Disney Princess Weekend recap!

Wow, I checked my blog and realized I have not posted one thing for 2016!  I am going to recap one of my favorite race weekends of ALL time.. Disney Princess weekend February 18-22!  It is really neat how I ended up getting to go!  I've been following @roadrunnergirl aka Mindy Bobe on IG for at least 2 years now and she happens to live in Daphne, Alabama, only an hour away from me.  I also met an Instafriend named Jenny or aka @jennyfren on IG and she also lived in Daphne.  I saw in July that they were both registering for Disney Princess weekend and I left a comment that I wished I could go.  Long story short, they invited me to go with them on this amazing trip!  The Glass Slipper Challenge was sold out so I signed up for the Disney Princess 5k and Half Marathon!  I was over the moon excited!  I met Jenny and Mindy in person finally in January before our big trip.  We had a 3 hour late lunch at Jason's Deli in Mobile and got to know each other better.  The three of us seemed to hit it off immediately which made me even more excited about the trip!

We decided to leave Wednesday February 17 and drive most of the way to Orlando that day and night so we could be at the expo on Thursday when it opened.  I drove to Mindy's house in Daphne and we loaded up Jenny's rental car with our bags and my Keurig coffee maker!!  We are all coffee addicts!  We drove all the way to Gainesville Florida and spent the first night at a hotel there.  We got up early the next morning and drove straight to Disney World!!  We made it to the expo right when it opened at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.  

Jenny, Mindy, and I met up with Tracy our roommate and Brittney, our travel agent who planned our special trip.  Brittney did so many nice things in preparing our group for the trip and even made all of us several care packages.  Most of the ladies in our group were from the Alabama area.  Back to the expo!  We went straight to the Run Disney items first and let me tell you it was a mad house.  People were grabbing, pushing, and breaking things.  I just happened to get the Cinderella's Castle tank I wanted thanks to a lady who grabbed an arm load for me and my friends.  I am not the type of person to jump in a crowd and fight over a shirt.  I was pretty overwhelmed at all the people and we had to wait in a long line to check out.  I picked up my Sparkle Athletic visor I ordered online and the other ladies did some shopping.  I also got to meet Mary or "Grand Mary" as we called her.  She was Brittney and Kristin's (Bamagirlruns) mom and she made our cute princess t-shirts.  We decided to grab something to eat.  I ordered a hamburger and barely ate any of it.  My nerves were completely shot from all the people!  We still had to go over to a different building and pick up our packets.  We ended up being at the expo for over FOUR hours.  I would say that was the worst part of the trip.

 By the time we checked in at Pop Century and unloaded the car, I was in desperate need of some down time.  I stayed in the room while Tracy, Jenny, and Mindy went to Downtown Disney.  Crowds make me so nervous indoors, but outdoors at races, I am completely fine being surrounded by people.  My roommates came back around 9 and we went to bed since we had a 330 AM wake up.

330 AM came quickly and the 4 of us got up to get ready.  We had a big group of ladies and we all had mermaid leggings to wear with different colored tank tops.  I was in all green!  Talk about cute, cute, cute!!  Everybody looked so good!!

 We had so many people ask us where we got our leggings (Amazon for $10!).  We headed down to the bus around 4 or 430.  It was a little chilly, but not too bad.  We took lots of pictures waiting for the bus and headed over to Epcot where the 5k would be starting.  We took more pictures waiting for the race to start and it was still dark outside.  

I was in corral B by myself and the race started at 6:00 AM.  It seems like a long time to wait, but the time goes by so fast!  

It was time for our corral to start and I remember the first part of the 5k was pretty boring. It was really hard to run in those leggings and hard trying to get around all the people.  I gave up trying to run a decent pace and just enjoyed myself.  I'm not very familiar with Epcot, but running through the park at sunrise was just beautiful.

 I had to stop and use the restroom too and took a lot of pictures.  The race was over in a flash and I received my awesome Ariel medal.  I loved it!

 I found Mindy and Jenny and we waited in a long line to take a picture with Ariel and Prince Eric.

 Ariel disappeared for a few minutes, but I was determined to get a picture with my favorite princess.  

I got my picture taken with her and we headed back to the bus since we were cold.  I really enjoyed this 5k so much.  We got ready and went to spend the day at Animal Kingdom.  We had so much fun!!  

We ate a late lunch at Tusker House and pretty much had the characters all to ourselves!  

We ate and got on a bus for Epcot.  I was so tired, I only stayed at Epcot a few minutes to take some pictures and headed back to the room to shower.  It was such a fun day though.

