Dopey Shenanigans! A Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend TR (Completed-videos added)

[rteetz]

I was going to comment on how beautiful your safari pictures were but geez... all your Animal Kingdom pictures are great! Fantastic shots of RoL too! Great 10k recap. Kind of wishing now that we made time to go to the HH meet up- oh well!

Excited to hear your half recap! I actually think I might have seen you in passing on the Half course. Were you part of the big Shenanigans group dressed as the Toy Story aliens?

Thanks!

Yes I was part of the alien group for the half.

 

[BigRed98]

The Star Wars VR experience seems so cool. I haven’t heard a bad review about it yet.

 

[rteetz]

The Star Wars VR experience seems so cool. I haven’t heard a bad review about it yet.

It is very cool. Something that you really can't experience elsewhere right now.

 

[piglet1979]

I love Teppen Eddo. I am not big on some of the flavors like soy sauce so I tell them not to but it on mine. The Chef looks at me funny every time and asks me several times if I am sure.

 

[skier_pete]

Whew - you guys look like you are dressed for the arctic - and you are even from the North - it must have been COLD!

I was not impressed with Teppan Edo. Not that it was bad, but we have 4 or 5 Teppanaki places in our area, and they were on par with the level of entertainment we got at Teppan Edo. I expected Disney to put on a top-notch show and it was just typical, I can spend a lot less on the same meal at home.

I would like to try the SW VF experience, but I don't think we are going to get down to Disney Springs this trip. Hopefully they will extend it and it will still be open in August, we might give it a try.

 

[mickeystoontown]

How cool that you were able to have so many Dis meets. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Disers are the best. They just get other Disney fans. We've never tried Teppan Edo before either simply because that's not the kind of foods we normally eat.

 

[rteetz]

I love Teppen Eddo. I am not big on some of the flavors like soy sauce so I tell them not to but it on mine. The Chef looks at me funny every time and asks me several times if I am sure.

It was a fun restaurant for sure. Just not my favorite.

Whew - you guys look like you are dressed for the arctic - and you are even from the North - it must have been COLD!

I was not impressed with Teppan Edo. Not that it was bad, but we have 4 or 5 Teppanaki places in our area, and they were on par with the level of entertainment we got at Teppan Edo. I expected Disney to put on a top-notch show and it was just typical, I can spend a lot less on the same meal at home.

I would like to try the SW VF experience, but I don't think we are going to get down to Disney Springs this trip. Hopefully they will extend it and it will still be open in August, we might give it a try.

It was definitely cold. I’ve never been to Florida with a jacket before.

I’ve never been to a place like Teppan Edo before so I had nothing to compare it too.

I’m surprised they haven’t extended it already.

How cool that you were able to have so many Dis meets. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Disers are the best. They just get other Disney fans. We've never tried Teppan Edo before either simply because that's not the kind of foods we normally eat.

Dis meets are one of the best parts of these runDisney weekends.

The people I was with really enjoy Teppan Edo so I decided to try it. I wouldn’t normally eat there on my own either.

 

[rteetz]

Half Marathon Recap!



Finally it was time for the Half Marathon! Another early morning but this time I would take the monorail to the start instead as they were not running buses or at least didn't advertise them. I saw @MommaoffherRocker while in line for the monorail. Mylar was of course another popular choice today as it did warm up a little bit but it was still quite cold. Green aliens was the theme today as I was running as part of Team Shenanigans again. This time I was lucky enough to find them before the race.



As you can see most were still bundled up. After this I would stop and say high to what was left of the DIS meet up and then head off to the corrals. It was going to be interesting to see how well their new system worked this year with less corrals and more waves. I was in corral G so second to last. My hope was to get in as early of a wave as I could.



Corral G and H were just ginormous. A sea of people all around. Soon enough corral A was off!





I was lucky enough to get in the first wave of corral G when it came down too it. We started at 6:10AM.





And we're off! For those who don't know the half starts on the road just outside Epcot. Port Orleans resorts are to our right, and Epcot to the left. We run right for the Magic Kingdom. The first mile was uneventful. There was a band right away.



Stilt walkers were the next entertainment choice on an overpass.



Then a really cool part of the weekend. EAR FORCE ONE! The Mickey hot air balloon hasn't been seen out in years but they brought it out for the half which was really cool!



After that it was time to head into the MK toll plaza!

Continued in next post...

 

[rteetz]

Half Marathon Recap!



This area really spreads out the runners well before making it narrow again. Mater & Lightning McQueen were out next but I have met them before so I passed.

Ralph and Vanelope were out after that but another skip for me.



Jack and Sally were out in the MK parking lot but due to lines and wanting to get to MK already I skipped again.

We then ran through the TTC and out onto the road near the Contemporary.



There was nothing on course after the TTC until the Magic Kingdom.

New this year to the course was running through the park entrance rather than entering backstage. I actually really enjoyed this change. They had the Main Street citizens out on the train station cheering on runners. 5 Miles before we even get to a park!



Now for the best part of this race... running down main street!





There is truly nothing like running down main street and seeing the castle lit up and people everywhere. It is one experience you cannot get elsewhere.

Into Tomorrowland we went.



Mike and Sulley were out but I decided to skip.

The White Rabbit was by the Tea Cups also skipped.

Great Goofini was out by Storybook Circus and I am not sure why I didn't stop but I didn't.

Sebastian was out near Mermaid.

