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).

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 ). 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!

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! ) 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.

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...), 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?! 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.

 

[Ariel484]

Day 1: Friday, November 8, 2013

The other not fun part of the week leading up to the trip was the day I realized exactly how early I'd need to wake up for my 6:15AM flight to Orlando. My alarm went off at 3:45AM and I was out the door by 4:15 (Will had to work that day and was booked on a 5:25PM flight that connected in Nashville and was due to land in Orlando a bit before 10PM...more on that later).

Driving to the airport was easy because, duh, everyone else was sleeping in their comfy, comfy beds. I got through security and got my first-ever pat-down. I'm not one to complain about security measures, but I never realized how very, um, thorough they are. I think it was brought on because I was wearing a thick sweatshirt...oooookay.

For whatever reason the first flight was on a gigantic plane that held 175 people, and only 54 of us were flying. They had to make sure we were evenly spread out for proper weight distribution, so that was weird. It was a super smooth flight and I slept for most of it with my shoes off (which I probably would have been embarrassed about, but it felt great on my sore foot and the guy next to me took his shoes off first, so there!).

Pretty sunrise from the plane:

We landed in Baltimore at about 7:15. I got a smoothie from Jamba Juice and boarded the second (full, bumpy) flight at about 9:20, touching down in Orlando at about 11:15. Changed into shorts (goodbye 40-degree weather in Ohio, hello low-80s Florida weather! ) and found the Magical Express on my first try by about 11:40. That's two trips in a row now! Obviously I'm some sort of professional.

 

[Ariel484]

(Apologies in advance for the big wall of text sans pictures...)

We had Magic Bands on this trip and I used mine for the first time to check in to Magical Express. It worked perfectly and it was nice not to have to dig out the paperwork.

Good news: I got on the bus pretty quickly and it was moving within 10 minutes! Bad news: the new Magical Express video began to play and I do not like it. I get that they had to change things to talk about MyMagic+ and My Disney Experience, but it just totally left me cold. The screaming children video was loud and shrill, but at least it got me excited for the trip. This one just left me feeling like I'd watched an infomercial. Plus, no more characters checking in to the Grand Floridian and no more classic cartoons at the end! For shame, Disney...for shame.

I didn't have a ton of time to register my disappointment in the video because my mind went elsewhere pretty quickly - no more than 5 minutes after the bus started moving I got an email that Will's flight had been delayed by 30 minutes. This was a problem as his layover in Nashville was only...30 minutes. So he'd take off late from Cleveland and his connecter would be leaving Nashville as soon as he was landing, unless they held it. I debated not telling him this right away because he still had half a day of work left and I knew he'd freak out, but I ended up texting him anyway.

He understandably, flipped. We had to do something - the 5K was the next morning so if Will wanted to participate he needed to arrive in Florida that night. These race trips are always kinds of a source of guilt for me because they always involve Will having to work on a Friday and fly out right after work, which is a long and stressful day. This just made it so much worse. I know it wasn't my fault that the flight got delayed but I felt soooo incredibly guilty.

Since Will is a teacher he couldn't exactly take time out of his work day to take care of this stuff, so that became my job and I immediately called Southwest. After a minute or two on hold the Southwest rep said she thought - but couldn't guarantee - that they'd hold the connector since his first flight was delayed and the connector was the last one that night leaving Nashville for Orlando. She found another flight to move him to free of charge...the catch? It didn’t land in Orlando until 11:45PM that night, which would mean he'd be arriving at our hotel around 1AM if he was lucky. Blech. And did I mention there was only one seat left on this potential new flight, so I needed to make a decision, like, immediately? Oy.

Even though I risked losing the seat I did not book the late flight and thanked the Southwest rep for her help ("Okaaaaay, but there's only one seat left!" I KNOW, LADY ). Instead I hopped on my phone and looked for other flights from Cleveland to Orlando. There was one direct flight from United with 3 seats left that took off at 3:56, which I think I looked at in the past but thought would be cutting it too close for Will to get to in time after school. Plus, now that I wanted to book this flight day-of it would cost $400. Ouch.

