RunDisney's Princess 5K Recap

On February 19, I was up before the sun to kick off runDisney's Princess Half Marathon weekend with the Princess 5K.  While runDisney races have exceptionally early wake-up calls, they also have exceptional race excitement.  There's nothing like stumbling to the buses knowing that you're surrounded by others who are just as Disney crazy as you! 

I wasn't planning on running the 5K on this trip, but once my cousin signed up, I knew I would be there anyway to cheer her on, so I thought I might as well join in on the fun.  For this race, I was dressed up like Ariel from The Little Mermaid in the "Kiss the Girl" scene and Ann was Rapunzel.

(We were dressed in our princess-y best)

(A great start to Princess Weekend)

We were about to grab coffee from the concession stand when we noticed that the characters had come out.  We immediately hopped in line to take our picture with Sebastian!

Before long, it was time to say goodbye to each other and head to our corrals.  Luckily, I was in "A" corral for this race, so I was able to get up close to the start line.

(I love that Ariel was the focus princess for this race!)

Before long, it was time for the race to begin.  My foot and knee were bothering me a few days before the races, so I had no idea what kind of pace I would be running, so I decided to run whatever was comfortable for me and to stop for characters if I felt so inclined.  I was able to stop for lots of character pictures!

(Please ignore the crazy eyes, it was super early in the morning!)

(Vacation Genie was at all 3 races)

I ended up making great time with minimal knee time.  Even though the race wasn't timed, I was still pleased with my time, even with the character stops!  My family who came to cheer us on told me that I finished in the top 10 women!

(My mom and I while we waited for Ann)

Ann did great as well, and now she has the runDisney bug too!  

After the race, we were off to Disney's Hollywood Studios for the day!

(Some bling to wear around the park)

RunDisney's Princess Half Marathon Weekend Recap -Part 1: The Arrival and the Expo

On Thursday, with all my bags packed and ready to go I sat watching the clock waiting for 11:30AM to roll around so I could head to the airport and begin vacation! My aunt and cousins arrived on Wednesday night and were heading to the expo that afternoon.  I was worried they would get caught in the melee I kept hearing about on Facebook.  I heard lots of horror stories about long lines and mobs of people slamming the runDisney official merchandise booths.

I had worries of my own...  was I going to be able to make it to the expo on time?!  My flight landed at 5:00PM and I need to meet up with my mom in the airport, make our way on the magical express to Port Orleans: French Quarter, get an expo bus, and pick up our packets and shirts all before the expo closed at 8:00PM.

Luckily, both of our flights landed half an hour early and we were quickly able to catch a magical express bus!

(On our way to Port Orleans)

Once we got off the bus, we didn't even check into the hotel.  We just headed to where the expo buses were picking up people.  One of my favorite perks of the Magical Express is that you don't have to worry about your checked luggage.  We hadn't even waited five minutes and we were on our way to the expo.  We had a plan: divide and conquer and meet at the official merchandise booth.

I had to pick up my 5K bib and shirt as well as all the stuff that comes with the Glass Slipper Challenge.  This was my first challenge weekend so I was pleasantly surprised that all your Glass Slipper shirts come in one bag together.  I thought that was super awesome customer service.  I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the lines at the expo were almost non-existent and most of the official merchandise was still in stock.  I was able to score the glass slipper challenge "I Did It!" shirt, the "Powered by Disney Magic" Princess Half Marathon shirt, the 10K "I Did It!" shirt for my mom, a glass slipper challenge sweaty band and the coffee travel mug!

(My new favorite coffee mug)

After the expo, we headed back to French Quarter and finally checked into our room.  I had faxed over the room request and had participated in online check-in so I was pleasantly surprised to find we were super close to the food court and the bus stop!

(Also that Mousekeeping had been there)

We headed to the food court and met up with my aunt and cousins and I finally got to try the beignets that are on the Disney food crawl.  They were amazing!!!!

Finally, it was off to bed.  We had an early wake up call for the Princess 5K in the morning!