runDisney Princess Half Marathon Expo 2013

On Friday, I went to the runDisney Princess Half Marathon expo.  I had been to a few runDisney expos, but I knew this one would be different because it was at a different location.  Thanks to opening day for the Atlanta Brave's baseball, we could not have our expo at the usual ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.  This year's expo was held at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort.

I caught the runDisney transportation bus outside the resort.  I was excited to see Coronado Springs because it's one of the few Disney resorts I have not been to.  The resort looks like what you would expect to see on the Mexican Rivera.  It is Spanish style, like a different world. After I got off the bus I meet up with my friends.  We got in line to pick up our bibs.  The lines were not too bad.  In little time, I had my half bib and my 5k bib.

 New Balance runDisney shoes!

Then the shock--we were astounded in how packed the expo was!  To me, the building did not feel any smaller than the WWoS building, but it felt SO much more crowded.  I am guessing that the 10K+ more runners this year what what made it feel so much more crowded.  The tables to pick up race shirts and goody bags was on the opposite side of the building as bib pick up.  As we made our way through the expo, we could believe how packed it was.

The lines at shirt pick up was unbelievable.  We waited quite a while, but we eventually got them.  As all the runDisney races in the past, the "goody bag" was pretty empty.  We got our shirt, a Luna Bar sample, and a really cool mesh Princess Half logo mesh bag.  Instead of the usual flyers and samples, runDisney emails race participants a "virtual" goody bad.  runDisney outdid themselves on the shirt this year!  I love it! It's a royal purple color with a castle printed on it.  The fit is perfect.  I just love it!

runDisney Princess Half shirt and goody bag

After packet pick up, it was time to shop!  My friends and I very quickly got overwhelmed with how crowded each booth was.  They went to get in the 1+ hour official merchandise booth line, while I went to get the scoop in the highly coveted New Balance runDisney shoes.  The shoe line was crazy, but I hear it was so much worse a few hours earlier.  A sort of hoovered around to hear what sizes were left.  Why wait in line if my size was sold out?  I heard a NB rep tell someone that they had over two thousand pairs, so I figured I would take the chance.  After about 20 minutes, it was my turn.  I asked for a size 9.5, but all they had left was a 9.  I put them on and walked around in them for a few minutes.  Sadly, they were to tight.  The stars aligned for me because just as I was going to give the shoes back to the NB rep, another runner gave her a 9.5, asking for a 9.  We quickly traded.  The 9.5 fit me perfectly!

Royal Family 5k shirt and pin

After all the shoe drama, my friends were still in line for the official merchandise.   They were after the "I did it" shirts.  I had one of them pick me up a pin that looks like the medal.  After that, we planned to walk around again, but it was just to crowded.  We decided to go back to the resort for lunch instead.

A dream is a wish...

--Amy

Disney Princess Half Marathon EXPO

I did it!  I am now a princess!  I just got back from a whirl wind, weeklong trip to Walt Disney World.  The trip was amazing and I have lots to tell you about, like the Expo, meeting Jeff Galloway, several blogger meet up, the Tangled Royal Family 5k, and the main event—the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

Let’s start with the Expo.  The Expo was like nothing I had ever experienced before.  I went to the expo on Friday afternoon, around two.  First was packet pickup.  Packet pick up was a longer process than I anticipated.  Since I had two packets to pick up, my half and my 5k packets, it took even longer.  The lines were not all that long, there were just so many.  There were two bib lines, then a line to get my pin, then two shirt lines and finally a line to activate my timing chip. 

Inside the packets were my shirts, some pins and a clear plastic draw string bag.  I was disappointed in the “goody bag” or lack of I should say.  There was none!  No goody bag of any kind.  Big bummer!  The 5k shirt is cotton unisex with Rapunzel and Flynn.  The Princess Half shirt is a tech material women’s cut with the princess half logo.  I like both shirts very much and proudly wore them around the parks after each race.

After getting my packets, next it was time to shop!  My first stop was at the official merchandise booth.  As I expected, the Dooney and Bourke purses were sold out.  I was very tempted to get the “I did it” shirt, but decided against it.  Several friends had texted me throughout the day with rumors that the runDisney booth had a few Disneyland half entries left for princess runners.  I had to check that out.  To my surprise, Jeff Galloway was at the runDisney booth greeting and chatting with runners.  There is more to come in a later post about if got into the Disneyland Half and meeting Jeff Galloway.  Before leaving the runDisney booth, I spent quite a while drooling over all the runDisney bling on display.  They always have a way of drawing me in. 

My next stop was SparkleSkirts!  That was one busy booth.  Ladies of all ages, shapes and sizes were having a blast trying on all the fun designs.  I had a few minutes to chat with Leah, Queen Mum of Sparkle.  I then choose the perfect Rapunzel purple SparkleSkirt! to wear to the Tangled 5k Royal Family 5k. 

After that, I made a few more stops.  I got a water resistant SPIbelt, a few Sweaty Bands, and then visited the Bippity Boppity Boutique booth with my daughter for a fairy dusting.  We picked up some samples of Nuun, Luna Bars and rice.  After all that Expo fun, we were ready to hit the parks!

What did you think of the Expo?  How about the goody bag?  What were your favorite purchases? 

A dream is a wish…

Amy