A Dwarf For Every Emotion: A 2017 Dopey (Grumpy?!) Challenge Trip Report! COMPLETE

[Ariel484]

That is exactly what I was looking for all over the parks. Didn't get to Disney Springs this year, will be a must next year.

Yes! I think they do them in Magic Kingdom but stop taking orders around 2PM or something.

At Disney Springs you either need to come back to pick it up later or have it sent to your resort - the fact that they had exactly what I wanted there and done already was perfect!

I live in the city so I don't even have a car. When I was thinking about it last year I was looking at Smart cars! So my ideal car is VERY different! I tried to exchange it a bunch of times and Alamo was so not helpful.

I can't do Smart cars! They're too small!!

That's so cute! I was wondering what everyone was talking about in the Marathon thread when they said they were wearing their luggage tags.

Yes! I think I have one from another race weekend too, I'll have to dig it up!

Seriously. I need these. Like now!

Aren't they awesome?! I love them!

Nope. Not enough ketchup. I would definitely need some more.

I have *just* enough!

Hahahaha. This might me be every morning. I do the same thing with alarm descriptions. Last one is always "Wake the F*** Up!" But without the asterisks of course.

Yeah, getting up in the morning is the worst!!

Just started following along - sounds like a great trip so far. The car is always a big bonus - can't believe the room though - that's crazy

thanks for reading so far! Luckily my next room was clean!

 

[Ariel484]

Day 2: Thursday, January 5, 2017 - Walt Disney World 5K! Part 1

Here we go! Race #1!

I don’t remember what time I actually got myself out of bed and onto a bus, but I was at the starting area in an Epcot parking lot by 5AM.

I strolled through the staging area and headed to the runner’s only area. I was a little disappointed with my corral assignment for this race (Corral C) and was assuming (correctly) this would mean long character lines, so I wanted to get into my corral quickly and get up to the front. They were starting the corrals in waves this year (letting each corral out in groups every couple of minutes or so) and I wanted to make sure I was in wave 1 of Corral C.

I made a quick porta potty stop before heading over to my corral. This is the view from the back of Corral C:

The National Anthem was sung first by a Disney vocalist. Big complaint - they don’t put any speakers near the front of the corrals, so no one even knew the National Anthem was happening until it was almost over! It was impossible to hear anything.

The wheelchair racers headed out first, followed by Corrals A and B. I was surprised and disappointed to see that they weren’t doing fireworks for each corral like they have in past races (same thing for the 10K the next morning).

Up we creeped. I shed my throwaway layers and draped them over a barricade...I can’t remember what the temperatures were this morning, but I was comfortable in my tank and skirt during this race. It was a little humid, but that’s Florida for ya.

The first wave of Corral C started the race at about 6:15AM...3-2-1-GOOOOOOOO!

And we were off!! We headed through an Epcot parking lot...my plan for this race was to keep a super relaxed pace and take walk breaks as I felt I needed them. This worked out pretty well for me...and I did think that this first mile seemed a little less crowded with the wave start.

I passed up a meet & greet with Thumper and Miss Bunny, whom I have met before...hello Epcot!

Mile Marker 1! That's Test Track in the background.

The course took us into World Showcase via a path in between Norway and Mexico. I held my breath hoping that Norwegian Daisy would be out...instead, it was those viking guys that interact with guests waiting for the Frozen ride. To say I was disappointed was an understatement!

Epcot sure is pretty, though.

I go into the Disney 5Ks hoping for just one character picture...the lines are always incredibly long at these things, so that’s really all I have time for. And I found the one I wanted in Italy - Italian Minnie!

But the line...oh, the line. It was HUGE. I stood in it and it didn’t move for a good 3 minutes. My back (which felt great up until that point) was starting to stiffen up and I wanted to keep my pace under 16:00/mile...and I’ll be totally honest, I didn’t want this to take too long because I was SO excited to get out of my yucky room at All-Star Movies!! Sadly, I got out of line.

 

[Ariel484]

Chip & Dale were out in Morocco - again, huge line so I passed them. WAHHH!!!

Mile Marker 2 happened…

We briefly left Epcot and then came back in...I passed up Canadian Donald. WAHHH!!

Character luck just was not on my side today…

But the sun was coming up, and it was gorgeous!

