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Ep 33 - runDisney AND Disney Cruise Line (with special guest, the DCL Duo)
455 Plays9 days ago
This episode of One More Run, the Podcast is all about the ULTIMATE Disney vacation combo: runDisney and Disney Cruise Line! We're joined by the "DCL Duo," Brian and Sam—Disney Cruise Line experts, fellow podcasters and friends—to help you navigate the logistics of combining a runDisney race weekend with a Disney cruise.
- DCL Experts: As always, we'll get to know Brian and Sam through a fun round of "Would You Rather," where they weigh in on everything from our standard Main Street vs medal question to the best embarkation day snacks on a Disney cruise.
- Vacation Strategy: We'll ask them for tips for choosing the right cruise length and itinerary to complement a runDisney race weekend without burning out.
- Avoiding Pitfalls: They give us some advice on whether to cruise before or after the race and how to prioritize relaxation over "doing it all."
- The Good & The Bad: And we take a quick-hit look at why this "race-cation" is the ultimate reward, along with the honest realities of cost and packing logistics.
Whether you're looking for that post-race relaxation, wondering which of the Disney Cruise Line ships you should be considering or even if you've never considered going on a Disney cruise, this episode is so run and entertaining.
Be sure to check out the DCL Duo Podcast and follow them on all the things. They're awesome! You can find links it all at www.dclduo.com
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Transcript
Introduction to Disney Experiences
00:00:00
Speaker
Today, we're talking about two of our favorite Disney experiences, Run Disney and Disney Cruise Line. In fact, we have some special guests on this week's show to help us navigate combining both a race weekend and a cruise into one crazy trip.
00:00:22
Speaker
Hey there, friends. Welcome to One More Run the Podcast. My name's AJ. This is Erica. And we are so glad you are here because we're going to talk about our two favorite things. Erica, you love Disney Cruise. I do. I think you love it even more than Run Disney.
00:00:36
Speaker
You've kind of hinted at that before. Yeah, pretty much. Oh, pretty much. It's like not even a question. I mean, it's like slightly higher than Run Disney. Slightly. Uh, I'm not going to be offended. Okay. Uh, the goal of our podcast is to help you feel confident, inspired and all of that. But also one of those pieces is that
Preparing for Disney Race and Cruise
00:00:51
Speaker
you feel prepared. And so today's episode is going to talk about preparing yourself for combining these two things, right? you you know, it's a little less like, you know, we don't need some inspiration to go on a cruise. This is like, yeah okay, what do I need know? Right, right, right. You know, so that's going to be today's episode. We're going to talking about that. we start off every episode with a review thank you all for leaving those reviews on apple podcast they mean a lot to us and if you've sent us a direct message or anything like that we appreciate those as well it really lets us know what's what's working yeah erica would you mind reading this week's review absolutely so today's review comes from two name girl and she says one more run is a great podcast with a focus on run disney aj and erica have the right balance of banter and content Would like to hear a pod on these topics if not already planned, and if you are open to suggestions, of course, always. How to join a race when sold out, charity bibs, telegram alerts, etc.
00:01:42
Speaker
What is Club Run Disney? Some of the best run Disney groups on social media and favorite running apps. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm for all things running and Disney. Perfect. Thank you for leaving the review and thank you for the topic suggestions. I really, i mean that. um Those are really good topics to cover. And what I'm thinking, Erica, is that we'd need to do like that not like a frequently asked questions or some kind of episode where like talking about Club Run Disney or the Telegram
Meet the DCL Duo
00:02:07
Speaker
app or whatever. And if you don't know what those are, like, yeah, we do need to talk about those, but it probably wouldn't fill a whole episode right right for each of those. yeah So maybe what we need to do is like, ah all right, here's like a bucket of random things yes that you might hear right and we can address that. So yeah, that's really great suggestion. We'll get on that.
00:02:24
Speaker
Write that down. Write that down. ah Next week, we're going to talk about spectating a race. Erica and I have the opportunity now to spectate, spectate, spectate, hard word apparently, to spectate or cheer. We had the opportunity to cheer on two run Disney races. We did marathon weekend where we cheered on the half and then we got to cheer at the 10K at Disneyland. So now I feel like we're like experts in it because we've excited we've done it twice. So we're not experts, but we're just going to talk about like some things to know. Right.
00:02:52
Speaker
Even some how to. Yeah. And is it worth it? You know, what what do you need to know? So anyway, that is coming up next week. But first, this week, we have the DCL Duo. Yes. On our podcast. They have a podcast. Actually, they have a YouTube channel and Instagram and all that. And DCL is obviously Disney Cruise Line. Brian and Sam are married and they do this weekly show. Actually, I think they post two episodes a week. wow I mean, they're they're crazy. Wow. Crazy awesome. Yes. Anyway, their content's amazing. So we brought in the cruise line experts to help us talk about combining a cruise line sailing and a run Disney weekend into one trip. So you're going to hear that interview now and it is a good one.
00:03:33
Speaker
Thank
00:03:36
Speaker
All right, friends, this is super exciting because we have some amazing podcasters, but even more amazing than being awesome podcasters, they're amazing friends. And they are on the podcast and I'd like, this is like big time. Erica, we met Brian and Sam who, everybody, the world knows them as the DCL duo. right Right. And if you, if you have been on a Disney cruise or you're planning to go on one, you probably already subscribed to their podcast. That's correct. Right. But they have run Disney experience. So they're here. And what's funny is they were on a sailing with us and we didn't meet them on the sailing. We met them like through the Facebook group. Right. But they were at a run Disney race weekend, like literally right after that. Right. And we got to meet them there. Right. You remember that moment? I do, yeah. Yep, it was Disneyland half, 2024. And um first I have to say that when we were on the cruise, they left us like a little, what did they call this? The fish...
00:04:24
Speaker
fish extender or something. Yeah. They left a thing and you're like, oh my gosh, I think that was something that just passed us in the hallway. yeah Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so then, so then when we were at the race, we're at Disneyland half, you're like, Erica, I think they're in the hub. Like, can we go meet them? Yeah. And, and, and I was like, okay, yeah, let's do it. Like I was so nervous. And you just like walked right up to Sam and Brian and just, you're like, Hey, we're at Jane Erica. And we're just like huge to fans. And we talk about five seconds of courage all the time. And that was one of those like butterflies. Right. And then you just yeah like,
00:04:50
Speaker
bolt and you just go for it and you're like okay i'm jumping off this ledge you know right right then you it's ah it's a nerve-wracking thing but they ended up being as awesome as they sound on their podcast so nice which is like was a huge relief yes you know what i mean and so it was fun to connect with them then and what was great is they've they were like a trusted resource for us in terms of cruise stuff yeah but that transitioned to like podcast friends because they've like advised us on like starting a podcast and they really gave me and and you the confidence to do this whole thing Yeah. Which is really cool. And then even transition that one more step to like having dinner with them in their town. Yeah. You know what i mean? When we visited. And so like they're now, it's just like all the way to like actual friends. Yes. And so anyway, we yeah cheered them on at the Disneyland half last week.
00:05:34
Speaker
Anyway, Brian and Sam, the DCL duo, welcome to the One More
Disney Experiences: Would You Rather?
00:05:38
Speaker
Run podcast. We are so excited to have y'all. Thank you so much. What a sweet introduction. My goodness. You're going to have color correct. I'm blushing. We just adore you guys. And we're so happy to be here. And it was so fun. mean, we only got to see you in passing. It was like right in the middle of the 10K. We were crossing over from... California Adventure into Disneyland Park. And there you were cheering us on. We were like all surprised. We weren't expecting you to. mean, we knew you were there for the weekend, but we weren't going to be there, you know, that early in the morning. Oh, yeah. I'm so like I'm so thankful that I told like we were we were doing run walks. And when we hit the front gate at California Adventure to cross over Disney, was like, OK, we're going to run this thing. going run through the whole thing. So we passed you all. We were running because immediately after we got through the gates of Disneyland, was like, OK, we can Right. No spectators. We have had that happen so many times. that all the time. Where we see people in our town and they see us walking and I do like the Ross thing, you know? I'm like, we were on a break, you know? We were on a break. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you all for being on the podcast. The reason you're here is your dear friends. You've inspired us to get our podcast going. But then also, you have run Disney Experience and Cruise Line. I mean, you're cruise experts, right? And so we love to combine those two things into one trip. So we've brought on the... the experts in Disney Cruise Line who have run Disney experience several races to help us like navigate. What do we need to know? What should we not do? Like all of that. So thank all for being on the podcast. We generally like to start with some like get to know your questions and not like your family history or anything like that. We do it in the form of some would you know, would you rather questions, right? I feel like we can get to the heart of who you are based off how you answer some of these questions. Are you guys game for that?
