Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising - the trip report! THIS SECTION COMPLETED 4/12 - Page 50 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Don't think we'll be back for F&WF this year....sadly.
We're looking at Food and Wine for 2016, as we won't make it this year either not with the Alaskan cruise and Disneyland and then Boston/New England all within a month of each other!
Sunday 22 February – part one: supporting the runners
My day started at 3:40am, but fortunately this time I was able to go back to sleep, and slept through until about 5:15am, at which point I figured I may as well get up, as we’d set the alarm for 6:00am anyway. We were going to head down for about 6:40am, but to be honest, we got so excited at starting to see runners go through, and when I went out to the balcony, I could hear all the cheering and a cowbell, so we figured we’d go down and add our support.
As you can see, Mark had found a way to ensure we were spotted!
As we walked down to the entrance of the Contemporary, a woman came up to ask if we were Cheryl and Mark. You should’ve seen our faces! It turned out to be Big Baloo from the boards, although I’m ashamed to say I have completely forgotten her name and I can’t find where she’s said it anywhere. Please do remind me! Anyway, it was lovely to briefly say hi!
We headed down to the pedestrian exit to the Contemporary, and we foolishly thought that, at some point, we’d be allowed to cross to the midway line, as traffic was coming along the road closest to us, and the runners were on the other side of the road, but this was as far as we could get. I have to say I was really disappointed by this, as I would’ve loved to have been closer to the runners to give them support, and so that people could see their support team.
There was a security guy in the middle, who did an amazing job encouraging all the runners, although if we heard him say “let it go” every time he saw an Anna or Elsa, we heard it about a thousand times! We also got the line quite a few times that “this is Cinderella’s house, but today it’s yours”.
It was fascinating to watch everyone go past, and it was so cool to have monorails passing overhead. The driver of the red one would always sound his horn in support whenever he passed by, but interestingly, none of the others did while we stood there.
As we stood there, it got lighter, but almost without us noticing, until you’d suddenly turn and look at something, and realise it was now a lot lighter than the last time you noticed. Something else we noticed was that there were a lot of runners, with barely a single walker in sight, as you saw the faster runners, then you started to see more walkers as the race went on – I guess to be expected.
I was able to really luck out, and look at this shot:
One second earlier or later, and it wouldn’t have been an hour spot on!
At first, I didn’t twig what these guys were, but then I realised, they were presumably pace runners, giving you an idea of what time you’d finish if you stuck with them, and they were certainly surrounded by people.
As it got lighter, we could see further down the road, and it really brought it home to you just how many people were taking part in this!
The costumes were fantastic, with literally thousands of different princesses passing before our eyes. We had one friend running, who told us that she’d be a yellow Belle and would be through between about 6:15am and 6:45am. I foolishly thought she’d be easy to spot. What a fool! I lost count of how many yellow Belles we saw go past us. Of course, had the darned phone been working properly, we’d have been able to track her, but that was not to be.
Fortunately, we did see Amy and Peter and I was able to get a photo of them!
In the end, we managed 45 minutes, which was a lot for me, before I gave in. We hadn’t seen Kim pass by, but there was no way I could stay any longer. I didn’t want to ruin myself for the rest of the day. If I could’ve sat down, like maybe on that nice concrete area in the middle of the road, then we could’ve stayed so much longer, but sadly that wasn’t to be.
Next: I’ve never seen so many vehicles in a procession at Disney before…
Oh wow, that's a lot of runners there! So you watched the runners in the half marathon go by? I assume then that the 10k and 5k people came through later?
Thanks for going to cheer on the runners! I did the half and it was so amazing to see so many people cheering and giving their support. I tried to look for you as I ran, but I couldn't remember if you were going to be by the TTC or by the contemporary, and of course I was so busy the days before the race I didn't get a chance to get on here and ask you where you'd be. So sorry I missed you but thanks for cheering!
I'm sure you had a great time encouraging the runners! 45 minutes is a long time to just stand in one place.... For me, walking around is much, much easier than just standing! My three oldest use to run cross country and I always really enjoyed cheering on the runners (from all teams) as they run by!
