If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It - My First Run Disney Event
Day 1
After having planned this for nearly a year, it was now time to leave for my first ever Run Disney event. I could not believe where the last year had gone. A year ago that day, I was hoping and praying that I would make it on the flight to fly standby to my first solo trip to
Disneyland. A year later and the proposition was a lot less stressful. We only had to go as far as Paris and we had confirmed flights. I had my nails done the day before so we could have a lie in as our flight was not until 14:25 and all I had to do in the morning was to pack.
Packing was a smooth process. As I had planned special outfits for every day apart from the day we came back, this did not require any thought. This was done very quickly and then I had some time left over to catch up with a few things online. We then left slightly earlier than we had intended as we were both ready. We actually managed to get a delayed earlier train, but in the end, this train left only 4 minutes earlier than the one we had intended to get. Still, it was all good and we had plenty of time.
Once we had got going, the train journey to the airport was quite quick. We were travelling with hand luggage only and I had printed our boarding passes so we could bypass the check in counters and head straight to security. We thought that security would be quite busy as our Airbus A380 was due to leave at around the same time as our flight, but we did pretty much just breeze through it. I had not flown out of terminal 1 since last December and there were some changes, most of them for the better. We decided to get some lunch. We ended up going to Giraffe again, where I had a nice dinner before my solo trip last year. It did not disappoint this time either. We had a great view over the taxi way and we were lucky enough to see the A380 come in. I had the Chicken Milanese, but they had changed this around a little. I preferred it with pasta, but this time round it came with crushed garlic new potatoes and a green salad. This was still very nice. Graham had some fish and chips. He just had some water and I had some Coke.
Once we had finished our lunch, we headed back downstairs. We still had some time before our gate was due to open so we found somewhere to sit in the departure lounge. I decided to have a look around some shops and left Graham to play on his iPad. I did not find anything that I wanted to buy so I re-joined Graham and caught up with things online. My friend Michelle had arrived in Paris by then and we were messaging backwards and forwards about meeting up later.
Soon it was time to head for the gate and this time round we actually had a proper gate and were not just lining up in the corridor. We did not have to wait long between the time the gate opened until we were allowed to board. The flight was pretty full. The flight itself was quick and smooth at just under an hour. The line for passport control looked pretty long and there were only a couple of desks open, but this moved pretty quickly. In that terminal they have screens with estimated waiting times. The screens showed that there was a waiting time of 5 minutes for passport control. We waited a little longer, but not by much.
Once we were through passport control, we headed to the station. There was a TGV (French express train) about half an hour later so we decided to go with this. I had made bookings for the return trip for this trip and my solo trip in October and needed to get those tickets from a ticket machine. As we had time and there was nobody waiting for the machine, I sorted this out there and then, which was easy. I was curious how much the price difference was between the TGV and the local commuter trains so we went to check this out. It turned out that the commuter train is only 45 Cent cheaper and takes a lot longer. I would only consider this if there is no TGV within the next hour. The TGV only takes 10 minutes and the commuter train about 90 minutes with a change.
We still had a bit of time until our train was due to leave so we found a seat. I updated my status on Facebook and answered a couple of messages. Somebody who I know from the USA posted a photo to my time line showing how long the line for the package pick up was. This did not fill me with joy. However, the photo was taken right at the opening time of the Expo so I was hoping that things would have calmed down a little by the time we would get there.
Once the platform for our train was listed, we headed down. This was a slow process as they had ticket checks near the escalators that are leading down to the platforms. We still got there in plenty of time to find our correct departure zone before the train arrived. Our seats were very close to the doors so that was a bonus, too. The train had shown as slightly delayed, but actually arrived slightly earlier and 10 minutes later we were at the station for Disneyland Paris. I messaged my friend Michelle to advise her that we had arrived and were heading towards the Expo to get our bibs. She advised that she would head in that direction shortly as well and would find us. I was actually surprised how well signposted everything was. The clocks tend to tick to a different beat at Disneyland Paris. For the most part, the more laid back style adds to its charm, but sometimes it can be infuriating. For instance they normally release the times guide on a Saturday for that week starting that day. As the previous weekend marked the end of the summer season, they had released a times guide covering 8 days. It then took them until Wednesday to release the times guide that covered the beginning of the race weekend. Now considering how many people were coming for this weekend, this was not on. Still, on the count of the signposting, I was impressed. We made our way to the Expo and had no issue finding this. Fortunately the lines had all but disappeared by the time we got there.
