TR - Running for my Disney II: Let's Make it a Half

PrincessInOz said:

Fantastic updates! Love the view you got of the HK Harbour from your room. I would have been completely stressed out if I found out that I had headed to the wrong hotel!!!
And Disneyland!!!!!

Looks like you did well with the condo. And yay for getting decent merch for the run.
Your Russell outfit turned out great! The colours are just perfect and what a great meet with Dug.

Click to expand...

Hmm yep there were some pretty high stress levels there!

I was pleased with how my Russell outfit turned out, but nobody 'got it' which was a bit disappointing. Or maybe people did and just didn't say anything (like I so often do with Disneybounders that I see!).

I still think your Russell outfit is my favourite so far of all your Disneybound outfits - and I thought one of the more easier to identify! Interesting to hear all about Business Class - I think its access to the lounges that I want more than Business Class seats! Maybe one day we'll get organised and start to accumulate points etc the right way. I would have been getting panicy with the hotel mix up and I can't believe the assistance you got from the hotel next day - I can just picture you with the man and his brollies! was it a 4* or 5* hotel that you lucked out on on Priceline? Like Zosha you also almost, underline almost, inspire me to run..then I have a hot day here walking a bit far and think ... nah! Too lazy by far! Enjoying reading the detail of your report.

Aussie Wendy said:

I still think your Russell outfit is my favourite so far of all your Disneybound outfits - and I thought one of the more easier to identify! Interesting to hear all about Business Class - I think its access to the lounges that I want more than Business Class seats! Maybe one day we'll get organised and start to accumulate points etc the right way. I would have been getting panicy with the hotel mix up and I can't believe the assistance you got from the hotel next day - I can just picture you with the man and his brollies! was it a 4* or 5* hotel that you lucked out on on Priceline? Like Zosha you also almost, underline almost, inspire me to run..then I have a hot day here walking a bit far and think ... nah! Too lazy by far! Enjoying reading the detail of your report.

Click to expand...

Thanks Wendy! I'll agree that Russell was probably easier to identify than any of my Mulan outfits. I liked my Boo outfit the best. It was so simple - easy to put together, easy to wear, and I think pretty recognisable too (although I didn't get any comments about it).

You definitely want the business class seats Nothing beats a lay flat bed for an overnight flight. But yes, the lounge access definitely improves the flying experience too.

It was actually only a 3* hotel that we got in HK - it was just a really nice modern one.

5k isn't *that* far if you really are tempted to do a RunDisney event. And HEAPS of people walk it.

Chapter 4: The 5k and Family Reunion

Our alarms went off at 3:30am again. Luckily we’d had more than 2 hours sleep this time around! DH stayed in bed for a bit and fell back asleep while I got my Jessica Rabbit on. Luckily I had allowed extra time for my hair and make up (just a tiny bit of purple eye liner, and red lipstick which had pretty much all come off by race time anyway). DH eventually got up of course, and we grabbed a couple of bagels to eat on the way.

We ended up being pretty early. Most people who had already arrived were over in the stage area doing their ‘warm up’ (why they bothered doing a warm up more than an hour before the start of the event, I’m really not sure!). There was a bit of confusion about which way to head to the corrals, but we made it in the end, and were one of the first groups, nabbing a spot in the very front row of Corral B. It was great being so early. The photographers came around and took extra shots of us, and we enjoyed watching all the people in Corral A entering their corral (you enter from the back), and trying to pick which character people were supposed to be. Some were easy to pick, with fairly elaborate costumes, but there were a lot of subtle outfits too. The hour actually went pretty fast in the end.





The race announcers come out to the start line about 15 minutes before the start of the event. The theme for this race was classic with an evil twist. (The theme for the next day’s 10k race was villains). I thought they executed the theme pretty well. The announcers had Mickey and Minnie join them on stage, but halfway through they were interrupted by a short voiceover from the Evil Queen, threatening to take over the race. After the short voiceover, the announcers expressed concern about being taken over by evil, but went back to the ‘scheduled program’, and nothing more happened.



