Tackling Tink

Last month I joined my friends from around the country for the 2nd annual Tinker Bell half marathon race through Disneyland.  I'm happy to say I successfully completed my first half marathon of the year!

Here are three of the five of us with our bibs two days before the race.

L-R: Me, Kacia and Amanda.  Krista (who took the picture) did not to run this year due to illness and Angie came down later to get her race gear.

Sunday at 5am the race got underway.  I started this year in the B corral - and we were so late and it was so crowded I couldn't get into position until the first wave left.  This year things were more crowded, but a lot more faster paced.

See that heard of people... that's all my group B fellow runners making our way toward the start.  At the beginning we had the send-off by Daisy and Minnie.

The route this year was a little different, and I have to say much better and more scenic.  We started out making our way in front of the Disneyland hotel and then onto the streets of Anaheim briefly before entering the back lot of California Adventure.  It was here that I ran into my friend Angie who got there ahead of us.

I have to say the highlight of California Adventure was running through Cars Land!  It didn't open until last June - so we didn't see any of it last year.

After leaving Cars Land/Radiator Springs we went through more back lots and around the pier inside California Adventure.  What you can't tell is I started running this race with wings...

But they were falling apart so badly you can no longer see them in the above photo.

So I hit the last bathroom in the park where it took me maybe 10 minutes to untie the darned wings from my shirt (I had a razorback tank and I tied them up pretty good).

Finally wing free, I left California Adventure to make my way through the Disneyland Park - about 4 miles in I believe.  But not before being greeted by my cheering section along the aisles between the two parks - my Mom, My Aunt Connie, Aunt Ardy and cousin Jodi.

Then it's time to hit up Disneyland!

We ran down Main Street and then through Tomorrow Land and more back lots where employees cheered us on.  It's such an awesome feeling to have that as well as to see things you never see when you visit the parks.

Another highlight we saw this year was It's A Small World still lit up with the Christmas lights.  Last year the race was a week later and you couldn't see Small World because it was "under construction" while they removed the lights.  We made it this year by 2 days :)

We then circled around and came through the backside of Sleeping Beauty's Castle...

 And look who I saw on the front side of the Castle!!

This is my first and only character stop.  They have nearly every character out on the race course, but the lines are ridiculously long and I was trying to run for time.  But I noticed there were only 2 people in line when I had turned around to take shot of the castle.  Score!

After leaving Disneyland - about mile 5 I believe - we ran through Downtown Disney where I again spot my cheering section.  So awesome to see someone familiar among all those faces!


We then ran through the streets of Anaheim for miles 6-11ish.

Boy it feels good to reach the 10 mile mark and know you only have a 5K left (3.1 miles).  At this point I was really hurting and feeling the mileage.

At about mile 11 we made our way back into the backlots of California Adventure again - this time we could actually see where we were going!

Only.one-tenth.mile.left.

Thank goodness for the finish line!  My final time 3:00:09. Worst time ever, but it turns out according to my RunKeeper app I ran about 1.5 miles more... with all the bobbing, weaving and picture taking. That makes me feel a little better.

And we all made it to the finish line!!
L-R: Amanda, Angie, Me, Kacia

This was Amanda and Kacia's first race ever and they started with a half marathon and FINISHED!!  We were all so proud of ourselves - and them!

And the reason we run these races...

...it's all about the bling.

My goal is to run another half marathon at Disney World this year so I can earn not only another Disney medal but the Coast to Coast - a 3rd medal for running 2 Disney races in one calendar year.

We were powered by Pixie Dust!

Disney in a Day

When we do Disneyland, we manage to get it done in a day.  We're not one of those who spend three days taking our time with the lines, rides and avoiding meltdowns.  That's for woosies. Nope we're hardcore.  Last month we managed to tack on a few extra days to my work trip and hit up Disneyland for a day.  Thankfully we went on a Tuesday so the lines weren't that bad considering it was summer vacation season.

