Poppy Ran Me Over With His Scooter - A PHM Trip Report UPDATE!! 7/23 Pg. 21

[amberg93]

Write what you want to write? I mean, I'll follow along with whatever adventures you're sharing so it's up to you.

50 degrees is cold for Florida. I mean much better than winters up north but still.

Eek, sorry your volunteer was so slow but at least pin!

I agree that runners should get the first pick at the Dooney bags, if they've got extra I'm sure they'd have no problems selling them at the end of the weekend.

That is lots of awesome Expo merch, and you do live and learn as to what works and what doesn't.

 

[SarahDisney]

The November TR is how I first found you, so I'm a little attached to it ... but since I'm here now and I don't plan to lose you, I understand why you might want to drop it. How can 1 person be expected to write 3 TRs at once?

Expo day ... aka the day I arrived in Florida (although you were probably at the expo while I was still sitting at home doing my last minute packing and pre-trip cleaning).

Slow lines are the worst. Some of the people at the Expo really didn't seem interested in getting the runners in and out of there.

I'm so glad to hear you're running the Donald half in January! Maybe this time I'll actually see you ... although I'm not doing the half, just the 5K & 10K, so I'll just have to try to run into you at the expo or the parks.

I'm totally with you on the Dooney situation. Because I was arriving so late, I didn't even get a chance at the Dooneys - they were all long gone by the time I got there. If the rarer items (like the Dooneys) were available to runners only, I might have had a chance at a Dooney (the money to pay for it, on the other hand ... not so much). Or even a virtual queue like the New Balance shoes, which is open to runners first (and non-runners later). But the way they do it now really isn't fair, especially to runners who arrive later in the weekend.

I love ALL of your swag. Every single bit of it. (Even the Frozen 5K shirt that I also have). Looks like you had a great shopping day!

 

[IheartDDuck]

It's another check mark on the Disney fan card... No need to revoke it!

Looks like a really busy day but so far a lot of fun! I love that you are always doing up your makeup for Disney characters!

I hope you do that trip report for SWW and the 24 hour day!

Haha, right?! I was thinking about it when we were there that I had honestly never stepped foot in the place. Now that's changed, but still, it was weird to feel out of my element in WDW.

Thanks! I'm not always the best with it. This past May trip it was so hot and that I just didn't want to put the effort in.

Those race expos are massive....fun if you are into them but...yeah can be time consuming. I DO want to hear about the 24H day for sure!!

They really are! I was expecting time consuming, but it was a little worse than I had prepped for, based on the fact that we had to waste time in one of the 5k lines waiting for slowpoke to finish.

3 simultaneous trip reports?! All hail the Dis Queen!
I love the makeup. Your creativity is amazing.
We are always so happy to see your family but we were especially happy to see your dad in Feb! And we are really looking forward to January!
Love all the goodies you bought!

Awww, not quite the DIS queen. Haha.

Thanks! I just like having fun with it. My game wasn't quite as strong in May, but it's so hot! We are really looking forward to January too! It's going to be so much fun.

 

[IheartDDuck]

I've done three TRs at once and yes, it's a bit of a pain! Right now I'm down to just one and it feels a little weird. I am really looking forward to your Star Wars trip report because I'm almost certain Jim and I are going to go next year.

With my bad ankle, there is no way I will be able to run a marathon at Disney but I sure do love reading about them.

Jim and I actually visited WWoS on our Honeymoon in 1998. There really was nothing to see there and we lasted all of 10 minutes. The only thing to see was the store. I guess if there isn't an event, there isn't much to see. So in other words, I don't think you missed much by not going before!

I did three TR's once before too, and I did abandon one of them. However, it was a Paris one and for some reason I didn't have as many readers.

Yay if you guys go! We're definitely going back next year for SWW so you'll have to let me know what dates you decide on. All I'm going to say is May 13th to the 21st would be great! *hint hint* You get two SWW out of it, and the final weekend of Flower and Garden. If my calculations are correct.

