Day 3 and Pluto's 5k

The alarm went off at the insane hour of 3:30 and all I could think of was that the next 3 mornings would start even earlier!  But that’s the main downside of the Disney races so you know what you’re getting into.  We are up, dressed and ready by 4:00 and walk to the bus stop.  It was a short wait and there were plenty of runners and spectators waiting as well.  The bus arrived and we headed to Epcot where the race would start and end.  Damaris and I coordinated all our running outfits so this day we were wearing Ink N Burn May the 4^th long sleeved tops (looks like Stormtroopers shirts) with our Robot capris.  We got lots of compliments.  I’m glad we were in long sleeves because it was only in the mid 50’s while we were waiting for 90 mins.  I did find the massage tent that was empty and open for runners to wait in so we stayed warm in there until it was time to walk to our corral at 5:00.  We are in corral B so we get in our spot and wait for the start.  Soon the fireworks went off and the race officially started.  

This 5k goes around a parking lot, then down some behind the scenes roads and finally enters at Mexico in the World Showcase.  It’s always so exciting to enter the park, you feel like you’re really running a Disney race then.  We skipped the first character stop (Chip and Dale) and continued into Epcot.  I was surprised to not see any characters in Mexico, Norway or Germany as I’ve seen them there in the other 2 5k’s I’ve done at Epcot.  Then I notice Timon from The Lion King at the Australian area but I decided to skip stopping for him as the line was long.  Next up was Mittens from Bolt at America Showcase.  I’m not a Bolt fan but darn it, I wanted a character picture!  We continued on and found Marie from Aristocats in France.  Ok, so it’s an animal theme, I get it, it's Pluto's 5k after all.  I was surprised that the course veered out of World Showcase when we crossed the French bridge, heading towards the Boardwalk hotels area.  We did a little loop and came back into WS in England (guess they eliminated some of the parking lot run and needed to add the distance back).  We continued past Canada and turned towards Spaceship Earth, which was lit up beautifully.  I was surprised again when the course turned left towards Soarin’.  I stopped for a picture with Stitch here.  We continued running past Soarin’ and Finding Nemo, back under Innovations West and turned again toward Spaceship Earth where we exited the park and ran to the finish line.  Our finishing time was 48 minutes or so, not bad considering the 3 photo stops.

Stormtroopers ready for battle (pic mentioned below)

Hi Stitch!

Posing so pretty with Marie

One fun note, I had taken a really good picture of Damaris and I before the race and put it on my Instagram.  After we finished, I was thrilled to get a request from Charity Miles (an app that tracks your running or walking miles and corporations donate money to charities for each mile you move, it’s really cool and I use it for most of my runs, it also helps me earn points for my Hogwarts Running Club house but that’s a whole other story) to use my picture on their page!  Of course I said yes.  And later that day, Damaris and I checked our emails and saw that Ink N Burn used our picture in their newsletter that day!  Eek!  So exciting!

After the race, we went back to the hotel to clean up and then headed to the Polynesian’s Kona restaurant to have breakfast with a group of Damaris’s friends.  Everyone was very nice and welcoming and I really enjoyed myself.  And of course, the Tongo Toast was insanely good.  It was pretty much half a loaf of bread, stuffed with bananas, coated with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with strawberries.  I inhaled it.  

Next up was our day at Hollywood Studios, another park that I haven’t spent much time in but was excited to see all the Star Wars things.  I was not disappointed!  My Disney Chase Visa got us into a free photo op with none other than Darth Vader!  He was very tall but kinda thin.  But still did a good job intimating us. Damaris held strong with refusing to go to the Dark Side but I admit, I probably would have as he was staring me down! 

Since I haven’t been to HS in a long time and the times I’ve gone, I’ve had small children, I haven’t done any of the big rides.  So we had Fast Passes to Star Tours (really awesome), Tower of Terror (I screamed like crazy) and Rockin’ Roller Coaster (so fast but the G force gave me a headache).  We also enjoyed a healthy lunch of frozen adult beverages (with a Millennium Falcon and Death Star in them!) and a BB-8 cupcake.  I was so excited that my fellow Avon Disney fanatics, Connie and Kate, were also visiting HS that day so we found them for a quick hello and picture.  Before long, we were getting tired and decided to head back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. 

Connie, me, Damaris and Kate (watch that light saber, Kate!)

Mt. Kilamarita (made with cranberry juice)

Dinner!  Oh my! We had reservations at Boma, the African buffet at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  One of the effects about traveling with just one person is I could afford to eat at some nicer places since it was just me, not a family of 4.  We enjoyed a pre-dinner cocktail at the Victoria Falls Lounge (I had a Mt. Kilmarita) while we waited for our table.  We were soon seated and the waitress explained the food at the buffet, which I appreciated as I’m not familiar with African food.  But the best thing about a buffet is you can sample everything!  I really enjoyed the roasted pork and the West African peanut soup.  Highly recommend Boma! 

Our fun day was soon over and we returned to the hotel for bed, after all, 3:00 alarm and another race awaited us!

