Disney races are so much fun. You get to run through different parks, take pictures with characters (or at least see them while you run by), see different Disney effects, and it is a flat race. The major downside to Disney races is the 3/3:30am wakeup call. You need to be on the shuttle by 4am to get to the race start. At least the shuttles are nice charter busses specifically there for the race. Once you get there, you have about an hour and a half to blow before the race starts, longer if you start in the back corrals. It is a lot of time on your feet before the race. There are four characters out for pictures before the race but the lines are about 45 minutes long for each picture and there is no guarantee you will get a picture. They cut off character pictures at 5 so that people can get to their corrals. That said, I do love having a DJ there in the morning playing music and trying his hardest to wake people up at an ungodly early hour.
Saturday: 10K and Magic Kingdom
We had a 3am wakeup call, which is never fun. Mom was excited for her first race so having her excited helped dad and I get excited. We got to the race site super early and decided to get a picture with a character. Our options were Mickey and Minnie, Chip and Dale, Goofy, or Donald. Given we only had one picture, we went for Mickey and Minnie. We got our picture three minutes before they stopped taking photos.
 |
| The course took us through Hollywood Studios and Epcot |
Then it was off to the long lines for porta potties and then to the corrals. We were in the second to last corral so we had plenty to time to watch others start the race. Each corral starts with fireworks, which is pretty impressive (although I would gladly take less fireworks to pay less to do the race). Dad and I's plan was to do whatever mom wanted. We would start and finish this race together. Mom had been training to do a run/walk. She had been walk training for months so we knew this would be easy and fun. What we all forgot is that dad and I walk a lot faster than mom. She did an amazing job keeping our walk pace and jogged a lot more than she expected to. The race was super crowded and we weaved in and out of the crowds. I am so proud of mom for pushing herself and still mostly enjoying it. We ran through Hollywood Studios and Epcot. There was a full moon that morning and seeing the moon hanging out over the Tower of Terror was stunning. I try to motivate my running buddies and usually push them to keep going and finish strong. I did it again for my mom during this race. Dad will say that I say "Just around the corner" way too much, but somehow it keeps him going. We all finished the race with a smile on our faces and ready to take on the world (or at least the Magic Kingdom).
 |
| Waiting in the corrals |
 |
| Full moon over Tower of Terror |
 |
| Running through Epcot, still all smiles |
 |
| And yes, I blocked my parents in the finisher picture...oops! |
 |
| All smiles at the finish |
Our day was only starting at this point. We rushed back to the hotel to shower and get breakfast, then it was off to Magic Kingdom to meet Corey and Bethany. They had enjoyed breakfast at Be Our Guest and started enjoying the rides. I hate missing anything so we hurried to get to the park and met them after two rides. It was a crowded day at the park, but we did the best we could with the crowds. We hit Pirates and Big Thunder Mountain right away before the crowds got bad. We actually gave up our FastPass for Big Thunder since the lines weren't long and we could use it for another ride later. We enjoyed Its a Small World, Little Mermaid, Space Mountain, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. So happy to use our FastPasses for Space Mountain and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train since it saved us hours of waiting in line. We went to get on the Buzz Lightyear ride, but it broke down while we were in line. At this point, 3 of us had been awake and standing for many hours and were getting tired. Dad made the smart decision that he needed to go home to rest his legs. When the rest of the group decided it was a good idea to go home and rest before dinner, I begrudingly agreed. I am not good at walking away from unridden rides, but it was the smart decision. Although I did make them stop several times on the way out for pictures. We bought the PhotoPass so we might as well get our money worth (so worth it if you want race photos and will enjoy the parks).
 |
| This photographer was fun and let us try a lot of poses. |
 |
| Christmas comes early at Disney |
 |
| The line for a good picture with the tree was about 25-30 minutes long so a selfie was good enough. |
We went home to rest by the pool for a bit before our dinner reservation at the Grand Floridian cafe. My parents and I went here a few years ago and we were impressed with the good food and fair prices. It is also fun to see a fancy resort. We had a delicious dinner and then our waiter brought a special birthday cake for dad shaped like Mickey. I had called weeks earlier to order the cake to celebrate Dad's 60th birthday. He was definitely surprised (and probably slightly sad that he didn't get to pick one of the desserts off the menu). The cake was delicious and very rich. We took about half of the cake home to enjoy later. It was a great way to finish the day and prep for the half marathon the next morning.
 |
| Happy Birthday Dad! |
