I Can Go The Distance - A Princess Half Marathon Trip Report

Well, we just got back from our trip on Wednesday and we had an absolutely great time. This trip was a little different since it included our first ever half marathon and our first stay at a moderate resort. We were really excited to run in Disney’s Princess Half Marathon and to get another reason to visit WDW.

When: February 25th – 29th, 2012

Who: Ashley (me) and my husband, Wes. We got married last October and honeymooned on the Disney Dream with a stay at the Beach Club during the Food and Wine Festival after our cruise.

And now, on to the trip report!

Saturday February 25th – Travel, Travel, Travel and Some Firsts

Today our day started really early. Our flight was at 7:05am so that meant we were awake around 5am. We got up, finished packing last minute items and my Dad came to pick us up to take us to the airport at 5:30.

I love it when your countdown for a trip looks like this!

We arrived at the airport, went through security and were sitting at the gate by 5:49. I say this every trip but it is so nice to live so close to the airport. We boarded the plane and took off for a very uneventful flight. We landed at 8:49 and made our way to Disney’s Magical Express.

The line for DME was non-existent. We boarded the bus at 9:15 and made our way to Port Orleans French Quarter.

POFQ was the second stop after Saratoga Springs. We made our way to the online check in line where the people in front of us didn’t seem to understand what online check in was. I don’t know why the cast members behind the counter didn’t make the people move to the regular check in line but not too long after getting in line, it was our turn to check in.

We checked in and unfortunately our room was not ready. Not too much of a surprise since it was only 10:15am but you can always be hopeful. While I had been waiting in line to check in, Wes went over to the concierge to ask if we could buy my annual pass there. I thought that you had to buy them at the ticket counter in the parks but it turns out that if you are paying in full you can buy them at the concierge. Very exciting. So after checking in, we got in line to buy my first annual pass! I had done all kinds of math to determine whether or not I should buy the annual pass. I am potentially going on 3 trips to WDW this year so mathematically an annual pass was a necessity. I am going to be in Orlando in July for a work conference and decided to add a few days at Disney after the conference. There are also talks about going to Disney in December with my family. So even if I don’t go in December, it still made financial sense to buy the annual pass for this trip. Yay for math! :lol:

 

[Ariel484]

Wow, what an emotional roller coaster! So much to comment on!

First, I think it's great that you guys set multiple goals for yourselves. Really smart. I'm sorry you didn't reach your time goal, but you finished a half marathon! How freaking cool is that?! And it's very impressive that you did it after your longest run being 4.5 miles. Sheer determination right there!

That sucks about the long bathroom break. That must have been frustrating. I'm with you though...I'm not sure I'll ever get desperate enough to dart into the woods to do my business. :lol: :lookaroun Very cool that you ran into your sorority sisters though! What are the chances?!

So cool that Wes got your picture as you crossed the finish line. I love how thrilled you look!

Isn't it crazy how addicting these races are? I don't quite know what it is...maybe a combination of the positive/exciting environment, getting to see the parks in a different way, and the feeling of accomplishment you get when you cross the finish line (along with the awesome medals)? Something like that, I think.

Congratulations to you and Wes on finishing the race! :sohappy:

ETA: Not sure why this post is marked "Help"?! :lol:

 

[Ariel484]

thanks shannon! I loved your “Life’s A Beach, And Then You Run” trip report! i don’t think i could ever run an entire marathon! props to you for getting it done!!

Oops, missed this one...thanks! You've been bitten by the runDisney bug, so who knows...maybe a marathon is in your future?! You never know. :lookaroun

 

[Kristia]

Yay! Congratulations on finishing your first half marathon! That is an accomplishment that most people can not claim! I can totally relate to your feeling during training that this would be a "cross it off your bucket list" kind of thing. I thought the same thing when training for the marathon. Ugh...it takes so much time and commitment! Every long training run I kept saying "Never again! I just want to get through this race and finish!". Then we ran it and I was hooked! I apparently have forgotten about all the pain and training time and am starting to train for the Goofy Challenge in 2013 The Disney races are so addicting! We haven't hit any really long runs yet but I may be saying the same things during training this year as well! The pain is so worth the finish at the end! Although I don't feel like it, I think I have become a "runner" because of that marathon and Disney in general!

