Once upon a time… say… 7 years ago, there was a boy and a girl, who were in love.
In addition to loving his girlfriend, the boy also loved running.
In addition to loving her boyfriend, the girl also loved Disney.
One day, they stumbled upon a way to combine ALL of their loves, and spend some (a lot) of that pesky money that was burning a hole in their pockets, wallets, piggy banks, and bank accounts.
runDisney.
While there were a number of race events that piqued our interest, it wasn’t too difficult to narrow it down to two- the Expedition Everest Challenge, and the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Relay. My love for The Amazing Race made the Expedition Everest Challenge really tempting, but ultimately, I was a little nervous about running a 5k on top of trying to complete puzzles. I was (and still am not) a runner.
So, the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Relay, it was.
There were two legs to the Relay- The first runner would complete 4.8 miles of the half marathon course. At that time, they would pass the run off to their teammate, who would complete the final 8.3 miles.
It shouldn’t be too hard to guess who ran which leg! This was different than most runDisney events, because it was a night race. It was extra special because this was the inaugural year for the Wine & Dine running event. After the race, which ended in the World Showcase of Epcot, the food and beverage stands were all open for us to enjoy as post-race nourishment.
At this stage in our lives, we thought a trip to Disney could be planned much like any other trip.
We were definitely wrong. Most of our trip was spent in lines, or on transportation to or from the parks.
TT Dad was not a fan of our Disney experience, so I immediately started to work on improvements. I would get him back to WDW…. I would not give up!
After 6 or so years of hearing what a terrible idea our runDisney event was, we finally found another runDisney event to check out. Sadly, the Expedition Everest event was canceled in 2015, so that wasn’t an option- but TT Dad had heard about a challenge that he just couldn’t pass up- The Dopey Challenge. The Dopey Challenge is available to complete only during Marathon Weekend, each January. If you aren’t Dopey enough before the challenge- you certainly will be after running a 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon in four consecutive days. The final piece to the puzzle that convinced TT Dad to return to Walt Disney World was that I agreed to run a 10k. I hadn’t run any distance longer than a 5k since our last trip to Disney.
With our agreement in place, it was time to think about logistics.
We had invited our family members to join us, knowing it was a slim chance, but wanting them to know we would love to share this experience. Nonie & Pops decided to come, but no one else was able to.
Due to the popularity of the event, we were unable to purchase entry for my 10k, so we ended up working with a travel agent recommended by runDisney- Magical Miles. We don’t have a lot off experience working with Travel Agents, so this was new to us. In hindsight, there wasn’t anything we missed out on, due to working with a TA. In the moment, I think I’m a little too much of a control freak to use a middleman. I can absolutely see the value in working with a TA while planning a Dsiney vacation- but I like to obsess over things too much to share that responsibility. I’m afraid I drove the poor lady crazy.
There was a little frustration while trying to determine where to stay, as we had to request quotes from her, resort by resort, instead of going directly through the Disney website, or through an attempt to purchase DVC points from someone.
DVC Points?
Yes, DVC Points. We determined pretty quickly that due to the circumstances of this trip (4 adults and two toddlers, race weekend, toddlers… and toddlers), we would best fit into a DVC villa, and a 2-Bedroom, at that. This way, Nonie & Pops could stay in a separate area, away from the toddlers, but also away from the ridiculously-early-risers on race days.
Of course, Animal Kingdom Lodge is top of the list when it comes to Deluxe Resorts we’d like to stay in- but not for this trip. I wanted to be as close to Magic Kingdom as possible, because… Toddlers. Finding a resort that offered alternative transportation options (namely, a boat to Magic Kingdom) was a priority. Our second criteria was about theming. I wanted the resort to be someplace that the kids could decompress from the day. When they are older, I’m sure we’ll be looking for a resort that will be a continuation of the parks, but this time, it was important that they could get a break from the stimulation of everything Disney.
With that in mind, we easily settled on the Wilderness Lodge. Check!
We relied on the TA to book the room, and the race entries, but once all of that was settled, I was happy to take over the planning and booking responsibilities.
Stay tuned to see how I did! I mean, I did some planning, so it couldn’t have been as awful as our last trip, right?