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

[hauntedcity]

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

Yes! I can handle just about everything else, but I don't like Oreos after a race. They make me crazy thirsty. I did a "chocolate run" 10K a few years back, and Oreos were available on the course. I had the same reaction then, too, and I was parched after eating them. No other chocolate affects me that way; just Oreos.

(please note that this doesn't stop me from binging on Oreos any other day of the year.)

 

[ZellyB]

Great job on the 5K. I love the shot of you at the finish line! Sorry you didn't get any character shots, but you got some real beauties of the sunrise and Epcot. So pretty! Good for you on turning in that $50. I hope it goes to a good charity, but feel badly for whoever dropped it.

 

[FFigawi]

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

Definitely odd, but they did get eaten, unlike the squeeze applesauce.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I love that Dopey Christmas Ornament. Now I wish we'd gotten one in 2016, when DH ran his (for him "One and done", but he's 65, maybe he wouldn't feel that way if he were younger). He also was there, ready to run the half marathon this year. Great report!

 

[Ariel484]

Sadly, we do...

Ding ding ding!!

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.

I would love that! I don't think it'll ever happen, but that would be awesome.

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.

I agree with all of your thoughts. Ultimately like @camaker said, it just makes me want to go into the expo less, which means less browsing at their vendors. I know people say they have some stuff in the finisher area, but I never remember to look.

I'm just really turned off to buying the race stuff compared to how I used to be. They make it so hard!

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

Ha! Nope, Little Red. If Big Purple gets retired and I get a big red suitcase instead...we all know what'll happen.

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?

Gah, the 5K characters killed me. Such a great line-up! I totally regret not stopping for Minnie or Goofy.

Oreos were weird but I wasn't mad about them being there.

 

[Ariel484]

Yes! I can handle just about everything else, but I don't like Oreos after a race. They make me crazy thirsty. I did a "chocolate run" 10K a few years back, and Oreos were available on the course. I had the same reaction then, too, and I was parched after eating them. No other chocolate affects me that way; just Oreos.

(please note that this doesn't stop me from binging on Oreos any other day of the year.)

I saved the Oreos for later...just enjoyed my last package yesterday.

Great job on the 5K. I love the shot of you at the finish line! Sorry you didn't get any character shots, but you got some real beauties of the sunrise and Epcot. So pretty! Good for you on turning in that $50. I hope it goes to a good charity, but feel badly for whoever dropped it.

I love the finish shot too! I definitely did not look good in some of those on-course pictures, but this was a good one.

I totally feel awful for whoever dropped that cash. That's a lot of money to lose!

Definitely odd, but they did get eaten, unlike the squeeze applesauce.

I ate both!!

I love that Dopey Christmas Ornament. Now I wish we'd gotten one in 2016, when DH ran his (for him "One and done", but he's 65, maybe he wouldn't feel that way if he were younger). He also was there, ready to run the half marathon this year. Great report!

Go back to the Christmas store and get one for 2016! Better late than never!

 

[Ariel484]

Expo Visit #3

Back at All-Star Movies, after thinking about it last night and this morning, I headed to the concierge desk straight from the race bus and told someone about my not-so-clean room. I wasn’t expecting (and didn’t get) any compensation, but I was so bothered by it that I felt like I had to say something to someone. The CM seemed pretty surprised and I felt a little better having gotten my...I don’t know, annoyance, I guess, off of my chest. I basically just said “hey, I don’t think my room has been vacuumed, hair, trash, ew, etc.” and moved on.

On that yucky note...time to eat! I ordered the kids Mickey Waffles at the food court. Just a little over $5 for this...bargain (by Disney standards)!

Then it was back to the room…

It was only 8:00AM (doing these races so early really messes with my sense of time...felt like way later to me!), so I knew my new room wouldn’t be ready for quite awhile...so it was back into the hairy shower, ugghhhh. I got all ready and said BUH-BYE, SEE YA NEVER to All-Star Movies! I’m sure I just got a bad room or something - I know people stay at the All-Stars all the time and it’s fine - but this was bad enough to make me want to avoid the All-Stars from now on! If I need a night at a value I’ll stick to Pop or Art of Animation!