80s astronaut Goofy was the last character I saw, and he was out in Future World. Looking back...I totally regret just not caring about the time and stopping for this one. Ugh!

I had something weird happen as I ran around the Fountain of Nations...I looked down and spotted money on the ground! Somehow without breaking my stride, I picked it up...and it was a $50 bill! What?!

So I ran along with this money in my hand, trying to figure out what to do with it. We looped out near The Land and the Seas and then back toward the fountain...and by then I decided that I had to at least try to turn in this money. I just didn’t feel right keeping it.

I happened to see someone with a runDisney staff jacket on, so I stopped and told him about finding the cash. He said that it was unlikely that it would get claimed (which I figured), so I could either keep it or give it to him...if it didn’t get claimed, it went to charity. Once he said it would go to charity if it wasn’t claimed, I forked it over...here’s hoping the guy didn’t just pocket it! (J/K.)

My conscience cleared, I soldiered on and out of the park to find the last mile marker…

One down!! (I got my race pictures for free as part of my AP...not many good ones from this race, sadly, but I looooove this one.)

Cute!! 3.1 down, 45.5 to go!

I thought about waiting in a character line after the race (Pluto or Dopey) but the pull of getting out of All-Star Movies forever was too strong so I hopped on the bus instead.

Snack box!

Nom!

Up next: resort switcheroo!

 

[rteetz]

I was in corral E which was way different than last year where I was in B. I didn't mind though but it did make for some long character lines.

The only character I stopped for was astronaut goofy. I actually knew the character attendant so that's one reason why I stopped but I couldn't pass him up. Some of the character lines were just so long.

That's cool that they would give the money to charity!

I really liked this years 5K medal. I didn't wait for any characters after the race either.

 

[SarahDisney]

Hold up ... how has your husband never seen Mighty Ducks? I'm so confused. That makes no sense to me. That's a must-watch movie.

Nice haul from the expo!

I stayed at All-Star Sports a few years back ... never again. I am exclusively a Values girl, but ... Pop and Art of Animation. I don't do the All-Stars. I feel like they're basically not well maintained or cleaned or anything ... almost like Disney doesn't care about them at all.

Oh man, I can't believe they didn't do the fireworks for each corral - that was always one of my favorite parts!

The character lines during the 5K are so frustrating sometimes. I wait in them anyway, because I don't care about my time (which explains why I have yet to finish a runDisney 5K in less than an hour), but if you have any sort of time/pace goal and/or plans for the morning, it's not cool at all. Sorry that you didn't get any character pictures, but your finish line picture is awesome!

 

[dwonderz]

Great update! i've always wanted to do a RunDisney race - I didn't realize they had all of the characters out - that's so cool! Excited to hear about the new room!

 

[cavepig]

Great 5k recap & poor person who lost the $50, probably didn't realize till who knows when, I don't think I would be running with that much cash myself though. Those EPCOT sun coming up just a bit pics are beautiful. Too bad on no character pics, long lines turn me away too. Glad to hear the mini waves worked out, I've heard mixed reviews on them.
We've been lucky with our 2 All-Star Sports trips as they've been clean,, but yeah I think I would have called and complained if it was really gross.

 

[TeeterTots]

Yay, January 5....that's my birthday! The 5K looked like a blast. I can't wait to run it at princess. Im looking forward to just enjoying the course/experience! At W&D, I was on a mission! Love the medal too. I'm an honest Abe, so I would've turned the cash in too. I hope the CM did the right thing!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Just started following along and looking forward to the next installment!

 

[roxymama]

That $50 was mine.
I dropped it last year.

These pics are bringing back good memories. No character pic will ever be as great as just enjoying the world showcase in the dark while running around!
It's a shame it gets so crowded for corral C on back. They probably ding you pretty good with corral assignments though because of the Dopey factor right? Too bad they can't have "disney magic" for the character lines like they do with the princess halls, etc. (I know that'd be impossible out in the open)

 

[Ariel484]

I was in corral E which was way different than last year where I was in B. I didn't mind though but it did make for some long character lines.

Yeah, I was in B in 2015 and that was what I was expecting/hoping for this year. Sadness!!

