Trip Report **COMPLETED** The Princess Half Marathon: Training Not Required but Strongly Encouraged

Hey everyone - we got back last night and usually I would wait to write a trip report, but I have a few work trips coming up so this may take me awhile to finish So---here we go!

Who?
The usuals - my Mom (Mary) and myself (Megan) PLUS a special guest appearance - my sister Jill!
The last time just the 3 of us went to Disney was way back in 2017
All my actual photos from that trip are on my other computer so here is a selfie I found

When?
February 22-29, 2020

Where?
The Yacht Club (again ) - we stayed Club Level because it was the only room I could find. Not that I am complaining !

Why?
Well as the title indicates we were down there to run the Princess Half Marathon. My Mom and I signed up after @sheriffwoody and some other people talked me into it . It really did not take much convincing - we haven't run a half since 2016 and I was looking to do another one. As soon as we found out it was Cinderella themed (my favorite Princess) we were sold. Well....a few weeks later Jill texted us to let us know she signed up for it too!
Full disclaimer - races make me very nervous and post - race makes me very lazy. That being said, I did not use my actual camera a lot this trip so most of my photos are from my iPhone because it was more convenient and my photos from the first day are lacking due to my nerves.

The Title ?
Well...some of us actually trained for the Half and some of us did not (**cough Jill cough**).
Jill was not sure if she was actually going to run so it was a game time decision.

Day 1 February 22, 2020
My Mom and I stayed at a hotel across from the Airport just to save a little time/ get more sleep.
Here we are soaking our feet in the hot tub at the airport hotel (hoping it would make us run faster )

We got up at 3:30 am (at least it's better than 3 am if we were at home ?) and got ready to head across the street.
We got to the airport a few minutes before the Southwest Counter opened.
We waited by the kiosks while a giant line of people waited to check in at the counter. Guess who was checked in before all of those people

Jill got to the airport right around the time the counter opened
We all got through security very quickly and then grabbed some bagels for breakfast and a bear claw (for Jill)

She said she's sorry for taking a bite before the photo

Usual dates sign - I have no idea why we continue to take these photos other than my Mom makes us
Jill was making this face because she was not sure she was going to run.

Next up: more traveling

 

[Doc Disney]

Instagram was already fun to follow, so on board for this report!

Thanks!!!!

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 1 continued
Shocker of all shockers we actually boarded the plane on time and we did not have to de-ice. It was cold but super dry so no ice! Woohoo!
Magic Bands unite!

Our flight was pretty quick. It was scheduled for 3 hours but we made it in 2:10
Hello sun -- I missed you!

I still love the Fonorail layover !!

My fonorail photos are never good

Anyway...after this we headed down to DME which was uber crowded.

We ended up getting right on a bus which was nice but we got separated because there were no open 2 seats available!

Next up: more randomness

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 1 continued
Jill and I were seated across from each other.

The girl next to me was also running, but we did not start talking until right before she got dropped off at the Caribbean. I was bummed - I love making Disney friends which is weird because I am typically a very shy person at home
There were 5 stops on our bus: Caribbean, Riviera, Boardwalk, Beach Club and Yacht Club. I was so excited when we rounded the bend past the Swolphin (as I like to call it) knowing Yacht Club was next. Only, it wasn't. Our driver forgot about us (he literally was perplexed we were still on the bus) and we were dropped off last.
You know how when you are in a hurry everything goes so slow (we wanted to get the Expo over with)? The DME was the first thing, then came waiting in line for check -in. Every other time we have stayed Club Level either there is a specific downstairs desk to check in or there is someone there to greet you. Well - neither thing happened/was an option so we waited about 15 minutes in the regular line only to be then taken upstairs to check in again.
That also took forever and in the end we had 10 minutes before Club Level breakfast ended so we grabbed a quick croissant. Surprisingly our room was ready at like 9:30 am so we wandered all the way down to it. It was the very last room at the end of the hall. Normally I would not care, but I knew our post race legs would Also - our Magic Bands did not work
The only picture I took was of this adorable towel animal.