Little Red and I headed to the car and from there we headed to the Magic! I was heading under the gates at about 9:40!

I parked in the Rapunzel lot at the TTC and took the tram in. I think the express monorail was down so I ended up taking the ferry…

I had some fastpasses made for the afternoon, but my main goal for today was getting a picture with Pluto, so I thought maybe I’d do that, grab some coffee and then maybe head to a monorail resort for lunch before coming back to the Magic Kingdom to cash in my FP+ (Mine Train, Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion). I noticed that bag check was a little crowded but didn’t think much of it.

In the Pluto line!

“You have a medal, too!”

Hooray!

Double Hooray! They still had gingerbread lattes...my favorite drink at Starbucks. Why are they seasonal?! Gingerbread can be enjoyed all year long in my opinion. Wahhhh!!

Oh hey!

I was starting to think about lunch by now, so I made my way out…

And then I saw...this.

WHAT EVEN. ?!?!?!?! Shouldn’t you people be at school/work?!

That was it for my afternoon MK plans - I had zero interest in coming back to that mess, despite the FP+. Sigh.

I headed up to the monorail and pulled up the menus for Contempo Cafe and Gaspirilla Island on my phone. Contempo Cafe won out and I was dining on this super tasty margherita flatbread around noon!

Since I wasn’t going back to Magic Kingdom and my room wasn’t ready yet, I had an awkward amount of time to kill, so I decided to just do a little monorail loop tour. I browsed the shops at the Contemporary before hopping on the monorail and hanging out at the Poly for a bit. It was weird to be back here, but not staying here, after we’d just had a room at this resort in November.

From there I went to the Grand Floridian. I was close to buying 3 for $10 bath bombs from Basin White to use after each of my 3 remaining races, but talked myself out of it. Wish I would have done it!

I’d been thinking about my running outfits with the ever-changing weather and was pretty sure I now knew what I wanted to wear for the (sure to be) rainy half marathon. Rain in the forecast meant I would need a visor...unfortunately, the one visor I had brought with me wasn’t going to match my outfit. Such problems! So I got back on the monorail to the TTC, got into the car and drove back to the expo (expo trip #3 for anyone keeping track!). This one was quick, at least - I just purchased an orange sparkly visor from Sparkle Athletic...and while I was there I got a text that my room was ready! Yay!!

 

[Ariel484]

Expo Visit #4 (!!!!!)

I wasted no time in driving to the Boardwalk!!

I dropped Big Purple and Little Red off with Bell Services, parked the car, got a parking pass and took it BACK to the car (something I hadn’t had to do at All-Star Movies), retrieved Big Purple and Little Red and headed up to my room, #5063! I had requested a room on a higher floor close to the lobby (since the hallways at the Boardwalk can get loooooong) and this room definitely ticked those boxes!

I opened the door, and...ahhhh.

I hadn’t stayed here in a few years (fun fact: Mr. Ariel484 and I stayed here for our honeymoon in 2009! ) and had forgotten that the resort had gotten a refurb - I LOVED the new decor (maybe because it’s pretty similar to the colors, etc. that I use in my own house ). It just felt like *me.* And the bathroom wasn't hairy and the carpet seemed clean, so that was a plus.

What I'm saying is...I was super extra happy to be out of that room at the All-Stars!

My big complaint at the Poly in November was that there were no drawers thanks to the Murphy bed - well here, instead of having a separate table, the table was built into the murphy bed and I had a little armoire-type thing with drawers! Yes!! I thought this was so smart.

YESSSS

In case you can’t tell from alllll of the pictures...I loved this room. Probably my favorite on-property room I have ever had between the decor, location, and THIS VIEW

It got a little loud with some kiddos having a scream-y lightsaber battle out in the courtyard one night, but I LOVED the location of this room. It was just awesome.

I am one of those travelers who likes to fully unpack, so I was pleased to be able to do that now. I put all of my stuff away and then...I headed BACK to the expo!! I know, I’m an insane person. The guilt of buying the Space Mountain shoes was eating away at me...one of my New Year’s resolutions is to spend less money and buying both pairs of shoes wasn’t helping that cause. So I drove back to the expo for the 4th time (!!) and returned the shoes at about 5:30 (maybe I’ll pick them up again in February or May? At least the cost would be spread out that way...).