Loved all your pics at the mile markers! You looked great in all of them despite your pain! Dan and I didn't stop for any characters either. Like you, I am not a super huge character person and I was so afraid of being swept. Next time we may take a little more time for pics because at least now I know I can do it. Your next race will probably be a little more relaxing!

I remember you said you had forgotten to hydrate well during the day. That may have been why you were cramping up. Good job for overcoming all the roadblocks and finishing strong! You will only get stronger each race you do!

Congrats again! Maybe see you marathon weekend 2013 :lookaroun Come on, you know you want to! :ROFLOL:

 

[enchanted_belle]

Close up. Can you tell I was excited?

This is probably the cutest picture I've ever seen from a race. Ever.

Though it could have something to do with the neon orange tutu right behind you..... :lookaroun

Whew! That was really emotional, and definitely gives insight for someone who hasn't done a race yet on what to expect if she doesn't train like she needs to. I'm so proud of you for sticking to it though, and especially for smiling for each mile marker regardless of how much you're hurting! Def a trooper.

Ok, ok... more report! C'mon, post race-ness!!!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Congrats on finishing the race!!! :sohappy: You really didn't finish too far off you goal, which is awesome!!

I'd love to run through the castle... Knowing me I'd be a huge ball of emotion and probably cry lol

I'm running my first race in Sept (Tower of Terror 10 Miler!! Eeek!!! ) And right now I'm alternating a minute and half running / walking. My goal is just to finish the race. I don't even care if I'm the last one to cross the finish line. As long as I do and don't get swept up, then I'll consider it a success!!

Yay for you and Wes!!! :wave:

 

[grwnupprincess]

many congrats on finishing!! I so enjoyed reading your account of the race because it brought back many, many memories - my husband and I ran the WDW 1/2 in January 2010 - we had just come off our fall wedding and honeymoon and our training was sporadic at best...I think the farthest we had run before going down there was 5 miles! I actually googled "what gear do you need to run a 1/2 marathon" the day before our trip because I had no clue - but the thrill of it was actually just finishing - so a BIG congrats to you and Wes!!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

GASP!!!! You ran past my beloved Jack???? LOL He's totally in love with me ,he just doesn't know it yet.
Aha I love the mile 6 pic!!!!
Aew I'm sorry you hit a rough patch but very glad things started looking up shortly after and you should definately be proud(I could never do it) you did a great job way to go!!!

i know, i know! i really wish we would have stopped for some characters but we just didn’t have the time to stop and wait for 20 minutes per character. i’m glad you like the mile 6 picture, even though my eyes are closed. :lol: thank you! i really am proud to have finished the half marathon.

Wow, what an emotional roller coaster! So much to comment on!

i felt like i was on an emotional roller coaster while running! :lol:

First, I think it's great that you guys set multiple goals for yourselves. Really smart. I'm sorry you didn't reach your time goal, but you finished a half marathon! How freaking cool is that?! And it's very impressive that you did it after your longest run being 4.5 miles. Sheer determination right there!

thanks! i was so freaked out two days before our trip because i went for a run outside since it was a really nice day and i got tired so quickly. i started thinking, how am i supposed to run a half marathon?! wes helped me calm down and reassured me that it didn’t matter if we had to walk but we would be able to finish the race.

That sucks about the long bathroom break. That must have been frustrating. I'm with you though...I'm not sure I'll ever get desperate enough to dart into the woods to do my business. Very cool that you ran into your sorority sisters though! What are the chances?!

yea, the port-o-potty situation was not ideal but i wasn’t running into the woods to go to the bathroom. as the race went on there were more port-o-potties that didn’t have any lines. if only i had known that before we stopped but when you got to go, you got to go.

it was really great that they saw us and stopped to say hi. i still can’t believe that they found us! we were really lucky that we got to say hi.

So cool that Wes got your picture as you crossed the finish line. I love how thrilled you look!

Isn't it crazy how addicting these races are? I don't quite know what it is...maybe a combination of the positive/exciting environment, getting to see the parks in a different way, and the feeling of accomplishment you get when you cross the finish line (along with the awesome medals)? Something like that, I think.

