Princess Weekend Day 3...10k

Saturday Feb. 22nd was the start of the races for our group.  I'm going to be honest.  I was worried about having the stamina and strength to finish the 10K Saturday and the Half Sunday to complete the Glass Slipper Challenge.

But I decided to bury the fear, and go for it.

Saturday morning, we woke early.  If I remember right, it was like 3am.  I had to calculate pumping time into the equation.

Once we were dressed and ready, we went down to the lobby of our hotel to catch the bus.  Everything went so smoothly!  I heard horror stories of previous years, but I have nothing but positive to say.  We weren't late, we got on the first bus that swung by to pick us up.  But I think some of the smoothness is because of the location of our hotel on the bus route.

You see, our bus filled completely with all the runners from our hotel.  So when we drove by the stop at the next hotel, there was no room for any of them in their long line.  But I'm sure another bus came along eventually....

Once we arrived at the bus drop off, we had a little walk to head over to the starting line.  I snapped a quick picture, and the excitement was everywhere!

I'm a huge people watcher, so I enjoyed walking through the crowd.  There were so many costumes!  And some were so random...

(Yes, you are in fact looking at a PURSE!)

(How could anyone run in that!?)

One of my favorite costumes at the 10k was an older couple (probably in their mid 60's) dressed as Prince Charming and Cinderella.  I loved them not for who they were dressed as (there were TONS of Cinderella costumes and Prince Charming costumes), but I loved them because they were so excited to get into the race...giddy, like 15 year olds!  They were holding hands as they walked to their corral.  I regret not snapping a picture...it was adorable!

Because we were early to the race, we had time to party it up and dance away.  The MC was great, full of energy, and got us warmed up!

As the race start time got closer, we decided to hit the bathroom one more time.  Only, we waited in line FOREVER!  My advice:  don't use the bathrooms closest to the corrals.  They were so much more crowded that others in the area.  :)

As they announced for everyone to make their way to their corrals, the excitement was buzzing!  If you haven't run a Disney race before, then let me explain the corrals just a little bit.  There are so many runners, SO MANY, and because of that there are delayed start times to try and help with the bottle-necking.  The corral you are placed in is based on your registration.  They ask you to submit proof-of-time from other races (10k or above).  This gives them an idea of where you might finish.  

With Disney, the big talk is about the Mickey carts and balloon ladies.  Because you run through parks, they require you to maintain a 16 min/mile pace or you get swept.  To measure this, they place pacers in the very last corral.  And the balloon ladies are the very last people out of that last corral.  They literally carry balloons and stay at that 16 min pace.  Anyone who falls behind them risks being picked up and swept.  

I wasn't worried at all, even with the lack of training.  You see, because of previous times submitted from earlier races we had a very good corral.  (And lots of buffer room.)  We decided that because we had a half to run the next day, we were going to not push the 10k.  We were just wanting to finish.  

As we went through the course, we mainly walked.  We would jog if we needed to pass someone.  But mostly, we walked.  

We probably would have stopped for pictures with characters.....if there had been any we really wanted.  I was kind of disappointed with the lack of "main" characters placed in the 10k.  We mostly saw the "side-kicks."  Like the cards from Alice in Wonderland.  The one place we did stop to get a pictures was for the Genie and Lumiere.  They were giant!  And you can't see it from the picture below, but they had real people hooked up to them...operating them and talking.  It was probably my favorite character spot (in both races).

When all was said and done, we crossed the finish line and felt great!  The medal was big and beautiful.  It was a fun race, and Disney did a great job with all their aid stations.  The best part...by finishing, it set us up to be part of the inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge finishers the next day.  (more on that tomorrow...)

The rest of the day we spent at parks.  From riding Toy Story, to Tower of Terror, we tried to do it all.

One more thing I want to comment on was the weather...I was SO grateful for the weather we had.  The humidity was minimal compared to what I expected!  And during the race (and even at the parks) it was over-cast and manageable.  We even got a little rain Saturday afternoon....although the rain did bring a little more humidity than I liked.  (But at least it wasn't during the run!)