00:07:23
Speaker
Yes. Absolutely. Okay. Heck yeah. All right. This is going to be great. It's reverse rapid fire for Sam. She can she can yeah she can live through the pain that our guests feel week to week. so Whatever. I love it. I'm game. you've never heard the DCL Duo podcast, Sam is is ruthless. Yeah. when she If you give a wrong answer, who watch out. True. so i'll So I'll start off. We got, I think, four or five of them. I'll start off. We ask everyone that comes on our podcast this question. Would you rather, this is a run Disney one, would you rather run a half marathon at Disney? Would you rather run down Main Street and have that moment?
00:08:02
Speaker
Or would you rather get a finisher medal for that half marathon, but you can only have one of those, right? You only get one. Which one do you choose? I need an answer from both of you. I want to run down Main Street. Yeah, run down Main Street, for sure. That's team. Main Street over metal.
00:08:16
Speaker
It's just iconic. It's just iconic to run down Main Street. We've gotten to run down Main Street it at Disneyland several times. yeah I actually have... I don't... I don't think I've gotten to run down Main Street at Disney World because I only did a 10K there and you don't run in the Magic Kingdom at the 10K. Brian has been able to run down Main Street at Disney World when he did Goofy in 2020 before all the world shut down. Yeah. yeah So, um but I would, yeah, I love, I mean, for me, it's the original Main Street anyway, which is Disneyland. Sure. But, um but I think Main Street really in either park over the metal. I don't really need the metal. I wear it, take a couple of pictures with it and then I'm done with it.
00:08:55
Speaker
the The medals for Run Disney are some of the best medals ever I get for races. But I was telling Sam or someone this past weekend, like, ah we started off the race. We do run walk. And I was like, we ran for like nine minutes. Like normally do like a three minute run. minute walk We were over like nine minutes. I was just just so like, oh look at that. Yeah. Yeah. The adrenaline. The adrenaline is just kicking. Yeah. Especially with especially in a Disney park. Yeah. Yeah. one hundred percent. I do like main street, but of those I choose the middle. And so I'm in the minority, you know, like most most, most folks are like y'all. I have a sub question, Brian, since you've run down both main streets, do you have a preference about one or the other? Cause they're totally different experiences.
00:09:34
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, look, I'm a Disneyland guy at heart, but if I got to choose one main street to run down, it's Walt Disney World because the, you know, most people have the moment when they turn the corner at Disneyland. They're like, wow, that castle is not impressive. So, yeah. Yes. And also something about having all those spectators screaming for you as you run down Main Street. I kind of miss that when we run and at Disneyland, but it is the original. So, of course, it's yeah close to my heart. Oh, yeah. Okay, we have a Disney Cruise Line question. Would you rather have Embarkation Day Oreo Cheesecake or a Mickey Churro Waffle? That is an easy question. If you're talking about the original Disney Cruise Line Oreo Cheesecake, it is and then it's the opposite answer if you're talking about what's on the Wish Class because the trash that's on the Wish Class
DCL Duo Podcast Insights
00:10:19
Speaker
is not the right Oreo Cheesecake. But if you're talking about on the first four ships of on Disney Cruise Line, Embarkation Day Oreo Cheesecake, beats a Mickey Churro waffle.
00:10:30
Speaker
But if you're talking about wish class, then the Churro waffle. So I have to qualify my answer. Nice. Are you getting getting a sense of the judgment? right Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm very particular, I gotta say. Yeah. Trash. She calls it trash. Yeah. yeahsh I'm going to go the churro waffle. Actually, I'm a big fan of the churro waffles. I'm not the biggest like cheesecake fan. I love like a good, simple, plain cheesecake or a cheesecake with some like berries on top of it, but not not the Oreo cheesecake. not my favorite.
00:10:59
Speaker
All right. Well, Sam, you can judge us further. We have not had the Oreo cheesecake yet. So embarkation day. Yeah. You got to go to sit down lunch and it has to be on the magic, the wonder, or the dream, or the fantasy in order to get the correct Oreo cheesecake. Okay. And again, yeah sit down lunch. I'm not at the sit down lunch. I've had it from the- from the Yeah, and I don't think it's the same, right? It's not the same in the, in, in, ah what do you call it? Cabanas. In Cabanas. They have one that's actually pretty good in Cabanas, but it's not quite the level of the one that's at the sit-down lunch. You get like a real, you know, wedge slice, like a real piece of cheesecake. Well, we're just going to go on another cruise. I guess so. I've got to try the Oreo cheesecake. You got to have have placeholder, we'll travel. That's correct, yes. We find going on another Disney cruise solves most problems. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:11:46
Speaker
um Okay, we're going to combine DCL here and run Disney, right? Would you rather? So would you rather have early concierge access to the Walt Disney you know theater for a show of your choice or corral A at a run Disney race of your choice? even though I'm not the biggest show fan and folks listen to our podcast, I'm always the, oh, I'll be at the bar while Sam's at the show.
00:12:09
Speaker
I would take the early entry to the show because I don't want to be in Corral A and like just get blown away by all the Corral A people. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's good point. Yeah. I i have to say Corral A sounds good for the character photos only because you can be like, you can get those first couple of character photos maybe without really long lines. Yeah.
00:12:31
Speaker
But I'm a theater girl at heart. And so I've got to choose. Yeah, I've got to choose Walt Disney Theater Early Access. Well, I did i did the ah Vancouver marathon a few years ago and they had like this like paid upgrade where basically, yeah you know, private tent in the morning and then you could just walk up into the the first very first corral, be one of the first to start.
00:12:52
Speaker
And it completely destroyed my race because I was like, oh, I'm keeping up with these people. This is great. and then you runner ah Five miles in, it's like, oh my God, what happened? I'm dead. We, we, I gotta qualify this. We are not fast. We are Baymax. We are not fast. That's funny. That's hilarious.
00:13:11
Speaker
Oh man. Okay. Onboard a dream class ship. Would you rather run four miles on the treadmill or around the promenade deck? Promenade deck. Promenade deck. Yeah. You would, that's like 16 laps. who I would much rather be out there. Outside.
00:13:27
Speaker
Yeah. Outside running ah loops around. Yeah. Then that I hate the treadmill. I hate it. Yeah. Now, if you're going to give me a wish class where I got to go upstairs and downstairs, make use back and
Combining Run Disney with a Cruise
00:13:40
Speaker
forth, then no, I'll, I'll, I'll take the treadmill. Okay. Okay. Perfect. all right. I'm giving you $500.
00:13:46
Speaker
Would you rather have that $500 to spend in Mickey's main sale or $500 to spend at the Run Disney Expo? So I'm going to be the judgmental one. Like the Run Disney merch like has gotten worse over the years, especially at Disneyland. It's just not that great. So I i would definitely spend the money in Mickey's main sale because there's always something that I want out of Mickey's main sale.
00:14:07
Speaker
All right, i'll I'll hold back my fighting words on that one, okay? So this is actually the one area I'm going to disagree, and I'm going to go for the Run Disney merch, um especially those new Brooks shoes. i got a pair of the the Disneyland shoes. We did too. i I didn't buy a lot of merch this time, but in past years, I've bought a ton. I would say this year we weren't super thrilled with the Disneyland merch, but I mean, i have also a lot of it. So maybe that's where i I'm a little bit more choosy. But I think in general, I generally tend to like, especially the more generic run Disney merch. Yeah, the core stuff. Yeah. new brooks shoes Yeah, and i love the new Brooks shoes. I would i would have bought multiple. Actually, with $500, I'll just buy meat like three pairs of Brooks shoes. I don't even need anything else.
00:14:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think shockingly, I would choose Mantell as well. You would? Oh, yeah. There's always like a billion things I want when I go on the cruise. Okay. Yeah. I'm going to run Disney because you can only get it that one time. It's so limited. And they only sell like four in my size total for the entire year. Plus you need your metal pin that matches your metal, AJ. It's crazy.
