WDW Mom's Panel Meet and Greet Luncheon

The Disney Moms panel is a part of Disney's website that helps you find answers to anything and everything pertaining to planning a Disney related trip. The ladies and gentlemen (yes! They aren't all "Moms"- there are Aunts and Grandmas and Dads and Uncles, too!) that make up the panel each have a plethora of expertise, and I'm pretty sure any question you have can be found in their forum search. If not, just ask! That's what they're there for.

Apparently, the Moms like to have a meet and greet luncheon with all of their fans. Luckily, this event fell the weekend I would be in town and I was able to RSVP in time! It was held at the California Grill on the top level of the Contemporary Resort. This worked perfectly into my schedule of the busiest day on vacation ever. After we ran the 5K, we showered and headed over to the event. 

Once we checked on the 2nd floor, there was a lot of waiting. This was a little frustrating because I wasn't sure what to expect and I was on a tight schedule. Jess was convinced they were going to kidnap us and make us sell Amway (what?! I dont know. . ) Once we got up to the actual restaurant, there was a line to get in. Why?

Because Chip and Dale were there to greet us!

They served a delicious lunch that I was super excited to eat (you can only eat so many Disney meals before they all start to taste the same). As we ate and mingled, the Moms came around and introduced themselves. They were all super sweet and friendly, but what else would you have expected? Our favorite was Carolyn. She happens to be a Disneyland specialist and she was also running the 10 miler that night. (PS- I later saw she dressed up with a friend as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. I knew I liked her for a reason!)

Once we were finished eating- OMG did you see the size of those Strawberry lemonade cupcakes?! They were a-mazing- we ran around taking photos of the view. We were even allowed outside on the deck. It was beautiful! If you've never been, you really should go and see it sometime.

If you ever get a chance to attend one of the Mom's panel events, I highly suggest it. It's lots of fun mingling with like-minded people who probably will know more about Disney than you with more information that you ever thought imaginable!

What's your favorite part of planning a Disney vacay?

Tower of Terror 10M

The Good:

I really liked that there were bathrooms and water tables set up inside the corrals. They walked the corrals to the start line and continued to have a dance party, which bummed me out a little that I didn't have anyone to dance with, but I got over than and danced by myself. Not gonna lie, that was awesome. 

The volunteers were amazing, especially the ones in the WWoS area. The fact that they were having fun and cheering totally lifted my spirits when all I wanted to do was stop and find AC.

My favorite part of the race was coming back towards Hollywood Studios. The DJ was playing WHAM! Wake me up before you go; this is about the point where I went delirious with heat and danced until I couldn't hear it anymore. Have you ever danced during a race? I highly recommend it. Made that half of a mile so much more enjoyable. Must add that song to my playlist.

Since I got to run the inaugural race, if I keep coming back every year, I can be a legacy! Do you think it's worth it? I'd really like to do Wine and Dine next year (Anniversary medal, what?!) and I will definitely be doing The Disneyland Half in Sept (Coast to Coast medal finally, what?!). That would be a Disney race-cation a month for 3 months. My bank account has just keeled over at the thought.

The Bad:

You know what would've made it better? More entertainment. Osceola Parkway was hot with little to do during the Marathon Relay; it was sort of deja vu. Also, it was a tad annoying that the 1st character stop was at least 10 minutes long. But I stopped anyway. I had to. How often do you see The Hyenas from The Lion King?! Right?! That was definitely a good call. 

 The Lion King Hyenas 

 Dr. Facilier

 Grave Digger

 Stitch!

 The Big Bad Wolf

Running around Champion Stadium

(where the big 20th mile surprise will be for the marathon)

When we got into the park, I was sure that was where all the characters would be. . . but no. Not one. It was super depressing. Later, I found out they were in the parks, just not on the course.

I didn't really have an issue with the course. Even though I did get upset about running part of the 5k course (the dirt trail that was extremely narrow), mainly because I didn't want to walk that long but I couldn't get around everyone walking.

Once the finish line showed up, it was super dark and kind of anti-climatic.

The UGLY:

The obvious? The humidity was a killer and unexpected. I researched this race weekend (which was formally Wine and Dine) and I specifically remembering someone saying to bring a jacket for the end, because you might get chilly. Um, no. I was sweating just standing in the corral. Surprisingly, once I got over the fact my cape was going to stay glued to my back with sweat and my crown was going to be the cause of my heat exhaustion and I refused to take off either, I was good.

Standing/Sitting on concrete for 2 hours before a race is not appealing. I was also having flashbacks from Everest (which was equally as hot and gross) and didn't want to get to the race too early, but runDisney didn't give you a choice. They said to get on a bus no later than 8pm (for a 10PM race). Luckily, there were picnic tables to sit so I could save my legs.

A 10PM start is a little late for a long race.

The hill that you had to climb in order to get out of the finisher's chute? 
SUPER not cool. 