Congratulations to you and Wes on finishing the race!

i was really happy that wes got my picture. i was super excited to finish that race! there was time during the race where i wasn’t sure if i was going to finish so actually running across the finish line was an amazing feeling. these races are soo addictive! i think its because you feel like you could do better the next time so you want to run in another one and another one, and so on. thank you so much!

ETA: Not sure why this post is marked "Help"?!

Oops, missed this one...thanks! You've been bitten by the runDisney bug, so who knows...maybe a marathon is in your future?! You never know.

you are very welcome. i have absolutely been bitten by the runDisney bug. i was trying to convince wes the other day that we should run in next year’s princess half marathon going to wdw right before (since my annual pass will still be good) and then go on the disney dream for a 4 night cruise! :lol: the dream leaves the day of the half marathon so we could run that morning and probably still get to the ship at a reasonable time that morning. not sure if he is too keen on the idea but i have a year to convince him!

Yay! Congratulations on finishing your first half marathon! That is an accomplishment that most people can not claim! I can totally relate to your feeling during training that this would be a "cross it off your bucket list" kind of thing. I thought the same thing when training for the marathon. Ugh...it takes so much time and commitment! Every long training run I kept saying "Never again! I just want to get through this race and finish!". Then we ran it and I was hooked! I apparently have forgotten about all the pain and training time and am starting to train for the Goofy Challenge in 2013. The Disney races are so addicting! We haven't hit any really long runs yet but I may be saying the same things during training this year as well! The pain is so worth the finish at the end! Although I don't feel like it, I think I have become a "runner" because of that marathon and Disney in general!

thank you so much! i am really proud of myself for finishing. i had the same feeling every time i would go to the gym like i just want to get this race over with and never do another one. and now i am also hooked! are we crazy?! we might be. if anything could get me to become a “runner” it would be disney! :lol:

Loved all your pics at the mile markers! You looked great in all of them despite your pain! Dan and I didn't stop for any characters either. Like you, I am not a super huge character person and I was so afraid of being swept. Next time we may take a little more time for pics because at least now I know I can do it. Your next race will probably be a little more relaxing!

thanks. i tried to make sure and smile for the pictures and save the grimace for when i was running. i hope that the next time we do a runDisney event that we train better so we can have some time to stop for characters and still finish the race and get a better time.

I remember you said you had forgotten to hydrate well during the day. That may have been why you were cramping up. Good job for overcoming all the roadblocks and finishing strong! You will only get stronger each race you do!

Congrats again! Maybe see you marathon weekend 2013. Come on, you know you want to!

thank you so much! bahahaha no, probably not marathon weekend 2013. i do want to but i don’t think so…at least probably not…:lookaroun :ROFLOL:

This is probably the cutest picture I've ever seen from a race. Ever.

Though it could have something to do with the neon orange tutu right behind you.....

Whew! That was really emotional, and definitely gives insight for someone who hasn't done a race yet on what to expect if she doesn't train like she needs to. I'm so proud of you for sticking to it though, and especially for smiling for each mile marker regardless of how much you're hurting! Def a trooper.

Ok, ok... more report! C'mon, post race-ness!!!

thank you! yea, we were following/passing that orange tutu guy for the last couples miles. he gave me a good laugh when i thought i was going to die.

i learned so much from running this first half marathon. i think i will be so much better prepared in future races and i know that i can improve with a better training plan beforehand. thank you so much. i really pushed myself and refused to give up. my stubbornness actually came in handy for this race. more report coming up now!

Congrats on finishing the race!!! You really didn't finish too far off you goal, which is awesome!!

I'd love to run through the castle... Knowing me I'd be a huge ball of emotion and probably cry lol

I'm running my first race in Sept (Tower of Terror 10 Miler!!) And right now I'm alternating a minute and half running / walking. My goal is just to finish the race. I don't even care if I'm the last one to cross the finish line. As long as I do and don't get swept up, then I'll consider it a success!!