The next morning, my roommates were running the 10k so I woke up while they got ready, but when they left, I turned the lights off and went back to sleep until about 6:30.  I got some good sleep!  I got ready while they were gone because we were spending the day at Magic Kingdom!  Jenny and Mindy came in and they had a great race.  They drank coffee and started getting ready and Tracy came in.  We decided to go over to Hollywood Studios and eat lunch and we got to see the Star Wars exhibit and got to meet Chewy!!  

We headed over to Magic Kingdom after that and spent the rest of the afternoon there.  

We met the sweetest cleaning lady named Curlie.  We actually met her in the ladies room off of the Main Street area and she told us she had been working at Magic Kingdom since it opened over 40 years ago!  She had the sweetest memorabilia in her storage closet.  Over 40 years of items she had collected and pictures on her walls.  She was so precious and it was a great moment for all of us to be able to meet her.  Jenny actually mailed her this picture of us with a sweet note.

After that we went to Starbucks on Main Street and visited with a few other ladies in our group and I got a picture with Kristin aka @bamagirlruns!  She is super nice and so funny!  

We went shopping after the parade and I bought a few souvenirs for my children.  

I left Magic Kingdom around 4:30 to go back to the room and do my prehydration ritual that I do before every race.  I drink 4 twenty ounce half water half Gatorade drinks so I don't get dehydrated during a race.  My roommates and I ate pizza at the resort so we could go to bed early.  We had a 2:30 AM wake up for the half marathon the next morning!!

The next thing I knew it was 2:30 AM and time to get up and get ready for the Disney Princess Half Marathon!  I was so excited!  All for of us were up, dressed, and out the door by 3 AM to catch the bus.  

The half marathon started at 5:30 so we caught the bus to Epcot at the same place the 5k.

 Our group took pictures and we danced and had such a fun time even though it was 4 in the morning and dark outside!!  I walked with Jenny, Mindy, and Leigh to the corrals.  It was a LONG walk to get there and I was in corral E which was really close to the starting line.  Once the first groups started going through, it was only a few minutes before I got to start!  

BOOM!  Fireworks and we were off.  I did have to stop and go potty after the first mile.  We ran into Magic Kingdom after about 4 miles and I stopped for a picture with Jasmine.

 I ran under the Run Disney sign and around the Contemporary Resort into Magic Kingdom!  

I ran on Main Street and someone was nice enough to stop and take a picture of me in front of the castle!  

I can't say enough about how nice people were at Disney.  I took a picture with Buzz Lightyear and my FAVORITE pictures are of me, the Stepmother and stepsisters from Cinderella.  I had a blast with all of them!  

I took a picture with Woody and Jessie and waited in a 15 minute line for a picture with Belle and Beast since she is my daughter's favorite Disney princess.  

After 6 and a half miles, I was outside of Magic Kingdom and the rest of the half went by pretty fast.  I didn't stop and take a picture with Mary Poppins and I should have.  I did stop at mile 10 for a Bambi selfie.

I remember running over a bridge and it was getting hot at this point.  I was ready to be DONE.  I feel like I ran all over Epcot before finally making the last couple of turns to the finish line.  I took a selfie with the gospel choir and mile 13!

 They say whoever is on the banner at mile 13 will be the theme of the next year's Princess weekend.  Snow White it is!!  

When I crossed the finish line, it almost felt like the first time I had ever finished a half marathon.  It felt amazing!!

 I had so much fun at this race and took my time.  There was no pressure or competition, just fun!!  I found Jenny and Mindy after the race and we took pictures and hung out for a few minutes before I got on the bus to get out of the sun.

 We had such a fun afternoon taking pictures as a group in front of the castle in our cute shirts Grand Mary made for us and eating at Ohana!  

That really hit the spot!!  We went back to Magic Kingdom and a few of us took more pictures and rode a couple rides.  

My favorite part was meeting Ariel again!

 We watched the fireworks and wishes at the castle.  My roommates and I crawled into bed at around 11:30!  What a wonderful day and weekend it had been!!

Jenny, Mindy, and I got on the road around 11 or 10 Central time.  We were all ready to see our families and had a safe trip home.  Thank you Jenny for driving us!  I can't say enough about this trip.  It had been literally years since I had gone any where with a group of women.  This was just what my spirit needed and I am so thankful for all the new friends I made!  I love my family but I think it's important to have friendships and find people you have things in common with.  These women were all so welcoming and loving.  They love the Lord and they love to run!!  I cannot wait to go back next year!!