As I’ve already gushed about in last Friday’s post, I had an absolutely amazing time at this year’s runDisney Princess Half Marathon! This was my fifth Princess weekend, and they just keep getting better and better. I’m already excited about registering in April for the 10th Annual Princess Half, can you imagine the awesome medal?
But first, I need to get going on my recaps! I truly love doing these because they’re such a great way to remember fond memories. So with that, here’s Day One of my amazing Princess Half Marathon adventure!
My friend, Sara and I have a tradition now where we arrive on Wednesday and depart on Tuesday, a day before and after everyone else. With great room rates at All Stars Sports and our annual passes, why not? This year, I took the earliest flight out of Baltimore so really soak in every moment.
I always love striking up conversations with other passengers who are wearing runDisney gear! Always fun meeting fellow Princess Half lovers.
Now. Let’s talk about my foot.
While I was excited about my vacation … I was also holding on to some lingering disappointment and frustration over still being unable to run due to my injury. When I walked the Wine & Dine Half Marathon in a boot back in November, I thought that’d be the only time I had to deal with a race while injured.
But nope. My partial plantar plate tear had other plans.
I’ve been doing lots of research and it can take a very long time to heal, maybe up to a full year. My husband has also recently chatted with a guy who has had two partial tears in his life – one that healed conservatively and one that required surgery. Even he said that it can take a very long time to recover, but once I do, my foot will be stronger than ever.
Fingers crossed that happened.
Seeing as how there was nothing I could do … it is what is is … I brushed aside my disappointment and focused on being grateful for the ability to walk each race with my doctors approval … and not in a boot! I’ve been there done that and hope to never walk a race in a boot again!
My flight was thankfully uneventful, so I soon found myself in Florida saying hi to this awesome guy!
And of course, I had to pay a little visit to Snow White.
I wanted to say howdy to Goofy, but he was chatting with some small children. Next time! Besides, I had to do the customary hustle-to-Magic-Express in hopes to not miss the next bus to All Stars! The line was just the right kind of long, telling me a bus should be arriving soon and that there’d be room on it for me. And while loading, I noticed how nobody chose to sit in the second row. Score! I love getting a great shot of the most magical sign in the world. It soon started to rain, but that was okay. I’d much rather have rain on my arrival day instead of during the race!
Our room was thankfully ready once I had arrived at Sports … which is always my favorite value! Sara, Stephanie, and Kelly weren’t arriving until later, so I was faced with the big question.
What to do first?
I was so excited and so happy to be there, that I honestly didn’t know, so I let fate make the choice for me by grabbing the first bus that arrived.
Magic Kingdom it was! After all, Sara and I had fast passes later that night, so it made the most sense. I was hoping to keep my park hopping down to a minimum throughout the vacation, in an effort to preserve my foot as much as possible!
Once in magical Magic Kingdom, an heavy shower sent me hauling booty to Sleepy Hollow, and since it would be rude to sit at a table without purchasing something, I bought a yummy Nutella Waffle. Oh, the sacrifices I make!
Sorry for the poor quality screenshot. I forgot to take a picture and wasn’t on top of my blogger game yet!
The rain showed no sign of letting up, so I put on a poncho, got out my umbrella, and began a character photo hunt! Years ago, I would have been running for the rides since I was (and still am) a thrill seeker at heart, but I’ve been getting into character photos more and more lately.
Although this was kind of cheating on Sara. That’s always been our thing! My deepest apologies, Sara, have you forgiven me yet? 😉
But I was pleased to report to her that I really upped my interaction game that day! Usually, I get all tongue-tied and awkward with the characters, but not this time! I was one clever, chatty Cathy. Kind of proud … and I wish my friends were there to witness it!
My first stop? Winnie and Tigger … who happened to look adorable with his umbrella!
Now, I love all my posed pictures like this one.
But my absolute favorites are the hugging ones!
And the more candid ones captured by Photopass photographers. I love adding captions to them later on!
In this one, I was asking Peter Pan for some pixie dust to get me through the marathon. He told me flying was not allowed. Darn!
Merida tells me I can borrow Angus, her horse, in this picture. I imagine that wouldn’t be allowed, either!
Rapunzel gave me the biggest hug after hearing about my foot injury. This just might be my favorite hugging picture yet! Look at her adorable smile!
Tiana told me I’d deserve some beignets after walking all those miles. I hugely agreed!
Now Gaston.
After telling him how I would be borrowing his fabulous fashion choices for the half marathon, I imagine him telling me to “bring it.”
Oh, it was brought, Gaston, it was brought!
I did make the mistake of putting my hand near his face. Gaston does not like his beauty to be covered.
Afterwards, I was ready for some dinner. My favorite counter service in Magic Kingdom? Columbia Harbor House! The salmon dinner with couscous is amazing, plus it was a good idea for me to eat somewhat healthy at the beginning of my trip, saving all the bad food for after the races.
Again, no food picture. I was too hungry!
And midway through my meal, I was also grateful for the roof, seeing as how another major rain shower hit us.
It lasted for at least an hour, and since I was cold and not quite ready to poncho up again, I hung out in the restaurant, ordering some fries, (there goes healthy eating,) and catching up on social media.
Soon I got word that Sara was on her way … she was waiting out the rain as well from All Stars, but got too excited to stay there! Thankfully, the rain stopped once she arrived, so we got to use our fast passes for several rides.
Oh, and bonus! While lingering near Walt, chatting with Brooke from Bibbidy Bobbidy Brooke, a CM approached us, carrying a delicious-looking ice cream sundae! Apparently, someone left before picking it up, and she had offered it to at least ten people, all of whom rejected the free sundae.
I’m sorry. I still don’t understand that. Reject a free sundae?
We, of course, said yes with no hesitation and total thanks.
Once again, there goes my healthy eating plan! But hey. One should never pass on a free sundae … especially if it’s delicious!
Afterwards, Sara and I took a spin down memory lane by riding Carousel of Progress … something I haven’t done in a long time. We then headed back to All Stars in time to say hello to Stephanie and Kelly, the two gals I ran with last year for the 2016 Princess Enchanted 10k and 2016 Princess Half Marathon!
Yes, beers were consumed due to our excitement.
Healthy eating and drinking just didn’t happen, y’all. Didn’t. Happen.
But on the bright side, I fell right asleep that night instead of going through my usual first-night Disney insomnia routine! And in the morning, we had decided to spend some time at Animal Kingdom rather than deal with early Fit for a Princess Expo crowds.
It ended up being a great decision and will be the topic for my next recap!
QOTD: Which park do you love to go to first? And would YOU have turned down a free ice cream sundae?
Thanks for reading my Disney World Day 1 recap, and as always, have a joyful day!
all the positive vibes here, congrats! I’m also training for a half marathon with SportMe marathon training, which calculates distance, time, pace and calories.