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Ep 20 - From rope drop to runDisney... balancing the parks and races
209 Plays9 days ago
It’s our 20th episode! 🎉 We’re joined by Doug and Michelle from Rope Drop on Deck (one of our favorite Disney podcasts) to talk runDisney, theme park strategies and travel tips. They are total pros when it comes to Disney parks and Disney cruising, so we ask them all the things! Whether you’re planning your first runDisney trip or your tenth, this conversation is full of practical advice, fun stories, and plenty of laughs.
Doug co-hosts two Disney podcasts, be sure to check out BOTH of them. If you love the Disney parks, be sure to listen to Rope Drop Radio. If you love Disney cruising like us, Rope Drop on Deck is a must as well.
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Transcript
Introduction and Disney Theme Park Allure
00:00:00
Speaker
Going to the theme parks is obviously one of the primary reasons to go to Walt Disney World. But if you're there for a run Disney race weekend, you might want to reconsider that rope drop to fireworks strategy.
00:00:10
Speaker
Totally. Today we have some Disney parks experts on the podcast to help us come up with some good theme park strategies for our next race weekend.
00:00:26
Speaker
hey everyone. Welcome to episode number 20 of the podcast.
Celebrating Milestones and Special Guests
00:00:31
Speaker
Erica and I are thrilled, are we not? We are so excited. ah You know, when we hit episode seven, ah was like, this is when everybody quits, episode seven. Yes. And we passed it. yeah And then we hit 10, and now this is 20.
00:00:42
Speaker
twenty Yes. I am so excited, and we're celebrating in a big way. We have big-time guests on the podcast today. Doug and Michelle are from the podcast Rope Drop on Deck, which is like special a cruise line focus spinoff yeah off of rope drop radio, which everybody who listens to a Disney podcast knows radio. They are all parks focused.
00:01:03
Speaker
Doug is a co-host of that one as well. I asked him, Hey, would you guys be willing to come talk run Disney, Disney parks, all that on our little baby infant. podcast over here. And they said yes.
00:01:15
Speaker
So that is today. I
Tips for Stress-Free Run Disney Races
00:01:17
Speaker
am so excited. The goal of our podcast, if you're new here, or even if you've been here for a while, we just want you to arrive at your run Disney race, stress-free, confident, feeling like you know what you need to do and ready to have fun. So that's our goal, tips, tricks, and whatever to get you there.
00:01:35
Speaker
Erica, do we have any reviews on Apple Podcasts? We do. We have a good one. This one is from Kendra Berg and it's titled, Thank You. Wow. Thank you, AJ and Erica, for covering topics that have calmed so many of my nerves.
00:01:49
Speaker
I'm running the Dopey Challenge, first ever run Disney event in January. Her first ever is a run? Is Dopey? Is Dopey. Yeah, she's going after it hard. From the corrals episode to practice before race days, your tips and tricks are brilliant.
00:02:04
Speaker
Hope to see you during marathon weekend. That was so sweet and exactly why we do this podcast. And we would absolutely love to meet you at Marathon Weekend. Yes. We're excited for you. Yeah.
00:02:15
Speaker
We will be at Marathon Weekend. We will. For sure. Great. Let's talk about upcoming topics. Erica, next week we're going talk all things Run Disney Expo. Awesome. So we're getting nitty gritty. You know what I mean? You'd think that, well, the expo is open from nine to whatever. Like you'd think that's it, we're just going to talk about all the things you can get there, all the things to expect, maybe when not to go to the expo. If you don't like crowds, like we're just going to kind of talk through all the things and we've kind of touched like little itty bits and pieces of the expo throughout our 20 episodes so far. But this one's committed a hundred percent to it.
00:02:48
Speaker
So you're looking for expo answers, hopefully that will get you there. perfect sweet Great. Let's move on to
Guest Insights: Balancing Park Visits During Race Weekends
00:02:55
Speaker
today's topic. We have Doug and Michelle who host Rope Drop on Deck. Like I was saying before, Rope Drop on Deck is very cruise line focused. Rope Drop Radio is all parks focused.
00:03:06
Speaker
right Doug and Michelle have run Disney Experience, right? They've done several. They've actually got to do the Star Wars races, I learned. So awesome. Which we never got to do. We didn't. And so um what we did is we basically invited them on and said, hey, can you give us some tips on how to do the parks?
00:03:22
Speaker
well during race weekend during race weekend because you can ruin your race if you don't like if you go too hard in the theme parks you can ruin your race but on the other side you want to make sure that you're having a good weekend as well and you're not just running so we're going to dive into it yeah this is our conversation with doug and michelle from rope drop on deck
00:03:45
Speaker
And this is like a big deal because Doug and Michelle are like parks experts, cruise experts. They have Disney experience. Whenever I listen to it either of those shows, but especially Rope Drop on Deck, the minute i like that the minute that episode drops on Tuesdays, it's the first thing I listen to. yeah i love it I write all it. all their tips. Like if if Doug says he's going to eat here, I write it down. When Michelle says, skip it, I'm like, okay, noted. Got it.
00:04:09
Speaker
And so you guys, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here. I know that Run Disney is a little bit out of your realm, but you have Run Disney experience. So we want to like glean what you know about the parks and Run Disney ah so that we can get better at it. So welcome to the podcast.
00:04:24
Speaker
and Thank you so much for having us. Excited to be here. Yeah, we are very excited. Thank you. Yeah. We're, we love your show. I'm not just saying that. Like I ah haven't missed a single one. And so we love, we love your show. You guys cover all of our favorite topics.
00:04:38
Speaker
ah here so We've missed some, but. We miss shows all the time. So now I feel pressured to get that download on time for Tuesday. Oh, the pressure is mounting for Let's just go ahead and say that there have been a few times where you didn't publish on Tuesday. You were like on vacation or something. Yeah. And I kind of had a little bit of like, no, what am I going to do? What am I going to listen to?
00:05:02
Speaker
Oh, gosh. Let's talk Run Disney stuff. So if you don't mind, let's start off with what's your Run Disney background? what what Are you guys runners? like what did Give us the the history. Yeah. So, um, run Disney experience. I've done the princess half as well as the light side and the dark side.