As I mentioned the other day we started the day at California Adventure (yes we did ParkHopper One Day passes) and got our FastPass for the big ride in the new Cars Land.  This post will concentrate on everything else we did at Disney that day, but you missed the Cars Land post - go here.

Since we were already in California Adventure we figured we'd the fun rides for Drew - in other words A Bugs Life - where the rides are geared for kids 18 months and up.

After we hit about 3-4 rides - including California Soarin' which only had a wait of 15 minutes (it's typically well over an hour) we went across the open area to Disneyland.

First up, Star Tours.  It was revamped a few years ago, but neither Dave or I have been on it since the enhancements.  

Drew liked it!  For those that are familiar with it... it's still pretty jerky but it's in 3D now and it's been updated from the 80's version.  Staying in Tomorrowland we talked Drew into Space Mountain (he made the height cut-off for the first time.  Last time we were at Disney he was barely 3 and we had to do the kid-swap so Dave and I could check out the ride - which was also enhanced.

If you ask Drew what his favorite ride is at Disney, hands down he'll tell you Space Mountain.  This makes for a proud Daddy.  While in line for Space Mountain - which also happened to be the longest of the day at close to 50 minutes we heard from my friend Angie and her son Luke who were also at the park.  We met up after lunch right outside Space Mountain.

They decided they needed a little Rocket Spray.
L-R: Luke, Drew, Dave

We asked the boys what they wanted to do and we hit up It's a Small World before heading over to Toon Town for a little playing and to see the "Mouse".

L-R: Drew, Luke, Mickey Mouse

We of course had to have a family shot with Mickey

Once outside of Mickey's house the boys played a bit more before we parted ways.  We had to head back over to California Adventure for our FastPass time at Radiator Springs.

After Radiator Springs was when we started to see meltdowns.  Dave spotted Elastigirl from The Incredibles.   This is one of Drew's favorite Disney movies so we were shocked he refused - and I mean refused - to take a picture with her.

Notice how he's turned away?  He's actually whining and half crying.  That proceeded into a 30-minute bout of how angry he was with us.  We decided to do some shopping and walking in the AC - it was quite warm at this point - and see if the cooler temperature and the walking would entice Drew to nap.

Mission accomplished!
He napped for nearly 2 hours and Dave and I found some shade - back on the Disneyland side in Orleans Square and just had a few snacks.  We were then plotting our next plan of attack once Drew woke up.

Dave was talking to one of the Cast members and found out there was an area designated for one of Drew's other favorite Disney movies - Up!

Unfortunately Drew slept a bit too long for us to see the characters but we brought him over anyway to play.  He started exploring through tree houses, slides and anything fun for kids to climb on.  But then he saw a "tire swing" thing that he wanted to try.  Thankfully he made the height cut-off (barely) and he swung across a line. 

Then he continued to explore.

After about 20-30 minutes playing and letting him wake up a bit, Dave gave him the pin he picked up while he was napping.  The Grape Soda pin is a staple in the movie up, and Mr. Frederickson gives it to Russ for his Wilderness Explorer Badge.  Well since we missed the characters, Dave pretended he received the pin from Mr. Frederickson while we went out to find the stroller.  Drew was so so proud to wear that pin the rest of the day!

Since we were already in California Adventure - yes, we did a lot of back and forth walking between the parks - we hit up a few more rides including the Ferris Wheel.

Drew was a bit nervous since we picked one of the carts that moved.  The family that sat across from us was from Colorado whose home was threatened by the wildfires there.  Just a little side story..

We grabbed dinner and hit a few more rides.  At Monster's Inc. we ran into Luke and Angie again!  They were a few people behind us.  The boys hung out for a bit while the parents caught up about the day and what we thought about various rides.

 L-R: Luke, Drew
Needless to say the boys like to make faces for the camera.

We parted ways again and headed back over to Disneyland where we needed to claim our spot for fireworks.

