A One-Time Only Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge Trip Report

Hey everyone! I am back from a trip to WDW to partake in Marathon Weekend and more specifically to take on the Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge! This trip did not go entirely how I thought it would but it is over now and its time for a recap. My pictures especially for the races are a little lacking from my last marathon report. I just wasn't feeling it this trip. Cast of characters is just me (Kristy) and husband Dan.

Here is a link to my pre-trip report if you are interested in the backround - http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/goofy-challenge-pre-trip-report.857764/


The days leading up to this trip were very stressful. The Thursday before we left our gas furnace died. Luckily we have a fireplace and were able to keep warm with that and space heaters. We needed to get estimates and have it installed in less than a week. I didn't want my friend who was staying to take care of our animals to have to worry about keeping a fire going. Funds are stretched here already and a new furnace was not in the budget. Ugh. We had the new furnace installed on Wednesday and we left on Thursday morning. Talk about cutting it close! Along with having a furnace installed, my husband calls me on Wed while I am at work and tells me that our one horse is sick again. He had an issue in the past, which we thought had been dealt with and it resurfaced the day before we leave. STRESS, STRESS, STRESS! Call in to the vet but it is after hours by now. It is not a life-threatening issue but one that I don't want to be unattended to while we are gone. Needless to say, I was having second thoughts about this trip with all the problems we have been having.

We left our house around 3:45 am and arrived at our off-site airport parking about an hour later. We had a 6:30 flight out of Philly. We found a great parking service that will take you to the airport in your own car, drop you off and then pick you up in your own car when you come back. For an extra fee, at pickup, you can leave straight from the airport and they will get a ride back to the lot. Very convenient!

We finally arrived for the flight and there were a lot of other runners on this flight as well. We were all pretty quiet due to the early hour I think. In no time, we were boarding and then waiting to taxi.

I was still pretty stressed having not heard from the vet yet. I just didn't have the normal Disney excitement. I tried to sit back and enjoy the ride. We did have a beautiful sunrise!

Soon we were passing over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel system. Looks neat from the air.

Starting to descend into the Orlando area, I see the Port Canaveral area! Kind of need another cruise! (at least I think it might be Port Canaveral)

 

[Kristia]

More pretty pictures! Did you ever actually get to ride Test Track? It was down ALL DAY on Saturday (at least while we were in Epcot) so we never got to check it out.

We did finally get on Test Track! As soon as we got our fastpasses, they made an announcement that the ride was down. I am not sure how long it was down, but when it came time for our window it was running.

More great photos!! I like the ones from IASW--nice idea taking the "rare shots", I'll bet few people take shots of Don Quixote and the platypi

I ate lunch at Liberty Tree last October and was underwhelmed by the entree (but totally wowed by the Ooey-Gooey Toffee Cake dessert), but lunch isn't family style, will have to try it for dinner sometime.

Epcot looks in fine form, the weather couldn't have been nicer for photos, I'm anxiously waiting to find out how it affected you guys while running those long races (following both yours and Shannon's trip reports!)

The weather definitely was great for vacationing! I know a lot of people aren't thrilled with LTT but I liked it. The meat was really tender and juicy. The mac and cheese was probably more the box variety, but it was still pretty good. Half marathon part of the report is fast approaching!

 

[Kristia]

We went over to SE and were going to ride but just as we were about to get in line, a huge tour group entered the line. Nope...I think we will wait till later! Instead, we went back to the room. I wanted to take my new shorts for a "test drive" to make sure they wouldn't be too horrible to run in for the race. We went for a short run from BC over to Boardwalk and back past the YC. It is less than a mile but it seemed as if the shorts were comfortable at least for that short distance. Guess I will be putting them to the test tomorrow! After a short rest at the resort, we went back to Epcot. LOVE not having to rely on the buses to get there!

We still had fastpasses for TT but it still wasn't quite time for them. We headed toward the Land and Journey into Imagination. I know Epcot was crowded because there was actually a line to see Figment! It was only a 5 minute line, but I haven't seen that in a while!