Love all the swag!!! And the saying "13.1 miles 'cause I'm only half crazy" cracks me up!!!

I loved my swag too! The 13.1 jokes always crack me up. I'm so easily amused.

I love your reports so I'm voting to write one for all the trips but I know what a PITA writing a report is.

Holy cow those lines are crazy! I agree with you, runners should have exclusive access to the Dooneys. Nice swag!

Jill in CO

Thanks! I'm going to try very hard to just commit to finishing them in a timely manner. LOL. I talk too much is the problem.

Right?! That just frosted my cookies, like, why wouldn't you give the runners access first?!

 

[IheartDDuck]

All caught up! I agree with you- runners should have exclusive access to the Dooneys. Makes no sense that they don't do that! I just choked on my water when I read "This isn't sweat; It's liquid awesome!" I need to start running just so I can wear that.

I'm glad everyone agrees with my reasoning. Haha.

But it is liquid awesome! I figure sweating is a badge of honor that I'm working hard!

If you were to ask us to choose which TR to cut short, then the Nov TR would be it.

I've been there for the Disney marathon expo and it wasn't too bad. I guess the fact that you were at the expo on the first day, and it was also the first day for the volunteers, probably added to the chaos. In hindsight, do you wish you had left the kids and a non-running adult back at the resort? They were definitely troopers, though.


Your swag is great. I think the Princess Half Marathon has the best swag. I'm tempted to run the 5K next February just so I can "qualify" to wear the cool stuff. (I won't wear a race shirt if I didn't run a race. It feels wrong.)

I agree with your about the Dooney stuff - race participants should get first shot at it.

I think the fact that it was the first day did make a difference. But we didn't really have a choice based on the races we were running. The PHM definitely did have some good swag. Maybe everyone didn't have to come to the expo, but we didn't know what we were doing. Haha!

I don't wear a race shirt if I didn't run either. It's just weird.

I can't even imagine having TWO let alone three TRs going at one time - you are a TR master!! Go girl

BUT I think if you're definitely wanting to get rid of one - it sounds like you really want to go (and I really want to hear about...slightly selfish logic) the SWW and 24 hours route. I say do it and that would be nixing the November TR...am I right or very confused (very possible)...?

I'm loving hearing your race experience! I totally agree that only running participants should have access to the merch - it just feels like 'what's the point of having it there during the races, then?"

Awww, thanks! Not so much a TR master right now, but I'm trying.

I think they should only give race participants access to it for the beginning and then expand later. Then they wouldn't run out of so much stuff! People buy it and sell it on Ebay which is frustrating.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Well I definitely want to hear about your recent trip! And of course would love to hear the rest of the November trip but completely understand if you can't. 3 TRs sounds like a lot of work!

Excited to hear you will running again in January!

Love all the stuff you bought, but it does sound like a long day!

I'm still mulling over all my options. I don't love leaving things unfinished either. Haha. I will be running again in January, I'm pretty excited about that!

I've heard the expos can be crazy and your report confirms that. Seems like the kids did awesome though ... mine would be bouncing off the wall after like 2 hours. And, at least for the boy, I mean that literally - just to try and entertain himself.

All the swag you got is cool! Like the one (not sure if a shirt or bag or sticker or what) that says "This isn't sweat, it's liquid awesome!"

BTW - kinda agree with you about the line for Dooney and not cool that non runners are able to just get on line. They should at least have some time set aside for just runner to give you some advantage.

They definitely are crazy. The kids were great, didn't really complain or anything.

The swag is one of the highlights of the expo! You don't go to one without buying a ton of stuff.

Whatever works best for your Danielle. No matter what... If you write it, I will come.

I've never been either. The closest I've been is passing the entrance when heading to POP. I'm keeping my Disney fan card though, thank you very much.

Is it wrong that this reminds me of Universal?

