the W&D. Don’t think it’s going to happened this year unfortunately. Im so limited on vacation days…no fun. You are going to like the princess half though

Definitely was. I think maybe that's why they moved it back a weekend to the first weekend in October? who knows. I hear ya on vacation days...I would only go down for the weekend LOL. Hoping to make it work but we'll see! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[Kristia]

Congratulations on finishing your first half! First off, I remember you writing that you had a lot of nay-sayers when you told them that you were going to be running a half marathon. Don't you hate that? I had one in particular when I said that I was going to be running the marathon, that said "I will believe it when I see it" which made me that much more determined to do it!

Sounds like you had a good time despite the humidity and the pain. Something about races in general...once you finish, you forget about the pain and are ready to do it again (after a decent rest period of course)! Congrats again!

 

[rani8600]

Congrats on your accomplishment, especially through the pain. Totally awesome! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Thank you!

Congratulations on finishing your first half! First off, I remember you writing that you had a lot of nay-sayers when you told them that you were going to be running a half marathon. Don't you hate that? I had one in particular when I said that I was going to be running the marathon, that said "I will believe it when I see it" which made me that much more determined to do it!

Sounds like you had a good time despite the humidity and the pain. Something about races in general...once you finish, you forget about the pain and are ready to do it again (after a decent rest period of course)! Congrats again!

I think one of the best things after finishing was being able to chat about the race with some of those people who didn’t think I could do it. It felt awesome to let them know that I had.

You are so right about forgetting the pain after its over. I know logically that I had a lot of pain during the race because I remember that I did, but I don’t remember the pain itself. I am already planning another local half with some friends in the Fall, hopefully with better luck with training

 

[rani8600]

After the safari my mom and sister were a little hungry. They got a breakfast flatbread from tamu tamu counter service. I passed as I had eaten breakfast already.

Our intention was to go see Flights of Wonder, the first show wasn’t until 10:30 so we had some time to waste. We chose to take a walk through the Maharaja Jungle trek to see some tigers. We saw a bunch of animals along the way including some really cute bats.

I really liked the flags

After our trek we went over to the show area to wait for it to open. This turned out to be a great idea because there was a preshow with birds that was nearly as good as the main show. I was so busy watch that I didn’t take many pictures…all I have it this one

After the show was over we crossed the park to Camp Minnie Mickey to watch the Lion King Show. This is what we do an AK, the shows. We are not fond of the Nemo show though…it crosses the line into way too long of a show for us.

Since we were in the area I wanted to try and get some character pictures. As the Lion King Show was emptying out behind us we knew that we were going to have to make a quick choice as the lines would become wayyy too long to stand it. Donald was kind of hidden and not really getting any love so we decided to drop by for a visit.

We had planned this afternoon for swimming so we made our way out of the park. Not without of few pictures in front of the tree of course J

This afternoon we decided to exercise our privileges (I think for the first time ever) as DVC and take advantage of being able to swim in almost any pool. We went back to Pop to change into swimsuits then went over to Old Key West.

We were feeling hungry as we hadn’t eaten that much all that day to we stopped at Olivia’s first. The menu as Olivia’s is not very vegan friendly though so I had to ask to speak with the chef. He came out to chat about my options. I asked about a veggie burger (wasn’t on the menu but most places carry one), but after checking the ingredient list he reported that it wasn’t vegan as it had egg. He offered to make me a veggie sandwich with whichever veggies he had in the back.
This was a great choice; he made me a grilled veggie Panini that was fantastic…I’m pretty sure he even put olive oil on the bread before pressing it. It was served with kettle cooked chips…yum J

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

We were feeling hungry as we hadn’t eaten that much all that day to we stopped at Olivia’s first. The menu as Olivia’s is not very vegan friendly though so I had to ask to speak with the chef. He came out to chat about my options. I asked about a veggie burger (wasn’t on the menu but most places carry one), but after checking the ingredient list he reported that it wasn’t vegan as it had egg. He offered to make me a veggie sandwich with whichever veggies he had in the back.
This was a great choice; he made me a grilled veggie Panini that was fantastic…I’m pretty sure he even put olive oil on the bread before pressing it. It was served with kettle cooked chips…yum J

That is so cool he did all that.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Congrats on finishing your first half!!!! I ran the Tower of Terror 10 Miler and that was my first race ever. I didn't run any 5k, 10k or anything else before. And as @PartOfYourWorld noted above, and as you have heard it was HOT and HUMID!! Honestly, we alternated between walking and fast walking about halfway through. Except for the finish line. We ran across that, of course!! lol I am starting training soon for the Princess Half in 2014 though!!

 

[rani8600]

After a great lunch we went over to one of the quiet pools. We were hoping for a relaxing afternoon and I was hoping to get some time in the hot tub for my legs.

We spent a few hours just hanging out, getting a little sun. Around 4 we decided to pack up so we could go back to Pop to change and get to dinner. We had early reservations at Captains Grill. I had been to Captains Grill once before as a vegan and the chef was awesome. He made me a selection of sample size dishes out of all of the side dishes that were vegan. It was a great meal with all of the different flavors that surprisingly worked together on the plate. After this experience I had hi hopes for dinner.