00:05:17
Speaker
Two of those don't exist anymore, but they were a run Disney races. Um, so that's my experience. And I also have done the princess half. Was that 2014? I don't even remember. I mean, it goes back a ways. We can look at the metal it's behind us, but I'm not going to work that hard.
00:05:31
Speaker
And then we did the lights. I did the light side, the dark side. But when we did the light side out at Disneyland, I also did the 10 K to get the challenge shirt. I did not. The challenge had BB eight on it. Awesome.
00:05:44
Speaker
That's awesome. Literally the only reason. And then I just did the springtime surprise where I just survived it. The 10 miler. Yeah. Nice. um Are you guys runners outside of Disney? No. okay it's Okay.
00:06:01
Speaker
We've done a couple other half marathons.
The Unique Magic of Running at Disney
00:06:03
Speaker
We have. I always said that the only way I was going to do a half marathon was at Disney World. Right. And I've done three in Nebraska. so They're very flat, the ones we've done. Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:12
Speaker
I get that. I get that. I always say running is only magical at Disney. So I i get that. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think you can say, no, I'm not really a runner when you can say, yeah, we've done a couple other half marathons. Yeah, yeah, for sure. You guys are runners. I'm pretty you fall in the camp of, yeah, you can run if you just have done a few other halves. Right. It was a while ago.
00:06:33
Speaker
i mean Yeah, we've done a few others. Yeah. What did you guys like better, the princess races or the Star Wars ones? We didn't get the opportunity to do Star Wars before they they'd stopped doing them.
00:06:43
Speaker
So if I was to pick between my three, I would definitely pick the princess. The weather in February is much better than the weather running in Orlando in April. yeah we I swear we almost died like heat stroke in April, right?
00:06:56
Speaker
And then I didn't enjoy Disneyland very much just because it was all city. like Right. The half marathon at Disneyland is not as exciting. Yeah. You're out in the city streets. But I really enjoyed the 10K at Disneyland because it was 100% backstage or in the parks. Yeah, totally. Yeah. And it was just tons of Star Wars characters and like not the normal ones. And I'm a bigger Star Wars nerd.
00:07:23
Speaker
Yeah, he is. I also like the corral staging for the dark side at Disney World because they had tons of photo things. You couldn't have cared less. Like absolutely correct.
00:07:35
Speaker
But me and another friend, we got lots of really weird nerdy pictures. Yeah. And were happy, so I was happy. I was probably, I like the Star Wars one better. 100% on the weather though.
00:07:46
Speaker
oh yeah for february yeah yeah we love we've done one springtime surprise and we've kind of we haven't like said we'll never do it again but to your point yeah it was hot it was spring break so the crowds were crazy like we're we kind of love those january february races you know like we we dig that we were signed up for a star wars race and then covet hit and so we never got to do it so we still dress star wars though you know in one of our races so we could represent a little bit Cool. You guys cool to talk theme parks. I'm looking for like tips.
00:08:15
Speaker
I'm ready for some tips. So what tips do you guys have for people who are going to do a, you know, a run Disney race? Like what tips do you have for, Hey, if you're going to do a run Disney race, awesome. If you're going to go to the theme parks, awesome.
00:08:27
Speaker
Here's some suggestions of how to do both. Well, any, any, any thoughts? I would say don't overdo it from the beginning. So I would put the race towards the front, but not at the very front of the vacation. If you want to say if it's a vacation, if you're running, yeah I don't know.
00:08:40
Speaker
um But also make sure that your front ended park days are very key. Low key. Don't I would not rope drop or if you rope drop, make sure you're taking a nap. Don't stay out a super late, especially like 48 hours before your race. Sure.
00:08:53
Speaker
Yeah. So if you're just doing one race, right, I think rope dropping the day before is key. Because you got to get up at 5 a.m. or 2 a.m. the next day. So you might as well get up early, hit the parks early, and then nap. Just all the naps.
00:09:08
Speaker
Get the feet up and nap. He's a napper. Yeah. True. So you would say skip the fireworks or phantasmic or whatever. That's not the night before a race, correct? No.
00:09:19
Speaker
Yeah. and Or the night before the night before even. Oh, yeah. Turning in a little early both nights if you're getting in two nights early because you want to get in, go get your packet the next day race the next day, maybe them off, you know, go low key dinner, go chill at the resort.
00:09:37
Speaker
Great. So how many park days, but i mean, you know, a newbie, right? Two or three park days before the race, no park days before the race, save them all till after. Like, what's your like, hey, you know what? The sweet spot is probably do this. What would that be?
Pre-Race and Post-Race Park Strategies
00:09:49
Speaker
I would say one before the race, honestly. um Maybe two if you don't want to like make sure you get your money's worth. like If you're okay with going like a half day or a fourth of a day, then maybe two is okay. But I'd say one just to – because those miles really do add up.
00:10:05
Speaker
so Especially if you're at Disney World, the the parks are large. I know it doesn't seem that large while you're there, but the next day it's going to feel even larger if they're – Yeah. Races coming up. I did a day and a half before the springtime surprise.
00:10:18
Speaker
And I went to Hollywood Studios where it's the smallest park, right? Yeah. That's a good one. you get less mileage in there. Don't drink around the world, right? A little common sense, right? Yeah.
00:10:30
Speaker
The mileage of drinking around the world plus the drinking of drinking around the world, unless it's water, then drink around the world. But I doubt it's water. right yeah i It's hard to pull back on the parks if you're like new to the parks too. yeah But if you're just new to run Disney, but a very experienced Disney world person, like,
00:10:48
Speaker
One day. Also the packet pickup is a lot of actual work. Yeah. It really is. Like they march you around that whole place and you're on your feet a lot. So wear good shoes to that.
00:11:00
Speaker
Like I failed at that this last time i wore flip flops. in my feet like Yeah. It was. And you're not a flip flop guy. I, I was on my way to Blizzard Beach to use my free Blizzard Beach water park. Yeah. Hotel check-in day. Yeah. i I went from the airport to packet pickup in my flip-flops and I paid the price. I paid the price. Not going to lie.
