Whew! I am still on a high from the fun & magical time
that we had while participating in the 2018 Disney Princess Half Marathon
Weekend.
This trip was full of “firsts” for me. As someone who has goes to WaltDisney World several times a year, it’s hard to find something that I haven’t
ever experienced. But this trip, we had TONS of “firsts”!
We kicked off the trip with Afternoon Tea at the GrandFloridian. This was something that KK and I had always wanted to try - so she made
us a reservation and we did it! It was a first for both of us and we LOVED it!
The food, tea, and champagne were all fabulous. It was a lovely experience and
I highly recommend it!
We were staying at the Contemporary, and our room wasn’t
quite ready when we finished tea, so we headed over to Magic Kingdom! After a quick walk around MK, we got a text saying our room
was ready, so we headed back to the Contemporary and got settled in. The
Contemporary has become a favorite resort of ours and I am so thankful that we
were able to stay here during race weekend. Being at a resort on the monorail
makes thing MUCH more convenient when trying to get just about anywhere –
especially all the places you need to get to related to Princess Half Marathon
Weekend.
For dinner, we headed to Kona Café in the Polynesian Resort
and then finished the night back at MK with Fireworks. On Thursday, we began our day at Magic Kingdom for breakfast
at Be Our Guest! Another first for us. The food was yummy and the experience of
the restaurant was so fun!
After breakfast we headed to ESPN Wide World ofSports to attend the race expo and get our bibs! For such a large event,
runDisney and team do a really great job at coordinating all aspects of the race.
While at the expo, we picked up our bibs and shirts and shopped
around the expo floor. There were vendors like Feetures, SheFit, SparkleSkirt,
TeamSparkle, OtterBox, RawThreads, and more. Also while at the expo, we ran into Jeff Galloway (the official runDisney coach and the one who's training program we followed) and my
sorority sister and fellow Disney lover – Alexis!
Later that day, we headed back to Magic Kingdom and took
advantage of our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Fast Passes! The ride was really cute
and was another first for us! Every time we visited WDW since the ride opened,
the line was always too long or we couldn’t get a FastPass! So, we were happy
to finally get to experience it.
Side note: Yes – we literally went to Magic Kingdom 4 times
in a 24-hour period.
Friday officially kicked off the races! KK participated in
the Princess 5k (her first of three races). She had a great time and finished
upright and smiling!
After her 5k, we headed back to the hotel and met up with
our friend Joyce! Joyce joined us for breakfast at Chef Mickeys (another first
for us) then we went back to ESPN Wide World of Sports to grab Joyce’s chEAR
squad gear and for a little more shopping.
We then headed to Animal Kingdom for
our Na'vi River Journey FastPasses (another first). While at Animal Kingdom,
we met up with Amanda Kondrat (my friend for over 10 years & roommate while
on the Disney College Program).
Saturday was KK’s 10k race - she was up early and headed off
to Epcot and Joyce and I weren’t far behind her.
After she finished her 6.2
miles, we headed back to the hotel and had breakfast at The Wave. While there,
we met our new friends Pam & Laurel. So fun to meet follow Disney nerds who
share a love for fitness & Disney! After breakfast, Mom rested and I laid
by the pool for a few hours. We then had an early Dinner at The Edison in
Disney Springs and then were home early to rest up for our upcoming race!
Sunday was race day!! Due to the obnoxious amount of
pictures and details, the half-marathon breakdown is in a separate post HERE.
Also, “run a half-marathon” was one of the items I got to check off of my
30-before-30 bucket list. Click HERE to read more about my challenge.
The day after the half-marathon, we were feeling good! We slept
in a little bit and then headed to breakfast at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom
(one of my favorites). After breakfast, we got to ride Flights of Passage in
Pandora (another first) and it was AWESOME. After that, it was time to wind down the trip, pack out stuff, and get ready to head back home. Le sigh.
Overall, it truly was a magical trip and so many memories were made. Aside
from being a huge Disney fan, I also was able to check an important item off of my
30-before-30 bucket list. I'm a happy lady.
Lastly, we tracked our steps throughout the trip and here is
how much ground we covered in 6 days:
Mel: Roughly 115,218 steps aka 57.5 miles
KK: Roughly 131,200 steps aka 65.6 miles
Thank you so much to everyone who encouraged me through this journey. I appreciate you all!!
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