Well, we’ve returned home from another amazing runDisney adventure! I spent most of the weekend relaxing and sleeping because, let’s face it…….we didn’t get much sleep on “vacation”. SO many early mornings combined with a lot of walking each day – yeah…thank goodness we had the weekend to recuperate!
Today begins my recaps of the Princess Half Marathon Weekend followed by the Castaway Challenge while travelling on board the Disney Dream!
Our first early morning began on our first day of travel. Since our plane left the airport around 6 a.m. and was somewhat of a decent drive away, we decided to “sleep” at home the night before and wake up around 2 a.m. to begin driving to the airport. Well, my good intentions of going to bed early were squashed with last minute preparations on my Half Marathon costume. I decided to dress as Belle for the Half (a super last minute decision) and my mom agreed to help sew pieces for me. I decided (at the last minute) that I didn’t care for the sleeves on the shirt, so I cut them and hand stitch the edges. Hello midnight. *sigh
Anyway, we made it to the airport without any problems (I kinda slept the entire way there…whoops) and off we went to Walt Disney World! We landed at the airport and were on a Magical Express bus within a few minutes. I loved flying early in the morning because we landed around 9 a.m. at MCO – that meant we had the entire day to do whatever we wanted!
After a check-in at Coronado Springs (AND our room was ready…bonus!), we were on our way to the expo!
Disney provides expo and race transportation at all of their “host” hotels during race weekends. A list of host hotels for each event can be found on the runDisney website under each event’s specific tab – not all host hotels are the same for each race.
We met up with our friend Randy at the Expo and decided to grab a quick lunch at the ESPN Grill.
While there, I had the chance to say hello to Lisa (my Disneyland Expo buddy)! It was SO nice to see her again…AND she brought me treats from Canada! (She knows how much I love REAL Cadbury chocolate!)
My. Day. Was. Made.
After lunch, we walked over to the HP Field House to pick up our bibs.
Attention Glass Slipper Runners – (this was something new for 2015)….
Runners were directed to a backdrop area to take a picture with their bib for identification purposes. This was a super easy process and I didn’t wait in a line at all (There were four photographers lined up for pictures.)
Is your bib ready? Did you take your picture??
Hey Glass Slipper Runners….did you make sure to take your picture?
They definitely didn’t want anyone to miss this area…it was advertised super well!
I also made sure to stop by the runDisney Instagram area while on that level of the Field House. If you showed the photographers that you follow runDisney on Instagram, you were able to take a photo in front of a green screen with a specific background and were given instructions to obtain the photo later on that evening.
These photos are always so much fun, I look forward to them every race!
After picking up my Glass Slipper bib, I headed for the Castaway Challenge booth for another bib/shirt pickup. Runners of the Castaway Challenge were instructed to pick up their bibs and shirts at this Expo (not on the ship).
Near the Castaway area was a photo op with Disney Princess characters. It WAS the Princess Half Marathon after all…AND I was dressing as Belle for the Half…so yea, I caved. The lines went fairly quickly, though.
As we were leaving the Field House, I noticed the Dooney line…wooooowwww…it was insane. If you were in that line, I hope you were able to pick up what you wanted!
After leaving the Field House, we walked over to the Josten’s Center for shirts and merchandise.
These Major Domo’s greeted runners as they entered the Expo.
The Expo floor – I was so excited to walk around and explore everything!
One of our first stops was the Champion Booth. Neither my husband nor I were expecting the COLD weather…and when I say cold, I mean COLD...I’m from the south, if it’s below 50 degrees, it’s cold to me! Well, my husband didn’t bring any athletic pants for the 5K…all he had were jeans and running shorts. After checking the forecast for Friday morning’s 5K, he mentioned that he was going to do the 5K in his blue jeans. Ummmm…NO, I was not going to let him do any race in blue jeans, so sorry. Thank goodness Champion had men’s pants for sale. He was able to purchase a pair and they worked perfectly for the race. Day saved, thank you Champion!
Our next stop was the Sweaty Bands booth. I needed a yellow band to match my Belle outfit.
My husband found this one (which was definitely meant for Belle) AND it was the last one available! Score! I was so excited!!
We shopped through the Merchandise tent where I purchased a coffee mug, an I Did It shirt, and a few pins. I also ran into Heather there and we stopped to chat for a quick hello!
The Good Sense booth was offering free photos to runners in front of a green screen. I received an email that afternoon with the directions on locating my photo and I loved it! I chose the “Icy” background which fit the temperatures perfectly! (I was wearing FIVE layers, by the way….)
We stopped by the Luna booth to pick up a couple of cheering signs, then we decided to stay goodbye to the Expo. It was mid-afternoon and we were exhausted. A nap sounded right up our alley!
We had so much fun at the Expo and enjoyed seeing a few familiar faces!
The Expo was a great way to get excited for the upcoming races ahead!
What did you think of the Princess Half Marathon Expo this year?
