Boo to You, Tower of Terror, and Goofy too! OCT '14 RunDisney/MNSSHP TR! COMPLETE

[emilyindisney]

Dining on the (too) wild side (Saana Lunch Review)

We left the expo and hopped in a cab to another new dining experience, Saana. Cab travel is not budget friendly but I could certainly get used to how fast it gets you around property! They had our reservation wrong when we got there (they told us it was for 11:30-it was actually 1:30), but thankfully it was quickly sorted out and we were seated in a matter of minutes. Best of all, we had a window seat, and got to see a variety of animals during our lunch.


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We started our pre race meal off with a cocktail...might as well break all the running rules while on vacation, right? Emily at the Magical Star Cocktail and I had a mojito of some kind-both were very tasty!


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The Magical Star comes complete with a highly entertaining glowing ice cube that I wished out of the cup when I was done and took home for a bonus souvenir!


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And, the mojito!

For our appetizer, we tried the bread service-this was probably the part of the meal that I had been looking forward to the most.


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Since we were dining with our friends, we decided to go big and order all of the accompaniments. I tried them all except the most spicy ones, and was surprised at which ones ended up being my favorite. This is a huge appetizer, and was plenty of food for 4 people. I then ordered the slow cooked in gravy entree, with butter chicken, beef short ribs, and basmati rice.


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The beef:


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And, the chicken.


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I got the same entree but with the spicy durban shrimp, five grain pilaf and beef short ribs.


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The shrimp:


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I am a little bit of a picky eater, so this restaurant was a little bit outside of my comfort zone. I thought the food was well prepared, but didn’t enjoy the flavors all that much. However, I’m glad we tried it here, and it was definitely unique and flavorful. I ate my meal and enjoyed it, but probably not enough to return, but again, that is more personal taste than anything against the restaurant. I consider myself to be the more exotic eater out of the two of us but I agree. The food was well prepared, the service was good and the drinks were awesome but the flavor itself wasn’t my taste. I feel like this is a WDW staple that we had to try (and I’m glad we did) but I don’t picture us going back.

The drinks and bread were awesome, the service was excellent, and the view can’t be beat!

Emily and I did some pin trading in the gift shop on the way out, and caught a bus back to Pop.

We used the afternoon to nap and relax around the room before getting ready for the race. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel well for much of the afternoon and was getting really anxious for the race, but luckily Emily is a nursing student, and (quite literally) nursed me back to health just in time!​

 

[emilyindisney]

Tower of Terror 10-miler Part One

I started feeling better just in time for us to head out and catch the bus. We headed out front, where we found a very long line for race buses, but the line moved quickly and soon we were on our way! It was a little strange to be in a race staging area when everyone is fully awake and it isn’t 4am...We met up with some friends, used the port o potties, and did a little warm up dancing!


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We decided a long time ago-maybe around the time of sign ups-that we wanted to dress as the evil stepsisters for this race. Our costumes were really pretty easy to make and came together nicely-we got tons of compliments on them!

Around 9:30pm, we headed to our corral, where we passed the time chatting with another runner (who we ended up seeing several times during the race). A few minutes before the start, volunteers walked us out and down the road to the start line, still grouped by corrals. This was a little different then PHM, where we had lined up in corrals right at the starting line and just had to walk forward.


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As each wave started, they played the Twight Zone theme music along with the usual countdown and fireworks-this was an awesome touch!

The first few corrals went one after another, and it was only a few minutes before we were off!


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The course had us leaving the DHS parking lot, running down to the Animal Kingdom gates, and doubling back, running through WWOS, and back around and into DHS via a backstage entrance before finishing up behind RnRC and ToT.

We chose to use my iphone for pictures since it served us well during the PHM. Unfortunately, it didn’t do quite as well in the dark, so these pictures are pretty dark and blurry. I hope they can still convey how awesome the course was though!

One of the first things we saw was a giant inflatable “eyeball” floating in the pond next to the highway on ramp. This was a little more just plain strange than creepy, but I was just glad that it wasn’t the fireball we had heard about from the previous year.


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Shortly after Mile 1, we saw the first character stop.


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Jafar in the parks has always really creeped me out and I usually avoid him, but when in rome (or a villians themed race)!


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This sign was an indication of our next destination, AK!


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Not quite as magical as running under the MK gates, but pretty darn cool anyways….

At the turnaround, we ran under a highway overpass that had a GIANT stuffed spider hanging off of it-I’m talking about the size of a bus giant. It was really fun Halloween theming, though I think I didn’t take a picture because I was too creeped out-I HATE spiders.

