Tink Half Marathon Weekend: getting there and expo!

Being from New York, travelling to California took nearly 12 hours.  We were up at 3-3:30 am on Wednesday morning and didn't arrive in Cali until after 11:00, which would correlate to 2pm our time.  It was a long morning and was quite a relief when we landed at SNA.  We will always try to fly to SNA from now on.  Last time we did LAX, and it was a nightmare trying to get to Anaheim from there.  SNA was an easy airport to get through and an easy drive.

We decided to rent a car as the hubs found a cheap deal online.  We got stuck in a little traffic, which was easy to reroute around, and soon we were at the Tropicana.

We booked there through Jim and Pat Stone (Acclaim Travel) and got a great deal.  It is on South Harbor, pretty much across the street from the pedestrian walkway to Disney.  It's location was ideal- it was a 10-15 minute walk to the downtown area, with a few restaurants around so we didn't have to drive anywhere.  

The rooms were decent for the cost and had a fridge and microwave, a major plus.  There was a nice pool and hot tub area.  There was parking, which you paid a nightly fee for, and if it was full there was valet who helped out, all of whom were very friendly and greeted us whenever we came back.  The only thing I wished it had was a continental breakfast, but that is a small flaw for us.

For the expo I started to hear that people would be getting there around seven AM.  I was shocked.  I was thinking 8 or 8:30, an hour and a half or so before the doors opened, but apparently that would be too late.  I got up around 6:15, did a quick run, then headed over and got there around 7:15.  A bunch of people were already there.

DLand has it right as far as expos.  They took us to the basement of the hotel where they had lines taped down.  I was given an orange wristband and put in the third row.  I sat down and prepared for a long wait, which wasn't too bad as I had some good conversations with people around me.  Around 9 they started moving people.  They took the first two lines upstairs and shifted everyone over.   About 10 minutes later we also went upstairs and joined them in more lines outside of the expo.  When 9:30 hit we went inside and found more lines outside the official merchandise area.  They let a few people in at a time, but we were moving fairly well.  When I got in it was very relaxed in there, unlike the Princess mayhem.  I was able to look over everything and didn't have to rush for everything.  There were no ladies fighting over wineglasses, but sadly there was no Tinkerbell Tervis.  I grabbed capris, the blue jacket, a hoodie for the hubs, the wineglass, a tank, and a water bottle.  Check out was easy, but expensive (thank god for the VISA discount), and I went back downstairs for my bib.

Bib pick up was uncrowded and easy as well.  I was surprised when they put two C2C bands on my wrist.  I had thought I would get my blue one when I return to DWorld for Wine and Dine, but something was up and we got them there.  I took mine then, but plan on bringing it to Wine and Dine because I feel that is where I will have earned it.

ANYWAYS, there was another line for preordered merchandise and that is where I picked up my first preorder jacket that I absolutely LOVE.  Hopefully RunDisney keeps going in this direction and makes nice preorder stuff.

I finally was able to go back upstairs to meet the hubs in the expo area.  He had already paid to get the back of our medals engraved with our times so we just wandered a bit.  We had time to kill because I had randomly signed up for the RunDisney NB virtual que and got 10:30 and 11:00 slots.  My time came late and I went in and tried on the Tink shoes.  I had always loved them and had heard this might be the last chance for them.  I ended up liking the feel of them and bought them.  The hubs passed when he tried on.  He liked the Mickey shoes, but they were too supportive for him.

After that we found the RunDisney beer cups that a bartender had and both enjoyed a Pixie Hollow drink.  The hubs was happy because he had gotten a few at our last few DWorld races and was hoping to get a Dland one.  It was nice to sit on a comfy couch, put my feet up, and actually enjoy a relaxing moment at an expo.  So different from the insanity at Princess, where we rushed out after getting through the merchandise lines because it was just so frustrating.

Expo: one of my favorite pre race activities!

I was relieved that we managed to get in to Orlando Tuesday night so that we could be there right for the start of the expo.  Not because I desperately wanted the Disney New Balance shoes (as awesome as I think this year’s are), but because I’ve become quite obsessed with the track jackets that Disney has.  So that is always my first stop upon arriving at the expo.