The only character I stopped for was astronaut goofy. I actually knew the character attendant so that's one reason why I stopped but I couldn't pass him up. Some of the character lines were just so long.

They were incredibly long! I'd probably still be out there if I stopped for all of them!

That's cool that they would give the money to charity!

I thought so too! Once he said the money went to charity, I knew in good conscience I couldn't keep it.

I really liked this years 5K medal. I didn't wait for any characters after the race either.

I liked it a lot too! Pluto is so cute.

Hold up ... how has your husband never seen Mighty Ducks? I'm so confused. That makes no sense to me. That's a must-watch movie.

Apparently he grew up in a cave or something. I just do not understand.

Nice haul from the expo!

I was proud of the restraint I showed this year!

I stayed at All-Star Sports a few years back ... never again. I am exclusively a Values girl, but ... Pop and Art of Animation. I don't do the All-Stars. I feel like they're basically not well maintained or cleaned or anything ... almost like Disney doesn't care about them at all.

Pop and Art of Animation - after this trip, I totally agree! I picked Movies because I hadn't stayed there before and it was (relatively) cheap. I haven't stayed at Music yet - that's the only value I haven't tried - but after this I'm not too anxious to give it a shot! I completely agree with your views on the All-Stars!

Oh man, I can't believe they didn't do the fireworks for each corral - that was always one of my favorite parts!

Yeah, I was a little bummed about that! They just had the lights flash around or whatever.

The character lines during the 5K are so frustrating sometimes. I wait in them anyway, because I don't care about my time (which explains why I have yet to finish a runDisney 5K in less than an hour), but if you have any sort of time/pace goal and/or plans for the morning, it's not cool at all. Sorry that you didn't get any character pictures, but your finish line picture is awesome!

Yeah, I feel like I sort of should have waited in them. The outfits that Minnie, Chip & Dale and Goofy had were ones I had never seen before, so i'm sort of kicking myself now.

I am VERY happy with the finish line picture though!

Great update! i've always wanted to do a RunDisney race - I didn't realize they had all of the characters out - that's so cool! Excited to hear about the new room!

You should try one! Yes, they do have characters out...that's like 85% of the reason why I do these races!

Great 5k recap & poor person who lost the $50, probably didn't realize till who knows when, I don't think I would be running with that much cash myself though.

AGREED! If I had lost that much money I would be sick over it, but if I take cash with me when I run it's no more than $10. Having the Magic Band sort of eliminates the need to carry cash at Disney World, I think, which is super nice!

Those EPCOT sun coming up just a bit pics are beautiful. Too bad on no character pics, long lines turn me away too. Glad to hear the mini waves worked out, I've heard mixed reviews on them.

I thought the mini waves helped the first mile or so, but once we got into Epcot it was as crowded as always!

We've been lucky with our 2 All-Star Sports trips as they've been clean,, but yeah I think I would have called and complained if it was really gross.

If it had been earlier in the day I totally would have called to get a new room.

Yay, January 5....that's my birthday! The 5K looked like a blast. I can't wait to run it at princess. Im looking forward to just enjoying the course/experience! At W&D, I was on a mission! Love the medal too. I'm an honest Abe, so I would've turned the cash in too. I hope the CM did the right thing!

Happy late birthday!!

5K was really fun - I love me a dark, lit-up Epcot! You probably know this, but this is the same course as the Princess 5K.

Just started following along and looking forward to the next installment!

Thakns for reading!

That $50 was mine.
I dropped it last year.

You can call runDisney to claim it!

These pics are bringing back good memories. No character pic will ever be as great as just enjoying the world showcase in the dark while running around!

Truth! Best part about running the 5K, for sure!

It's a shame it gets so crowded for corral C on back. They probably ding you pretty good with corral assignments though because of the Dopey factor right? Too bad they can't have "disney magic" for the character lines like they do with the princess halls, etc. (I know that'd be impossible out in the open)

YES! I thought it was sort of unfair that Dopey runners had to give proof for the 5K and 10K assignments, where everyone else could just put in whatever pace they wanted. There were little kids in the first couple of corrals! Sigh...

 

[DopeyBadger]

Expo Visit #1

I hopped off of the plane and headed to the Fake-o-rail, and then...to baggage claim! For the first time ever on a Disney trip, I was *gasp* renting a car! I was proud that I remembered to go and collect Big Purple instead of just blindly heading toward the Magical Express area.

