Trip Report COMPLETED- Chickie RUNS Wonderland...and goes MAD!!!

Swissmiss · Jan 26, 2020

Don't get me started on walkers in mixed races (and I don't mean run/walk/run - I do that as well and I think all of us that do know the proper etiquette on how to do it). Other than events at Disney, I have only participated in one other race (the Vienna Women's Run or however it translates) which had people checking the corrals on bibs and then giving people access. Any other race I have done it has been an "honour" system entrance into the corral.

I frequently participate in a 10K in my city which is three races in one: running, walking and nordic walking. There are signs ALL over that the walkers and nordic walkers are to start behind the runners. Yet every year I have to watch out for the nordic walkers who have started ahead of me, or to yell at the groups of 4-5 walkers abreast who have casually started amid all the runners. And I say this as a slower runner who knows that my proper placement is in corral F.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 26, 2020

Swissmiss said:
Don't get me started on walkers in mixed races (and I don't mean run/walk/run - I do that as well and I think all of us that do know the proper etiquette on how to do it). Other than events at Disney, I have only participated in one other race (the Vienna Women's Run or however it translates) which had people checking the corrals on bibs and then giving people access. Any other race I have done it has been an "honour" system entrance into the corral.

I frequently participate in a 10K in my city which is three races in one: running, walking and nordic walking. There are signs ALL over that the walkers and nordic walkers are to start behind the runners. Yet every year I have to watch out for the nordic walkers who have started ahead of me, or to yell at the groups of 4-5 walkers abreast who have casually started amid all the runners. And I say this as a slower runner who knows that my proper placement is in corral F.

Some people just don't get it. Back in my distance walking days, when I thought I'd walk a Disney race, I entered a local half marathon to see what I was looking at with time. I self-seeded myself at the very back with others planning to walk and even behind runners who swore to me that they were so slow, I might walk faster than them. I doubted that. You followed a lot of my training journey, so you know some of those 10ks I did were instances where I had to deal with people who don't know where they should put themselves in the pack and want to be next to all of their friends for the entire distance...who insisted on placing themselves in the middle of the pack vs. at the back with the walkers. I have nothing against walking a race, but people should know where to go if there aren't defined corrals. It's like that half I ran on New Year's Day...I knew I was taking a really slow pace, so I put myself towards the back.

And there's nothing wrong with corral F. If I got faster and improved my POT dramatically, I would belong in something else, but that's just not where I'm at. Disney and other large races seed like this for safety. Sending runners out that have a 6-7 min mile pace at the same time as runners with a 12-13 min mile pace could be really scary when you consider the number of runners at these big runs.

And now I have to look up nordic walkers!

Swissmiss · Jan 26, 2020

Nordic walkers use walking sticks - I’ve done it sometimes (never in a race, just on walks) and if done properly it was great for my neck and upper back stress.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 26, 2020

Swissmiss said:
Nordic walkers use walking sticks - I’ve done it sometimes (never in a race, just on walks) and if done properly it was great for my neck and upper back stress.

Ah, now I know what it is. There was a woman in my old neighborhood who was into Nordic walking, but we saw even more of it when we were in the national parks these last couple of summers.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 26, 2020

We have finally hit that part of the race that I've been dreaming of since 2014. That's not to say that the other parks aren't magical, but running into MK with a crowd of cheering people, is just ridiculously awesome. I was in tears as I went under the train station and was having to wipe my eyes by the time I saw the tree.

I started trying to talk the tears away because I didn't want to ugly cry up MSUSA. Still, it's hard when you see this...

It's not as cool as the pictures of runners who are able to make it there in the dark, but the overcast sky made the lights look a little more pronounced.

They were really trying to keep runners moving, but I hopped off into a cluster of people doing selfies by this trash can to try and get a couple for myself.

I'm not sure if it was because I was so tired or because I was so excited, but I barely remember running in Tomorrowland. I had heard the Queen of Hearts was up by the tea cups, but her line was very long and I'm just not a meet and greet kind of person at most times. So, I just pulled off to the right really quickly to get a selfie in front of her and moved on.

As I approached the castle, I couldn't help but notice the carousel spinning, and part of me was tempted to stop, but I knew I wanted a castle photo and I would have to try and get left. So, I took this pic as I entered and found enough room to get over.