Dinner did not disappoint. As with the Wave when I told the waitress that I was vegan she said she wasn’t sure if the chef was going to come out. As it was early and there was hardly anyone in the restaurant he came out to chat with me about the menu. On the menu there is a vegetarian entrée (that’s what it say as the description veggie entree) that much change from night to night. He told me that the vegetarian of the night was not vegan and asked about what I liked. I told him I liked all veggies except for mushrooms. I really don’t like mushrooms, never have. When your vegan that’s the first thing that people want to feed you too, not fun. I asked him to surprise me. I have found that this can be a great thing to say because you always get something original and great. It gives the chef a chance to be creative and not just be locked into the menu.

I ended up with another amazing meal. It was pumpkin ravioli with roasted veggie and describing does not do it justice.

We were very lucky with the rain…they had been predicting it all day but it only started on our way to dinner and let up before we were through.

After dinner we walk over to Epcot through the international gateway. First stop England for a nice after dinner drink.

I got my usual cider and black, this is cider with blackcurrant juice. It is sweet and refreshing, a perfect dessert after my meal. My sister go a cider, she doesn’t like the sweetness as much as I do. The Pub in England was the place to be for princess runners though…medals were everywhere.
It was crowded in there so we took our drinks with us to travel the world. Having looked around China the day before this evening we took our time shopping around Japan. Japan and China are my too favorite areas to shop in with Morocco right behind. I like them because they have different things.

After exploring the world for a second time this short trip we headed for future world to ride some ride. Having had a drink we quickly nixed test track and mission space. Instead, we went for the more gentle rides.

First stop, a visit to the seas to help find Nemo. We had some fun exploring and watching the fish for a while. After we had our fill of fish we wanted to go over to temporary character sport to try to see some more characters, but even though the wait time was predicted at 15 minutes. Once we got there, there was no way it was only 15 minutes. My mom though out the idea of SSE and we agreed it would be a much better option.

There is something about Spaceship Earth. I know a lot of people don’t like the new narration, but it is a classic and the dork in me loves the educational aspect. I also had a fondness for Living with the Land, another of my favorites. We didn’t do Living with the Land that night though because as I had found out on the trip previous, it is not really fun at night. It loses something without the sun. After SSE we thought it would be a good idea to try to get a spot for Illuminations. This is my favorite night show at Disney. We wanted to see it from the bridge connecting the UK to France because one, it offers a good view and two, it gives us a quick exit once the show is over. We got great spots right against the railing, but had a little over 30 minutes before it started.

Getting a spot early was a good idea, in no time we were surrounded by groups of people. Soon enough the show was starting. I tried to take some pictures, but they were coming out all blurry so I quickly gave up and just enjoyed the show. I would later find out my camera on my phone was on the wrong setting, I didn’t even know it had settings…sigh.

After the show we exited through the back entrance as we left our car in front of the Yacht Club for dinner.

Once we arrived back at the room it was time to start packing. My sister was going back to her place and we were leaving the next day. I took one last picture of my bib.

 

[rani8600]

Day 4

We woke up early on our last day. We had to get ready and finish the last minute packing. We also wanted to check in for our flight and leave our carry-ons with bell services. Since we had it in our heads that we were on a schedule we seemed to move more quickly than we thought. We had all of our morning plans finished before 8. We planned to go to Magic Kingdom that morning, but it didn’t open until 9. We were definitely early. Since we were check out of the room we couldn’t even go back to watch some TV. We decided to just go straight to the MK, as least we would get good seats for the opening show J.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom around 8:15, I don’t think we have ever been this early for a park opening…it was different. They were letting people through the turnstiles and into area in front of the train station. We sat on one of the planters and amused ourselves watching little kids. There were a whole range, kids who were crazy excited to kids who looked like they wanted to be anywhere else.

At ten to the opening show started. I think that I would be really sad if the ever do away with this show. I feel like it is part of Magic Kingdom.

Then it was time, they were letting us in.

Our plan was to go to Frontierland to get to Thunder Mountain. For some reason the had sections all roped off. We had though Advertureland past pirate to get back there. The rides were workings, so I don’t get it. Once we arrived we jumped straight into the standby line and walked right up. The put us in the front of the front car. As first I was disappointed as this is the slowest part of the train, but that soon changed. When the train came in the seats were wet. They said that it was from the rain outside (it wasn’t raining) and didn’t give us anything to dry them with. I think we were the first ride of that train that morning. Because of this we sat on the very edge of the seat, they were really wet. Well apparently when you sit on the edge of the seat it doesn’t matter where you are in the train you get quite a ride. I will have to note this for the future.

After our wide ride we walked towards Fantasyland…on our way we past some chipmuncks. I just had to stop to say hi. Chip and Dale are some of my favorite characters, I always have good interactions with them. They saw my medal and were very excited by it…they wanted to run…so we did.

We said goodbye and made our way to our destination. The Little Mermaid ride, the line was surprising still walk-on.

 

[rani8600]

That is so cool he did all that.

It was, Disney is pretty good with it.

Congrats on finishing your first half!!!! I ran the Tower of Terror 10 Miler and that was my first race ever. I didn't run any 5k, 10k or anything else before. And as @PartOfYourWorld noted above, and as you have heard it was HOT and HUMID!! Honestly, we alternated between walking and fast walking about halfway through. Except for the finish line. We ran across that, of course!! lol I am starting training soon for the Princess Half in 2014 though!!

Thank you I feel like running through the finish was one of the best feelings. Its amazing how you can put the pain and tiredness out of your mind to run that last bit.

Good luck with your training, its going to be a great race