Last weekend Renée and Andrew made their way out to Disneyland for the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend, and of course some Disneyland fun on one of the hottest weekends of the year. Here is our first of two (yes, count em' two) Disneyland updates we'll have this month. The next one in a few weeks. Written by Renée Girard and Andrew Cunningham We're at Disneyland this weekend to run. Or walk. Or crawl, depending on how we feel in this excessive heat. "Shade? No bag line?..." . . . "Nahhhh" Halloween signage starting to appear at DCA. Can't wait to see their new additions this year! Remember folks! If you're out enjoying the SoCal parks this weekend- make sure you stay hydrated! I'm sorry, the old DCA can't come to the phone right now. Why? Oh... CAUSE IT'S DEAD. Killin it. Hydrating or carb loading? Walt's message on a breadstick packet. Dreams come true. Rise and shine! It's time for the RunDisney Disneyland10k! Loving the Pixar theme this year. The 10k is Monster's U Current line for the Disneyland metal detectors... Jk! People as far as the eye can see at the #rundisney #Disneyland10k starting line We're already sweating 😖 Not a terrible view to be dying to Starting to get some daylight around #NotMyTower 😜 Backstage areas decorated to look like a college campus! Sun coming up around Disneyland Really enjoyed our ride on Pirates at Disneyland with the woman in front of us filming the whole thing on a tablet. Vertically. Delicious dinner at Blue Bayou tonight with the Fantasmic dining package. Worth waiting extra time to get seated next to the water. Blue Bayou package seating for Fantasmic gives an amazing view of the show. And wow, we were impressed with the new updates! The addition of Pirates was one of the many highlights. Can the WDW version please finally ditch Pocahontas for something like this?? Another early morning with several thousand sweaty friends. Stay safe and hydrated!! The finish line will be a welcome sight in a few hours. Jeff Galloway is in my corral! Time to start! And sweat! Here's a rare sight, no line at Cove Bar! Still a warm morning run on Main Street, but grateful for the early start and clouds. The horses of Disneyland were out in the backstage areas. Running through Angel Stadium is always a highlight of the DisneylandHalfMarathon It was a hot one out there today. Hope everyone stayed safe and hydrated! Pizza Planet delivery truck at the finish area. Well, I finished. Not my fastest or best, but the course was enjoyable and it's become my favorite Labor Day weekend tradition. -Renée After running, we feast! Decorative Mickey leaves seems to be the new water art at Disneyland. Epcot and Pirates 50th merchandise from D23 being sold at store on Main Street in Disneyland. Halloween theming is starting to show up in Cars Land at DCA. A closer look at the Pirates 50th shirts at Disneyland. Star Tours 30th anniversary merchandise from D23 is available in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. Just noticed that Tower of Terror is still on the Disneyland drink cups. So as of 12:15pm, California Screamin has a 90 min standby wait. FP return time is 12:35. I don't understand. Wait time for California Screamin dropped to 45 minutes now but I'm about to board and can already get another FP. Cove Bar, is it worth the hype? I've never been but every time I visit DCA, there's a huge line. The new FP system at Disneyland seems really inefficient. Radiator Springs Racers return FP line wrapped all the way around the building! Had a wonderful visit Disneyland resort this weekend for the runDisney marathon! Might just be making a trip for Halloween soon! Related Updates:
Over the weekend it was time for the 3rd Annual Avengers Half Marathon, a race I hadn't planned on running until a few days ago. But I'm glad that I did, not only was the race MUCH better than the first Avengers Half Marathon in 2014 (click for that review from 2 years ago) but it also allowed us to get some backstage pics of Tower of Terror AND Star Wars Land. We also have some Star Wars Land pictures taken from the parking structure after the race down at the bottom. Written by Gregg Condon So as I mentioned above, I hadn't actually planned on running Avengers until Thursday. Without getting too political, I found myself in a funk after Tuesday night, not just with the results but by it's aftermath that still continues. So I was happy I was still able to register at the last minute and join the race, because it was EXACTLY what I needed. Considering how busy Disneyland (and other theme parks in Southern California) were over the weekend it seems I wasn't the only one in need of some escapism. Keep in mind, some of the race pics were taken on my old point and shoot camera so the quality may not be up to our usual standards. But the Star Wars Land Pics taken from the Parking Structure were from the DSLR. I had run a 1/2 Marathon 2 weeks ago and while my time for Avengers was essentially the same as that one I didn't really push myself for this one as much as I probably could have, I was just having too much fun on the course. (I need to remember this for when I run the LA Marathon in March, but also still wanting to have a good time for that one) Of course, because much of the race goes backstage I was able to get some pics of Tower of Terror. It really IS tacky in person. Having not actually been to Disneyland in 2 years I wish there were some rides open. I mean, if they can have character stops, why not ride stops. ;) Of course, having heard from some friends who have been AP's since 1992 that this was the busiest