Trip Report Flabby, Fat & Lazy, Run A Race And Oopsy-Daisy! A 2013 Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon Weekend Trip Report!

Hellooooooo humans! It's another runDisney trip report!

The cast is a small one this time around...just my husband Will (28) and me, Shannon (29).
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This runDisney trip was different from my other ones in a few ways, the biggest being that the primary motivation was not to run the half marathon (although I did sign up for the half...I can't pass up the opportunity to earn some runDisney bling :D). No, the main reason we booked this trip was to run Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K...together! It was Will's first race at Disney...actually, his first race ever!
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We originally had our sights set on May's Expedition Everest Challenge, but quickly realized that the race would more than likely fall during a big tennis tournament that Will coaches each year. It seemed stupid to sign up for such an expensive race ($210 for both of us to do the 5K! o_O) with such a strong possibility that we wouldn't actually be able to participate, so that's when we switched gears and planned on the Wine & Dine weekend.

If any of you have read my other runDisney race reports you may be wondering what happened to my normal runDisney partner-in-crime, Princess Craiggy (my brother Craig, 27). Why didn't he come along and run the half with me? Apparently the idea of doing a night race really freaks him out for whatever reason. Plus, he's pretty busy - and broke - being a smarty-pants graduate student in a rigorous nursing program. (He IS still running though, and he's mentioned doing another runDisney race weekend more than once.) And finally, I sort of thought Will and I needed a little getaway, just the two of us.

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The other big way that this trip was different was that it was the first time I've ever come into a runDisney race trip thinking there was a strong possibility that I'd either not start a race or drop out due to injury. :( My last long run during training was a 12-miler on November 3, the Sunday before the race. Out of nowhere I had weird knee pain at mile 9 and changed my stride to compensate for it. I felt okay once I was done, but as the night went on I increasingly felt like I had an intense cramp in my left foot. The next morning it felt like I had a serious strain, and I spent the rest of the week hobbling around work, popping ibuprofen like it was candy, icing my foot, and researching compression socks and taping methods that I hoped would help me quickly heal or at least successfully limp through the race. (My knee, the thing that had started this whole mess, felt perfectly fine.) Monday and Tuesday were the worst - I was in serious pain and wasn't even looking forward to the trip. What if I couldn’t start the races? What if I started and got pulled off the course? I know they give out medals to people even if they don't finish (no comment on that policy...:angelic:), what would I do with the medal? There's no way I'd keep it. What if I tore or ruptured something? Would I cause serious damage here? WHAT ABOUT MY TRIP REPORT?! :D Seriously though, it was a pretty miserable week.

On Wednesday I felt a little better and was starting to think that maybe I could make it through. By Thursday I was pretty sure I was going to at least try both races, knowing full well that due to my stubbornness (and, let's be honest, stupidity) there was no way I'd willingly leave the course once I started unless something serious happened.

It was just a really weird time...by far the least excited I've ever been for a Disney trip. :(
 
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Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Throughout my wanderings I was in constant contact with Will. He'd finally gotten on a boat at French Quarter (after an almost 45-minute wait!), so I headed to Wolfgang Puck Express to get in line. On my way I took a trip through Mickey's Pantry and bought a flute of Rose Regale for me (a sparkling red) and a Peroni for Will. I thought we deserved it after this crazy day.

While in line (which was longer than I'd ever seen it – out the door – but not too bad) I totally freaked out a kid by giving him my best death stare. In my defense he was being incredibly whiney and annoying about the wait and how he wanted ice cream, and his mother (who, I gathered, was picking up dinner for her daughters) was in line right in front of me...and I just did not want to listen to this brat the entire time I was inline. Plus he was, like, 10-12 years old. Kind of old to be whining. I guess I was just a big ol' meanie that day. :angelic:

And then Will arrived at about 8PM! YAY!! We toasted to making it on to Disney property in one piece and Will laughed that Whiney Kid kept looking over at me nervously. That's right kid, fear me.

We ordered dinner and stuffed our faces. I love WPE! It's one of my favorite counter service places on-property.

For Will – Pesto Chicken Salad Pita with fries
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For me – the Greek salad (which was just okay, not as good as I remembered it) and the mac and cheese...
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YUM!

For both of us - water, in the name of hydrating for the race(s) the next day (not pictured...I assume you know what cups of water look like, yes?)