00:15:20
Speaker
i just I just wish that run Disney would. So Disney had a partnership with Nike for a long time, and that seems to be winding down slowly. It's like I miss all the Nike gear you could get.
00:15:31
Speaker
But I kind of wish now they've they've brought Brooks on board that they would. Brooks makes some fantastic running clothes. And like Brooks, Lululemon. I would love for them to just lean back into that like Disney X. disney x And let them just make all the race merch. ah I thought Lululemon for sure would have some Disneyland yeah race stuff. And they had had nothing of like sponsor the yoga and like get all kinds of Lululemon gear. They make killing. yeahp Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If they partnered with that stuff, I totally agree. I think that whatever generic brand they're using now, like how many times you ever about hairricka have I picked some? I'm like, I like the design, but I don't like, like it, like this literally isn't a good quality item. And so I agree with that. yeah i agree that Okay. Last, would you rather? yeah last one Would you rather do a four night Disney cruise, four day run Disney race weekend, or four nights at a Lonnie?
00:16:17
Speaker
Oh, this is easy. This is easy. It's a Disney cruise every time. Doesn't matter. doesn't You put it up against anything, it's a Disney cruise. I'm like, can we even ask them that question? I mean i thought Aulani might throw them for a loop, I thought. No, Aulani is second, and then Run Disney is right after. Let's put it that way. like if if I have to rank them, it's a Disney cruise, Aulani, Run Disney. You need to play to your audience. Right now, you have Run Disney people listening to this. Sorry, not sorry. I like to vacation and relax. If you'd asked Disneyland half marathon weekend or Disney World marathon weekend, yeah I would have struggled with that. Okay. Really? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. ok yeah tell Tell Tell us about that. Yeah. Tell us to the struggle. I mean, I love Disneyland.
00:17:00
Speaker
I don't, I didn't, I've, we did not run the half marathon at Disneyland this year. We've run it in the past. And like, so it's like the marquee race for the weekend. And in the past, it's not had the greatest route. Mm-hmm. I don't know that Disney World is honestly like much better, but at least you hit all four of the parks at some point. And so, and I love the energy Marathon Weekend. Yeah, we do too. We just had that whole discussion about which race we like, you know, better, whatever. And ultimately we landed where you were, which is the energy and the vibe and the feeling of Disney World trumps the nostalgia and whatever of Disneyland for us. Yeah, but the time difference just kills us. Well, it works in our favor. We talked about that, too. Because we're up at 3 a.m. It's like, oh, okay. It's like being at home, you know? But for y'all.
00:17:45
Speaker
i I need you both to convince Sam. I was trying to get her to go to Dine this year. Come! You should! But she's like, no, it's too far. No, it's not. Time difference and like all of that sort of stuff. Don't you have a cruise like the week before that, maybe?
00:18:00
Speaker
No, we don't because of school, the school schedule. But I'm i'm thinking about it. I'm warming up to the idea, I'll be honest. i got it But I got to figure out, um because we can't pull Nathan out of school and fly him across country then. So I've got i've got to reach out to our our amazing ah babysitter slash former nanny and see if we could potentially even make happen. Although what's funny is we left the Disneyland race this time we we're like, nope, we're done. That's it. yeah we No more 3 a.m. wake up calls. not doing it like you know anymore and then and now it's sam you can see the this happens with everything for on the marathon and you're like nope i'm done that's the last one and then you're i bet i could do it one more yeah yeah goofy challenge doesn't seem that bad right yeah but yeah i will never do a full marathon
Funny Stories and Packing Tips
00:18:45
Speaker
so i'm just putting it out there i'm never i have never and will never i've only done two half marathons both of them at disneyland and i i have no desire to ever do a full marathon like that sounds like I'll be honest. I don't care who's listening. That sounds like torture to me. It's a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle choice.
00:19:03
Speaker
yeah yeah I could see myself doing another half, but I'm not. Yeah. I could never see myself doing a full. There's too many hours. Yeah. Well, you definitely need to do a half at Disney World. Yes. So much better. Even if it's not like Wine and Dine doesn't go through the castle, you know, that doesn't matter. Like it's still so much better.
00:19:20
Speaker
Really? Yeah. Yeah. The wine and dine half course, and we're way off topic. Sorry, Brian, this is your fault. um ah The wine and dine half course is actually pretty good yeah because you touch ah you know Epcot and Hollywood Studios and the boardwalk. like That's a lot of time not on the road. Whereas like the half marathon at Princess, you're all road miles to Magic Kingdom, Magic Kingdom all the way back. It's a good course. Yeah.
00:19:43
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. All right. Brian, you want to get us on top off topic on anything else before I continue with the regular discussion? Don't give me that opening. Don't give me that opening. yeah Okay. All right. yeah That was all the would you rather's. I feel like we you know the judgment was passed and everything is good. here I want to give you all an opportunity to tell our friends about your podcast. I kind of described it as you guys are like the DCL experts. like If I have a question about...
00:20:07
Speaker
Disney Cruise Line, I'm going to your channels, yeah your podcast, whatever, for the answer, right? But like, tell us about your podcast in terms of like, what are you trying to do? Like, what's the goal? What's the purpose? Like, what was the idea behind it? So our friends can kind of understand.
00:20:20
Speaker
I know Sam's going to defer to me on this because it was my harebrained idea. ah She didn't think the podcast would last more than a couple of months. and And here we are. here you are years later. yeah six Six years later, a million downloads, 600 and something episodes. ah It's been a wild ride. But yeah, so our tagline for our podcast is Disney Cruising Elevated. And so obviously we focus on Disney Cruise Line.
00:20:43
Speaker
ah We really wanted to have a podcast where we were, you know, not just two people talking about Disney Cruise Line. We were like, people will get sick of hearing from us and our opinions. So we love to bring guests on We love diverse perspectives about the cruise line, different experiences from adults only to families with small kids. We we we cover, you know, the the disability angle and the accessibility angle quite a bit. as well as first timers are a big thing. Sam loves first time cruise episodes because you kind of get to relive those experiences. there And occasionally we get to hear from people who are, I listened to your show and yeah here are the great tips that you gave us and that worked out.
00:21:21
Speaker
ah So we we love to focus on Disney Cruise Line, but we do a couple of other things I think with the show. One is we love to focus on high end and unique experiences on the cruise line on occasion. So those dinners at Palo and Remy, restaurants, You know, the special onboard activities that, you know, folks don't always get to experience concierge sailing because we've sailed, we sail both concierge and non-concierge all the time. We love to sort of help people understand what that experience really is. And, you know, frankly, also that you're still going to have a great cruise, even if you don't sail in concierge, ah you know, cabanas on the islands, all those sorts of things. So the high end shore excursions, we just did, we've done several high helicopter tours because we love to do those. So i love to give people a glimpse into those opportunities. They understand you know what those are from a dollars and cents perspective and whether it would make sense for them to try them or not. We also love to focus on comparing
00:22:14
Speaker
Disney Cruise Line to other cruise lines. We're big believer in sometimes people get into this Disney bubble and they don't look up and out at other opportunities. And we think it's really important also for us. You know, we see all these other cruise lines to experience what they have to offer and bring that perspective back to the show around, know, places where you think Disney could be doing things a little bit better or differently. And so we love to we love to have people on who've sailed Disney and then sail another cruise line. We've sailed other cruise lines ourselves and love to bring those experiences back. And then I think our third kind of favorite topic area is Adventures by Disney. We've done one river cruise with ABD. We're doing another one coming up soon. We've covered the land-based vacations with guests. We even covered the private around-the-world jet tour with one of our guests once. And so we love to bring Adventures by Disney because we view kind of Disney Cruise Line as like the gateway drug to Adventures by Disney if you want to even elevate your experience a little bit more with those kinds of things. So So yeah, we love to seek out those kind of unique opportunities and just share the love of Disney Cruise Line out there. And I'd say the number one reason that we started the show. So for your listeners out there, our show, we do have sponsors and there's some money that gets generated from our show, but we've committed to our audience. We donate anything above our actual operating expenses to run the show to charity every year because we're You know, just want to share our love and we want to build community. all are part of this great community that we've been working to build. We actually, I was thinking about your story about meeting us in the parks. We love to tell people what you see on the show is what you get. This is us. Yeah. The way we bicker with each other is the way we bicker with each other. And so we're, we are also a married couple, just like AJ and Erica. And the way that we interact with each other on our show is the way that we interact with each other in everyday life. Um, but part of the reason why we started our show was also to make sure we spent some time together. Um, we have a kid who's on the spectrum and he's awesome amazing. but there's been times in our lives where he was a little bit more challenging um, Um, I do think it's important for couples to have something to talk about other than their child and some way of connecting, um, other than just being co-parents. And I think this, uh, the show has really helped in that way and really given us, um, something, you know, it's something that we both love cruising in particular and talking about cruising and sharing that knowledge with others and, you know, talking to people about cruising. So even if we can't cruise ourselves every day, cause we both have full-time jobs, But we can talk about cruising almost every day. it's really fun.
