Day 4 Disney

Well, after the half marathon we went to Animal Kingdom since the park closes at 5 and I could go to bed early. No napping for anyone at Disney. Of course there aren't many attractions at Animal Kingdom, but that doesn't matter because Papa Bear happily provided entertainment. The line for It's Tough to be a Bug is full of unique carvings and Papa Bear took it upon himself to pick the chimps nose. I enjoyed a Mickey Bar while watching the Jammin' Jungle Parade. We went back to the hotel for dinner and resting. I fell asleep but my parents are troopers and stayed up to watch the Jets win a playoff game late into the night only to have to get up at 3am to do the whole race day thing again. They are super dedicated.

Day 3 Disney

Breakfast at Cape May Cafe followed by a trip to the race expo for me to pick up my race info. Breakfast was fantastic as usual. Who doesn't love an all you can eat buffet? Here are the fun Mickey Waffles. Goofy stopped by our table for a visit. Of course, Timmy and I posed with him. Timmy ran his first Goofy race last year just so he could say he was Goofy. The thing about the Goofy race is that people sign up and run, then they go and sign up for it again so they can see if they can do better... or in my case take more photos with characters you don't have yet. I may never qualify for Boston, but I'm pretty sure that I am having more fun than most running. Disney with Papa Bear is full of more laughs than usual. Papa Bear is full of puns and quick thinking. When Donald Duck was on his way over to visit he took his napkin and threw it at Donald while warning, "DUCK!" Donald came over and threw the napkin at my dad. When he started to waddle away Papa Bear asked if he was chicken. Donald turned around and started to take sugar packets off our table and playfully toss them Papa Bear. The character greeter had Donald shake hands and be friends. Mom is our official trip photographer, but she did let us take a few photos of her with the characters. I love how she tries to copy the character pose or makes a silly face. Here she is with her Minnie Mouse hand. After being completely stuffed from breakfast we headed over to the expo to get my race stuff. Checking in at the Goofy booth they held up my bib number and cheered--because I am Perfectly Goofy and they like to celebrate the accomplishment. I guess not that many people are in the category of Crazy. A little bit of a bummer was no wristband this year. My new hoodie. The one I bought a few years ago is quite faded and very loved. It was time for a new one, thanks to Jen and Bob for the gift card to Disney for Christmas (I LOVE your gift).
The expo was crowded, as usual when you have that many people running plus their families. I did manage to get a Geico Pez dispenser and an awesome picture with the Gecko.
We relaxed for a bit at the hotel and headed to Downtown Disney via boat to shop and get dinner. It was a great day.

Day 2 Disney

Magic Kingdom, my favorite park. We woke up to the sounds of thunder and rain. It might continue to rain, but the thunder would pass. By the time we ate breakfast and arrived at the park it was just cloudy out. I liked it already because clouds meant people were sleeping in or waiting for it to get nicer to go to the park. There was hardly anyone there, just the way I like it. In true Disney fashion they put on the show to open the park.

We took the fire engine down Main Street to the Castle. Although you may be able to get there faster by walking how often do you get to ride in a fire truck? Plus everyone looks at you like you are special. Anyone can take a ride on the Main Street vehicles, but few actually know that you can.
Fantasyland, how I love you. My favorite attraction Dumbo lives here. While there may be other attractions more thrilling, Dumbo has stolen my heart and is just so cute. How could you not love him? They are in the process of a major Fantasyland expansion so I took my camera for a high flyin' adventure aboard my very own pachyderm, Dumbo. Here is a look behind the fence of what is happening so far. Dumbo will be doubling his flying capacity and will be given his own circus tent. The one you see is the Toon Town Fair Judges Tent where you can meet Mickey Mouse. The line was so short I got to fly twice with about 5 minutes between flights. I would have liked to go a few more times, but there was more to do.
Bathrooms at Disney are entertaining. Each one seems to have a theme. Here is my mom outside the Fantasyland bathroom:
We had lunch at Tony's Town Square, a restaurant from the movie Lady and the Tramp. I enjoyed the chicken parm.

Let me be very clear. I do not like parades unless they are Disney parades. Disney parades last 15-25 minutes and are packed with music, entertainment and are just fun in general. If it lasts several hours it is not a parade, it is just one too many fire trucks and garbage trucks. Let's be honest, if you've seen one fire truck you've seen them all. We caught 3 parades. The first was "Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it." It was more of a block party dance. The 3 o'clock parade (with Dumbo) and the Main Street Electrical Parade. No pictures of the Main Street Electrical Parade, I just wanted to enjoy that one since it is my favorite parade of all time.