After seeing Figment, it was time for our pre-1/2 Marathon dinner. We were trying to keep ourselves on a bit of a budget on this trip so we decided on Sunshine Seasons for dinner.

They have a roasted 1/2 chicken entree. It comes with black beans and rice but I substituted roasted potatoes with mine. Dan had the black beans and rice. While I didn't take a picture of our entrees, I did have to take pictures of our desserts!

I finally was able to try the strawberry shortcake! It has been on my list of must-tries for a while now. Dan had the chocolate cake.

Time to go back to SE and hope the tour groups were gone. There were quite a few tour groups on this trip. I thought that was more of a summer thing! We were able most times to steer clear of them so it wasn't too much of an issue.

Dan makes a funny face!

 

[Kristia]

Some fun at Mouse Gear before Test Track!

Dan's version of Blue Steel maybe?

Snow White was out in a very random place in Future World. I tried to take some princess pics as my niece (she is turning 4) requested them!

Finally, it was time for Test Track!

Test Track was never one of our favorite rides. It was fun but not usually worth the wait. I think the changes have improved the ride. It still isn't a favorite but I think they have breathed some new life in the attraction. The queue is much sleeker and pleasing to look at. Not so busy and garage-like. It is fun to design the car, but it isn't really something that has to be done. After the ride, you can use you designed car in other interactive exhibits. They also got rid of the preshow so that helps things move along as well.

 

[Ariel484]

That Sunshine Seasons cake looks GOOD!

Okay, I think I JUST figured out that we were also in Epcot on this same day! DUH. I bet we passed right by each other more than once. I am totally with you - what was up with all the tour groups??

 

[Kristia]

The sun was starting to set after we exited Test Track. We didn't want to get back to our room too late so we decided to head back to the room via the long way. We took a leisurely stroll through World Showcase starting with Mexico. I don't think we really went into any of the countries. We just enjoyed the atmosphere. I think we were thinking about going on Maelstrom but the wait was about 20 min and we didn't feel like waiting quite that long.

Next up....it's half marathon time!!

 

[Kristia]

We were back in the room by 7:30 and we tried to sleep. I kind of wanted to stay awake to watch the fireworks from our balcony but decided that it probably would be better to try to get some sleep. I think I was just dozing off when the fireworks woke me up anyway. Beach Club is probably not a good choice if you want to try to get to sleep before 9:30!

2:30 wake up came pretty quickly but as soon as the alarm went off, I was up and getting ready. Getting up that early for me is best done like ripping off a bandaid. Get out of bed quickly or else it is more painful to lay in bed and possibly risk falling back to sleep.

We got dressed, slathered on the sunscreen, taped up my knee and we were ready to go by 3 am. We brought our bags for checking with a change of clothes. We had a breakfast ADR for Kona Cafe after the race and we weren't sure we would have time to go back to the room before our time. We also had our throwaway clothes which were unneeded since it was so warm. I brought them anyway because they were not traveling back home with me. More room for souvenirs! We had bought Powerade the night before to drink with our breakfast. My breakfast was a Uber Larabar Bananas Foster flavor. They are my favorite pre-race food. So yummy! Dan had a protein bar.

We made it down to the bus stop a few minutes after 3 am. There was already a pretty long line. A bus pulled up and let about 5 people on and then left! Apparently the buses were going to Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club, Beach Club and then Boardwalk. Another bus pulls up and lets 3 people on. Ugh! Those poor people at Boardwalk! Luckily there was a bus attendant at our stop and he called for a bus just for us. About 10 minutes later an empty bus shows up and we filled it.

I have to apologize for my pictures from today. I got a new point and shoot for Christmas and it didn't do as well as I would have liked with my early morning pics.