Next up was the part I was most excited about….
​

 

[emilyindisney]

Tower of Terror 10-Miler Part Two


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The Lion King is my favorite movie, and Scar is my favorite villain and one of my all time favorite characters. There is almost nothing for him or the hyenas in the parks as far as greetings or merch or ANYTHING, and believe me, I’ve looked everywhere! So I was most excited for this greet, and am very sad that the pictures didn’t come out better. It was a lot of fun anyways though-the hyenas were pretty adorable despite their best attempts to be bad guy!


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Of course I had to get in this pic with my main man (lion?) Scar!

Somewhere around here we ran by the Queen of Hearts. Neither Emily nor I are big Alice fans, and we wanted to stop for a lot, so we opted to save a little time here.


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You can’t really see it in the picture, but he had a really cool backdrop with all his “friends on the other side.” I was continuously impressed with the theming at this race.


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I think at this point we passed Captain Hook, but his line was a little longer than most and we didn’t care much for him, so we decided to skip it.

We then turned down a trail towards WWOS. It was narrow here so naturally got a little more congested but it was never too bad. We both welcomed the change to soft terrain and the cool draft coming over the path.


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Jack and Sally also had a long line, but since they are rarer we decided to stop. It was fun to watch them interact with other runners while we waited. The people in front of us had their faces painted to look like skeletons, and Sally got very excited, saying “Jack look, your whole family is here!” Since we will probably never wait in line to meet them at a MNSSHP, this was a fun opportunity.

Next up, we headed into WWOS for another much anticipated photo op….


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They were a little creepy, but in the best way possible! I was slightly disappointed that there wasn’t an opportunity to lay down next to a grave-is this on the marathon course instead?


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Mile 6 was in WWOS.


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We were both excited to see our favorite alien on the course...if only he was dressed as a bellhop! I might be forever bitter that the one year we run ToT they changed the theme from Bellhop Stitch to Malificent ​

 

[emilyindisney]

Tower of Terror 10-Miler Part Three

The WWOS portion of the course seemed to take forever. We wove up and down sidewalks around the fields, ran around a portion of a track, in between some buildings, and finally around champion stadium, where there were some, errr, ghostly players in the middle of a game. It was fun to run around the stadium (especially when we know we’ll be back there for the marathon!) and I wish I had taken some pictures there.


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Out in the WWOS parking lot, we found this team of undead. There was no line, their costumes were great, and they were really committed to their characters...it was a fun stop!

After that it was back out to the highway, where we found this guy looking kind of lonely on the side of the road…


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A little further down the road was another ghostly encounter...with some ballroom dancers! We have a higher quality pic for this one because it was taken by the official rundisney photographer (and posted on their facebook page)!


Credit to runDisney!

These guys (and girls) were great! Actually a little creepy- that nervous look on my face was real, haha. They interacted with runners passing by too and were a lot of fun to watch.

After this, we headed back down towards Hollywood Studios...


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And past a character we had skipped the first time around.


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We told him we thought we heard a ticking noise and he jumped and looked around nervously which was pretty funny.

We ran under the Hollywood Studios sign, where Hades was hanging out acting as a DJ! I tried to get a picture but it was too dark. He was hilarious and definitely shouted “Hey, girl!” at someone running by! It sounded super sassy, haha!


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Mile 9 brought us back into the park in the Backlot Tour area, where we got to run by the vehicles and props. which was really cool! Then we wove around and around the park, before finishing up behind RnR and ToT. While it was fun to run though so much of the park, this portion of the course was really windy and seemed never-ending, which I think is why we didn’t take any pics-we just wanted to be done!!

We crossed the finish line and ended up with an official time of (look up time).
Right after finishing, we were flagged down by a rundisney official who asked if we would mind being interviewed on camera! We did a quick winded interview, which also made it onto the rundisney facebook page which you can see here!

After that it was the usual rundisney march to get medals, food, water, and eventually our bags. This was a LOOOOOONG walk too...I thought people had been exaggerating but it was not a fun walk after that run.


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We got our bags and found the changing tent, and then it was time to party!​

 

[emilyindisney]

Tower of Terror 10-Miler After Party

Our first stop was my favorite ride-Star Tours! We rode twice, but unfortunately didn’t get to be the rebel spy either time. Leaving Star Tours, we happened upon a bounty hunter…


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I may have tried to sell my sister to him… Caitlin was way more into seeing him than I was. I thought this meet was just really awkward but I guess that's just him? I don't think I have a good appreciation for Boba Fett, haha!

Then it was time to meet some more villians...I have never seen Pain and Panic out anywhere, so we immediately jumped in line for them.


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They were adorable, and very pleased that we knew which one was which (Panic is green, Pain is pink if I recall correctly…)

We wandered over to TSM, but the posted wait time was longer than we wanted to stand. The race food boxes were no longer cutting it, so it was time for another post race snack.


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The lines at all of the food stands were really long, which I was less than impressed with.