I actually knew this via FB and that info is securely tucked away.

OK, here's what I really like about the swag. The "I did it" t-shirt BEFORE actually running the race. Positivity for the WIN!!!

Awww thanks Rob. I'm getting caught up on everyone's stuff this weekend so that I'm caught up on other TR's too!

I supposed it counts. You are definitely enetitled to keep your Disney fan card.

It is like Universal!

So by saying it's tucked away, does that imply you may be there at the same time? Cause that would be AMAHZING!

I was confident that in one way or another I was going to crawl over that finish line.

 

[IheartDDuck]

These Expo horror stories just keep on coming. Yikes! And I totally thought of that Miranda Priestly quote when I read you guys were waiting for so long. OMG, but that swag is awesome! The Dooney especially is perf. Hope the rest of this day got a bit better for y'all and I'm really curious to hear how this "Beverly bullet" situation went down.

Can't wait to read more!

If you could have seen me, you would have noticed that I was definitely channeling Miranda Priestly.

The swag is pretty great at the expo. I'm excited to see what they're going to have for January.

Hahaha, I have video. That's all I'm saying.

Write what you want to write? I mean, I'll follow along with whatever adventures you're sharing so it's up to you.

50 degrees is cold for Florida. I mean much better than winters up north but still.

Eek, sorry your volunteer was so slow but at least pin!

I agree that runners should get the first pick at the Dooney bags, if they've got extra I'm sure they'd have no problems selling them at the end of the weekend.

That is lots of awesome Expo merch, and you do live and learn as to what works and what doesn't.

Thanks my dear.

It was so cold! I'm a midwesterner, so I'm well versed in cold, but it's totally different when you're in Disney.

The November TR is how I first found you, so I'm a little attached to it ... but since I'm here now and I don't plan to lose you, I understand why you might want to drop it. How can 1 person be expected to write 3 TRs at once?

Expo day ... aka the day I arrived in Florida (although you were probably at the expo while I was still sitting at home doing my last minute packing and pre-trip cleaning).

Slow lines are the worst. Some of the people at the Expo really didn't seem interested in getting the runners in and out of there.

I'm so glad to hear you're running the Donald half in January! Maybe this time I'll actually see you ... although I'm not doing the half, just the 5K & 10K, so I'll just have to try to run into you at the expo or the parks.

I'm totally with you on the Dooney situation. Because I was arriving so late, I didn't even get a chance at the Dooneys - they were all long gone by the time I got there. If the rarer items (like the Dooneys) were available to runners only, I might have had a chance at a Dooney (the money to pay for it, on the other hand ... not so much). Or even a virtual queue like the New Balance shoes, which is open to runners first (and non-runners later). But the way they do it now really isn't fair, especially to runners who arrive later in the weekend.

I love ALL of your swag. Every single bit of it. (Even the Frozen 5K shirt that I also have). Looks like you had a great shopping day!

Well I will do my utmost to continue that TR.

That was the day you arrived, I remember! No, you are correct, some of them did not seem interested in getting runners out of there at all. They were just la dee da about everything.

We will have to make sure to plan to see each other then. I'm not doing much prior to the race, just going to the expo and having dinner. No parks for me. I want to conserve energy, because I've learned my lesson from this prior trip.

See, that sucks! Because they don't limit the Dooneys to runners only. If they did that, at least then the people arriving at the Expo late would have some kind of opportunity to get them!

 

[kastoney]

I have to write one for the SWW trip I took and the 24 hour day because it was so much fun and a disaster at the same time in some ways I have to share! But I don't know if I should keep up with my November TR. Thoughts?

Just do 4 at one time. Darling I, can't get enough of your TR's baby ; )

For all non-runners out there, I will give a brief explanation.

Thanks for the explanation for us in the couch-bound crew ; )

Jeni and I decided that we would do poses to describe how we really felt about running 13.1 miles a few days from then.