After Corral A had started, we were led to the starting line. There wasn’t too much jostling, but one man did push in front of us with his little girl. It didn’t matter too much in the end. We were right underneath the starting line, right in front of the stage, with an uninterrupted view of the course ahead. We were right underneath the confetti cannons when they went off as we started. It was pretty exciting!







Being right at the front of our corral, we had a clear road, and were able to do whatever pace we wanted right from the start. I had been a little worried about the kids at the front holding us up, but they shot off like rockets! People were overtaking us, but I was keen to stick to a nice steady pace, especially knowing that we had the half marathon in a couple of days. The plan was to do the first part of the run reasonably fast, then slow down in the parks, stop for photos with all the characters, and pretty much walk the whole section through the parks, then run the last section through Downtown Disney. It didn’t happen like that. DH gets impatient, and was pushing the pace a bit. The classic characters were actually pretty boring – I’ve never seen the point in stopping for characters during a run that you could just meet in the park. We didn’t really do much walking. Before I knew it, we were out of DCA and running across the esplanade towards DL!





At DL, I made a special effort to slow down on Main Street. We took a couple of photos, and even lined up for the official photographers in front of the castle. I was pleased that we did in the end, because my camera wasn’t coping well with the darkness and most of the photos didn’t turn out. We ran by Snow White and the Prince by the carousel. As we were running past Pirates of the Caribbean, I could hear the Evil Queen again! She was on the bridge, unfortunately not doing meet and greets. I tried to take a photo, but she kept saying ‘keep running!’, so I felt weird stopping to take a photo lol!





And before I knew it, we were exiting DL and running through DTD towards the finish line! Coming up to the finish line, our ‘song of the moment’ (Shut Up & Dance) came on. DH grabbed my hand and we sprinted to the finish! Since neither of us had a GPS tracker, or even a watch, and the 5k wasn’t a timed race, we had NO idea what our time actually was, but we both knew we’d gone fast – a lot faster than we had been planning to! We had gone so fast, it was still dark when we were crossing the finish line. I felt a bit ripped off at how fast it had gone, but it had definitely been fun!



We continued on to get our medals and water, and lined up for official medal photos on the way out before getting our goodie boxes and bananas at the exit. We did some stretching at the main stage area, ate some of our goodies, and had some more water. Then we did the 5 minute walk back to the condo.





We decided to celebrate with another visit to DCA. We grabbed a couple of FPs for RSR, then just wandered around. We saw a couple of characters. I was pleased to get a photo with Chip and Dale after having some regrets about not stopping for them during the 5k. We spent a bit of time shopping – we were on the lookout for a snowglobe for DH’s aunty, preferably a Dumbo one… We didn’t have much luck. It seemed like snowglobes had gone out of fashion, there were only 4 or 5 designs available. We had a wander around the Redwood Creek trail. Then we took the tram back to the condo. It was a nice relaxed morning of touring.

Nice write-up of the run!
Your Jessica Rabbit outfit really works well.
Did you work out what pace you did in the end?

Glad to see the medal!

PrincessInOz said:

Nice write-up of the run!
Your Jessica Rabbit outfit really works well.
Did you work out what pace you did in the end?

Glad to see the medal!

Click to expand...

Unfortunately we will never know our pace - it wasn't timed and without watches there was no way for us to time ourselves. We were happy with how we went anyway

The Jessica Rabbit outfit actually worked out really well - no wardrobe malfunctions, which I was a bit worried about The only thing that was slightly problematic were the purple wristlets. Even though they were only small and made of thin Lycra, they held a surprising amount of heat! I think they were an essential part of the costume though, and only being 5k, they didn't cause me too much stress.

I wish Disney did proper medals for their 5k runs, but at least the rubber ones are colourful and pretty highly detailed.

zanzibar138 said:

I wish Disney did proper medals for their 5k runs, but at least the rubber ones are colourful and pretty highly detailed.

Click to expand...

At least you have the rubber ones.......and there is another medal to write up about. Yes?

PrincessInOz said:

At least you have the rubber ones.......and there is another medal to write up about. Yes?

Click to expand...

There sure is!

