Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Guest Post on the Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Finish Line Party


My husband Steven has been gracious enough to write a guest post on the Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Finish Line Party that he enjoyed while I was running.  You can follow his photo blog at http://stevengoetz.wordpress.com/ if you would like.  
 
 
Lisa and I waited for the bus at our resort bus stop, once Lisa got on the bus around 7 pm, I hopped on the bus to Epcot to enjoy the finish line party while she was running. 

There were a lot of road closure, causing lots of traffic on my way to Epcot that night because of the race, it took me almost an hour to get there (it usually only took 15 mins to get there). 

Once I got to the park it look like a regularly sized crowd at Epcot, the park closed at 9 that night. The neat thing about the Finish Line Party pass, although it was expensive, it was good from 4:00pm until 3:00 am. So in my opinion even though it did cost $64, it was worth the price because you got 11 hours of park time with it plus a $10 gift card. I decided since it was still very crowded, and lines were long at attractions, that I would go eat dinner at Sunshine Seasons.

I had read many reviews raving about the pork chop at Sunshine Seasons so I just had to try it, it lived up to it's hype! It was served with delicious mashed potatoes and a BBQ sauce that is almost a salsa. Everything tasted very fresh, and it was all very well prepared.

After eating I decided to take a stroll around World Showcase to just see what was going on at the Food & Wine Festival. It was very crowded this time of night, but there was a lot of energy in the air, my only real complaint is the amount of very drunk people that were there. People saying and doing dumb things, in very crowded spaces. 
 
My first stop was near the Canadian pavilion, I just had to try the Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle Butter Sauce it was delicious! It lived up to all the hype. My only complaint is my dish didn't have enough of the Truffle Butter Sauce on it, but it was well cooked, and perfectly seasoned.

Once I finished my steak, it was time to find a spot for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. I ended standing near Canada, it's first time I've seen it from this view point and it was a great show like always!

After the show, I continued my stroll around World Showcase Lagoon, I stopped at Fife and Drum near the American Pavilion and got Red Stag Lemonade by Jim Beam. It was great, stronger than I expected, but very good. 

I headed for Spaceship Earth while enjoying my drink, the park had closed for regular guests, so it was time to start enjoying some attractions while the lines were short. They checked for the pink wrist bands that you received upon entry at every attraction and pavilion.

During the party, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Soarin', Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, Maelstrom and Gran Fiesta Tour were all open, as well as all the Food & Wine booths.

After Spaceship Earth, I headed back over to The Land, and rode Soarin' and Living with the land, then I moved on to The Seas with Nemo, there was hardly any wait for any of the attractions, the park was basically empty. 

About this time I got a notification letting me know Lisa had started her half-marathon, there is free Wi-Fi in Epcot, and I was receiving e-mail alerts letting me know her progress, and approximate finish time every 5K. I decided it was time to take some longer exposures with my camera, I'm very interested in photography, and during the hustle and bustle of a regular day at the parks, I don't often get time to do some of the longer exposures I wanted to try. I had no tripod, so I was using rocks, trash cans and benches. 
Photo: Imagination!
Imagination Pavilion
I got a couple good shots, I wish I had more good ones, maybe next time! After this I decided to head over to Norway to ride Maelstrom, it was great at night! As I was getting out of Norway, I received an e-mail saying Lisa had just passed the 15K mark, so I knew it was time to head to the middle of the park (by the fountain of nations) to cheer her on as she ran through Epcot. After a little waiting, there she was! We tried a high five, but missed.

Once she passed me, I moved to the front of the park to wait for her, I knew she was almost finished, an e-mail arrived telling me she finished the race, so I waited where the huge amount of runners were coming into the park.

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