Staying at All Star Sports was nice because they had the special events bus that took you to the expo, as well as the normal bus that travels to ESPN.  We actually took the normal bus, which got us there earlier than the other one would have, and we were pleased to see that the expo had appeared to open earlier than we had anticipated.  We wanted to get in, get our usual stuff done, and head out to enjoy our day in the parks.

First off, let me say that I thought the expo was decently arranged.  I have done two Wine and Dines and one Princess at WDW prior to marathon weekend.  Both Wine and Dines have been at ESPN, and neither have been an issue.  The Princess last year was at Coronado Springs, which I thought was quite a failure.  There just wasn’t enough ROOM the way they had it organized there.  So I was quite happy to be back at ESPN.  They had a few areas set up just for race pick up items, a separate building to get a ticket number for the New Balance shoes, and a whole arena for vendors. Personally I thought it was pretty well arranged.  The only thing I can truly say is that they could have used more direction signs, because many people seemed lost.

Modeling my new spring jacket!

We swung by the merchandise area, which was still pretty dead when we got there.  I wasn’t overly impressed by the selection this year, not that it kept me from buying stuff!  I got a Dopey track jacket, but it was very simple and not really up to the standards that I had expected from Disney.  Just a small left chest logo, nothing on the sleeves.  I bought it since it was the inaugural one and had said I was getting it prior to arriving, but was a little disappointed in the design.  I also bought a marathon one, as it had a little more personality with some white detailing on it.  They also had a red Dopey jacket that was a little thicker, more like a spring jacket.  It had a hood that zippered into the collar when not in use.  I got that, too, since I actually don’t have any great spring jackets.  I ended up using it a lot on our trip, since the temps were so cool, so I think it was a good purchase.  

They also had the usual “I did it “ shirts, a marathon hoodie (no Dopey, though, which made me sad), a nice coffee mug, a water bottle, magnets, and different style tech shirts for the races.  I saw the Run Disney Tutus, but those are definitely not my thing.  Once again I was also disappointed that they didn’t have any 5k merchandise.  My husband comes down and always runs the 5ks with me, and I would love to get him a nice 5k tech shirt, or SOMETHING, commemorating the race.  But they never have anything. 

The packet pick up was sorted by race type (IE Goofy, Dopey, Marathon only, etc), but I had done the Runners World Challenge, so I had my own place to go.  The line was only consisted of a few people, and it was nice that they had a few people walking around outside their pick up booth who were talking to us, asking how we felt, about our training, etc.  It made the wait go faster.  My husband went off to pick up his 5k bib and Chear Squad stuff, and met me back there.  I was happy to get everything in one spot, except my commemorative pins, which I went to pick up at another nearby booth. 

After that we headed to the main expo area with all of the vendors.  My husband needed to purchase some clothes as his suitcase was still missing (the Tampa airport still hadn’t gotten back to us about having his luggage, even though they were the ones who called US), as well as running shoes for the 5k.   The Champion section had some nice sales, so he got a decent amount of clothes for a good price, and he found a pair of Asics that he liked as well.  I also prepaid to get my medals engraved at the expo.  I think it takes some of the hassle out race day if I don’t have to worry about having money on me to get a medal engraved at the end of the race.  You just walk up, give them your name, and they find your payment info and get you done quickly.   We wandered a bit, but decided it was time to leave and enjoy some time in the parks.  I had fastpassed some things at Hollywood Studios for that day, so we wanted to make sure we had time to go back to All Stars before heading out to there. 

 

Overall I thought expo day was easy, and I was pretty pleased with my purchases.  I was slightly disappointed with what Run Disney had to offer for merchandise as far as clothing, but I also enjoyed finding a water bottle and coffee mug.   Luckily I had enough money put aside just for the expo, so I was able to buy everything that I wanted.  I was also happy we got there early, because we really didn’t have to wait in any long lines and were able to get in and out pretty easily.  It was starting to pick up when we left, so our timing was good.  However, if we had wanted the shoes, I guess we would have needed to find our own ride there about two hours before we had actually got in line to leave our resort.  Glad I’m not that into those!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my 5k report!

In case you missed it, Part one of my Dopey series:

Getting to the race was a challenge in itself!