While relaxing back at the condo, we kept an eagle eye on facebook, and listened out for any lost sounding people. Mum and Dad were due to arrive at any time. Although I had forwarded them the directions and instructions for parking, I knew that it was going to be tricky for them to find the actual condo. Eventually we heard a bit of kerfuffle outside, and went to check it out. We could see two familiar looking people coming our way, so we went out to help them with their luggage etc.

Unfortunately it hadn’t been a smooth run from San Diego, so Mum and Dad arrived fairly frazzled. We helped them to their room with their cases, showed them around the house, and let them catch their breath for a bit while we caught up on our respective trips so far. We were all getting rather hungry though, so it wasn’t too long before we headed back out to DTD for lunch. Dad suggested Tortilla Jo’s, but having had that for dinner last night, we weren’t so keen. We settled on Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen, which we’d very much enjoyed the last time we were there. We very much enjoyed it again. DH and I had our RSR FPs that we had to use after lunch. Since Mum and Dad still had to pick up their bibs for the run, we decided to split up and meet back at the expo in an hour.

DH and I made our way directly to Carsland. We were surprised to see a very long line for RSR – the FP return line was also snaking all the way to the entrance sign. We figured the ride must have been down for a while and just come back up, and briefly considered giving it a miss. We decided we’d come all the way back to the park, we may as well just suck it up. The FP return line moved quickly, because they were just allowing us all straight through. I felt kinda sorry for the people in the standby line. We regretted not just doing single rider when we noticed that it was literally a walk on for that. Still, we were only waiting 15 minutes or so, and at least we got to ride together. And we were actually in the winning car for a change!







Well, we didn’t have any time for anything else after all that mucking around. We had to get straight back to the expo. Even then we were running slightly late, but Mum and Dad were still there waiting for us. Unfortunately though, they hadn’t been able to figure out where to pick up their park tickets (also ordered through GET Travel). DH and I took them back downstairs to where the ticket pick up was. Mum and I wanted to spend a bit more time checking out the expo, but the boys had had enough. We decided to split up and meet back at DL for dinner.

Mum and I had a great time checking out all the booths at the expo. We didn’t really buy much though – the dollar was just too low to make it worthwhile. We did go halvies on a good sock deal, and Mum bought a running belt and some protein bars. I got my free bookmark, and we checked out the MarathonFoto booth, which was just as bad as last year. I really hate that they’re the only option if you want good race photos, because we just never seem to have a positive experience with them!

Mum ended up with quite a heavy bag (her protein bars), but insisted that she didn’t need to go back to the condo to drop anything off. I suggested we catch the monorail then. When we saw the line for the monorail, we decided not to bother – it was out of the station! I should have realised then, just how crowded this weekend would get! Mum eventually conceded that it probably would be better to drop off her heavy bag. By that time, we were nearly at the park, so we took the tram. We didn’t stay long at the condo – really just dropped off our shopping and picked up some light jackets for the evening.

By the time we got back to DL, it was nearly time to meet up with boys. We had agreed to meet in the Town Square area in front of the train station, so we didn’t want to go too far. We took some photos as we entered the park, surveyed the crowds, and decided to park ourselves on a bench. Pluto literally walked right past us on his way to a M&G, so we decided to follow him and be one of the first in line. While we were doing that, the boys showed up.









We discussed dinner options while being entertained by the antics of 60th anniversary Donald and Daisy. They were really hamming it up and the lucky guests were getting lots of great interaction (although those guests at the end of the line had a long wait ahead of them with the amount of time it was taking to get through each group)! We decided on Hungry Bear. We thought with the number of tables there, and its out of the way location, it would probably be our best bet for being able to get a table relatively easily. Although we had no trouble getting a table, we were disappointed with our food.





The plan for tonight was to check out PTN and the new fireworks show, but when we realised how crowded the park was, we decided to give up on viewing them from Main Street. We noticed pretty much all of the curbside spots were already taken when we were on our way to dinner, and expected that by the time we’d finished, we would struggle to find a spot where we could see anything. With that in mind, we walked straight past the castle and looked out for spots on the way through to IASW. By that time it was about 40 minutes before the parade would start, and crowds were already about 3 deep all the way along. Eventually we found an elevated platform near IASW. It was hardly ideal, with a couple of trees in the way, and a big pillar to our right so we couldn’t see the parade coming, but given the circumstances, we were pretty happy there.





















