Life’s A Beach, And Then You Run: A 2012 Marathon Weekend Trip Report!

Hello friends! Welcome to the story of my Marathon Weekend.

The Cast (the only picture of the 3 of us from the entire weekend):

That would be mom (Kriss), my brother (Craig, aka Princes Craiggy, 25) and me (Shannon, 27).

This was my 6th trip to WDW, and 3rd trip in the last 12 months…lucky me! :sohappy:

Past trips include…

August 1995 (All-Star Sports)
May 2009 (Honeymoon at Boardwalk Inn)
November 2009 (Boardwalk Inn)
February 2011 (Princess Half Marathon/Port Orleans Riverside)
June 2011 (Split-stay: Animal Kingdom Lodge and Boardwalk Villas)

There’s not really much to say in regards to how this trip came to be…basically before the Princess Half in 2011, Princess Craiggy and I agreed that if we made it out of the half alive, we’d sign up for the 2012 Marathon. And here we are! Yay! :sohappy:

 

[Ariel484]

Day 4: January 9, 2012.

Rather than get up early to try to make early morning EMH rope drop at Animal Kingdom, I decided to begin the last day of this short trip by sleeping in. I ended up waking up at 8AM – much earlier than I expected – and headed to Beach Club Marketplace for a quick breakfast. French Toast Sticks…yum.

Mom and Craig came over to say goodbye soon after. They were heading to Ikea in Orlando and tried to get me to come with them. Um...:lookaroun love you guys but…really it was a no-brainer – no thanks. I got my stuff packed and checked out of BCV at about 10:30AM. Destination: Magic Kingdom!

Once I got to MK I didn’t really know what to do with myself. The emotional rollercoaster I’d been on that weekend continued and I was back to feeling sad that I was alone and was looking forward to going home.

I stopped in Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe to see if they could personalize an ornament for me, but the next available timeslot was 2:30PM, and I was due to catch the Magical Express at 3. Oh well, I’ll have to get it on the next trip.

Since I was in Liberty Square anyway, I decided to meet Tiana.

Tiana was an all-star that day. I don’t know if she could tell I was a little sad or what, but when she saw my marathon medal, she exclaimed “I am so amazed by you! You are such an inspiration!” It sounds stupid, but this made me feel a million times better. I just wish someone had told me how terrible I looked that morning (and yes, I was gross and wore my tech shirt for the second day in a row).

After meeting Tiana, I had a serious conversation with myself. I was in the freaking Magic Kingdom, and I wouldn’t be back for months. I thought of Will, who was at work that day, and who I knew would have loved to be here. It was time to stop feeling sorry for myself and make the most of the last day of this short trip. And since there’s nothing like character loving to chase away the blues, I decided to get as many character photos as I could that day. Onward!

I made my way to the hub intending to go to Tomorrowland, but got stopped by Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It.

 

[Ariel484]

It was a beautiful day…too warm to wear my tech shirt, unfortunately.

Tech shirt back on!

I was surprised to find Chip and Dale in Tomorrowland…how can they be in 2 places at once if Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It was still going on? Hmm…Disney Magic I guess. :lol: :lookaroun Hopefully they won’t get mad at me for not having a Chip & Dale relay medal!

The ‘munks weren’t mad at all. In fact, they fawned all over me and admired how shiny the medal was. Dale helped me show it off:

After meeting the ‘munks, I continued to pretty much follow the race course.

I stopped for an ice-cold Coke in Mickey’s Star Traders…YUM. I’d actually bought one immediately following the race, never drank it, and ended up leaving it in the room. :hammer:

 

[Ariel484]

Just like the previous day, I ended up in a character line at the Mad Tea Party…this time it was with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!

Alice and the White Rabbit were also available for photos. The Dee/Dum character attendant tipped me off that the Queen of Hearts would also be out that day…excitement! About a minute after my Dee/Dum picture, the Queen arrived and I quickly hopped into her line. While waiting I chatted a bit with the character attendant – a fellow Ohioan! :sohappy:

This is where things got a little crazy (and bless the character attendant for actually taking photos!)…the Queen took my medal…

…inspected it closely…

…and we got our picture.

After the picture she waved to me and began to walk away…still holding my medal! “No, no, no!” I said, pointing to my shirt, “I did it.”

She considered this for a second, stamped her foot and handed the medal back to me, nose in the air. Whew, that was a close one!

After the attempted theft, I continued on through Fantasyland.

The walls had gone up around Dumbo overnight.

The Fairy Godmother was out near the castle, but I passed her by since I met her in November 2009, and headed down a path near Castle Couture toward the Hub.

 

[Kristia]

Yep, planning on returning again next year with the bro (and hopefully Will in spectator-form only...he's open to doing a 10-miler but I think that's as far as he goes!)...gotta get the special 20th anniversary marathon medal!

:sohappy: Maybe we can meet up if we both make it! I am hoping to swing it even if it is a quick weekend trip. Now that I want to do races down there, I have to get out of the mindset of "if I go to Disney I need to stay a week and do every park"!

