Disney Run 5k weekend getaway

Since I started this Blog I always envisioned posting blogs about my trips, and for the past 3 trips I’ve started the draft but never got to post it. So this year I decided that is enough, we recently came back from our trip to Orlando where we participated in the Run Disney 5k! it wont be perfect, pics wont be edited and wont be perfectly curated but here it goes! Better live than on my drafts!

We have been planning this trip since we learned from the event a year ago. While I like to run occasionally, I don't consider myself a runner, so this was more fun. Also, any excuse to go to Disney is a good one! So we booked a quick 4-day trip, 2 days of travel + 2 days of activities. Yes, we are at this point where we have full travel days; gone are the days of red-eye flights to save time and money, but then we get there completely exhausted 😴. We had a ton of fun! So here is an overview with a few pics.

Day 1

Travel day

The travel day was very smooth. It makes a world of difference when we travel to somewhere where we don't need connecting flights. Usually, when we travel to the West Coast, we spend the whole day on planes, but going to Orlando this time was very quick, and we landed with time to spare! This time, my wife arranged for a bus pickup at the airport, which felt magically easy! Although we miss the old branded Disney express buses, this felt almost the same.

Picking up the Bib and shirt

We went to the event expo to pick up the Bib and the shirt for the event. It took place at the ESPN complex, which I had never been to, so I was excited. I remember that the Disney Channel Games used to take place there.

Once we got there, I was impressed by the level of detail they had planned everything. There were three different "stations," one to pick up the Bib and another to pick up the shirt. There was a full expo with tons of vendors and then a merch area with exclusive merchandise for the event. They had exclusive merch for each of the different races.

One of the many advantages of staying at a Disney resort is that they have transportation to the event.

Day 2

RunDisney 5k

We had to go to bed early because we had to be up by 1:45 to get there by 4am.

Omg, it was way colder than we expected. We knew in advance it was going to be 35-40 degrees, but because we live in eternal heat in Puerto Rico, we had little previous knowledge of how cold that actually was. We ended up underdressing. Even though we had multiple layers, I was super cold.

Once it started, it was much better. The first mile was a bit boring because it was in the parking lot, but for miles 2-3, we cruised through Epcot and the pavilion's while the sun rose; it was beautiful!

Ultimately, they gave us our medals, a thermal blanket, and snacks. They also had photo spots all over the place, and the transportation back to the hotel was very close to the finish line; we were all impressed with the organization of the event.

Quick nap

After the race, we returned to the hotel to rest and defrost. We grabbed a bite at the quick service restaurant and went to the room. We felt like it was 7 p.m., but the day was just getting started, lol.

Chef Mickey

After the rest, we had reservations at Chef Mickey at the Contemporary Resort. Another benefit of staying in Disney Hotels is that you can get almost anywhere inside the bubble. In this case, we took a bus to Magic Kingdom, and from there, we took the monorail to the Contemporary.

The food was amazing and better than I remembered! Everything was fresh and flavorful, and the characters were not too annoying while we ate. It was definitely better quality than the breakfast buffets at Disneyland, which we also loved!

Here are some pics at the restaurant:

Monorail Resort Hopping

After brunch, we went resort hopping and visited the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. They are all connected via the monorail, so it was super easy to visit them.

We enjoyed looking at the themed lobby, the hotel's stores, and pin trading boards.

Disney Spring & Dinner at Boathouse

At this point, we were super tired, but the day was just getting started. Haha, we took the monorail and bus back to the resort for a quick break and then took the bus to Disney Springs.

It was packed! We had reservations at the Boathouse, where we had been before.

They gave us an outdoor table, and it was very chilly. The best part of the restaurant was definitely the complimentary buns! The food was good but not spectacular.

After that, we went shopping for a little while. Of course, I had to go to the Lego store and buy the obligatory Lego for the trip. This time, I got the new ARC-170 Starfighter™

Day 3

Transportation to Epcot

We walked to our favorite ride at Disney to get to Epcot: the Skyliner! It's just so much fun, and the voiceover inside the cabins? Cars? It's just delightful and fun.

Epcot

We spent the entire day in Epcot, and it was terrific. Because there were not many rides in Epcot that we wanted to ride, we had time to take it slow and enjoy the view and activities that the Festival of the Arts had to offer. We were lucky to see the start of the setup for the Flower Festival, which had beautiful flower beds and topiaries!

Rides

Rides are always the most fun part! The highlight was Guardians Rewind, which we could finally ride after years of trying! We got to ride it twice, and it got better each time! We bought the Lightning Lane in advance. We were also on the very last Virtual Quest, which, as of Feb 28, went away for a typical line.

We also got a multi-pass for the day so we can go on other rides with no lines! We able to ride lost of fun rides such as Ratatouille, Soarin & Finding Nemo.

Food

I was still surprised at the food quality here compared to California. We had lunch at the new Connections eatery, which had the best food of the trip! For a snack, I had a vanilla waffle cone from the France pavilion, which has become a classic. My wife and sister-in-law tried new flavors from the Festival of the Arts. While my sister-in-law enjoyed her strawberry ice cream, my wife's Bubble Gum flavor ice cream was a little bit much to handle. Lol, she had the flavor stuck for the rest of the day. For dinner, we walked all the way back to the America pavilion to eat at the Regal Eagle Smokehouse. We have eaten there for the past few trips and simply love it! We all got the same thing! Everything but the bread was delicious. While the Festival of the Arts event offered a lot of interesting food choices, they were simply not inside our flavor house.

Moana

We visited the new Moana experience for the first time! While the vlogs we saw made it seem unimpressive, it was surprisingly immersive. It had cute informational displays that taught about the cycle of water, which was very fitting for the living with the land theme.

Boardwalk

After an amazing day at Epcot and 18,000 steps later, we walked to the Boardwalk for the first time, where we met with a friend. I have to say that the atmosphere was incredible, especially at night. We had Ice Cream (again!) and then went strolling to the Boardwalk lobby, where I fell asleep for a few seconds in one of their very comfortable couches.

Day 4: Travel Day

The last day was very relaxing, we went early for a breakfast run, which is always so fun seeing entire families o 6+ people rush to get to the parks as early as possible. We had a relaxing flight back home and when get back we had dinner

Disney magic

Every offer has some unexpected elements. In this one, we got to see the Fireworks from the skyline, and it was beautiful!

Here you have it! I hope it was fun to skim. After this trip, I realized that you don't have to schedule a 2-week intensive vacation to have a good time and good memories. Quick getaways are as much fun as long trips.

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