When the parade was finished, we moved out onto the road to view the fireworks. We got a pretty good spot right in front of IASW, in the second row back. Having viewed the previous fireworks show from here and been slightly disappointed, we weren’t sure what to expect. It turned out to be a fantastic viewing location, and one I would recommend to anyone, especially for people like me who aren’t interested in camping out for hours to hold their spot. The projections on IASW were spectacular, and we had a beautiful clear view of the fireworks. There were a couple of times when fireworks went off behind us over the castle, but we certainly didn’t feel like we were missing out. We all agreed that this was the best fireworks show yet.

























When the fireworks were over, we gradually made our way out of the park, along with what seemed like the population of a small country. They kept the music on for a good while after the fireworks finished, and the castle lit up beautifully. It was a lovely way to leave the park (apart from all the people of course!).

Catching up on your updates. Looks like the parks were busy!
I hope your parents weren't too frazzled by their arrival.
I'll have to remember that position for the parade and the fireworks if I'm looking for somewhere at a pinch.

Looking forward to the next update.

PrincessInOz said:

Catching up on your updates. Looks like the parks were busy!
I hope your parents weren't too frazzled by their arrival.
I'll have to remember that position for the parade and the fireworks if I'm looking for somewhere at a pinch.

Looking forward to the next update.

Click to expand...

That night was the most crowded I have ever seen DL! It was a mad house.

My parents were pretty frazzled when they arrived, but it didn't take too long for them to start relaxing.

It was a great spot for the fireworks, but not so much for the parade.

zanzibar138 said:

but not so much for the parade.

Click to expand...

Was there somewhere else around there that would have been better?

PrincessInOz said:

Was there somewhere else around there that would have been better?

Click to expand...

Not at the late time we arrived. I expect the best viewing spots would be pretty much the same as for Soundsational. We're just not willing to wait around for hours to get them

Chapter 5 - The Rest Day

Today was a slightly more relaxed start, but we still had to be up in time to get ready and have breakfast before making our way into LA for our 10am horse riding. We started the day with breakfast at Tangaroa Terrace. I chose to carb load with Mickey waffles. On our way to and from breakfast, we saw plenty of runners involved in the 10k. I did consider getting up early to cheer them on, but in the end the chance for a small sleep in between 3:30am starts won out!

After breakfast we made our way back to the condo to grab some extra water and supplies before hitting the freeways. We had a pretty good run in, and managed to not get lost on our way to Sunset Ranch at Griffith Park. The car parking situation took a while to figure out, but we got there in the end, and headed up to the corrals.



When we checked in we were given waivers to sign and chose our helmets (compulsory). There was also the chance for a quick bathroom break before starting the ride. It was a pretty good set up, with a long platform for people to stand on to get on the horses. There were another two couples on our ride, so eight of us altogether. We got two guides, one at the front and one at the back, and they swapped halfway through. One guide was very good, the other wasn’t so inspiring.





The ride was great! We wound around Griffith Park up to the lookout, passing plenty of hikers and mountain bikers. We passed another couple of horse riding groups – they seem to be pretty popular. Our horses were all fairly well behaved with no major incidents. Mine started getting a little tense on the way back after DH’s horse bit her on the bum, but I couldn’t blame her for that! We didn’t stay long at the lookout, or really get to take in the views much. I was kind of expecting to get off the horses and visit the actual lookout, but we just kind of got to the vicinity of it and turned around. There were still plenty of nice views to be had though.

























We took a different track back down, starting off along a great ridge, and with a couple of steep-ish inclines and descents which were fun. The whole ride was pretty open, and we got hot and dusty out on the track. We didn’t have to exert ourselves much though, which was the main point, so I think it was mission accomplished! When we reached the little track back to the corrals, we noticed the Hollywood sign right there on the hill. We hadn’t noticed it on the way out because it had been behind us.











The horses obviously knew what the deal was. Once we dismounted, they just took themselves off to the corral where they were fed and watered. There were plenty of horses there so that they could give all the horses a break before sending them out again. The horses were all in very good condition and nice natured. I was impressed. As always, there was a friendly dog hanging around, and the farm mascots, a miniature pony and donkey, were enjoying a rest in the sun.