00:11:23
Speaker
I've told Erica that I feel like ah the expo day or whatever should take like 45 minutes or an hour. And every time ah I'm two and a half, three hours in and I'm like, why are we still here? Right. And so, yes, you're you're right. It does take a lot out of you yeah for that. So then you would say do a couple of park days after, like if you've got the time and the budget, like, you know, do do your Magic Kingdom, you know, big day with the fireworks and all that after a race it or your ur race weekend. Is that what I'm hearing?
00:11:48
Speaker
Yeah, pretty much. Although the day of the race, don't expect to get like, you can do four parks in one day if you like, you're really, yeah. yeah um But it's, it's a, your adrenaline is going propel you through a little bit of the day, but then you're really going to crash.
00:12:03
Speaker
That's what Advil's for. i Advil did not help me at my first one. you remember what I was like the day of my- You can describe it to people. I'll let ready for that story? Does that not fit in somewhere else? I mean, it's we're talking about parks and the day of the race. I thought- There was a moment where I'm like, okay, I'm just going to leave her on this bench for the rest of the day.
00:12:24
Speaker
She's just like, we're the, what the Mark Twain, the, what's the name of the boat, the Liberty belt. It's gone. So I don't have to say the name right anymore. We're in the waiting area for that, which, you know, nobody needs to wait to get on that because nobody else was.
00:12:37
Speaker
But you just like lay down on a bench and just like, I'm not moving again. And I was like, I'm dying. I'm yeah. It's like, oh, yeah she's legit. Just she's not moving. This is like the middle of the afternoon. So it wasn't like fireworks. It was 90 degrees.
00:12:49
Speaker
So I say like play it slow the day of the race, right? You're go want to go back, take a shower. I also don't recommend flying home. We've done that as well. We've done that. Don't do that. that Because when you get off a three and a half hour flight, you're quite like, like rigamorgous has set in.
00:13:04
Speaker
I don't think that's the correct term. I mean, it feel i felt like it. It felt like it. Also, the time we flew home, the day of, we flew Allegiant home. The one and only time we've done that. Oh, yeah.
00:13:17
Speaker
Not only was it a flight home, it was the least comfortable seat with the least amount of leg room. It was awesome. Oh, my. Yeah, we can top that. We're from Atlanta, and that's seven and a half hours, and we decided to drive home one time. Oh. Like an hour after we crossed. Checkouts at 11. Yeah.
00:13:33
Speaker
You know what I mean? and so they said, no, you can't get a late checkout. Everybody wants one. And so we had to be out of our hotel room at 11 and we just ran the fairytale challenge, yeah you know, two days in row and we all packed up in the car.
00:13:45
Speaker
Terrible. Oh my gosh. We got about an hour north and I'm like, let's just check into a hotel. Like, let's not even. It was awful. Like, where's Gainesville? Are we going? Yeah. Yeah. Gainesville, which is like two and a half hours away, felt like it was like 12 states. You know what I mean? My legs were all locked up.
00:14:03
Speaker
I look back like, hey, anybody else want to drive? They're all asleep. You know? And so, yeah, not that. I was in the back with the compression boots on. The compression boots. Yeah. And he's driving there. And he was driving. Jeez. We did switch at one point. We did. Yeah. That was a live and learn moment. We're not doing it again. Yeah.
00:14:21
Speaker
Yes. Okay. That's awesome. Any other tips before we move on to you know maybe some things of not to do? I think just remember to hydrate more than you think you need to hydrate if you're doing the parks, right? like yeah And i would say like the week before, not the day before yeah because otherwise you're going pee the whole time.
00:14:38
Speaker
And since most of the races are in the winter and a lot of people come from colder climates than Georgia, sorry, you guys are spoiled down there. Like be aware that you're going to, the humidity is going to get you. That's what got me at the springtime surprise is the humidity.
00:14:54
Speaker
For sure. so Yeah. So you guys mentioned several things that people should not do, but is there anything else that we haven't talked about yet that you should not try and do when you're at the parks for run Disney? Did we jump ahead on the questions? How dare we? That's okay. It's perfect. We just want to give you the opportunity you had anything else.
00:15:09
Speaker
You know, like I think the thing is like if you're going for a once in a lifetime trip to Disney World and run Disney, I'm like, oh man, that might be a mistake. Like, you know what i mean? Make a run Disney trip or run Disney trip and a family vacation, a family vacation, right?
00:15:23
Speaker
And so like to me, i wouldn't I wouldn't mix those two. Do you have any other thoughts on what you don't want to do? We ended up for our springtime, not springtime surprise, like the light side. Dark side. Dark side at Orlando.
00:15:35
Speaker
We ended up taking a babysitter.
Managing Family Vacations with Run Disney Events
00:15:37
Speaker
Our kids were probably old enough to be okay, but like we knew we were not going to be in any shape to like have fun in the parks that day, the last day or the day before they did some stuff. yeah about us too But yeah.
00:15:48
Speaker
So just know that like family vacation, it's probably like AJ said, it's not that. Yeah. Yeah. But they had a lot of fun with the babysitter. So she had been a babysitter for us for a long time. Yeah. And just a college student. Part the family. Yeah.
00:16:01
Speaker
College student. Said she had to study all the time. And then instead of studying, watched Hannah Montana. I hope she listens. Yeah. But that was really nice having that. Yeah.
00:16:12
Speaker
Because if we had tried to entertain our kids and do run Disney at the same time, like that would have been an absolute disaster. Yeah. Yeah. Like that would have been bad. Our teenagers ran with us and it was still a little bit hard to keep them entertained and all that stuff. You know, like kids are distracting, you know, when you're trying to trying to run a race. Yeah. um We have one that wants to go and do it. It's just the timing's bad.
00:16:36
Speaker
they With the activities at school. So maybe next year. Yeah. They'll be in college. so Cool. Are the parks crowded? are they Is this a good time to go, you know, do the parks or whatever? Should you just avoid it because it's too crowded?
