Marathon Madness. . .Day One

Wow.  It's been one month since I finished the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon.  It honestly doesn't feel like it's been that long.  But it has.  Day one of the weekend starts with an on-time Southwest Flight from Raleigh-Durham Airport.

I do get the same feeling as I'm flying. . .

"Oh Lord, Our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth"  (Psalm 8:1)

Isn't that beautiful?!?

It wasn't long before I was in Orlando, and although I had planned on breakfast, I decided I wanted to get to Disney for that.

Check in was a short affair.  The room was already ready, so I dropped off my overnight bag in the room and then had breakfast.  Breakfast was the normal Disney fare for counter service, but I was starving!

Carb loading done right?  Meh, probably not. . .

I headed over on race transport to the Expo.

The expo was over at the Wide World of Sports.  Last year for the Princess Half Marathon, the Expo was at Coronado Springs.  I much prefer WWoS.  Even though things are in different buildings, they are definitely more put together.

I was in and out of the Expo in an hour.

After that, I went to the room, where my luggage had arrived.

For those of you who are not familiar, Disney has a transportation system known as Magical Express to and from the Orlando International Airport.  They give you yellow tags to put on your suitcases, and once you drop of your suitcases, you do not have to claim them.  Disney claims them for you and they Magically appear in your room.

I took a short nap, then headed over to Epcot.

The rain had started

Now available as snack credits on the meal plan.

My first fastpass+ ride  :)

I piddled around Epcot until it was time for the Pasta in the Park Party.  This party is in Epcot and it included preferred fireworks viewing, which I did not do because I was exhausted.  It also includes character greets, dinner, and music.  Cost is about $55.

Somewhat dark in there

My dinner plate

A few more people. . .

I met a lady doing the Dopey challenge (all four races for the weekend--5K, 10K, half, full), and enjoyed our time talking there.

In the end, I would not do the Pasta in the Park Party again.  It was about the same price as the Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party with not near enough perks, IMO.

I was relaxing, and getting into my Disney groove, though.

I returned to the room for the night.  The next day (Friday) was rope drop at Magic Kingdom, and my last real busy day before the race.

Coming up. . .Day 2 of Marathon Madness.