Of course we saw many fun, interesting things and of course people. Here are two pieces of fun from the attraction lines at Disney. If you don't get it, try reading it out loud.

The day ended with the Wishes fireworks spectacular. We spent 13 hours at the park and would have spent more if it had been open later. Oh well. There is something truly magical about the Magic Kingdom.

Day 1 Disney

After arriving at Disney we unpacked and headed over to the Camp Fire Sing-Along with Chip and Dale. For those of you who don't know, Chip is the one with the chocolate chip colored nose and teeth close together and Dale is the one with the red nose and teeth far apart. Anyways, it started to sprinkle on walk to the fire. So we could still enjoy the singing, just no critters. Then it poured! We huddled under a tree to stay somewhat dry until it let up a bit. The storm passed back into a drizzle so we decided to give up on the fire and headed back to the boat only for it to start pouring again. At least we caught the Wishes fireworks on the boat back to our hotel.

Disney Marathon

Marathon day... at least I got about 7 hours of sleep before the race since I was so exhausted from the day before getting up at 3am then staying up to go to Animal Kingdom after the race. Once again the Characters came out to start the race along with some fireworks. It was a beautiful morning for a long, fun run.
The course wound into EPCOT during the early miles and I was greeted by a few of the Main Street Electrical parade floats from the Magic Kingdom...another great day was in the works.
Welcome to the first Character greeting of many along the way... Hola Panchito and Jose!

The newest Disney Princess, and I didn't even have to wait in line for over an hour to see her!

I have to admit that Disney did a fantastic job this year of having characters along the course and music/entertainment. Here is just one of the quirky things that made me continue to smile as the miles wore on. She was threatening to "let the croc out" if we didn't get moving faster!


Approaching Animal Kingdom we get to see a "behind the scenes" road that is also near the sewage and water treatment plant. It stinks here and I am always amazed at the people who decided that they need a walk break at this point. Keep it moving folks, the smell is gone in a mile!
I was going to lay down and play dead, but I didn't want to get dirty. The joke is on the diggers though cause they should have trekked down the road 2 miles and they'd have had a few more takers. Most people "hit the wall" around mile 20-22 and these guys were at 18.
Going up the last "hill" on the course was an army guy from Toy Story. He was encouraging us to keep it moving and "suck it up troops, you're almost there." And in Disney language hill is the same as expressway ramp. He asked me why I wasn't more tired at this point since he saw me running yesterday... had I not had enough punishment.

I am still feeling great and usually by this point I'm starting to hurt. Must be the chocolate bar I'm still chewing while having my picture taken with the Incredibles. Probably my favorite part of the race, entering Disney Hollywood Studios and finding out what candy we get this year.
And then it hit me about mile 24. The legs stopped wanting to move as easily and they began to cramp up. But I was further in the race when this happened than usual so it was a good thing. I am usually "done" with the running part around mile 20 and take frequent walk breaks from there. I could suck it up for 2 more miles. This is a photo looking back on the course as it comes out of Hollywood Studios and winds down the boardwalk towards EPCOT.

Hola Panchito and Jose! I'm back!

Although it was almost my slowest marathon ever I had tons of fun. Shortly after I snapped this photo I was escorted to the Perfectly Goofy tent to get my special lanyard and Goofy medal. I can't wait 'til registration opens in March for the 2012 race and a half.

Disney Half Marathon

I love Disney, I love running. I'll write about the other vacation fun stuff later, but on with the miles of smiles! After the same wake up call from Stitch for the past 5 years I made it over to the start for my 6th Goofy race weekend. At the start they had a few people from the Today Show, including Al the weather guy who I gave a hi-five to. Fireworks at the start... I happened to catch it just right and you can see the Mickey head. I knew I was in for a fun weekend of running when I saw the 1 mile marker with a picture of Dumbo on it.
Along the course they had a lot more characters and music than in the past years. I was having so much fun along the way and taking a bunch of pictures that I ran my slowest half-marathon ever. Here are just a few of the 66 pictures I took during my almost 2 1/2 hour journey through EPCOT and the Magic Kingdom on Saturday, January 8.


Mickey and Minnie on the golf course. Why they mowed the lawn that morning I have no idea. Fortunately the smell of fresh cut grass didn't last long and I was able to continue on without any difficulties breathing.


Here is the gospel choir that is just around the corner from the finish every year. They were in between songs and were so excited that I stopped to take a picture of them. There are also a ton of high school marching bands and cheer teams along the course to provide encouragement.

Mom is usually at the finish but because of my having so much fun and running slower than usual as a result of my picture taking the transportation was backed up. Who knew that close to 40 minutes slower than average would mess things up that bad for her. At least there was no line to see this character while I waited for my green crocs!