00:25:00
Speaker
The best part of this entire experience has been the people that we've gotten gotten to meet. I mean, we've gotten, you know, now an invite from Disney Cruise Line to be on a preview cruise. It was amazing, but it it pales in comparison to when we're on a ship. and we get to connect with someone who listens to the show. yeah It blows our mind, the number of people who are out there listening to our show. so It's really weird to be like recognized now. In fact, on our flight home from Disneyland just ah just a couple nights ago, um I sat down next to this couple. Brian was sitting right behind me. And the guy turns to me and he's like, are you from DCL Duo? No way. Yeah, so I sat next to a listener and chatted with him and his wife. um you know And then we all you know decided to watch movies on our devices yeah of course and be normal people on an airplane. But yeah, they were lovely, lovely people. And that happens. It doesn't happen like at the park so much, but it happens a lot when we're sailing. That's that's where the place... you know It's like associating. right like People start seeing you guys like at the Run Disney weekends. They'll see you and they'll be like, oh, that's AJ and Erica. When they see us on the cruise line, they're like, oh, that's Brian and Sam. If we're in the right place, if we're out just at the grocery store, I'm not getting recognized. I'm not i'm not famous. yeah
00:26:19
Speaker
And you don't want to be because you're probably in your pajamas, right? you know Exactly. i'm i am in pajamas, athleisure, whatever grubby sweatshirt I put on. Exactly. To be fair, you're also in pajamas or athleisure, potentially on the cruise, but yeah. Maybe. Yeah. I love how real you guys are. We said that earlier, but one of the things I love Brian too, is that you guys, you say it like you really think it, you know what I mean? I know you've got show sponsors and things like that, but you do, you know there are other things besides Disney Cruise Line, right? Or this is something, an area where Disney can improve, or this wasn't great. Like you share your honest opinion. And I really appreciate that. Like,
00:26:53
Speaker
too much of some of the content out there now. It's just sugarcoated and whatever. And it's, you know, everything is so great. And we try and do that with run Disney. Like, Hey, this, this, this is an area that you may not enjoy. You know what I mean? Like just, yes, a heads up. So we like your honesty. Yeah. Well, you guys sort of, we touched on this a minute ago, but what is your run Disney history?
00:27:11
Speaker
You guys have both clearly done a few run Disney races. So tell us a little bit about that. Yeah. So we've only done a few. We've done Marathon Weekend in 2020, where Brian did the Goofy. So he ran the half and the marathon. And then and I did the 10K.
00:27:26
Speaker
And then we took a few years off. Of course, so those were the the COVID years that we shall not speak of. um But then also we realized like how hard it is to get over to Walt Disney World for those race weekends, because it's just a weekend and we live on the West Coast. yeah And so when they brought Run Disney back to the West Coast, Best Coast in 2024, we were like, oh, we have to do it.
00:27:49
Speaker
And that was when I was like, OK, this is the half marathon I'm going to do. yeah And so Brian actually, he ran with me the entire time so that I could finish. When I say ran, walk, run um the entire time so I could finish. So we did 2024.
00:28:06
Speaker
And then in 2025, I decided I was going to do this crazy thing called the Dumbo. And so I signed up for the 10K and the half.
00:28:17
Speaker
um So we did the 10K together and then I ran the half the next day and unfortunately ended up with awful tendinitis following... ah The race, but I finished and I have my medals to prove it. And I'm never going to do that again. um I give a lot of props to all you crazy, like dopey and Dumbo people and all of that. But it's not, I don't think it's, I don't think it's right for me. I think one race a weekend is, is the right way to go. And then this year ah we went back to Disneyland for the third year in a row for the, uh, the 10 K in, in half marathon. week Well, so and you glossed over why we even did marathon weekend in the first place.
00:28:52
Speaker
why It was the cruise. Oh, no that's right. We did the run the cruise. that So there it was actually a run Disney cruise, right, that had the Castaway Key 5K Challenge. um So that was in 2020. Yeah, so you're right. That is why we did Marathon Weekend because we were like, okay, well, we can do the crew pair of the cruise with it. and actually And that was when they were doing the official cruise.
00:29:15
Speaker
5k where they had it separate from the regular 5k and so we were up early in the morning was a full race event run by run disney which they aren't doing currently and it was fabulous and there were lots of characters actually on the course um yeah not like a regular sailing 5k at castaway Well, and I suspect one of the reasons they stopped doing it on the cruise line was basically they restarted the West Coast races. And it was like you had marathon weekend, then the cruise, then they had to get out to the West Coast, especially the first, think it was the first or the second year, it was like a week apart as opposed to two weeks apart. Yeah, we did that one. Yeah, there was like no way the Run Disney folks could have gotten on the cruise and then gotten out to California. So maybe they'll bring it back now that the California races are taking a pause. Okay. Fingers crossed. For our listeners who don't know the, like the race, the 5k that you can do now on Castaway, it's not, I don't think technically a run Disney thing anymore. Like, can you explain like in 60 seconds or less, like how it works now for our folks that have never heard of it or done it?
00:30:18
Speaker
Yeah. So you just, it's a self, uh, it's on your honor. So you just at Castaway, they have some signage. It's not really great about where you start and what the route is because you actually have to go around this loop thing twice in order to actually do a full 5k. Um, but they've got, uh, at the, where you do a bicycle rental, they actually, that's where you get your medals. And so it's a, it's a rubber metal, but it's on like a nice ribbon, just like a metal at a run Disney race, but it's not metal metal. It's a rubber metal.
00:30:48
Speaker
And it's you just go up to them when you've done your 5K and they hand you the medal and you can do it at any time during the day when you're at Castaway. So it's there's, you know, and nobody's checking your Garmin or your Apple Watch or your feet or to see that you're even wearing shoes. um So you could have not run and get a medal and nobody would ever know. yeah But just dump some water from the.
00:31:14
Speaker
Dump some water from the soda station. And they go over and say, I like my medal now. like The other thing we should have. Very popular. The thing we should say is ah this that experience is also coming to Lookout Key. I believe people have spotted the signage, all that sort of stuff, but it is not fully up and running yet. So they will have a similar experience at Lookout. We did the unofficial one on Lookout Key.
00:31:35
Speaker
We ran with the tram. And honestly, like. You missed it and we're trying to catch up? No. Oh, just, we're running on the road. We just were running. And it's so hot, like at both places that the thing that I love to do now is I just start running like when I get off the boat.
00:31:51
Speaker
And so I include that. I like to start my Garmin and I like include that. So then when we went to look at I was just like, well, here we go. And I just started running. Yeah. on The pier counted, you know, for her. Yeah. yeah my That's what I do too, Erica. I think that way I won't necessarily have to do that loop twice. And I actually like to run all the way past Serenity Bay and then back. So I like to do more of a straight shot out yeah and not do that loop twice. Yeah.
00:32:14
Speaker
I think it's the way to go. Totally. Okay. So we just mentioned this, but you guys were at the 10 K last week um at Disneyland. So how was that experience? Were there any key moments or things that you loved?
00:32:25
Speaker
I just, I love, so what I love about the Disneyland five k and 10K is that it is like entirely in the parks. So like you basically for the 10K run all over California Adventure, cross the, you know, the the big open space between the two parks and then run entirely the rest almost through Disneyland. There's there's like a little bit of street running in the beginning to get you to the entrance to get into California Adventure. And then there's like a very like fractional amount of street running at the end to get you to the finish line. ah But I just think that setup is great because you're just so inundated with sights and sounds and like you just kind of forget sometimes that you're running like it takes your mind off of it. And so I think that's great.