We quickly dropped off our stuff and headed to the Convention Center so we could get an Expo bus.
A light for you...

At this point I was freaking out. Literally. I will get into more details in the next post, but I just needed to get the Expo over with to calm my pre-race nerves.
My sister was making fun of me because I bought these essential oils (which I am usually not into) which are supposed to calm you down and I was really laying them on on the bus

Also...my current Beachbody program uses these motivational cards. I randomly pulled out 2 to bring with me and this day's was:

I really needed to believe that one so I kept looking at it
Anyway - we made it to the Expo

Next up: more Expo

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 1 continued
I know these posts have a lot of words so sorry!!
I will try to make this story quick. The corrals were released 3 weeks before the race. My sister and many other people I know were in Corral F. My Mom and I, on the other hand, were in the last corral - Corral H. I was LIVID. I submitted a time for us - which I knew was slow (because it was from our last Disney race where we stopped to take tons of photos) because I was always told it was better to submit a time than not. So - here we were in the last corral while I knew/saw on IG 15-20 people who were in much higher corrals/did not submit times/train/etc etc. What's the big deal you may ask? If you are not familiar with Run Disney the higher your corral the more time you have on the course. We had a bad experience the last time we ran a Disney Half because we were very close to being swept due to being in a bathroom line for 15 plus minutes. If we had a higher corral we would have a cushion for this. My Mom and I were both very upset by this and were borderline not wanting to run this race. I also disappeared off my IG for the most part and off these boards because anything that reminded me of Run Disney caused me extreme stress. I called and emailed the company in charge of the corrals (which is not Disney) and received no call back and very minimal email answers. I had one last hope thanks to @sheriffwoody for giving me the tip that I could ask at the Expo to move corrals. She heard on a podcast that someone else did this.
Hence my massive anxiety. I HATE confrontation/asking for things so I was a nervous wreck. I literally wanted to get out of the guest relations line so many times.
Here we are in line talking to the nice Disney CM (This was so much better than dealing with Track Shack).

I did get some great information from her about how to submit times for next race. She also did not seem to be budging on corral placement. I finally straight up asked if we could move corrals and she essentially said no. Let the pleading begin (I know I spit out a lot of words but I don't remember most of them). My Mom told her our bathroom story and then pulled out the "but I am 65 years old" card . The CM softened then asked us how many Run Disney races we have done. I told her 5 and she left us without a word, went into a small black tent and.....

WOOHOO!! That CM was an angel. I nearly cried when I thanked her 100 times. I also felt an immediate sense of relief and was finally excited for the race. I felt like 100 pounds had been lifted off my shoulders honestly. This is also the time when Jill decided to run. She said she did not feel stressed at all at the Expo and wanted to run.
Some other Expo photos.

We did run into @sheriffwoody as she mentioned (our TRs will overlap quite a bit) and we checked out the merchandise but did not buy anything. We wanted 13.1 magnets, but they did not have any.
Anyway, after this we headed back to the Yacht Club, dropped our stuff off and headed to the MK!
Again - my photos are minimal sorry!
We stopped for a PP picture first - the lighting is super weird. You may also be able to see just how crowded it was!

Our first FP was for Winnie the Pooh so we headed there first.

Next up: more MK

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 1 continued
Also - side note. Huge shoutout to @sheriffwoody who took the brunt of my anger/sadness about the corrals I feel like I texted her 100 times about it. Jill was also the calming force in the situation as she usually is. I can only hope to be as calm as Jill someday

Then we stopped for a late lunch/very early dinner at Pinocchio Village Haus
I had the Margherita Flatbread and my Mom and Jill both had pepperoni flatbreads

We also shared some fries

Yum!
A light for you...

Question - my sister and I were talking about doing something with all these light photos. She suggested I make an IG for it which would be cool - or is that too niche/weird?
I also manage 3 instagrams (1 personal, 1 Disney and 1 my office's) right now so....maybe that is too many
Anyway...after this we headed to our next FP: Space Mt!

I said....let's all pretend like we are sleeping for the ride photo...