The mice Suzy and Perla from Cinderella were on the back side of the castle.



This area is always pretty crowded. I didn't seem to get in the view of any of the photopass people here.

Into Frontierland we go after running though the castle.

This is where I found my people! I got in line for Woody and Bullseye because I was dressed as an Alien right? Then here come a big group of aliens. Its Team Shenanigans!





I missed getting a picture of mile marker 6.

Continued into next post....

 

[rteetz]

Half Marathon Recap!



We run by Big Thunder and Splash then off into backstage where the old princess castle float was. The train was also out for photo ops but we skipped.



Cinderella needs to open her eyes!

Then we head off to one of the most dreaded areas of the race course. Cone Alley............. It is the road near the Poly and GF and its just all cones and its so narrow and so congested with people it is just not fun weaving and dodging people.



Yes that is a guy dressed as the evil stepmother in front of me. His name is Rob and he is part of the Joyful Miles running group.

Shenanigans stop!



The Mary Poppins Penguins were out at the Grand but that was a skip.

The wedding pavilion groomsmen were out by the wedding pavilion.

Oh look Vacation Genie was out again... (Seriously Genie has to be the most overworked runDisney character!)





This year runDisney had a new race fuel sponsor in Sportsbeans (jelly beans made for sports). Previously they had Cliff shots which were like a jelly type substance. I much prefer Sportsbeans as I use them in training.

The Incredibles were out but another skip...



We stopped for pirates though!



Only a few miles left!

Sarge was out on the overpass area as usual. I believe I saw @Dis5150 and her daughter @LikelyLynae around this point.





Into Epcot we go!

Continued in next post...

 

[rteetz]

Half Marathon Recap!

Tinkerbell and some other fairies were just inside the backstage area of Epcot a skip for me.

Stitch was out at the World Showcase turnaround but I was ready to be done.

Gospel Choir!





Only .1 to go!



The end is near!



13.1 done!









Hands in the air like I just don't care!



I ended up getting my photo with Dopey since the line was short. Unfortunately this would be my only Dopey photo this weekend.



Overall Half thoughts...

This course isn't very good. Only maybe 3 miles are inside the parks. 10 miles on the highways around WDW and cone alley just make it not very fun. I wish they could add more park time or do something to change it up. I like the distance of a half though. Running with Team Shenanigans was awesome. They are really fun people. Even though the course sucks I still had an amazing time doing this race.

Up Next: I did something I have never done at WDW before...

 

[jade1]

Great report. Pics are always fun to see as well thanks.

Pandora at night is worth a trip.

See, I agree-but doesn't the surroundings seem too dark? Have noticed many areas around other parks that crush it for background lighting. Such as the trees on both sides of HEA at certain points, EPCOT party area between Norway and Britain, the trees around TOT during the XMAS Projection were amazing, heck even the trees during ROL. Just don't get it.

Now during the day and sunset-spectacular detail.

I love AK as a full day/nighttime park now.

Yep agreed.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Love all the team shots-what a super cool experience!!

 

[rteetz]

Great report. Pics are always fun to see as well thanks.



See, I agree-but doesn't the surroundings seem too dark? Have noticed many areas around other parks that crush it for background lighting. Such as the trees on both sides of HEA at certain points, EPCOT party area between Norway and Britain, the trees around TOT during the XMAS Projection were amazing, heck even the trees during ROL. Just don't get it.

Now during the day and sunset-spectacular detail.



Yep agreed.

I don't find it to be that bad and they have increased the lighting since the opening.

Love all the team shots-what a super cool experience!!

It was a lot of fun!

 

[jade1]

I don't find it to be that bad and they have increased the lighting since the opening!

Well that's good, I will say you just reminded me that the floating mountains indeed were brighter than before as well.

 

[missjackiemcg]

I missed the Hurricane Hanna's meet up because I overslept taking a nap in the afternoon I was SO bummed to miss it!!!

The Half course does sound kind of boring, but there were lots of good characters at least and the best part of all running through the castle!!! It would be nice if they could somehow add more run time in MK. Love your costume, by the way. Did you see the group of alien runners at the 5K? They started in the same wave of C as I did and actually had a guy dressed as The Claw...of course the claw fell off almost immediately after we started, but he ran the rest of the way holding it over his head LOL

 

[rteetz]

I missed the Hurricane Hanna's meet up because I overslept taking a nap in the afternoon I was SO bummed to miss it!!!

The Half course does sound kind of boring, but there were lots of good characters at least and the best part of all running through the castle!!! It would be nice if they could somehow add more run time in MK. Love your costume, by the way. Did you see the group of alien runners at the 5K? They started in the same wave of C as I did and actually had a guy dressed as The Claw...of course the claw fell off almost immediately after we started, but he ran the rest of the way holding it over his head LOL

I wish I could’ve stayed longer at the meet than I did.

Yes characters and running through the castle is the biggest savior in the half. Yes Joyful miles did aliens for the 5K!

 

[TeeterTots]

I fell behind! Super fun to run with a large group like that! Looooove the pic with the princesses! Way to go 22.4 down!

 

[rteetz]

I fell behind! Super fun to run with a large group like that! Looooove the pic with the princesses! Way to go 22.4 down!

Only 26.2 left!

 

[BigRed98]

Great outfit Ryan! Even though a lot of the race is running on the highways it still looks like a ton of fun and what’s better than running on Main Street and seeing the castle.