But...the moment of truth...did Big Purple make it?!

I waited a few minutes, and there she was! Lumbering around the baggage claim belt! Yay!

From here I headed to the Alamo car rental desk. I had somehow scored a screamin' deal on my car ($159 for the entire trip) - I didn't realize how good that was until recently when I was hunting deals for my next trip (where I can’t find anything less than $350 for the same type of car for the same number of days...ouch! ). I did a good job of turning down all of the extras, except that I got suckered into paying them extra to fill the gas tank at the end instead of doing it myself. Ah well.

I headed out and across the street to pick out my car - a Toyota Corolla!

(This is from later in the trip.)

I LOVED this car. My car that I drive at home is a 2009, so this Corolla had a few bells and whistles that mine doesn't (back-up camera and Bluetooth were two in particular that I really enjoyed having). But mostly I loved the freedom that this car gave me. I already had all of my stuff with me and I didn’t have to rely on buses. It took me a bit to get the hang of driving around property, but the signage is pretty good and my phone helped out when I got lost. So I think I have converted to wanting to rent a car on pretty much every Disney trip! Here’s hoping I can score a deal for February...

Anyway, I picked out my car a little before noon and loaded Big Purple and Little Red inside. Next stop - the expo!

I was on-property by 12:18...way faster than DME! I had my phone navigate me right to Wide World of Sports. I thought this would be a great idea to just head there and get packet pick-up, etc. done first. There was a bit of construction around the turn I needed to take to enter the complex and a lot of traffic...this should have been a sign that this was a mistake.

I was walking in at about 12:45…….

It didn’t take long to figure out that this place was a madhouse - the most crowded I have ever seen it. I think because this year it didn’t open until noon (with early hours for people who had paid for the Race Retreat) - in past years it has opened to everyone at 10. I’d forgotten about the late opening, so I was there right in the thick of things. Ugghhhhhh.

My first stop was the New Balance shoe area. I’d made a reservation for Haunted Mansion shoes! I tried those on and on a whim bought both those and the Space Mountain shoes (but would I keep them…???).

I briefly thought about trying to check out the official merchandise, but then I saw a huge line wrapped around to get into the area to shop! There wasn’t anything I wanted that badly, so I ditched that idea!

The final stop I made in this building was the (crowded) runDisney booth to check out the Princess Half Marathon Weekend medals. I was so sure they would be better in person than the teaser pictures...they were a little better, but overall I’m underwhelmed. They’re small! Still larger than most running participation medals, but for a Disney race weekend, they’re kind of small. I’ll still be happy to get them next month, though!

From there I headed to the bib-pickup area...and for the first time ever, in 10 runDisney weekends (this being my 4th here at WDW Marathon Weekend), I had to wait in a line to get into the bib pick-up building. There was a guy screaming at a CM for trying to direct the crowd, but for the most part, people were just bemused by the whole thing. It was WEIRD.

I got my bibs, took my challenge picture (so they could make sure it was actually me completing all of the races) and then headed across the room to get my race shirts. This is one great perk of being a challenge runner - you don’t actually have to go into the expo building at all unless you want to shop. And there’s usually a small selection of merchandise in the bib pick-up building.

Next I headed to the "pre-order solutions" booth upstairs. I’d pre-ordered a Goofy pin bundle, but since I had transferred to Dopey, they had no record of my pin order at the Dopey bib pick-up booth. They did have my name in the system at the solutions booth, so I got my pin bundle with Goofy, marathon and half marathon pins. I then perused the merchandise here - the only things I really wanted were I Did It shirts and Sweaty Bands. They didn’t have the shirts here (those were in the other building, but I decided to pass on those for now - see why below) but they did have the Sweaty Bands, so I grabbed one each for the marathon and Dopey Challenge. And then I headed outside and back to the car.

So like I said, I was interested in getting a couple of shirts...but not interested enough to wait in THE BIGGEST LINE I HAVE EVER SEEN ANYWHERE WHAT IS THIS MADNESS???

Nope. Bye.

"Hooray! I get to leave!"

Blech!!!

