Spring Training at ESPN Wide World of Sports

Did you know that among Walt Disney World's multitude of activities, you can also attend a Major League Baseball Spring Training Game during the early spring months? 

I'm a huge baseball fan (if you haven't already figured that out), I live within driving distance of Houston, Texas, and I have followed the Astros my entire life. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the Braves would be hosting the Astros at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on the Sunday of the Princess Half Marathon! Say what?! 

It was pretty much a no-brainer - we didn't even think twice before we purchased tickets!

Sunday's game was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and we arrived a few minutes early to take pictures and enjoy the stadium.

Let's go Astros! :)

Of course we had to have a picture with the Mickey statue. I remembered the Braves Mickey being there but I guess they moved him or repainted him.

Fun fact: The Astros Mickey still remains at Minute Maid Park in Houston! These Mickey Statues were a gift to all of the Major League Baseball Teams when the All-Star game was hosted at the LA Angels Stadium back in 2010!

This was also my first time to ever attend a Spring Training game! I learned a neat fact - the 15 MLB teams that are hosted in Florida are a part of the "Grapefruit League" and the 15 MLB teams that are hosted in Arizona are a part of the "Cactus League"!

 

Jeff Galloway threw out the first pitch for the game along with his friend, Donald Duck! 

Great job, Jeff!

Our seats were located behind home plate. Ticket prices for this game were comparable to the price I would pay to see a game back in Houston....although in Houston, we don't have to deal with the scorching sun. :)

I LOVED the little between inning side shows and videos that would play on the big screen, some even included Disney elements! The atmosphere here was so laid back...I seriously loved it! Baseball and Disney...nothing better in my book!

(As you can see in the photo above, lawn seating was also available for the game.)

Another fun fact: One of the current Braves (Jace Peterson) is from my home town, grew up in my church, and even attended the same small private school I graduated from!

...and we had a chance to see him play! How fun is that?! Small World!

My child (who is a boy) might have even gone home from our church nursery one Sunday with Jace's little girl's bow. Whoops.

Anyway, back to the game...

After sitting in the crazy sun for a little while, we realized that part of the first base line seats were shaded and they were mostly empty. Even though I was lathering on the sunscreen, I still worried about my son's skin, so we moved to the 1st base seats. Honestly, I actually preferred these seats more and felt as if I could see the game better from there.

 

The Astros ended up winning the game which made our little group very happy!  I also loved wearing my Princess Half Marathon medal to the ball park! Princesses were everywhere!

As I mentioned earlier, I loved having the opportunity to watch a Spring Training game and really hope I have the chance to visit again in the future!

If you're staying on Disney property and wondering how to get to ESPN, there IS a way! It might take you a bit longer, but it's definitely doable! 

Buses travel from Caribbean Beach, Pop Century, and the All Star Resorts every half hour.

So, if you're at a park, you would take a bus to one of these resorts, then from the resort to ESPN.

If you're at a resort that's not listed on these signs, you would take a bus from your resort to a park, then take a bus from that park to one of the resorts listed, then take a bus from that resort to ESPN.

...or you could just call a taxi, Uber, or Lyft...whatever works! :)

Have you ever visited ESPN Wide World of Sports for anything other than a runDisney event/Expo?

Vlog: 2017 runDisney Diaper Dash

Our first experience with runDisney's Diaper Dash was a fun one and definitely a memorable time for my family! Kids of all ages participated in races that included distances anywhere from a short dash for the babies all the way to a 1 mile fun run for the older kids!

We registered my 10 month old for the Diaper Dash that was held during the Princess Half Marathon Weekend and I captured video footage of the even to share with you!

If you missed other recaps from our Princess Half Marathon trip, you can check them out here:

• 2017 Princess Weekend Expo & VLOG
• 2017 Diaper Dash & VLOG
• 2017 Enchanted 10K & VLOG
• 2017 Princess Half Marathon & VLOG

Check out the video below!

Thanks for watching! Have a great weekend!! :)

Vlog: 2017 Fit For A Princess Expo

One of my favorite parts of returning home from a runDisney/Disney vacation is the fact that I get to re-live the trip and memories again through photos and video! 

As previously mentioned,  I did capture video of the entire runDisney process, so I'm sharing the first recap with you today - the Fit For A Princess Expo!

Check out my short recap below! I hope you enjoy!! :)

Have a fabulous weekend!!

If you missed any additional recaps/updates from our Princess Half Marathon Weekend trip, you can check them out here:

• 2017 Princess Weekend Expo & VLOG
• 2017 Diaper Dash & VLOG
• 2017 Enchanted 10K & VLOG
• 2017 Princess Half Marathon & VLOG

runDisney Kids Races & Diaper Dash

For this year's Princess Half Marathon weekend, my entire family participated in one race event or another. Brayden felt left out (well, maybe), so I decided to sign him up for his first official race, the Diaper Dash!

If you missed other updates from our Princess Half Marathon Weekend, you can check them out here:

• 2017 Princess Weekend Expo & VLOG
• 2017 Diaper Dash & VLOG
• 2017 Enchanted 10K & VLOG
• 2017 Princess Half Marathon & VLOG

Packet pickup the day before the race was super easy - you can read about it here. When I picked up his bib, I also received one of those clear plastic Disney bags as well as his t-shirt. For the Kids Races, runDisney offers shirts from a 2T on up which obviously doesn't fit my baby now, but will in the future. I'd definitely rather it be too big than too small.