In hindsight, I wish I stayed right to get the shot of me running down from the castle, but I went left to get a picture in front of it. Now before I share my picture, I need to share what happened.

I picked one of the many lines in front of the castle to get my picture. In everything I've followed, I've been told that lines move fast and common courtesy is to take one picture, and that if you're running as a group, it's nicer practice to just do it as a group shot. I was feeling pretty good because our line was moving and the group directly ahead of me was tracking the balloon ladies and said they were nearly an hour behind us at this point. I didn't see how that was possible, but I guess with the size of corrals F and H, it could be. As I neared the front of the line, the line to my right had a camera gear problem. The photographer instructed everyone to zipper merge into my line. OK..so that added two more groups ahead of me. Two of those groups were fine, but the ladies that got directly in front of me...well, not so much.

First they each took individual pics in front of the castle, and a couple of them asked the photographer for different poses. Then they wanted group pics...several of them with different poses. Now I was annoyed. I do recall saying something like "come on!" in all of this, which I'm sure had some eye rolling. I was also getting worried because there wasn't much movement in these lines and I didn't want to seize up. I did incorporate stopping like this into my training, but I think I moved a bit more when I stopped vs. how it was in this line. I did get my picture after they ran off, and while I like it and was happy I stopped, when I zoom in on it, I can see that my face is not in focus.

I don't remember much after this from MK, but at least one photographer got me going through Frontierland.

I guess I took one too.

Now, I'm not sure if it was being so sleep deprived, the excessive walking and standing we did for the first few days, the emotions of going through MK, my not warming up/cooling down/rolling/stretching like I had been able to during training, the longer than planned stop at the castle, my nutrition or what, but I started having issues after leaving MK. I was hydrating well and had my chews to keep me going, so I think that was OK. Disney also supposedly beefed up the water stops for both the half and full because of the warmer than normal temps, so I even stopped to have them fill my first empty with water so that I had that on me as well...since I know sometimes I want water over Tailwind or Nuun. I'd even keep up with this for the remainder of the race. In any event, I started getting some pain in my right hip. I had some aches and such during training, but this was new.

I was able to deal with it for a while, but it kept getting worse. I even removed my head cap, ears, and arm bands just to give me a few less things on my body to annoy me. I wasn't feeling hot or anything...just things that feel a bit awkward for me to wear had to go for a bit. The ears would come on and off for the rest of the race (the wind kept pushing them off), but the rest got stuffed in my pockets. I could have tossed them, but you never know when you might want to use something like this for a future costume. My pockets looked ridiculously stuffed after this! Oh well, I felt a bit better and my arms brushing up against the tutu was a non-issue. This made me a little bit happier, but the hip pain kept growing during my run intervals. I knew it would be tough to get back into running if I walked for too long, but I had to do what the pain was telling me. So, I walked. I tried getting back into my intervals after a few minutes, but the hip pain flared up. So, I walked some more. While I used to distance walk and do races this way, my body wasn't trained for that this time and nothing I was wearing had been tested for this. Something about the change in movement caused my knee bands to start chaffing my legs. I would eventually come upon a medical tent and got some Vaseline, which really saved me for the rest of the race. At this point, I believe I was in either mile 10 or 11, so I'd been going a while, but I remember thinking...it's just a 5k from here. And it's around this point when I decided to just enjoy the race. I had gotten up on the overpass over World Drive, I could see all of the runners, and I was pretty certain I was safe. So, I stopped to take my first pics since MK.

I couldn't get a pic of the endless masses still running from the MK area, but I could see that I should be fine. I tried running down the overpass right after this, because I didn't train to walk this, but my hip said no. And it was at this point that I had to come to terms with walking the rest of this half marathon. I was upset at first, but I reminded myself that my final training run was a half and while I didn't push myself in that race and stopped for a while to help a fellow runner, that's proof that I can do this distance as a runner.

I also started to get excited about things again as we started to approach Epcot.

Something else super cool about this point, people were slowing down as they were driving by the runners and honking, yelling...you name it, they were trying to encourage us.

One thing I didn't enjoy about walking the rest of this was the pace. While I'm not fast, you get used to moving a bit faster and getting from pt A to pt B faster when you run, so things were starting to drag a bit for me. I think intervals also keep it a bit more interesting since you're always changing up your movement. Oh well, it was what it was. I was at least trying to watch my walking pace and stay around that 16MM.