We arrived at the drop off point and we had so many great volunteers pointing the way. A lot of them had wisecracks like "This is the fastpass line for Soarin!" They were pretty funny. We walked though the Mickey ears (See @Ariel484 trip report. Her pics are better than mine lol!). Some people were walking around them but Dan made sure we went through them for good luck!

The staging area -

Dan wearing his throwaway gear even though he didn't need too!

Boy...I am looking a little tired here!

Self portrait!

We must have looked like we were having some trouble taking pics because a nice lady said "Let me take a picture for you guys!" Thank you!

 

[Ariel484]

Aw shucks, thanks for mentioning me in your trip report!

That's crazy about the buses! I knew that all of the Epcot resorts shared but we didn't have a problem getting a bus last year for the marathon. I am definitely starting to learn that the half is totally nuts in terms of crowding...

 

[Kristia]

Aw shucks, thanks for mentioning me in your trip report!

That's crazy about the buses! I knew that all of the Epcot resorts shared but we didn't have a problem getting a bus last year for the marathon. I am definitely starting to learn that the half is totally nuts in terms of crowding...

Your race pics are so much better than mine so I will defer to you for all race pictures hee hee! We had no problem at all for buses with the marathon. You would think they have done this before so why the issues? This year the marathon had the same amount of people. Why does it take a day for them to get their act together? It wasn't really too bad but I was having a tiny panic attack when the first two buses came and left with hardly anyone being able to get on!

 

[Kristia]

The staging area was filling up pretty quickly.

We didn't have a lot of reasons to hang around here. The portapot lines were really long and I knew there were more beyond the bag check. We turned in our bags and went through the tents to the runners only area. There was a crowd growing in this area so we got in line for the potties in advance of the growing crowd. We both tossed our throwaway clothes in the provided bins.

Soon the DJ started calling for all people to start making their way through the bag check tent and to their corrals. The only problem was that they hadn't opened the gate to allow people to begin walking to corrals. All the people were coming through with nowhere to go! The crowd was horrible! You couldn't tell what was crowd trying to get to the corrals and what was portapot line. Finally, pretty close to 5 am we were allowed to start walking to the corrals.

The mass moves!

There were more portapots as we walked to the corrals although it looked like most guys preferred to use the woods. We even saw a girl use the woods. She had friends holding a mylar blanket in front of her but you could clearly see her from the side. No thanks! I will wait in line if need be!

Soon we found Corral C!

Hangin' in Corral C

The DJ rallied the crowd a bit, did some interviews and then the national anthem was sung by a Disney Entertainment cast member.

Soon it was time for the wheelchair participants! With a burst of fireworks they were off!

I could actually see the start line from corral C, unlike in 2011 when we were in G for the full marathon.
About 5 minutes after the wheelchairs, Corral A was started with fireworks in front of and behind us.

About every 5 minutes, another corral would start, so we only had to wait about 10 minutes before we were allowed to start.

Getting closer!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Love the pics from VOTLM.

We ate at LTT in Sept and LOVED it! The pot roast was so yummy!! We have also eaten there 11 years ago when it was still character dining. All the characters in their colonial clothes. It was super neat to see them dressed up.

The bus situation would have stressed me out too!! There was a really long line for buses at All Star Sports when we were heading to ToT 10 Miler but the line moved pretty quickly since it was a dedicated bus for just Sports.

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Kristia]

Love the pics from VOTLM.

We ate at LTT in Sept and LOVED it! The pot roast was so yummy!! We have also eaten there 11 years ago when it was still character dining. All the characters in their colonial clothes. It was super neat to see them dressed up.

The bus situation would have stressed me out too!! There was a really long line for buses at All Star Sports when we were heading to ToT 10 Miler but the line moved pretty quickly since it was a dedicated bus for just Sports.

Can't wait to read more!!

Thanks for reading! I think we last ate at LTT before they even had characters there!

 

[Ariel484]

You're so right...the crowd management (or lack thereof) before the half was insaaaaaane.

By now I know to expect women squatting in the bushes, yet it still always kind of surprises me. I mean, there are tons of porta-potties and let's face it, it's so dark out that you never know just what you're squatting in...

