Marathon Weekend Trip Report - 1/6/12

1/6/12 - Friday - Parks, Expo and W.I.S.H. Meet

Dad and I get ready and once again start out day out by having breakfast down at the Pop Century food court.  We discuss what to do today, as I'm really planning on trying to keep it as light as I can.  So, of course, we go to the biggest park of them all, Animal Kingdom.

We ride the Safari first.  Managed to get some nice shots of the animals out and about.

One of the young Giraffes.

The elephants seem to be active this morning.

Another Giraffe, checking us out, checking him out.

Baby elephant with Mamma.  

Rarity!  We see one of the Jags!

Simba on the air condition rock.

After the Safari, we note that we missed the Flights of Wonder show, but there will be another soon.  We go on over to Expedition Everest so I can get a ride on this in.  Dad passes on t he ride and waits for me outside.  


We then head back to Flights of Wonder bird show.  Anyone going to Animal Kingdom should not pass this show up.  The birds are fantastic!

Owls heads don't go 360, their head would pop off!

Mouse problem not 100% taken care of yet.

An Eagle!  I think I will call him Sam.

I think this owl has had too much caffeine!

The crowds are beginning to get heavier at Animal Kingdom and Dad and I don't feel like really hitting any more attractions there.  We look to see it's lunch time and decide to head over to Downtown Disney for some eats and shopping.


We try and think of where we'd like to eat for lunch and decide to give Raglan Road for lunch a try! 

Raglan Road Entry

Place setting and coaster

Chicken BLT-E Club

I wind up being a tad bit adventurous in my choice for lunch.  It's called a Chicken BLT-E club.   It's chicken breast, Irish ham, lettuce and tomato.  The -E is for the fried egg that is also on it.  It turns out to be very good.  I also got the fries.  I have to say, that I LOVE the iced tea at Raglan Road.  It's probably the best iced tea that I've had on Disney Property. 


After lunch, we go to the World of Disney store, Team Mickey to see if any other running gear is available and finally the pin store.  I only pick up one pin, as I'm pretty tight on money.  I also really didn't see much that caught my eye this trip.  So I picked up my year pin as I try to do for every year that I visit.  We poke around a couple of the other stores for a little while.


Dad says that he's going to head to my Step-sisters place where Step-mom has been.  They're deciding on how they're going to handle coming to the park for the race.  I warn him that travel is going to be VERY rough in the morning.


I ask him to drop me back off at the Expo, as I don't have any energy gels with me and they didn't give out any freebies.


We once again manage the line of vehicles trying to get into the the World of Sports complex.  Once back in the Expo I take a look around after I picked up my Clif Shots for the next day.  Out of the flavors I prefer, they've only got Mocha left.  All of the chocolate is gone.  I grab one cherry chocolate that has some caffeine in it.  I notice my time, and I think I may be late meeting up with the DISBoards W.I.S.H. team at Pop Century Food Court!  I make my way to the buses and manage to catch a Pop Century bus right away!


I made it back to the room to drop stuff off and back to the food court in plenty of time.


I meet a LOT of people that I've met online through the message boards.  I'm eagerly waiting to meet Rick from the Chicago area, as he and I have started this running gig at about the same time!  Rick finally makes it to the meet and I enjoy talking with him.  Rick has been training with someone that has been running for a while, Mike.  Mike shows up a little bit later, before we head outside to the stairs to the pool to get a group photo.

Ricks wife and son show up after we've gotten some pictures taken.  We then all agree it's a good time to go ahead and grab some dinner.  I sit with Rick, his wife and Mike.  It's fascinating to hear their stories on how they got to the point to prepare for the half.


After chatting for a while, we're all in agreement that it's time to try and go back to the room to get some rest.  That alarm clock is going to ring awfully early in the morning.  Someone mentions that they're going to go grab something from the food court for in the morning, which I think is a good idea.  I pick up a couple of Apple Cinnamon bars, a couple of bananas and some bottled water for when I wake up.


As I'm getting my running gear ready, Dad and Step-mom show up.  They think it'll be best to be on property.  Their plan is to see me at Magic Kingdom and at the finish line at Epcot.


Off to bed I go!  The big adventure begins in just hours.




Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 20