Yay for you and Wes!!!

thanks!! i was really happy that we were so close to our goal but it was kind of bittersweet too because looking back we could have actually made our time goal.

running through the castle was really cool and all of the people cheering you on really made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside like “these people are proud of you. keep it up!”

that is so awesome that you are doing the tot 10 miler! you will do great! just finishing the race is a great goal! i think it is important to just have fun and don’t push yourself too hard at the beginning. remember to pace yourself and you will do fine! i wish i was going this sept to run but that would just be way too much money spent this year on disney trips. after all, i need to try to save some money for next year!

many congrats on finishing!! I so enjoyed reading your account of the race because it brought back many, many memories - my husband and I ran the WDW 1/2 in January 2010 - we had just come off our fall wedding and honeymoon and our training was sporadic at best...I think the farthest we had run before going down there was 5 miles! I actually googled "what gear do you need to run a 1/2 marathon" the day before our trip because I had no clue - but the thrill of it was actually just finishing - so a BIG congrats to you and Wes!!

thank you! it is really hard to train for a half marathon and have a wedding and honeymoon in the middle of training! i’m glad that we weren’t the only ones who hadn’t run that far before the half marathon.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Sunday February 26th - After the Half Marathon

Where were we…oh yes. We had boarded the bus and were on our way back to POFQ. Sitting down on the bus felt so good. The only problem was I didn’t know how I was going to get up. :lol: Our drive back to POFQ was so quick. I was shocked at how quickly we had returned to the resort. We got back around 10am. We got off the bus and slowly made our way back to our room. Thank God that we were in building 4 and on the first floor! I made it to our room, very slowly, but I made it. Once we got in the room we both collapsed on the bed. I didn’t stay there too long because I knew that if I did, I wouldn’t be able to get back up. So I got up and took a shower. It’s embarrassing to say but I really had trouble getting my shirt and sports bra off. :lol: My body was just so sore.

The shower felt wonderful and I actually laid down for a little bit. It felt glorious. I got out of the shower and I was walking like an 80 year old woman. I literally was hunched over and taking the tiniest steps. :lol: Wes just looked at me and laughed.

I decided to give my parents a call to let them know that we finished the race and how it went. They were very happy to hear that we finished and my mom thought it was hilarious that I was now moving like an 80 year old woman. Wes got dressed and then laid down on the bed. I still needed to get ready and that meant straightening my hair. It takes a little while and while I was getting my hair did, Wes took a nap.

I didn’t want to wake him so I took my sweet time getting ready. It was so funny how he was sleeping. At one point I walked over to make sure he was still breathing. :lol: He hadn’t moved at all since he fell asleep so I was a little concerned. Luckily, he started snoring so I knew we were okay.

A little after 11, I decided that I should wake Wes up and we should get moving. I knew that if we didn’t get out and moving that we would stay in the room for the entire day. So we were off to the Magic Kingdom!

Quick picture of our room as we went to the bus stop

Beautiful courtyard outside our room

We lucked out with a bus for MK arriving minutes after we got to the bus stop. We were extremely hungry at this point since all we had to eat since 3am was a granola bar and a banana. So as soon as we got to the MK we made our way to Cosmic Ray’s to get some food.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Despite our hunger, we just had to stop to take a picture in front of the castle.

Wes wouldn’t wear his medal. Boo! I understood though. It was really cool to be in the MK since we had just run through the park earlier in the day. After our quick stop for some pictures, it was on to Cosmic Ray’s. Can you believe that we had actually never eaten there before? Crazy. I was really excited to try it and I was so excited to get a hamburger and fries! I was absolutely starving. Wes thought he wanted to get something else so he went to Bay 1 and I went to Bay 2 to get my hamburger and fries. After I got my food, I met Wes at the topping bar. He ended up getting a hamburger too. Silly boy. We found a seat right in front of Sonny Eclipse and dug in to our food. I was so hungry, I almost forgot to take a picture.

The burger was sooo good. It was exactly what I needed after the race. Our game plan for touring the MK today was to stay in the same land and just hit up the attractions that were nearby and wouldn’t require us to move that much. We didn’t feel like moving a whole lot from Cosmic Ray’s so we decided to stay in Tomorrowland. We managed to walk all the way to Space Mountain and decided to go grab some FPs so we could ride later in the day. After that we went for a much needed journey around Tomorrowland on the Peoplemover.