00:16:49
Speaker
Like any thoughts on on crowd levels from your experience? It kind of depends on which race it is. So Wine and Dine is a little bit more crowded, in my opinion, than, say, the Princess because people love to have fall breaks right around the Wine and Dine. So um at least that's my busy time as a travel agent, like having people in the parks in the fall.
00:17:08
Speaker
So that's kind of busy. um Marathon weekend can be kind of busy because it's right after the new year. Some schools aren't back. Colleges aren't back. It really depends on where it falls. Sometimes it's busier than others. Yeah.
00:17:20
Speaker
The princess is like around President's Day, but it's not like a huge break for most people, i would say. But like it you had touched on before, the spring break, the spring so springtime surprise can be busy. busy yeah um And by busy, I don't mean like Christmas level, New Year's level, right? It's just busier than, say, an average day at Disney World.
00:17:40
Speaker
Six to seven bananas worth of busy. Sure. yeah But like, as long as you don't mind people clanking around with medals all day long around you, yeah we we've been at, yeah in the parks but and not done run Disney.
00:17:55
Speaker
So it's not that bad. I don't think the runs move the needle that much on park attendance and attraction wait times. So if you're going as a, your family vacation Just be prepared to like, don't be annoyed by everybody taking pictures with PhotoPass with their medals after the race. Right. If that's going to bother you, you do not want to go that weekend because the PhotoPass lines are all going to be longer. Right. The attraction lines, I don't think it impacted too much because i think a lot of people think they're going to do the parks more afterwards. And then they end up laying on a bench for the Liberty Bell.
00:18:32
Speaker
Yeah, we watched a lot more shows than we expected to. I'm like, hey, want watch the Indiana Jones stunt spectacular? What can we do sitting down? There you go. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.
00:18:43
Speaker
ah I don't think it impacts the parks too much. It can impact transportation. Yeah, like early morning transportation so if you're rope dropping. Yeah, because don't rope drop Epcot on the day of a half or the full. Right. Right. Go go Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, avoid Epcot.
00:19:05
Speaker
ah Magic Kingdom clears out earlier. If you're going and not doing the runs, know where the runs go. Yeah. Right. Right. But by mid morning, late afternoon, it's just a lot of clinking around the parks.
00:19:17
Speaker
And some people do the runs and they don't ever go in the parks. Right. So there's that too. Yep. Cool. um What is y'all's favorite resort to stay at on a race weekend and why?
00:19:28
Speaker
So we disagree here. Okay. so Oh, good. de Good. we just Yeah. Okay. The court is in session. I'm ready. I'll go first. So I like resorts that you don't have to walk a lot at. So, um, Puerto Lanes French quarter is a big one for me. We love it.
00:19:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And then, um, Riviera, because I love the Skyliner, right. But Caribbean beaches just, and pop are just too spread out for us on a race day. So that's, those, those are my two.
00:19:55
Speaker
I'm cheap, so I'm just going to say pop. Oh, yeah. um Because it has the Skyliner. It's pretty simple. I just like the simplicity of the Skyliner. They know how to operate buses.
00:20:07
Speaker
like When you walk out to get on a bus for the race, there's like three of them lined up. I was on a bus before bus service started for the springtime surprise. Right. And Ari on my way texting with my, uh, my cohost on rope drop radio. They're at beach club still waiting for their first bus to fill up to leave. Right. And I'm like, I'm already pulling up to Epcot and they're like, we're just leaving.
00:20:31
Speaker
But they stayed at beach club thinking we can just walk over. I'm like, no, you can't. No. Yeah. i can't do that. No. So yeah, but after the race, would I have really appreciated a deluxe resort to have a deluxe mattress, deluxe covers toilet paper? Yes.
00:20:48
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. We love French quarter for the walking and it's a moderate, you know, kind of vibe. We, we certainly like that. We hot take, but we like Coronado Springs for a race weekend. Cause no, and none of the runners are there and there's like 12 restaurants, you know? So yeah you get a bunch of food options and yes, you have to walk. You gotta be ready for that.
00:21:07
Speaker
But like, that's our only real downside. ah But on a race weekend, There's always a convention there on race weekend, yeah but there's no runners there. So we've we've found that we we dig that one. It's quiet. Yeah. Well, you can solve the walking problem. Yeah, you can spring for the tower and then there's no walking. Correct. yeah yep Absolutely. Money fixes everything. yep It is sure does.
00:21:28
Speaker
Yeah, because this run Disney thing is pretty cheap, you know? Yeah. so Yeah. ah Michelle, question. You're travel agent. like Do you have any booking suggestions for us like ah you know how how to get the best deal or win
Booking Strategies for Run Disney Weekends
00:21:42
Speaker
the book? and any Any suggestions as a travel agent?
00:21:45
Speaker
So I have a lot of run Disney clients and i they're always the first to book like once the next year opens. So like once 2026 opened and they knew the race dates, even though the races weren't open, they would just book.
00:21:56
Speaker
um They would book the the resort they wanted. And then discounts come out later. Travel agents watch, good ones anyway, watch for discounts to drop. And then- uh, save the money or at that point they can decide to upgrade. and Um, but I always tell them to book what you can afford. Obviously the races are expensive yeah and then we can always upgrade if there's a better deal or whatnot, but always good to have something to fall back on.
00:22:21
Speaker
Even if you can't get in the the race, cause you're Sometimes that happens. yeah um Technology and just bad luck. Right. ye So you can always either change the dates of it or cancel it.
00:22:32
Speaker
So there's ways there's ways around it, but always be prepared and book early. That's my biggest one. Yep. And then also to start thinking about dining, like what you might want to do. I know we haven't discussed that yet at all, really, but. But having a good meal a couple, like 48 hours before a race is really good. yeah Or having a race the day of the race, sorry, having a meal the day of the race so that you can just sit and not have to be in the parks.
00:22:54
Speaker
We did that this time. Yeah. Back to the resorts. We talked about the ones that you should do. Oh. But what ones shouldn't you do? Because when I think of that for Run Disney, I think Wilderness Lodge would be rather horrible.
