I hope by the end of this post you will understand why the title is somewhat sarcastic...
I am the first person to express my love and obsession with anything and everything related to Walt Disney World. That being said I wish I had had some sort of anti-anxiety medication handy for the expo. No one told me how insane and chaotic it would be....
I decided to get my first run in in 2 weeks. Thanks to all the snow in CT there was no place to run and because of my vacation I didn't have time to run at work either. I got up about 5.45am and decided to run the route between Jambo House and Kidani Village. I went back and forth about 4 times for a total of 2 miles. It felt FANTASTIC. The only thing I would have enjoyed more was if it had been an actual trail instead of having to go through the parking garage. I was so pumped for the 5k the next dayand the half marathon the day after. I showered and got dressed before anyone else woke up. Ahhhh the life of a runner <3.
We arrived in the lobby about 8.20am to see the sign of transportation and events from AKL to the Princess Half Weekend activities.
The ridiculousness begins almost instantly as we stepped onto the bus. I wish I had paid attention to the driver's name. He was the only sane person the whole day. He was promptly ripped a new one by the Mears Transportation lady for coming to the Jambo House before Kidani Village and then had it repeated over and over again disrespectfully to him how he needed to follow the route and needed to show up on time, NOT EARLY, which he had. I thanked him for 'messing up the route and timing'. My parents took one side of the front row and Emilia and I took the other. As fellow runners started to join us I realized that yet again even Disney is not exempt from the whole "common sense isn't common" thing. The ladies sitting behind us were rudely reading text messages aloud to one another and talking as though they had been through Saving Private Ryan personally, yelling their conversations... "I worry about so much about my daughter" "Why, why do you worry? She has so much going for her!" "Well ya know, I didn't have to worry about looks when I was her age I mean look at me...pfft I guess it takes someone ugly to make someone hot hahaha." "kids, nowadays...". I'm all for honesty but I don't need to hear you yelling back and forth when you are sitting directly behind me. No one else cares about your conversations, have some courtesy. Then there was a CDL driver who worked for the something or other gov't/state agency that has something to do with those that hold a CDL....in Illinois... The poor bus driver could barely hear him as this man mumbled to keep up an awkward conversation about how the driver needed to watch himself because of this mans qualifications. I felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. I won't say I whisper when having a conversation with someone, but I know that no one else really wants to hear it. So I keep it to myself... Now that that is off my chest. I am sure they are very nice people but I could do without ever being on a bus with them again...
Once we arrived at Coronado Springs my Florida good luck hit. We were one of the only buses with riders allowed to get inside because we got there early. Everyone else was made to form a line outside. The expo was held in the Veracruz room. My agenda was easy. KT Tape-->Bib-->Tshirt/bag-->runDisney Merch. 9am the doors open and a mad rush ensued. Not one volunteer inside knew of the location of the KT Tape booth and as runDisney had not published the list of vendors names with the layout I was alone to look at a map once and hope for the best. After successfully locating the booth I was relieved to find out that I was the second person in line. I had both of my knees taped as well as my IT band on my left side. I chose to not do the hip flexor because it had not bothered me in the last 3 weeks. Even today I have no pain there. (Woohoo!!) What is awesome is that I needed a towel to be held up because of the awkwardness of the location needing to be taped and a woman 3 people back in line offered to hold it up for me. I felt this odd sense of relief and was totally okay with a stranger holding up a towel so my actual hip could be taped. I never did know her name but lady at the KT Tape Booth I love you, thank you! Then I was off to get my bib. I had my license and my waiver in my hand ready to give and go....Not everyone else felt the same way I did in my line. I picked up my 5K and half marathon bib and then was immediately hit with reality.
There are no words for the pure chaos that happened with getting shirts and bags. I haven't even been in a crowd this insane at a concert. People were pushing and shoving, you couldn't see in front of you if you were shorter than 5 foot 6, there wasn't enough room to breathe. There was also a line through the shirt and bag pick up line going to the runDisney merchandise which had a 2 hour wait for that. Once I finally got to the table they were restocking the medium shirt bags. I was appalled at how rude some of the ladies were around me with having to wait for their bags and shirts. Saying things like "What? They didn't know we were coming today?" The fact that some of these so called Princesses were being rude to the voluntEARs was absolutely disgusting. It took all I had to keep my mouth shut. I appreciate all of the voluntEARs hard work and effort put into the day, for free no less. I was more annoyed and repulsed by those around me than those helping.
After getting my packet and bib we decided it was best to leave Coronado Springs. The lines for everything were too much to handle. I was incredibly upset that I didn't get a chance to shop the vendors but was so overwhelmed that I needed to go.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My parents went back to the pool, I guess 36 inches of snow will make you want to spend every hour of your vacation possible soaking up the sun. Personally I think that's what Tommy's Tanning is for. Emilia and I decided to hit Downtown Disney and grab margaritas and lunch, after all February 20th was National Margarita Day! This would be the last alcoholic beverage I would have until after the half. It was only water and Powerade until I crossed the finish line on Sunday. We stopped by the Earl of Sandwich. Although the line is always long it moves fast. And I do love me a Caprese Sandwich.
Once we finished we walked down to West Side and decided to head back to the room. Our dinner at Le Cellier was an earlier one. I realized you know who isn't a runner just by the looks you get when you are taped up. I had people give me some of the funniest faces when they saw me walking with both knees taped....You wouldn't be giving me that look if you were doing 13.1 miles on Sunday morning...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It has been years since my family or I ate at Le Cellier, for the shear fact that the Disney Dining Plan upped the number of Counter Services to 2 and its $40+ for an entree. I will say that I played it safe with one of my Top Ten Favorite Meals because I didn't want to overwhelm my body.
Hello my lovely bread assortment... How I have missed you so! Pretzel bread, multigrain bread and plain bread...ugh I wish I could have eaten them all! I stuck with multigrain and limited how much I had. I had a 5K in the morning after all!
I did splurge on an appetizer. Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. OH.EM.GEE. I wish I had this breakfast, lunch and dinner....I would make my body be able to handle it 3 times a day....
I decided to go a little off course from my normal Le Cellier path. I know you are probably thinking what is she on!? But I didn't go for the Filet Mignon...I really loathe mushrooms and the fact the risotto, one of my favorite sides has been bathed in mushrooms ruined it for me. Looking at the menu on Allears.net I believe I had the Canadian "Prime" New York Strip - 12 ounce strip steak with Potato Pavé, wilted spinach, and vin rouge reduction. Although that doesn't really sound the like description in the photo. I was however pleasantly surprised it was so delicious.
Then we walked around the World Showcase looking at the topiaries already on display for the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival. Called it an early night because I had a 5k to run the next day. Nuh-nights for this Princess.
No comments:
Post a Comment