Today was another early morning and this time all three of us were up to get on the 3:30 am bus to the start of the 10K. It was still cold and I was grateful for the heat sheet that they were handing out at the end of the 5K the day before. I was also grateful that it wasn’t raining.
I saved my back a bit by scoring a seat at a picnic table and waiting a little bit before going to the corrals. When I got there, I was able to find a spot to sit where I could lean on the barricade. The less standing and waiting the better.
The 10K course is always the same… about 3 miles on highways and then you go into Epcot, go around World Showcase, through the International Gateway to then go around that resort area, then back into Epcot and out into the parking lot / finishing area. I always get so bored in the beginning and then when I hit Epcot, I feel like “This is so much fun!!”
The theme was Pocahontas. I didn’t pay much attention to the medal in the pictures leading up to the race. But once I received it, it was pretty awesome.
After the 10K, once we were all showered and ready, we took a Lyft to the newest Disney resort, Riviera. We were trying the new character breakfast there at Topolino’s.
The breakfast is a prix fixe menu that starts with pastries to share and then you can choose a menu item. We also had some cocktails that were amazing. Mine was a pomegranate bellini that was so good. I had a quiche for my entree which was also excellent.
There are four characters to meet at the breakfast – Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Donald. They are all dressed in an outfit that represents the arts. Mickey is a painter. Minnie is a writer. Daisy is a dancer and Donald is a sculptor. They were all super cute and I love any opportunity for character pictures.
We purposely planned to have no park days for this portion of the trip so we could relax after the races. Riviera is on the one of the lines of the new Skyliner transportation system. I haven’t had a chance to try that yet, so we decided to take a ride. We ended up going to the main hub at the Caribbean Beach resort and then transferring to a different Skyliner line to go to Pop Century resort.
The Skyliner has had its issues with some breakdowns in the beginning but hopefully that is in the past. It is easy and an efficient way to get between those resorts and to Hollywood Studios and Epcot.
From Pop Century, we took a bus over to Disney Springs. Pam and Donna wanted to do some shopping. Since I was coming back to Walt Disney World later in the trip, I decided to find a bench to sit and people watch. I got a scoop of gelato to have a little snack as well.
Today the friendship boats were running, so we took the boat back to Riverside. Our original dinner plans were at Paddlefish at Disney Springs. However, with the half marathon the next day and our experience the night before with taking too long to get back to the room from Disney Springs, we decided to switch to Boatwrights which was right at our resort.
We had time to regroup a little in the room and then went to dinner. I had lobster bisque, bbq ribs and ice cream for dessert. The ice cream was actually my favorite part. I was pretty full by the time dessert came around so I asked if I could just get some ice cream. My two scoops of vanilla came with little cups of Mickey sprinkles, mini M&Ms and chocolate sauce.
Making the switch of restaurants was a good call as we were able to get into bed by 8:30 with a 2:15 am alarm set for half marathon morning.
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