I felt like it was forever to get to mile 11, when in reality, it really wasn't all that much. I also noticed runners from all different corrals at this point...like some caught up to friends, while others may have been waiting for friends. Ds, Hs, Fs...even saw a C around this point. And look...it's Donald! I kind of felt like he should have been 13 since he's considered unlucky and while he technically has 2 bdays, one is the 13th.

There's also a woman I can see in this pic who is in one of my FB run groups. While she was around me for a lot of the half, this was around the time where I had a good chance to say hi and introduce myself. So, that was cool.

And still look at all of those people behind us...

Time for another uphill moment...

HouCuseChickie · Jan 26, 2020

And pretty soon, it was clear that we were coming into the home stretch.

I guess at least with walking, I could take better pics of things along the way. I probably could have even stopped for Horace, but to me...it was more "cool that he's there" vs. "I need a picture of me with him."

We entered Epcot through a backstage area and I started to notice something I haven't dealt with in any of my training... BLISTERS!!! I'm still kind of baffled by this. I could feel ones forming on the balls of each foot. It wasn't unbearable, but I knew it was happening. I've never gotten anything like this from running, but I have with walking. I got them like this a couple of times during my distance walking days and once while at WDW. I find it hard to believe that it was just from what I'd walked in this race, so my gut tells me that they may have been forming from all of the walking I'd done in the days leading up to the race. And when I saw this sign, it really made me want to RUN RUN RUN, but my hips still said NO NO NO!

In hindsight, I probably could have gone off to the side to try and stretch out that hip, but medical was already all over the course due to the weather. So, I just didn't.

Oh well...it was at least cool to be in these behind the scenes areas.

Something else I noticed was how far off my Garmin was. I moved off to the side to stop around mile 12 to capture this shot above as well as a pic of my watch data. I know I walked a little bit off for the castle shot and the med tent, but not that much. I guess that just shows how much extra you go with all of the weaving around the masses.

Finally entering Future World.

Yeah, I was definitely annoyed with the wind and my ears by this point.

I believe Epcot was open or about to open by this point and while some people were in there to cheer and watch, there were definitely others who were there for a regular park day. Some appeared to be OK with everything going on while others looked really bothered. Any of the race weekends can have a serious impact on the parks in the mornings. I've been there during Wine & Dine, but I knew this going into it. I guess either people underestimated the impact or didn't do their research. Oh well...almost time to head out of Epcot.

Mile thirteen...almost done!

Finish line up ahead!

This was also the first race where I saw characters at the finish. I was still walking at this point, but I walked up to Dale to get a high 5 before making sure I had room to run the finish...because to heck with the hip for a moment...I was NOT walking over that finish line!

I actually have a ton of finish line pics. I won't make you look at all of them. I recall crying a little, so I look a bit silly in them as well. Hey, at least I'm smiling.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 26, 2020

I'll spare you all of them, but you get the idea.

Obviously, this race didn't go as planned, but I finished and I got my beautiful Donald medal!

I also wish I had sunglasses. I hate running in them, but obviously, the sun is in my eyes at this point. I think this is also when I noticed my back and shoulders hurting. It's not uncommon to let your form break the longer you're in a run/race, but because I changed so much, I think my posture really suffered...causing these additional unfamiliar running pains.

They had various kinds of cooling towels after the race. I grabbed it one, but found I really didn't need it. I know some felt quite warm, so good that they had those there. At least for the half, we had overcast skies most of the time and even a little drizzle here and there. And then wind..whoa was it windy...nearly the whole time. What' really funny...because of the walking, I really didn't feel all that physically tired. I still just wanted to go back to bed.

So, I went over to the buses to head back to AKL. I wound up sitting with a guy who I think had run and finished ahead of me and had already been back to AKL once, but was trying to find his phone. I wound up letting him borrow mine briefly so he could call his wife.

When I got back, it was time to shower, but first...a pic of my pretty new bling.

And then all of them...family medal shot. LOL

I also saved that thin mint from Erin McKenna's for my post race treat. I think this was the best of the bunch.

After this, I showered and cleaned up so I could head over to Epcot. Maybe I should have napped, but I had fastpasses, and was also interested in some lunch. Plus, I wanted to walk around with my bling.

