Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend Part 1- Pasta in the Parks

Friday, January 11, 2013  Walt Disney World Marathon

We knew today was going to be very hectic. We called this our “Amazing Race Day” because I told my sister we would have to move like we were on Amazing Race to get to where we needed to be on time!
Past in the park party
 
Because of the way the plane schedule was, we weren’t able to get a flight until Friday. Our flight didn’t leave until 11:15 am. Our flight was a direct one which was good, but it was the only one to Orlando for that day. I was so hoping that we didn’t have any weather problems, because that would put us behind schedule. We weren’t scheduled to land until 1:30 pm. We had to catch the magical express to our resort ( I’m thinking no less than 2 hours for this), check in at resort, get event bus to expo, get our waivers for races, get a bus to Epcot for the pasta in the parks party at 6:00pm. Wheew, it’s gonna be tight!
 
Once we got to MCO, we headed right to magical express. Thank goodness we didn’t check any luggage. We got right on the ME and I don’t remember encountering any problems. By the time we got to our resort, we did have some time to spare, so I took my time checking in and talked to the concierge about the details of the weekend. We were volunteering for the Half Marathon the next morning and had to be at the parking lot in DDT by 3:00 am. There was not going to be an event bus for us to take, so we were exploring other options and it looked as if calling a cab would be the best one. I took the number for the cab company and put it in my phone for later. We then made it to our room, a little disappointed that it was on the second floor, but in the big scheme of things, it didn’t matter.

Once we get to our room, we gather the things that we will need for the rest of the evening and head back to the resort lobby to catch the event bus to the sports expo.

So we are on the event bus on the way to the expo when I realize that I forgot the waivers, o no! instead of staying on the bus and going back to the resort to get the waivers, we get off at Wide World of Sports and just wing it. Maybe they have extra’s. We get to where we need to be, and there are a line of computers there, so fortunately we can print out new copies of our waivers. My sister gets her race waiver, and tests her timing chip, and I pick up some race merchandise that she had ordered. We then head down the hallway and sign our waivers for volunteering at the half marathon. These ladies were so sweet and cleared up all the questions that we had about where we needed to be and what we would do.

Okay, so now that we had all our “official” paper work taken care of, it was time to make our way back over to the Josten’s center  so we could get Lacey’s marathon shirt and shop the expo. O, no we have to make that walk all the way around the building again. O but wait! We now have volunteer lanyards, so we slip them on quick, and the door man lets us right in the upstairs door. This saves us some time.

Since we are pressed for time, we head right to the shirt station and decide that we can shop at the expo tomorrow. Lacey signed up for a Medium shirt this year. She said she had a small for the Princess race last year and thought it was a little snug so she ordered a size up. What she didn’t know (and apparently 95% of the other woman didn’t know this either) these shirts are mens size not womens. So of course she was swimming in hers. Since it was only Friday, they wouldn’t let anyone exchange their shirt until the end of the expo on Saturday evening. Okay, we will worry about this tomorrow. Right now we have a pasta party in Epcot to get to. On the way out of the Josten’s Center we go around the corner to take a look at the limited edition Dooney and Burke bags. They are cute, but not our style. Neither one of us are big into purses. My sister debates for a moment though because she does think it would be nice to have to commemorate her first marathon (and the fact the it was at Disney) with this limited edition Disney Dooney, but she then decides that she would rather use the money for something more enjoyable!

We had wanted to do the pasta party years ago but it was sold out. I can remember talking to some ladies that did get to go to the pasta party and they said it definitely was not worth the money. We’ll even though I heard this, I was still intrigued. I wanted us to develop our own opinions. My sister’s birthday was in November, so I bought her a ticket so we could go.

Since there is not a direct bus from Wide World of Sports to Epcot, we decided we would take a bus to the Boardwalk and then just walk over to Epcot. That plan actually worked out well. When we got to Epcot, we had a little time to spare before the party, so we headed to Soarin, our favorite. The line was almost an hour, so we turned around. We decided to visit some characters instead.

Disney marathon
Pluto was impressed with my shirt.
When we were done, we walked around a little and then head to our secret spot for the party.

This spot was Between Canada and United Kingdom. We still had to wait in line because they weren’t quite ready to let people in yet. Then when the cast member came out to let us in, the crowd started to cheer. I was so excited. I had never done an event like this before.
run disney


When we walked in, it was a HUGE space. It reminded me of a wedding reception. There were about 10 buffets on each side of the room, round tables throughout the room, a stage, and lighted features projected on the wall.

Disney past dinner

 
The buffet dinner was actually quite good. We had a green salad, Chicken, bowtie pasta with grilled veggies, and penne pasta with what I thought was a vodka sauce, and roasted potatoes ( that were cold, almost like a potato salad but not quite), and rolls.

disney pasta partyI was pleased with the meal, but disappointed in the desserts. Our choices were brownies or bananas. I don’t like brownies, so I took a banana for later. No, the meal wasn’t worth the money we paid to get in the party, but you have to take into consideration that you are not just paying for an event, it’s an experience and I think the money we paid was worth experiencing it at least once. Actually, I may even do it again if I get the chance.

After dinner, there was music and dancing and characters. We didn’t get any pics with characters because we had just got pics before we came to the dinner. After we ate, we waited to see if someone was going to get on stage and speak, maybe Jeff Galloway? But nobody did. Just a DJ played music.
Marathon
 
We thought this would be a perfect time to head back over to Soarin and try to ride. It was still a little wait, but less than before so we stayed. By the time we were done with Soarin, the pasta party was just letting out and leading the guests to our private viewing area to watch illumination. It was nice to see illuminations because we haven’t seen it since 2006 I am guessing. It didn’t seem quite so magical this time, although I bet I think this because I was tired and I probably wasn’t paying as close attention to it as I always do.


Illuminations

After Illuminations, we did a little shopping on our way out of the park. I was looking for a new Disney license plate cover for my car. I Couldn’t find what I was looking for at Mousegear, so we headed over to the gift shop at Fast track. I believe this is where I got my previous one, so I thought for sure I would find something here. Again, no luck. They did have a few, but not what I was looking for. After that we headed right back to the resort.

When we got back to our room, we ordered a cab for 2:15 am the next morning. It’s gonna be another long day!

 

Have you ever gone to a Pasta in the Parks party?  If so what did you think, would you do it again?  If you’ve never been, do you have any desire to try it?

 

2 comments:

  1. Your blog looks great! I've added it to my "Blogs I Read" list on my blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It is definitely a learning process. We will add your blog too!

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