disneygoofball
02-13-2014, 05:57 PM
We took our time getting up this morning, but were out the door by 7:45. We had reservations at Kona Café for a little after 9:00, so we caught the bus to MK and then hopped the monorail over to the Poly. It was still pretty chilly, so we jogged from the bus stop to the monorail with just a brief stop for a picture of the entrance to MK. I love the Polynesian so it was so great to be back, even if it was just for breakfast. Both DH and I ordered our favorite - Tonga Toast - and it was delicious! We took our time over breakfast since the expo didn’t open until 10:00, and that was really the only thing on our agenda for the day.
After breakfast, we walked around the GCH, looked in the shops, and then wandered out to the event shuttle area where we met a very nice couple who was also there for the races. He was doing the Dopey Challenge as well and was preparing for an Ironman in the next couple of years. He was retired military, and even with bad knees, he loved participating in endurance events – it was very inspiring. After about 15 minutes, the bus showed up and we headed off to ESPN with a quick stop at Shades of Green. I had never seen the resort before, so I was glad we stopped there on the way. They still had Christmas decorations up and it looked great.
ESPN was…mostly-organized chaos. We headed off to find the Dopey Challenge check-in which wasn’t too crowded. There were separate places to get your bibs, t-shirts, and pre-ordered commemorative items (I purchased the pin), and then there was another area with merchandise. The only complaint I had is that the merchandise in this area was not race specific. They had one type of Dopey jacket (only size XXL was left an hour after registration opened), some marathon items, and I think some half marathon items. Thankfully, someone else had been to the main check-in area and said that there was a much wider variety there. I bought a t-shirt and some magnets, and then we headed off to the chaos that was the main check-in area for all the other races. The merchandise area was definitely a bit of gauntlet. DH was very gracious and didn’t have a heart attack when I purchased a Dopey jacket and t-shirt and a marathon glass. I know it’s Disney and it’s going to be expensive, but that initial sticker shock can be a doozy! We wandered around the booths, soaking in the whole experience. I didn’t want to miss a second of it! Then we grabbed some lunch upstairs, Justin made a new friend with one of the security guys (my husband is just one of those people that talks to everyone and everyone seems to like him), and I took my picture out by the Dopey banner. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed to DTD for the rest of the afternoon.
We wandered through the whole DTD area and did some window shopping and people watching. Since the Lego store has Snow White and the Seven Dwarves out front, I of course took my picture with the Lego Dopey. We pretty much took it easy for the rest of the day, grabbed dinner at the resort, and then tried to get to bed early. It was a little difficult because people are still pretty active at 8:00 at night, and we’d occasionally hear kids running down the walkways outside, but overall, our building/area was very quiet. As a side note, I was very thankful that Pop Century offered Powerade as a fountain beverage, so we could get free refills with our resort mug throughout the weekend. This was a great bonus for us and one that we took advantage of often.
Next day = the start of the races! Wheeee! :mickey:
After breakfast, we walked around the GCH, looked in the shops, and then wandered out to the event shuttle area where we met a very nice couple who was also there for the races. He was doing the Dopey Challenge as well and was preparing for an Ironman in the next couple of years. He was retired military, and even with bad knees, he loved participating in endurance events – it was very inspiring. After about 15 minutes, the bus showed up and we headed off to ESPN with a quick stop at Shades of Green. I had never seen the resort before, so I was glad we stopped there on the way. They still had Christmas decorations up and it looked great.
ESPN was…mostly-organized chaos. We headed off to find the Dopey Challenge check-in which wasn’t too crowded. There were separate places to get your bibs, t-shirts, and pre-ordered commemorative items (I purchased the pin), and then there was another area with merchandise. The only complaint I had is that the merchandise in this area was not race specific. They had one type of Dopey jacket (only size XXL was left an hour after registration opened), some marathon items, and I think some half marathon items. Thankfully, someone else had been to the main check-in area and said that there was a much wider variety there. I bought a t-shirt and some magnets, and then we headed off to the chaos that was the main check-in area for all the other races. The merchandise area was definitely a bit of gauntlet. DH was very gracious and didn’t have a heart attack when I purchased a Dopey jacket and t-shirt and a marathon glass. I know it’s Disney and it’s going to be expensive, but that initial sticker shock can be a doozy! We wandered around the booths, soaking in the whole experience. I didn’t want to miss a second of it! Then we grabbed some lunch upstairs, Justin made a new friend with one of the security guys (my husband is just one of those people that talks to everyone and everyone seems to like him), and I took my picture out by the Dopey banner. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed to DTD for the rest of the afternoon.
We wandered through the whole DTD area and did some window shopping and people watching. Since the Lego store has Snow White and the Seven Dwarves out front, I of course took my picture with the Lego Dopey. We pretty much took it easy for the rest of the day, grabbed dinner at the resort, and then tried to get to bed early. It was a little difficult because people are still pretty active at 8:00 at night, and we’d occasionally hear kids running down the walkways outside, but overall, our building/area was very quiet. As a side note, I was very thankful that Pop Century offered Powerade as a fountain beverage, so we could get free refills with our resort mug throughout the weekend. This was a great bonus for us and one that we took advantage of often.
Next day = the start of the races! Wheeee! :mickey: