A Dopey Adventure

Since today is the Princess 5K in Walt Disney World, I thought I'd share my own experience with the event, two years ago in 2016.  We decided to do RunDisney's Princess Half Marathon weekend as a fun girls trip with my mom, my aunt and cousins.  Ann and I were registered for the 5K, my mom and I for the 10K and Katie and I for the half marathon.  The start time for the 5K was so early, just like all the other RunDisney events.  Ann and I got ready an headed to the buses and boarded the first RunDisney bus leaving Port Orleans French Quarter.  We got to the corral area so early that the characters weren't even out yet! (Now, the buses are better managed and this doesn't happen). So we decided to take a picture with this backdrop: I was Ariel from "Kiss the Girl" and Ann was Rapunzel. As we waited in line for another backdrop, the characters decided to come out.  It turned out we were in line for Sebastian. I was excited because he's super rare....

In honor of both the start of the Year of the Dog and National Pet Day, I thought I'd focus this post on Mickey's beloved pal, Pluto.  Yes, Pluto and Goofy are both dogs, however Pluto is the more pet-like of the two. You can meet Pluto in all 4 Walt Disney World Theme Parks. Magic Kingdom At Magic Kingdom, Pluto has his meet and greet right on Main Street U.S.A. in the Town Square.  The times of his meet and greet vary, but today he is meeting from 12:10PM to 2:35PM.  You can also see Pluto in the daily Festival of Fantasy parade. Epcot While many of the classic Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy) meet at the Epcot Character Spot in Future World, Pluto actually meets in World Showcase.  He meets at the World Showcase Friendship Ambassador Gazebo which is located on the lagoon between the Mexico and Canada pavilions.  Again, his meet and greet times vary.  Today his is meeting from 11:30AM-2:30PM and again from 3:10PM -6:30PM so you ha...

When I looked at my wedding countdown this morning, I realized that we are 60 days away from "I do!"  I laughed to myself that if we were going to WDW, then today would be our Fastpass+ day.  You know you're a travel agent when.... This got me thinking about Fastpass+, and specifically how many guests at Walt Disney World either don't use or underutilize their ability to make Fastpass+ reservations.  These reservations allow you to skip the "stand-by" line at certain attractions at Walt Disney World.  Guest choose a one-hour window return time to come to the ride and enjoy that attraction with a minimal wait.  Posing for the ride picture on Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom Fastpass+ is Free - Yup, it comes free with your park admission.  This is different than many other amusement parks which charge money for front of the line privileges.  Each Walt Disney World guest is entitled to 3  Fastpass+ reservations per day.   Planning Ahead...

The biggest lesson I learned during the 2018 Walt Disney World marathon was not to cry while running because you can't breathe. Ideally, I'd like to do the trip reports and race recaps from Dopey 2018 in order, however, I'm still having some photopass download issues, so I'm starting with the headliner: the marathon. First of all, purchasing race retreat for the marathon was one of the best decisions I could have made.  I look at it as "weather insurance."  If it's a nice morning, you really don't need the heated tent, but if it's cold, it's a lifesaver. Since marathon weekend this year was SO cold, I was very glad for race retreat the morning of the marathon. I hopped on the first bus leaving Port Orleans: French Quarter and before I knew it I had arrived at the staging area.  I made my way to the race tent and was glad to get out of the cold. The 25th anniversary cake was on display in the tent I got a cup of coffee and looked to ...