Trip Report Another Princess Half (live reporting)

Hello WDWMagic Friends!

'Tis time once again for a Brifraz trip report (number 15 if you're counting). Two years ago, we made a trek to the World for @MeffysMom to run in the Princess Half Marathon and 10k, while I and our daughter ran in the 5k. Here's that trip report if you need some background: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/quick-and-hopefully-painless-princess-half-visit.909604/

It's time once again for us to head down for a race. This time...instead of driving, we are flying down. For us, that's a huge positive (no 30-ish hours in a car) but also a bit of a negative (no freedom of driving, we will be totally reliant on WDW transportation). As many of you have seen in the past, we are pretty over-the-top planners which also brings the fear of a possible flight delay or long wait for Magical Express. Hopefully not, though! Another big change for this year, no 5k for any of us (sadly, my knees may have ended their racing career) but both girls are running in the Half Marathon this time! Our daughter ran cross country and indoor track this year (her first in high school) so she is pretty ready for this.

Quick pre-trip plan for you...

Thursday morning, we fly down and should arrive at Orlando International around 12pm. If all goes according to plan, we'll get to Old Key West by 2pm and catch the bus over to the Race Expo at WWOS for all things Expo. We then have dinner ADRs for Grand Floridian Cafe and some FP+ for Magic Kingdom.

Friday isn't 'too' early even though we are planning to hit get to MK before opening. We're going to do Fantasyland at opening and then some FP+ for Tomorrowland. We'll monorail over to Epcot for some quality Rose and Crown time and then a big dinner at Yachtsman. Early to bed!

Saturday is the 10k for @MeffysMom, after which we will head to Studios for a few rides and some lunch. Surely an afternoon nap will be in order followed by the evening at Epcot with the Frozen/Illuminations dessert party.

Sunday is another early morning, this time for both girls to do the Half Marathon. After the race, we are heading into Epcot for the girls (in costumes, of course) to have late breakfast with Princesses. After that and some FP+, we'll head back to the room for another nap. The evening is going to be at Disney Springs with plans to have some food at BOTH Raglan Road and The Edison.

Monday we plan to hit Animal Kingdom at opening with FP+ and then lunch at Tiffins, followed by Finding Nemo, the Musical. Have to catch Magical Express at 5pm for our flight back home.

Hope you have fun following along and we'll see you on Thursday!

 

[brifraz]

The rest of today was not altogether exciting, but still a good Disney day, for sure. After our ride on Space Mountain, we headed to Epcot, but rather than monorail to TTC and then monorail to Epcot, we just caught a bus to Boardwalk and walked from there. We hadn't planned on any real Future World time, so using the International Gateway entrance was likely our best bet. Upon entering, our daughter headed to France to get the Apple/Brie/Cranberry sandwich at the Boulangerie (one of her favorites) and @MeffysMom and I headed to the Rose and Crown pub to enjoy a pint with our good friend Carl.

We also happened to enjoy some Fish and Chips and the British Butty for our lunch. While we spent an hour or so talking to all the good folks at the R&C and catching up with Carl, our daughter scored a solo FP+ for Mission:Space and actually ended up riding both the Green and Orange sides on her own. We met up with her at the DVC lounge (above Imagination) and relaxed a little more. Once again, @MeffysMom scored additional FP+, this time for Test Track at 4:25pm (it was already 3:45pm at the time). So we took a leisurely walk over to Test Track and enjoyed a ride there (albeit with a fun but poorly designed car). It was getting somewhat close to our Yachtsman Steak House ADR time, so we exited Epcot and walked over to the Yacht Club. Even though we arrived early, they seated us right away and we enjoyed a very nice dinner (NY strip steak, salad, the twice baked potatoes, and the truffle mac and cheese) after which it was back to Old Key West.

Getting to bed early tonight is a priority with a 3am wake-up call for the 10K, so good night to all and to all a good night!

 

[brifraz]

@MeffysMom is ready to go!

 

[MinnieM123]

Love the costumes and I think it's great that your entire family runs together!! (I hate running for myself, and always admire those people who can run an actual marathon distance.)

 

[brifraz]

Love the costumes and I think it's great that your entire family runs together!! (I hate running for myself, and always admire those people who can run an actual marathon distance.)

