2010 WDW Princess Half-Marathon Marathon of Posts Vol 3

On Saturday morning the alarm that my roommates set, went off at about 4:30 am.

Alarms going off at 4:30 in the morning are nothing new to me. that's about the time that DaddyDoc's first alarm goes off, with his back-up alarm starting at some point after 5:00 am. Furthermore, sleeping through 4:30 am alarms is also not new to me. No, I am not one of those Leave It To Beaver wives who gets up and makes her husband breakfast before he goes to work.

I did sort of wake up at 4:30. I woke up enough to hear my roommates saying "We don't like these people this much."

Now me? I really did not like anyone there enough to get up at 4:30 in the morning. Yes, they are all very very nice people. But there are very few people on this EARTH who I like enough to get up at 4:30 in the morning. Really, the only reason I got up the next morning to actually attempt the Half-Marathon was that it would have been really really bad if I went home and looked at all the people who paid money and/or took care of my family under the assumption that I was going to get up at oh-dawn-thirty to try to make my body move for 13.1 miles. That and I couldn't go to Facebook and say "Oopsie, I slept in." That would have been very embarrassing.

It is incredibly difficult to be Perky at 4:30 in the morning, one might say impossible. This is just a fact of life which, in my old age, I have come to accept.

With that, I stayed in my warm and cozy bed while the rest of my roommates got up, got dressed and got going. I have been telling them for some time that I am not like them. I had nothing to prove.

They went to cheer on the members of the message board who elected to participate in Saturday morning's Princess 5K. I understand that the participants had a delightful time, stopping at every photo opportunity in an effort to finish the 5K in the slowest time possible without being removed from the course. I heard that at the finish line, they burst into (alligator) tears at their accomplishment. And I saw the pictures of the messages my roommates wrote in the ice on the bleacher benches where they waited to cheer for the group.

Messages written in ice on bleacher benches a mere 24 hours before my Half-Marathon.

I was in bed asleep.

My alarm went off at a much more respectable hour (after the sun actually rose.) I showered, dressed and went out to the bus stop to take a bus to the Magic Kingdom. With my refillable mug full of Diet Coke, I could approximate perkiness. I made conversation with a group of DVC members in town for a Ladies Weekend Away. We talked about Disneyland versus Walt Disney World. I may have mentioned a website that offers Disney entertainment and travel resources. I might have even shared a button or two with the group. Once at the Magic Kingdom, I boogied over to the Monorail station to catch the Resort Loop. The women on the bus ended up on the same train as I did. We continued our conversation until I deboarded at the Polynesian resort.

Here's the Animal Kingdom Lodge Directory as posted by the bus stop at Kidani Village.

The monorail station is mere feet away from the second story entrance where the Kona Cafe is located.

TONGA TOAST!!!!!!

I quickly found my friends. After her morning on the icy bleachers, swanie announced that she wanted to check the gift shop for gloves that she might wear for the Half. I followed. She found a gift for one of my future daughters-in-law and while she paid for that, we looked over the gloves. Swanie elected to not spend the price Disney charged for the gloves. I, however, did.

Icy bleacher benches, remember?!?!?!????

By the time we returned to the Kona Cafe, our group was seated and we joined them. Swanie had never eaten breakfast at the Kona Cafe. I could not believe it. I still can not. I am sure this has to be some Disney message board blasphemy. Surely some board, somewhere, must ban people based on this.

"Have you ever been to Walt Disney World?"

---- > FLOWCHART 1 --- > "Yes." "What did you think of the Tonga Toast?" "We did not eat breakfast at Kona Cafe." "BANNED!"

---- > FLOWCHART 2 --- > "No." "Have you made your ADR for breakfast at the Kona Cafe?" "No, we're not going there." "BANNED!"

Am I right or am I right?

I'm totally right.

(I would add a clause for Kungaloosh but considering that WDW CLOSED PLEASURE ISLAND BEFORE I COULD GO THERE, it really would be self-defeating, wouldn't it? If you do not know what Kungaloosh is, ask my good friend Google.)