Would this be my final expo trip of the weekend??!?!?

 

[Ariel484]

Swoon!

After the expo, I headed back to the room to grab a pullover and then made my way to the TTC. I parked in the Hook lot...the express monorail was down, so I got in the Ferry line. Once I was on the Ferry, I met up with @Keels and @tigger536, who had kindly invited me to have dinner with them at Be Our Guest!

*Swoon*

We headed back to the Beast’s castle for a 7:15 reservation. I had been here for lunch and breakfast, but hadn’t had dinner here yet!

We were seated in the ballroom!

We started off with the meat & cheese plate for the table.

And we split a bottle of Rosé. Booze in the Magic Kingdom, OMG!

I had the potato-leek soup...SO GOOD!

The master of the castle strolled through just before our entrees came out…

I was torn between the strip steak and the braised beef and ended up going with the steak. It was just okay - when I go back I’ll try the braised beef, and will definitely get the soup again!

Around this time, my husband texted me a picture of our dog snuggling with my favorite hoodie...apparently he missed me! My heart broke a little bit, not gonna lie.

We each got an order of The Grey Stuff to go (picture to come)...thank you for inviting me to dinner and for your generosity, Keels!!!

We went to wait in the line to meet the Beast, but there was a HUGE party in front of us - like a family reunion of 30ish people from Australia or something - and it took awhile for them to get set up for their picture. So we waited for that, and were behind others as well...and I was just fading fast. I think at one point I realized how late it was (8:45ish?) and decided I had to get out of there and go to bed! So we left, said our good-byes and I headed back to the Boardwalk.

When I got back to the room, The Grey Stuff went into the fridge…

...and I made the final call on my race outfit for the 10K. Originally I’d planned on a totally different outfit with capris, but the forecast had tomorrow as being the warmest day of the weekend, so something with a skirt won out. It was *BB-Great* that I’d packed so many options!

I don’t think I was in bed until 10PM - not good seeing as my wake-up time was now going to be an hour earlier from here on out!

WDW 10K recap is up next!

 

[Sailormoon2]

I love that shot of the castle!! I absolutely teared up at Wine & Dine when I got to see it all "icy"!!! Seems like you got a ton of use out of your car, and Boardwalk villa looks amazing indeed! But then I'm really not surprised the Epcot resorts are my favorite!!

 

[rteetz]

The parks were super busy earlier in the week. Apparently a lot of schools were still out.

That room is awesome! I love the view and it just looks so much better than the all-stars. It reminds me of the room we had last year at Beach Club.

BoG is always good. I can never pass up the grey stuff when I am there either.

 

[TeeterTots]

Thank you for the belated birthday wishes!! Omg, I did not know that the princess 5K was the same! Yay! I'm pumped! I was so disappointed when they changed the W&D half route because I really wanted to run HS, the boardwalk and in to Epcot! Oh well!

I love love love your boardwalk room! We have very similar decor as well! We stay AKV and poly mostly so one day we'll switch it up!!!

Love your Pluto pic! GB lattes from MK always taste better!! Lol! Love the outfit! How do you like the sparkly visors? I'm thinking I'll grab one at the expo.

 

[Disneyhayes]

Loving the reviews so far! Your race outfits are adorable. My goal is to run a race sometime in 2018

 

[petals]

Following along. I am crappy at exercising but have hopes of changing that some day and doing at least a Disney 5k

 

[SarahDisney]

Confession ... I did not get any Gingerbread Lattes this holiday season. I got vanilla lattes twice when I should have gotten gingerbread. Except both times I didn't think about the gingerbread until after I had already gotten my drink. I'm a little annoyed at myself.

What the flip is with those crowds at MK??? I totally understand not wanting to go back ... that's insanity.

That Boardwalk room looks beautiful. And that view ...

Dinner at Be Our Guest is one of my favorite things ever. I'm so excited that you got to enjoy it with friends!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Girl I think you set the record for expo visits!
Your room looks beautiful! We have dinner reservations at BOG in Feb and I can't wait! Great idea getting the "grey stuff" to go!