It was a wonderful journey around Tomorrowland. I really wanted to just stay on and ride around a couple more times but we managed to get off the attraction and move on. From the Peoplemover we saw that Buzz Lightyear had a short wait so we figured we would go there next. And it was super close to where you get off the Peoplemover. Closest attractions were key today. :lol:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Wes is always so excited when I take pictures of him

I thought that I was doing pretty well with my score and then I looked at Wes’. Dang, I was doing horrible. He was in the 400 somethings before we were even past the Evil Zurg flying around in space part. I think I was under 100,000. So much for thinking I was doing well. When the ride was over, Wes beat me by a bazillion. Not really but enough to be embarrassed and to not take a picture of our scores. :lol: Our ride picture was even better than my horrible score!

:ROFLOL: We look so determined and focused on the targets. Normally I smile for the camera or make a silly face but I think I was trying so hard to get some last minute points that I forgot. Wes still managed to demolish my score.

After Buzz, it was over to the Carousel of Progress. What a great attraction. And it was even better this time because we didn’t get stuck at all. Once we exited singing “there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow” it was almost time to use our FP for Space Mountain. We started walking over towards Space when we saw Stitch out for pictures with virtually no line. So we went up to Stitch and he gave Wes a huge shove to get out of the way and then gave me a hug. :lol: He really shoved Wes pretty hard. It was a really funny interaction.

I think Wes was still a little shocked that he just got pushed out of the way by Stitch. I really like this picture but I think it was a really strange background choice. I’m not sure why they decided to stand there. After our funny alien encounter we still had about 10 minutes left before our FP time so we decided to just have a seat over by SM. I had brought my resort mug so I went to get some water from the water fountain. I knew that after all that running, I really needed to stay hydrated today. I wouldn’t make the same mistake I made the day before. As I was walking to the water fountain I saw my next fun picture stop.

Oh, hey! Here I am behind a futuristic tree.

It was now time for us to use our FP so we walked through the awesome new queue and were off on our ride through space. I got to sit in the very front of the ride and I think it is so much scarier in the front. I always feel like I might get decapitated on this ride so it makes it scary/fun to ride. :lol: I made it off the ride with my head still attached to my body and we decided that we were done with Tomorrowland. We still had a little energy and Wes wanted an ice cream sandwich from Sleepy Hollow so we made our way to Liberty Square.

Before we left Tomorrowland we went in Mickey’s Star Traders to see if they had any Boo merchandise. Wes’ sister asked us to get her guy friend something with Boo because he loves the character. When she asked us to get something I knew that we would have trouble finding anything. I absolutely love Boo and I think a lot of other people do too but they don’t have much merchandise for her. All we found with Boo was a pin and a little miniature set of the Monsters Inc characters. We figured that we would keep looking to see if we could find anything better for her guy friend so it was on to Liberty Square.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

The little shed on the right is pretty cool. If you look inside it has a book where it looks like one of the Liberty Square people had taken of notes of the people who had come to their town. It’s neat little details like this that makes Disney World so amazing.

When we entered Liberty Square I saw that the Liberty Square Riverboat was there. I don’t remember ever going on the riverboat so I wanted to do that this trip. I am sure that I went on it once as a kid but I have no memory of it and it seems like every recent trip we took the riverboat was under refurbishment. So we saw that it was there and operational and decided to go for a serene trip down the river.

I thought there would be more seating on the riverboat so we were pretty bummed when we went up to the third deck and all of the seats in the middle had already been taken. We ended up propping ourselves up between the railing and the railing for the stairs. It was nice to get a little rest off our feet but a seat would have been nicer. I thought the ride on the riverboat was really nice. It is cool to get different perspectives on parts of Frontierland and especially of Tom Sawyer Island and the Haunted Mansion. I don’t think I will ride the Liberty Belle every trip but it’s nice if you have the time and just feel like taking a break from all of the walking.

So sad this was closed but excited that it is getting refurbished

Sounds delightful

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We made it back to Liberty Square and decided to spend a little more time checking things out. This is another area of the park that I feel like I really over look. There are so many wonderful details to see and I normally run right by them on my way to the Haunted Mansion.

Trying to get the Maryland flag in the background. Wes and I are both from MD.

And the North Carolina flag since that is where we live now.

Next up was a walk through the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. I love this store. I normally always buy some Christmas ornaments for our all Disney Christmas tree but I actually didn’t buy any this trip. Very sad about that. I guess that just means that I can buy more ornaments next trip. :lol: Wes wanted his ice cream sandwich so he got in line at Sleepy Hollow and I walked around the area a little bit to take a couple pictures and check out the Heritage House.

