Faith and Trust, Part 3: Neverland 5K!

Now, Disney 5Ks, like everything else at Disney, are pretty darn expensive. And the Neverland 5K is the only one I think it wrth spending the money on. It starts inside a theme park, and it’s the ONLY Disney one on EITHER coast that does. The term “magical” gets thrown around so much describing Disney things to the point where the word loses some of it’s strength, so I won’t use it. But walking down Main Street with all the lights on, seeing all the runners and costumes and the DJ getting everyone pumped up, it was … well, it was magical okay?!

 

I’m walkin’ right down the middle of Main Street, USA

And then the race starts not with a gun shot, but with Tinker Bell flying around the castle and a fireworks show. No, not a single burst of fireworks- I’m talking a whole fireworks synchronized to music extravaganza. I’ll admit, I cried. It was all so overwhelming and exciting. That moment before my first-ever Disney race will never be matched- it’s just the perfect moment frozen forever. 

Obligatory blurry fireworks photo

Another thing I love about this race is that is done entirely between the two theme parks. Disney property the whole time, baby!

Starting line selfie- pre-race tradition

 

There’s a lot of backstage parts, which is always neat to see, and lots of cast members at those parts, cheering and seeming genuinely excited for everyone. 

Running + picture taking= BLURRY

At Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom I didn’t see a whole lot of character stops, and the ones I did see had such amazingly long lines that I just didn’t have much desire to stop. However, right by California Screamin’ they had this cute little set up. Everyone was just standing in front of it, but I guess we are boundary pushers- I think in 3D and we actually got in it for our photo. 

Everyone I saw after us followed our lead. Trendsetters. Keep your eye on me!

And right around the corner from the finish line were these crazy kids- the line was less than a minute- I guess it being so close to end people wanted to just be done?

Another great aspect of this 5k was finishing in a theme park. They had the lights and fountains from World of Color were going, the atmosphere was one of PAR-TAAAAY. It’s just another part of the Disney experience that comes with the price tag!

We hung out and soaked it all in, took about a million pictures, but then quickly realized if we left right THEN we could still be ready in enough time to make early morning extra magic hours! 

Another nice Disney touch- they give rubber medallions to the 5K finishers- moist places to give medals for 5Ks.

 

Faith and Trust, Part Deux- The Expo and the Happiest Shoes on Earth

Thursday morning dawned (seriously, we were up and about since 4 am due to excitement a jet lag. Not that I’ve completed Disney runs on both coasts, the whole going back two hours makes those 3 am wake up calls that feel like 5 am much less painful than the 2:30 am ones that feel like 1:30! But I digress …)

The sky’s awake, so I’m awake …

We hung out at the parks in the morning and then headed over to the expo for the bib pick up. Now, I’ve heard constant horror stories about how crowded, busy, insane runDisney expos are. And with the addition of runDisney New Balance shoes these events have turned into fever-pitch mania. And, yup, I was throwing myself in the fire because I had my heart set on getting a pair of Cinderella running shoes! Feed the beast! They had this whole process that they have since done away with involving getting to expo hours before it opens to wait in line to sign up for a time to come back to wait in line to get your shoes. Did ya catch all that? And we got there an hour before THAT line was supposed to open and there were still several hundred people in front of us! In addition to that, there were already dozens of people waiting in the merchandise line, which wasn’t going to be open for another four hours. I do sometime wonder if Disney does this on purpose- whips everyone into a must buy now because it’ll be gone state of agitation. Although a simpler answer would be to let people preorder race merchandise, or, I don’t know, maybe make more? It seems like the same items consistently sell out at EVERY EVENT (wine glasses, event-specific sweaty bands) and some things they have surplus of ($45 cotton t-shirts).

West Coast Partners Statue!

We got our time to come back and grabbed sandwiches from Earl of Sandwich and eat lunch on the balcony of our hotel. That’s another nice thing about Disneyland races- everything is so close together. No buses or shuttles- walk to hotel, expo, parks, starting line. Anyway, go our text that we could get our shoes, got the bibs, wandered around the expo (even making it into the merchandise area and getting a wine glass).

Yay for Team Poor Unfortunate Soles!

After the expo the real fun was about to begin! My sister was arriving, there were radiator springs to race and a chef’s table to eat at! Angela had been admiring the Minnie New Balance shoes and she saw my Facebook post with my Cinderella ones and was appropriately jealous. But me being the awesome person I am had a surprise- Disney New Balance for all!

The start of something magical -The Happiest Shoes on Earth!

There was a small debate about if we should wear these shoes to Napa Rose, and the answer was yes- I based my opinion on the fact that these shoes were waaaaaaay more expensive than the $10 “dressy” ones I bought at Target. And then early to bed- the first run was second star to the right and straight on till morning!