A Minnie Weekend
This adventure actually began a few months ago, when I was able to identify three other gals to take advantage of the Princess Package offered by Anthony Travel. It included a room at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Savannah view.
Also, there would be a dessert reception on Friday evening and VIP seating for the Illuminations fireworks, a hospitality suite with breakfast on Saturday and Sunday (and afternoon hours), and bus transport to and from BOTH races. Normally I’m a bare bones kind of person when it comes to my races, but this looked like too much fun to pass up. Besides, Disney wasn’t providing transport to the races.
About a week before our departure, I returned home to a phone message that Anthony Travel wanted to move us to Saratoga Springs Spa and Resort. Before returning the call, I got online and looked at the resort. It looked fantastic – way better than the Animal Kingdom Lodge would have been. I had stayed at Animal Kingdom before, and while the rooms were nice, the Saratoga Springs looked better. When I called, I was told that we would have a two-room villa, which I knew was the top of the line accommodations.
Sounded good to me!
On Friday, 4 May, I dropped my son at school and proceeded to Rhonda Shaffer ’s house. I’ve known Rhonda for several years, and she does well on the local racing scene. We headed east to Milton, FL to pick up Paula Eagen, who has been a traveling companion of mine for many races. Our first mistake of the trip – Rhonda and I were SO busy yakking that we missed the exit and had to take the next one and come back. Paula asked us to pick her up and her mom’s house, and when we arrived she was busy clearing some things in the garage so she could put her car inside. We assisted, loaded her stuff in the car, and continued east on the Interstate.
The drive was fairly easy and fun. We stopped and got some lunch and listened to a 4-disk set of Disney tunes. As we approached Disney, Paula called Linda Dees, who was coming from Ft. Lauderdale to meet us. She was trapped in traffic but still thought she’d arrive ahead of us. Paula called again later, and Linda said she thought the expo had been moved to the hotel so we went there rather than stop at Wide World of Sports. When we arrived, we discovered that the hospitality suite was there, but not the expo. We spent just a minute or two dragging bags to our room and then hopped back in the car and went to the expo. (Linda wasn’t doing any races, so she hadn’t had a reason to know where the expo was.)
The expo was smaller than the one for marathon weekend, but larger than the one for the inline skate race weekend. We got two goody bags each, as we had signed up for the Go Red for Women 5K on Saturday and the Women Run the World 15K on Sunday. The shirt for the 5K was okay – gray cotton with race name on the front and some ads on the back. The shirt for the 15K was much better – black technical with Minnie Mouse logo and race name on the front in pinks, purples, and greens. No race pins to be had but we looked at a few of the booths and had our picture taken with our race numbers.
Back at the room, we explored our magnificent suite. There were two bedrooms – one with two queen-sized beds and the other with a king-sized bed. Paula and Linda took the king; Rhonda and I each a queen bed. In between was a “living” room, with couch, kitchen, breakfast bar, TV. Each bedroom had a full bath, one with a Jacuzzi tub. Luxury!
The bus for the dessert reception and fireworks at Epcot was leaving at 7:45, so I called the front desk to find out where we needed to go to catch it. We found the bus and just got on. Then someone came onboard and said we needed to come get our VIP passes and reception tickets. Once we had those, we re-boarded the bus. I mentioned that we were now “legal” but didn ’t even get a smile from those already on the bus. I think they may have been stressing about whatever race they were doing that weekend. Later some cheerier folks joined us.
At Epcot, the bus was directed to a special back entrance, where a cast member with a lighted baton met us and led us to our reception. It was on a small “island” near Italy. There were two tables loaded with small desserts. Not as much chocolate as I would have liked, but they were quite delicious. Water, coffee, and tea were also there. We grabbed a table and enjoyed ourselves. Rachael Heitman (TNT alumnus) and her party arrived.