I always love how pretty the castle looks at night lit up. 

When fireworks finished we decided to get a few more rides in.  We still hadn't done Pirates or anything in Fantasyland.

We gyped Drew of the Dumbo ride - in fact I don't think he's ever been on the ride because the line is always ridiculous.  He was happy to settle for the stand alone Dumbo for picture posing.


After the carousal Drew had had it for the day.  We tried to get a few pictures in front of the castle

Needless to say Drew was less than thrilled to take yet another picture.  I mean it was only around 11pm at this point.

So it was a great trip.  Unfortunately Disney raised their prices this Spring so it was also a costly trip.  We managed to save nearly $20/ticket by getting them through the hotel vs. the gates, but still at over $100 each it adds up!  We did pretty good once we got in the park and the only souvenirs we walked out with were 2 Disney Pins - we collect, and both were for Drew - and a silhouette cutout of Drew.  Not bad!

Crazy for Cars Land

To try and break up the plethora of pictures from our recent trip to Disneyland I figured I would start with the hit area of Disney - Cars Land.  I think it's safe to say we're crazy for Cars Land!

This new "land" in California Adventure (CA) opened about a week and a half before our arrival, so we clearly weren't the only ones interested in checking out the new attractions!  In fact we were surprised to find out that CA opened at 8am rather than our anticipated 10am slot.  In our previous experience all guests had to remain outside the gates until the park opened.  My how things have changed in about 1 1/2 years since we were last there.

We arrived at around 7:45am and got right in line for the FastPass for the new big attraction in CarsLand - Radiator Springs.  Our original goal was to just go straight to the line and get the ride over with.  However we were told the wait would be 3 hours if we did that.  Needless to say we hopped into the FastPass line and took our 2:15-3:15 time slot.   They were out of FastPass tickets by 9 or 9:15am.... for.the.entire.day.

Here are a few shots from Radiator Springs.... the town (not to be confused with the ride).

 
It seriously looks just like it does on the movie!

Then it was time to get in line.

This ride is at the very back of "town" and it's kind of confusing where you're supposed to go - because the crowd of people appear to be all over the place.  Apparently there is a rhyme and reason... one wheel shows where FastPass folks return (and the time) and the other wheel in front shows how long the stand-by line is... yes it's 2 1/2 hours when we showed up.

We still had a 20-30 minute wait with the FastPass, but that sure beats wasting hours in line.  Each car holds 6 people - three in front three in the back.

Drew and I are all buckled up ready to speed through Radiator Springs.

The ride starts off with a semi-leisurely stroll through the realistic scenery and there's a little bit of a story going along with the movie(s).

And then we get to a point where we join another car getting ready to "race" our way to the finish line. Only one car wins.

Ironically this ride shut down for about 5 minutes when we got to this point.  After that 5 minutes we were off - here's a video I captured of that race.  (I apologize for the screaming by Dave and I - as you can tell it's "roller coaster-like").



Drew wasn't so sure during the race, but loved it afterward.

Needless to say we gave that ride a big 2-thumbs up.  We're lucky we got on the ride when we did, because shortly after we got off it was closed for the remainder of the day.  Apparently the "stall" we had while on the ride proved to be more serious.  We would've been so disappointed to miss out on that ride, since it was the only reason we paid extra for the Park Hopper pass.

We still enjoyed our time in Radiator Springs after the ride.  We were checking out the other rides which some had close to a 2 hour wait, but decided to pass and use our time more wisely.

We even had Lightning McQueen drive-by "parade-like" while we were in town.

It was a real car!

So if you're at Disneyland I highly recommend paying extra for the ParkHopper pass and giving Cars Land a glimpse.  I think it's worth the money.  And get there early to get your FastPass!

Here are a few other pictures of Cars Land...

 ...and in full disclosure I didn't take them.  They are courtesy Disney on our Photo card.