So anyway, I knew I wanted Tonga Toast but I do believe that Tonga Toast needs to be balanced with some protein. Swanie was seriously eyeing the Eggs Benedict made with smoked pulled pork. Without Daddy Doc there to split anything with me, I asked swanie if she would like to split the Eggs Benedict and Tonga Toast with me. I was very happy she accepted my offer.

This is my perfect breakfast, before I smothered the Tonga Toast with the strawberry sauce.

We told stories. We took pictures. We laughed. We would have laughed with BK but BK didn't come to breakfast at Kona Cafe even though "Other C" told her to. That made us laugh.

Trust me, it was funny.

Oh, and I was getting really anxious about having to move my body 13.1 miles in the freezing (literally) cold on Sunday morning.

After breakfast, we drove over to Disney's Hollywood Studios for the day. We immediately headed to Rock N Roller Coaster to pick up Fast Passes.

Hollywood Studios features several actors on their streets, playing characters from the early days of Hollywood. Along the way, we met with a couple driving along in a motor car: Shelby, an "agent" and "Dorma Desmond" the most famous actress ever.

Roommate C, like several of the message board members, took several pictures of her Mickey Gnome around Walt Disney World. Shelby saw C and told her that she was a lovely girl, he "could have her popping out of birthday cakes next week!" C asked Dorma to pose with her Mickey Gnome. Afterward, Dorma held firmly to Mickey. C pointed out that another friend nearby, also had a Mickey Gnome. Dorma ask for his name, which C provided.

And so it began.

Across the street, Dorma called out "G! Give me your GNOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMME." And we began to laugh. Dorma was relentless. And for several minutes she engaged our group and here and there begging G for his gnome. Oh, how we laughed. Even when we finished and walked away, Shelby and Dorma circled the street in their motorcar, with Dorma calling out to G for his gnome.

G and his Gnome: it's the joke from this trip that will never die.

This is as close as Dorma ever got to G's gnoooooooommmmme.

Swanie had a mission to get a picture with Dug from Up. Being the total WDW expert that I am now, with ONE WHOLE TRIP under my belt, I suggested we visit the Animation building in DHS to look for the Up cast there. And of course, I was right. Just in time, too, because the group was only on the schedule for about 30 more minutes!

We were meeting up with all sorts of message board members around DHS. Earlier in the day, between the 5K and breakfast, my roommates had come to DHS to pick up Toy Story Mania Fast Passes. The ride is identical to the ride in Anaheim. The primary difference is the amazing queue. Well, with Fast Passes, we would only see a portion of the queue and I could skip the ride.

That and I wasn't entirely feeling well. Did I mention a tad of anxiety about the whole "It's going to be really really cold for the 13.1 miles Sunday morning???" The group who sat off the ride found a bench and munched on really salty popcorn while we waited underneath the Luxo window. We never did hear or see Luxo while we waited. I am so glad our family saw him in October!

We went to the Muppets 3D show before returning to the opposite end of the park. Most of the group wanted to ride the Tower of Terror. I debated it. I have only ridden TOT once in Anaheim. The bouncing effect of the elevator does in my stomach. But in Anaheim, we do not have the cool sideways/backwards effect they have in Florida. On the one hand, I wanted to try it out, on the other hand, I know my body and I can really only handle one rough ride in a short period of time. I really wanted to revisit Rock N Roller Coaster after my disappointing experience in October. I decided to stand in line with my friends and take the chicken exit at the end of the line.

At the point where we entered the library scene of the line, we encountered possibly the rudest guests I have ever met in all of my visits to Disney Theme Parks. At least in the top 5. They sounded like they were from New Jersey. They were loud. They were obnoxious. And they were craptacular parents on top of it all. They thought it was hilarious to scare their young children and then mock them. One of the mothers was telling her daughter that she should find a new family. And this continued on throughout the "show" in the library, at a loud enough level that it was impossible for anyone else in the room to actually, you know, pay attention to the show. The Charming New Jersey folks thought their personal show was more important.