We knew we had to ride Tower of Terror at least once tonight, so we hopped in a line that looked long, but wasn’t too bad. We got one of the longest/most intense ride sequences that I’ve experienced, it was awesome!


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After that, we headed out-it was a little chilly (great for running, not great for walking around in short sleeves afterwards) and still crowded, and we were exhausted. We climbed into our beds at Pop some time around 4am...what a day! This was such a fun race and I’m so glad we got the chance to run it before it temporarily (or permanently) was done away with. ​

 

[courtneybelle]

I've wanted to try Sanaa for a while (mostly for the bread tbh) but I'm a picky eater too. I feel like I have to try it once, though!

Your costumes are SO CUTE!! I love your sparkly bows!

I would have DIED meeting Dr. Facilier! I agree that Stitch as a bellhop would have been much better.

So cool that you guys got interviewed!!!

Pain and Panic are so precious. All these characters almost make me want to start running…

Thanks for the great race and after-party recap!!

 

[emilyindisney]

I've wanted to try Sanaa for a while (mostly for the bread tbh) but I'm a picky eater too. I feel like I have to try it once, though!

Your costumes are SO CUTE!! I love your sparkly bows!

I would have DIED meeting Dr. Facilier! I agree that Stitch as a bellhop would have been much better.

So cool that you guys got interviewed!!!

Pain and Panic are so precious. All these characters almost make me want to start running…

Thanks for the great race and after-party recap!!

I'm a carb fan so the bread and the rice get my vote of approval!

 

[emilyindisney]

Saying Aloha (Ohana Breakfast Review)

Did you know that aloha means both hello and goodbye? In that case- we spent Sunday morning saying aloha (goodbye) to Disney by saying aloha (hello) to Mickey, Lilo, Stitch and Pluto at the Poly for an Ohana breakfast!

Our original plan was to take a bus to MK and the resort monorail to the Poly but when we realized just how little sleep time that allotted us (so we could still make our 10:30 reservation on time) we revised our plans and decided to take a cab from Pop. Once again- a little pricey but totally worth it!

We arrived and the lobby was PACKED! Holy Moley! I still can’t believe they were going to seat all those people at the end of breakfast. Anyways, while we waited to check in we walked around the lobby and checked out the construction (thought there wasn’t much to see.)

We did find our favorite Hawaiian sisters hanging out and snapped a pic!


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Our buzzer went off approximately 15 minutes after check in and we were promptly seated by a window facing out towards a small marina type area.


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Ohana’s Best Friends Breakfast Featuring Lilo and Stitch featured sweat bread, a fresh fruit platter, a breakfast platter (eggs, meats and potatoes), and Mickey/Stitch waffles. Yum!


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This was pretty standard breakfast fare but hey- what’s not to love? The characters were good too and were pretty prompt at arriving at the table which is always a bonus when character dining. First up was Stitch (one of my personal favorites!)


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Next up was the main mouse himself.


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Followed by Lilo:


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And finally Pluto!


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After breakfast we hopped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom so Caitlin could stop and buy park tickets to link to her account for our next trip. Then we walked to the Contemporary Marina to check in for our final, high flying adventure before we went home!​

 

[jrmint427]

What a fun trip! I love all the pictures and review of the race and I especially love that picture with the ballroom dancers. After seeing all the fun villains in this race I am going to have to run this one some day!

I can't wait to read your review of the Goofy Challenge, good luck with the races!

 

[emilyindisney]

What a fun trip! I love all the pictures and review of the race and I especially love that picture with the ballroom dancers. After seeing all the fun villains in this race I am going to have to run this one some day!

I can't wait to read your review of the Goofy Challenge, good luck with the races!

Thanks for reading!

This race was really fun so I'm hoping once they get all the planned HS construction done they'll put it back on the race schedule!

Thanks- hopefully we'll have lots of good things to say about the upcoming race weekend!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Hi Emily (and Caitlin)!!! Thank you so much for stopping by on my TR, and now I can say that I'm totally and completely caught up too. I always enjoy jointly written TR's.

Favourite Princess Ariel? Yup, we can be friends. And two trips? 2nd Coming up next week!! Sweet!

Aww I love POP. "Can you actually say you stayed at Pop if you didn't eat Pop waffles while you were there?" The answer is no.

I love love love MNSSHP! And your costumes are fabulous.

"Cinderella suggested tying my shoes a little looser!" That's awesome!

So glad you enjoyed the party. You guys did a lot.

I'm so fascinated by the Disney races. To run around Disney World in the wee hours just sounds so fun. Plus... COSTUMES!!! Your's are great. But the best thing HAS to be all the cool character meet opportunities. WOW! Jack and Sally!! And Pain and Panic???? Good lord awesome! What a great experience.

 

[emilyindisney]

Welcome, Rob! Thanks so much for popping by to read!

Favourite Princess Ariel? Yup, we can be friends. And two trips? 2nd Coming up next week!! Sweet!