I went back to Sleepy Hollow and Wes was still in line so I grabbed a table. We had a lovely view of the castle and Dream Along with Mickey was going on while we were sitting there. Wes got his ice cream sandwich and managed to wait a minute before he started to eat so I could take a picture.

 

[Kristia]

So I got up and took a shower. It’s embarrassing to say but I really had trouble getting my shirt and sports bra off. :lol: My body was just so sore.

Hahaha! This cracked me up! Don't be embarrassed! There have been times during long runs that I have been so exhausted and sweaty that I have a nearly impossible time getting those darn sports bras off! They have to be tight to keep everything bound up and immobile but getting them off is darn near impossible. There have been times that I have had to have the husband help me get it off! I almost start to have a panic attack when I get partially stuck half in and half out of them. Not very attractive lol! :ROFLOL:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

:lol: I asked him to smile but he was too busy enjoying his tasty treat

Once Wes finished his treat we were ready to leave the park. We were starting to get really tired and we wanted to go back to the resort to take a nap. Before leaving I wanted to stop by the Emporium to see if they had any 40th Anniversary merchandise left. Back in October I saw a really great iPhone cover and I wanted to buy it but Wes said I should wait since we hadn’t gotten our new iPhone 4s yet and he wasn’t sure that it would fit. So I didn’t buy it and have regretted it every day since. I was hoping that maybe they would have some left. So to the Emporium we went to look.

We didn’t see any of the 40th Anniversary merchandise so we asked a cast member if they had any. She said they had very little left so we went to check it out. No luck on the iPhone cover. Major bummer. I still blame Wes for me not buying that cover. :lol: After browsing the Emporium we made our exit and headed for the buses.

We got back to POFQ around 3:30 and we were super tired at this point. It was time for a much needed nap.

The little courtyard outside our room.

I only wanted to take an hour nap so I set my phone alarm to wake me up at 4:45. I think we both fell asleep almost immediately. It was such a wonderful nap. I woke up and looked at my phone and it was 5:15. I didn’t even hear my alarm go off or remember turning it off. I must have been more tired than I thought. I woke Wes up and told him that we needed to get moving. We had dinner reservations at La Hacienda de San Angel at 7. I was so excited to try this restaurant. I love Mexican food so I was really excited to see if this place was any good.

We managed to get ourselves out of bed and to the bus stop by 5:30. We lucked out again with a bus showing up pretty soon after we got to the bus stop and we were off to Epcot.

We had a little time to kill before we needed to check in for our reservation so we decided to go on Spaceship Earth since it had no wait. This was another great attraction to do after having run a half marathon. All you do is sit and travel through time to see all of the greatest advancements in civilization. We had a very relaxing ride on Spaceship Earth and then we decided to check out MouseGear to see if we would have any luck finding that coveted iPhone cover. We didn’t find the iPhone cover but I did find this really cute purse and wallet.

I am not one for flashy purses but I absolutely could use the wallet. I bought a wallet back in Disney World in 2007 that has vintage movie posters on it that I have been using ever since so I figured I could afford an update. I think I may alternate between this new wallet in the spring/summer and the vintage poster one in the fall/winter. I love them both too much to not use them both. I saw a lot of other really cute merchandise that I wanted to buy but I was able to control myself and only buy the wallet.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After our quick shopping spree it was on to Mexico to check in for dinner.

We checked in for dinner at 6:35 which was a little early for our 7pm reservation but I would rather be early than late. We got our buzzer and we saw that Señor Donald was out! His line wasn’t too bad and since we had to wait for our table, we decided to wait for our picture. We were the next people in line for our picture when our buzzer went off. We tried to ignore the buzzer since we were the next people in line but not only did it vibrate but it also talked! It would vibrate and then say “your table is now ready. Please check in”. How crazy is that?! We were the next people in line, not to mention we were being called 15 minutes before our reservation time, and I was determined to get our picture with Señor Donald. I put the buzzer in my hoodie pocket and every time it talked I just covered it up with my hand to drown out the noise. Moments later it was our turn.

It was nice the cast member tried to get a picture of us interacting with Donald.