00:33:09
Speaker
um i don't know, Sam, what other are big like things did you love about the racist side? I mean, I love seeing the the park in darkness, but with all the rides and stuff lit up, especially Monkey California Adventure, I think Pixar Pier is just really beautiful when you have like the Ferris wheel all lit up. it's it's really and running across sort of all the bridges and it's I get some great video as I'm running or you know, I might stop in and snap a selfie. Like it's really, I think the energy, even though the, there's no buddy in the park, like riding the rides, um, but it's pitch to black. It's dark when you are running in California adventure, it doesn't start.
00:33:50
Speaker
The sun doesn't start to come up until you're over in Disneyland, I guess, unless you're like one of those really fast people and then you're done before the sun comes up completely. um But yeah, it's just a really it's it's just really cool to be in the parks at that time. It's also really fun to see like the cast members who are out cheering you so they don't let spectators come inside the parks. They do let them in downtown Disney, like where AJ and Erica were, um but they don't let them in the parks. But the but there are cast members there like cheering you on.
00:34:18
Speaker
You also get to run in some backstage areas, which is pretty cool. There are some spots who that are rough because of the bottlenecks because they're just kind of not very wide, um you know, pathways. But I think the, yeah, I think the energy is just really fun. And like Brian said, I think it's, you don't really, you you stop sort of thinking about your body running because you're just like looking everywhere as you go. It's not like when you're running like on a treadmill and you have nothing to look at. Or even when you're running in your own neighborhood and you're just looking at the same houses that you see every day and maybe some squirrels or some bunny rabbits, right? So it's just, it's so much more interesting. You have so much more stuff to like look at. um And then of course, if you if you want and you're fast enough to stop for characters, that's obviously a ah bonus. We...
00:35:06
Speaker
stopped for a couple of the character selfie spots, not really the line characters because they're kind of long and we're not that fast. Um, they're not fast at all, but we did stop for the picture in front of the Ferris wheel, which was like ah an actual photo pass photographer at the, the Ferris we in front of the Ferris wheel. So we, we got a great shot of the two of us, um, you know, at night of the night, it's, I guess early in the morning, but in the darkness with it all, you know, all of Pixar Pier lit up behind us is really cool.
00:35:34
Speaker
I do want to underscore this cast component because I feel like at Disney World, my memory is there was a lot more characters on the course than what we saw at Disneyland. And then there's just, I think they lean on the other runners to be there spectating and cheering folks on. At Disneyland, they really lean heavily on the cast. Like the entire security cast for that shift. Yeah, and custodial shift three was out. Yeah, that's it. They're awesome. because And they are like yeah all in. They are like cheering and and and all this stuff. And it was funny. We were running as ah ah Nick Wilde and ah Judy Hopps. And I was like, oh man, we missed it. We should have run up to security and been like, Hopps and Wilde reporting for duty. yeah kind of thing i got a photo
00:36:12
Speaker
But yeah, ah the cast is unbelievable at Disneyland and how much they're cheering folks on it. I don't think Brian knows this, but you guys, AJ and Erica, you guys knew that he was going to be Nick Wilde before Brian knew he was going to be Nick Wilde. Yes, yes. When we were on the Esplanade, I was like looking for your ears, his green shirt. I was like just everyone that waiting towards us like scanning, scanning, scanning. They're there. You guys were the loudest. You guys were the loudest. when you i was like, oh, my gosh, that was. Oh, it's AJ. Yay. I was like, Brian, that's because we had been waiting for you. We were. We were. For that whole three miles. Like we were tracking you on the thing and we're like waiting for you so we could scream at you. That's why we were so loud. That lime green shirt really, that helped that that helped. And then as soon as y'all were on by, I'm like, well, now we can relax. Like we've seen Brian and Sam. So now we just cheer normally. We did. We did. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody got good cheers from us, but you guys got the bonus cheer. Yes. Oh, no. Thanks to God. I'm glad you guys had a good experience yeah at at Disneyland this week.
00:37:16
Speaker
um So since you guys are experts on all things cruise line and you have the run Disney experience that we've talked about, we love to talk about combining those two things into a single trip, right? have You guys obviously have done that. You talked about that. um here Here's the question. Is that a good idea, right? Like for somebody who, you know, has either never done it, neither done neither experience, they've done one, maybe not the other, like is combining them into one trip a good idea? Yes or no?
00:37:38
Speaker
Yes, yes. yeah but um But start with the Run Disney Race weekend and then hop on the cruise after, like either the day after or a couple days after. I wouldn't recommend it the other way around. i mean, if you're taking a cruise and you're training for a Run Disney Race that's out a ways, that's fine. But like if you're combining the weekend with a cruise, you do the weekend first and then you get on the cruise where you can get like a nice massage maybe on embarkation day and you can relax. Yeah. And you don't have to get some training runs in because you're actually in your, you know, you're relaxing and and recovery mode.
00:38:13
Speaker
You can get the painkiller for its intended purpose. Right. You get some nice Caribbean cocktails. Exactly. Right, right, right. Absolutely. I think it's a great idea, um especially if you're going to be in, you know, if you're doing race weekend at Walt Disney World, because then you're getting on a ship out of Port Canaveral. That's the easiest. You can always go to Fort Lauderdale, but that's a couple hours away. um But if you're going to sail, you know, if you're in Florida, yeah, just hop on, and hop on the wish, the fantasy, you know, the treasure, you know, hop on whatever ship you can right after. Yeah. Those are all really good points. I, and I agree with y'all that you should run first and then cruise. Um, i don't know if you cruise first, you can carb load. True.
00:38:55
Speaker
Oh, but there's so many great i don't have so many great spots to carb load at Disney World. yeah right' fine yeah There might be too much carb loading. I don't know. Yeah. Might have turned my half marathon into a full. so I walk fun for a couple of days after a cruise anyway. And so that would be real bad at mile 10 on a half marathon. Does that still happen to y'all since you've cruised like a billion times or is it totally cool?
00:39:17
Speaker
i've Well, i've i I have like ah an iron constitution. So like I've been on small boats out the Bering Sea going halibut fishing and they're rolling and down the waves. and like And like I'm out there having a grand time and other people are in the thing. like you totally think yeah I've never really had the the sea legs issue. Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:35
Speaker
So I do get motion sick on very small boats with a lot of movement. But I don't tend to on the cruise line unless there's unless we hit like really bad seas. There are there have been a couple of times where I've gotten seasick. But I would say I guess sea legs are a thing, but I don't know that they would really impact me running, to be perfectly honest. I feel like your movement is, you know, forward movement is not the same. All I know is I've run into some walls in my own house. That is what was just going to say. Yeah, walking. I actually think walking is tougher with sea legs than running. Yeah, yeah.
00:40:13
Speaker
Yeah. On the boat, I'm fine. But it's like for five days after we get home, I'm just like walking all over the place. It's terrible. Yes. Yeah. No, I only have that if we have like, if we've had really ah a lot of, you know motion on the ocean. And the only time I have a problem on board is a post Remy dinner, uh, walking back to our state. was like, why is this boat moving so much? Oh my gosh. awesome. Um, anything else people need to consider before doing run Disney event and a DCL saline back to back?
00:40:44
Speaker
I mean, only i would say in in the sense of you're not going to be super happy if you got injured at the run Disney race, you're probably not going to be super happy being on a cruise after because you're going to have to get around in the ship. And if you, you know, are not used to using, I don't know, let's say crutches or, um you know, one of those wheelie carts or a wheelchair, something like that, like you probably haven't booked an ADA accessible room, right? Like, so... If it's only, i would say it would only be like a real negative, i think if you got injured at the run Disney race and then, you know, but I also would put a plug in for insurance, um, uh, you know, vacation and travel insurance, because if you do get hurt and you then need to cancel your cruise, you don't want to lose all your money. So, yeah.