After I got ice taped to my knees, I waddled towards the park to find a place to wait for The Wicked Witches, the amount of people I saw in wheelchairs was unnerving. I heard "Medic!" about 20 times. Not gonna lie, that's scary.

THE AFTER PARTY:

The Evil Snow Queen totally approved of my outfit.

The main goal of the after party? Meet Maleficent. Mission Accomplished! It took until about 3AM to happen, but that's ok. It happened. Thanks to Sarah and her super awesome cast member skills, we found out she would be outside the hat all night opposite of The Snow Queen. (PS- Not having the inside scoop on where characters were was not cool either, runDisney. There were villains all over the park but no one knew unless they walked passed them) Our first try to meet her, she switched out with The Snow Queen by the time we got to the front of the line. I was ok with that because it was fun to meet the inspiration for my costume. Have I mentioned how much fun it is to interact with face villains?! They are fabulous and it makes my heart so happy. She approved of my costume, thank goodness.

We decided to wait in the 35 minute line for Toy Story Mania because it was definitely a must-do; 35 min was nothing compared to the normal 60. I'm not sure that was a good plan, because my legs/ feet were killing me, but it was fun! There was no way I was in any condition to ride Tower of Terror or Rockin Rollercoaster. I heard RR kept going down all night and tons of people were getting sick on it (hence why the TSM wait was so long I'm sure). Glad we decided to by-pass. After, we parted ways; they went to ride Star Tours and I went to get in line for Maleficent.

Yall?! It happened and I'm still reeling over it. All I remember was telling her she was my favorite and I was really excited to meet her, to which she responded "Clearly". Love her. So she asked me what my favorite pose was and I had no idea, so we went with the "Pushing away the peasants". Made everything completely worth it.

Who's your favorite Disney character that you geek out about meeting?

[Officially] a New Yorker

So before I move on to the rest of the insanely fun filled weekend, I would like to tell you a story.

Friday night, I decided to go to Downtown Disney to grab something to eat (I just couldn't handle eating in the hotel food court, again). The bus line was a little long, but it was ok. 30 minutes later, a bus came and picked everyone up in front of me. I didn't get on it, because the driver promised there was one right behind him. . . again, another 30 minutes later, the bus finally shows up. I am seething. I live in New York after all, I rely on public transportation, and if anything like this happened there, a full out riot would've broken out by now. Not cool, Disney. Your transportation is already shaky at best, but this was unacceptable.

So, and hour and a half later, I finally get to Downtown Disney (which is about the time I wanted to leave and come back to my hotel room), I get to Earl of Sandwich and the line has wrapped around the store 3 times. You have got to be fucking kidding me, right?! I turn to the poor souls who got in line behind me to vent. They assured me the line goes quick, but I am already fully pissed off from the bus issue. Thank god, they were so sweet. I asked where they were from, which lead them to ask me. As the words "New York City" came out of my mouth my behavior for the past 2 hours flashed before my eyes and to my own horror, became every bit the stereotype. Holy crap. On top of that, when I turned to tell the cashier my order, I caught the man saying "She's from New York"- in that tone we all know when someone says that. about ME. ME! This totally took me off guard and let to some serious self realization.

Why am I telling you this story? Because besides all the Disney events, this weekend was also a personal milestone. It was my 5th anniversary of moving to New York City. Depending on who you talk to, it takes between 5-10 years to become an "official" New Yorker. Clearly, I hit that milestone right on the nose, according to those Tampa residents. And I believe the "She's from New York" comment totally got me my badge of honor.

That sprouted an entire different thought process, which has lead me to accept my status as a Yankee. Dammit. I have earned the right to be an asshole and that's ok with me. Not only have I survived everything this city has thrown at me, but I'm thriving as a human if I do say so myself. So, go ahead and use that tone when you describe me. I will accept it and probably even smugly give you an elitist smile.

But seriously, who else could see something like this and consider it just another Tuesday?

He? She?'s sign said "I'm Mitt Romney"

What do you think makes a New Yorker?

The 2nd Terrible 18M Long Run.

I can't believe fall race season is already here! Good luck/ congrats to all my Chicago and Portland Marathon running friends! Yall rock. Please survive so I know I can! 

Did you know that from 14th Street to Washington Heights (181st) is about 9.5 miles? Neither did I, but I found out this weekend. I had an 18/19 miler on the schedule and I could not handle another 3 loops of Central Park, race or not. I set out to take the West side running path from 14th Street and see where it would take me. Luckily, the path went all the way up the island and I didn't have to double back.

NYC Greenway Map

I really liked the west side path. It was a real path the entire way, even if it narrowed at parts. I noticed on the east side, it got kind of sketchy once you hit midtown. There were tons of water fountains and bathrooms, which were also scarce in the east side. The weather was cool and I didn't really notice the painful sun until I was on the way back. It was a little more crowded with pedestrians in midtown due to all the touristy things you can do over there (The Circle Line, The Intrepid and The Carnival Cruise ship docks there, too).