Then our last FP was for ISAW.
Does anyone know what the deal is with all the walls up?

As you may be able to see it was PACKED in there and we waited like 15-20 minutes to get on the attraction.

That's me!

After this we headed out of the park and back the Yacht Club. This is also where my photos end for the day. We went to bed at 7:00 pm so not much else to see anyway

Next up: Day 2 - race day!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Talking you into the race was probably the easiest sell ever
Me: "Are you guys doing the Princess half? I'm going to do it with a few friends! You and your mom should do it!"
You: "We talked about it, but we aren't going to this year."
*a few hours pass*
You: "We just signed up"

I'm so glad you did! And I'm glad they moved your corral. I had no doubt you'd finish regardless, but I know that gave you more cushion for bathroom lines and took the stress off.

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Glad you were able to change your corral. What a relief, I was feeling anxious for you.

 

[Ears to Disney]

I did get some great information from her about how to submit times for next race. She also did not seem to be budging on corral placement. I finally straight up asked if we could move corrals and she essentially said no. Let the pleading begin (I know I spit out a lot of words but I don't remember most of them). My Mom told her our bathroom story and then pulled out the "but I am 65 years old" card . The CM softened then asked us how many Run Disney races we have done. I told her 5 and she left us without a word, went into a small black tent and....

I know it may be cheating a bit...but I also suffered severe anxiety before the races about being swept and all. A friend of mine who has done so many runDisney races told me, "just sign up for the first time that you don't have to prove time for". I had no idea that this was a thing but it makes total sense since the F corral is that corral and it always has the most people in it. I felt much more at ease knowing that I had that cushion. I am hoping during the Buffalo Half I get a good time to submit and maybe can move up a corral.

We stopped for a PP picture first - the lighting is super weird. You may also be able to see just how crowded it was!

LOVE Jill's zip up!

 

[carriehpotter]

Reading this definitely has me feeling sympathy anxiety! Glad it all worked out. Following along!

 

[DisneyMorgan]

Following along! It was fun following along on Instagram too!

I'm glad everything worked out for you with the corrals! I've never done a runDisney race but I know I would be so nervous and stressed beforehand as well!

Also.. I recognize that BeachBody card! Barre blend has been fabulous so far! I hope you are enjoying it as well!

 

[Katiekitten]

I’m glad you got your corral issue sorted! I followed along on Instagram and can’t want to hear about the details.

 

[KellBelle]

Following along.. awesome about the change of corral!

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

I know it may be cheating a bit...but I also suffered severe anxiety before the races about being swept and all. A friend of mine who has done so many runDisney races told me, "just sign up for the first time that you don't have to prove time for". I had no idea that this was a thing but it makes total sense since the F corral is that corral and it always has the most people in it. I felt much more at ease knowing that I had that cushion. I am hoping during the Buffalo Half I get a good time to submit and maybe can move up a corral.



LOVE Jill's zip up!

#billsmafia

 

[Doc Disney]

Talking you into the race was probably the easiest sell ever
Me: "Are you guys doing the Princess half? I'm going to do it with a few friends! You and your mom should do it!"
You: "We talked about it, but we aren't going to this year."
*a few hours pass*
You: "We just signed up"

I'm so glad you did! And I'm glad they moved your corral. I had no doubt you'd finish regardless, but I know that gave you more cushion for bathroom lines and took the stress off.

You are right - it took no convincing

Glad you were able to change your corral. What a relief, I was feeling anxious for you.

Thank goodness! I think I was more nervous about asking about the corral than I was running

 

[Doc Disney]

I know it may be cheating a bit...but I also suffered severe anxiety before the races about being swept and all. A friend of mine who has done so many runDisney races told me, "just sign up for the first time that you don't have to prove time for". I had no idea that this was a thing but it makes total sense since the F corral is that corral and it always has the most people in it. I felt much more at ease knowing that I had that cushion. I am hoping during the Buffalo Half I get a good time to submit and maybe can move up a corral.



LOVE Jill's zip up!

