On hotels...

Anyone stay at AKL for Marathon Weekend?

What about BLT?

We are going to reserve SSR and switch to AKL at 7mo and hope that we have a chance at waitlisting BLT. We're aiming for a 2br with the possibility of a 1br. Just waiting on ILs to give us permission to play with their DVC act...
We own at both BLT and AKV. 2018 was our first Marathon Weekend and our plan was to stay at BLT 1bdr. We went online to book it at the exact 11 month mark only to find it unavailable. Luckily we had enough AKV points to book at AKV. We waitlisted BLT and it never came through. So I am guessing it is a tough resort to get for Marathon Weekend. For 2019 our plan once again is a 1br at BLT but this time we walked our reservation at the 11 month mark to make sure we did not get shut out and that worked. So we will be at BLT 1br for the 2019 race.

As for 2018 at AKV, we had no issues at all for race day. We walked out of the lobby in the wee hours of the morning just as a bus was pulling away. We turned our heads and another was pulling right in. At the end of the race, there was a bus waiting for us to take us back. It was very easy / efficient getting to and from the start/finish. Same exact scenario getting to/from the Expo.
 


Sleepy is who Dopey's become after the marathon. 4 days in a row wears on you.
I was actually thinking of doing all my race outfits based on the Dwarfs and all of my moods during each race.
5k = Sleepy, because jet lag
10k = Happy, because I survived the 5k and love the 10k
Half = Grumpy, because getting up early all these days suck
Marathon = Dopey, because DOPEY. DUH.
 
We own at both BLT and AKV. 2018 was our first Marathon Weekend and our plan was to stay at BLT 1bdr. We went online to book it at the exact 11 month mark only to find it unavailable. Luckily we had enough AKV points to book at AKV. We waitlisted BLT and it never came through. So I am guessing it is a tough resort to get for Marathon Weekend. For 2019 our plan once again is a 1br at BLT but this time we walked our reservation at the 11 month mark to make sure we did not get shut out and that worked. So we will be at BLT 1br for the 2019 race.

As for 2018 at AKV, we had no issues at all for race day. We walked out of the lobby in the wee hours of the morning just as a bus was pulling away. We turned our heads and another was pulling right in. At the end of the race, there was a bus waiting for us to take us back. It was very easy / efficient getting to and from the start/finish. Same exact scenario getting to/from the Expo.

I'm kinda thinking it's going to probably be AKV but I'm on the "Anywhere but SSR" team so as long as we get somewhere other than there I'm happy.

Side note: we used to own SSR and sold it. Had I liked it better we probably wouldn't have sold it.
 


I have napped at Disney....but it's on attractions, like I fell asleep on Universe of Energy (too bad it's gone now), American Adventure, Hall of Presidents to name a few :) Oops!

My wife and younger daughter have a "game" that they think is funny. My wife takes a picture of me napping in an "unusual" location and sends it to my daughter for both of their amusement. They have multiple pictures of me napping on Disney buses. I don't see the humor. Rest in transit between locations so you're ready to roll when you get there! It just seems to be logical to me.
 
My wife and younger daughter have a "game" that they think is funny. My wife takes a picture of me napping in an "unusual" location and sends it to my daughter for both of their amusement. They have multiple pictures of me napping on Disney buses. I don't see the humor. Rest in transit between locations so you're ready to roll when you get there! It just seems to be logical to me.

That reminds me that I have a pic of my DH from about 15 years ago napping in one of the park rental strollers. It's hysterical. We were on a large family trip and my brother, who is a total control freak park commando, planned it. DH and I didn't have even have kids yet and we were pooped!
 
I'm kinda thinking it's going to probably be AKV but I'm on the "Anywhere but SSR" team so as long as we get somewhere other than there I'm happy.

Side note: we used to own SSR and sold it. Had I liked it better we probably wouldn't have sold it.
I actually like SSR. Especially if you are driving your own car...

Plus, there are lots of hot tubs for post race soaking there...
 
I fall asleep in Muppets 3D every time. I’ve got no issue with the show, I think the 3D glasses make my eyes work too hard and they just decide they’re done and shut the rest of me down.
 
