A Tale of Two Disneys, take 2

So in between all the fun, Chad & Suzanne ran a little race called Goofy's Challenge:  a half marathon, followed by a marathon the next day for 39.3 miles of running in about 30 hours.  We probably would not have considered such an adventure, but in true Disney-style it was a great time (if you can call running 39.3 miles in just over a day "fun").  This is before the 1/2, 4:30 am Saturday morning.  We had been up since around 2:30.

 

 After ditching our long-sleeve shirts, we were headed to our corral for the start of the race.

 

We were not at the front, by the way.

The race starts near Epcot,then heads to Magic Kingdom.  There was plenty of entertainment along the way, including Jack Sparrow (unfortunately it wasn't Johnny Depp), bands, characters and a variety of other distractions/entertainment.

 

Main Street USA was packed with runners and fans.

 

Then on to Tomorrowland before circling back around and running through Cinderella's castle before heading back to Epcot for the finish.

 

 

 

 

We took it easy for the 1/2 Marathon, knowing that when we crossed the finish line we were only 1/3 of the way done.  It was a comfortable pace and we really enjoyed it.

 

Twenty-four hours later the alarm again went off at 2:30am and by 4:30 we were again on site and heading toward our starting corral.

We again headed to Magic Kingdom, following a similar route as the day before.

Then on to Disney World Speedway, 

where we were cheered on by the owners of a variety of antique, oldie and other cool cars, including none other than Herbie the Love Bug!

We then ran to Animal Kingdom

where we reached the 1/2 way point of the day.  Did I mention how hot it was by this point?  We had been training in the UP winter, through at least one blizzard and mostly in 20s and 30s.  It hit 80 this day and was in the 70s at the time we finished the race, and there was no way we could have prepared for this kind of heat in the fall/winter in the U.P.

 



The next stop was Wide World of Sports, which admittedly felt like it was miles and miles away.  We ran around the track and around the field where the Atlanta Braves hold their spring training.

After leaving the Wide World of Sports we were treated to some mile 20 entertainment.

And a few short miles later found ourselves at Hollywood Studios.

We ran along the Boardwalk and found ourselves at the back of Epcot, quickly approaching the finish line.

 

Ahh, sucess!  We are now proud owners of the hard-earned Goofy medal!

 

A Tale of Two Disneys, take 1

Better late than never, right?  Well, here goes.  We took the kids to Disney in January for a week of warmth (70-80 every day), sun (every day) and loads of fun.  We stayed in a family suite at the Art of Animination Resort in a Nemo room.  We spent the first day getting settled in and playing in the pool.  This was definitely a family resort.  There were 3 pools, the main pool being next to the Nemo wings and decorated in Nemo style, including huge (3 stories!) statutes, a smaler kids fountain pool, a daily dance party on the pool deck and tons of fun!

There were also entire buildings (with adjacent themed outdoor areas) for Cars, The Lion King and Little Mermaid.  Seriously impressive resort--no doubt Disney knows how to entertain!

We spent the first full day at Animal Kingdom.  Thanks for a tip from a friend, we reserved a character breakfast at the Tusker House before the park even opened.  We were treated to visits by Donald, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy and some great food.

 

The park itself was a big hit, once the kids understood that Animal Kindgdom was the "park" and that we were not going to a "park" with slides, swings, etc.

 

Ida had no interest in meeting Pocahontas, but Henrik "the brave warrior" had no hesitation when she asked him to show her "his muscles."

The day ended with a wonderful parade and two very tired children (and a couple of tired adults too!).

After a day of relaxtion, and then a busy morning (more to come in take 2) we headed to Downtown Disney for lunch and some fun.  

And then, on our last day in Orlando, we headed to Magic Kingdom for 13 hours of non-stop Disney overload!  Suzanne, Grandma L & the kids headed to the park about an hour before it opened for  breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table (a/k/a "breakfast in the castle with the princesses").  As you can see, Main Street is quite pleasant if you can manage to get into the park before it opens.

 

We started with a group picture with Cinderella (which we have the old-fashioned way, but no digital), and Henrik receiving a big smooch on the forehead from Cinderella.

 

Then rides, rides, rides and other similar fun.

 

This is a picture of Henrik & Chad on Henrik's second Barnstormer ride of the day.  Ida tried it once, after talking for weeks about how excited she was to go on the rollercoster, and immediately declared "I don't like rollercoasters."  Henrik, who was barely tall enough to get on, quickly declared that he wanted to ride it again (which he did).

 

Later in the day, we headed to Tinker's Nook to meet a few fairies . . . 

 

. . . where Henrik received his second smooch of the day!

 

The electric lights parade was a hit, and ended shortly before the fireworks (which were a hit once we got the earplugs in the kids' ears and got our hands firmly over their ears to block the sound).  All in all it was a great day!