So those were the choices - hope the connector got held in Nashville, switch to the late Southwest flight for free, or book the United direct flight and be quite a bit poorer afterward. What to do?! (This purple screaming face describes how I felt during that bus ride far better than words ever could.)

Around the same time Will was telling me he didn't want the late Southwest flight I got another email from Southwest. His original flight had been pushed back AGAIN and now left Cleveland at 6:30, the time his connector was due to leave Nashville.

The United flight was really the only option. I bit the bullet and booked it...goodbye money! I also called Magical Express to update Will's arrival information and called Southwest again, this time to cancel Will's original flight. He got out of school and was to the airport quickly - luckily it's a short 10-15 minute ride from school. With his new boarding pass already printed and no bags to check he was through security by 2:45. And I finally felt like I could relax.

WHEW.

So I have mixed feelings on Southwest at this point…not impressed with all of the delays but they did give us a credit for the canceled flight, even though I only gave them 4-5 hours notice. I'm not sure if we'll be able to use the credit before it expires though. And I am SO glad I had my phone with me, because without it I wouldn’t have seen the emails and it would have been harder to fix everything.

 

[Ariel484]

So meanwhile, while all of this was going on - the frantic phone calls and internet searches, I arrived on Disney property. In times of crisis I'm still, at heart, a crazy trip reporter and managed to get a Welcome Gate shot. I mean, it's not in focus or anything...but still.

I was still on the phone with the Southwest rep asking about the new flight when I arrived at French Quarter. I dropped my carry-on with Bell Services (WHILE ON MY PHONE...ugh, I’m so embarrassed, I apologized profusely and felt like such a rude jerk ) and turned right around to head back to the front of the resort. It was time for the expo. A bus was waiting near the runDisney event transportation sign, so I hopped right on while talking to Southwest.

The bus began to move and an announcement came over the speaker: "Welcome to Disney's Magical Express, we are on our way to the Orlando International Airport!" WAIT...WHAT?! I was in such a panic that I'd gotten on the wrong freaking bus. Before I could fully flip out, the driver went on to say that the bus would be stopping at Saratoga Springs before heading to the airport. THANK GOD...it just so happened that Saratoga Springs was also a race host resort, so I could grab an expo bus there. You know...assuming I actually would get on the correct bus this time.

The bus stopped at Saratoga, the doors opened and I was off in a flash (with an embarrassed, mumbled explanation to the driver). I walked through Saratoga - which is very pretty - and got on a bus actually going to the expo this time. Hooray for me!

By the time we arrived at WWoS the flight stuff was pretty well taken care of (except I don’t think I'd called Magical Express yet with the update) so I was feeling a teeny bit better as I made my way to bib pick-up in the HP Field House.

I had 4 bibs to get this time - two 5K bibs (one for Will, one for me) and two half marathon bibs (one for me, one for WDWMagic member Tim). Pick-up was quick and smooth.

Love this banner with the race logos:

 

[Ariel484]

Next up was the Josten Center to grab all of the race shirts...so I'm now the proud owner of yet another unflatteringly gigantic long-sleeved tech shirt from Disney. Women's sizes would be great, Disney...really, any time now.

I had a few stops I wanted to make in the expo...the first was dropping by the KT Tape booth to get my foot taped by the pros. They line was about 15 people long with only one person taping, so I skipped it and bought a big roll of tape to use later instead (the KT Tape website has really good instructional videos).

Next up was the New Balance booth...after hearing all year about how hard it was to get a pair of the special runDisney shoes it was bizarre to just waltz up, casually ask for a pair in my size and get them pretty easily. I'm guessing they just had the rest of their stock there to sell them out in time for the 2014 edition to debut in January.

Just today noticed running Minnie on the back of the shoes...love!

 

[Howe]

Agh! Such a stressful start to your trip!!! I got nervous just reading it. Austin and fly separately a lot so I understand the drama of coordinating the flights and hoping it works out! Hope the stress levels decreased and the rest of the trip was magical! Great report so far!