Following along! That expo line pic is insane! When was that taken and was that to enter the expo shopping area? I was in line for the expo building around 12:20-12:30 (a guess) and waited maybe 10 minutes total to get inside. But my line wasn't extended much beyond the doorway. Seems like there must have been a massive rush at some point. I left at 1:40, but I never did look back when we left to see the line.

Great start to the race recaps!

 

[Ariel484]

Following along! That expo line pic is insane! When was that taken and was that to enter the expo shopping area? I was in line for the expo building around 12:20-12:30 (a guess) and waited maybe 10 minutes total to get inside. But my line wasn't extended much beyond the doorway. Seems like there must have been a massive rush at some point. I left at 1:40, but I never did look back when we left to see the line.

Great start to the race recaps!

I know! I blame them opening it at noon instead of 10 like in past years! I think that pic was taken more around 1PM - yes, that's the line to get into the shopping area. Unbelievable!!

 

[FFigawi]

I know! I blame them opening it at noon instead of 10 like in past years! I think that pic was taken more around 1PM - yes, that's the line to get into the shopping area. Unbelievable!!

That line is why I completely skipped the expo this year. I was in and out with my bib in 10 minutes, looked at the line which was all the way up the stairs to the beer stand, and walked right back to the car. Assuming rD offers the early entry at 10 and opens the expo at noon again in 2018, I'll wait until 5-6 before showing up.

 

[Ariel484]

That line is why I completely skipped the expo this year. I was in and out with my bib in 10 minutes, looked at the line which was all the way up the stairs to the beer stand, and walked right back to the car. Assuming rD offers the early entry at 10 and opens the expo at noon again in 2018, I'll wait until 5-6 before showing up.

I basically did the same thing, except got the shoes first. Lesson learned for sure after that one.

I was hoping runDisney would see how much of a colossal cluster---- it was having this open at noon and NOT do that again, but if they think it helped sell Race Retreat...I think we both know how it'll go in the future.

 

[FFigawi]

I basically did the same thing, except got the shoes first. Lesson learned for sure after that one.

I was hoping runDisney would see how much of a colassol cluster---- it was having this open at noon and NOT do that again, but if they think it helped sell Race Retreat...I think we both know how it'll go in the future.

Sadly, we do...

 

[camaker]

That line is why I completely skipped the expo this year. I was in and out with my bib in 10 minutes, looked at the line which was all the way up the stairs to the beer stand, and walked right back to the car. Assuming rD offers the early entry at 10 and opens the expo at noon again in 2018, I'll wait until 5-6 before showing up.

Same here. I got all the rD merch I wanted from the bib pickup sales area and was not going to wait in that stupid long line. If I were the vendors in the Expo I'd be upset because they missed out on a lot of foot traffic due to that line. I still think that rD should restrict access to the Expo to registered racers and family for the first 2-3 days of the weekend. Let Wed - Fri be for runners only and open Saturday up to the general public.

 

[Nole95]

I don't know what time we got in the Expo line on Wednesday, but when we got in line, it was backed up to the path towards the track. While it only took us about 30 minutes to get in, that is really not acceptable. Definitely worse than years past when the Expo opened at 10 on day 1. That is one thing I wish they'd change. Have VIP hours be 9-10, and then open for everyone else. RD also could have made some extra money if they had some concessions available back there.

I also don't understand why they have to have shirt pickups for certain races over in that building either. You'd think they could figure out a way to do all bib and shirts in the same place.

As for merchandise, I would think they could set up a big tent in one of those fields exclusively for RD merchandise. That would help alleviate some of the crowds in the main expo building as well.

Maybe once they finish up that other arena building they are putting up, they might be able to spread things out a little more.

 

[croach]

Day 1: Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Dwarf #1: Sneezy! (Okay this isn’t an emotion like the title says, but work with me here! ) Thankfully, this guy was not a factor in my trip. In the weeks leading up to this weekend, I was washing my hands like crazy and chugging orange juice and Emergen-C drinks like it was my job. I made it to the trip without getting sick! Woohoo!!

Sleepy foreshadowing (also not an emotion...we'll roll with it): I slept terribly on Monday night - we had a loud storm at home and my husband (Mr. Ariel484, couldn't make the trip due to work ) and I each got maybe 4 hours of sleep. Then on Tuesday night I just stayed up wayyyy too late and didn't get to bed until about 12:30 on Wednesday morning. So I was pretty sleep-deprived going into this trip, and it stuck with me until the last day!

