The 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend started off pretty much the same way any runDisney weekend starts for me... with the Expo!
My parents, cousins, aunt, uncle & myself arrived at the Expo just before 11am Thursday morning at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. Number pick-up was quick and easy at the Milk House.
My parents, aunt, cousin & I were picking up our bibs for the Family Fiesta 5K (my sister ended up running with my number while I stayed at the hotel Friday morning with my niece).
Me, my cousin Amanda & Uncle Ken picked up our bibs for the marathon! It was me & Uncle Ken's first marathon and Amanda's third.
I loved the long sleeve tech shirt we received. It was my first long sleeve shirt and I loved the Disney Parks icons down along the left arm.
Before leaving the Milk House I shopped for my marathon souvenirs... a hoodie, wine glass and magnet (which is at work and not pictured below).
There were super long lines at the runDisney merchandise area, but there was no way I was getting out of line. I learned my lesson at Disneyland... you either get in and buy what you want right away or you miss out (Coast to Coast tech shirt).
We then headed over to the Josten's Center for the main expo area and also to pick up our goodie bags. It was pretty crowded in here, so I rushed through just to get out. My parents had already been through the expo area and picked up their Pasta in the Park tickets before I met up with them. Wish I knew to pick up my Pasta in the Park tickets at that time, but I thought I could get it at the will call window upon our arrival at Epcot that night....
Anyways, off we went to check into our hotel, Animal Kingdom Lodge. I love visiting that hotel and I was so excited to be staying there for the weekend! As it turns out Trista & Ryan Sutter from the Bachlorette were also staying there (Ryan ran the half marathon). Huge sad face for not seeing them, I would have been so excited!
After we checked into our rooms, we decided to take my niece down to see the animals in the savannah area before heading to Pasta in the Park. At this time, I checked with the Guest Service desk to see if they could print my ticket for me. They could not and I had to go back to the Expo to get the ticket. I was pretty annoyed, but since there was still time before we would leave for Epcot, I walked around the Expo a bit more.
I signed up for the Princess & Disneyland half marathons and found this awesome tech shirt....
Blue... um yes please! Totally my favorite color. So excited since I missed out on one last year.
Once I was done at the expo (again!), I swung by the hotel to pick up my family and then headed over to the Boardwalk Resort to park and walk over to Epcot. With the Pasta in the Park ticket we could enter Epcot at 6:30pm, have dinner at the ShowPlace Pavillion and then there was a special section for us to watch Illuminations. The ticket was $48 for adults and kids 2 & under were free. I don't know what the kids ticket cost, luckily Lily was still 2 Thursday night... her birthday was on Sunday!
After having attending the Pasta in the Park at Disneyland and really liking it, I also thought Pasta in the Park at Disney World was totally worth it. There were a lot more people at this one, but there was never a line for anything. There were at least 10 buffet lines set up for dinner, several cash bars and non-alcoholic drink stations set up around the room.
The food was simple and good... pastas, chicken, salad.
The Fab 5 characters made appearances as well. We got our picture with Minnie Mouse. My niece loved her! Last year, Lily was scared of the characters and just wanted to see them from afar, but this time, she went right up to Minnie and gave her a big hug... so cute!
The characters were just in their regular outfits, whereas at Disneyland they were in their track suits which I thought was cuter. Oh well!
We left dinner at 7:30 and used the last hour and a half the park was open to go on rides. We went on Nemo, Spaceship Earth and the fiesta boat ride at the Mexico pavillion.
We came out of Mexico just as Illuminations was starting. We walked along World Showcase during the show. We have all seen Illuminations in some form or another over the past two decades, so it was nothing we needed to really watch.
We came out of Mexico just as Illuminations was starting. We walked along World Showcase during the show. We have all seen Illuminations in some form or another over the past two decades, so it was nothing we needed to really watch.
It was a nice, quick visit to Epcot for dinner! Love those kind of nights!
Ooohh, man, I am coveting that tech shirt! I love it!! I hope the Tink shirt is cute like that.
ReplyDeleteDang- I totally meant to go sign up for the Disneyland half while I was at the Expo! What is wrong with me?!?
ReplyDeleteI love the Coast 2 Coast shirt! I wish we would have done the Pasta in the Park.
So far it sounds like a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI tried to stare at your expo picture to see if I was in it. I was in a pastel-ish turquoise jacket. I DID see that color in your photo - but obviously too tough to tell if it was me or not. I mean why wouldn't I be in your random photo when more people than my City's population were there?!? ;)