00:23:06
Speaker
because ah transportation is long to get back there. It's off the view. It probably shares with contemporary or something. I think all the Magic Kingdom would be a mistake, right? Or am I wrong?
00:23:16
Speaker
Yeah, but I also think you're only, maybe you're only doing the marathon or half marathon, right? And so you're only doing that once. So I feel like you're at least your close walking distance to Magic Kingdom then. Okay, fine.
00:23:26
Speaker
So I mean, there's there's other ways to look at it. So I have an argument there, Michelle, and I'd love if you can debunk it for me as a travel agent. Is okay anytime someone complains about their bus was late or got lost, it seems like it's always a Magic Kingdom resort bus that's lost lost or late. And I think it's because, this is my theory, because their course is...
00:23:47
Speaker
closed, right? Like the the buses can't get there. So the buses are trying to find a back way around or whatever. Whereas if you're staying at pop art of animation, Caribbean beach, any of those, there's no road closures between there and, um, Epcot.
00:24:01
Speaker
Right. So that's my theory is that that's why buses get lost, which is why we, if we love deluxe resorts, they're awesome. But we didn't, we don't ever want the stress of trying to get to the race. Do you think that that's valid or you think I'm off my rocker?
00:24:14
Speaker
Oh, no. Yeah, no. okay the Right around the Magic Kingdom area is a nightmare ah for transportation because we've done the parks when there's Run Disney going on. yeah Because we've done some cruising and stuff. Yeah, we have. Yeah, we've cruised during Run Disney races. And then like making sure that our we could get to the ship was like, okay, we need to make sure they go this route. Right. Because we were at Contemporary, which is less than ideal.
00:24:38
Speaker
Because I think contemporary is the worst one because the route goes right there. Yeah, you're definitely right. Yeah. And Wilderness Lodge comes onto that road. You just don't like Wilderness Lodge anyway. Oh, you have a problem with Wilderness Lodge? i like the food offerings at Wilderness Lodge.
00:24:53
Speaker
But nothing else. It's pretty. It's pretty. it's pretty all well this doesn't sleep five. sleep five. sleep five yeah We're a family of five too. We know all about that problem. It's tricky. Stead to me.
00:25:04
Speaker
Okay. So we keep starting to bring up food. yeah Where do you guys like to eat on property when you know you have a race the next day? Can I answer first? Go for it. Mama Melrose is my favorite. Okay.
00:25:15
Speaker
Hot it' take. Yeah. RIP. Okay. I'm done. but ah um'm I'll move it on to other people. I don't know what to do now. So I'm kind of cheap. Like I don't, I don't mind like going to like, um,
00:25:27
Speaker
Art of animation and doing like the pasta. Yeah. Like I don't necessarily have to have a sit down restaurant. Right. passes Pasta is pasta. Yeah. Is pasta. Yeah. And then I'm not tempted to go for dessert or like, I don't know.
00:25:39
Speaker
They do your gluten free pasta though. Yeah. Yeah. right, what else? Give us a couple options. Anything else you would do if it wasn't the Art of Animation food food court? You mean there's stuff other than the Art of Animation food court? so Apparently.
00:25:51
Speaker
i did Tony's two nights before. And it is Italian. That's about all I can say about Tony's. Do you guys typically only eat pasta?
00:26:02
Speaker
but before We try to avoid the greasy stuff. yeah And so I'm not going to go to Ohana even though I want to. right yeah Or Whispering Canyon probably not going to be ideal.
00:26:14
Speaker
yeah and I would say I'm more picky. oh I'm going to say I'm more picky. You're absolutely more picky. I'll eat whatever. Pasta just seems like the safe thing for me at Disney. And I know that the gluten-free options are okay because it's you know, not prepared on site.
00:26:31
Speaker
So yeah. Yeah. Can I just like interject? Like, I love that we have another married couple on the podcast. Like people always talk about our banter. Like it's, it's great that we're like, I said, that's why I love their podcast. I know.
00:26:44
Speaker
Well, I mean, I love it on their podcast too. I just love that we're all right now. Like, but Let's deviate here for a second. You guys, and this is a serious statement, the way you interact with each other inspired us that maybe we could actually do this as a podcast. Like, I'm not kidding about that. And so we decided, because we were like, are we qualified for this, whatever? And then i was like, wait a minute, they have fun. Maybe we can have we can have fun. So anyway, we we've decided to loosen up a little bit. Thanks to you.
00:27:10
Speaker
There's zero qualifications to have a podcast. Don't tell people that. My friends think I'm kind of cool now. so like I mean, you get the card, you carry it you present it places. it gets you nothing. That's right. That's right.
00:27:27
Speaker
All right. Sorry, you keep going. right. I got us off track. Sorry. Um, any, we talked to food pre-race. Is there anything you would do, whether it's food or not, uh, unique things to celebrate after a race, right? You've done something hard, you're dead, you're tired, whatever, but you want to celebrate any suggestions, any food, really the food you couldn't eat the day before.
00:27:45
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. That's what i we, I character meals, character meals. With your metal. Yeah. Right. Like breakfast around like noon. yeah We did Cape May Cafe after the springtime surprise and man, did that hit the spot. And then we waddled into Epcot and took pictures in Epcot.
00:28:04
Speaker
That's my thing I would do to celebrate is just lots of photo pass pictures because I'm a picture person. oh Yeah. yeah Yeah. We, we, we, we bought the like a add on to our annual passes, you know, where you get the photo pass thing. Cause when, then we just walk up to any and every character we want with our medals, you know, and and take as many pictures as we want, knowing that we've already paid for it. So yeah, we, we do pictures too.
00:28:26
Speaker
That's but um What is the best piece of advice you would give someone before they ran their first run Disney race? i would say to actually train. So. That's a good one.
00:28:38
Speaker
Are you referring to someone that just did the springtime surprise? Yeah, or maybe- wasn't my first race show. maybe the dark light side or dark side for me. I don't know. Yeah, you did it. But it's just a lot more enjoyable. like You are not like um really worried about the balloon ladies. When you can see the balloon ladies, it's a different event. Yeah, it is.