00:41:36
Speaker
Yeah. the The other thing I would think about is because the race weekends, depending on which weekend you're doing, right? Like, you know, wine and dine, for instance, the parties on Sunday night. So you can't you can't really embark on Sunday. So you the ships you can go on and the itineraries you can do get a little bit more limited because, you know, the Treasure embarks every Saturday. So if you're doing a race weekend, you're not going to get on the Treasure unless you wait a whole week for her to come back, right? So, know, you're kind of limited in which itineraries and sailings you can do. And the Treasure is the only one doing seven-night sailings out of Port Canaveral currently. So you're pretty much signing yourself up for a three-night, four-night, maybe a five-night sailing on the, Sam's going to correct me here, the Fantasy. The the Fantasy. If you want, you go down to Miami and get on the Destiny. She's a great ship. Fort Lauderdale, not Miami. Sorry, Fort Lauderdale. Yeah.
00:42:24
Speaker
So, yeah. So just, just know your options are going to be a little bit more limited if you're trying to back it all up and you don't have like, you know, two and a half weeks worth of vacation ahead of you. Right. Yeah. yeah We did wine and dine. So that was a three day, whatever weekend. And then they ended Sunday night with the party, Brian, that you talked about. And Monday morning, we, you know, it was Monday to Friday sailing and that ended up working perfect because then it turned it into a week long trip, you know, and, and we had a good time doing that. Yeah, that's fun.
00:42:48
Speaker
Any booking or travel advice, Sam, you mentioned like, you know, travel insurance, you know, that's a travel tip, right? But anything from like the booking or just the traveling part of it that you need to factor in if you're going to do, because these are two totally different kinds of trips. Like you're bringing two totally different sets of things to make these, you know, these trips happen. Any, any advice?
00:43:08
Speaker
So one thing I would say is ah you have to book the cruises like 18 months in advance, right? Which run Disney obviously doesn't open up until much closer in time to the races. You don't have to. You're just not you're not booking at the best price. Yeah. our Our advice always book early because you're going to get the best price. Now that is starting to break a little bit. Disney has started to do some sales and things. We're actually hearing about people who booked in advance and then they put it on sale. And Disney has been...
00:43:35
Speaker
laudably, ah giving them credit back, which is not something they have to do, which is amazing. So we give them big kudos for that. But you're in a book the cruise probably way in advance if you're trying to get the best price on the ship and make sure that you're getting the stateroom you want, all that sort of stuff. So you really got to then be on top of registering for the race if you're trying to couple both of them together. And recognize, mean, there's been plenty of races where, you know, people are up early, they're online early, and they sell out before they can get in. And so So, you know, if you're really banking on this, just know it may not happen. Now, on the Disney Cruise Line side, if that happens, you can always, as long as you're not past your pay in full date, you can always move the sailing to an alternative if you want to like, you know, or shift shift the ships in some way. If you were like, oh, I didn't get in the race, I'm to a week-long cruise, you know, that sort of thing. You can you can do that. yeah But, but the two things don't couple together from a booking standpoint. So, you know, it's easier to book a Disney cruise than it is to book run Disney. oh right yeah It's a way easier. And Sam, to your point, you can book a cruise at any time. Like, you know, the run Disney opens nine months in advance, right? Of the race you get in, you can book your cruise at that time. You're just probably not getting the best price. Is that right? Exactly. Exactly. You're not getting the best price.
00:44:47
Speaker
The other thing I would say is, um, Disney cruise line has laundry machines that you can use. And so if you've got your smelly race clothes, right um, you probably want to wash them then rather than leave them in your luggage for a week getting riper and riper. Right. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So in that vein, do you have any tips for packing for that kind of crazy trip running and then cruising?
00:45:11
Speaker
I mean, I think you can, if you're going to be doing some bounding while you're racing, lots of people do bounding on the ship too. So you can re-wear stuff. Like, don't forget that like your, you know, your race outfit doesn't have to be like a full-on costume. i We did it, ours more bounding style. That's the way I like to do it because I think I i need comfort when I'm running. I can't wear something. Like, I'm not going to be able to wear like some crazy, um you know, hoopie skirt or like,
00:45:41
Speaker
big tutu or so something that's going to be itchy and uncomfortable. That's just not going to happen. I need something that's comfortable. So I would wear, yeah, I mean, I would totally wear that Judy Hopps shirt and that Judy Hopps hat that I wore for the race. I would totally wear that on the ship. No question. So yeah, I think if you make sure that you're, and and I like to bound in the parks too and on the cruise line. So I think I could definitely re-wear some outfits. That's what I would say.
00:46:04
Speaker
I'd also say from ah like an activity kind of booking side of things, like you know but be ah be cautious of like, are you booking an excursion post-run and this is the longest run you've ever done? It's going to require yeah a ton of walking or hiking or something like that. like Be smart about that. I mean...
00:46:22
Speaker
Most the cruises, I think that most of the itineraries you're going to look at are going to be pretty limited to like, you know, down to Nassau, Castaway or look out in the back. beach excursions, that sort of thing. Yeah, so it's probably not a big deal you're doing that. But I would just say be cautious of like, make sure you understand what's involved in your shore excursion before you go run a dopey and then hop on board a ship. I always just had like a visual of like going up and down the stairs on the ship after marathon weekend. Oh my God, that'd be terrible. I'd be waiting for that elevator. Right, yeah. Yeah. For sure. Yeah, good point. I would wear a shirt that says, wore, ran a marathon, I need the elevator. Right, yeah. Sorry, Brian, what were you gonna say? No, as I say, the year we did the Castaway Challenge on the cruise line, when got on the ship after I'd run the Goofy, it was like two days later that we were doing the 5K. I told Sam when we got the ship, like, we are walking. Oh, yeah. I may not even finish at that rate, but we are walked. Right. And I was like, I did a 10K, and I did it the day before he did his half. So I was like, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to run a 5K. Right. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Brian, side tangent question. If you had to guess, was that cruise when they did that after marathon weekend, was it like 50% runners, like 10%? What would you say was a ratio?
00:47:35
Speaker
It was a substantial number of runners on that cruise. More than 50%. Yeah. Yeah. I would say every i would say more than 50% of the rooms had at least one runner. Not everybody in every room was a runner, yeah but it was like it was more adult heavy, of course, because obviously those are the races are more adult heavy. um and it's also it was during it was January, so it wasn't during like a school break. um yeah it definitely i would say...
00:48:04
Speaker
75% maybe? I know it was a lot because we have a photo of the rack of metals, like the racks upon racks of metals that they were gonna hand out at the end, and there were a lot of metals. so Yeah, that one was a metal metal, not the rubber one that they do for the- Captain Mini with like a spinnable wheel from the ship. Oh gosh, that's awesome!
00:48:24
Speaker
It's really cool, it's hanging in our bedroom. Would you rather have that metal or run down Main Street? That's the question. oh Man, I got to go with that medal. Yeah. That might top the That's awesome.
00:48:38
Speaker
that's awesome That's awesome. Okay. Back on track. There are, you kind of touched on it a little bit. I'm looking for advice here, right? There's several itineraries that go out of Florida, right? Like, do you have a recommendation? Obviously like things will change. The ships will move all that, whatever, but we're sitting here in early 2026. Maybe someone's going to register for wine and dine next week. You know I mean? Or actually when this episode comes out, wine and dine registration was yesterday. Okay. How about this? They registered for wine and dine yesterday and now they're going to be like, yes, we're doing a cruise in November.
00:49:06
Speaker
Right. Like what should they consider like based off of, of that, that information? Yeah. Agnostic of the run Disney component of this, like our favorite itineraries out of Florida have been the Eastern Caribbean. We think that's got fabulous ports. You get far enough south to really get warm weather sort of year round. But it's not going to work because it leaves on a Saturday. yeah Well, i i'm yeah, I'm just saying like, this is why I said agnostic of the running component of this. I'd say our favorite itineraries are the Eastern Caribbean.
00:49:32
Speaker
Uh, and then any cruise that they do now that goes to like, you know, private Island, like it skips Nassau it's like, let's just go to Castaway Cay and look out. Like those are amazing. If you can couple them with the race weekend and they are shorter, they are like four or five night itineraries where they do the both islands. Um, you know, Nassau is kind of our least ah favorite, you know, no, no knock on Nassau, but it's just not our favorite.