 

[LindsayLoves]

We made it down to the bus stop a few minutes after 3 am. There was already a pretty long line. A bus pulled up and let about 5 people on and then left! Apparently the buses were going to Swan, Dolphin, Yacht Club, Beach Club and then Boardwalk. Another bus pulls up and lets 3 people on. Ugh! Those poor people at Boardwalk! Luckily there was a bus attendant at our stop and he called for a bus just for us. About 10 minutes later an empty bus shows up and we filled it.

This is good to know, I wonder if anyone at the Boardwalk had a killer wait because of this. That seems like poor planning though having those 5 hotels with one shuttle. I will say the Mears people seemed pretty on top of the shuttle situation from the expo to the race, I experienced never a super long wait for anything.

 

[Kristia]

You're so right...the crowd management (or lack thereof) before the half was insaaaaaane.

By now I know to expect women squatting in the bushes, yet it still always kind of surprises me. I mean, there are tons of porta-potties and let's face it, it's so dark out that you never know just what you're squatting in...

My thought is always poison ivy! Especially in the dark!

This is good to know, I wonder if anyone at the Boardwalk had a killer wait because of this. That seems like poor planning though having those 5 hotels with one shuttle. I will say the Mears people seemed pretty on top of the shuttle situation from the expo to the race, I experienced never a super long wait for anything.

On the full day, it was much better. It was a bus just for us so hopefully they figured it out. The Mears people were great and did seem on top of it. I actually always saw someone at our bus stop making sure buses were running smoothly which I hadn't seen before.

 

[Kristia]

I just uploaded a few videos from our GoPro camera. Dan carried for the half but the battery didn't last too long. It is strapped to wrist so that is why it is kind of a weird angle sometimes. The first one is a couple minutes before the start. You can see all the people running to A and B corrals!



This one is the start of the marathon.

 

[Kristia]

Horrible picture of the of the start..

I totally missed the first mile marker. Actually, I think I got a picture but it was so blurry you couldn't even see what it was. We ran with a shuffling/run/walk gait for the first mile. It was pretty darn crowded! Soon we were at Mile 2 on World Drive.

Close to Mile 3 was the pirate ship with Barbosa and Captain Jack. This was one of Dan's must have pics. We didn't stop in 2011 for them and he has always regretted that.

Dan took video while we were waiting in line. You can see how crazy this line was! I think we waited about 8 minutes in this line.

 

[Kristia]

Mile Marker 3!

Just after this mile marker we received a text with our 5k split time: 44:22 w/ pace of 14:17. Yikes! That is much slower than we are used to doing. Its Disney though, so we didn't expect to break any personal records for the half!

On our way to Mile 5, Dan took this video running under the waterway that connects Bay Lake to Seven Seas Lagoon.



Yay! Mile 5! That means Magic Kingdom!

We entered Main Street through a backstage entrance. Dan took this video. You can see how crowded it is and how most people are walking. Take note of the people who just suddenly stop in the middle. Ugh! I hope I don't do that. If I am going to take a picture, I keep moving (and get a blurry one) or go off to the side!

 

[Kristia]

It was so exciting to see the castle all lit up! We had noticed when we arrived on Thursday that all the Christmas decorations were down, so we didn't expect the icicle lights to still be on the castle.

After running down Main Street towards the castle, we made a right hand turn into Tomorrowland. Dan and I stopped at the restrooms for a short pit stop and were on our way again. We ran through Tomorrowland and into Fantasyland past the teacups. My niece desperately wanted a picture of Alice as that is her favorite movie right now. I stopped for a quick pic (without being in line) and her someone say my name. It was @Ariel484! Awesome! It was so exciting to meet a WDWMagic member! I took a pic of her and her bro with Alice although it came out blurry. Boo!

We walked through the castle because it was sooooooo congested! We stopped to have our pic taken in front of the castle by the prof photographers. Still not sure if we are buying any of those. The line was pretty short and it went fast.