Ha! Wish we could all run together. A 5k is all my knees can handle so pretty much all the races are just the girls! They are in discussions to up their game and do a full marathon in the next couple years.

 

[brifraz]

It's lunch time at the Gurgling Suitcase at OKW! So, here's the morning update. @MeffysMom ran the 10k and got a bunch of pictures with characters, which I'll share some of later. But here's the race start.

Post-race we walked (yes, walked...kind of a warm down) to Studios. First up was ToyStory Midway Mania at opening (about 15 minute wait as we didn't rush), then Rockin Roller Coaster with FP+, and then some fun at Tower of Terror.

It was about 10:30am and we were done our short Stufios visit. Back to OKW to get cleaned up and...now some drinks and lunch.

 

[brifraz]

While I know I have seen it before, 2:30am is still not a time that I'm a big fan of seeing at Disney. That alarm was a little frightening this morning! It's almost 3am so we are about to head to the Half Marathon, but wanted to finish up yesterday's info as much as I can!

After lunch, our daughter took advantage of the tie-dye making session that was going on to make a shirt and @MeffysMom and I relaxed a bit at the hot tub. It was just a short relax time...followed by a much larger relax in the room (AKA...nap!). Right as the girls were falling asleep, I managed to score FP+ for later in the evening for Spaceship Earth; hoping that maybe we could find something even better to swap them out for.

At about 5pm, everyone was rested and ready to head into Epcot for the evening...but before we left the room, @MeffysMom managed to swap out our FP+ for Soarin' at 5:45pm! Excellent! So, we bussed over to Epcot and got a quick bite at Sunshine Seasons followed by a nice ride on Soarin' Over The World. I use the full title, because we are certainly one family that preferred the original - the new one has a little too much fancy computer graphics for these old school travellers. It is definitely well done, but not quite what we prefer. It was getting close to 7pm, so we headed to the check-in area for the Frozen dessert party. Once checked in, we walked over to Mexico and toured the pavilion. Actually did pretty much everything - read all the new panels about Day of the Dead and Coco, went through all the little shops and market, and rode with the Three Amigos (no margaritas this time, though). As it was now close to 7:45pm, we headed to the dessert party and ended up being the first admitted.

Definitely enjoyed the party. Food was good (cheese fondue was quite delicious), drinks were nice (we only had a couple, knowing about the early morning wake-up), and it was AWESOME to be able to sit in a chair to watch Illuminations from a great location! I'll have a few pictures later from the party. After the fireworks, we sat for another 10-15 minutes and then were led en masse to Frozen to be the last people on the ride. And we were...the three of us were the actual last people on the ride with a boat to ourselves (pictures on that later as well). It was 10pm by the time we actually left Epcot and once back in our room we were all fast asleep. See you at the race!

 

[brifraz]

Sorry for no live reporting this morning during today's half marathon, because I had some phone issues! But, let's take a look at some pictures from @MeffysMom during the 10K!

First up, getting ready for the race in the Epcot parking lot:

Once on the race course, her first couple meets were with some favorite Disney friends from the 90s, Mulan and Mushu and Pocahontas and Meeko.

Once running around World Showcase, there were some characters showing their ethnic side!

Near International Gateway is the construction area for the new gondola system. In order to avoid any copyright/legal red tape, it appears that some Marvel characters were actually working construction for WDW and not in costume in any way, but this picture is with 'Thor' and 'Hulk.'

Finally, the last picture from last night, as promised. This is what it is like to be the last people on the last boat on Frozen.

Coming soon...update and pictures from the Half Marathon!

 

[brifraz]

Yup, getting a lot done this afternoon while the girls are both sound asleep! Here's this morning's marathon update.

First off, as mentioned early, the 2:30am wake-up was a bit painful. But we found ourselves 'happily' on the bus to the race at about 3:15am and in the pre-race race right around 4am. Word had quickly spread that the corrals were already open, so the girls headed over to try to get in the front of the corral. Which they did end up doing! They were hoping to get into corral C since our daughter's last race time had qualified her for that, but they do put you in the lower racers corral if you are in a group, so off to E they went - but in the front of E! While they raced, I raced around trying to see them and get pictures and video and had some small success, but the far better pictures are from @MeffysMom along the race route. So here you go!

Every wave of runners from every corral got fireworks to start them, which was nice - there was concern that the new waved start might mean on the first group of each corral got them.

