Running at Disneyland Part 2

Day 2 continued. We went to the convention center at the Disneyland hotel to pick up my race packet. We were directed to go down to the basement, which required us to go outside, walk along the hotel and walk down a ramp to underneath the building. When we got to the ramp, the line was very very long just to get inside.

Once we finally got inside, we had to find the right station according to my bib number. After I gave them the waiver and signed in I was given my bib and timing "D" tag. Since I was doing the Coast to Coast I had to go to another station, sign in and have the C to C wristband out on. I was given the instruction DO NOT TAKE THIS OFF UNTIL THE RACE IS OVER.

When then went back outside, up the ramp and back into the convention center to get the goody bag. We stood in a long long line which snaked its way through the expo vendors. I got my Disneyland tech shirt and goody bag. In the goody bag was a copy of the premiere issue of the D23 magazine. That was cool. I bought some gel packs, new socks and several 1/2 marathon shirts. By then it was time to get out of there. We took all of the stuff back to our room out on our swimsuits and headed to the pool to relax for awhile. About 5pm we went back to the room changed our clothes and headed to Disneyland for supper. I know I said in my first post about our trip we watched Magical on the first night, but I was wrong, we watched it this night. When we left Disneyland we walked through some of the shops in Downtown Disney and the went back to the room for a good nights rest. More to follow.

Thanks for reading.

Til next time run strong & enjoy the moment.

Running at Disneyland

My wife and I left for Disneyland on Sept 3rd. We flew from Indianapolis to Vegas & then from Vegas to Orange Co. We were met by this guy at the airport.

It was really warm when we arrived. I grabbed our luggage and then we found the Disneyland resort Gray Line express bus and rode it to the Grand Californian hotel. Wow, it was fantastic. We walked into a huge beautiful lobby. It looked just like a lodge right out of the old Pacific Northwest. We got checked in, went to our room, put up the luggage and headed for Disneyland. Of course the first thing I had to do, was get a picture of the castle.

We ate lunch at the Carnation Cafe and then started riding the rides. We did Small World, Matterhorn bobsleds, Space mountain, Mr Toad, Peter Pan, Indiana Jones, Big Thunder Mountain & Haunted Mansion. It had been 8 years since we had been to Disneyland, so we did a lot of walking around and taking in the sights. I have to say I really like the intimate setting of Disneyland. We went back to our room and rested. Ate some dinner and then went back to Disneyland for the fireworks. The show is called Magical, and it really is, especially when you get to see Dumbo fly. And of course we got to Tink fly also. After the fireworks we walked the park some, had to get a dole whip, then headed back to the Grand Californian for the night.

Day two, we went to DCA. We headed straight for Toy Story Mania. We had a blast riding it, then went straight to California screaming. That is really a cool coaster. I love the fact that it is outside. You get some pretty cool views of the park on the ride. We also did Soarin, Tower of Terror & went into Blue Sky Cellar. That was really neat. We got to look at the upcoming attractions for DCA. We had lunch, I don't remember where, then walked to the Disneyland Hotel where the race packet pick up and expo where.

More to follow.

Thanks for reading.

Til next time, run strong & enjoy the moment.

Disneyland 1/2 Marathon

I did it!!!! 2 hours 21 minutes and 8 seconds. I had a fabulous time running. I took lots of pictures on the route, which kept me from a little better finish time, but I had a blast. I told my wife I thought I only wanted to do this one time, to get the Coast to Coast medal, but I really want to go back and compete again next year. I will write a more detailed trip/race report later.

Thanks for reading.

Til next time, run strong & enjoy the moment.

Leaving Today

This afternoon we leave for Disneyland. Staying all night in Indy, flying to Anaheim on Thursday morning. Should have 2 1/2 days to spend in the parks before the race on Sunday the 6th. I am really fired up and ready to run. We come home on Labor day. I will do a race report after we get home.

Thanks for reading.

Til next time, run strong & enjoy the moment.

Disneyland 1/2 marathon

Only a little over a week to the Happiest place on Earth race. My wife and I are really looking forward to going to Disneyland. We have not been there since 2001. We are going out on Thursday and returning home on Monday. We wanted to spend some time at Disneyland & DCA before race day. I am currently tapering for the big run. I am tired of the training and ready to run. I am really looking forward to being able to hang the Coast to Coast medal around my neck once I complete the race.

