So This Is Love: A 2010 Princess Half Marathon Trip Report!

Hi everyone! We returned almost two weeks ago from a quick weekend stay at Disney’s Pop Century resort, March 5-8. I swear, I finish one trip report and it’s time to turn around and start another one. Seeing that my last report hasn’t moved down the page too far, I’m going to be brief with the introductions, as I think many of you might “know” us by now!

I’m Holly, and traveling with me is my love, Brett. Here we are ringing in 2010 from sea:

That picture was taken approximately 4 days after we signed up for the 2010 Princess Half Marathon! Now, I’m not a very princess-y girl and tiaras and sparkle really aren’t my thing. But after seeing the character pictures from last year’s inaugural event, the thought of meeting Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale in their royal attire had me sold. Therefore, we’d been talking about this as a possibility since sometime last summer; however, we didn’t actually pull the trigger and make it happen until the end of December. Mostly this is because the first week of March is one of the two absolute busiest weeks of my entire year at work. Pretty much everything I do leads up to a week long event and then tapers off from it twice a year. Because of this I knew the only way to make it happen would be to leave after work on Friday and come home Monday (taking only one day off). When we got home from our cruise we made resort reservations, secured some ADRs, and started setting the plan in motion. Oh yeah… and we talked about a training schedule. Can’t forget that! :lol:

Speaking of training… :lookaroun Does anyone remember how well prepared we were for the 2009 Marathon?!? I’m not going to go back and count, but I’m sure there were numerous times throughout that trip report that I swore I’d never go into another one of these events under trained… yada, yada, yada. Yeah… about that. The motivation to train in the cold weather we’ve been having just wasn’t there. I know, I know, we live in South Carolina... hardly the harsh weather many others have been dealing with. Plus, I’ll admit, neither one of us was truly respecting the distance, considering we’d already conquered a full 26.2 miles, it wasn’t hard for us to tell ourselves we’d be okay pushing through a “measly” 13.1. I’m sitting here shaking my head at myself as I type this.

Anywhoo… enough about our pathetic attempts at training, let’s get on to the good stuff. One thing is for sure, Brett was a real sport about it all. From the beginning, months ago, when I asked him if he’d be willing to run a race geared towards women all the way to the finish line where he’d endured my countless references to him as Princess Brett.

So this is love!!

 

[HollyBelle]

Mickey's House:

 

[HollyBelle]

After we left Toontown we made our way to Tomorrowland and got on the TTA.

We followed up the peoplemover with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, where I maxed out the score!! Not only did I become a Galactic Hero, but I hit 999,999 before Brett did... and he ALWAYS maxes it out early in the ride. Take that! Not counting the time I scored 999,999 when the ride stopped and the blasters didn’t temporarily disable, this is a first for me. So yay, Holly!

I had a 50 mm lens on my camera so I couldn’t even get in the frame, but I promise you it was MY score! :sohappy:

After Buzz we left Tomorrowland, taking some pictures along the way.

 

[HollyBelle]

We weaved through the Spectro chaos as the parade was ending and hit up Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s always fun to get our own boat, or any multiple person ride vehicle, for that matter. Davy Jones spoke to Brett at some point because the next thing I know... Davy Goofy was jumping off the shelf and coming home with us. Below is his purchase portrait. Two tree friends down, one to go... who's it gonna be?!

And some random pirate lollipops...

With dinner reservations sneaking up on us, we sadly said goodbye to the MK, and made our way over to the Polynesian.

 

[HollyBelle]

Ohana is, and will always be, our celebration place. It has been since the very first trip we took together, and even though the only available time we could get two months ago when we made reservations was at 8:40 pm, we excitedly took it. We arrived around 8:20 or so and luckily found some seats nearby a nice couple in the lobby. They’d just arrived to the World and were kicking off a birthday celebration in style with ressies at Ohana. I envied their recent arrival... there's always a different mood in the air when you're experiencing the first half of your trip and not the end of it. Ahhh... well. At least we'll be back relatively soon.

After about 10 minutes our pager went off and we made our way to the hostess stand.

Dinner was super delicious, just like always. In my opinion, even though $30 pp is expensive, Ohana still provides great value, especially when compared to the breakfast buffets that cost as much... ahem, Akershus, I’m looking at you. :lookaroun

This one's pretty blurry, but those wings and wontons still look as delicious as ever:

As for the sides, I still miss the scalloped potatoes.

I don't like pictures of half eaten food or messy plates, so here's the only shot I have of the meats...Mmmmm, delectable!

While we were enjoying our dinner, one of the chefs stopped by the table asking how we were doing and making fun of my shrimp peeling approach. Next thing I knew, he was back with a small plate of about 6-8 shrimp freshly peeled for me. How sweet! But how am I ever going to eat that many more?!