And so it continued for the rest of the line. Ob.Nox.Ious. Our group asked the Cast Member at the head of the line if they might have the front row of their elevator. The Cast Member said yes and told them where to stand. Once inside the elevator, the New Jersey group tried to take the front row. They were unsuccessful. I waited for the group at the exit of the ride near the televisions displaying the ride photos. I saw my friends photo show up on a television screen and stood up to greet them. They had an adorable picture with their hands straight up in the air. It was kind of hard to see the people from New Jersey sitting behind them. Such a shame...

It could not have happened to a better group of folks.

(Edit: In re-reading this I realize that it sounds like my group purposely plotted and asked to sit in the front row of the New Jersey Jerks' elevator. No. The group was asking to sit in the front row of the group's elevator. We did not know who else would or would not be in the elevator with them. The NJJ's just ended up in the elevator with them by coincidence. Ok, back to the show...)

We literally sat around for awhile waiting for our Rock N Roller Coaster Fast Passes to come due. Swanie and I picked up a couple of pretzels to share with the group. More people stopped by to say hello. A local member of the message board FINALLY arrived. And it was just about time to ride Rock N Roller Coaster. Eventually, swanie, J, C, BK and I joined the line. On Tower of Terror, swanie held C's hand. For Rock N Roller Coaster, she held mine.

I hoped that if I took off my glasses before the ride started, I might not feel as sick as I had in October. The ride definitely felt longer this time than it had before. I may have screamed a bit. (It's a ROLLER COASTER, what was I SUPPOSED to do???) But as I had hoped, I felt much less iffy than I had before! I survived Rock N Roller Coaster! Swanie and I high-fived.

I conquered Rock N Roller Coaster!

Now with swanie, C, J and BK, we headed out to our rental car and back to Animal Kingdom. We had reservations to carb load at one of my favorite Walt Disney World restaurants (because, having been there now TWO whole times, I have enough history to rate restaurants,) Boma! We parked at Kidani Village, stopped by our room to freshen up for a bit, and walked over to Boma in the Jambo House portion of the resort. T met up with us and swanie approached the check-in station about, yet again, adding two more to our registration. Fortunately, adding two at a large buffet was very easy and we were quickly seated.

Boma is just too good. I had some roast beef so I could eat the sauce. There, I said it. I had some of that great couscous with the vegetable sauce. The curry pasts salad was divine. I took some soup. I cannot tell you everything I put on my plate. There was so much. I know I went back and got enough hummus and pita for the table. There were other salads. I think I took a green salad so I could eat one of the dressings.

While we were in line, T and I were talking about the swanie magic. Now, let's be fair: It's not like swanie's going around Walt Disney World asking for the moon. She very politely makes reasonable requests, they just happen to say yes each and every time she does. At the soup station, I noted that, as happened in October, Boma was not serving swanie's very favorite soup, the butternut squash soup. I told T "You watch. We'll get the butternut squash soup. They always have it over at Mara. Swanie will ask for it..." And yes, a short time later, swanie turned on her cute and perky (and reasonable) and our server brought us six bowls of butternut squash soup...

I finished dinner with zebra domes because I still think they are very delicious. I had other desserts, too, but I was having trouble eating too much. Did I mention the ice on the spectating bleachers that morning?

And between the six of us we laughed. And then there was a bunch of chick-bonding and we ended up CRYING. Seriously. What's up with THAT? And if it weren't enough, after ONE person made us cry, then someone ELSE, who shall remain nameless, had to go tell a story that had everyone crying AGAIN.

Eventually, emotions once again in balance and we headed out. I stopped at the gift shop near the entrance hoping to find a wooden frog that croaked. We saw a cast member with one when we visited in October and I really thought it would be a great gift for the boys. But I did not see one. I did find a caribiner shaped like a Sorcerer's Hat, perfect for Cman. I picked that up and a blue Mickey shaped caribiner for M. I already had a red Mickey caribiner I was using to keep my mug attached to my backpack when not in use. Now I had a caribiner for each of my sons. Gift shopping complete.

J and C drove BK and T back to their resorts while swanie and I began to layout our clothes and such for the next (extremely early) morning. I took a shower so I could sleep in later when the alarm went off. (I can't say "In the morning" because it would really be "In the middle of the night".)