A Dessert Party

So when I left off, I was just about to leave Animal Kingdom.

I headed back to the resort and gathered my close to do a quick load of laundry.  Since I was putting stuff into an Owner's Locker, I wanted to make sure that everything was clean.  The laundry wasn't far from the room.  It wasn't exactly cheap, but it's been a while since I've had to pay for a washer and dryer so it might be within the norm.  I took some time relaxing in the lounge and then got everything folded and packed up.

After finishing up, I made my way over to Epcot for a dessert party with some fellow runners from the Disboards.  Our plan was to have the party in France.  A few days before we had decided to move the dessert portion inside because of the cold temperatures.  It was held in the Wonders of Life pavilion.  We had some yummy chocolate dessert, including fondue, brownies and biscotti.  I tried to take some pictures of the pavilion.  They didn't come out that good, but here you go!

About 15 minutes before Illuminations was going to start we were escorted to our private viewing area.  We had a great view of the fireworks and I recorded the whole thing.  I don't have the knowledge to edit a 15 minute video so that I can put it on here.  It came out really good though.

After Illuminations ended, some of us walked back towards the Epcot resorts.  I thought I'd be able to head over to the Studios by the Friendship Boats, but they weren't heading back there.  The Captain said that there were buses heading over to the park.  I didn't feel like heading to the front of the resort and waiting for the bus so I decided to walk over to the Studios.  The walk was much longer than I thought, but it wasn't that bad.  Just cold.

When I got to the park, the Victory Party was in full swing.  I had missed the TNT meal, but there was plenty of stuff to do.  They had a DJ at the hat with a dance party going on.  I did the Cupid Shuffle and then headed over to ride Toy Story Mania.  The fast pass queue was closed.  I was excited though because that meant I would be able to *hopefully* be able to see Mr. Potato Head!

And he was out!  I got a few pictures of him and some video too!

The video wouldn't upload so here is a picture:

I didn't take a picture of my score so I'll need to go my the assumption that I was somewhere around 150k.  That seems to be where I get stuck on my own.  After that I though I would head over to do one of the other rides, but came across another dance party in front of the hat.  You'll never believe what happened there...

Animal Kingdom

I made my way back towards Africa and Asia and saw this lovely lady:

I made my way towards Asia and took a few minutes to observe the primates (sorry, I can't remember what they are actually called).  And I tested out the zoom on my camera again:

I enjoyed the view of Everest:

And then made my way over for a ride on Everest and was shocked to see this:

Yup, that's right, a wait time of only 10 minutes for stand-by.  So, of course, I went through that line for the first time ever.  I took lots of pictures, but I'll only share a few with you.

And it would have only been 10 minutes if I wasn't taking my time getting pictures.  I even managed to snap a good picture of the train coming down the last drop.

I meandered over to Dinoland and stopped to listen to the calypso band along the way.

Stopped in Dinoland for some Mickey-fish

And sat down to eat some of the crackers.  While I was sitting there checking facebook and twitter, I wasn't really paying attention to the ground around me.  The next thing I knew, I looked up and saw these guys waiting not so patiently for me to drop some of the crackers.

After I was refreshed a bit from the crackers, I went on Dinosaur and then made my way over to get lunch.

I had heard good things about this and it did not disappoint.  After lunch I made my way out and back to the resort.  I had to get everything washed and packed before I headed over to Epcot for the WISH dessert party.

Up next, an Epcot dessert party!

Where is my favorite Tumble Monkey?

So I made it to Animal Kingdom and started playing with my camera to see what kind of pictures it could take:

I grabbed a schedule and saw that the Festival of the Lion King was starting soon so I made my way over to Camp Minnie Mickey.  The crowds were really low on this particular day:

I got a seat in the Lion section.  That was a new section for me!  ROAR!

I love the Tumble Monkeys.  I must admit that I've had a bit of a crush on one of them.  Unfortunately, he wasn't part of this show.  I was disappointed because I had excellent zoom on my new camera.

Not my favorite Tumble Monkey...

