10K Run

Today I ran 10K in 1hour and 23mins.  I ran further down the bike path I usually run and noticed nice new pavement.  This section greatly needed it so I was very glad to see this.  I also saw some nice fat squirrels on my run.  They must be getting ready for winter!

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. 

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.

5.97K Run and 9.27K Run

Yesterday I ran 5.97K in 49mins.  Today I ran 9.27K in 1hour and 16mins.  It was good to get back out on the road running again.  I had been under the weather with a cold for the last week and hadn't run since the Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 on November 10th.  Tonight I also got caught up on completing my trip reports from our Disney trip!  Here is my schedule for next week:

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 6K Run

Wednesday: Rest Day

Thursday: 6K Run

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 4K Run

Sunday: 10K Run

Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Trip Report (Day 7) Nov 15th 2012

Today was our last day at Disney World.  We ended our trip with another visit to the Magic Kingdom.  It was a cool day so we were able to ride Splash Mountain twice with no wait.  We also rode Big Thunder and Buzz Lightyear twice as well.  We were able to take our time riding Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Small World as well as browsing the shops and enjoy a sundae for the Ice Cream Shoppe.  We had lunch at Peco Bill's.  I had forgotten how good the veggie burgers were!  Yum! We headed back to the resort around 1:45pm to catch the Magical Express to the airport to conclude our trip.

Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Trip Report (Day 6) Nov 14th 2012

Today was Magic Kingdom day and we arrived for rope drop. 

Once the park opened we headed straight to Space Mountain for fast passes.  We then headed over to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder, checked out Fantasy Land and rode Peter Pan on our way back to Space Mountain.  After Space Mountain we went over to Storybook Circus and rode Dumbo. 

We took the train back to Frontier Land where we rode Splash Mountain again and got fast passes for Big Thunder.  We rode Pirates of the Caribbean and had lunch at Pinocchio's.  This was a very good lunch and a very good use of a counter service credit.  Before we left for an afternoon nap we headed over to Carousel of Progress.  After our nap we headed to dinner at 1900 Part Fare.  This was much better then I remembered it being on our Honeymoon trip.  We will definitely be returning on our next visit.  I had my picture taken with Price Charming before we left. 

After dinner we went to the Studios to see Fantasmic and then toured the Osborne Lights again.  

Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Trip Report (Day 5) November 13th 2012

Since we were out until 1am at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party we slept in and then headed out to Epcot again.  We had missed out on the Seas and Living with the Land when we were there before. 

Manatees!

Soarin had a long wait so we ended up getting fast passes for right before dinner.  Again we hung around the park until just after lunch time then we headed back to the hotel for a nap.  Before dinner at Chefs de France we used our fast pass for Soarin.  Chefs de France is always a great meal and is one of my favourite restaurants.  Remy came to visit the tables.  He is so cute and his handler was pretty funny! 

After dinner we headed to the Studios to see the Osborne Lights. 

Steven was very impressed.  There was even snow falling on Streets of America. 

Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Trip Report (Day 4 - Part 2) Nov 12th 2012

Tonight was Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

Christmas decorations!

This was by far the best part of our whole trip!  We were able to walk on to any ride we wanted.  We rode Splash Mountain 3 times and Big Thunder Mountain twice.  Big Thunder is amazing at night. We were also able to check out the new Fantasy Land and rode the new Little Mermaid Ride.

Entrance into New Fantasy Land

Price Eric's Castle

Little Mermaid

Gaston's Tavern

The hot chocolate and cookies were plentiful and we definitely go our share!

We watched the castle show and Christmas Wishes.

We then caught the second parade.

Santa!

The snow on main street was very pretty and a very nice touch.  I would highly recommend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  It was definitely worth the money! 

Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Trip Report (Day 4 - Part 1) Nov 12th 2012

Today was Animal Kingdom day!  We were there for rope drop, got fast passes for Everest and headed to the Safari.  The animals were very active on the Safari. 

We returned to ride Everest which is always scarier thinking about then it actually is. 

Afterwards we got another fast pass for Everest and went over to Dinosaur.  We rode Primeval Whirl which we had never rode before.  Steven was glad we didn't have to wait in line as he was disappointed in the ride.  We headed over to redeem our Everest fast passes and then went to Rafiki's Planet Watch.  This is my favourite part of Animal Kingdom. 

The Rino barn backstage

They were doing a post surgical checkup on a toad at the vet viewing area.  Then there is the petting zoo which I always enjoy.  Steven is always embarrassed that I am petting the goats and the pigs with the kids. 

This pig has the same colouring as my guinea pig so I was calling it Noodle

This was the friendliest goat!

We had lunch at Pizzafari and then headed back to the resort for a nap dinner and the Christmas Party. 

Lunch at Pizzafari!

We had dinner at Crystal Palace.  We hadn't been back to Crystal Palace since out Honeymoon and I will not return any time soon.  I feel it is not very well run compared to other character meals in Disney World.  It is loud, chaotic and the kids there seem to be extra messy.