00:49:54
Speaker
port. Uh, and so really we treat that like a sea day when we're in port. Um, also don't get like that much further South. Uh, so you're like, you know, if, if the weather's not great in Florida, whatever you're experiencing in Florida is what you're going to be getting in Nassau pretty much. So, um, so we, we love to get like further South if we can, but the shorter itineraries, like the farthest South you can be able to get is like, you know, Nassau and then look out in Castaway or close to the Florida coast already. Yeah. Yeah. I would agree. I think, I think anything that gets you to Disney's two private islands or even just one of the two private islands, I think that's what you're looking for because you want that relaxation post race. Like you don't want to be, you know, running around doing a bunch of hiking and things like that. You want like to be sitting on a beach with a conk cooler.
00:50:40
Speaker
Right. It's an hour-ish bus ride to Port Canaveral, right? And you can go on the Wish or I guess the Fantasy is still there right now, right? Yeah. um for for the ah And one other. The Treasure's there, but we kind of ruled that out because of the seven night, right? Because of the timing. so you got an hour bus ride and you're going to Port Canaveral and chances are you're most likely going to Nassau and Castaway, right? Or you could catch the train or rent a car, whatever, and do three or four hours down to Fort Lauderdale and catch the brand new ship.
00:51:06
Speaker
Which way would you guys go? You post-run Disney, what would you do? hoof I honestly, i would think really long and hard about taking that train down to Fort Lauderdale and getting on the destiny. i Like we can't say enough good things about the destiny. Uh, you're also probably might be able to couple it. I haven't looked at the itineraries for, you know, when they line up with like a wine and diner, the other races, but you might be able to hit a five night sailing, which would be really nice. Cause three, yeah three nights you get on the ship, you,
00:51:37
Speaker
but well and you could get on the dream too so the dream and the destiny are out of are out of port everglades and both of them are doing several itineraries that hit both private islands and so yeah i agree with brian i think that's a great option it's just a matter of got to build in a little bit more travel time and so and and you know figure out if you're going to do a different return flight if you're going to fly out of fort lauderdale to fly home or if you're going to go back to mco that's Although the train yeah the train stops right at MCO. So yeah you can get off a train and head straight for a flight. So you could do round trip out of MCO. But honestly, the destiny is just at like... So good. The wish was the wish and it was okay. And we like we enjoyed the wish. But you know after being on the treasure, it's like, whoa, the treasure is like amazing. And a friend of ours was like, oh, you know if you like the treasure...
00:52:29
Speaker
Like, wait until you see the Destiny. We're like, how much better could it be? And ah like, I view the Wish as like the template, the treasure really upped the investment in the spaces of the Haunted Mansion parlor and the Closet of Cocoa, all that sort of stuff. And then the Destiny took all of that and was like, and now we're going to up the game with the entertainment, right? Like, you know, Moana is great. It's one of our favorite shows, but...
00:52:54
Speaker
Hercules, the puppetry is amazing. The characters on board, the destinies, is it Zion Gamble? Yes, Zion Gamble. The storytellers. The storytellers, they introduced that on the treasure and they're amazing on the treasure, but wow, on the destiny, do they kind of really amp things up.
00:53:11
Speaker
The new adult show on the destiny with, not choose wisely, but the Avengers based show. It's a Marvel with great power. with great power for the adult entertainment.
00:53:22
Speaker
ah One of the best adult entertainment shows I've seen hands down on any cruise line. It's just so much fun. And then all of these character meet and play opportunities they've introduced with Cruella, Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, Spider-Man, like,
00:53:36
Speaker
There is just so much to do on that ship, and it's like blows you away like every time. So I honestly would think long and hard about, yeah, let's just hop on the train and head down to Fort Lauderdale get on the Destiny, especially if your other option is the fantasy or the dream. Or not the dream, the fantasy. Just don't count on doing any runs around that promenade deck on those last ships. Okay. Unless you're in hill training and you like stairs. Yeah, unless you like stairs. And you like running in a horseshoe with stairs in the middle twice. Right. Yeah. Okay, so two things from that. I love that- have like 10 things from that. I love that Brian just said, refer to the fantasy as if it was like- Whatever. Yesterday's trash. Yeah. Which is like-
00:54:18
Speaker
Like the fantasy is amazing. It's like our favorite ship. So clearly we love them if it's, if it the other one has got to be like amazing. that's So that, that's what we need to next. Apparently we had, yeah no trying know no, no, um no ding on shame on the fantasy. The fantasy is amazing. it was our first ship. We went on, We've been on the Fantasy a lot. yeah We went on that seven-night Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy multiple times before we even sailed on any other ship. So, um yeah, we love the Fantasy will always have a special place in our hearts. Oh, yeah. but what they're doing on the new ships is just so good. Yeah. Erica, I'm a what-does-chef-have-that's-new kind of guy. Right, right, right, right. And so ah like we actually were on the Fantasy at New Year's Eve, not this past year, but a year before. Yeah.
00:55:06
Speaker
and Just after getting off the Treasures Maiden voyage, and we so enjoyed our time on the Fantasy. It was just, for us, it's like, that's a low-key experience because we've done everything on the Fantasy. so yeah yeah Not much has changed. But I will say, on that sailing, the crew was just... Awesome. On point. Like you could tell they have worked together for a long time. yeah we had Best service. Yeah. So fantasy is not a sleeper ship. But if I if someone put it, you know, in front of me, you can go on the destiny for five nights or the fantasy for seven. I would I would easily say the destiny. I just think that it's blows it away.
00:55:39
Speaker
And we normally would say like the more nights, the better. So that's like a real You and I are in the same camp there. I'm like, if it's not five days minimum, why even go? like Exactly. It needs to be seven or longer. You're not allowed to pass any judgment on to Brian about that comment since you call the magic the tragic. I was wondering when you were going to bring that up.
00:55:59
Speaker
No, no, no. All I was saying is that. She needs a little TLC. You're not wrong. Right? No, I'm just saying like the destiny must be amazing. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, awesome.
00:56:13
Speaker
Anything that we do not want to do when we go on the cruise? Are there any mistakes that you can help our listeners avoid? Like related to the run Disney and cruising yeah conversation. Mm-hmm. I mean, just don't try to do too much. So that's like one, it's one of those things, like we tell people on our show all the time, just if you're cruising in general, like make a couple of priorities of things you want to do, you know, over the course of a day, maybe like pick like two things, yeah but don't pick like 10 things because inevitably you're not going to get to do all 10 things. And then even if you got to do, let's say eight of them, you're probably not going to enjoy them as much because you're thinking about where you have to go now next and running around the ship. So Don't be like Sam and have the ultimate FOMO experience where you just bounce from place to place. Like try and prioritize the things you really want to do. And also be like Brian and sit in the park. Be like Brian and sit in the adult only pool. Like, yeah, try and get some relaxing time in. I mean, one of the great things about Disney Cruise Line is it's not a Disney park. And so you can actually get some relaxing time in Yeah. yeah.
00:57:16
Speaker
You got to not be like me because sometimes I do too much. And so, yeah, try it. Just don't do too much. Okay, good. That's helpful. Our thing, the mistake we made is we have these, you've probably heard of them, compression boots, you know, that like have this big computer that run them. So we took them on our half marathon week and the challenge and whatever. And we tried to take that on the boat and completely on the ship and completely forgot that is not allowed. That's not allowed. This is huge battery pack. So our luggage got confiscated. We forgot. Yeah. The only time we've run into a real problem with security was after we went on the Star Cruiser and then we went on the ship and like we were tapping in to get on the boat. We had checked in everything. We were tapping in and it was like this big red ring around the iPad and we're like, they're like, we need you to step aside for a second. This guy walks up and he's like, need you all to accompany me downstairs. And so it's like me, Sam, our son. like, what is happening right now? And we go downstairs and there's like, Our bag. Deputy sheriff. Yeah. Deputy sheriff, a security guy, and the guy we're with. And they walk over and they're like, need you the bag. And I'm like, okay. We're like, have no idea. I open the bag and they're like, they're like, they're like looking at an iPad they're like, what is this in the bag? And I was like, oh, that's the Sabacc chips that we bought at the Star Cruiser. And they look like just solid tubes of nothing. Which they were actually like, like think of poker chips. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And like at that moment, the Osceola County Sheriff or whoever it was like, the Disney security guy rolled his eyes and walked away. He was so, he was so annoyed. He thought, he thought I had just pulled down a bomb threat. And then was like, Oh my God, you guys don't even know your own souvenirs. That's hilarious.