I then gave my video camera feature a try.  I got a few seconds of video from the show:

After the show, I needed to find Donald so that I could have my picture taken with him and my medal.  It was a fairly easy task since I was right near the Character Greeting Trails.  Donald loved my medal and made a big deal about it.

Again, the Christmas decorations were still up, so I had some fun taking pictures of them:

While I was watching the show, I got a message from Tim saying that he wasn't going to be able to make it to hang out later, so I made my way further into the park...

Making my way to Epcot

So I hopped off the Friendship Boat at the Dolphin and headed towards the Yacht and Beach Club area so I could walk along the race course to cheer on the runners.  I would walk along the course for a little bit, stop and cheer on some runners, then turn around keep moving.

I made my up to the bridge that leads to Sea Breeze Point and hung out there cheering on the runners and looking for my teammates.  I was there for maybe 10 minutes when I saw my teammate Lanie.  I didn't have my camera out in time, but I knew that she needed to run backstage before she would enter Epcot and that I had the shorter line through the International Gateway. 

I ran to the entrance and up to where the runners were going by.  I got there maybe a minute before she did and I wasn't ready again!  I followed her along the course until a cast member yelled at me for running onto the bridge into France.  The World Showcase wasn't open to the public yet!

I rushed back along the course and after crossing the course into Canada, I hurried towards the Christmas tree so that I could wait for Lanie there and get a picture of her.

I spotted this, um, gal:

Then I saw Lanie!!

When I saw her the next day, she said how surprised she was to see me all over the course.  I just knew the shortcuts that she couldn't take!

I then made my way back to the backstage entrance in England and waited for friends and more teammates.

One of my coaches and her husband

I finally saw my friend Tim and walked with him to France, all along the way offering him pretzels, offering to run ahead and get him a beer in Germany.  He declined but said he would call me later to hang out.  Since I was in France, I headed back to the bakery and got myself some goodies.

I also got myself some yummy champagne to sip on while I ate my goodies.  I sat down on one of the benches and had many of the runners beg me for the champagne.  Nope, no sharing.  I earned this, but they weren't done yet. 

After I finished, I went back to the bridge to wait for the rest of my teammates.  I saw my roommate and our coach.  Our coach marveled at how much energy I had and how nicely I was walking around after my race.  She told me that my teammate Laurie was a few minutes behind her.  Laurie was the last person I wanted to see, I waited for her and when I saw her, I hopped on the course and made my way around the
World Showcase with her.  I held my poster that I had been using to cheer on the TNT runners in front of me where the bib would be.  There are actually picture of me running the marathon (with Laurie)!

I snapped a picture of her out in World Showcase:

And then one more of her and her sister heading into Future World:

Once we got over the bridge and to the fountains I separated from them before getting myself kicked off the course.  I was able to wander around and get some photopass pictures then I remembered that it was Sunday, and the best park to be in on most Sundays is Animal Kingdom.  And I hadn't been there yet on this trip.  Hmmm...

So that is where I headed!

Marathon Day!!! Sunday, January 10, 2010

My original plan was to get up with my roommate and go with the team to the start line, then run from the start line over to the Magic Kingdom or over to the Ticket and Transportation Center and the Polynesian.  I was so exhausted from the late dinner and walking around the parks after my race that I decided to sleep in a little bit and meet everyone at one of the parks later in the race.

I think I ended up getting up around 8.  That's pretty darn late for a Disney day for me!  I took my time getting ready then made my way over to get some coffee to warm up and wake up some more.  I even took my time getting over to get the coffee and I meandered around the resort and found the Dig Site pool.  Unfortunately, it was still way too cold to take advantage of it.

Eventually I made it over to get my coffee...

Looking at the time I figured it was best to make my way over to the Studios since everyone would be almost at, or through, Animal Kingdom by then.

I saw this as soon as I got there:

I made my way over to the friendship boats and caught the one that was waiting for me.  I sat down inside, but quickly realized that I would be able to get better pictures if I stand at the back of the boat.

Here's some shots that I got:

When the boat got to the Swan/Dolphin dock, I decided to get off there and walk the rest of the way!

To be continued...