Before moving on, I want to share my overall thoughts of this race. I'll do a wrap on on all of them as well as observations on the full at the end.

Obviously, this is not how I wanted this race to go. I finished and I got my medal without being swept and probably had plenty of time to stop for characters or just more fun stuff if I wanted to, but it wasn't the way I wanted this to go/feel. Even if I hadn't heard those woman and let them get in my head for a bit, my body was telling me I'd done things that weren't like my training. Both before and after this trip, I've seen all kinds of approaches to these multi-race weekends. Some people seem to be fine with minimal sleep, park time with tons of walking, etc. and running everything, while others seem to be in bed no later than 7pm and restrict their park time until they're done running. Some even have a blend where they shower and then go back to bed after their races to help make up for some of the sleep. I also failed to follow certain things that I did all through training...like dynamic stretching before runs (not a ton of space for it in the corrals), biking my legs out after each race (I really thought I'd be using the fitness center at AKL), foam rolling (regret not packing mine or seeking one out in the gym), and using the hot tub (something I planned on post 10k and just never did).

I'll tell you now that I want there to be a next time, and I've been scrutinizing every last little thing I can think of that I could do better.. I'll get to it at the end, but there's nobody to blame but myself for what went wrong. I let the magical lure of being at Disney get me this time, I let having a friend with me who was interested in more of a Disney vacation tempt me to do more (not her fault...it's on me), but I know I can do better.

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Coming up...and Epcot afternoon and an AKL evening that prove I've completely gone mad.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 27, 2020

Before I get into the TR tonight, I actually was given the green light to book something today. No, it's not my next rD trip, although I may blend that into a TR for what I did today. Just a resort reservation and one ADR, but it's a start. More to come on that. OK, back to the trip report...

So, I pulled myself together (or so I thought), grabbed a bus to Epcot and tried to make a day of this. While you realy have to zoom in on this pic to see this, it started to pour right as my bad was being checked.

I bought a bunch of dollar store ponchos before the trip in case I needed them to go over run costumes, but in my madness, I left them back at the room. At least I got a compliment on my bag during the check. A woman and her husband were on the other side of the table and first she realized I had a Harveys, and then after a second glance, she realized it was a Disney one...in a pattern she'd never seen (camo). So, I do enjoy a fun bag convo.

While I was on the bus, I made an ADR for Rose & Crown. I had one before that I canceled, but decided that's still where I wanted to go. So, I made another one. I also had a Test Track FP, but with the way my back and hip were feeling, I decided to skip it. Sooooo...on into Epcot.

When I arrived at R&C, there was a family of four ahead of me who tried to get walk up seating, but were turned away. There were plenty of tables, but I'm guessing they aren't staffing to handle walk ups. Oh well, at least I got a nice table outside.

Time to order some food!

And take a pic with my new medal (and the I Did It shirt that I could finally wear).

Do you notice anything missing from my hand? Yeah, I forgot to put on my wedding rings. They're back in the safe. One woman said that maybe I'd get hit on without them. Ummm...that's OK.

I ordered the allergy friendly fish and chips...which was really more of a broiled fish plate. It was tasty and light, but I guess I was just missing the real thing.

At least I got to treat myself to some sangria.

During my meal, I also snapped some race shots of the maps from Garmin.

As I was going to pay, I realized that my purse felt pretty light. Now, I've already forgotten my poncho and wedding rings, but not only did I leave my cards (same ones from the previous day) in my running belt...I left my whole freaking wallet with my rings back in the safe. Really thankful I was staying onsite and could pay with my Magic Band. I would have been in trouble if I had decided to stay at the Swan and couldn't charge to my band.

After lunch, I went over to wait for my LWTL FP window to open.

I have absolutely no pictures from the ride. Why? I fell asleep. I must have dozed off at some point in the rain forest and didn't wake up again until the boats were bumping up against each other at the very end.

I had one more FP before I burned through everything I booked...

But I was a bit early, so I did a little shopping, since I still had some souvenirs to buy. Sadly, nothing was quite right. So, I sat and waited for a while.

I was getting pretty tired, but I couldn't leave Epcot this trip and not ride one last time in its current state...especially since it was down the other day.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 27, 2020

And I had to get some of this...

I also had to get this, since it will forever remind me of my older one's 5th bday trip when she thanked us for the trip and said "first you took me to Disney and now you took me to space!"