That's essentially what the CM told me too If I ever go to the full half (and that's a BIG if) I would probably run the Buffalo Half to get under 2:45 to submit . I know I could do it in that half since its way less crowded.

Reading this definitely has me feeling sympathy anxiety! Glad it all worked out. Following along!

Sorry to give you anxiety

 

[Doc Disney]

Following along! It was fun following along on Instagram too!

I'm glad everything worked out for you with the corrals! I've never done a runDisney race but I know I would be so nervous and stressed beforehand as well!

Also.. I recognize that BeachBody card! Barre blend has been fabulous so far! I hope you are enjoying it as well!

Thanks for following !
I love the Barre Blend program too! I think I will start it again when I finish week 8 this week!

I’m glad you got your corral issue sorted! I followed along on Instagram and can’t want to hear about the details.

Thanks for following

 

[Doc Disney]

Following along.. awesome about the change of corral!

Thanks - and I know - I was genuinely surprised they changed it

#billsmafia

GO BILLS

 

[Doc Disney]

Ok guys - I told you this would take forever, sorry! I was at a conference this last week and I have another one coming up in 1.5 weeks (well pending coronavirus issues I guess )
Anyway...back to the TR.

Day 2 February 23, 2020
Well....we got up at 2 am.
2 A.M.
This is the absolute worst part of Run Disney events. It's like - why bother going to sleep? I think I slept OK, but not great so 2 am came extra early
We got ready in our awesome shirts that Jill made us.

The 10 K is a little nicer because you do not have to be on the bus until 4 am. However, for the 1/2's you have to be on by 3:30 so we headed out the door around 3:10 am.
Club Level had this nice cart of food out for us. I thought that was great!

It was a bit chilly out in the AM so thankfully we brought mylar blankets to wrap ourselves in. We somehow ended up standing around the corral entrance before it opened so we were one of the first (400 or so) people who walked down. Another reason the 10 K is nicer - the walk to the corral is non-existent. For the half we walked over a mile to get there.
Anyway, being there right when it opened put us very far up in corral which was great.

Then we waited for forever to start. Even though corral G is not that far back in the alphabet there are like 5-6 waves of every corral. Thankfully we were in the first wave of our corral. I only got super nervous right before we started but settled in pretty quickly.
I did not take a ton of photos. However, we were over 40 minutes in and past the 3 mile mark by the time the last wave went off so that move in corrals gave us a huge cushion.
Yay we made it to MK!

Next up: more race

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued

We stopped to go to the bathroom right around mile 6 and thankfully there was no wait. There were also WAY more bathrooms than the Wine and Dine Half we ran that put a fear of no bathrooms into our brain .
After this it's essentially all thruway until Epcot. This part was hard for us because the sun was fully out and so was the heat. Our last training runs were in the 15-20 degree weather so 70 + degrees was not easy to run in. It was also on a weird bank in the road which was not good for our backs or knees. We ended up walking a lot the last 4-5 miles which was fine. It was extra fine since we had such a large cushion We passed the time counting water stops instead of miles and talking about all the food and snacks and drinks we wanted to try
Eventually we made it into Epcot. I was too hot to take my phone out to take many photos.
My sister loves The Land so we took this photo...you can kind of see it

My sister and I had fun trying to caption this photo

Then...we finished !!! YAY!!! I always get a little teary eyed when I finish a race. It ended up taking us 3:22 which I did not think was too bad considering we walked a lot towards the end (and one of us did not train).
I was just SO happy we finished

Next up: more randomness

 

[Doc Disney]

Day 2 continued
Someone took a photo for us

I did not feel super great after we finished and a little blackout-y so I sat for a few minutes, but I recovered quickly!

According to my Garmin we ran about 13.4 miles

Thankfully we did not have to wait for a bus to get back to the Yacht Club.

I did not manage to take a photo of inside the runners box but there were nachos and cheese inside. Hooray !

After this we got showed, relaxed a bit then headed to the MK.
We got on a very crowded bus and Jill and I ended up standing for awhile while they loaded several scooters and the whole ride to the MK. It felt great....just kidding it did not
We stopped for a PP picture first.

Next up: more MK