My perspective of them at the start was not quite so good. Believe it or not, they are right in the center of this picture, but alas, the iPhone is not up to the level of my Nikon back in Maryland. I'm sure you can pick them out, right? Only 25,000 runners out there (and just a few hundred in this picture of the first wave of Corral E).

On the way to the Magic Kingdom, they met up with some fine upstanding princes among men (which I'm sure was very appealing for the wicked stepsisters...or mother and daughter...or...)

Once in the MK, they get a fellow runner to get the obligatory front of castle picture and then met up with the March Hare and Queen of Hearts.

Right behind the castle, they happened upon a couple characters who were quite happy to see them!

Just outside the castle was the other time I happened to catch them on 'film' but this time with some better results!

As the castle, both girls got to meet up with some characters who were very important to them. Our daughter was a HUGE Tinkerbell/Fairies fan growing up and in fact, she and her high school friends dressed as the Fairies last Halloween!

And, @MeffysMom and I spent many a great evening with this crew back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Such good times that sadly are now restricted to memory...and the occasional trotting out at races.

And if you don't recognize Otis Wren, Fletcher Hodges, Pernelia Perkings, and Hathaway Browne...well, I'm sorry you missed out! They were some of my favorite Disney characters ever.

The race wraps up running through Epcot and they got a great picture during the last leg!

Post-race coming soon (but maybe not until we are back home...depends on how much energy everybody has tonight)!

 

[krause]

Yup, getting a lot done this afternoon while the girls are both sound asleep! Here's this morning's marathon update.

First off, as mentioned early, the 2:30am wake-up was a bit painful. But we found ourselves 'happily' on the bus to the race at about 3:15am and in the pre-race race right around 4am. Word had quickly spread that the corrals were already open, so the girls headed over to try to get in the front of the corral. Which they did end up doing! They were hoping to get into corral C since our daughter's last race time had qualified her for that, but they do put you in the lower racers corral if you are in a group, so off to E they went - but in the front of E! While they raced, I raced around trying to see them and get pictures and video and had some small success, but the far better pictures are from @MeffysMom along the race route. So here you go!

Every wave of runners from every corral got fireworks to start them, which was nice - there was concern that the new waved start might mean on the first group of each corral got them.
View attachment 266634

My perspective of them at the start was not quite so good. Believe it or not, they are right in the center of this picture, but alas, the iPhone is not up to the level of my Nikon back in Maryland. I'm sure you can pick them out, right? Only 25,000 runners out there (and just a few hundred in this picture of the first wave of Corral E).
View attachment 266643
On the way to the Magic Kingdom, they met up with some fine upstanding princes among men (which I'm sure was very appealing for the wicked stepsisters...or mother and daughter...or...)
View attachment 266635
Once in the MK, they get a fellow runner to get the obligatory front of castle picture and then met up with the March Hare and Queen of Hearts.
View attachment 266637View attachment 266638
Right behind the castle, they happened upon a couple characters who were quite happy to see them!
View attachment 266640
Just outside the castle was the other time I happened to catch them on 'film' but this time with some better results!
View attachment 266649
As the castle, both girls got to meet up with some characters who were very important to them. Our daughter was a HUGE Tinkerbell/Fairies fan growing up and in fact, she and her high school friends dressed as the Fairies last Halloween!
View attachment 266639
And, @MeffysMom and I spent many a great evening with this crew back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Such good times that sadly are now restricted to memory...and the occasional trotting out at races.
View attachment 266642
And if you don't recognize Otis Wren, Fletcher Hodges, Pernelia Perkings, and Hathaway Browne...well, I'm sorry you missed out! They were some of my favorite Disney characters ever.

The race wraps up running through Epcot and they got a great picture during the last leg!
View attachment 266641

Post-race coming soon (but maybe not until we are back home...depends on how much energy everybody has tonight)!

I love all the unique characters that are out!

 

[myhappyplace]

Love all these character photos...it would be the ONLY thing to ever make me run.

 

[krisri18]

That stepsisters photo with Lady Tremaine is priceless! I hope that one is going up on the wall when you get home!

 

[WDW_Emily]

I think I saw the woman in the ToT costume! I started in Corral C too! I love reading about other peoples race weekends and their perspective of the events

 

[brifraz]

First off...SO SORRY for the five day delay before finally getting around to the post-race activities. Hopefully the delay won't be so long before I get to the last day of our little trip.

