As the Disney runs start at 5am, we had to be up and ready to catch the bus to the start line as close to 3am as possible. I’d plaited the girls’ hair in the tightest plaits possible the night before, so it was just a case of throwing on our clothes and heading to the bus. The girls had decided on Dapper Dan outfits this time which I actually really enjoyed making until I snipped the ‘V’ at rte bottom of Steve’s off-centre at the final hurdle. Luckily, I just had enough fabric left to remake half a front and piece it in. How those hats made it all the way there in one piece though, I’ll never know. Mine did appear a little chewed up at the back, but nothing a little trim with a pair of nail scissors couldn’t fix!
You are always advised to get the earliest bus in case of traffic/ delays, but last time we ran we had absolutely ages waiting around for the race to start so we actually considered leaving a little later (only briefly though as my anxious ways mean we always arrive way too early for everything!) I’m glad we stuck with the early plan though, as this time we had to go through the Epcot Park security before even starting the walk to the start line. We actually checked on our way home, and we’d done 10k worth of steps for a 5k race (I think we should have got both medals!!)
Anyway, once through security we headed for the toilet as although Epcot restrooms aren’t anything special, they beat the portaloo option once you get to the race starting area.
We then had a little look around taking in the atmosphere and taking a few photos (and obviously Steve bought a coffee) before heading to the start corals. We had an early coral but as we didn’t want to spend forever in the crowd, we ended up going in with group 4 just as the race was starting for the people at the front. The start is staggered and so the queue moves constantly, with a countdown and small fireworks marking the start for each group. We were at the front before we knew it and off on our second family 5k which would form the start of our January target of running 120km total as a family to raise money for the Young Minds charity, which we wanted to again do in memory of our beautiful, young cousin Amy, who sadly chose to end her own life after battling with her own mental health. (I will put a website link at the end of the blog should anyone wish to donate).
If you’ve never done a RunDisney race before, they really are like no other race. You get to run through at least one park (for the 5k we ran through Epcot) and meet characters along the way, plus the atmosphere is completely electric. We weren’t the fastest by any stretch, but we did run (so many people just walk from the off) with a few walking breaks for old little legs (Winnie, not Steve!) here and there. Winnie and Steve were brilliant at spotting the Photopass photographers, Polly and I not so much! We did take a few selfies though which will make for amazing memories in the future.
Once we crossed the finish line, we were handed our medals, despite the fact that they are extremely beautiful and even more special with being the 50th, on feeling how heavy they were my first thought was ‘how are we ever going to fit 4 of these into our luggage allowance!’ We queued for a quick photo before heading back to the bus, and we were back to the hotel before 7am for some cereal and a nap before the day even properly began.
Everyone was awake by 9.30am so after waffles and bacon in bed we decided to try the main pool out. As I said yesterday, it’s not our favourite pool, but the girls wanted to go on the slide, so we decided to at least start there. They ended up having a great time, making their own little village in the sand area. Well, that was until another child came up and destroyed it. I thought they might get upset but instead they moved to a different area and recreated a village. They told me later that in their game their bay was destroyed by a villain who built a plastic bag factory that destroyed the ocean, so they moved to the Lagoon and built a new village!
Anyway, the game continued happily for a few hours. We had some lunch around the pool (the quick service menus are very reduced at the minute) as well as a few cheeky drinks before heading across to Epcot.
We had planned to eat around the world, but as soon as we entered the park, we knew that wasn’t likely to be happening. Even late afternoon World Showcase was absolutely heaving. We decided to head to Future World instead and see if it was less crowded. It turns out it was. Soarin was practically a walk on, and we were off before Steve was even back with his coffee. We saw Joy who we’d also seen on the run earlier, walked onto the Nemo ride and then spent a long while in the aquarium. The queue for Spaceship Earth was really short, so we jumped on that too, which is great as it’s one of the girls’ favourites and it gave my aching knees (which appeared to have grown a second kneecap on each leg, because clearly one arthritic kneecap isn’t enough!) a well-earned break.
By this point we were all getting a bit tired so decided to head to World Showcase. I was chilly, and had seen a hoodie I’d mentioned I liked to the girls earlier in the trip, so they asked Steve to buy it for me. It was so lovely as I have never bought anything for mysself on all the previous trips we’ve been on, and although it was the same hoodie everyone in the park was wearing (I kept thinking we could actually be new contestants in Squid Games and this was their clever way of selecting people) I loved it and have barely taken it off seince we got home! Anyway, we got as far as Mexico where we stopped for Nachos and Churros before deciding there was no way we were battling through the Friday night adult crowd, and that we’d just head back.
Polly asked for fish and chips so we mobile ordered. Steve headed to the Regal Eagle Smokehouse for some kids ribs for us, and we set off walking towards England (not literally!) Around Japan we got the message to say our window was open and to notify them we were there. Now, I’ve been to Epcot a lot, and know World Showcase well. Except, for some reason, on this particular night I decided that Japan was close enough to England to click that we were actually there. As soon as I hit it, panic set in. I realised not only were we miles away, but I was also with two small people with very tired legs, and we were stuck in the middle of the crowd from hell. Luckily, Polly took charge and told me not to worry, dodging her way in and out of the crowd with Winnie following and me keeping an eye on them from the back. We arrived in England hot and sweaty but in record time. Go Polly!!
The girls then sat on a curb to eat their food, but a huge crowd of tipsy (very tipsy) people was stood nearby, and the girls really didn’t like it. I told them it was alright but as the crowd got louder/ sillier (my two really don’t like silly behaviour being near to them as they think they will get associated with it) I could sense them starting to get really stressed. Then Polly decided that she needed the toilet (which I actually think was an escape route for her). We decided that we didn’t want to fight the crowds again, so headed out of the exit to the toilets near the Skyliner and hoped that Steve would see his message and not think we’d been abducted from the Yorkshire fish and chip shop (I had visions of a supermarket style lost child announcement coming over the tannoy system!) Luckily, he did get the message and found us. However, the girls were still in a bit of a fretful state, so after literally shoving the food in my mouth in as few mouthfuls as possible, we decided to head back to the room as Steve had to be up again at 2.30am the next day for his 10km race.
Early night again delayed due to thunder-like earthquake sensation, but everyone snoring (Steve included) by 9.30 and I definitely wasn’t complaining.
If you’d like to donate to our challenge to run 120km in January for Young Minds we would be extremely grateful. You can find the link here:
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 