a-mad
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2018
@lhermiston - I also was hit with a big dose of reality yesterday when Utah got blasted with a huge winter storm. I have definitely re-lived Florida weather (and a bunch more stuff...) a lot over the last few days.
Here are my highlights for what was quite the amazing week:
- Finished my first ever Dopey - and what an experience it was. I had been sick up until a couple of days before we left, but my body held up well, along with the Red-eye flight (no sleep), early mornings, and days walking in the park. I trusted my training, and it pulled me through... along with running incredible routes that I had never ran before - with things to look forward to on a continuous basis
- Enjoying a runDisney event that I felt pulled out all the stops. I've only ran one other runDisney event, so there was nothing to compare this to, but I was incredibly impressed with how well-run and supported these races were. I can't imagine having to deal with the crowds that sign up for these races, so despite the inconveniences of the early mornings, the long walks to the corrals, etc. I thought they did a great job. I can't believe how many volunteers they had - it was impressive. And for the most part they were all incredibly supportive and encouraging.
- Running through the parks - I love Disney theme parks, and the opportunity to run through them in this setting was second to none. I thought I had mentally prepared myself for running into Magic Kingdom and seeing the castle, etc. but it hit me harder than I ever expected. I couldn't even feel that I was running for that mile or 2 after...
- Characters - I did not expect to stop for any characters... but we couldn't resist hitting a few that had little to no lines. Our ultimate wish that Esmeralda would magically show up didn't come to pass... but we had fun meeting up with many others (including Snow White in Germany with just a half mile left to go in the marathon... it was just what we needed!)
- Did I mention support? I haven't ran a race that was so well-supported than these races. I was worried about not carrying water/fluids in the marathon, but my fears were erased when there were aid stations at nearly every mile it felt.
- Celebrating our 20th anniversary - it was great to spend quality time with my wife. We missed having the kids with us... but this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and we loved being at the resort enjoying everything it had to offer as adults. We were joined by my two brothers-in-law and their spouses, and we had an absolute blast.
- FOOD! I loved that we had one table service reservation each day (usually mid-day). It brought some much-needed rest and downtime to each day, and we had positive experiences everywhere we went. Here are a few of our food highlights:
- La Hacienda de San Angel - the ADR I perhaps was the least excited for ended up being the highlight of all of our ADR's. We had a early dinner on marathon evening that was perfect - great food (their corn chowder and grilled shrimp tacos were out of this world), awesome views and outstanding, attentive service.
- Ample Hills Creamery - thanks for the tip @Keels!
- Rose Gold Cupcake at Sunshine Seasons - I never thought I would buy anything with "Rose Gold" in the title... but we were on the hunt for a good cupcake, and this was the winner! (runner-up - the Masters Cupcake at Be Our Guest)
- Boardwalk Bakery - from the loaded Turkey Sandwich we had on our first night, to the sugar cookies and tarts... this place continuously delivered.
- Rides - There were many rides I hadn't ridden yet, so I was thrilled to finally make it on them. I was totally blown away by FoP. It lived up to the hype and delivered a ride experience that for me may be my current favorite theme park experience ever (I know that's saying a lot, I love DLR's Indy, Splash, Haunted Mansion, BTMR, ToT... but for me it was that good). Frozen Ever After was a big hit and we ended up riding it shortly after finishing the marathon (and only waited 15 minutes!) and Slinky Dog Dash just put a huge grin on my face the whole time.
- This great community - I didn't have a chance to meet up with any of you... but the advice you've provided during the past year has been invaluable. I've looked forward to every SAFD for the last 52 weeks, and even though I'm not planning on returning to WDW any time soon (although the 3 of us vowed this would not be our last Dopey!) I'm sure I'll frequent the site from time to time to see what ya'll are up to! Thanks for everything.