 

[Ariel484]

Next up was the official merch booth. This injury of mine was pretty weird by then – sometimes my foot felt completely normal (like during the expo, for example), sometimes the soreness was still there and I'd be limping noticeably. At this point I was sure I was going to start the races (which meant I'd do everything I possibly could to finish them - not saying this was smart, just what I knew would happen), so I tempted fate by getting myself some merch: an "I Did It" t-shirt, a Wine & Dine Sweaty Band (LOVE Sweaty Bands...they are pricey but awesome) and a Wine & Dine Medal for my 2013 runDisney Vinylmation. I got an AP discount on all of these things.

I love the course maps on the backs of these t-shirts:

Vinylmation Mickey has a Wine & Dine medal...will I get one too???

I'd pre-ordered pins for the race, so I got those when I picked up the bibs. The half marathon bibs also came with wristbands and a $10 giftcard for the Epcot after party:

My last task at WWoS was to get Will's after-party ticket. These were distributed at a small green building (whose name escapes me) in the middle of WWoS, and the line was HUGE. After breezing through the rest of the expo/bib pick-up I waited at least 30 minutes to get Will's ticket and included $10 gift card.

The Line (capital "L" because it was a big one):

During this time I called Magical Express to update Will's flight information, and as I was making my way back to the bus area after picking up the ticket Will was texting me that he'd gotten through security.

So now the rest of the trip will be pure fun...right? RIGHT???

 

[Ariel484]

Agh! Such a stressful start to your trip!!! I got nervous just reading it. Austin and fly separately a lot so I understand the drama of coordinating the flights and hoping it works out! Hope the stress levels decreased and the rest of the trip was magical! Great report so far!

HI FRIEND!

OMG, so stressful. We're not great fliers to begin with, the whole process just makes us a bit nervous so this was just...ugh. That's the first (and hopefully last) time we've had problems like that. We got sooo lucky that the other flight had seats available.

 

[Howe]

Also, I LOVE that disney is doing sweatybands!! They are the best!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Also, I LOVE that disney is doing sweatybands!! They are the best!!!

I know!! LOVE Sweaty Bands!!

 

[Ariel484]

I was back to French Quarter by about 3PM...retrieved my bag from Bell Services, checked in, and made my way back to building 6. As a side note, I requested a corner room, top floor doing online check-in (first time ever doing this) and got my requests granted.

This was our first time at French Quarter and I liked it immediately. Because they're more spread out than some of the deluxes I feel like the moderates are sometimes way more immersive. I really liked the park-like atmosphere of the grounds. It was very relaxing...except for the creepy jesters. I just don't like those dudes.

We were in 6317 and we liked it at a lot! Very pretty room with a courtyard view. And the Magic Band opened the door on the first try.

Double windows!

Pretty view:

Phone panorama of the courtyard in front of building 6:

My checked bag was waiting for me, so I plugged my phone in to charge (after all of the craziness earlier that day I had 11% battery life left), unpacked and got organized.

 

[myhappyplace]

Love it so far!

I have never run for fun in my life, but I love me those runDisney NB shoes!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Behind building 6:

At some point I headed to Jackson Square to get a resort pin and a peanut butter Minnie’s Bake Shop cookie before heading to the Magic Kingdom (I didn’t know it at the time but this would end up being my lunch...the cookie, not the pin).

Some photos from the 2-3 minute walk to the lobby...

The courtyard in front of building 6:

Creepy jesters!!!

 

[Ariel484]

(Kind of got obsessed with my new ultra-wide angle lens on this trip...)

I oogled these Christmas Minnie ears in Jackson Square for a bit before paying for my pin and cookie:

Here I had my one and only issue with the Magic Band, when I tried to pay for the pin and cookie with the band (as an aside: I TOTALLY see what the Disney execs mean when they say the band will increase guest spending. It's just so easy to use that thing that you almost don't think about it). The CM said the register read that I was at my spending limit for the day...which was impossible as I'd just checked in. She called the front desk and it was fixed within 5 minutes. And then I was off to the bus stop.