It had been a two hour ride, so we were pretty keen to find some lunch on the way home. The trouble with the US and so much freeway driving is that it’s really hard to find things like that along the way! We saw a couple of things, but of course we’d already passed the exit ramps by the time we saw them. I noticed on the GPS that there was a Denny’s coming up, and we managed to get off the freeway in time and stop there.

After lunch, Dad dropped us off at the condo then took the hire car back. It would have been a bit of a hike back for him, but he broke it up with a quick trip into Disneyland on the way. DH and I didn’t have park access today, so we just hung around the condo and pool. Mum decided to join us. I’d bought a frozen dinner, which we had with some fresh capsicum and rice. We didn’t want anything too heavy tonight. After some more chatting and relaxing on the patio, we all headed to bed for an early night before our big day!

Love the system for getting on the horses. Kind to their backs, and kind to human hips.

Your horse ride sounds great. We did one in the foothills just out of Las Vegas. It was a small setup and we had no such luxury of the step to get onto the horse. We had to try to heave ourselves up. I really didn't think I would be able to, but with one last push from one of the handlers, I made it. My hips were killing me and I didn't think I'd be able to stand up once I got off. I did, but it was hard.
Our guide was great. Not very talkative, but pleasant enough. The other guide, who we luckily didn't get, reminded me of one of those redneck hillbillys you see on TV. He had the overalls with one strap undone, and about 5 teeth missing in the front. I'm not sure what I would have done if he was the guide!
I did debate whether I'd go with the family or not once I first tried, unsuccessfully to get on the horse, but I was too scared to stay back at the ranch with the 'hillbilly'!

Great horse ride. Did they break out into a gallop or was it just walking pace all the way?

Nice way to have a down day on this vacay!

Zosha said:

Love the system for getting on the horses. Kind to their backs, and kind to human hips.

Click to expand...

Yes, they were very good to the horses there. I was happy to see it, because you never know with these sorts of places. We've been to a few now, and this one had the best conditioned horses I've seen.

aussie shaz said:

Your horse ride sounds great. We did one in the foothills just out of Las Vegas. It was a small setup and we had no such luxury of the step to get onto the horse. We had to try to heave ourselves up. I really didn't think I would be able to, but with one last push from one of the handlers, I made it. My hips were killing me and I didn't think I'd be able to stand up once I got off. I did, but it was hard.
Our guide was great. Not very talkative, but pleasant enough. The other guide, who we luckily didn't get, reminded me of one of those redneck hillbillys you see on TV. He had the overalls with one strap undone, and about 5 teeth missing in the front. I'm not sure what I would have done if he was the guide!
I did debate whether I'd go with the family or not once I first tried, unsuccessfully to get on the horse, but I was too scared to stay back at the ranch with the 'hillbilly'!

Click to expand...

Lol! That reminds me of when Dad gave one of our friends a push to help her get on his horse. He pushed so hard, she actually went right over the top and came off the other side

I haven't been to one as well set up as this place before. It was certainly a good way of doing it, although for us (we had horses when I was growing up) it wouldn't have been an issue if they didn't have it. Because we all have 'horse riding muscles' too, there was no soreness from a leisurely 2 hour jaunt. You should have seen us after our mule ride down the Grand Canyon though - we were so stiff we could hardly manage to dismount

How long was your ride?

PrincessInOz said:

Great horse ride. Did they break out into a gallop or was it just walking pace all the way?

Nice way to have a down day on this vacay!

Click to expand...

This ride was just walking the entire way. Most touristy kind of places seem to do it that way these days. It would be pretty easy for things to go very wrong very quickly in Griffith Park with all the hills, roads, and people everywhere. For us, it was actually good just walking, because it meant we didn't have to use too much energy - the horses just followed each other along. The couple of steep-ish inclines and descents were a welcome break from the monotony though.

Ours was about an hour I'd say. We also shared the tracks with motorbikes, but luckily there weren't any on the tracks when we were there. Ours was just a walk, which was good for the kids, who had never ridden before, and me who hadn't ridden since a school camp a good 30yrs ago!