After dinner we wandered a bit more before heading back to the room. My foot had held up pretty well for the most part, but this was more walking than I'd done all week combined and it was now sore again, so I popped some more ibuprofen and iced it a bit. We called the front desk for shampoo (they'd given us 2 conditioners but no shampoo...AND WE KNOW OUR TOILETRIES. Don't be mad because we know more about toiletries than you do! :D) and were in bed by 11, 11:30.

But then we called the front desk again. Remember that pretty courtyard right outside our window? There was a big family playing a LOUD game of touch football out there (adults and children alike screaming super loud) and we couldn't fall asleep. Apparently the courtyard is supposed to be closed to that kind of stuff by 10, and we were surprised when the noise totally stopped a few minutes later. We're so cranky.

We fell asleep pretty quickly with a wake-up call set for the next morning at 4:45AM...and that crazy first day was FINALLY done!

Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K recap coming up next!
 
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Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
What a stressful start to your vacation! Hope it gets better!

Really enjoying your report so far and I want a pair of those shoes!
Sherry!! It did get better, thankfully!

You can find a pair of those shoes on eBay right now...but they aren't cheap! :eek:
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
Great report so far. I looked out for your number at the 5k to thank you personally for your advice before the run but didn't spot you. Will be great to read your comments and see your photos. Shame your first day was so stressful.
 

plaz10

Well-Known Member
Wow you're starting your race report and we haven't started our cruise one. We are slacking! Haha!

Sorry for all the air trouble - I hate connecting flights...they make me nervous! After St. Maarten - the line at customs was so bad we thought we'd miss our connection in Charlotte. We were Home Alone style running through the airport. But it worked out.

I have 2 Vera backpacks (small and large) that I usually carry around the parks but AHHH those are pretty Mickey backpacks. Maybe Santa will bring me one...

Your trip report titles are so clever. You stay #awesome, Shannon.
 

Belle2013

Member
Great TR! Very stressful about the flights though. I have been there so many times :confused: Anyways...I was at WWoS to pick up my daughter's kid race packet and then we went over to DTD. We were able to check out Fit2Run while there...what was so funny though is the fact people kept going in there asking about if A. They sold New Balance and then B. ask if they had the RunDisney shoes there. I was so amused by all the people coming in there. :p
 

LindsayLoves

Well-Known Member
Shannon, what a fun report thus far, ugh airport drama by far the biggest point stress for me when traveling, luckily when I am with my husband he is so much worse than me so I get to be the cool and calm one. Luckily flying from the NYC area we don't often have to connect unless we are going really far (eg Alasaka).

Your photos are fab and I think Disney should consider making you a featured blogger because after reading through your report and seeing the pictures I went over to the Disney site to mock up plans for our next trip - you should get some commission on it. :happy:

Edit: glad you got that version of runDisney shoes, not sure I am loving what I am seeing for the 2014 version.
 

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Haha, I am there with you on the Death Stares, or as I call them, my "Teacher Look"...I love to do it to kids that are misbehaving, when their parents can't see. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE children, it's just that I know the power of a warning from someone other than Mom or Dad.
Haha! Okay, glad I'm not the only one that does that. You're right, it's totally effective! :D
Great report so far. I looked out for your number at the 5k to thank you personally for your advice before the run but didn't spot you. Will be great to read your comments and see your photos. Shame your first day was so stressful.
Darn, too bad! How did you like the 5K? I hope you had fun! I'll post my 5K stuff sometime today. :) Thanks for reading!
Wow you're starting your race report and we haven't started our cruise one. We are slacking! Haha!
I know! I have another trip coming up soon so with this one and the #awesome cruise report I don't want to get too bogged down! That's why I'm trying to crank this one out quickly.
Sorry for all the air trouble - I hate connecting flights...they make me nervous! After St. Maarten - the line at customs was so bad we thought we'd miss our connection in Charlotte. We were Home Alone style running through the airport. But it worked out.
ME TOO. They're the worst! We generally like Southwest and they don't fly direct to Orlando from Cleveland, so we're probably going to start flying out of Akron-Canton to go to Disney (which DOES fly direct to Orlando). It's an extra 40 minutes or so to drive but it'll sill be 1-2 hours less of total travel time.

Ahhh, I would have freaked out with the St. Maarten customs line! Glad you made it through!
I have 2 Vera backpacks (small and large) that I usually carry around the parks but AHHH those are pretty Mickey backpacks. Maybe Santa will bring me one...