As for 2018 at AKV, we had no issues at all for race day. We walked out of the lobby in the wee hours of the morning just as a bus was pulling away. We turned our heads and another was pulling right in. At the end of the race, there was a bus waiting for us to take us back. It was very easy / efficient getting to and from the start/finish. Same exact scenario getting to/from the Expo.

This is good to hear. We will be staying at AKV for 2019.
 
Good morning, runDisney all-stars!

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic this weekend, so for this edition of Sundays are for Disney, give me some of your best Walt Disney World and runDisney memories. No limit on how many memories or how many times you post, we need something to sustain us for the next six weeks until registration details are announced.

A few of mine:
- The 2017 marathon, especially running down Main Street, USA and seeing my wife and daughter at the finish line.
- My first trip with my wife and two oldest daughters in 2012, especially when they referred to Mickey's Philharmagic as "fill up on magic." But also just introducing them to Disney World.
- Kicking off our 2014 trip with dinner at Ohana (first time), which was punctuated with Wishes!
- Seeing my youngest daughter meet Anna and Elsa.
- Watching IllumiNations for the first time; the day of the marathon, no less.
- The looks on my girls' faces when we did the Princess Fairy Tale Breakfast to kick off our first trip and they saw all the princesses up close.
- "Quiet" nights in Magic Kingdom after the fireworks - no waits on rides and great photo opps.

I'm sure I'll think of more as the week goes on...looking forward to reading all of yours! Have a good week, gang.
 
Well today is Animal Kingdom's 20th Anniversary and I was fortunate to do Cast Previews & Early opening Preview days before it opened as my sister & bother both were part of the opening cast so I have many memories of Animal Kingdom when it opened with the Discovery River boats that my brother (and sister in law) drove, The Jungle Book Show (then Tarzan, now Nemo), Dinosaur when it was Countdown to Extinction, Donald's Breakfastausuaurus (before it moved to Tusker's) and the Waiter squirting fake mustard & ketchup at us, the list goes on and on of AK memories, oh and March of the Artimals even.

and Running memoies well is back at AK at Everest Challenge since i was my first Run Disney event and it was amazing with the race, obstacles, clues & after party and at AK. It was rainy but rain stopped right when we started and I may hate running at night but for this it was magical, really every mile!
 
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I've been feeling a bit nostalgic this weekend, so for this edition of Sundays are for Disney, give me some of your best Walt Disney World and runDisney memories. No limit on how many memories or how many times you post, we need something to sustain us for the next six weeks until registration details are announced.
Today is the 20th anniversary to my favorite park, Animal Kingdom. I remember going to this park as a kid and just loving it. This park is only about two weeks older than I am.

As for runDisney it goes back to my first race in 2015. The Walt Disney World 10K. I made one character stop not knowing what I was doing. I finished in under two hours. I had an amazing time with my grandparents on my grandmas last ever vacation before she passed.
 
Sundays are for Disney:

I hadn't been to Disney since the mid-90's when I was a kid and had never voluntarily run 10 ft. in my life (I "ran" in organized sports) before my sister came up with the idea to run the 2012 WDW Half Marathon in 2011. She was looking for someone to run it with her and I wasn't going to miss my nephew's first visit to Disney so I decided to sign up as well. Despite the fact that I was woefully unprepared that trip was amazing and inspired me to continue running (or start, depending on whether anything I did during that first "training" period could be considered running). I also developed what I consider to be a healthy Disney and Marathon Weekend addiction as a result of that trip. I remembered what I loved so much about Disney as a kid and let go of the silly notion that I was too old (or cool/sophisticated/add-your-own-adjective) for Disney. I'm sure I'll add some more during the week, but since I don't remember a ton from my trips as a kid (riding Splash Mountain as many times as I could and a TMNT parade notwithstanding) that trip is really where I found the magic.
 
On hotels...

Anyone stay at AKL for Marathon Weekend?

What about BLT?

We are going to reserve SSR and switch to AKL at 7mo and hope that we have a chance at waitlisting BLT. We're aiming for a 2br with the possibility of a 1br. Just waiting on ILs to give us permission to play with their DVC act...

Is it just me who can't keep up with all of the acronyms? I see BLT and my mouth starts to water......
 

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