Monday, November 17, 2014

2014 Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K Recap


Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K Recap

Last weekend, Jason and I completed Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K as part of Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend. This 5K was located at Animal Kingdom and we had a blast! I’m a huge Christmas fan, so this type of event was right up my alley. Also, this was my first 5K through Animal Kingdom, so I was excited to take it all in!

Mickey's Jingle Jungle 5K

Gotta get in the Christmas spirit!

Breakdown of my outfit:

  • Headband was from the Magic Kingdom – December 2007
  • I made the shirt with iron on transfers from a logo purchased off Etsy
  • The skirt is from Sparkle Skirts (sparkle light in “Mermaid Green”)
  • The socks are from Target but were purchased off eBay
  • Shoes are Mizuno Wave Inspires

We boarded a bus for the race start around 5:00 a.m. Looking back, I didn’t realize that race began at 7:00 a.m., which left a LOT of time for standing around – I will definitely pay closer attention next time and not arrive as early.

The line for Mickey and Minnie was monstrous, so we decided to skip that one. Had I realized just how much time we had before the start of the race, I think we would have braved the line. Oh well.

As we were walking around, I heard my name – it was Lauren from Lauren’s Glass Slipper!

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I was so excited to finally meet her!!

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After a quick hello and goodbye with Lauren and her husband, Jason and I continued to a photography area that was set up with backdrops and everything – it was super cute!

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While taking our backdrop pictures, we ran into Holly - we met when planning our weddings and have been a part of a group of friends ever since! We chatted for a while with her and her mom, it was so great to see them!

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Race day forecast: SNOW at Animal Kingdom!

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Before long, Jason and I got in our corral and awaited the race start. 

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We were up to the front of the line and ready to run before we knew it!

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Yeah buddy! Let’s do this!

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When the race began, we took a loooong loop through the Animal Kingdom parking lot before finally making our way into Animal Kingdom park.

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Walkers were advised to stay to the right side of the course and I was impressed at how well everyone cooperated!

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We made it!

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Runners coming and going in Animal Kingdom

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The only character we skipped was the first one we saw, Santa Goofy. I honestly don’t think Jason realized just how fast these character lines go during a race. Also, these lines were not NEAR as long as the ones we had during the Princess 5K in February.

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This was so adorable, I had to grab a shot of it. His shirt read, “Some people are worth melting for…” Isn’t that so sweet? I don’t know who they are, but they sure melted my heart!

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The second characters we came upon were Baloo and King Louie. (They are the far left of this picture.) The line does seem long but I it took no more than 3-5 minutes to get through.

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Jungle VIP’s!

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This course took us all through Animal Kingdom, which I loved! It was great to see the sights and some behind-the-scenes areas that aren’t often visible to park guests.

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Unfortunately, our Chip and Dale photo turned out super blurry. I’ll have to check and see if the “official” race photo turned out any better!

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We hit mile 2 on our way out of Animal Kingdom and turned onto a very long road that took us behind Expedition Everest.

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On our way there, we spotted this guy and HAD to stop since Donald is Jason’s favorite and all!

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He loved Jason’s shirt! :D

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As we approached Everest, we saw a line for Pluto and also the AK Christmas tree in pieces on a flat bed!

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While waiting in line for a photo with Pluto, another “Disney Bride” friend of mine and I spotted each other and began screaming. I’m pretty sure we scared everyone around us!

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We seem to run into each other on EVERY race course which is hilarious!

On our way back around Everest, we saw a Christmas Alligator and of course we had to take a picture!

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It’s not often that you spy a gator wearing a Christmas hat!

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Before we knew it, we were at the finish line and our experience with Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K was complete!

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We grabbed our medals, food boxes, water, and gatorade and snapped one final picture before saying goodbye!

Overall, it was a super fun experience! The lines for characters went pretty fast and I didn’t feel as if this race was “overcrowded” as others have felt in the past. We really enjoyed our experience!

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Just because people have asked, here’s how long it took us to make it through the 5K with character picture stops. This is about 5 minutes off because I left my watch running by accident after crossing the finish line. We also walked 80% of the 5K.

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What was in the food boxes they handed out after the race? Well, here ya go! I love the tortilla chips with cheese dip – that was my favorite part of the entire box!

Have you run a Disney 5K? If so, which one has been your favorite and why?

9 comments:

  1. I absolutely love the Jingle Jungle 5k. We had such a blast running that last year. Your photos are adorable and I am so impressed you got Jason to wear a Donald shirt!

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  2. So fun! I've never run a Disney 5k but would love to!

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  3. Looks like a fun race!
    Thanks for the recap.

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  4. You two look SO adorable! I loved the Jingle Jungle and would consider doing it again. It is such a cute race and I love the Christmas theme!!!! Glad you had a great time!

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  5. I've done only 1 5k at Disney, which was Mickey's Halloween 5k, before W&D weekend was moved to November. I loved it, and I was hooked on running.

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  6. Love! I did this race last year with my mom and we had a blast! Super cute outfits :)
    Karen @karenlovestorun

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  7. I think this would be the best 5k to do! I'm so glad that Jason did it! Looks like yall had just a ball! Great outfit!

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  8. Looks like such a cool race with the holiday theme.

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  9. I have those socks! You look very cute.

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