Your trip report titles are so clever. You stay #awesome, Shannon.
The Hidden Mickey Veras are online TODAY!!! I ordered a hipster :D I'm not entirely sure it processed correctly though so I need to call. You say #awesome too, Jess. :D
Great TR! Very stressful about the flights though. I have been there so many times :confused: Anyways...I was at WWoS to pick up my daughter's kid race packet and then we went over to DTD. We were able to check out Fit2Run while there...what was so funny though is the fact people kept going in there asking about if A. They sold New Balance and then B. ask if they had the RunDisney shoes there. I was so amused by all the people coming in there. :p
Thank you! Yes, a very stressful start to the trip!

I totally forgot to check out Fit2Run at DtD, oops! I wonder how long Disney is going to keep those shoes expo-specific? I saw TONS of people wearing them throughout the rest of the weekend.
Shannon, what a fun report thus far, ugh airport drama by far the biggest point stress for me when traveling, luckily when I am with my husband he is so much worse than me so I get to be the cool and calm one. Luckily flying from the NYC area we don't often have to connect unless we are going really far (eg Alasaka).
Hi Lindsay!! Of the two of us Will is definitely more nervous when it comes to flying...moreso the whole getting to the airport early enough and having time for security part, I think. We don't have to connect often either, but we like to fly Southwest mostly and they are, like, the one airline that doesn't fly direct to Orlando from Cleveland.
Your photos are fab and I think Disney should consider making you a featured blogger because after reading through your report and seeing the pictures I went over to the Disney site to mock up plans for our next trip - you should get some commission on it. :happy:
Aww, thanks! :happy: You're too kind. Hey Disney, I'll take my commission in the form of Starring Rolls red velvet cupcakes and Island Sunsets from the Tambu Lounge! :D
Edit: glad you got that version of runDisney shoes, not sure I am loving what I am seeing for the 2014 version.
I'm very curious to see the new styles for 2014. I wish they'd expand it to other models/brands...oh well.
 

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2: Saturday, November 9, 2013

2013 Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K


GOOD MORNING! NO SLEEPING!
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We slept like rocks that first night. French Quarter had awesome pillows.

After taping my foot I made us coffee in the room, we got dressed and applied sunscreen, and quickly made our way out to the bus stop. We got to the staging area in one of the Animal Kingdom parking lots pretty quickly and after visiting the porta-potties we weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves. There were DJs and runDisney people pumping up the runners and one single, solitary character photo-op with Jingle Jungle Mickey and Minnie. The line was humongous but we had over an hour to kill until the race start anyway, so we joined the masses waiting for pictures with the mice.

The Line...the starting corrals are on the other side of the wall of people.
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There were lots of families and lots of people dressed up...some as Disney characters, some as santa/elves, etc. We were dressed as 2 sleepy people that were wearing non-festive running clothes. ;)

The line for Minnie and Mickey got cut off pretty quickly...arg! :cry: So we just decided to head into our corral. Which corral? Corral A! o_O Not quite sure how that happened...seriously though, as you'll see from our times we're super fast. Don't blink or you might miss us. ;)

While hanging out in the corral we ate bagels with peanut butter that I'd brought from home and chatted. I think Will was a teeny bit nervous, but he was holding up pretty well overall. The DJs kept playing some tunes and machines were dropping the famous Disney "snoap" on us to add to the festive atmosphere. It was fun.

The view from Corral A...the grey blurs in the picture are snoap flakes:
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"What the heck are we doing in Corral A?!"
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This photos reminds me...the night before I'd asked Will whether he planned on wearing his Magic Band for the race. He pointed out that, duh, it was our room key, so one of us would have to be wearing it. I have to say, it really didn't bother me at all wearing the thing, and in the past I've had to worry about carrying my AP, KTTW card and cash on me during races...so it was nice to just have the band this time.

ANYWAY...just before 7 a Disney vocalist sand the National Anthem and Mickey and Minnie came up to help with the start.
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Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
3-2-1- GOOOOO! Smoke shot up from the starting line and we were off!

The first mile looped out through the parking lot...YAWN. We were pretty excited to be running though, so it seemed to go by quickly. I was THRILLED that my foot felt great. :) I'd programmed intervals into my Garmin beforehand (run 4 minutes/walk 1 minute) so we followed that for the first mile.

Just before Mile Marker 1 we arrived at the park entrance...I love this Christmas tree!
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Not bad, not bad.
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Except for during races, I haven't been to Animal Kingdom since summer of 2011. This needs to change!

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Overall the character lines weren't too bad during this race...this was a relief after January's 5K with the huge lines. Maybe that's the difference between starting in Corral A and starting in Corral B.