Included were Amanda (also TNT alumnus), Rachael’s mom (Mickie), Amanda’s mom (Yvonne), and a friend (Candice) and her mom (Mickie). While I was chatting, Rhonda, Paula, and Linda decided to go shopping and come back for the fireworks. Amanda, Rachael and I sat at the table and discussed the marathon we did in January and the weekend thus far.
As we chatted, a cast member came by with the “magic hours” wristbands.
There were extra hours at the park that evening for guests staying at Disney resorts. And even though we had not purchased/used a ticket to gain entry, we were still entitled to the hours in the park! What a deal!
The fireworks were fantastic, and we had front row seats for the viewing.
Afterwards it was time to visit Epcot. Rhonda had never been. We took the ride in Mexico and visited the gift shop. We wandered around the lagoon, and I made my purchases in England at the Tea Caddy. (Chocolate Hobnobs, Crunchy bars, and Mars bars were on my list. The clerk mentioned Caramel digestives so I added a package of those.) We visited the troll in Norway for good luck. We took pictures with the topiary pirate crew near the entrance. And then it was time to catch the bus back to the hotel and prepare for the 5K the next morning.
Having laid out our gear the previous night, we were ready in a short time.
Linda planned to spend the time enjoying the villa. Downstairs at the hospitality suite, we were treated to bagels and croissants, along with a selection of drinks. We hopped on the bus and were transported to the start at Downtown Disney. It wasn’t that far from our hotel, but we took advantage of the door-to-door service anyway.
Rachael, Amanda, and Mickie (Rachael’s mom) were decked out in red dresses and red feather boas. They were the talk of the starting area, with many requests for pictures. I had donned a red technical shirt from the Double Chubb 50K to get in the theme. Minnie Mouse arrived to wish us well, and was available for a few pictures. One gal was standing with her camera, looking a bit hopeful, and somehow I knew she needed someone to take her picture. So I volunteered. We chatted as we walked to the start, and I discovered her name was Karen and she worked at Central Command at MacDill AFC. Which was my next to last duty station! She works in the historian’s office and we talked about life at a joint command.
I wasn’t sure whether I would walk, run, or a combination of the two. When I crossed the start line, I was racewalking. And I kept on racewalking. I felt pretty good, though I reminded myself a few times that I couldn’t go ALL out. We had a day at Animal Kingdom planned and I had the 15K the next morning. Also, it was warm and muggy – we started at 7:30. But I was very pleased with my pace, even while taking pictures along the course.
Speaking of the course – we first went through Downtown Disney and I realized I had never done a race in Downtown Disney before. Then out along the golf course, past our hotel, and back around the water to finish behind the Cirque du Soleil building. There we received our medals and were treated to a bounty of food – better food than after the marathon in January!
One of my concerns was finding a pin to represent this race. In January I had purchased a Goofy lanyard for my race pins. On it were pins for the 99 marathon, the 02 half, the 03 marathon, the 05 half and the two Goofy challenges, along with a pin for the inline skate half marathon, the Disneyland half marathon, and the pirate 5K at Disneyland. I needed to get a Chicken Little (for the 5K in 06), a princess/pirate pin (for the 5K this past January), and a Minnie for the 15K. All of which I knew I’d be able to find in the park. But a red dress was going to be a challenge. I’d checked out some pins, and the best I could do was a Jessica Rabbit in a red dress.
Then I saw a gal with Minnie Mouse ears, and on one of its ears was a small red dress pin! I hurried over and asked her where she got it. She said it was in the race packet. With all the excitement, I hadn’t looked in the goody bags at all! I thanked her for the info and turned to go. She called to me to come back and proceeded to remove the pin from her ears and gave it to me, saying it was just in case there wasn’t one in my goody bag. I tried to give it back, but she insisted. I proudly put it on, thanked her again, and rejoined Paula and Rhonda.