 

[Ariel484]

I love that shot of the castle!! I absolutely teared up at Wine & Dine when I got to see it all "icy"!!! Seems like you got a ton of use out of your car, and Boardwalk villa looks amazing indeed! But then I'm really not surprised the Epcot resorts are my favorite!!

I know! The castle is always beautiful, but the dreamlights take it to another level!!

The parks were super busy earlier in the week. Apparently a lot of schools were still out.

That room is awesome! I love the view and it just looks so much better than the all-stars. It reminds me of the room we had last year at Beach Club.

BoG is always good. I can never pass up the grey stuff when I am there either.

The room was so great. It was just so serene and pretty!!

Thank you for the belated birthday wishes!! Omg, I did not know that the princess 5K was the same! Yay! I'm pumped! I was so disappointed when they changed the W&D half route because I really wanted to run HS, the boardwalk and in to Epcot! Oh well!

I love love love your boardwalk room! We have very similar decor as well! We stay AKV and poly mostly so one day we'll switch it up!!!

Love your Pluto pic! GB lattes from MK always taste better!! Lol! Love the outfit! How do you like the sparkly visors? I'm thinking I'll grab one at the expo.

Yes, exact same course! Actually the 10K and half marathon courses are also the same as the ones in January.

I like the sparkly visors a lot. At first they feel like they squeeze my head a little bit, but once they stretch out they're good! I wash them in cold water on gentle cycle in a lingerie bag and hang them to dry and they hold up well. I do wish they were adjustable though.

Loving the reviews so far! Your race outfits are adorable. My goal is to run a race sometime in 2018

Thanks! You should totally do one!

Following along. I am crappy at exercising but have hopes of changing that some day and doing at least a Disney 5k

Thanks for reading! Definitely check out a Disney 5K. They are so much fun!

Confession ... I did not get any Gingerbread Lattes this holiday season. I got vanilla lattes twice when I should have gotten gingerbread. Except both times I didn't think about the gingerbread until after I had already gotten my drink. I'm a little annoyed at myself.

What the flip is with those crowds at MK??? I totally understand not wanting to go back ... that's insanity.

That Boardwalk room looks beautiful. And that view ...

Dinner at Be Our Guest is one of my favorite things ever. I'm so excited that you got to enjoy it with friends!

It's okay, the GBLs will be back in November!!

I also don't know what was up with the crowds...it wasn't like that when I have been there in the past for these races! Kind of a bummer!

Girl I think you set the record for expo visits!
Your room looks beautiful! We have dinner reservations at BOG in Feb and I can't wait! Great idea getting the "grey stuff" to go!

UGH I know! Nothing something I plan on repeating, that's for sure!!

We also have BoG reservations for February, and I'll definitely be enjoying the Grey Stuff again!

 

[Ariel484]

Day 3: Friday, January 6, 2017 - Walt Disney World 10K!

Hooray! It’s 10K Day! One of my favorite runDisney race courses!

I snoozed for a bit before getting up and grabbing a bus to Epcot! The pre-party was in full effect!

After the loooong character lines the previous day, I wanted to make sure I was at the front of my corral again. So right away I went into the runners-only area, used a porta-potty and headed back to Corral C.

And I just sat in the corral and hung out!

Today’s race was due to start at 5:30, 30 minutes earlier than the 5K had started. At 5AM, I got an alert that runDisney had posted an update on Facebook in the Marathon Weekend event saying that they were monitoring the weather for the next morning’s half marathon due to the threat of lightning in the area. The weather for Saturday (calling for thunderstorms and rain) and Sunday (an extreme cool-down for Florida) had been a hot topic going into this weekend and packing layers for rainy/cold races was a big reason why Big Purple was so hefty (I say that like I don’t regularly pack that much...hahahaha). So this alert didn’t really surprise me - I’d accepted a few days ago that the half would likely be run entirely in the rain and was prepared for that - but now I was starting to wonder if we were looking at a delay in the race start time, or even worse...a cancellation.

But first - the 10K!

My corral started at about 5:45ish...maybe a little later, can’t quite remember. 3-2-1-GOOOOO!

We took off and made our way under the Epcot toll booths!