Clearly only one of seems to have a grasp on reality

Her name was Eileen. I'm looking at you Eileen! Everyone else had their packets and everything while Jason and I were still 30 people deep in our line.

Come on Eileen....

Sorry couldn't help myself

Here is one complaint that I have about the Expo / Dooney situation. This is open to anyone. You can walk in and buy what you want. Doesn't matter if you're running. So what you have is people in line for the Dooneys that aren't even running a race.

Gotta plead clueless from the couch crew, do they sell special purses at the expo or something?

 

[courtneybelle]

Veronica gets me. I don't care if it's cold, it's Florida and I will expose my legs, dangit!!

"And then I did something more insane. I got in line for a Dooney." This line made me cackle because I would have done the same thing. There is little I WON'T do for good merch.

I do agree with you that the initial run of Dooneys should be for runners only. Honestly, I would feel weird owning a marathon bag if I didn't actually run a marathon, but apparently the people who are going to resell it on eBay don't have that kind of conscience.

Omg your mercy is all so beautiful. Almost makes me want to start running!

 

[Pluto0809]

All I'm going to say is May 13th to the 21st would be great! *hint hint*

If we do go it will unfortunately be for only a long weekend. Neither one of us can get a lot of time off in May or June due to work schedules. But it will probably be May 13th - 16th, 2016! So we would overlap a bit. My plan is to fly down early Friday and hit up Epcot (Jim's favorite). Then spend both Saturday and Sunday at HS for the Star Wars stuff. We would have to fly back early on Monday so no MK or AK for me. But it's really the only way we could make it work during that time of the year.

 

[amazingact21]

I don't think many people go out of their way to go to Wide World of Sports just for fun. I know the only reason I have been there is because of packet pickup for a race.



Yikes, the expo sounds hectic. I knew the lines were long and all, but I think people try and brush it off to save us novices from being scared away. Like, "Go ahead and go to the expo, it's tons of fun, you'll get lots of stuff."


Man, I must be really out of it, because I had no idea just any old person could buy the race exclusive merchandise. I mean, I figured if a family member or friend was with you they could get something, but I had no clue regular guests could stop by and get in line. That seems a little unfair to the runners. I'd be really upset if I did a half and went to buy the Dooney and the runDisney shoes and they were sold out because some random family came in and swiped them all. Racers should have priority. I mean, ya'll pay good money to register for those events.
Not to mention you are the ones doing the hard work by running the races...

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

So by saying it's tucked away, does that imply you may be there at the same time? Cause that would be AMAHZING!

Lets just say I've been working on working on something for a while. We'll see how successful I am.

 

[FloridaNative8]

Oh man - the Expo!!! I have a love/hate relationship with the Expo. I have a lot of anxiety so going through the insane crowd with the kiddos can really get to me. We've started getting there right as it opens, and that helps a bit. I love looking at all the cute tees they have, and I usually have to get something taped at the KT Tape booth! I always get a car magnet and either a wine glass or coffee cup for each race weekend. That way I have souvenirs that will DEFINITELY get used - a LOT

I totally agree about the merchandise situation. I firmly believe that they should allow participants first dibs on ALL of the official race merch. Did you see the insane situation for the New Balance shoes?? I know Disney really doesn't care if their merchandise ends up on eBay, but for the people that really want certain items to commemorate their race, it really sucks for those things to run out before they get a change to buy them. I would absolutely pre-order items if they ever did that... maybe if they sent a special link to registrants a couple of weeks before the race? It's frustrating!!

You sure did rack up though!! I love the race tees, especially since they started doing a women's cut. I wear them all the time!!

I can't wait to hear about Akershus - another I have yet to try!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hi Danielle! I don't know if you will remember me as I have been gone from the Dis for a few years. I was browsing the TR board and saw your user name and thought it looked familiar so I clicked and there you were!

The end state of all this? My transformation is real. And it took work. And effort. And I'm still not done.