Baloo!
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I think Terk was out meeting after Baloo, but we skipped that photo-op. We couldn't pass up the Tree of Life though!
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I found the weather to be pretty comfortable...low-mid 60s with low humidity and lots of shade thanks to all that Animal Kingdom greenery. It was very pleasant!
 

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our next photo-op came soon after the Tree of Life.

Run people, run!
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The Figment in the picture below was our favorite runner costume:
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See the tape on my ankle?
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Next up we made our way through Asia. Good morning, Everest!
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After heading through Dinoland we were back at Discovery Island...we were almost out of the park already. Boo! :(

(People on the right side of the cones are in the later corrals):
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Run, William!
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Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Getting funky:
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While in this line I grilled Will about whether or not he was having fun...and he was! :D Woohoo! We discussed other Disney races and I'm hoping maybe I can talk him into the Tower of Terror 10-miler someday (or more realistically a Disney 10K)...fingers crossed! In the more immediate future I think he wants to run a race sans photo-ops to see how well he can really do. I can’t say I blame him. :D

In the meantime, it was time to meet some festive 'munks:
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And all too soon we left the park. Watch out for characters!
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A 22-minute mile! Told you we were fast. :D
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We both found this "Dinoland Administration" building funny...like, what department are you in? Dinoland Administration. Maybe it's just us.
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After we passed Mile Marker 2 it was like a switch flipped - suddenly my foot was killing me. :( Ughhhhhh. I felt bad because I knew Will felt great and wanted to finish strong, but I was suddenly needing a lot more walk breaks. It was just so sore and sort of, I don't know, popping? BOO!

But hey, at least I was wearing shoes...UNLIKE THE GUY IN THE PICTURE BELOW (with the "My feet hurt" shirt). :eek: I have seen this before at other races but I will never understand it.
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Right about now we were both commenting on just how bright it was and how we'd both forgotten sunglasses. Aw, phooey!
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At this point we were almost at the turnaround of a loooong out-and-back. We passed up a photo-op with Pluto (long line) and made it to the turnaround.
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We could see Mile Marker 3 in the distance...I wanted to run the rest of the thing in but I just couldn't. Another walk break for me. :(

I spy the finish line...!
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Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
And then it was over! Go Will, go!
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He did it!
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Oh yeah, I did it too!
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Not sure what our time was (the bibs don't have timing chips for Disney 5Ks)...50ish minutes I guess. Who cares?!
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Look at the teddy bear's crazy eyes! The doll looks a little odd too...o_O
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We were shooed out of the finish chute and out to the post-race food area. Here they had the usual runDisney snackbox, banana, water and Powerade:

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We didn’t stick around for long after the race...we caught a bus back to French Quarter where we showered and I iced my foot. Time for a celebratory brunch! :D

Finals Thoughts - Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K

I thought this race was really well-done. The parking lot portions are boring but the energy around us was great and we had good entertainment. Everything was well-organized, there were 2 well-stocked water stops (pretty good for a 5K course), and we had a good spread of food to choose from when the race was over. There was a fun, no-pressure atmosphere throughout - I think this race would be great for first-timers and families.

As far as the foot thing, I realize that the smart thing would have been to skip the 5K and rest up for the half, but there was no way I was doing that. I've been wanting Will to do a Disney race with me for awhile now, and even though he's never really liked running he signed up - and trained - just because he knew how much it would mean to me. Except for the foot pain this was the most fun I've had running a race, and I’m incredibly grateful that I got to share this experience with him. :) Hopefully it's not the last Disney race we'll run together! :happy:
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Hooray! Congratulations to Will on his first runDisney event!! I'm impressed to see the character turnout on this 5K... smart use of the Jingle Jungle parade characters. I especially love those shots with Baloo and Louie.

And that kid you were giving the stare down to in Wolfgang Puck Express? #notlucas

Looking forward to your thoughts on the night race.
 

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hooray! Congratulations to Will on his first runDisney event!! I'm impressed to see the character turnout on this 5K... smart use of the Jingle Jungle parade characters. I especially love those shots with Baloo and Louie.

And that kid you were giving the stare down to in Wolfgang Puck Express? #notlucas

Looking forward to your thoughts on the night race.
Holly!!

I agree, great character turnout for the 5K...I was pleased! It was a really fun race.

You're darn right that kid was #notlucas...haha!!