We got our picture and then went to check in for dinner. On our way in there was a guy trying to bring three strollers in to the restaurant. The hostess told them that they couldn’t bring them in and asked them to leave them outside. The family complied and went to put their strollers outside. We went in to the waiting area to wait for our table and then the rest of the family with the strollers showed up. The grandfather was handing out light sabers to all the kids as they went into the restaurant. Wes and I just looked at each other like what a great idea that is to give a bunch of little kids light sabers right before you enter a restaurant. (enter sarcasm here) The family probably had about 10 or 12 people and they all just walked past the host stand into the restaurant. Before we got taken back to our table they were on their way back to the host stand since their table wasn’t ready. It seemed like they just decided to see themselves in. It was quite entertaining to watch as we waited.

Our table was ready so we were seated at a half booth/table. Everything on the menu looked really good and I wasn’t sure what to order.

The view from our table

I loved these lanterns. They look so pretty in person.

Right after we were seated the family of 10 I mentioned earlier was seated at the table right behind Wes. I told him that they were there and we were anticipating a lot of craziness with the kids and the light sabers. I mention this because they were actually a really cute little family and the kids didn’t play with their light sabers or anything. I overheard them giving a toast to their parent’s anniversary and their sister’s promotion at work. They all seemed so nice and I suddenly felt bad for judging them. I know that there are a lot of times on these boards that we complain about all of the crazy people we see in WDW but I thought this was worth mentioning because they were actually the total opposite of how I initially perceived them. It was a nice reminder to not judge people from a first impression. Sometimes people surprise you like that. Ok, enough of this happy little tangent and back to dinner.

Our waiter came over and he seemed pretty frazzled. It took him a little while before he came over to us because he had a large party that was right next to us. We decided to order some margaritas to celebrate our half marathon finish and ordered some chips and salsa to start.

The restaurant was really dark so a little auto-fix to brighten things up

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I absolutely love chips and salsa so I was a little worried when I was looking at the menu for La Hacienda when I didn’t see chips and salsa on the menu. I was relieved when I read a review online where someone mentioned the chips and salsa. I was really excited to try them to see if the salsas would be any good. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint! :slurp: OMG, they were so tasty. Once I start eating chips and salsa there is no stopping me.

For dinner I really wanted tacos so I decided to get the Taquiza appetizer as my dinner. It was a taco trio featuring a Rib eye taco with chipolte salsa, roasted chicken taco with salsa verde, and Chilorio (marinated pork) taco. They were absolutely AMAZING! Delicioso!

I started on the left with the pork and worked my way to the right. My favorite was the pork with the chicken in a close second and the rib eye in third. The pork and the chicken were so good that I didn’t save much room for the rib eye one. :slurp:

Wes decided to go with the Pollo al Pastor (Achiote marinated chicken served with roasted vegetables, beans and pineapple relish). He really enjoyed his meal too and I remember his plate being empty at the end of dinner.

I was so happy with our meal! I think this may be my new favorite restaurant in WDW. Our food was great and even though our waiter wasn’t too great we still had a really good dinner. And the best part was that the prices were actually really reasonable for a table service restaurant. I think our bill was around $65 and 24 of those dollars were for our margaritas! Not too shabby! I would absolutely go back and for anyone else who loves Mexican food La Hacienda de San Angel is a must!

We were done with dinner around 7:25. We have this habit of being in restaurants for less than an hour. We do it at home too. Since we had so much time left before we needed to find a seat for IllumiNations, we decided to explore the Mexico pavilion.

We went to ride the Grand Fiesta Tour which seems to never have any wait. A family of four sat in front of us and their son had the coolest light up Mohawk. Wes told him how much he liked it and the parents kindly turned it off so it wouldn’t detract from the ride. The Mom said how they got it so he could wear it to crazy hair day at school. What a smart idea! And I told them it was better than actually committing to a Mohawk. :lol: I think Wes wanted to buy one.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We returned from our voyage through Mexico and decided to check out some of the merchandise.

I would love to get one of these but I wouldn’t have the heart to break it open.

Wes pointed out that they sold salsa and I was tempted to buy some but knew that it would be dangerous to try to take back on the plane. I find too that salsa is often hit or miss so I wouldn’t want to pay for it unless I could try it. We decided that we had spent enough time in Mexico and wanted to go find a spot for IllumiNations.