Congrats on your journey! A real transformation!

I told her that they were treating her that way because they thought she stole it!

Shady Momma I'm telling you. Dang Criminal.

This is my worst nightmare. We'll be using the Magic Bands for the first time in December and I am so worried something will go wrong with them.

However, on our way out, this happened. The man is literally driving around in a circle going WWWHHHEEEEEEE!!!!! The one time I don't turn the video on....

Love it!

The server at WPE offered to take a picture for us. And the best thing happened. We were photobombed by the other WPE staff. This is why Disney is amazing!

These are the best kind of cast members! Love it when they are so fun loving.



I would have been so annoyed at that Dooney situation. I completely agree that the merch should be for runners only.

 

[QueenJen]

Another vote to continue the November trip report. Love your writing style and reading about all the antics of your family. With that said, write faster write faster - before you know it you're going to have a fourth trip report from Disneyland write about. I have to admit...I started reading your DLP trip report waaaay after you wrote it and got to the end where it dropped.... Whaa whaa whaa. Lol. Either way...you'll have readers for the TR's you keep writing.

Your TR's and IG posts showing your make up looks have inspired me - I have been practicing with make-up again and hubby just ordered me 32 shades of mineral pigment powders to 'play with'. I hope to have a Disney inspired look for at least 1/2 of our trip to the world.

I completely agree that runners should have had first dibs on the Dooney's (all race related merch actually).

I have skipped running for a couple months and miss it. We just got our AP's again last weekend and I did not realize the early sign up for the Star Wars 10k run (at DL) was on 6/2.....early reg was already sold out when I checked 2 days later. Now to remember to sign up when regular registration opens. I want to do that to get my qualification time slot for the Tinkerbell 1/2 next year (assuming they will have it again).

Looking forward to reading more. Glad to hear the things are returning to normal for you and hope the rest of the year is fabulous!

 

[marabusybee]

I did the Princess in 2013 and the expo wasn't bad, but that was before the Glass Slipper challenge and all that madness. I agree that the expo should be closed to the public, at least until maybe afternoon of the last day. I would love to do the other races, but I won't be anytime soon. Not until Disney has a little more respect for the people who actually pay [the obscene amounts] to run the races rather than cater to the eBay crowd who really creates the chaos at the expo. Which makes me sad, because running through Disney is quite possibly the most magical thing you can do there.

 

[RachelNinja]

Oh man, just reading about your Expo day was tiring! ALL THOSE LINES! And I agree that only runners should have access to those Dooney bags. Even if the line moved quickly, I still think it should've been reserved for you guys. It's kind of how in high school, we all bought t-shirts for our future colleges. It used to bother me when people wore shirts for colleges they were clearly NOT attending, haha. I don't know why it bothered me so much (and this was before we actually got to college where everyone would visit friends or even have siblings that attended those schools). I feel it's kind of like, false advertising, hahaha. You didn't go there, so you can't make it seem as if you did! If you didn't run, don't make it seem as if you did!

Anyway, your motivation despite your trepidation for the race is so encouraging!

 

[itsthatdisneygirl]

Ugh those lines would have driven me INSANE...like 2x more than I already am. I love the Rapunzel look I might have to try it some time I got all the equipment for that one. I also just wanted to say I'm still keeping up I just don't post here as often as SWW has taken over my life. At least until June 13th and then I get a teensy break before F&W takes over my life! Hope to see you again in January

 

[Mom2m&k]

So happy for an update. I love all your trip reports but I can't wait to read all about the 24hr party and SWW soooo. On a side note my kids found a new Beverly trick...mix it with something that should taste good! Ugh..it was not okay!

 

[Poolrat]

Catching up - I was watching some of the SWW fun on FB. The Expo can be CRAZEEEE!!! Amazing that you got everyone up and to the Expo at all.

Just doing the expo for the day and nothing else is probably a good idea. No need to add stress to an already anxious situation.