I face the same dilemma EVERY time we visit Ohana... I gobble up every wonton put in front of me, while Brett devours all the honey coriander chicken wings as we wait on the “main course.” I can’t help myself. I know I’m going to be way too stuffed to eat, yet I do it every time. By the time the delicious steak, pork, turkey and shrimp come around I’m stuffed to the gills. Then they wreck me with one of the most delicious desserts EVER. I wish I could eat my meal, and then go back for dessert, like two hours later. That’d be perfect.

In my opinion, Ohana will always rank right up there with our signature dining experiences and you all know how much I love those signature experiences so that's saying a lot. Of course, the sense of nostalgia it provides for me is tough to compete with.

We stopped in the Boutiki on our way out and then waddled back to Pop to pack (so soon?!?) and get some sleep. It’d been a LOOOOOONG day.

Next...check out, Epcot, AK, and DTD all before 1pm!

 

[frank2271]

Ohana's got rid of the potato's????? They were my favorite thing there.

I also miss the pineapple and caramel dessert. That was an unforgettable surprise. Who knew it would be so delicious? :slurp:

 

[HollyBelle]

Ohana's got rid of the potato's????? They were my favorite thing there.

I also miss the pineapple and caramel dessert. That was an unforgettable surprise. Who knew it would be so delicious? :slurp:

I'm with you on the pineapple and caramel, it was sooooo good. It took me many a trip to get over that one... but at least the replacement is equally as delicious. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the noodles. From Brett's perspective, he says as long as they don't mess with the honey coriander chicken wings, he'll take me there anytime I like. :lol:

 

[frank2271]

OH, by the way Holly, Tell your guy Brett that I wore my medal with my wife. The support doesn't end at the finish line. LOL!

 

[mouselvrmom]

More really fabulous pictures, Holly! You captured the spirit of being there perfectly. I loved looking at all of those Fantasyland and Toontown ones! You're getting super good with your new camera!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

i always love reading your trip reports holly! sounds like you all had a great time on your short trip and you were still able to pack in a lot of fun. your report almost makes me want to run the half marathon and i don't run :lol: maybe a disney half marathon is just the motivation i need to get my rear in gear! LOVE all the pictures! you take such interesting angles and the colors are so vibrant. great great trip report. can't wait to read the rest!

 

[blackthidot]

Seems like it was not long ago you were running in the marathon! Way to go! Excellent food pics too!!

 

[joanna71985]

I love the pictures! Especially the MK ones

 

[HollyBelle]

OH, by the way Holly, Tell your guy Brett that I wore my medal with my wife. The support doesn't end at the finish line. LOL!

His "argument" was that the ladies should get all the glory. :lookaroun :lol:

More really fabulous pictures, Holly! You captured the spirit of being there perfectly. I loved looking at all of those Fantasyland and Toontown ones! You're getting super good with your new camera!

Thanks, Jenn. I was never crazy fond of it before, but I might just miss Mickey's house when it's gone.

i always love reading your trip reports holly! sounds like you all had a great time on your short trip and you were still able to pack in a lot of fun. your report almost makes me want to run the half marathon and i don't run :lol: maybe a disney half marathon is just the motivation i need to get my rear in gear! LOVE all the pictures! you take such interesting angles and the colors are so vibrant. great great trip report. can't wait to read the rest!

Well, thank you, WishIWasAtWDW! I don't run either. :lol: No, really! Disney is my motivation for getting out there and doing it. You should go for it! As for the picture angles... oftentimes those come about because I'm trying to keep people out of the frame.

Seems like it was not long ago you were running in the marathon! Way to go! Excellent food pics too!!

I know, right?! Time really does fly. Hopefully, I'll be reporting about the Wine & Dine Half during the next report!

I love the pictures! Especially the MK ones

Thanks, Joanna. Gotta love the MK!

 

[HollyBelle]

Day 4 – Monday, March 8: Breakfast at Akershus and some fun at AK before departure

Monday came early, with a 6 am wake up call. Moving through the morning paces like zombies, we got ready and checked out of Pop around 7:15 am. We debated whether or not to check our bags with bell services (for safety purposes) or take a chance on leaving them in the trunk while at the parks. We went with the latter to save us having to return to Pop before leaving property... probably foolish, but it worked out for us this time.

We wanted to get to Epcot early for our reservations to take advantage of an empty entrance area for a few pictures. We pulled up to the parking gates at about 7:20 and the attendant told us they wouldn’t be parking cars until 7:30. Overzealous, much?! :lol: So we sat there watching CMs drive through the gates on their way to work for awhile before he let us go. Once at the entrance we were corralled with some others until 7:45 when they started letting folks in. I busiest myself with pictures as we waited:

I really love this shot of the princess medal:

Once they started letting us in, everyone took off for Norway as we stopped to take some pictures of the F&GF topiaries.

 

[HollyBelle]

As we walked through Future World we noticed they were playing princess-themed music. Guess that’s what they do in the mornings since the only people in the park are those on their way to Akershus?!

