June 9 - Magic Kingdom
Run:
10.2 mile "long run" (7:02 average pace). I did this run a day early since we were planning on staying late at the Magic Kingdom that night, and I was glad I did! This was a relaxed run, but I picked it up to get the Strava segments I'd discovered
on my run the day before. Since I only had a vague idea of where they were, I ended up running about a mile at a time at a little faster pace (6:40ish) in order to get segments that were less than a quarter mile long each. I picked up course records on three of the four; the other one didn't pick up and when I looked at the map after I noticed I ran it on the wrong side of the road (so that final 6:40 mile was for nothing, haha!).
Activities:
This was our longest day, at the biggest and most crowded Disney park, the Magic Kingdom! We left on the 8:30 a.m. shuttle and returned on the 10:30 p.m. shuttle, were on the move the whole time, and still weren't able to do quite everything!
Our longest waits were for the Seven Dwarves Train Mine (Albani cried on it) and Space Mountain (Albani did not ride it, but did Stitch and Toy Story rides while waiting with Jon). We did FastPasses for Splash Mountain, Peter Pan's Flight, and the Haunted Mansion. We also did a Frozen ride, two Little Mermaid rides, Go Karts, a carousel, the Swiss Family Robinson house, It's a Small World ride, and some other rides I'm forgetting, plus shows. Albani said that a Small World was creepy, and I agree!
We had to watch the fireworks show, along with illuminations of Cinderella's castle, on our walk to the shuttle so we didn't miss it, which was disappointing because it was pretty amazing. However, I was definitely in "theme park zombie shuffle-mode" at that point; that is how I finished every day on this vacation! Although I was the most fit in our group, I was waking up 1.5-2 hours earlier than everyone else each day in order to run and shower first, which seemed to level the playing field.
After this endeavor, and after the vacation as a whole, I feel like I could do the whole thing more efficiently if we went again in a few months, and if anyone is planning a Disney vacation I have tips for you!
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| Magic Kingdom |
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| Classic Disney shot, trying to avoid crowds |
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| Albani asked if this one would be scary |
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| Samatha's driving might be scary |
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| Inside Cinderella's castle |
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| Legs up the wall while waiting on the shuttle, part deux |
June 10 - Hollywood Studios
Run:
4 miles relaxed (7:29). I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m., and woke up with a start at 6:49 a.m.! I later realized I'd set the Monday through Friday alarm, and it was Saturday...oy. My plans of a short run plus strength training were foiled, but I was running by 7:02 a.m. and knew I'd be fine to get in 3 miles. I took a wrong turn, though, and ended up with 4 miles because of it. I ended up running a Strava segment and getting the course record where I took the wrong turn, but since it was at 7:30-something pace I decided I would go back for it another day.
Activities:
Our third Disney park was Hollywood Studios. We were pretty worn out from the Magic Kingdom and it was raining all afternoon, so we left on the 8:30 a.m. shuttle and returned on the 6:00 p.m. one. It's a smaller park so we were still able to do almost everything; my main regret was missing the Rock 'n' Roll roller coaster. We did FastPasses for Star Wars Star Tours, an Indiana Jones stunt show, and the Toy Story ride. Albani and Chris did Jedi training, which they loved! They also got to meet and talk to several Star Wars Characters, including BB8. Our lunches were even Star Wars themed.
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| Hollywood Studios entrance |
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| Star Tours |
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| My little Star Wars fan |
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| Toy Story area |
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| Waiting in line for the Toy Story ride |
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| Chicken and Darth Vadar waffles |
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| Jedi training |
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| This was one of her favorite parts of the vacation |
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| Chris in Jedi training |
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| BB8 was a big hit |
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| Tower of Terror in the background (Albani and I didn't go) |
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| Best use of time while waiting for the shuttle day 3! |
This all sounds like so much fun! If we ever go, I'll have to get some tips!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely let me know if you guys ever go! I had some help from a friend who has been a lot, and without her tips I'd have been completely lost, but by the end of the trip I had many, many "if I'd have known --- earlier, I'd have done --- better" thoughts. Albani is at a good age for us to go, because she is old enough to remember it all, to handle long days, and to go on most of the rides; but young enough to still enjoy the kid-like Disney magic! So my first tip for you it to wait until your kids are older. :-)
DeleteYes, definitely! That's why we didn't go when we went to Orlando in March. No one could believe we went to Orlando but didn't visit Disney! I don't see the point in going when your kids still nap so you'd miss out Oma couple hours of park time in the middle of the day, but that's just me!
DeleteYou're smart! Not to mention that they can't go on many of the rides, and you have to navigate with a stroller and carry a lot of things for younger kids. They'll enjoy it and remember it when they're older!
DeleteYou missed Rock n Roller Coaster????!!!! Inconceivable!
ReplyDeleteSad, I know! When we got to it, the wait was too long for us to ride it and get to the 6:00 p.m. shuttle, and no one wanted to stay out 2 more hours in the rain until the next shuttle in order to ride it. Jon and I did the Rock n Roll coaster at Universal Studios on our honeymoon, and it was a good one.
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