00:28:56
Speaker
So you're just more relaxed and you can actually enjoy character stops that way and take pictures and really enjoy the moment um and the entertainment along the course. Because not only is there- like characters and stuff, but there's actual entertainment that you don't have back home at your half marathons.
Training Tips and Character Stops for First-Time Runners
00:29:11
Speaker
right So yeah. Yeah. yeah That's a good one.
00:29:13
Speaker
I would say train. And when the balloon ladies have Death Star balloons, it's even scarier. Yeah. I can imagine. It's all Death Stars coming for us in California. It was not great. Anyway, um so my piece of advice that I failed to give Lauren, my co-host on Rope Drop Radio, it was her first ever run Disney event, but she's done the like Chicago Marathon, and so has her husband. They've done big big races like that.
00:29:38
Speaker
I forgot to tell them, no one cares about your time. Yeah. Because you finish other races, right? And everybody's like, what'd you run? What did you run? What'd you run? And they realized no one asked them. No. yeah What is your time?
00:29:53
Speaker
They didn't stop for a character until I was texting them like, why aren't you stopping for characters? Like, well, we got to like, no, stop for a character. So they stopped at like mile nine for their first character. Right. I'm like, you just ran past the whole idea of run Disney. Right. So yeah.
00:30:08
Speaker
Yeah. Don't worry about your time. That's my piece of advice. yep No one, zero people have asked me how fast you run that 10 miler, which is good because it wasn't fast. Yeah. yes see yeah yeah Yeah. I tell people, Hey, I got a PR in my first Disney race. I was like, I got a PR and they're like cool. What characters did you see?
00:30:26
Speaker
Like, and I'm like, wait a minute. I just, are you kidding me? And so to your point, yeah, I don't, I don't need to run hard on those anymore. Yeah. To that also point, I would say to also do a race before you go so you can enter a time.
00:30:39
Speaker
And we did that for the princess. To get the good corral. Yeah, we did a 10K so that it could. Yeah. But like that way, you're just not um by luck of the draw in the back. Yeah, so totally. It just gives you more time. I got lucky with my corral for the 10 mile. Yeah, you did. I know people, I think is all I have going for me. You know, I don't think so.
00:30:58
Speaker
they They knew you had a podcast. They're like, we can't, if we put this guy in the back, the balloon ladies are going to be like, dude, don't even try to walk with us. yeah Right. Right. um That's awesome.
00:31:09
Speaker
Thanks for, thanks for all the tips and all that stuff. I have some just random questions for you, but actually maybe you can help us settle a, cause you've done the princess, which means you've run down main street. Right. So you can help us maybe settle a little debate that's sort of kind of like festering over here on our podcast, which is, would you rather,
00:31:27
Speaker
run down Main Street in in a half marathon or get a finisher medal for that half marathon. You can only have one. which one would you Which one would you rather have? I'm locked and loaded on my answer. it's It's run down Main Street because that memory lives fresh in my mind still today, but the medal is covered in dust over my shoulder. That's right.
00:31:49
Speaker
So if I have to go with what I carry with me every day everywhere. Mm-hmm. i I might be the opposite. Oh, good. Because like i run down Main Street all the time for rope drop. So, I mean, i don't know, right? But here you're not getting yelled at to walk.
00:32:06
Speaker
Walk. I don't know. But um I like medals and I like souvenirs. so You do. Yeah. Good. So, Michelle is correct. You have one other question that agrees with you. You're the only one so far. Everyone else says Main Street.
00:32:19
Speaker
I thought I gave a pretty good answer you. You did. The problem is everyone that were we yeah you know the problem is the Main Street arguments are so valid. I just love my metal. I stand over here alone, but now I have Michelle on my side, which is helpful.
00:32:35
Speaker
But yes, I understand that everybody likes Main Street better, yeah which is really a bummer when people sign up for a race that doesn't have Main Street. And they don't know. And don't that. Yeah. It breaks my heart when they're like, wait a minute, what where it wins Main Street?
00:32:48
Speaker
And they don't get it When do we go through the Magic Kingdom? Like, you don't. It's just Hollywood Studios. It's so sad. Yeah. You're just going to run on the interstate, basically. Right. Right, right.
00:33:00
Speaker
um Yeah, well, when we ran through Epcot and it was Walcott or whatever they called it, that was not really fun either. That would be bad. Yeah, that was not fun. That stretch of Okay, cool i have ah You guys host a podcast about cruising. So we got to introduce a little bit of cruising in here. So I have another like, would you rather kind of kind of question.
00:33:19
Speaker
Would you rather, and you might be the same or different, I don't know. And Eric, I don't even know your answer. Yeah. Would you rather have a four-night sailing a four-day park trip, or a four-day Run Disney Race weekend?
00:33:30
Speaker
Which one of those three would you choose? Is that even a question? current Michelle says a four night sailing. I may, when I was younger, i said the parks, i um but like things catch up with you. So definitely more relaxing.
00:33:45
Speaker
The sailing, hundred percent, the sailing at this stage, a decade ago, like i said, yeah, we might've said the run Disney or the, the, the just four parts. like yeah She just said no. Her face said no. I'm glad we're recording video. Cause we got the no right there. Boom.
00:34:04
Speaker
Right. That's what I added out of our podcast. No, that's the dagger. don't know. Yeah. Over the last decade, cruising's become our favorite yeah form of travel. For sure. travel yeah Erica, what's your answer? Do you have one?
00:34:17
Speaker
The same. The same. You would take cruising? Yeah, for sure. Okay. Yeah. Cool. I mean, I love my run Disney, but you can't... Cruisiness at the top. Yeah. I got you. I didn't say where the four nights goes either. I mean, we could be sailing out of New York City to Bermuda. well that's true. Yeah. with that That doesn't change your answer though, right? You're still so you're still choosing cruising.
00:34:38
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Okay. um okay So were still on cruise topic. Have you guys ever done like a sailing with run Disney combo? Have you guys ever done that or no? Close. We have not. We forced our kids to.