Aww I love POP. "Can you actually say you stayed at Pop if you didn't eat Pop waffles while you were there?" The answer is no.

Good answer! You're right- we can most certainly be friends

You're also right about runDisney- it's a strange group of Disney crazy people who like to (literally) run around the parks at odd hours of the night (or morning.) It's a ton of fun though! The rare character greeting opportunities and photo ops make it even better.

I'm very excited to go back for more Disney races but even more excited to get more park time!! 9 days away!!

 

[courtneybelle]

I see that POG/jungle juice and I'm making heart eyes!! I am loving all those carbs.

NO WAY ARE YOU GOING PARASAILING?! I just watched a Disney Parks special the other day that talked about it and now it's on top of my bucket list if I do a DCP!!!

 

[emilyindisney]

I see that POG/jungle juice and I'm making heart eyes!! I am loving all those carbs.

NO WAY ARE YOU GOING PARASAILING?! I just watched a Disney Parks special the other day that talked about it and now it's on top of my bucket list if I do a DCP!!!

YES!! Honestly, if you're thinking about it- do it! This company was fantastic and probably had the friendliest, best customer service on Disney property.

 

[emilyindisney]

Up where the air is clear!

It was time for our first parasailing experience!

I worked near Lake George this summer and if you’re familiar with the area you know parasailing is a huge tourist activity there! I didn’t go at all while I was there this summer so once I saw a Groupon for Sammy Duvall’s in Disney I asked Caitlin if she wanted to go. We ended up getting a great deal to go together and do some bird’s eye sight seeing of the Magic Kingdom!

I honestly cannot say enough good things about the staff at Sammy Duvall’s. They were so friendly and asked us all about our race medals and the rest of our trip. They offered us a picture package they sold but said they were totally fine to use our camera which we really appreciated (and we didn’t feel pressure because they offered.) They also said we could bring friends out on the boat if we had anyone else that wanted to come (though we didn’t.) It was a really nice change to feel like someone was encouraging us to get the most for our money (because I think we can all admit that many times Disney wants to squeeze as many dollar signs out of us as they can.)

We went out on the boat with two staff members- one drove, and the other did the harnesses and took the pictures. Here’s some of my favorites:


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The views were really great! We were able to see MK (including the backstage building behind the Beast’s Castle), the resorts in the area, the old River Country and Discovery Island and Epcot and Hollywood Studios off in the distance. I think we were up in the air for 8-10 minutes at heights of approximately 450 feet.

I don’t know that I’d jump on an opportunity to parasail again but it was definitely fun (even though the wind made us bounce a lot which was kind of nerve-wrecking.)

We walked back through the resort when we were done to do some last minute pin trading before heading back to the Kingdom to catch a bus back to Pop to meet the Tragical Express to head home.

Still to come: wrap up thoughts and pin trading pictures!​

 

[jrmint427]

You are so much braver than I am!! I don't think I could ever go parasailing but it sounds like an awesome way to see MK. You got some amazing pictures!

 

[disneyhorselover]

You are so much braver than I am!! I don't think I could ever go parasailing but it sounds like an awesome way to see MK. You got some amazing pictures!

It was on my bucket list and I'm glad I did it, but never again...it was terrifying!!! Haha I am not sure I could have handled it if I hadn't been able to look for Disney landmarks the whole time

 

[emilyindisney]

You are so much braver than I am!! I don't think I could ever go parasailing but it sounds like an awesome way to see MK. You got some amazing pictures!

It was on my bucket list and I'm glad I did it, but never again...it was terrifying!!! Haha I am not sure I could have handled it if I hadn't been able to look for Disney landmarks the whole time

Haha- yes, I think I handled it a little better than Caitlin who was holding on for dear life! We really liked being able to get a bird's eye view of River Country and Discovery Island (not that there was much to see with all the plant growth on the later.)

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

WOW!!!! Now that is an experience I hadn't seen on these boards before. So nice to hear about the awesome service you got too. You're right. We all love Disney (obviously), but it does feel like a lot of things are a cash grab and it seems to be happening more and more. The pictures are so great (and no added expense ). I imagine the view was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!

 

[emilyindisney]

WOW!!!! Now that is an experience I hadn't seen on these boards before. So nice to hear about the awesome service you got too. You're right. We all love Disney (obviously), but it does feel like a lot of things are a cash grab and it seems to be happening more and more. The pictures are so great (and no added expense ). I imagine the view was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!

Yes, definitely. Obviously I still love giving them my money and do so readily but it was a nice change of pace for the staff at Sammy's to be so relaxed about it all.

The views were AWESOME! Honestly so cool! I wish we had a camera we could have safety taken up with us (aka sans risk of leaving it at the bottom of Bay Lake) to take pictures to show off!