We waited for Rachael, Amanda, and Mickie to arrive. They were looking a bit bedraggled, but smiling nevertheless. We rested on the grass for a while before sauntering over to catch the bus and return to the hotel. All in all, it was a fantastic, fun-filled morning, with the rest of the day before us.
After well-deserved showers, we walked down to the front desk so Paula and Rhonda could buy park tickets. We went out front to catch a bus, and ended up waiting about an hour for one to come by. No idea why it took so long, because the rest of the weekend the buses were running often. Tempers were a bit high among other passengers, but I was just glad to be headed to the park.
Since Animal Kingdom closed at 6:00 p.m., we had to use our time wisely.
But we managed to squeeze in the Lion King show, the Nemo stage musical, the safari, the parade, and lunch. Paula and I abandoned reason and caution and decided we wanted to ride the Mount Everest roller coaster. As we were about to get our fast passes, Linda called to us. She and Rhonda had been near the entrance when a guy came up and asked if they could use two fastpasses, which were good RIGHT NOW! Linda said she just took them and ran! So within five minutes, Paula and I were seated in a car, headed out to look for the Yeti and try to survive.
It was a WILD ride – one of the best roller coasters I’ve ever been on!
When we finished, I treated myself to a new pin. We found Rhonda and Linda outside, watching the severe drop and looking for us. But somehow they missed seeing us.
On the way out, we stopped at the Rain Forest Café just outside the gate and looked at the menu. Everyone found something they would like to eat, so in we went. The wait was about 30 minutes and we got a table near the bar.
Which wasn’t a problem. The small boy in the table next to us was, however.
The tables were in front of a long bench seat. He began jumping on the seat, causing me to rise every time he landed. I tried to ignore him.
Despite him bouncing closer and closer and threatening to land in my lap.
But when he began playing in the water behind us and splashing me, I had had enough. I leaned over and asked one of the adult women to please get him under control. She made a half-hearted attempt.
In a few minutes, he was back at it, worse than ever. Now he was crawling under the table in addition to the bouncing and the splashing. I got up from our table and proceeded to the waitress/waiter area and requested a manager. As I was talking to a waitress, a small girl from the table next to ours came running up, saying that the little boy didn’t understand English. I didn’t really think that was particularly relevant, as someone in his party must speak his language.
Back at our table, the manager came by and I requested a new table. She looked a bit stunned, and then I pointed out a table just a few steps away that was empty. She agreed and we quickly moved to it. A plus was that we now had a clear view of the television with information on the NASCAR race.
Dinner was delicious and then it was off to Downtown Disney.
We took a bus to our hotel to drop off our purchases from the day and walked around the water to Downtown Disney. I wanted a hot fudge sundae. Paula and Rhonda wanted to shop, so Linda waited with me to get the ice cream.
When we came out, Rhonda and Paula were nowhere to be seen. We went to the store where they said they would be and ate our ice cream. Linda went inside to find them and eventually Paula came out and ate her ice cream.
Then we went back inside so I could look for some things I wanted.
Linda went back to the room, but Paula and Rhonda were still looking for items, and as I didn’t really want to walk back alone I stayed with them.
Eventually we left the shopping and walked around the water to the hotel, where we prepared our gear for the race the next morning. It would start at 6:15, and the buses would start leaving at 4:45. I wanted to be on the first bus so I quickly got into bed and fell right asleep.
I woke before my alarm the next morning and was ready to go by 4:25. Rhonda and I went downstairs, where the hospitality suite was catering to the princesses again, and I enjoyed another bagel and orange juice. I checked on Rachael and Amanda, but they had gotten a late start and said they would try to find us later.
On the bus, Rhonda and I found Paula already waiting. The 15K began at Animal Kingdom, looped out to World of Sports, then through MGM, along the boardwalk, around the world lagoon at Epcot, and finished past the sphere in the parking lot. Very familiar to marathon runners.