Also, there were two mornings to choose from for the Kids Races. Since all of us were participating in the 10K on Saturday morning, I registered Brayden for Friday morning instead.

The night before the event, I read up on all the information inside the digital program guide. I was under the impression that the race started at 9 a.m., but it didn't. The Kids Races in general started at 9 a.m. with various wave times for each distance, ending with the Diaper Dash at 10:20 a.m. I'm so glad we didn't arrive at 8:30 a.m. only to sit around for a few hours! Crisis averted and lesson learned....always read the program guide! 

We arrived at ESPN (same location as the Expo) around 9:30 a.m. and followed the crowd. There were several runDisney volunteers who were there to direct us to the New Balance Track and Field.

Right as we arrived, I heard Carissa (the runDisney race announcer) mention that the Diaper Dash would be held at the black start/finish line sign. Had I not heard her say that, I would have been very confused because there was no signage for the Diaper Dash.

We got Brayden situation, then he was ready to race crawl!

We stood around and watched the Kids Races for a little while, then it was our turn!

We lined up behind the gates and about 5-6 babies were allowed on the track at one time. I somehow ended up at the back of the line instead of midway through the pack like I wanted. Oh well. It took about 15 minutes to get to us, but we had fun watching the other babies attempting to crawl, crawl, and even walk!

We all lined up with our babies backwards so the photo pass people could determine which kid belonged to which parent/photo pass account.

Also, they rolled out a carpet type mat for the babies to crawl on so they didn't have to crawl on the actual track! So smart!!

So as you know, Brayden was 10 months old for the Diaper Dash and had only started crawling (officially on all fours) about 2 weeks before the event. I was worried that he wouldn't cooperate but with a little persuasion (aka puffs), he did crawl a little bit! I think he was mostly confused as to what was going on!

The race announcer knew how to keep things rolling and let us play around for a while, then started to wrap up our wave.

He crawled about half way before I picked him up and half walked him to the finish line. This is when he spotted Minnie Mouse and boy was he intrigued!

Like his outfit? I figured it was appropriate for Princess Half Marathon Weekend! :)

 

 YAY he did it!

After the finish line were cups of water, bananas, and apple sauce pouches.

Brayden's first race was complete! Even though he had no clue what was going on, we still had fun with him and definitely have stories to share for the future!

Diaper Dash: he did it! 

Stay tuned for more fun recaps of our Princess Half Marathon weekend!! :)

2017 Fit For A Princess Expo

To kick off my recaps of 2017's Princess Half Marathon Weekend, here's a look at our first runDisney encounter of the weekend, the Fit For A Princess Expo!

If you missed other updates from our Princess Half Marathon Weekend, you can check them out here:

• 2017 Princess Weekend Expo & VLOG
• 2017 Diaper Dash & VLOG
• 2017 Enchanted 10K & VLOG
• 2017 Princess Half Marathon & VLOG

Our travel plans this year landed us at the Orlando airport right around the time of the first day's opening of the expo. Instead of rushing, we decided to skip the crowd, stop by our hotel first, then hop on a bus to the Expo.

When we arrived, the crowds had somewhat died down and although there were a lot of people, it wasn't overwhelming by any means.

It felt SO good to be back!!

Something new for us this year involved stroller parking. I remembered that strollers weren't allowed inside the expo hall and I brought along our baby carrier just in case (it definitely came in handy)!

I loved all of the motivational signs that were displayed throughout the grounds of ESPN!

Immediately upon entering the Field House, we saw evidence of this year's theme! 

So much fun!

After a few pictures, we split on our separate ways to pick up bibs - I was headed to the Glass Slipper Challenge and Kids Races areas and my parents and husband to the 10K area.

When my husband rejoined me, he told me that a friend of mine (Shelli) bumped into him and told him to tell me hi. I went back to try and find her but I missed her completely. Sad times. 

It was able to pick up the shirts for myself and Brayden here, but my parents and Jason had to go into the actual Expo floor to pick theirs up which was slightly confusing.

So, after walking the red carpet, we were on our way to the real fun...

The Expo!

That baby carrier sure came in handy!

I enjoyed taking pictures and Brayden...well, he enjoyed the sights and sounds of the expo madness!

I had so much fun walking up and down each aisle! I just love Disney Expos!! They are one of my favorite parts of race weekends! :)

I also browsed (and shopped) the Official Merchandise area before calling it a day. Even though we didn't make it to the Expo until around 3 p.m., I still found that they had an adequate stock of items for all of the races! I am also glad we decided to forgo the early morning madness and wait until the afternoon to attend.

 

 I had a great time at the Expo and always look forward to the next one!

On our way out, we stopped for several pictures...

My mom was alone because the boys didn't want to join her. Silly boys.

Brayden had to have his picture, too!

...and of course I had to take a picture the Glass Slipper Challenge banner!

Here's some of my loot from the runDisney Merchandise area. My husband has the "My Favorite Disney Princess Is" shirt, so I HAD to buy one for Brayden, too! I also purchased an official race sweaty band, an ornament, a tervis tumbler, and although I ran the Glass Slipper Challenge, I decided on the half shirt because I liked it better. :)

That's it for the Expo! We had a great time and like I mentioned before, I can't wait for the next one! 

I also vlogged throughout the weekend on all of the runDisney things, so stay tuned for those! :) 

Have a great day!