00:34:50
Speaker
Yeah, they did the one mile yeah and the kids' races yeah when it was a thing still. Way long ago. Yeah. Yeah. The older two did the Mickey mile, and Claire, our youngest, had to do the 200-meter dash. Yeah.
00:35:02
Speaker
So, yeah. So they did that, and then we got on a cruise the next day. So there you go. We have done it. and Sort of. Kind of. Asterix. Yes. ah Michelle, what do you recommend? Like we've, we've done it. We've, we did a race weekend followed by a cruise. When, if you're going to recommend it to a clients or whatever, do you say run, then cruise, cruise, then run? Like what's your recommendation?
00:35:22
Speaker
Definitely run, then cruise. Cause cruise is the relaxing man. I cannot talk. Sorry. The relaxing part. So definitely that way. um There's a wonderful spa on board. So, you know, get a nice massage. Yeah. Let them, you know,
00:35:36
Speaker
carve out all your sore spots. yeah yeah We did We did that we did a wine and dine race weekend. And then we did, um was it four nights on the wish? Yeah. And it, um, the problem was the time of year. So the, uh, it was rough seas and this is what I attribute it to. I didn't have a great sail. Like I felt, and I don't normally get seasick. I got pretty sick on that sailing. I think what happened was like my immune system was down. My electrolytes were down. Like my whole body was like in distress.
00:36:05
Speaker
And the next day we got on a really rough sailing. And I think that like it messed me up. You know what I mean? And so now I've got like this, like a little bit of like a, okay, wait a minute. Like what are the seas going to be like? Because the minute the boat started moving, I was like, oh no, I do not feel good. and It's got to do that February one.
00:36:22
Speaker
Right. It's all about the princess. Yes. Princess is our favorite weekend. It's our favorite weekend. We do love the princess. Yeah. Have you guys ever done the Castaway Key 5K? Now we can talk, you know, like kind of running and cruising. have you guys ever done it?
00:36:33
Speaker
He has not, but I have. I was going to do it one time. You guys are like, why would you do that? It's hot. I was like, okay, you talked me out of it. But Michelle's done it a couple of times. Yeah. I think I've done it three times.
00:36:44
Speaker
Yep. One time fully, another time cheating, and then another time walking on the ship because we didn't actually dock. Yeah. We didn't dock on Castaway. So you were just angry walking. Yeah.
00:36:56
Speaker
It was good for everybody that she angry walked. Yeah. But the first time I did it, I did it in full. Right. And it was, it's hot. So that was back when they still were like organized. Oh, that's what I was going to ask. Yeah.
00:37:09
Speaker
We didn't ever got to do that. Tell them, tell me about it. How was that? Yeah. So you met on the ship. It was like a port excursion, but free. Right. Yeah. um You got off before everybody else. You a bib. You had a bib.
00:37:19
Speaker
Yeah. Not with your name on it or anything, but just a bitb um yeah. And so there was just a ton of people doing it. So it was fun because, you know, you would high five people on the course if they wanted to, because you do like a loop, right. And it, you run into people basically. Yeah. um But the airstrip that it runs along is like super hot. There's no shade. Oh yeah. So there is water on the course though, but definitely something that I would do right when I get off the ship or like right as we dock, even though it's not like an organized thing anymore.
00:37:48
Speaker
Definitely. That's what I would recommend because and again it gets it gets hotter and hotter. We had a sailing or seven night. It didn't dock till like 10 or 10 30. And so then it was hot. Right. And I did not enjoy that one as much, but again, it wasn't organized. So then you're like motivations a little bit lower because it's not as, you know, it's not like an official thing, but any of our other sailings that get there at seven 30. Yeah.
00:38:09
Speaker
yeah We hit it first thing. And I cheat as well. Like I, now I start to run like from this moment I step off the boat because it's hot. Like you said, it's hot and the airstrip is boring. Like the second time you circle back through or whatever. So I just like start my Garmin the moment I step off and then I just run like until I reach. And everybody thinks you're going for a chair.
00:38:29
Speaker
yeah well you should get a chair while running. That's right. We do. We really, people think you're running for a chair and it causes a frenzy oh yeah because people are like, oh my gosh, there's not gonna be any chairs by the time she gets there. You know, like it does cause a thing for sure. You don't think my running gear gives it away?
00:38:47
Speaker
i like, I like the people that roll their eyes at you. Like you're running on vacation. Oh yeah, yeah for sure. We got that on our last cruise. We went to lighthouse and, uh, uh they didn't actually have the 5k course like established yet but we were like well we're going to run it anyway like we got off and there was people on the tram like oh we saw them running yesterday like i'm like want to eat churro waffles like i have to run i don't know what to tell you anyways just say i saw you reading on vacation like come on you're doing everybody right
00:39:19
Speaker
Do your own thing. That's right. Vacation how you want. Exactly. anyway Yeah. Okay. so So last question. We all know that Disney cruises are totally worth it.
The Unique Value of Run Disney Events
00:39:30
Speaker
A trip to the park is totally worth it. Do you guys think that run Disney is worth it?
00:39:35
Speaker
I think so. i think it is worth it compared to like your local half marathon. Yes. It's a little bit more expensive. Right. yeah But compared to some of the other big races, it's not much different, but you get so much that you can't get anywhere else yeah in a race. Right.
00:39:51
Speaker
There is nothing like it. One of our half marathons locally, they do a great job with on course entertainment. The whole city turns out to cheer um, But Disney, it's just like that next step up on the the characters, the music, things like that.
00:40:09
Speaker
Now, could they put a little bit more along World Drive? Yes. yeah Maybe on that roundabout, no, the on-ramp, maybe someone to encourage me going up that. That would be better. yeah Well, you guys should come run the full marathon because if you want to talk about super unmotivating, boring, there's the stretch between the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Yeah. That's a service road and you go past the sanitation plant. It smells great. We have done that.
00:40:36
Speaker
Oh, you have? That was on the dark side. That was the dark side. Oh, so you know this. You started in at the TTC in the Magic Kingdom parking lot. Okay. Yeah. That was the weirdest. And then you ran by the contemporary. So like mile one and a half was main street.