I was pretty impressed how the package pick up was handled as well. They had marked out a runner’s entrance and race volunteers checked the paperwork before you got inside the Expo itself. We waited for a while near the entrance. Michelle was staying at one of the Disney hotels, but I had no clear idea how far this was away. When a large group arrived, I told Graham that we better get our bibs before we get mixed up with this crowd. This was really well organized as well. Package pick up for the half marathon was to the right and for 5K on the left. On each side they had multiple check in desks organised by bib numbers. As for some reason our bib numbers were about 500 numbers apart, we ended up checking in at different desks. There was nobody at the desk for Graham’s bib number and there was one person in front of me. We got our bibs very quickly. I was delighted when I realised that we were in corral A as this would give me extra time on the day. We also had tickets booked for the inaugural party and I asked about the wristbands for this. I was directed to a different desk. Unfortunately the people checking in Graham had taken all his paperwork off him including the voucher for the party. So I headed over there trying to retrieve the party voucher. This was quite a lengthy process as the volunteers at this desk did not speak much English and I don’t speak French. In the end we did manage to understand each other and I got the party voucher back.
There was just one desk to pick up park tickets and tickets for two different events. The line was about 10 people deep and moved very slowly. Fortunately at some stage, a cast member directed people to a nearby check in desk. In the end I probably would not even have needed Graham’s voucher as everything was in one envelope with one booking number. Still, it is always better to be safe then to be sorry. Once I had our tickets and wristbands for the party, I headed back outside to wait for Michelle. She arrived shortly afterwards. When we headed back inside, I noticed that Graham had wandered off. I told her I would meet her at the t-shirt pick up and went off to find Graham. I did not have to go very far. He was looking at some displays. We picked up our t-shirts. I love the t-shirt I got although I am a little nervous about this being white.
With everything taken care off, we made our way to the train station. On the way, Michelle and I had the chance to catch up. When we got to the train station, we had a bit of a surprise. There were huge lines for the ticket machines. Graham and I had two tickets left from a previous visit as I tend to buy them in sets of 10, but we needed some tickets for Michelle. So there was nothing for it and we had to get in line. The lines moved very slowly, but eventually we got to the front. I needed to get some more tickets anyway so I decided to just do it there and then and gave Michelle two tickets. Once we had our tickets, we re-joined Graham and then headed down to the platform.
We have always been very pleased with the train service between Disneyland Paris and Champs sur Marne. The trains normally run every 5 to 10 minutes and take about 15 minutes. This evening, according the screens, it would be about 30 minutes until a train would leave. The train arrived shortly afterwards, but it sat in the station for a long time. At least we were sitting down. Once we were finally under way, it was also as slow as molasses. If I did understand the information at the screen correctly there was some kind of disruption at Gare de Lyon that caused the trains to back up. Still, eventually we got there. Graham offered that he would quickly go to the hotel to check in and drop off the luggage while Michelle and I headed to the restaurant. He would catch up with us. We agreed and set off.
We ended up sitting on the opposite side of the restaurant from where we normally end up. We sat down and Graham arrived shortly afterwards. They brought us some prawn crackers and a complimentary aperitif as well as some menus. We had a look at the menu and we all opted for the buffet. Graham and I ordered a bottle of Muscadet. I had the pork spring rolls that I love so much and a grilled chicken skewer as my first plate. Graham stuck with salad initially, but then was brave enough to try some sushi, which he enjoyed. I then had some fried rice with some beef in onion sauce and Graham had assorted seafood. For dessert, Graham had some lychees and I had some rum and raisin ice cream. Graham and I ordered some coffee and we each got a complimentary cup of sake.
Once we had all finished, we paid. Michelle and I agreed on a meeting time and spot for the next day. I handed her my Photopass card as she intended to be in the parks for Extra Magic Hours and I fancied a lay in as we would have a really early start on Saturday. We walked Michelle back to the station and then headed to the hotel. We both spent a short while catching up with things online and then we settled down for the night.