Adiós!

We weren’t sure where to sit for IllumiNations so we went back towards the entrance to Future World and stopped in Disney Traders to look at some more merchandise while we decided. I found this really funny hat.

I’ve seen this as a shirt but hadn’t seen the hat yet. I think it’s better as a shirt than a hat. We left Disney Traders decided to try to find a seat for IllumiNations. We didn’t want to stand since we were still exhausted from the half marathon so we walked back towards Mexico and decided to stop at the first bench we saw. We didn’t see any in Mexico but I did see this really cool shirt.

We kept walking and found a bench in China. It looked like we would have a slightly obscured view of IllumiNations because of some trees on a little island but we figured it was better than continuing walking around World Showcase. There was still about 40 minutes until IllumiNations started and I really wanted a caramel apple. I didn’t want to eat it now since we had just had dinner but I knew that I would want one later as a snack. Wes offered to go to Germany to get me one. What a nice husband! He left to go to Germany and I decided to give my mom a call to let her know what we were up to. While I was waiting for Wes to return it started to drizzle a little bit. I had a hoodie so I just pulled up my hood and hoped that it wouldn’t start raining any harder. Luckily it just continued to drizzle. Wes got back with my caramel apple. Yay! After Wes got back the rain stopped and we were just about 15 minutes away from the start of IllumiNations.

I didn’t take many pictures of IllumiNations because like the safari in AK, I have a bunch of pictures of IllumiNations that never come out great and then I feel like I am missing most of the show by looking through a camera display screen. I only took 5 pictures which is another huge accomplishment for me. Next time, I hope to not take any.

You can see our slight obstruction

IllumiNations was great and I was really happy that we stayed to watch. We made our way out of the park right after and it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it was going to be. I think the drizzle right before IllumiNations made a lot of people decide to leave early in case it started to pour.

We got to the bus stop at 9:30 and were back to POFQ at 9:55. Once we got back I decided to have a little bit of my caramel apple and then it was time for bed.

:slurp: The caramel apple was very good. I ate a fourth of the apple and then put the rest in our mini-fridge for later. It had been a really long day starting at 3am and we were ready for bed.

Up next: Hollywood Studios and a torrential downpour at the Magic Kingdom

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

YAAYY CONGRATS ON FINISHING THE RACE! :sohappy: I really want to start training to run in one of the half-marathons next year, but that's what I'm afraid of is getting exhausted early on in the race and then hating the rest of it.... Haha! But HUGE kudos to you for finishing! I think that they have gels out there that you can buy and eat along your race that give you glucose so you don't run out of energy (I'm taking a Nutrition & Fitness class in school and we learned that a couple weeks ago ).
Major props to you guys though for getting back out into the parks! I would've just laid in bed until dinner probably but then again it's Disney World!! Haha! I don't know if it was because I was reading your TR so late last night and was slap happy, but that picture of Wes asleep on the bed and you thought he was dead until he started snoring cracked me up :lol:
I'm glad you guys got to try La Hacienda de Angel! I went there over the summer with my mom and we loved it! We were there closer to 9 o'clock so we got an awesome window view of Illuminations.
Can't wait to read the rest! This is awesome

 

[tink65]

Congratulations on your first 1/2 marathon! I ran my first 1/2 last year at the Wine & Dine and loved every minute of it..... I know what you mean about the emotional high you get when you cross the finish line! I cried!!!! I would love to run the Princess 1/2....maybe next year!

I also read your Disneymoon report & loved it! Thanks for sharing and again congratulations to both of you!

 

[Sumrdog]

I have never commented on anyones trip report before, but I felt compelled to say Congratulations on your 1/2 marathon! I could totally relate to your description of how tired you felt and walking like an 80 year old woman afterward. I am not much of a runner but I decided that I wanted to run a full marathon a few years ago, I trained for a year...it was challenging and I was so proud of myself when I finished I did not break any records or anything, but I finished before they dismantled the finish line.
I really want to do the Princess 1/2 marathon, I loved seeing all your pictures. It looks so fun to run through the Magic Kingdom... I am waiting for my daughter to be old enough to do it with me