The first half of this course is pretty boring, going on the roads just outside of the park. There was a sharp turnaround just before Mile Marker 1 with a meet & greet with Scrooge and Launchpad McQuack - the line was huge and I have met both of them before, so I passed them up. Lilo and Stitch were out as well and I passed them, too.

Like the previous day, I was running at a relaxed pace from mile marker to mile marker…

Somewhere in the first two miles or so I was passed by a friend that was here doing her first Dopey Challenge - she FLEW by me and was looking great!

And now, the fun part begins!

We headed into Epcot near Test Track, and I was surprised to catch up with the friend that had passed me earlier. Unfortunately, she was limping. I stopped to chat for a bit and she said she thought she’d possibly injured herself. I was soooo sad for her because she had worked so hard for this weekend. Dopey is a cruel you-know-what sometimes. (She ended up finishing the race, but definitely had a significant calf injury. Despite that - she finished her races for the weekend!!)

On a related note, I had my first back spasm of the weekend at this point on the course - it was like an electric shock went through me. It was surprising, but gone almost instantly. Not a fan! I had another one later in this same race but can’t remember exactly when/where it happened. Thankfully it was just like the first one - there for a moment, very surprising, and then gone, with no huge lasting effects.

My friend and I chatted a bit more (mostly me just saying over and over “take your time, walk it in. No one cares about your pace”) before I took off again. Good morning again, World Showcase!

I got to the American Adventure pavilion and saw *it* - the one character line I wanted to stop for, and literally one I have wanted since I read my BFF’s marathon trip report from 2009 - Goofy, Mickey and Donald in their colonial wear!

But the Line...oh, the Line. Capital “L” because it was enormous. I thought it wasn’t too bad, and then I passed the Christmas tree...more line. Then I took a turn...more line. It was like some kind of cruel optical illusion! So I didn’t wait and kept going...and now, of course, I totally regret it. UGH!!

Wahh!! Oh hey, girl - see you next month!

 

[Ariel484]

It was time to head out of Epcot and to the Boardwalk! Finally I saw a character line that looked doable!

From my phone:

And from PhotoPass:

I really liked wearing this top for this race. Obviously because it’s Disney-related, and BB-8 is adorable, but also because I got some shoutouts! “Go BB-8!” “You’re doing BB-Great!” etc.

I saw one of my favorite spectators soon after Pluto and I held our ears out!

Funny story: in the one runDisney Facebook group I am in, someone asked to see pictures of favorite signs from the races. I posted the above and the person who was in the dinosaur suit responded! She said the other said of her sign said something like “run like you’re facing extinction” and that WDW Security came along to bust her for violating the costume policy. Sigh!

Another favorite sign! He told me I was doing BB-Great and I said that his sign was BB-Great!

Once I got to Yacht/Beach, I turned to look at the Boardwalk and HOLY AMAZING SUNRISE BATMAN!

Definitely had one of those “man, I love this place, I can't believe I'm here” moments!

1.2 left!

It was time to head back into World Showcase!

Living that droid life!

And back out of the park!

Finishing at sunrise!! Oh yeah!

Wheee! My husband pointed out that I look almost exactly the same in the finishing pictures from the 5K and 10K (same “arms up” thing going on) - could I go 4-for-4 on finishing pictures for the weekend??!??

I collected my finisher medal, water, Powerade, snacks, etc...the lack of sleep was REALLY starting to show at this point!

And then I hopped on a bus back to the resort. The Epcot resorts share buses, so I got off at the first stop (the Swan) and walked back to the Boardwalk. I did pause to cheer on the final few finishers, who were approaching the Swan & Dolphin bridge.

I liked this medal a lot better in person than I had when I saw the teaser pics weeks ago!

Up next: A DIS-meet and a surprising change in plans

 

[SarahDisney]

Yay 10K!!!
I have to say, based on my experience with this course ... it looks a lot less sad when it's not crazy raining. (I happen to really like the course ... despite the extended shower I experienced last year)
Also, the mile 2, 3, 5, and 6 mile markers are the same as last year. Way to recycle, Disney! (I don't know if I mean that in a good way or not)

I love that people made BB-8 related comments to you during the race. That really is an awesome shirt (sorry, I don't really do BB-8 puns)!

Another awesome finish picture!! That pose clearly just works for you.