I'm sure it actually is fun to share these cookies...but I didn't. It was pretty tasty.

A Magic Kingdom bus pulled up just as I arrived and we were at the park in 10 minutes by taking some sneaky side road - wow! (We only went to MK and Epcot that weekend and quickly figured out that French Quarter had its own bus for going to and from MK, but shared with Riverside to and from Epcot.)

So I got off the bus and headed to the monorail. You'll remember that I had picked up Tim's race stuff at the expo...he offered to meet me in the starting corrals of the race and take it from me there, but I decided I'd feel better dropping it off at Shades of Green (his hotel) and leaving it with the front desk on Friday. That way I'd be less likely to lose the packet or forget to bring it with me to the race start. Plus it wasn't just the bib - I also had his shirt, after-party wristband and $10 gift card, free art card from the race (forgot to post a pic, will try to remember to do that later), race pin AND a Coast-to-Coast wristband since Tim had done a Disneyland race earlier this year. That was a lot of stuff for me to potentially lose, so I felt better passing on the responsibility for this stuff as soon as possible.

I was hoping to get an express monorail to the TTC so I could catch a bus to Shades of Green. This did not happen - the express monorail was down or something, and the resort monorail platform was PACKED. I think the monorail schedule was totally messed up as a result and we waited 20-30 minutes for the next one to come. All along I thought I'd have this magical day with time for a relaxing lunch and stroll up and down Main Street followed by a nap, but it was clear that wasn't happening. Good thing I didn't share that Minnie cookie!

The monorail finally arrived and I made a beeline for a seat with my bum foot. Two teenage girls sat next to me and both were awful in their own ways - one was just SO OVER THIS DISNEY CRAP OMG I'M JUST THE COOLEST while the other was just...kind of a smug jerk. They were super passive aggressive toward one another. At first I was sad to be sitting by them - you know, because of the awfulness - but it quickly became funny. Too Cool Girl pointed to the Wilderness Lodge and said, "Is that the Polynesian?" and Smug Girl replied, "No, that's Fort Wilderness. I KNOW MY HOTELS. Don't be mad because you don't know as much about the hotels as I do!" (Side note: Too Cool Girl did not seem mad.) Normally I don't take issue when people say names of Disney things incorrectly - because really, who cares? – but this was just perfect. Thank you, Smug Girl, you made me smile and laugh when I really needed it! This became a recurring joke for me and Will throughout the weekend – "I KNOW MY <fill in the blank>. Don’t be mad because you don’t know as much about <fill in the blank> as I do!" Super fun times.

Anyway, we arrived at the TTC and I exited with the masses. Got on the Shades of Green bus (with the most annoying bus driver EVER...he was perfectly friendly but was loud and would not shut up, and I was just so not in the mood because of the stressful day and the fact that my foot was sore again) and arrived at the resort by about 5:15ish. The lobby was nice, it had sort of a...lodge-like feel I think?

I dropped Tim's stuff off and headed right back out to the bus area in hopes of catching a bus to Downtown Disney. Apparently the buses at SoG only leave on the half-hour to go to the parks and Downtown Disney...that sucks. I mean, it's the hotel for members of the military (former and current) and their families...seems like they should have more frequent buses.

The bus was late because, as one of the drivers said, the DTD bus driver was battling crazy traffic (this should have been a red flag for me), but eventually he got there and we took off with no other stops. And the warning from the other driver made sense as we got closer to DTD - traffic was INSANE. It felt like we sat on the road in front of DTD for 20 minutes, just waiting to get to the Marketplace stop. I could totally see the light we needed to turn at the entire time...we were just crawling along. I swear little old ladies using walkers would have gotten to DTD before we did. I felt really, really bad for the bus driver, wondering if he had to sit in that jam over and over that night, transporting people to and from Shades of Green. I guess a combination of it being a Friday night, the construction of the new garage, etc. just created this nutso scenario. I finally got off the bus at 6:15, about the same time that Will texted me to let me know he’d landed safely in Orlando. What a freaking day.

 

[Ariel484]

Love it so far!