Now time for the fun part...

I tried holding up my medal, but it didn't capture everything and it gave me a creepy eye.

I realized at the end of this that my potential plans to hit MK for the evening just weren't going to happen. I was too tired. Since I wasn't going to be getting castle medal pics, I was going to have to settle for SSE.

After seeing that second one, I really need to cut back on the treats! I know some is that I went with the men's shirt, but still...there's a lot of holiday and stress eating on that body.

I decided that the best thing for me to do was to just head back to the resort for a nap...or at least some relaxation time.

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Coming up...relaxing on the balcony, mistaken identity madness, and an unexpected dinner.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 28, 2020

I got back to AKL from Epcot and in true Sandy fashion, I'm now wide awake at my first real opportunity to rest. So, I went out to my balcony and relaxed while taking in the sights.

These guys were out there for our whole stay and I didn't see anything quite like them in any other part of AKL. I'd learn more about this before my departure the next day.

Sun is starting to set...

I'll spare you the pics of the mess on my legs from those knee bands, but I will show you that I started packing.

Soooo, my original plans had me heading to MK and dinner at Skipper Canteen, but I canceled that the night before. I could have rebooked it if I wanted, but I was just too tired to trek into a park. So, I booked Boma. It was 2010 the last time I had dinner there and while it wasn't bad, I wasn't wowed. Still, it was convenient and I'm up for second chances, so I booked a last minute dinner at Boma.

On my way out, I had another embarrassing moment of madness. I saw this woman in the hall who is the spitting image of a friend from college. I was so convinced it was her, I gave her a triple "Heidi? Heidi! Hi Heidi, it's Sandy!" Yeah...it wasn't Heidi. I think I freaked both her and her daughter out...which is funny, because I believe the real Heidi's youngest is about the same age as this child. But, the real Heidi is from the northeastern US (Boston area, I believe) and does not have a British accent like this woman I just freaked out at AKL. Yeah...so now I've lost my mind to the point that I'm seeing things.

Oh well, I shrug it off and head to the lobby.

It looks so empty without the tree!

I caught a little bit of the crafts going on in the lobby.

I had some time before my ADR, so I headed outside for a bit to enjoy the evening.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 28, 2020

I had already used my massage gun to try and help work out my muscles, but kicking my feet up at the fire for a bit seemed like a good plan.

The moon was rising and it was looking pretty spectacular...

My room wasn't exactly close, but I decided to head back for a moment since the view was probably better from my balcony.

It's times like this when I really miss the big camera.

Oh yea...in my burning time before my ADR, I also finished my souvenir shopping. The Chewbacca ears were for my younger one and the Han Solo shirt was for my husband, but I still needed something for my older one and my coworkers. My older one asked for shirts or pants...most of which were more than I wanted to spend. I got her this and she seemed to like it. I told her that it had matching leggings, but I wasn't dropping another $40+ on them.

I got these magnets for my coworkers...well, my husband got the Stitch one and the rest went to work people.

And I really didn't need it, but I had to have it. The face spins!

So, I headed down to Boma and waited. At least they gave me the allergen guide to review while I waited.

I was so freaking tired that I didn't take pictures of any of it, but I do have some thoughts...
1. The line that forms for the carved meats is insane. There wasn't a ton I could eat on the buffet, but I could eat a lot of that...and that line snaked halfway through the restaurant.
2. I recall ordering the same drink that I had at Outer Rim. I think I liked it better at Boma.
3. I can't give a fair review because there was so little it could eat from the buffet, BUT my server did spoil me. She brought me gluten free bread/rolls with several kinds of hummus as well as every bit of gluten free dairy free dessert they had back there. I wound up mixing vanilla dairy free ice cream with raspberry sorbet and allergy friendly chocolate chip cookies. It was surprisingly good.

There was sadness and relief when I got back to my room. Relief in that I didn't have to run anymore and could get more sleep. Of course, some of the sadness was also that I was done running and this lengthy journey was in its final phases. Some sadness was the natural leaving Disney and going back to reality sadness. I mean, I had my Tragical Express docs, so things were winding down. I finished the bulk of my packing and went to sleep.

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Coming up...The things you do when you're not running the marathon.