weekend they've EVER seen at DL (Holidays included) made me rethink visiting soon. Have heard that the new Holiday World of Color is nothing short of breathtaking. I will admit, I got a bit emotional entering the gates of Disneyland for the first time in 2 years. I was shocked we got this close to Star Wars Land construction ... definitely just dirt on this side. Throughout the race it was awesome to see all of the amazing volunteers, the spectators and fellow runners. All races, religions, orientations, just together to have an amazing time. I wasn't in the race for a new Personal Record, I just wanted to have fun. More Tower of Terror. You know, in theory I'm really not opposed to the makeover of the ride (and YAY for random drop sequences) but this is just REALLY bad show. They should have just closed it already. Towards the end, two different schools playing together ... what it's all about. Had such an amazing morning running through the parks and Anaheim. The course was SO much more improved than the inaugural race 2 years ago (I didn't do last years race) and again it was just the RunDisney therapy I needed. Ok, you've waited long enough, here are some pics of Star Wars Land for you to enjoy. It helped that they parked the runners on Minnie, so I didn't even have to go that far from my car to get these. ;) This was my first time seeing it in person and I have to admit, pictures really don't give the scope of this justice. At least it's not all just dirt anymore. ;) Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed the update and a rare Disneyland update from us. I guess in the future when we're in the area we'll have to take a detour to track Star Wars Land construction, even if it's just from outside the park. Related Updates: Happy Friday, we hope you had a great short work week and have enjoyed all of the amazing updates this week. Today we have the second part of Renée and Andrew's weekend at Disneyland. If you missed part one of their update be sure to check it out here. Written by Renée Girard and Andrew Cunningham (Click on any of the pictures below to see a larger version) We are up bright and early to run the Disneyland 10k! And we made it to Agrabah! After running a 10k, might as well drop in one last time at DCA Tower. Our last ride on classic DCA Tower. Fun ride but we're fine with Guardians coming in. After all, FL does it better:) Going to check out Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters in Cars Land. Luigi's is a cute ride, definitely a nice addition to Cars Land. We might regret this, but we're going on the swinging gondolas on Mickey's Fun Wheel. Immediately regretting this as we swing freely above DCA. But you do get a nice view of the parks from Mickey's Fun Wheel. California Screamin' has been down all morning. So far one train is cycling the track. Radiator Springs Racers is also down again No line at the beer truck and 2 major rides down? Guess what we're doing! Disneyland has jalapeño cheese pretzels. Please bring them back to WDW! Haunted Mansion is closed but reopening in a few days with their holiday layover. Rivers of America is also closed, but still offers a lovely view. You can see a bit of the Star Wars land construction just behind the walls in Critter Country. Haven't seen too many of the Disneyland "gangs" this weekend. We were curious as to why Walt is in quotes on theirs. Having a pre-marathon dinner at DCA's Wine Country Trattoria. Delicious meal of pasta, with a side of wine, to get some carbs in before tomorrow's Disneyland Half One last stop at Cars Land and Radiator Springs before heading out for the night. Ever see a line at the Starbucks at Downtown Disney at 5am? Gotta get some fuel for the Disneyland Half! The elite runners in the Disneyland Half are on their way! Just another morning run with thousands of other sweaty crazy people. Corrals backed up all the way to the parking structure. Here we go! See you in 13.1 miles! Cars Land was up first Running through the Paradise Pier area of DCA, with the World of Color fountains on. The Three Caballeros were among the characters along the route in DCA Tower of Terror in the background of Flik's Fun Fair, a view that will soon be changing. Here's what you've all been waiting for... The back side of Tower! The course changes had us go through Disneyland for a shorter distance but back to DCA after Storm Troopers were the only Star Wars characters out and about in Tomorrowland. Going through Fantasyland and of course the highlight of running through Sleeping Beauty castle Love that the Disney PhotoPass folks are doing the course photography here too Characters from Robin Hood on the bus on Main Street Got to catch up with the news boys on their trolley on Buena Vista Street at DCA. One more run past Tower before exiting the parks and on to the streets of Anaheim. All of the cast members and volunteers throughout the race course were awesome! Before finishing back at Disneyland, the next best thing is running at Angel Stadium! Finished! More Disneyland Half updates to come, but shower and breakfast come first. Please make a separate line at bag check for runners after the race. This is painful. After finishing the Disneyland Half & Disneyland 10K , a perfect way to celebrate is lots of food at Goofy's Kitchen Our afternoon of relaxation includes beer at Grand Californian's Hearthstone Lounge. Love this hidden Mickey, that you can find in the lobby of Disney's Grand Californian hotel. And our Disneyland Half weekend has come to an end. See ya next year! Related Updates: |
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