00:59:03
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Awesome. This has been super helpful. Can we do some, uh, we, we, uh, on a topic, we talk about the good and the bad, right? So like, uh, kind of rapid fire, whatever, you know, no a real big explanation needed. Like what are the good things about combining a run Disney race weekend with a cruise sailing, you know, like just quick hits. This is why you'd want to do it.
00:59:23
Speaker
relaxation after that run. You've earned it. Like you get to relax. Yeah. Mickey Churro Waffles. Oh, amen. Yes. ah So good. So good. Okay. the bads?
00:59:34
Speaker
Ah, the bads. Are there any bads? The stairs. yeah You got to take more time off of work, I guess. I don't know if that's a bad thing. And the cost, to the cost, I would say, you know, like run Disney is not um inexpensive. right And guess what? Cruises are also not even less inexpensive. yeah right Although at least the food's included on the cruise and your soft drinks. None of that's included at a run Disney weekend. Well, yeah and it more, I think we talked about that more limited itineraries and ship options. If you're really trying to make this compact and line up with the, uh, with the run weekend. So yeah. you know If you're really looking to get on a seven-night sailing, I think that's probably not going to be the option yeah a couple with the right. Just do it another time. You know what I mean? like you can yeah You can be close or whatever, but just let it be its own thing. yeah
01:00:23
Speaker
Yeah. Exactly. Plus, I think the complication complication in packing, right? Because as Erica pointed out, you got you need different things for one or the other. And you there's some overlap, but it's not you know the Venn diagram is not two circles on top of each other.
Reflecting on Disney and Cruise Experience
01:00:39
Speaker
Right.
01:00:39
Speaker
Yeah. One of other other things we do is we call it running it back. We just look back and say, is there anything you do the same or different, right? So when you guys did your run Disney weekend combined with cruise, is there anything you're like, oh, we would definitely do this again or we would definitely not do that again? So one thing, we're we're DVC owners, so like we always stay on property. And I would just say, you know for folks who aren't DVC owners,
01:01:01
Speaker
ah For the Disneyland races, especially if they come back, like I think Disneyland has destroyed a lot of the value of staying on property because they eliminated the early morning magic hours. Those hotels are much pricier than the good neighbor hotels that sit around the park. They're not really closer.
01:01:18
Speaker
Yeah, there's not a ton of benefit left to staying on property. So if you're thinking about the expense of the run Disney race itself, you know, the budget for your merch from the expo, you know, all that sort of stuff. Like this is for land, so for land, for land. yeah Yeah. Not for Disney world for land. Uh, I think you can save yourself a lot of money by staying off property at Disneyland. And there's really, I can't actually think of a real benefit other than proximity, but a lot of the good neighbor hotels are like, we walked further from the Disney villas, the Disneyland hotel, of the you know, the Disneyland hotel. Yeah.
01:01:52
Speaker
across downtown Disney to get to the start line than bunch of people who are staying at hotels in the surrounding area. Yeah, we had a much shorter walk than y'all. We were off a Harbor Boulevard in Catella. You know what I mean? And we just walked right out the front door, you know? Yeah. the the only The only thing I think I would say is make sure you book that massage, right? So if you're on the the cruise, I think that that's a good lesson. Have that booked ahead of time because you're going to want that massage ah either on embarkation day or the very next day. And the other thing I would just say is, you know,
01:02:22
Speaker
just make sure you follow your training plan. I mean, obviously, like there are things that that you can't help, right? Injuries happen and all of that. But like, do do those training runs? Listen to AJ and Erica, because you want to plan to plan for success, not for failure. And I, um you know, I hate seeing in the Facebook groups, people who are like, Oh, I haven't trained at all. And I'm going to run the dopey or the Dumbo or the goofy or whatever. And, and I'm just always like, Oh my God, like that's just not smart. That's not a smart way to to do any race, whether that's at run Disney or at your home race, um, a 5k. Okay. Yeah.
01:03:01
Speaker
fine. Don't train for a 5k. But if you're doing any distance, you know, 10k or greater, um you got to have some training plan. it doesn't mean you're, you're running every single day. In fact, you shouldn't be running every single day, but you got to have some training plan, work with a, you know, a professional, somebody who knows what they're doing, um, to come up with a, you know, maybe it's a couch to 5k or couch to 10k or couch to half marathon plan. But, sure um, yeah, have a plan. If you don't have a plan, you're planning to fail. Yeah.
01:03:30
Speaker
I would offer one other thing because i came home and actually we talked about this in the middle of our trip. Think carefully about how many park ticket days you want to buy yeah for one of these. Because we bought a, we don't, we used to have annual passes, but they've gotten so expensive and we weren't going enough that we let it lapse. Yeah, same with us. Yeah. And so we, we bought park tickets. Well, we bought three day, you know, park hopper tickets with, you know, lightning lane plus or genie plus or whatever they're calling it now.
01:03:57
Speaker
Uh, and I would say it was a mistake because like after the race, what I really wanted to do is like, can we just go sit by the pool right now? yeah Now, and I'd also say, be careful about what you plan at the parks after the race. And like, Sam really wanted to stay out for paint the night and was like practically falling asleep during the parade. And so it was like, it's like, you know, just, just know your limits there after you've gotten up at three o'clock in the morning yeah to go to the start line. And Are you really going to get the value out of that park day? Do you need that ticket? If I did, if I booked those things my races again, I would probably just book like maybe a two day yeah park ticket and plan to skip the parks on the day of the race. Yeah. And the first day we went in, we did the expo so that we didn't buy a park ticket for that day. So that was on Thursday. So I think that part is, is standard. If you don't plan on doing the parks on expo day, cause expo day is a little bit crazy and chaotic, whether you're at land or world, actually at world, it's actually, you know, more out of the way. Yeah. so yeah Yeah. I agree with you guys on that. And then I think even my next level on that is like, um, every, like you see all this run Disney content online and everybody has this perfectly plan black yada, whatever. And they got all these pictures in the parks and all this, whatever. And it's like, you don't have to do it that way. You know what I mean? Like sitting by the pool is just as great. You know what I mean? If, especially if you're running a long distance, like don't set your expectations. And I guess that would apply to, to any trip. So, Um, great. That's all of our questions. Uh, if we missed anything, then what did you, did we miss anything you guys, you got, you got anything? Cause that's everything that's important. so that's everything that's important. Like I said, listen to AJ and Erica. They will give you all the the good running advice, the fueling advice, the what to wear advice, what to pack advice, all that good stuff. They've got tons of episodes on it. So listen to them. So you guys, I know Apple Podcasts, Spotify. If someone searches for you on anything, I'm pretty sure they're going you DCL Duo, right? Yeah, we always say the easiest way to find us these days is head over to dclduo.com. We've got links off to just about every way you can connect with us. We've got links if you're if you're cruising and you're interested in being on the podcast. you know We've got a link for that. Just everything is there, dclduo.com. And yeah, we're on all the major podcasts.
01:06:10
Speaker
podcasting platforms, YouTube, Spotify, yeah Apple, all of it. so It's totally worth subscribing to. Even if you haven't been on a Disney cruise yet, actually, I feel like that's who really needs to subscribe. Because I learned so much before we went on our first one. And then now we've been on several. And I just keep listening every week, yeah every week. You're on the rotation.
01:06:30
Speaker
We learn something new, it seems like, yeah every week. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you guys so, so much for coming on our podcast. like It was such a pleasure and a joy, and we're just so grateful for you. We are grateful to be here and i could not be like more supportive of you both and the show. Just love what you're doing. And, ah you know, we love we love coming on and supporting positive content creators in the community and love collaborating with them. So loved it. And just thank you so much for having us on. Y'all are awesome. Keep at it, guys.
01:07:04
Speaker
That was awesome. And apparently, a a we need to go on the Destiny next. and According to Brian, that is it. The fantasy, just mark that right off your list. right off the list. And we love the fantasy. We do. we love the fantasy. Thank you all for being on the show. It was so so great. Uh, friends, be sure to subscribe and follow them on all the things, uh, or, or at least their podcast or YouTube, whatever, follow them for anything. Disney cruise line. Thank you all for joining us today. We're so glad you're on this podcast journey with us. We will catch you next week for another episode of one more run.
01:07:42
Speaker
Thanks for joining us for this episode of One More Run, the podcast. If you like what we're up to, be sure to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow us on Instagram. You can find links to all of that at ajanderica.com.