runDisney Princess Weekend 2016: 5k Friday

Not gonna lie, I really couldn't sleep Thurs night because I was wayyyyy too excited.  I also had pre-race jitters about sleeping through my alarm and what if I twisted my ankle getting on/off the bus or some how sustained an injury that killed my glass slipper challenge (GSC) prospects.  Finally, the alarm went off and we were up and out.

It's only 3.1 miles!

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect for the pre-race area/start.  I wasn't disappointed, nonetheless.  There was a DJ and some hosts annnndddd 2 characters you could take photos with: Ariel and Sebastian.  WOOT!  The Ariel line was really long, so we jumped in line for Sebastian.

The characters were awesome with looking at people on the sidelines who were taking photos when people were switching out.

So I wanted an easy costume option on Friday.. and cheap.  Really, we didn't do exact costumes, but more character themed costumes.  I ended up going with a college student in Oozma Kappa (the fraternity from Monsters University) with my OK shirt and my sweat pants (which isn't far from the tye-dye shirts and pajama pants I wore at NCSU) and Teh MD-AR was Cheshire Cat.

Even crustaceans have guns.

After our photos with Sebastian, we headed to our corral to wait on the race to start.

We made a friend who was dressed up as Mulan!
PS.  She's a blogger!  Check her out!
PPS. Don't be afraid of the .info link, I've tested it out, it's safe.

We also saw the cast of Alice in Wonderland

Finally at the start line!!!!

3.1 of 22.4 miles didn't take long at all.  We started in the Epcot parking lot and then ended up running through Epcot, and finishing almost where we started.  I'd show you a map but Runkeeper and I aren't on speaking terms after it's multiple infractions.

The first character we saw was Goofy.
We did a drive by.

We definitely stopped to take a photo once we got into Epcot with all the countries behind us.

Pre-sunrise Epcot.

Drive-by of Donald and Daisy

We HAD to stop for Genie!
Later, we found out that vacation Genie only comes out at the run events, so we were glad we stopped.

Drive by of some pretty fishies near the Nemo section of Epcot.

Never enough selfies with the Epcot icon: Space Mountain

And just like that, 3.1 miles was done.

1 of 4 medals achieved!

We actually ended up running into Mulan again after the race.  She took the above photo and we took hers (despite the signs that said no photos #rebels).  We all picked up our snack boxes and pressed through the crowd to snack some.  Mulan said she was waiting for her friends who were in a later corral.  We eventually decided to check out which characters were out after the race and we were lucky to get in line for Ariel and ERIC about 10 people before the line was closed.  Mulan's friends showed up a bit later and were turned away because the line was closed, but Mulan called to them and they came over and joined us in line.  Fortunately, the people behind us didn't say anything.  Then again, I probably wouldn't have said anything to the grown woman who was crying because she was so relieved/excited to get to meet Eric.  I probably would have cried a little bit if the line had been closed on us.  Sometimes, the Disney magic isn't magical...

After we got photos, we found our bus and headed back to the resort.  Of course, we had to get some photos with the dogs in the daylight.

Pongo was gonna bonk my head.

Such a good boy!

Pretty Perdita!

I wasn't the programming Lucky was expecting...

After naps and showers, we headed to Which Wich for lunch.  Teh MD-AR noticed a HomeGoods in the same shopping complex, so we hit that up as well.

nomnomnom egg salad

I was tired from our walking around the entire store and I found a Megan-sized chair to nap in.

Why the long face?

After HomeGoods, we hit up a Kohl's so I could buy some new undershirts for Teh German with my Kohl's cash I had gotten from my birthday stripes shopping spree.  It was way more difficult than it should have been, but I prevailed.. and I also picked up a pair of dark blue fleece pants to run in for the 10k if it was chilly.

When we were finally done shopping, we went back to the resort to get ready for Pasta in the Park at Epcot.  This was essentially a special event for runners that runDisney offered a few months ago.  When I realized it included admission to Epcot an hour before the dinner actually started, I figured it was worth the $50.  I had planned to ride Soarin' with Teh MD-AR (despite her protests), but she lucked out because the ride was shut down.  BOOOO!  Instead, we headed to England to pick up some goodies for Teh Sister since she wasn't able to find them in Iceland.

I considered Princess weekend my 30th birthday celebration and definitely asked for a birthday pin when we got to Epcot.
#notsorry
I absolutely loved all the birthday wishes from the cast members.

Crocodile from Peter Pan.. Obviously my mouth is as big as his.

YOU GUYS..

YA'LL...

GENTLE READERS....

HERCULES WAS THE THEME OF THE PASTA DINNER!!!!!!!

I almost lost my fucking mind when I realized.

I fucking love Hercules.

It's probably my favorite Disney movie evarrr.

Seriously, I teared up a little bit I was so excited.  Pasta in the Park was a last minute decision we made and I had figured it would be a buffet dinner and then after dinner we'd go and watch the light/fireworks show.  It would be a fun way to pass the evening.

BEST IDEA EVERRRRRR.

When we first walked in, I was initally confused at the 2 characters that had a line for photos, then it hit me that it was Pain and Panic at which point the above excitement exploded from me and I'm pretty sure Teh MD-AR might have been slightly overwhelmed at my ability to overcome impending hangar for Disney characters.

No, but seriously.  HERCULES!!!!!

I was gonna high five, Pain decided we should hug.
I went with it.

While we were in line for Pain and Panic, we heard that Hades and Megara and Hercules were also there!  SQUUEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  We were informed that Herc and Meg were swapping out every 30 minutes, so we decided to get photos with Herc while he was out.

We can go the distance...
even if Phil didn't train us!
Herc asked if we had seeked out training from Philoctetes.

Dem guns.

After Herc, we got in line for Hades.  I could tell Teh MD-AR was getting hungry but I really wanted to get photos with all the characters and that overrode my need for food and she was extremely patient with me.

We were super close to photos with Hades when he had to go on break.  Le siiigh.  10 minutes later, he came back out and it was game on.

Hades set was pretty awesome

It's good I wasn't dressed up as Meg for this! lol

Selfies with Hades, because DUHHHH.

After Hades, we finally ate, much to the relief and gratitude of Teh MD-AR.  The food wasn't bad, but someone who was obviously a cast member said the food was crap.  For buffet food, I felt that it could have definitely been worse, so I wasn't complaining.  I'm a super slow eater, so Teh MD-AR pressed me to finish up so we could get in line for Meg.  I've never been more grateful because we were the last people in the Megara line before a cast member came up and closed it.  While we waited in line, we ate the Mickey ice cream sandwich we had split right before we got in line.  #Disneyachievement

last in line selfie!

Sassy

The Megs!

Selfies with Meg were an absolute requirement.

After we were finished with photos, we headed back into Epcot to find the reserved seating area they were holding for Pasta in the Park attendees.  It was front and center, which was awesome.  We were able to facetime with Teh Soccer Mom and ESPN kid during the show since they had missed it the last time they had come to Epcot.  After the show (which was awesome, of course), we caught a bus back to our hotel and prepped our outfits for the 10k.

Some of us had to do more work than others.

Disney Princess Weekend 2016!!!

Thursday - Arrival, Expo, City Walk
Friday - 5k, shopping, Pasta in the Park @ Epcot
Saturday - 10k, Disney Springs, Disney All-Star Movie Resort
Sunday - Half Marathon, 52 Seasons
RunDisney Princess Weekend Summary - opinions, cost