 

[Ariel484]

:sohappy: Maybe we can meet up if we both make it! I am hoping to swing it even if it is a quick weekend trip. Now that I want to do races down there, I have to get out of the mindset of "if I go to Disney I need to stay a week and do every park"!

That would be great! :sohappy: If we get there, it will definitely be a short weekend trip. The short trips just make me want a longer one soooooo badly :lol:

 

[surfsupdon]

Best trip report EVER!! Thanks for it. Loved that weekend! Congrats again.

Aside from the cheering from strangers along the way, my favorite part after the race is wearing my medal to a theme park!! Characters, other competitors, CMs, and other vacationers are always so supportive. I love it.

See you next Jan! And I'm already booked for ToT 10 Miler.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

So glad Tiana was able to make the day more magical It's always nice when you get just that spot of pixie dust you need!

I love how the Queen of Hearts interacted with you! She is a great character!

I had a great experience with her as well in September. She was very upset that she wasn't featured on the MNSSHP tshirt :lol:

 

[Ariel484]

Best trip report EVER!! Thanks for it. Loved that weekend! Congrats again.

Aside from the cheering from strangers along the way, my favorite part after the race is wearing my medal to a theme park!! Characters, other competitors, CMs, and other vacationers are always so supportive. I love it.

See you next Jan! And I'm already booked for ToT 10 Miler.

Thanks! :sohappy: Yeah, wearing the medal around is great, and it's so fun when the characters make a big deal out of it. It's a great way to end a race weekend at Disney.

So glad Tiana was able to make the day more magical It's always nice when you get just that spot of pixie dust you need!

I love how the Queen of Hearts interacted with you! She is a great character!

I had a great experience with her as well in September. She was very upset that she wasn't featured on the MNSSHP tshirt

I was very lucky to get such great character experiences that day! Now that you mention the Queen being upset about not being on the MNSSHP shirt, a little girl in front of my had an autograph book out with pictures of some Disney characters, and the Queen was not too pleased to see that she wasn't in there either. She gets no love! :lol:

 

[enchanted_belle]

:ROFLOL: I love the Queen of Hearts, she's wonderful. :ROFLOL:

Ok, I tried emailing the running powers that be down in Disney about our beloved 10-miler. Here's the response I got:

Courtney,
We will have more information in the coming weeks on rundisney.com. Please continue to check back for updates.
Thank you,
runDisney


.... that doesn't tell us anything.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I'm a little late but congrats on finishing the marathon!!! Woooo hooooo!! Now gonna lie, my eyes teared up when I read about the finish (I totally am a crier... It's awful lol) I probably would have bawled my eyes out crossing the finish line.

So sorry Will couldn't be there but there's always the next one!!!

Some character experiences are just completely AWESOME... sounds like you got several really great ones that day! Glad they lifted your spirits!

 

[Ariel484]

I love the Queen of Hearts, she's wonderful.

Ok, I tried emailing the running powers that be down in Disney about our beloved 10-miler. Here's the response I got:

Courtney,
We will have more information in the coming weeks on rundisney.com. Please continue to check back for updates.
Thank you,
runDisney


.... that doesn't tell us anything.

Yes, the Queen rocked! :king: This was my first time meeting her and she didn't disappoint.

Too bad about the lack of 1-miler info...hopefully something will be out by the end of next week (aka beginning of February). :shrug:

I'm a little late but congrats on finishing the marathon!!! Woooo hooooo!! Now gonna lie, my eyes teared up when I read about the finish (I totally am a crier... It's awful lol) I probably would have bawled my eyes out crossing the finish line.

So sorry Will couldn't be there but there's always the next one!!!

Some character experiences are just completely AWESOME... sounds like you got several really great ones that day! Glad they lifted your spirits!

Thanks Darolyn! I wasn't expecting to get so emotional...but what can ya do?! :lol:

The characters were just what I needed to brighten my mood. Gotta love 'em!

 

[Ariel484]

I found myself back in Liberty Square…time for lunch!

I had been quite excited to see the expanded menu at Columbia Harbor House…so what did I order? Chicken tenders and fries. Way to expand my horizons, right? The CM thought I’d waited too long to get my order (maybe 5-7 minutes, not a big deal at all) and gave me free dessert. Score!

Next up was Frontierland…Donald was out!

A ride on Splash sounded nice in the sun, but I passed it by. Maybe next trip.

Hey, all those people are wearing the same shirts! They almost look like a big, cohesive group of some sort! :zipit:

 

[Ariel484]

I wandered into Adventureland next, hoping to meet Pirate Goofy…wish granted!

He was very pleased to see the medal. Maybe I’ll get his next year? He made sure to shine the medal up for me before our photo (not that it mattered since it was cut out).

It was about 1:30 at this point, and I had promised myself that I’d get on a bus back to the Beach Club by 2, so I began to make my way back to the front of the park.

As odd as I found the Christmas decorations and music at the beginning of the trip, I’m glad it was all still going on. It was a nice treat.

Trying to block out the walls around Main Street Bakery:

Can you see me?