It was scenic, too. Tons of sculptures, boats in the water and places to sit and hang out. I'm definitely a fan, but then again I've always been a west side kinda girl :)

Pain started at mile 12 and I had a few meltdowns. Is that normal? I'm trying to compare full marathon training to half marathon and it's not equaling out, or it is and I'm conveniently forgetting. Should I be having serious pain in my legs and feet that early? I feel like I shouldn't be really hurting until mile 18, but that hasn't been the case. I even took it especially easy and slow. This makes me nervous. Plus, the arch of my foot likes to get muscle spasms and it usually takes a few hours after the run for them to go away. I know the marathon is going to be painful, but I wasn't planning on the training being so much. It's extremely discouraging. 

I really need my PIC for my long runs (even if I only have one more). I need someone there to be able to pull me out of my head so I don't get so freaked out I start crying. It's not a fun feeling. No one should ever do a long run alone. It's torture. The good news is I get to see her soon and our third running partner (The Incredible Megs!) has confirmed she will be running with us. I'm so excited about this amazing reunion, I might forget about all the negative. The more support, the better. I can't take much more of this.

I'm seriously tired of training. 

Anyone else feel this way about marathon training? Tips?

How did your long run go this weekend?

The Haunted 5k Trail Run

Race Day started 4AM early (...and didn't end until 24 hours later). I met up with Wayne and Garth at the fancy fountain at All Star Music, then we boarded the bus to run through the woods behind The Wide World of Sports, for fun.

We got there early enough to take pictures with Mickey, do the cupid shuffle
(which is becoming one of my favorite traditions) and make a potty stop. 

 

 BREAKING NEWS: 
There were corrals set up! 
That made me super happy and I'm sure it did for all the people actually running the race. Even though this is an untimed fun run, organization is always a good thing.

The race started 20 minutes late to let the sun come up because apparently we were really running a trail run. Why that didn't connect for me until I was actually stepping in the dirt, I don't know. I am not a fan of trail runs, but we were walking so I made sure to keep an eye on the ground.

Grass, Dirt, Mud, Sand and Track; talk about ALL Terrain.

The announcers were talking about big bugs and scary critters out on the course, so I was excited to see what "big bugs" were there. Would it be Flik? Or Jiminy?

 

 No. They meant it literally.

By the time we got to the finish line, we were soaking wet with the humidity. Little did I know, it wouldn't go away by the time the 10M happened that night.

I loved the box of yummy food they gave us at the finish, it was a fabulous tide over to lunch at The California Grill.

Even though we weren't stopping, I was disappointed that there were only a few characters on course- The Big Bad Wolf (which I later got to see for the ToT10M) and some Brear characters. The grave diggers from The Haunted Mansion that are out for the marathon were also on the track that we ran around on our way back to the finish line.

Disney's 5Ks are always a fun warm up to the weekend's events.

3 things Thursday Disneyfied.

1- I'm not allowed to go to Disney alone anymore. I get too excited; I need someone there to be my reality check. I run myself into the ground trying to do everything. I even had a few self pep talks on not to over do it. Between work, life and marathon training, I was hoping for a much needed rest. Ha. I found that out the hard way on Tuesday that exhaustion is a real condition. Who knew?

2- How the hell can you eat sugar/ carb free light in Disney?! Is there a blog out there that can tell me? Granted, I am only referring to the hotel's food court (which I later found out had a "Mexican" rice that contained brown rice and quinoa. What?!) and quick service stations, but there should be some sort of option. I came home craving green vegetables. I nearly cried at the Mom's panel luncheon when I saw green beans! Forgive me if I'm ignorant on this, I've never cared about what I ate in Disney before, so it's new to me.

I felt gross after a couple of days of eating crap; and I was trying to eat the least crappy thing! I even had a caesar salad at 3AM because I didn't want to eat anything fried or with bread. Who does that?! This eating better must really be doing something. Even with all the sugar, I still managed to lose 1.5 pds. Not to jinx myself but I've been steadily losing 2 pds a week since I started cutting out sugar and refined flour. Who knew?

3- The ToT10Miler didn't make me feel any better about training for the full, even though it was supposed to be a short fun run. I'm seriously burnt without the confidence that I'm going to finish the full. Everyone I spoke to after the 18M said if I can run 3 loops of Central Park, hills and everything, I can finish the full. Let's pray they're right.

I'm hoping this weekend's 18 miler, that won't be a race, will make it better but I'm still not motivated for it. Blah. Side note: Going to the gym tonight helped boost my confidence a tad. I actually can run without feeling like I'm going to drown in humidity. Who knew?

How's your Thursday? :-)

One Word Wednesday: Exhausted.

Now I know what celebrities feel like.