I have already registered for the 2010 WDW half and I have already got my airfare booked. Still working on the hotel reservation and park tickets. I will give y'all a race report from Disneyland after I get home.

Thanks for reading.

Til next time, Run strong & enjoy the moment.

Family trials

Today I am just writing a short post. My family is dealing with a serious medical issue right now. Hence, I have not had time to post part two of our trip to the World. I promise I will get it done. I have been able to squeeze in my training runs. It's the time where I can think and thank God for all that I have and how precious life is.

Part two of our trip report will be coming soon.

Thanks for reading.

Til next time, run strong and enjoy the moment.

7 Days at the World Part 1

We left for the World on Monday, June 29. Our day started at 4:30am because we had a 2 hour drive to the airport, where we met my daughter and her husband. The flight to Orlando was uneventful except for the hilarious running commentary from the first officer on our plane. We arrived around 1:30pm and we were at Port Orleans, Riverside by 2:30 courtesy of Disney's magical express. Got checked in, which was easy, as I had done the online check in before we left home. We were hungry so off to the Old Mill food court we went. After eating we went back to the room and our luggage had been delivered. We decided we would spend our first evening at the Magic Kingdom, so off we went.

The crowds were not bad at all. We rode every attraction we wanted to without much wait. We stayed to watch Wishes which was as fantastic as ever. I also got to watch my all time favorite parade Spectromagic. Back to the room for some shut eye.

Tuesday we went to Epcot. We did Soaring, Turtle Talk with Crush, Spaceship Earth & spent a lot of time in one of my favorite stores, Mouse Gear. That store is a Disney geeks delight. We also had to dodge the rain most of the time we were there. We had our ponchos, so we kept doing what we wanted to do. That evening we went to Downtown Disney. Had dinner at the Trex restaurant which was kind of cool, literally, we were seated in what they called the Ice Cave. There were several different themed seating areas representing the Dinosaur age. Dinner was okay. Did some shopping and I got to spend time in my other favorite Disney store, The World of Disney. I could spend hours in this store just looking around. Shopped at some of the other stores, then took the boat ride back to Port Orleans on the Sassagoula river.

Wednesday morning it was off to Hollywood Studios. As soon as we got there we went straight to Toy Story Mania and got a fast pass. We then jumped in the standby line and waited about thirty minutes to ride it. I never gone through the queue and I wanted to see Mr. Potato Head. That was really cool how he interacted with guests in line. We also did Rockin Roller Coaster & Tower of Terror, which is my son in laws favorite ride. We did some shopping, ate lunch at the Back lot Express and used our Toy Story fast passes. We headed back to the resort for some rest and time by the pool. Later, after dinner at the French Quarter food court we went back to Hollywood Studios for the evening. We rode Star Wars, the great movie ride, spent time in Disney Animation where we got to see lots of stuff about the movie UP. We also did The Little Mermaid show and of course two more times on the Tower of Terror before the day was over.

Thursday was Animal Kingdom day. We started the morning with breakfast at Boma in the Animal Kingdom lodge. This is something my wife and I had done several times before and really really enjoyed it, so we wanted the kids to get to do as well. I can not say enough about how good the buffet is. If you leave this one hungry it your own fault. After breakfast we caught the bus to the Animal Kingdom. We got fast passes for Expedition Everest then got in the stand by line and rode it. We then went and watched Finding Nemo the musical. We walked back to Expedition Everest to use our fast passes, but the ride was shutdown due to the weather. We were told they had no idea how long the ride would shut down, so we decided not to wait and walked the trail to see the Bengal tigers and the other animals. Once we had done this, we went back towards the entrance and did some shopping and the n headed back to Port Orleans. Animal Kingdom for us, is only about a half day park. We went to Epcot later that evening so we could watch Illuminations, which we have always enjoyed. Did Test Track after Illuminations then went back to get some shut eye.

More to follow in the next post

Thanks for reading.

Til next time, run strong & enjoy the moment.