Anyway, after the girls were finished running we headed into Epcot.

Really only one priority at Epcot after the race was getting some food and hanging out with some Princesses while in Wicked Stepsister outfits. So, straight to Akershus we went!

Full of food, we headed back to our room for some big nap time, which is when I got that last post up! Well rested, showered, and ready to get back out into the world, we caught a bus to Disney Springs.

For the most part we just walked around a bit and checked out some of the shops. Our daughter met up with a friend from home who happened to also be in WDW this weekend (although not for the race) and then we headed to Raglan Road for a couple pints and some nice dinner.

No surprise that the two racers both had a burger for dinner! Originally, we had planned to make a visit to the Edison for dessert, but decided that we were a bit tired and just caught the boat back to Old Key West for some more relaxed time. The girls went to the community center and made some race-themed glassware (love all the crafts this weekend!) while I caught up with Roberto at the Gurgling Suitcase. Craft complete, @MeffysMom joined me for a drink while our daughter headed back to the room. Just a bit later we joined her for a relatively early evening turning in! The last day should be coming your way soon.

 

[brifraz]

So, here it is...the final day of our short visit to WDW! We were up early for EMH at Animal Kingdom with the hope of actually going through the entire inside portion of the Flight of Passage weave. While we did manage to wait about 25 minutes in that line, they hadn't opened the full indoor portion! Darn it!! Someday we will get to go through the lab side of that line and see all the cool things over there up close. Regardless, the ride was quite enjoyable as always. As a person who gets quite motion sick on many rides, I actually find it isn't as bad as Star Tours is (for me, at least). After the ride, we headed over to Everest where we had FP+. But, the line was quite short, so after riding it with the FP+, the girls rode it a second time (see above motion sick comment as to why I just watched) and then we started to head toward Africa for our Safari FP+. On the way, two of the black gibbons were putting on a heckuva show near the Kali entrance. They were hooting and chasing each other around and kept us fully entertained for a good 5 minutes. My daughter took some video of it...hopefully someday I'll get that uploaded! Before we left Asia, we had to take a quick jungle trek back to see how the tiger cubs were doing. And, they were as playful as ever!

Of course, that's just one of about 30 pictures of them frolicking - notice in the far left, their mother's watchful eye! We then headed to the Safari and, while our guide on this trip certainly wasn't the best, the baby hippo was 'out'...

...well, that's about as 'out' as the hippos ever get. And the giraffes were walking down the roadway, so we had to wait for them for a bit. Certainly the highest number of giraffes I've ever seen there - we counted 7 (or was it 8) and they were all right along the road or in it.

The younger elephant was also out, but our guide missed it so we didn't really get to slow down there. And, sadly...no rocking bridge this time. Once back from our safari, we strolled through Africa and stopped to enjoy some music. And, of course, our daughter got in on the act!

He was super nice chatting with her and showing her his dance moves - personally, I just want to get one of those instruments to learn to play!

It was getting close to 11am at this point, and our lunch ADR was for 11:30am at Tiffins so we got there a bit early and were the first folks seated at opening. It was a very nice meal - with some definitely exotic flavors and things we have never had before - we got the pomegranate chicken, pork belly ramen, bread service, and potatoes. All very good and uniquely flavored. The drinks were pretty cool, too.

After lunch, we took a leisurely boat ride in Pandora (it's cool, but not worth the wait IMHO) with FP+ and then headed out for a quick visit back at Epcot before heading out.

We actually took the bus to Yacht and Beach and then walked to Epcot from there. Our daughter wanted to buy one of the shirts in the UK pavilion, which gave us the perfect excuse for one last pint with Carl at Rose & Crown. Then we headed toward the front of the park to use a 'pick-up' FP+ at Spaceship Earth as our final WDW activity on this trip. Caught the bus back to OKW and had a little bite to eat at the Gurgling Suitcase and then it was time for the Magical Express and flight home.

 

[fractal]

Congrats to the girls on the medals and those running outfits are awesome!

Great shot of the cubs!

 

[kybred72]

Here are the girls running costumes. Once again @MeffysMom has outdone herself in seeing them!

These are amazing! SOOO creative. Makes me wanna take up running