Princess Weekend 2017 - Expo & 5k

Ah Princess weekend. The weekend where my sister, niece and I descend upon WDW for a weekend of running, popcorn, and shenanigans. This year my parents joined in on the fun and my brother happened to be there as well for a golf trip. 

Day 1 of our journey happened to coincide with Cathy's birthday. To celebrate we enjoyed some southern fried goodness and hummingbird cake at Art Smith's Homecoming in Disney Springs. The food here is beyond delicious and I am still slightly traumatized by the speed in which my niece consumed deviled eggs. 

After dinner us girls headed to the expo to pick up our packets and shop (naturally). This is the latest we have ever gone to expo and it was fabulous. There was nobody there. We literally walked right up to everything. 

We didn't even wait to take our picture with the sign. Whaaaat???? The three of us are perfect glass slipper by the way, just in case you wanted to know that fun fact.

The theme this year was Beauty and the Beast so naturally Lorren and I had to snag this pic....

To tell you how empty the expo was, we were able to get a photo with Rapunzel...

...and the rose from Beauty and the Beast...

It was early to bed though because we had the 5k the next morning, but that didn't stop Lorren from challenging me to a plank off...

Guess who won? Hint: not Lorren.

The 5k is a favorite for us because it is just really chill (not timed at all) and we just walk and have fun.

We also wear our Peggy Sue shirts for this race. If you have been with RunDisney for a while you know all about her. She was our favorite spectator and it is just not the same without seeing her on the course. 

After the race we met up with everyone for breakfast. I was even able to snag a rare photo of this guy smirking.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much it meant to have my Dad there for race weekend. The three of us have been raising money for Alzheimer's research in honor of him and it just means so much to have him there. 

I'll have more posts covering the other races in the coming days. 

Ted's Princesses Take Over Disney Part 1

Another Princess Weekend has come and gone. It was so big it will obviously take more than one post to cover. To be honest it may take more than one post to cover the insanity that was the expo, but I will try to condense that part.

Never have I had to wait in a line that went to the parking lot just to pick up my bib. Granted we were there an hour after opening on the first day...but still. It was as if every single princess was there at that exact moment. I will give it to the cast though, those lines were moving and everything was really organized. Also, it was a gorgeous day, so I did not mind waiting outside (unlike January when it was POURING when we went to the expo).

We also had to wait to get into the expo, but I really appreciated that wait. Otherwise it would have been pure insanity in there, which apparently it was prior to our arrival. Apparently people were fighting (like Black Friday fighting) over merchandise from runDisney. I don't know what the big deal was because when we arrived not even an hour after all of this went down the entire area was restocked with merchandise. 

I have a love/hate relationship with this expo. It is always so crowded, and let's face it, some of these women are mean, but it is worth it to visit my ladies at Sparkle Skirts. We cleaned up at the expo and then headed over to EPCOT for a relaxing day in the park. 

No, seriously, it was relaxing. We just walked around the park and went on whatever rides we felt like going on. Fun fact, all three of us fit in the clam shell on Nemo. I didn't say we fit comfortably, I just said we fit. 

There were barely any lines for the characters, so we had a chance to meet a few of our favorites. We had a jolly time with Mary...

And then we met Baymax. Can I tell you how Lorren was geeking out the entire time in line? It may have been from the drink in the UK, but whatever, it was adorable. 

The 5k was the next morning so we had to call it an early night. To tell you how early we had to get up, Melissa was just coming in from her flight (which was delayed) when we were getting ready. 

We kept our tradition of wearing our Peggy Sue shirts for the 5k and we also kept our tradition of walking the 5k. The 5k is not timed, so it's a perfect time to stretch our legs before the glass slipper challenge.

This course is a favorite of ours. It winds through EPCOT and is full of characters, including this crazy crustacean. 

 We saw so many great costumes along the course and I think one of our favorites was a little girl dressed as Belle (she was maybe 4 at the most) and her Dad was Beast. Y'all it was so stinking cute. #allthefeels

We also pass one of my sister Cathy's favorite popcorn stands along the route. Sadly, it was not open. 

We had a great time at the 5k and most importantly scored some super adorable medals. We didn't waste any time though because we had breakfast waiting for us at The Wave. 

Melissa was able to score a couple of hours of sleep while we were at the race and was raring to go for the day. Breakfast at The Wave was insanely delicious, if you ever have a chance hit up that buffet. It is seriously so good.

We also had reservations for tea at the Crescent Solarium in the Beach Club. They are temporarily trying this location and we were thrilled to try it out. Somehow I got stuck next to this...

While things were more ladylike across the table...

The tea was very similar to the Grand Floridian but it had more a sea flair. I mean, obviously, right, since it's at the Beach Club. Three of us had these dainty little sandwiches...

Lorren had a plank of meat. I wish I had a photo to show you. It was literally a plank of wood with sausages on it. A huge plank of wood covered in meat next to these dainty sandwiches. It was amazing on so many levels.

After tea we headed back to change into comfy clothes and then Lorren, Melissa and I headed back out to the parks. Hollywood Studios was crazy busy, but surprisingly the characters were not that busy. We met our favorite Wookie first...

Can we talk about how tiny Melissa looks here? She's not even at his armpit.

We went to meet Kylo Ren next. I was pretty excited, I'm not going to lie. But let me tell you something...Kylo Ren is no joke. He is all up in your face interrogating you and the three of us were not entirely prepared for this, hence the pose...

We bailed after this and headed back to the hotel. The 10k was in the morning and we had another early wake up.

I'll have more on the weekend in a few days. Stay tuned!