Something Borrowed, Blue, COLD & New - A Disney Wedding Extravaganza! Update: 11/15 (pg. 15)

This is Disney... I didn't even bat an eye at that time! :laughing:

What are you doing up at 4am on a Disney trip?!


Now that's practically sleeping in at Disney. :)

It was a late night for me the night before - I could have used a few more hours!

Oh cool! First time!

Most of our group were first timers! It was so awesome to be the one to act as tour guide while showing others the Disney magic :)


Close enough to rope drop still, I'm guessing.

Yeah, and most people run to one of the big rides at rope drop. Frozen was still fairly new at this point, so the line was insane the entire time. We had Test Track fastpasses already, and I was intentionally steering everyone away from Soarin' - so Spacheship Earth it is!

I love her exclaiming "It's got our pictures on there! How freaking cool!"

All of the people who were new to Disney left all the planning up to Luke and I - none of them looked into anything so everything was a surprise!

I didn't realize the park was open as the runners went through!

Yes! Epcot is really close to the finish line of the full marathon, so there's people running through the park until 1 or 2 pm.

We were in Epcot on marathon day back in 2016, and cheering on the runners is what actually inspired Luke to try for a full marathon in the first place!



So??? How did everyone like (or dislike) TT????

Everyone was a fan!
 
Sounds like a lovely Epcot morning! Yay for Luke running the half marathon!! I am planning to do the Dopey Challenge next year (2023) as I will be turning 40, and want to commemorate by challenging myself to do something outrageous!! Running the 10K, especially the part across the Boardwalk with people out there cheering you on has me totally convinced that I will be able to power through! I love all that runner support :)

Good for you! I can't wait to see pictures of the outfits you come up with for each race! What a way to celebrate turning 40 - I'm still a few years away but my plans will be much more basic, like maybe we'll try and get to Europe that year haha.

I can't wrap my head around al the things you corrdinated for this trip! Can't wait to hear how Luke did with the marathon!

I loved all the coordinating and planning involved for everyone! I spent way more time planning dining reservations and fastpasses than I spent actually planning the wedding haha!
 
January 7, 2018 - Part Two

After Test Track, Laura and Cathy decided it was time for a coffee. They found a Joffrey’s stand close by and found a spot to sit down to enjoy. The other four of us – Jill, Devin, Larissa and I – went and jumped into the standby line for Mission Space: Green side. It wasn't too long, under 20 minutes.

After our trip to Space, we went and watched marathoners for awhile, cheering them on. We were predicting Luke to finish sometime between noon-1pm, so we still had time before he’d be making his way into Epcot, so we decided to grab some food and headed over to Sunshine Seasons. When we got down there, Cathy made a comment about Soarin’, and how it was one of her favourites from her previous trip years ago – I had intentionally not scheduled a Fastpass for that for anyone, as we had a special surprise planned involving that ride so I just made a nonchalant comment about the long wait time haha.

After checking out the menu, Laura and Cathy decided they weren’t hungry, and left to go wander around. The rest of us ate though – Larissa is a vegan and Sunshine Seasons had decent options for her, which is why I suggested it. *INSERT LINK TO DINING REPORT*

Once we finished eating, we noticed that Living With the Land was a walk-on. I knew that Larissa would love this, so I led the way over. Laura and Cathy had rejoined us, so all 6 of us went on this.

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While we were riding, Luke texted me. He was unfortunately not going to finish the marathon, and been swept from the course around the 32km mark for not maintaining the minimum speed required. He was currently being loaded onto a bus which would take him to the finish line (just past Epcot). While training, he had a knee injury that set him back (he was actually diagnosed in 2021 with severe arthritis and a torn meniscus in his knee – which I’m sure dates back years), and he was sick in December which derailed his final month of training – so he knew this would be a possibility. However – he still ran 32km that morning! 32! I was so proud of him! There’s no way I could have accomplished something like that today.

The 6 of us set off to go meet him by the finish line. Once we exited Epcot we were basically walking just beside the actual race route, so we watched dozens of people in the final km of their full marathon. By this point all of the true athletes had long since finished, so these were just regular, everyday people accomplishing one of the greatest achievements – I always find it very motivational to be near the finish line of an event like this!

The walk was actually farther than I thought it was going to be – but there was no way I was about to complain while seeing all these people who were about to finish a full marathon!

Eventually we found the area just past the finish line, where Luke had been dropped off. Even though he didn’t finish, he still received the medal and the special marathon ears, and we made him pose while we all took pictures of him haha

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Also – I can’t seem to find any of Luke’s Photopass pictures from the marathon, and now I’m questioning if I ever downloaded them – major fail on my part. I feel terrible if that’s the case… He didn’t really stop for any of the characters though because he felt like his pace was off right from the beginning, and he wanted to make it as far as possible, but there should have been photos of him actually running. The only picture he has on his phone is this one – Richard was out cheering on the racers so Luke stopped for a selfie. For those who don’t know, Richard was a long-time greeter at the Grand Floridian, and he was a very well-known man in the Disney Wedding community. He sadly passed away a few months after this trip, at the age of 92.