 

[Ariel484]

I had one last stop I wanted to make…to the Town Square Theater!

The hope was to get a picture with Mickey and my medal/tech shirt. As I approached the Theater, a CM called out, “You should go into the theater, Mickey will want to see that!” gesturing toward my medal. In reality, Mickey wasn’t all that excited to see me. The character attendant tried to engage him, but the Mouse just wasn’t feeling it. We all have our off days, I guess. :lol:

Magician supplies:

Apparently Mickey’s been to Castaway Cay…we’ll be there soon, too! :sohappy: And by soon I mean 590ish days from now.

At least he put on a happy face for the photo. :lol:

With that, I decided it was time to leave the Kingdom. Stairs were still difficult at this point; I was using a little hoppity-skippity technique where I sort of jumped down them, because walking down like a normal person was way too rough on my quads. The CM that had sent me into the theater earlier got a good laugh out of it. “I can tell you ran the marathon yesterday!” Yep, yep I did.

 

[enchanted_belle]

Hey, all those people are wearing the same shirts! They almost look like a big, cohesive group of some sort! :zipit:

:ROFLOL:
Maybe Splash was doing color-coded rides?

The character attendant tried to engage him, but the Mouse just wasn’t feeling it. We all have our off days, I guess. :lol:

At least he put on a happy face for the photo. :lol:

He was jealous of your medal and wanted his own, but he didn't want to show it? :shrug: Poor Mickey, it makes me want to make him happy!

With that, I decided it was time to leave the Kingdom. Stairs were still difficult at this point; I was using a little hoppity-skippity technique where I sort of jumped down them, because walking down like a normal person was way too rough on my quads. The CM that had sent me into the theater earlier got a good laugh out of it. “I can tell you ran the marathon yesterday!” Yep, yep I did.

I know the hop-skip move well lol! I used it this morning because my quads are killing from the gym last night..
And I love WDW at Christmas, it looks soooo pretty in pictures! :xmas:

 

[angieandtrevor]

What a wonderful report and after reading this you are making me think I might be able to do it (maybe), it has been on my bucket list for years. I am a runner but most definitely not a marathon runner however I think I could do it simply for the fact of getting that awesome medal.....what an accomplishment !!!!!

 

[disneygirl1]

Very cool girl!!


I'm ready to hear about this marathon!! It's stormy and nasty here where we live and there's nothing better! I can't wait to see your photos and video!

Girl I am hoping I can do it.... One thing has me on the edge. We leave for Disney the Friday after the race and I scared to death!!! I can do it though Right???

I am doing the Broad Street Run this year too!

Really!!! It's May 6th this year right?

 

[disneygirl1]

Amazing report!!! Congrats!!! You should be SO Proud of yourself! And what a-hole that guy at beaches and cream was!!!! If I was Craig it would have taken everything in my power not to punch the guy! Sigh! Some people!!!

 

[Ariel484]

Maybe Splash was doing color-coded rides?

He was jealous of your medal and wanted his own, but he didn't want to show it? Poor Mickey, it makes me want to make him happy!

Yes, do give Mickey a hug for me, since I think you're going to be seeing him sooner than I will! :sohappy:

I know the hop-skip move well lol! I used it this morning because my quads are killing from the gym last night..
And I love WDW at Christmas, it looks soooo pretty in pictures!

The decorations are beautiful, but my favorite thing about Christmas at Disney is the music they play around the resorts. It makes the atmosphere that much better.

What a wonderful report and after reading this you are making me think I might be able to do it (maybe), it has been on my bucket list for years. I am a runner but most definitely not a marathon runner however I think I could do it simply for the fact of getting that awesome medal.....what an accomplishment !!!!!

Thanks! :sohappy: You can totally do it! I never thought I'd complete a marathon, and well...look at me now. This experience has definitely taught me that if I want something badly enough and really put my mind to it, I can make it happen.

Girl I am hoping I can do it.... One thing has me on the edge. We leave for Disney the Friday after the race and I scared to death!!! I can do it though Right???

Really!!! It's May 6th this year right?

You can do it Reese! :sohappy:

Amazing report!!! Congrats!!! You should be SO Proud of yourself! And what a-hole that guy at beaches and cream was!!!! If I was Craig it would have taken everything in my power not to punch the guy! Sigh! Some people!!!

Thanks Reese! My brother took the whole thing in stride...he acknowledged how ridiculous it was pretty quickly and was laughing about it. I'm glad he didn't punch the guy, I wouldn't have wanted to get thrown out of Beaches and Cream! :lol: But yeah, you're right...that guy was a total a-hole.

 

[enchanted_belle]

Yes, do give Mickey a hug for me, since I think you're going to be seeing him sooner than I will! :sohappy:




The decorations are beautiful, but my favorite thing about Christmas at Disney is the music they play around the resorts. It makes the atmosphere that much better.

18 more days! :sohappy::sohappy: First time in four years going, so the wait is killing me.

I can't even imagine what it's like to be there in the midst of decorations, music, and the food. I think it would ruin Christmas at home for me... Disney and only Disney after that.