Oh wow, that's a lot of runners there! So you watched the runners in the half marathon go by? I assume then that the 10k and 5k people came through later?
I'll answer, if you don't mind! The 5K was run on Friday and the 10K the day before, Saturday. Both take place in and around Epcot. And it's at least 20,000 runners maybe more!
Mark's hat is awesome! Bummer you couldn't get any closer but at least Mark had on the right hat for identification.
After a while, watching all those runners go by messes with your eyes! When I volunteered a water table my eyes were messing with me after about 1 hour of it. And I stood there for over 3 hours... zoom, zoom, zoom..... with the occasional stop. But the constant motion in front of you is just, I don't know, weird for your eyes! So 45 minutes is good enough. So happy you could do this! Any support is welcomed. And I'm sure later in the day some runners were saying to their friends, "hey remember the guy at the Contemporary with that cone hat?"
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I have been away for a couple of days and wanted to check in and catch up on your TR, very neat that and we are in 2 of your updates! We had such a great time with you and Mark! I have to tell you that I was looking and looking for you guys when we were running by Contemporary, and when I spotted Mark's hat I was so happy! That first picture is me stopping and trying to convince Peter to cross the street to say hi and he is like no way can we cross that road with the policeman right there motioning everyone to stay straight. I was so bummed! So nice of you to take time away from your vacation to cheer the runners on! The spectators mean everything to the runners! And to actually know two spectators was awesome!! Looking forward to more fun with you guys in Paris in 2016. Just wish it wasn't so far away!
Whew! All caught up! Fell behind because work has been crazy busy!
Love all your interactions with Elsa, Anna, Pooh, Piglet and your fellow Eeyore as well as Chip and DAle! Your parade pictures are amazing! Mine didn't turn out as well…come to find out Dave had messed with the settings on my camera and I didn't check it until half way through
We also booked the British Isles cruise, but will be canceling it. I knew I had a meeting at the time the lines opened for booking, so I gave Dave the credit card and told him what to book. I'm claustrophobic, so I know an inside cabin is out for us I figured the price would be high, but I didn't know just how high. Bless his heart, Dave followed instructions and we are booked in a 5b room. When he told me the price I thought he was joking.
So, needless to say, this one will be turned back in. It's about a third again the price I expected. I showed Dave where we could do a b2b on the Fantasy in Concierge for less money…and that's not including airfare and the hotel the night before. Yeah, no. Sadly, I think Disney is pricing me out.
A great start to the day and the two of you had a great vantage point to watch the runners. Love Mark's hat as it is so him! As someone said here, you can probably only take so much of the runners going by and especially being that close to them. I suppose watching a tennis match up close would do that to you as well with the constant head turning!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Oh wow, that's a lot of runners there! So you watched the runners in the half marathon go by? I assume then that the 10k and 5k people came through later?
It was just the half marathon that day. I don't remember the order of the races now, but the 5k and 10k had already happened on the previous couple of days. As far as I know (and runners please correct me if I'm wrong with this...) they stagger the races with one each on a different day, as a lot of people like to do more than one - or even the whole lot!
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not with the Alaskan cruise and Disneyland and then Boston/New England all within a month of each other! 
Please do remind me! Anyway, it was lovely to briefly say hi! 
What a fool! I lost count of how many yellow Belles we saw go past us. 
Of course, had the darned phone been working properly, we’d have been able to track her, but that was not to be. 
. Once again, nice hat, Mark!
So happy you could do this! Any support is welcomed. And I'm sure later in the day some runners were saying to their friends, "hey remember the guy at the Contemporary with that cone hat?"
I have to tell you that I was looking and looking for you guys when we were running by Contemporary, and when I spotted Mark's hat I was so happy! 
That first picture is me stopping and trying to convince Peter to cross the street to say hi and he is like no way can we cross that road with the policeman right there motioning everyone to stay straight. 
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As someone said here, you can probably only take so much of the runners going by and especially being that close to them. 
I suppose watching a tennis match up close would do that to you as well with the constant head turning! 
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