Took this one before we started running again. So pretty! You can see how many people are coming out of the castle and how hard it was to "run" through there.

After running out through the castle we made a right turn into Liberty Square and then into Frontierland. I was so bummed because as we ran into Frontierland, I saw Bullseye. I really wanted a picture but he was done and had just switched out with Jessie.

Everytime I look at that picture of Jessie I think it looks like she is doing a pee-pee dance!

I think I missed mile marker 6 which I think was just after we exited Frontierland? Shortly after, we received our 10k split time.. 1:29:18 - 14:22 pace. Ouch! Our estimated finish was roughly 3:08.

Besides being sweaty, we were still feeling good. We brought GU Chomps with us to keep us energized.Peach Tea flavored! I discovered this flavor over the fall and it is my favorite!! I think we took some at mile 5 and then a couple every 2 miles till the end.

 

[Kristia]

Just before the Grand Floridian we hit Mile 7! Halfway there.

The road to Grand Floridian seemed super crowded. There were a lot of walkers and it was so tough to run. Dan was having a tough time because he didn't bring his ipod (he relies on music more than I do) and he couldn't get into a rhythm with all the congestion. It was really tiring him out. I thought in the past they had given us more room here but I can't be sure. I don't remember it being that bad.

We passed the Poly and saw Mile 8! I tried to focus on my Tonga Toast that I would be enjoying after the race. 5 miles to go!

At this point, I became super negligent in my picture taking! I don't have mile markers 9 or 10!

After Mile 9, we received our 15k split time. 2:07:58 - pace 13:44 - ETA for finish 2:59:59. Woohoo! We made up some time.

At mile 10, we run up and around the on ramp back to Epcot Center Drive. At the top of the on ramp was an Army Man and Sarge. This was another of Dan's must have pics, so we stopped. There wasn't much line at all.

My last pic from the half...

I can't believe I didn't take any coming up to the finish line! We felt pretty good at the end. We should, we went way slower than we have ever gone in a half marathon. I noticed my mouth and throat were a little dry so I made it a point to hydrate well the rest of the day.

Our finish time was 2:54:29 with a 13:19 pace. We really made up some time in the second half. I think it is because it took that long for the pack to spread out. Towards the end of the race, we were running next to a couple that were running dressed as Chipmunks in full fur bodysuits with hoodies that had ears on them. I have no idea how they did that without passing out. It was so warm and humid and those suits must have been ripe by the time they finished. It was close to 9 am when we finished so the heat wasn't horrible, but it was concerning me a bit since we would likely be running another 3 hours past this time tomorrow! Eeeekkkk!

We collected our medals, posed for a pic and went through bag check to collect our belongings. I had made a 9:45 am reservation for breakfast at Kona Cafe, so there was no time to go back to our room to change. Thank goodness we brought a change of clothes! We made our way across the parking lot to the Epcot monorail station and changed clothes in the restroom close to the station.

We arrived at Kona about 9:30 and checked in. We waited and waited...It seemed like people that arrived after us were all going to eat, but we had not been called yet. I was starving and starting to get a little lightheaded. I really wish they had more seating in the area for people to wait. It seems like the seating area they have is always taken up by people waiting to get into Ohana. At 10 am, I asked Dan to see if it was almost our turn. They told us it was taking a while because they had to seat a party of 17 just before us. We finally went in around 10:15. I have never had to wait that long at Kona before. Luckily our food came fairly quickly and we were able to feed our famished selves. Tonga Toast for me and Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes for Dan. Sorry, no pics again. I think I inhaled my food before I even thought of taking a pic. On our way out, we saw @Ariel484 and her husband on their way in!

After breakfast, we went back to the room for showers and a nap! More to come soon!

 

[fmingo36]

Kristy- Love the report so far. Can't wait to hear about the marathon run!
Little disconcerning about the crowds I hope Disney reconsiders the amount of participants for future events.