I have never run for fun in my life, but I love me those runDisney NB shoes!!!

Hey, thanks! You aren't alone, I saw LOTS of people wearing runDisney New Balance shoes that weekend!

 

[Howe]

Beautiful photos with the wide angle!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Great start to your TR! I can't wait to read more! I love those RunDisney shoes!! I'm glad the flight disaster worked out for you. Just FYI, Southwest will hold flights waiting for connectors. We were in Atlanta last weekend and took off 40 minutes late because we were waiting on a connector from Miami to get in. It was kind of annoying that we all had to sit on the plane waiting, but I would be grateful if I were the one they were holding the plane for!! I hear you about the Ohio weather. We fly out Tuesday morning for our WDW trip and the high here (Dayton) is supposed to be 45, so I can only imagine what it will be like when we leave our house at 4:15 am! It will be heaven landing in the warm Orlando weather. We already have shorts and flip flops packed in our carry-on.

 

[Ariel484]

Beautiful photos with the wide angle!!

Thanks!! Very fun lens!

Great start to your TR! I can't wait to read more! I love those RunDisney shoes!! I'm glad the flight disaster worked out for you. Just FYI, Southwest will hold flights waiting for connectors. We were in Atlanta last weekend and took off 40 minutes late because we were waiting on a connector from Miami to get in. It was kind of annoying that we all had to sit on the plane waiting, but I would be grateful if I were the one they were holding the plane for!! I hear you about the Ohio weather. We fly out Tuesday morning for our WDW trip and the high here (Dayton) is supposed to be 45, so I can only imagine what it will be like when we leave our house at 4:15 am! It will be heaven landing in the warm Orlando weather. We already have shorts and flip flops packed in our carry-on.

Thank you!

I'm sure you're right and they would have held the connector...but it just wasn't a risk we were willing to take. They would have had to have held it for over an hour at that point!

Good idea packing your warmer clothes in your carry-on, have a FABULOUS trip!

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

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!

 

[Ariel484]

Originally the plan was for me to make a couple of stops in Downtown Disney, take the boat to French Quarter to meet Will, and then come back to Downtown Disney for dinner (a huge perk of the flight mess...he'd be here in time for us to eat dinner together). But he was already on the bus and complaining to me over text about the new DME video (titled "DME TV") by 6:40 and at French Quarter by 7! And I was NOT done shopping. So rather than me take the boat to French Quarter only to turn around and come back we decided he could just come meet me. By the way...his Magic Band worked perfectly at MCO despite the flight changes and opened the room on the first try.

So anyway...during my shopping wanderings I picked up a few things - one of those things of shea scrub from Basin (peppermint, yum!) a sweatshirt with Mickey wearing a Santa hat from World of Disney (because my warm clothes were in the room and it was getting chilly out), and...a Hidden Mickey Vera Bradley backpack!!! I just so happened to be in World of Disney the day that pattern launched.

I love Vera Bradley and love Disney, but I DO NOT like the first two patterns that came out (the black and pink ones). I love that Hidden Mickey one though ("Where’s Mickey?"). They were sold out of hipsters (in less than a day!), which would have been my first choice, but I like the backpack a lot. It’s a great park bag.

It was funny because I saw the sign announcing the new Veras outside of World of Disney. I found the nearest Cast Member and was just like, "TAKE ME TO THE VERAS." Without a word she swiftly turned around and quickly led me to the bags – she knew the seriousness of the situation. And somehow when I arrived NO ONE ELSE was around. So I took my time looking for the perfect bag. By the time I left that area was swarmed, and as I walked around the store clutching my bag I was stopped a few times by other ladies asking where I'd found it. Major score. I paid (with AP discount, natch) and wandered through some of the other stores...Tren-D, Little MissMatched (what a weird store), Art of Disney, Once Upon a Toy, Team Mickey, etc. I also got an ornament from the Christmas Store (kind of disappointed that they don’t have a big selection that can be personalized anymore). Downtown Disney was pretty full, I think because, again, it was a Friday night and they had Festival of the Masters going on.