Disney Princess Weekend Day 2

This is the second post in my Disney Race Re-cap...check out the first HERE

On Friday (Feb 21st) we decided to hit the park.  We spent the day in the Magical Kingdom.  Before we left for Florida, we decided it would be fun to play matchy-matchy and order matching 'Party like a Princess' shirts.  It was fun, and all over the park we were referred to as Princesses.  We each brought tiaras and also wore those.  I'm not typically the tiara kind of girl, but I HAD to do it...it was Princess Weekend after all!

This was my first time to any of the Disney World properties so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Our hotel provided us a boat shuttle to the entrance which was fun.

Once we got in the park, I felt right at home.  I was surprised at how similar the Magic Kingdom was to Disneyland!

We started the day off with the mandatory tourist photo...

Most of the morning, we spent in lines for character photos.  From Alice, to Mary Poppins, to Merida...we cheesed it up with them all!

While planning this trip, we each had some mandatory must-do items.  One of the things we hoped for was to try the new Be Our Guest restaurant.  Only, the are reservation only for dinner...and usually book out MONTHS in advance!  However, here's a TIP:  Lunch is open for all, you just have to wait in line.  We waited maybe 45 minutes?  Would I do it again?  ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY!

Let me preface this by saying I am a HUGE, HUGE, HUUUUUUGE Beauty and the Beast fan!  It is my all time favorite Disney movie.  But even if I wasn't, I still think the wait was worth it.  You eat dinner inside the Beast's castle and it is magical.  And the food was DELICIOUS.

This is outside the entrance with the gargoyle's....

Here are some different views from inside the restaurant.  At lunch you are able to pick your own seat in one of 3 rooms, all are equally fantastic!  This was the room we ate lunch in:

The west wing room is decorated just as the movie...the Beast has torn the room up, and this is where the enchanted flower and mirror are.

As far as food goes:  my advice is ORDER DESSERT!

I got the fancy lemon cupcake and I was in heaven!

On the way out of the castle, after your dining experience is over, there is a place to stop and get the perfect picture!

All in all, lunch was amazing!  And if you can't get dinner reservations, make it a point to get in line quickly for lunch!

The rest of the day was spent riding rides, and enjoying the park!

We probably would have stayed a little longer, but I had issues.  You see, I am nursing little Madison.  But since she was left at home, I was pumping...or trying to pump.  Only, I have an electric pump.  So it wasn't like I could just whip it out and pump where ever.  After many, many hours I was really hurting and my sweet friends were kind enough to head back and let me pump even though it cut our day a little short.  When we got back to the hotel, I did a little researching.  Turns out, Disney is AWESOME.  They have baby centers in each of their parks.  I had NO IDEA!  I've been to Disneyland too many times to count, and I have NEVER known about this.  I've taken babies, and toddlers...and WISHED I would have known about this.  So....let me clue you in on a HUGE secret:

At every Disney park they have this baby center.  In it, there are TV's playing cartoons.  There are baby changing tables. There are high chairs.  They sell baby food and formula and diapers and wipes!  They also sell baby clothes...just in case there is an accident.  They have quiet, private rooms with rocking chairs where you can even nurse!  (or pump in my case)

I was AMAZED!  After I learned this, I brought my pump with me each day and pumped in their mother's rooms, saving a TON of time (and pain).  Seriously, check them out on your next Disney trip!

All in all, the Magic Kingdom was indeed MAGICAL.  Have I mentioned, I LOVE Disney!

That evening (after I was done pumping in the hotel room because I had yet to know about the cool baby centers), we headed to Epcot.  We picked a country to eat in and wandered around.  It was a great day!  That night, we tried to get to sleep early as the 10k race was the next morning and we needed to be up and awake by 3:30am (1:30am Utah time)....more on that day coming tomorrow, check back!