MinnieM123 · Jan 29, 2020

HouCuseChickie said:
On my way out, I had another embarrassing moment of madness. I saw this woman in the hall who is the spitting image of a friend from college. I was so convinced it was her, I gave her a triple "Heidi? Heidi! Hi Heidi, it's Sandy!" Yeah...it wasn't Heidi.

Awkward!

This made me laugh! :joyfull:

I think we've all done similar "double takes" when we see a stranger that almost looks like someone we haven't seen for a while. Usually, I chicken out and don't approach the person. Perhaps that's for the best?!

Anyway, you meant well. I'm sure the woman didn't mind.

riverside · Jan 29, 2020

MinnieM123 said:
Awkward!

This made me laugh! I think we've all done similar "double takes" when we see a stranger that almost looks like someone we haven't seen for a while. Usually, I chicken out and don't approach the person. Perhaps that's for the best?!

Anyway, you meant well. I'm sure the woman didn't mind.

I’m guilty of this also!!

HouCuseChickie · Jan 29, 2020

MinnieM123 said:
Awkward!

This made me laugh! I think we've all done similar "double takes" when we see a stranger that almost looks like someone we haven't seen for a while. Usually, I chicken out and don't approach the person. Perhaps that's for the best?!

Anyway, you meant well. I'm sure the woman didn't mind.

Sometimes I really wish I would chicken out, but I often just go for it. The one time I didn't, I kind of regret it. In my head, I sound like Sophia from the Golden Girls telling these stories...so maybe I'll try and tell this in her voice...well, sort of

Picture it...Las Vegas...2007...McCarran International Airport around midnight

I was waiting at the baggage claim with my husband and infant child (our first one...about 11 mos old at the time). I was looking for our bags while also looking for my parents (meeting us there), when I swore I heard a familiar voice. They weren't right next to me, but across some of the crowd, I picked out someone who might have been my friend Leslie...also from college. She looked a little different, plus I was tired, dealing with a baby off of her schedule, and waiting on stuff/people...so I didn't want to take the chance of making a fool of myself in this state. I'd get a chance to see Leslie in person in 2013 and find out that was her that I saw/heard in baggage. So, now I often just take the chance.

Yeah...if anything, she had a funny little story to bring home about the woman who kept calling her Heidi!

riverside said:
I’m guilty of this also!!

I guess at least I'm not the only one. And what if it was really that person you thought it was? You'd have a fun little unexpected reunion.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 29, 2020

I also know this may all seem kind of rushed when I spent so long building things up in my PTR. Well, by the end of next week, I should have a non-Disney TR going up in the Chit Chat section and at some point, I'm going to be starting my next PTR. So, I don't want multiple trip reports going at once. It would just be too much and I like looking forward to the future!

January 12th-

I slept pretty well, and while I didn't sleep in by marathoner standards, I slept in by non-runner standards. I was up to watch the sunrise, so that was nice.

I had plans for a chunk of the day, so I had to finish up packing.

Annoying story with that Cheshire Cat tag. I noticed the night before the 10k that the luggage tag info had gone missing. So, now it's strictly ornamental. I think that's also the night I also went mad trying to find my Tailwind and chews. I think they were in a very logical spot, but it was a me tearing apart the room kind of moment to find them. Ya know, for as organized as I am, I get really stupid in times of stress.

I still had a little bit of time left to burn, so I went out to my balcony for one last moment to take it all in.

I waved good-bye to my pretty view, grabbed my bags, and headed to bell services. Even if I had gotten a late check out, there's no guarantee I'd be back in time to get my stuff. So, I just left it all with them.

If you followed my PTR, you may recall that I'd booked a last morning ADR at Boma. I decided the night before that I didn't need to eat there 2x in a row, even though it would be for different meals, so I canceled it. Besides, I had plans in AK. Kind of funny to walk out and see the rD board and have nothing left to do. I know there are people who flip out over others canceling reservations at the last minute. I've been on both sides of this argument over the years, but the more we visit Disney in this modern era and get farther from how things were in the 80s and 90s, the more I feel like ...life happens and people change their minds.

At least I had an AK bus down there waiting.