Day Two of the Dopey Challenge - Expo and Parks

Day 2

Damaris and I woke up early for a 2.5 mile shake-out run to explore the resort.  We found the pool and enjoyed the relaxed pace on the paved trail.  There were plenty of runners out there doing the same.  Next was the expo at 10:00.  We arrived early as we had heard that the Dopey merchandise would sell out in the first few hours.  So we stood in line in the rain (so glad I grabbed that raincoat from home) until RunDisney opened the doors 30 mins early.  Guess they felt bad for us dedicated runners!  We were quick, getting our bibs, shirts (6 of them!) and purchased a few items (cup, hoodie and head band).  We were all done by 10am!

Next we drove over to Animal Kingdom park, which I haven’t been too in probably 6 years.  We enjoyed our day there, rode Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safari and had an excellent lunch at Yak and Yeti (pad thai noodles with a Pink Himalayan drink). 

Next up was Epcot where we were planning on doing our best to drink around the world showcase.  I grabbed a Croissant Donut in Canada, a hot apple cider with Bushmill’s Whiskey in England and a glass of chardonnay in France.  Whew, I needed to slow down some!  So we walked and enjoyed the sights of each land we passed – Morroco, Japan, Italy (3 wine sampler there!) and America until we arrived at Germany, where we had dinner reservations at the Biergarten.  We were pretty hungry while we waited so we devoured a pretzel and did some window shopping.  Soon our table was ready and we enjoyed the grapefruit flavored beer (really, really good!) and the huge, meat-heavy buffet.  I could have eaten my weight in the cheese soup with pretzel bread – so, so good.  It was getting late and we had an early wake-up for the 5k so we did some shopping after dinner and left soon after.  

Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge Epic Adventure

Day One

Four races for a total of 48.6 miles in 4 days at Disney World, what could be more fun?  This was my thought a few years ago when the official Dopey Challenge was announced by RunDisney.  I had just run the “unofficial” Dopey a few months before this (a 5k followed by a half and full marathon) and had the time of my life.  So when Disney announced that they were making this an official event and adding in a 10k to make it 4 races, I knew I had to do it.  Only problem?  Money, of course.  RunDisney events are expensive with flight, hotel, food, spending money and of course the registration fee.  My BFF, Damaris, vowed to wait to run this challenge until I could save enough money.  So, I started a savings plan and after 3 years, I had the money and was thrilled to go!  Here is a blog about our adventures that week.

Tuesday: 

We decide to arrive at WDW on Tuesday.  My flight left at 11:30am so I got the kids on the bus and headed to the airport.  In typical Mary fashion, I was very early and sat around for a few hours but I always feel better if I’m at the gate.  Flight on Southwest was on-time and my connection in Atlanta was also simple.  I called Damaris when I arrived in Orlando and she picked me up as she was driving in from Miami.  We were very excited to start our fun girls week!

We arrived at our hotel, the Disney Port Orleans Riverside Resort, a resort designed to look and feel like rural Louisiana, and checked in.  Looked like Disney left all their Christmas trees and decorations up which was cool as I’ve never been there during the holidays so I was really excited to see all the splendor.  Our room was nice, it had been recently renovated.  I love the attention to detail and themes that Disney puts into everything they do and this room was no exception.  But we didn’t want to waste time in the room so we quickly changed and took the Disney bus to Magic Kingdom where we hopped on the monorail for our first adventure, The Monorail Bar Crawl!  This was a new thing for us both but the idea is to stop at each of the hotels on the monorail and visit their bars for a drink.  Sounded like an exciting way to kick of our week.  First stop was the recently renovated Polynesian Resort.   We found the Tambu Lounge on the second floor and quickly ordered their signature drink, the Lapu Lapu, a rum based drink served in a pineapple!  It was quite yummy!  We also ordered some AH-MAZING BBQ pork nachos with pineapple chunks.  We seriously inhaled those in minutes.  We left our first stop with full bellies and smiles on our faces. 

Next up was the Grand Floridian, the most elegant hotel on Disney property.  We walked around a bit to check it out and then found our way to the Mizner’s Lounge, a classically themed bar next to the live jazz band.  Damaris had a Salted Carmel Manhattan and I enjoyed a Mizner Cooler, gin mixed with cranberry juice.  It was delicious.  We enjoyed the hotel but felt it was a little “stuffy” for our taste so we drank up and moved on to the Contemporary. 

We had two choices of bars here, the Outer Rim on the first floor, and The Wave Lounge a few floors below.  The Outer Rim was busy with no seating so we found the Wave Lounge and bellied up to the bar there.  First set of drinks was water and then a Glow-tini for Damaris (with a LED plastic ice cube that turned her drink colors) and a Pina CoLAVA for me.  Yummy!  From here we took the ferry over to the Wilderness Lodge Resort, which is my favorite resort on property.  My family stayed there 6 years ago and I fell in love with the Great Northwest Lodge theme.  The four story fireplace in the lobby, the stream running through the lobby, the amazing food at the Whispering Canyon Café and the huge pool are some of the highlights that I was excited to see again.  We were meeting up with one of Damaris’s friend’s, Shelia for dinner at the Artist Point

Wilderness Lodge Lobby

Restaurant.   We found Shelia at the Territory Lounge and were quickly seated for dinner.  I had never been to the Artist Point but had read very good reviews about it.  We were eating late and it was pretty empty.  The multi-grain bread that was served was excellent and I also very much enjoyed my Cornish Hen and a glass of Pinot.  After a wonderful meal with lots of conversation, the three of us headed to the bus stop and returned to our hotels.  It was a perfect way to kick off our first day.