I'll have the W&D portion up in the next couple of days! :)
 

KappleB2

Well-Known Member
Yay! Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5k was my first 5k ever! I agree! It was a great race and I am so glad I did it! I only started running because I was challenged to do this race and I literally cried as I crossed the finish line! I was NERVOUS but these rundisney trip reports are what kept me going and believing I could! Keep running and sharing your experience! Its too early to tell if I will again :p
 

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yay! Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5k was my first 5k ever! I agree! It was a great race and I am so glad I did it! I only started running because I was challenged to do this race and I literally cried as I crossed the finish line! I was NERVOUS but these rundisney trip reports are what kept me going and believing I could! Keep running and sharing your experience! Its too early to tell if I will again :p
Hey, congrats on your first-ever 5K! :) You picked a good one...what a fun race!

I have a feeling that now that you've done one you'll be back for me, these runDisney races are addicting! :)
Man, I totally forgot about your picture taking skills. Excuse me for that!

Congrats on the marathon as well!!!!!!!!!!!
*sigh*...you're excused, I guess. :rolleyes:

:D Thanks for the compliment, I'm trying to improve on the picture-taking and, even more, the editing afterwards.

Thanks for the congrats! After the half we were in Sunshine Seasons and I saw the Strawberry Shortcake and thought of you!!
 

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Now that we were clean and dry (and in my case iced and re-taped) we hopped on a bus to the Magic Kingdom. From here we switched to the resort monorail (much faster today than it had been the previous day). We arrived at the Polynesian for our Kona Cafe ADR about 5 minutes early.

Ahhh.....
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Kona was PACKED - we saw more than one group trying to get walk-ups be turned away. I think I may have seen one of the women put in a carry-out order...is that a thing? You learn something new every day. While we waited some people asked us about the race (we were wearing our finisher medallions), so that was fun! Then they'd ask if either of us were running that night and I'd sort of stutter nervously...like, yes I'm starting the race but who knows if I'll make it to finish at this point. o_O

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We got seated about 20 minutes past our ADR time and we were STARVING!

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The first thing we ordered was a Kona pressed pot to share...best coffee EVER!

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We put our orders in quickly and were very surprised when our food came out 5-7 minutes later. This made me a bit nervous but everything tasted hot and fresh, so no complaints!

Will ordered the Two Eggs Your way (over medium in his case), which came with biscuits, sausage and home fries. Two thumbs up!
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I was all set to order the fruit plate, but when we sat down our server informed us that there was a seasonal special, so I went with that instead. One order of pumpkin pancakes with maple pecan cinnamon butter, plus a side of bacon! (Obviously...gotta have the bacon.)
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These were good, but they didn’t blow me away. I think maybe because I've had the exact same thing at a restaurant at home recently. The bacon was really good though...I definitely appreciate that Kona seems to have better, thicker bacon than most other Disney restaurants. And I definitely wasn't expecting 3 giant pancakes so it was a good deal.
 
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Ariel484

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We paid and hopped back onto the monorail. After gazing wistfully at the Grand Floridian (our new fave next to the Boardwalk) we get off at the Magic Kingdom!

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YAY!

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I'd been hoping to get Will's Annual Pass converted to the plastic version since he still had the cardstock kind...it probably wasn't a big deal since our Magic Bands got us into the park on the first try, but it still seemed like a good idea to get the plastic pass. The Guest Services line was out the door though, so we decided to come back later and (for the first time ever) hopped on the Walt Disney Railroad instead, getting off at (I think) the Frontierland stop. I'm pretty sure we checked the wait times at Big Thunder and Splash and deemed them too long. We did queue up for the Haunted Mansion though.

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With the new FP+ line there's no option to skip the cemetery route...boo to that. I think we waited 20-25 minutes to get on the ride, which is probably the longest we've ever waited.

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After the mansion I showed Will the new Tangled bathrooms. He was impressed but agreed with me that this movie probably deserves an actual attraction instead of fancy toilets...but whatever.

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The weekend so far (crazy Friday + 4:45AM wake-up call this morning) was starting to catch up to us, so we headed back to Main Street.

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The Guest Services line was gone now, so we were able to convert Will's AP pretty quickly. The Cast Member picked up the first card in his pile, which had Minnie on it. He seemed really concerned that Will wouldn't want a Minnie Mouse AP, but Will said it was fine. The CM seriously mentioned it, like, 5-6 times. It was weird. o_O

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We waited about 10 minutes for a bus and were back to French Quarter by about 1:30. Nap time!

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