It occurred to me that I was really early. The park wasn't opening until 9am and it was only 7:30. I already had a FOP FP, so no need to wait in any pre-park opening standby lines either. So, what was I going to do? I got this crazy idea to try and snag a Tusker pre-park opening breakfast on the bus ride over. While I always seem to book ADRs on day 180, I'm also becoming a big fan of this last minute stuff. Sure enough, there was an 8:15am ADR available, so I booked it. I've been pretty down on Tusker in the past and I said never again, but I also realized I hadn't chatted with Mickey at all during this trip.

It was about 7:40am when we got to AK and the sun was still coming up.

I still had some time to spare, so I wandered a bit outside of the park.

It doesn't take long to wander when you're a party of 1, so I decided to head over to the breakfast reservation area.

It was still only 7:45am, so I had a good 30 minutes before my reservation time. Mind you, it's been nearly 10 years since my last pre-park opening ADR experience in AK, but last time, they made us wait until we were exactly at the 15 minute mark. I remember feeling like I'd never get there since I was pushing a double stroller with all kinds of stuff and two kids. This time, they let me right in. I was a little worried since I just booked it, but my name was on their list, so all seemed good. I had plenty of time, so I just explored a little along the way.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 29, 2020

I had a good laugh here. I was trying to take a selfie. I don't mind having others in the shot, but the CM in the vest that's coming up on my side was trying to get out of the way so she wasn't right in my picture.

I tried telling her that I really didn't mind, but it turned out looking funny because I was laughing at all of it.

Moving closer and closer to Tusker...

Clearly, I was taking my sweet old time! Oh well, time to move on...

Seeing the AK Christmas decor, I still can't recall if they were still playing holiday music. I know MK wasn't and I don't recall hearing any in Epcot. However, thinking back, HS was and it was good stuff too! Oh well.

Here's where I ran into an issue. They had the area towards Tusker roped off and the girl there wasn't showing my name on the list for ADRs. She went back and forth with her records for a minute or two and then I told her I just made it this morning. That alone kind of shocked her. It took a couple more minutes, but after talking to some other people, they found me on the list and I was allowed to go past the rope.

I hadn't seen any signs of the marathon up until this point. I had really wanted to be in AK to cheer, but it's hard to when you can't find the runners. And then...I found the course!

I felt bad because a runner actually came off course and ran up to me because he thought there should be a character right here. I apologized and said I wasn't sure, so he ran off. Sure enough, there was a character here...

I guess Timon was on a break.

I really wanted to cheer, but breakfast first.

I checked in, but was still a little early, so I went over to watch the marathon as I waited.

I was such a mix of emotions. I was sad I was going home, sad my run journey for this one was done, sad that I wasn't running the full even though I know it was best to fight off the FOMO this time...yet I also felt like I was missing out by going into this restaurant. If I wasn't running it, I really wanted to do my part to cheer people on. That was always in the plans, but it felt more important after experiencing it during the half, seeing some posts from people worried about the weather for the full, and just seeing the runners out there. At least I knew there was time. AK used to be a bit earlier in the marathon (like miles 12/13 or something like that). According to my tracking map, it was now something like miles 17/18, so I knew I'd have people coming through for a while.

I was hoping to watch a little longer, but it was only a minute or two before they called me in to eat.

HouCuseChickie · Jan 29, 2020

I was starting to miss my family a bit more at this point and being alone, I was reminded more of all of our memories. In this pic above, I was seated across from the table where we sat for the first time back in 2010. Just saying that if me of the present were looking in on me of the past, present me would have been sitting right over Goofy's shoulder from this 2010 pic.

...or right around Mickey's nose in this one!

Yeah...getting really sappy and sentimental. Definitely a sign I needed to go home! And OMG...they're so little in these pics!

OK, back to present day...They brought me my juice...

But I knew where they had more if I needed it!

I hit the buffet and grabbed what I could, but they also made me some allergy friendly Mickey waffles.

Funny, but these tasted better than the ones at Cape May.

I had a really awesome server this morning...actually...several were really good. They knew I was on my own, so they took some of my character pics for me and we chatted a lot more than I normally would.

I think Mickey was talking to me about the half shirt and the race.

I didn't have anyone around when Daisy came by, so it was bad selfie time.

I missed out on Goofy, but I was done. Now it was time to see if I could go cheer. I went back to the area where I Iooked in before and asked some the CMs if I was allowed down there to cheer on the runners. They said maybe. They said some family was being allowed down there, but I'd have to ask security. Security was good with it, so this became my cheer spot for the next 90 or so minutes.