My alarm went off at 4:30. Like an idiot, I snoozed. Our airport is small and easy to navigate, and I figured it wouldn't be too crowded.........................

How wrong I was!! The security lines were insane (the first of a few insane lines I would encounter today). There were tons of suitcases piled up near the Southwest counter when I went to check my insanely giant suitcase (which is huge and purple, hence the name Big Purple).

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. Apparently it was leftover holiday travel (foreshadowing!!). I was just in disbelief...the schools around us had opened back up on January 2, so I hadn’t expected this at all.

Big Purple weigh-in...is this a sign that I need some sort of intervention when it comes to packing, or a sign that I have extreme skill when it comes to packing?

The weather was looking weird for this weekend, so I'd packed for pretty much every possible scenario when it came to park clothes and race outfits...and alllll of the layers! This turned out to be a good thing.

I took my carry-on (Little Red...which is smaller and...well...red ) and got into an enormous security line with just one hour until my 6:30AM flight was due to take off. I was starting to panic a bit (a lot) that I was going to a.) miss my flight! and/or b.) Big Purple wouldn’t make it to Orlando since I had clearly arrived at the airport later than I should have (I DID pack my race outfits and essential ID stuff in Little Red, so at least I had that with me!). GAHHHHHH!

Well, it turns out that my security line was full of traveling all-stars - it didn't get held up at all and moved quickly! I made it through and had just enough time to grab a granola bar for breakfast at a gift shop before power-walking to my gate approximately 30 seconds before boarding began! MAN!!

Hooray for an A boarding group on Southwest - look at this leg room in the exit row!!

I was OUT COLD for this flight to Nashville. We landed on time and I had just enough time to hit up Starbucks for a coffee and breakfast sandwich before flight #2. Despite said coffee, I was out cold again and woke up to the glorious news that we were descending into Orlando at about 11:10! Hooray!

Up next: A Disney first for me! And...did Big Purple make it to Orlando??!?!?!?!!?

Since you have a little Red suitcase I'm glad your suitcase isn't named Big Red(surely someone has made that joke before).

 

[croach]

Chip & Dale were out in Morocco - again, huge line so I passed them. WAHHH!!!

Mile Marker 2 happened…

We briefly left Epcot and then came back in...I passed up Canadian Donald. WAHHH!!

Character luck just was not on my side today…

But the sun was coming up, and it was gorgeous!

80s astronaut Goofy was the last character I saw, and he was out in Future World. Looking back...I totally regret just not caring about the time and stopping for this one. Ugh!

I had something weird happen as I ran around the Fountain of Nations...I looked down and spotted money on the ground! Somehow without breaking my stride, I picked it up...and it was a $50 bill! What?!

So I ran along with this money in my hand, trying to figure out what to do with it. We looped out near The Land and the Seas and then back toward the fountain...and by then I decided that I had to at least try to turn in this money. I just didn’t feel right keeping it.

I happened to see someone with a runDisney staff jacket on, so I stopped and told him about finding the cash. He said that it was unlikely that it would get claimed (which I figured), so I could either keep it or give it to him...if it didn’t get claimed, it went to charity. Once he said it would go to charity if it wasn’t claimed, I forked it over...here’s hoping the guy didn’t just pocket it! (J/K.)

My conscience cleared, I soldiered on and out of the park to find the last mile marker…

One down!! (I got my race pictures for free as part of my AP...not many good ones from this race, sadly, but I looooove this one.)

Cute!! 3.1 down, 45.5 to go!

I thought about waiting in a character line after the race (Pluto or Dopey) but the pull of getting out of All-Star Movies forever was too strong so I hopped on the bus instead.

Snack box!

Nom!

Up next: resort switcheroo!

Congrats on finding $50! And good on you for giving it to a charity(hopefully).

The characters during the 5k really cool and maybe the best of the weekend as far as my bad memory serves. In hindsight I regret not stopping for some - definitely Minnie, colonial characters, and Donald.

And did anyone else find the Oreos an odd thing to have in the snack box?