I was a bit more in costume on Sunday. I sported a red and white polka dotted ball cap with Minnie Mouse ears and a red bow. I used the race shirt, so there was a running Minnie on my front. And I put on my running skirt to be a bit more feminine. Amazingly, there weren’t too many folks with any costume on. I found two gals with hats like mine, and struck up a conversation. Pam and Debby were from Ft. Lauderdale and I had Paula take a picture of the three of us. I met a gal named Linda at the water coolers, who works at Central Command! In the admin office, right across the hall from the gal I met at the 5K the day before. She had the same hat as me, and we talked about trying to find each other at the Goofy challenge next January.
In the start area, I lined up just in back of the group of flags, so I was at about the 12-minute/mile area. Minnie came by to say a few words and the fireworks were smaller than the ones for the marathon, but exciting anyway.
I had decided after the good race the day before, that I would racewalk this one as well.
By about mile 2 or 3, I saw a gal to my right, walking briskly. I moved on over and started to talk to her. We ended up doing the rest of the race together. Stacey Diehl is from Colorado and had never raced a 15K before.
She said she generally started fast and faded as she went along. It was so pleasant talking with her, that I abandoned my pace goals and just enjoyed the time.
Mile after mile slid by. I looked for Amanda and Rachael. They had planned to wear full Minnie Mouse costumes, complete with yellow shoes. I never saw them, though afterwards Paula said she had seen Rachael in a porta-potty line. I gave Stacey some pointers on racewalking technique and some things to consider. She is very interested in improving her technique and speed.
When we arrived at MGM, we saw three princesses but decided that we didn’t want to stop to have our picture taken. Unfortunately, they were the only characters we saw until Mickey and Minnie at the finish line. It didn’t really matter, because we were having lots of fun trying to think of all the female characters that could have been on the course. One that neither of us had ever seen was Clarabelle the Cow, though Stacey said someone she knew had one spotted her.
Going through MGM, it was quiet enough to hear all the street sounds. Soon we headed out along the path, and on to the boardwalk. There were a few folks starting to stir, and some applause and cheers as we went by. Over at Epcot, we began the last few miles of the race. As we walked around the countries, I tried to take a picture of each one, since it was Women Run the WORLD.
Then we approached the sphere and knew the finish was not far ahead. About this time, we went past a gal in obvious distress. It was hard to tell if it was a cramp or blister, but she was limping severely and we both felt bad for her.
We kicked it in, gave high five to Minnie and Mickey, and gave each other a big hug! Stacey’s mom, dad, and husband were cheering mightily for her.
She was grinning from ear to ear, thrilled with her finish and how good she felt. After a few pictures, we exchanged email addresses and I set out to find Paula and Rhonda, who said they would wait for me so we could ride the bus back together.
At the hotel, we indulged in a few more pictures, cleaned up and then stashed some perishables in Rachael and Amanda’s room. They were staying an extra night and we wanted to spend some time in the Magic Kingdom. We were very lucky and a bus was waiting at the stand when we approached. The highlights at Magic Kingdom were the Pirates of the Caribbean, Stitch’s escape, Country Bears Jamboree, Hall of Presidents, and Paula and I rode the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We got the front seat in the front car – right behind the engine. We were making our way out of the park and could see the parade lining up. And there was Clarabelle the cow! What a coincidence!
A bit more shopping and it was time to ride the bus to the hotel, retrieve our stuff from Rachael’s room, bid Linda farewell, and begin the drive home.
Just outside the park we were hit by a ferocious storm, but though intense it was over in about 10 minutes. The rest of the drive was fine. I did have to rest my eyes for a few minutes after we ate dinner, and then I was good for the rest of the way. We dropped Paula at her mom’s house and Rhonda’s husband met us so I didn’t have to drive all the way to her house.
I was home before midnight, tired but very content.
Summary: Great races, great food, nice medals, and a hotel beyond belief.
The Princess Package was more than I ever imagined it could be. I did two more races at Disney World, spent time with girlfriends, and made some new friends.