I found several people from my run groups in the tracking map and was able to cheer them on by name as they came through, so that was super cool. I even saw one of the girls I chatted with for a while during the meet the other day, so it was this great sort of running family feeling. Somewhere in the middle of it, I realized I should record some of this. I've been told that I'm cheering like a crazy softball mom.

I know I'm just one crazy person screaming in the crowd (well, not really a crowd, since there was just a mom and daughter waiting next to me for a little while) and I wasn't the one doing the running/walking, but I felt like being a voice of support was the best thing I could be today. I got lots of thank you's, thumbs up, sweaty high 5s, and smiles...since sometimes that's all you can do in the moment. The security lady with me also thanked me for helping her save her hands and voice for a bit. I also didn't envy them trying to get regular park guests through the course right there. I saw a number of near-pile ups. All in all, I just hope I helped some of the runners who crossed in front of me. At one point, I questioned if I should be saying "runners," since not everyone is running and some people I saw were walking...and being an interval runner who had to walk the last 3+ miles of the half, I was a walker at that time. I'm probably over-analyzing things and hopefully everyone got that I was just trying to be a supportive voice.

I was getting towards the end of my FOP FP window, so it was time to say good-bye to my cheering friends and move on to Pandora.

Before moving on, while I obviously did not run the full and cannot speak from a running perspective, I do have thoughts on what I witnessed in that short window of time. As in the other races, I saw people of all kinds of ages and sizes using any number of methods. I saw people who looked like they had a lot of gas left in the tank and I saw people struggling, but they also still looked driven to fulfill this goal they set out to achieve during their training. I also saw enough that it made me feel stronger in some of the goals I thought I might set into motion after this trip.

I also couldn't help but feel bad about the weather. Like the half marathon, the temps started out around 70 degrees with high humidity and I know several people said it was about 85 degrees when they finished. Unlike the day of the half, there was a lot of sun, very little breeze and no drizzle. Disney also had to shorten the course for some runners due to safety...although, it probably didn't help that they started off late (or so I heard...saw all kinds of bus issues coming up on my feed that morning). They were pacing fine, but Disney decided it was too dangerous to have the runners that were farther back do the full mileage, so they essentially cut the Blizzard Beach section. Of the folks I follow who got the cut course, none of them feel slighted. They know they put in that mileage in other places during that morning, so they were good. I can't say how it would have been for me since I didn't run the marathon, but it's one of the few things I really have going for me with running in Orlando. This goes well beyond people's definitions of hot and cold...or even humid...don't even get me started on humid cold vs. dry cold! I just know Houston and Orlando see some very similar weather conditions and I wished there was some way for me to share some of my weather tolerance with some of the people I saw struggling.

____________________________________________________________________________

Coming up...playing for a while in AK, madness leading me astray, and the final stretch.

Swissmiss · Jan 29, 2020

I definitely think you’re over analyzing a bit about only using “runners” in your cheering - I doubt that anyone - even if only walking - would have felt slighted. I am sure that everyone was really appreciative to have some support, particularly in the tough conditions. I bet you helped more than one person by being there.

.

fizzieee · Jan 29, 2020

Swissmiss said:
I definitely think you’re over analyzing a bit about only using “runners” in your cheering - I doubt that anyone - even if only walking - would have felt slighted. I am sure that everyone was really appreciative to have some support, particularly in the tough conditions. I bet you helped more than one person by being there. .

Totally agree!!! If it were me, I would just be happy someone cared enough to stand there and be even a little bit supportive.

Piglet_the_brave · Jan 29, 2020

As someone who ran the marathon, I am so grateful for people who cheered us on during it. It was absolutely brutal, and I’m guessing a lot of people like me hadn’t trained in anywhere near those conditions. And sometimes when you’re walking that little bit of encouragement spurs you on to try an extra running bit, I know I walked far more than I planned. I don’t know whether I was a bit spacey, or whether it was too early but I don’t remember any cheerers in AK. I remember looking at my watch and it was about 8.45 when I went through so possibly before park opening.

Your girls look so cute in the photos. I think one of the reasons runDisney races are so emotional is because of the attachment we have because of our family memories.

And FOMO. Does this mean a marathon in the future?

Trip Report COMPLETED- Chickie RUNS Wonderland...and goes MAD!!!

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