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After congratulating Luke, we all split up. Luke went alone to catch a bus back to Old Key West so he could shower, eat and have a nap. Devin and Larissa headed back into Epcot, walked over to the International Gateway and exited the park. From there, they caught a boat over to Hollywood Studios (this was their only real option to see that park, so I had set up their fastpasses for that park). Laura, Cathy, Jill and I went in a different direction, and hopped on the monorail. It was time for us to park hop, and introduce Luke’s family to their second Disney park!
 
Hahaha - I had to be prepared and organized to plan a trip for that many people the same week as my wedding!
Still can't believe you did that. :worship:
it was actually cheaper for us to fly to California than it was to buy tickets in Winnipeg.
That's... mind boggling.
Tickets for those games in Winnipeg were going for ~$500/seat/game - so $2000 just for the two of us to go to the two first round games. We booked a last minute flight/hotel through a travel agent friend for $1200, and tickets to the game in Anaheim were $50/seat/game - so a total of $1400 for tickets, flights and hotel.
Math works out.
came home and immediately booked our first trip to WDW.
:)
That's the best part of the story, right there.
He didn't enjoy the full marathon at all, but loved the half marathon he did at Disneyland in 2017.
I've only managed 15K a couple times, and injured myself the first time and didn't particularly feel all that great the 2nd.
So totally get him not "enjoying" the full.
Due to injuries, I think that marathon was the last race Luke did actually...
Oh. Were the injuries from that run??
You'll have to do a runDisney 5k sometime!
I'd like to. :)
I have done the HM virtual 5K... but it's not the same.
I've loved the ones I've done! I've heard...not so great things about the Wine and Dine that just happened, but I'm thinking they probably just have some cobwebs to shake off after almost 2 years of no runDisney events.
Oh? I hadn't heard anything.
What are you doing up at 4am on a Disney trip?!
Getting ready to be first in line!
It was so awesome to be the one to act as tour guide while showing others the Disney magic :)
:goodvibes
 


After our trip to Space, we went and watched marathoners for awhile, cheering them on.
Fun. I never thought of doing that. Then again (as mentioned earlier) I wasn't aware that you could watch them run through the park.
we decided to grab some food and headed over to Sunshine Seasons.
It's been a while since I've been there. Always a good option.
we had a special surprise planned involving that ride so I just made a nonchalant comment about the long wait time haha.
popcorn::
Cute. :)

But... it would probably trigger me if I saw it in winter. I go to Florida to get away from stuff like that!
Luke texted me. He was unfortunately not going to finish the marathon, and been swept from the course around the 32km mark for not maintaining the minimum speed required.
Oh, too bad!
While training, he had a knee injury that set him back (he was actually diagnosed in 2021 with severe arthritis and a torn meniscus in his knee – which I’m sure dates back years), and he was sick in December which derailed his final month of training – so he knew this would be a possibility.
Wow. That's a ton to overcome! Kudos for even trying to do it.
However – he still ran 32km that morning! 32! I was so proud of him!
So am I! That's really impressive!
I always find it very motivational to be near the finish line of an event like this!
Never done it... maybe I should!
Also – I can’t seem to find any of Luke’s Photopass pictures from the marathon, and now I’m questioning if I ever downloaded them – major fail on my part. I feel terrible if that’s the case…
Oh, no!
Richard was out cheering on the racers so Luke stopped for a selfie.
Awww... I know who he was, but never met him.
 
If this is the only picture that exists from Luke's marathon, I would still consider that a win! This is absolutely precious to have.

So awesome that Luke was able to complete as much distance as he did, especially with an injury derailing his training! Such an amazing accomplishment!
 
I loved all the coordinating and planning involved for everyone! I spent way more time planning dining reservations and fastpasses than I spent actually planning the wedding haha
As it should be! Ha!

After checking out the menu, Laura and Cathy decided they weren’t hungry, and left to go wander around. The rest of us ate though – Larissa is a vegan and Sunshine Seasons had decent options for her, which is why I suggested it. *INSERT LINK TO DINING REPORT*
My sister is Vegan, along with her whole family. If I can ever get them here, I will have to do some serious research for the best places for them to eat.

While we were riding, Luke texted me. He was unfortunately not going to finish the marathon, and been swept from the course around the 32km mark for not maintaining the minimum speed required
Bummer!!! I would never make it!

However – he still ran 32km that morning! 32! I was so proud of him! There’s no way I could have accomplished something like that today.
So impressive!!! I hope he was proud of himself as well. It really is a big accomplishment.

Even though he didn’t finish, he still received the medal and the special marathon ears, and we made him pose while we all took pictures of him haha

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I hope he wasn't too bummed. He did great!

The only picture he has on his phone is this one – Richard was out cheering on the racers so Luke stopped for a selfie.
That is literally the cutest thing!!!! Love it.
 



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