 

[HollyBelle]

In Norway Brett checked us in, and by the time he walked out of the crowd surrounding the entrance we were instantly called for. They must have had a two top ready to fill because we definitely weren’t the next ones in line. We met Belle immediately upon entering the restaurant. She asked if Brett was my Beast, and I don’t think she knew what to say when I responded with “well you see I don’t really know, there are some days when I think he’s more of a Gaston!” Her response was “Ohhhh Noooo!” :lol:

Complimentary photo picture:

I’d rather they cut the price of the meal down than receive a complimentary photo, but that’s just me.

I was as excited to finally get in the place and see the décor as I was to meet the princesses. Here are some pictures:

Many of you probably already know this, but breakfast consisted of cold cuts from the buffet and a hot plate of eggs, sausage, bacon and hashbrown casserole. The casserole was delicious, but otherwise the food was just okay.

 

[HollyBelle]

This was our first time dining with face characters. I wondered if they’d move slower due to all the little girls with questions, etc. But they actually maneuvered through the room quite quickly. Clearly they’d had practice knowing what to ask and how to control the conversational direction. First to come by, was Aurora. She asked about my medal and we discussed how tiring running could be... so we decided to do a sleeping pose. Apparently though, I missed the memo... Aurora sleeps with her eyes open and a beautiful smile on her face :lol::

Next up was Cinderella... who breezed by us rather quickly.

Followed by Ariel, who I was excited to meet. The only time we’d met Ariel with two legs was during the marathon last year and it wasn’t all too great of a picture. I love her curious nature. She conversed with Brett about dinglehoppers and such, neither one of them understood why dinglehoppers were on the breakfast table.

When Snow White came by she asked if I was feeling like one of her dwarf friends after running the race. More than you know!! :lol:

All in all, I was super happy with the turnout at Akershus. We were really lucky to get 5 true princesses, because I know there’s a possibility of Mary Poppins, Mulan, Pocahontas or Alice being lumped in with the group instead. Ridiculous, in my opinion, especially when considering the price. I really think they should be able to commit to having the ACTUAL princesses present.

 

[HollyBelle]

The park was just opening as we left breakfast so we made a quick stop at the Character Spot on our way out. As we were getting in line there were about 5, maybe 6 families ahead of us. I heard a lady behind us tell her kids the line was too long, that they’d come back later. Either she didn’t have a clue OR she used it as an excuse because she wanted to do something else!

Minnie, Donald and Goofy all noticed my medal... which was fun!

Kinda like the chipmunks last year... Goofy "ran" with me :sohappy::

 

[HollyBelle]

We bid goodbye to Epcot and sped on over to the Animal Kingdom, getting there just before 10am or so.

Once inside the park we took off for Dinoland, USA. The Dinosaur ride… I could take it or leave it, but the pre-show for it with Dr. Marsh is classic!

After surviving the meteor strike we made our way to the Roadside Treasures store.

See, it hit me as we were walking out of the "drop shop" for Dinosaur that I’d maybe seen the Muppets at the Roadside Treasures store. Lucky us, Fozzie Bear was there... looks like he’d wandered into dinosaur territory and needed rescuing. Our imaginations running away with us (what better place for it), we came up with an elaborate story for why we’d be picking him up here instead of at the Stage One Company Store. Apparently, Fozzie had gotten lost one day while on safari and rather liked it in Dinorama because the crazy smiley dinos loved his jokes! :lol: Turns out it wasn’t all fun and games and eventually he found himself keeping company with these guys:

A lot less friendly, I might add!

We saved him under the ruse of buying his services:

Here he is thanking us profusely:

The coast wasn’t quite clear yet though; you never know when you’ll run into poachers, so we kept him tucked away for the rest of the morning.

 

[HollyBelle]

We made our way along to Expedition Everest where we hopped in the single rider line. There was a guy directly behind us in line that had the loudest, most obnoxious voice ever. He had one of those voices that just carried and he kept talking loud enough to ensure that everyone, and I mean everyone, around him could hear how knowledgeable he was about the park (you know the type, spouting off incorrect mumbo jumbo about things). Well, Brett laughed at the thought that, because this guy was in the single rider line, some unsuspecting soul in standby was going to have to ride with him. He went so far as to state “I’m glad it won’t be me.” When we got to the front I was sent to my favorite (the last row) and as I was standing there I looked back and heard the CM tell TWO single riders to go to row such and such... you know what that means. Hahahahha :ROFLOL: I couldn’t help but laugh as Brett looked over at me. Happy trails, love. Enjoy the ride! :lol:

 

[HollyBelle]

After EE we walked over to Camp Minnie Mickey via the pathways near the Tough to be a Bug exit. I love that little shortcut. We considered the Festival of the Lion King, but one show had just started and we didn’t want to wait until the next one, so instead we met a few characters before heading out.

Goofy was a lot of fun. He kept tickling my cheek and trying to block Brett from being in the picture:

While waiting in line for Thumper and Miss Bunny, Fozzie tried to get my attention for an “all clear,” he was saddened to learn it wasn’t quite time yet.

Chip LOVED my medal... he was mesmerized by it and kept playing with it instead of posing for a picture:

Eventually we got him to focus!