00:40:52
Speaker
So you have the adrenaline still from like the start. Yeah. And then you're on main street. So after that, the adrenaline is just like, well, what now? Yeah. And then you hit that stretch to go to animal kingdom. The only thing they had there was this stretch where they made the whole road foggy between the trees. Right. Do you remember that?
00:41:11
Speaker
And then there was laser blasts and you thought you're getting shot at by like something. Yeah. Like it was star Wars sound effects. And you're like, am I going to get shot? Am I going to fall in a hole? I don't know. Yep. That was the entertainment.
00:41:24
Speaker
They did that on this year's marathon, but the problem is by the time we got there, it was light out. It was light out. and So the fog did it. It was all foggy and you saw these like, you know big lights swirling around, but you couldn't see the effect of the light.
00:41:37
Speaker
You know what I mean? So they just kept the Star Wars part. It was at like mile 15 or something. Like who came here when it was dark, you know? yeah yeah The really, really fast people. Right. The people that were not in our corral. Not at all.
00:41:52
Speaker
Yeah. That's awesome. Cool. ah This was super fun. Anything you want to talk about or ask us or anything, or you want to wrap this thing up and call it a day? How many run Disney events have you done?
00:42:04
Speaker
Seven. Well, races or events. Races I know is 17. Okay. Events. Yeah, it's two different things, I understand. ah Events, I don't know.
00:42:15
Speaker
I don't know. Eight, seven, eight? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. so we've done 17 races, but you know, you've got the challenges in there, right? Yeah. So we've done every distance. Yes. And we've done California as well. So we know all about the streets of Anaheim, California.
00:42:29
Speaker
Oh. I swore I would never do it again. And we're doing it this year. Well, it came back. You have to now, right? They took it away. It came back. I got to appreciate what I have. And it's leaving again. So like we have to do it.
00:42:42
Speaker
Yeah. So that's what we did. We did the first one back and we're like, well, that's good. We're good with that. We don't need to do that again. And then they said, well, it's going away. And we're like, well, guess we're signing. We're doing it again. Yeah, there's some interesting things on the streets of Anaheim. Back in the day, they ran through like Angel Stadium and things. And then they started going the other direction and it's just right nothing. There's like bars on windows. You're like, where am I? I don't know. at least it's flat. At least it's flat. True.
00:43:09
Speaker
yeah Very true. yeah So yeah, run Run Disney is our thing. ah Erica, though, she prefers the cruises. I prefer Run Disney Race Weekend. Going back to that, which one would you choose? I would choose a Run Disney Race Weekend. Erica would choose a cruise every time.
00:43:21
Speaker
Every
Dream Disney Race Course
00:43:22
Speaker
time. Here's a question for you. Yes, ma'am. If you were design a new race, what time of year would you put it and where would it go in the parks? um That's good.
00:43:32
Speaker
Yeah. Well, Main Street doesn't matter at all. All you need is a medal. So it wouldn't go that way. Oh my gosh. You're terrible. You're terrible. i would love I would love to like, i don't know if it's even feasible. I'd love to start and end in the magic kingdom if there was some way to do that. Because that's where all the magic and and whatever is. And, you know, it's really brief when you go through it in the middle of your race. It's really fast. And so yeah um like in California, they start on Main Street for the 5K. Like, I don't know if you can feasibly somehow, maybe it's the TTC. I don't know. I'd love to go to the Magic Kingdom early when it's dark. yeah Come back when it's light.
00:44:08
Speaker
You know, like to me, that'd be good for photos and experience. You know what I would love? I would love to do, and it would have to be a very short race, but I would love to do like a Christmas race, like run through Magic Kingdom at Christmas with all the lights and everything.
00:44:22
Speaker
Yeah. That's called, that's called marathon. Cause it's all still Christmas at marathon. It is Christmas. Yeah. And I complain about it every time. Everybody's over Christmas. It's not as magical as Mars. It's be like early December.
00:44:33
Speaker
I don't know. I got you. I got you. Yeah. That's a good question. Yeah. as We'll take as much magic kingdom as we could get. I think it would be the answer there. That's a whole episode for you guys in the future. Designing your own races. No, I like that.
00:44:45
Speaker
That's good. And then the theme I would choose, if I could choose a theme, it would be Emperor's New Groove. That's my that's my movie. And so I don't know how you tie that to the Magic Kingdom, but I'd love the metal and everything to be Kronk from Emperor's New Groove. That's my movie.
00:44:58
Speaker
Yeah. Oh my gosh. Perfect. This was super fun, guys. Thanks so much for being willing to come on our little podcast and chat, run Disney and all that stuff. We really love your show and and just love some of the tips and suggestions you've given us for us and for our listeners. So thanks for your time today. We really appreciate it.
00:45:14
Speaker
Thanks for having thank you very much.
00:45:18
Speaker
Oh my gosh, that was so much fun. Thank you so much, Doug and Michelle. You know what I love about having them on the podcast is that it was another married couple and their banter kind of reminds me of our banter. Oh, for sure. Yeah, I love that. love that. Yeah, they call each other out. Right. They're fun about it. Yeah. It's not mean-spirited and whatever.
00:45:35
Speaker
Totally. I said it in the interview, but it's totally true. is that like Their podcast, I feel like gave me permission. I've been listening to it for a couple of years, gave me and us permission to just be ourselves. Yeah, totally. know, like they're probably the ones that I hear that, you know that just authentic, genuine, whatever. So they inspired our podcast for sure that way. If you don't already listen to Rope Drop Radio or Rope Drop on Deck, you definitely want to be subscribed to both of those podcasts. You can find them on all the things, right? You can find them on Apple Podcasts and all that stuff. You absolutely want to be listening to their shows, especially if you love cruising.
00:46:13
Speaker
listen to rope drop on deck yes i love that show and rope drop um radio is all parks focused so thank you again and michelle for joining us thank you friends for joining us on this episode episode number 20 yes feeling pretty big time thank you for being here we'll catch you next week for one more run
00:46:38
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 subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram. You can find links to all of that at ajanderica.com.