Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend: Disneyland Day 2

Our second day at Disneyland was Saturday.Since we didn't hit up California Adventure the day before, we started there first.

We went straight to California Screamin' because it was only a 10 minute wait (what?!?). And it wasn't even a 10 minute wait! We basically walked on. It was great. All of us kids went on the ride the first time but my mom and Lex sat it out the second time.

A.J. decided to be funny...thanks.

Round 2

After only being in the parks for about 45ish minutes, my mom, Alexandra, and A.J. wanted to head back to the hotel and rest/do homework. Brad and I did not have to run a 5k that morning so we were feeling pretty awake. We stayed in the parks while they went back.

First, we went on Tower of Terror. For some reason this ride always makes me nervous and scared, every single time. I truly don't know how it does it. This is one of my absolute favorite rides in all of Disneyland and Disney World. I rode this for the first time in Disney World and I have to admit, the Disney World version is way scarier.

We went on Tower of Terror later that night also.

Brad and I also explored ToonTown.

The rest of the fam joined us for dinner at Naples (sooo good) and then we all headed back into CA Adventure. This is when we went on Tower of Terror for the second time. We also hit up Soarin' Over California. A.J. wanted some Ghirardelli so we headed there next!

Brad and I didn't think dessert the night before a race was that smart, so we stuck to our pasta. A.J. on the other hand got a full on sundae the night before the race! He was pretty brave.

After Ghirardelli, it was time to head back to the hotel and go to bed! I was so nervous going to bed that night. Post about the morning is coming soon :) Overall is was a very fun day 2 in Disneyland.

Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend: Disneyland Day 1

I am going a little bit our of order from my last post about spectating the 5k on Saturday. Our first actual day in Disneyland was Friday. Since we went to the expo and couldn't check into our hotel till three, we didn't end up getting to the parks until about five. That meant getting amazing sunset pictures of the castle!

As we were finding a place to have dinner, we went through the Fantasy Faire. This is a new addition to Fantasyland and I had never been to it before. I loved Rapunzel's little tower and the Flynn Rider wanted signs!

After we ate, it was time to go on some rides! We let Alexandra and my mom choose the first ride since they would have to head back early for the 5k. They decided to go on....Splash Mountain! The line was pretty long, but it was so hot and extremely humid that the line was worth it. It almost felt like we were in Disney World with all of the humidity throughout the weekend. It was pretty bad.

My pose was supposed to be a spellout of the number 13 since that's how many miles I was going to run. I totally failed. I even tried it on California Screamin' and Space Mountain and it failed on those rides as well. But you get what I was going for right...?

Next, we went back to Main Street and got some dessert. We found these amazing cake pops that were HUGE! They put Starbucks cake pops to shame. My mom and Brad got chocolate cake covered in chocolate. I didn't think I could take that much chocolate so I got white cake covered in chocolate with white chocolate drizzle. So yum!

Definitely getting this on my next trip.So good.

Mom and Lex headed back after dessert while me and Brad hit up a couple more rides including Space Mountain, Pirates, Matterhorn, and TeaCups.

Yup. There it is again. The failed 13.

We were exhausted ourselves and headed back a little bit before the park closed. We did a lot for only being in the park for a few hours. It was such a fun evening :)

QOTD: Have you ever been to Disneyland for just the night?

Half Marathon Finisher

So guys, it's official. I finished a half marathon! It was so much fun and amazing and everything I hoped it would be. Well, except the part about being super duper sore during/afterwards. I will share a race recap later on but I thought I would share some race photos with you. Enjoy these awful looking pictures of me :)
 
My favorite is the lower left one. It was right after I ran through the castle. I tried to manage a smile as I ran by the photographer :)

QOTD: Did anyone run in the Disneyland Half Marathon?

**I do not own the rights to any of these photos. I did not purchase these. These photos came through Marathon Foto**

Upcoming Races (Part 1 of 3)

Disneyland Half Marathon

Over the next few days I am going to discuss the three upcoming races I have scheduled. Today I am going to start with the Disneyland Half Marathon! I am really excited about this race since it will be my first half marathon and my first runDisney race. I am a huge Disney fan so I knew that if I was going to do my first big race, it had to be at Disneyland. The race is on September 1st during labor day weekend. I'm hoping that I will be able to go to the meet-up but I'm not sure if I will be willing to leave a whole day early just so that I can go to the meet-up. I'm trying to make it easier on my mom! Lol. 

This medal will be MINE in a few months :) 

One of the really cool things about this race is that you actually get to run through both Disneyland and California Adventure.

The race starts near the Disneyland Resort Hotel. During the first few miles you run through California Adventure  then you head into Disneyland. After exiting Disneyland, you head onto the streets on Anaheim. The next cool thing that the runners get to experience is running through Angel Stadium. The runners actually get to run around on the field. 

The starting line.

Running through Angel Stadium.

One of things I am truly most excited about (because I'm pretty nerdy) is the commemorative pin. I collect Disney pins like crazy so I freaked out when I found out they have a special edition pin for every race. Maybe I will be able to collect them all someday...I bought the pin when I registered, just to make sure it wouldn't sell out.

Eeeeek! So excited to get one of these!

All in all, I am completely overjoyed and excited to run this race! I'm counting down the days...

Here is the recap from the race two years ago...

If you are interested in joining the race, you will have to wait till next year! All of the spots filled up within a few days. This year, runDisney is adding a 10k race along with their 5k Family FunRun and the Half Marathon. This year, runners could be put to the test by doing the Dumbo Double Dare which includes doing the 10k on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday. Here's the video announcing the 10k...

Well folks, that concludes today's post. I can't wait to run this race! Make sure you like Run Disney on Facebook and follow them on their Twitter page :) 

*Today's photos were featured from the runDisney Facebook page. I do not own the rights to any of the pictures*