Category: Pop Century

In Which Jenn Does (& Doesn’t) Run In Walt Disney World

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The full trip report is over, but the details still need filling in. Read on for more May 2021 WDW fun!

Hourglass Lake

Remember how one of my pre-trip to-do items was to run the full loop around Seven Seas Lagoon? Well, I… didn’t. But it’s not entirely my fault.

See, I thought with the completion of the bridge from the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian that the loop would finally close – and that if you could walk from The Contemporary to the TTA, or the Polynesian to the Grand Floridian, it stood to reason that you can run the full circle.

Whelp, I checked with a Magic Kingdom security guard, and it turns out that’s not the case. There’s a portion of the loop – I think he said it was between the TTA and the Polynesian but don’t quote me on that – where there’s no legal place for pedestrians to travel. No sidewalk, no nothin.’ Bridge or not, the full loop remains an impossible dream. Bummer.

Since I was briefly staying at Bay Lake Tower anyway, I certainly could have run just a portion of the route, but I… didn’t do that either. And I kinda regret it a little, I must admit. But in the age of COVID, the unknowns proved too daunting, what with masks up and down and avoiding people at multiple resorts and/or the park and having to potentially stop for temperature checks depending on where I ended up, etc., etc.. So I just slept in on those mornings. Sleep is good for you too!

Once we moved to Pop Century, however, it was a whole different story. I ran four three milers over the course of the week, and they were awesome. The Hourglass Lake route was contained enough, and the early morning quiet enough, that I felt comfortable just pulling my mask up whenever I happened to pass somebody. 

Hourglass Lake

Hourglass Lake is a well-known on-property running path, but I don’t know if people realize how magical it is now that the gondolas operating over the lake. Even though they don’t open to passengers for an hour or two, they frequently start up for testing way in advance. I saw them operating every morning I ran, and I was starting up before 7am. It’s a uniquely Disney touch to an otherwise mundane workout. (Darned hard to photograph while running, though.)

I haven’t fully given up hope on the Seven Seas Lagoon run, either whole or partial. I mean, who knows? Maybe Disney will hear our cries and add sidewalks to the entire route. Either way, if I’m ever lucky enough to stay at a monorail resort again, I’m definitely running at least part of it.

Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall. It would thrill me extremely if you would leave a comment with any questions or thoughts. See ya real soon!

The Fairest Trip Report Of All: A Food Review Hodgepodge

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And now for the food review portion of my 2020 WDW Marathon trip. You can read all the posts in this report here. Onward!

Denouement! Allow me to present a random assortment of foods we ate that didn’t warrant their own post.

Pop Century Food Court: Curious about the new plant-based options, I picked up the new plant-based BBQ burger with sweet potato fries. It was actually pretty good, but a meaty taste that, while not exactly fooling me, was enjoyable. Sort of like a well-done burger. And the avocado on top was a nice touch. But holy crap, could I have taken worse photos??? Sorry, guys, it was the end of the day and I was tired. >D

Cheshire Cafe: I finally got a Cheshire Cat Tail! It was good, too, although not out of the common way – less a chocolate croissant and more a lightly glazed donut with chocolate running through it. The frosting on top was a nice extra shot of sugar. I wouldn’t go out of my way for one but it makes a decent breakfast if you want something lighter and/or don’t feel like waiting in the Starbucks line. Damn, now that I’m posting this photo I kinda want one…

The Mara Bakery: I picked up a plant-based flamingo cake to enjoy after the marathon, which I did indeed do on the balcony and it was awesome. It was very dense and sweet and only lightly chocolate-y, but I very much enjoyed the cinnamon elements of the cake and the frosting was the sort of thick that I personally respond to. Would recommend, although I still need to try that peanut butter brownie…

Choza Margarita: I went with the cucumber margarita, which was good – it didn’t taste like it was from a mix, nor did it have that sugar-y taste crappy margaritas so often sport. It was a little bland, though; I think it could use some jalapeno or something to punch it up. I liked that it came with a cucumber spear.

Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie: I have not frequented Les Halles nearly as I should, but this was a good first foray. I got the Tartine aux Fromages, and it is completely worth your time: essentially pizza on good bread, it comes with a dollop of goat cheese that totally changes the game. Erika also let me try her Jambon Beurre, which is a ham and cheese sandwich covered with MORE cheese and when is that ever a bad idea?

Ronto Roasters: We got breakfast wraps and they were SO GOOD. I mean, it’s just sausage and eggs and cheese in a pita, but it was all hot and fresh and you should absolutely get one. Don’t let this little droid guy slave away in vain.

Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!

The Fairest Trip Report Of All: Everything Pop Food Court Review

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Trip report time! See all the posts in this report.

Soooo I committed a cardinal blogger sin when it comes to this post about Pop Century’s food court offerings: I didn’t take much in the way of photos. I KNOW. Amateur hour.

In my defense, I don’t usual eat at my resort’s food court with much frequency, and I was caught by surprise when we hit up Everything Pop with the frequency that we did. Once I realized I had a post on my hands, it was practically too late.

Lack of pictures aside, I’m going to walk you through some of my Everything Pop food impressions all the same, as I personally find the written descriptions on food posts to be just as important – and often neglected! Here we go:

We picked up breakfast sandwiches on our first day, consisting of eggs, bacon, and cheese on a bagel (which I do not recall being toasted, although the whole thing was warmed). There were scads of these pre-made hanging out at the station, but it was actually pretty decent. Mind you, the scrambled egg was the usual mass-produced stuff and the bacon was, as per Disney standard, limp, but you can’t really go wrong with the salty-fatty-cheese-y combo. It’s not haute cuisine but it does the job fine.

The night before the 10K we picked up my usual pre-race meal of a pasta kids’ meal. Learn more to find out about its magical powers. Erika got a chicken parmigiana and did not seem unhappy with it.

However, the night before the half marathon we’d been to Epcot to sample some of the glorious offerings at the Food & Wine Festival. We didn’t quite want a full meal, but we did want a little something to fortify us before bed, so we chose a slice of cheese pizza to split. It comes with a Caesar side salad normally but we were able to request it on its own.

This pizza is… fine. It is not even Domino’s good, but it is frozen pizza good or maybe a slight step above? The cheese was melted, the marinara was not offensive, and the bread held it all together. Not a sophisticated flavor profile but an acceptable carbohydrate delivery system for pre-race purposes.

For our lazy post-half meal we dragged ourselves down to the food court for lunch. I’m afraid I don’t remember what Erika got but I went with the vegetable sandwich. This was a mistake.

In fairness, the description doesn’t mention much about it beyond the vegetables, cheese, and bread involved. But in my head I was picturing something more panini-like, probably because of the provolone cheese. Sadly, nothing about this monstrosity was hot, including said cheese. It was a massive collection of cold vegetables on bread. And not even fresh veggies either – everything was cooked or dried, and it was all doused in pesto. Together the flavors were entirely too aggressive while being impossible to consume together for an overall flavor profile. Soggy and cold all at once. Disappointed. Disappointed!!!


And so we come to my final purchase of the trip: a whoopie pie. It was an impulse purchase by a sad girl about to leave her heart’s home. How could I not? It’s shaped like Mickey and covered in edible glitter!


Unfortunately this was only okay. The chocolate cake portion was one-note and too thick, obscuring the inner spread of vanilla frosting. The frosting layer wasn’t thin per se, but it wasn’t thick ENOUGH for the cake-to-frosting ratio. Mind you, I wish EVERYTHING had more frosting, or, alternatively, just buy me a can of frosting and give me a spoon. But if I wanted something sweet at Pop I’d get a cupcake or something next time.

Overall I find Everything Pop to be perfectly serviceable but largely uninspired. I think Landscape of Flavors across the lake at Art of Animation has more interesting options, although I haven’t been there in a couple years so who knows.

How do you feel about Everything Pop? Do you have any frosting? Can I have some?

Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!

In Which It’s Rough Out There In Disney Room Reservations

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Hot damn, you guys. Can we take a second to talk about how near impossible it’s gotten to book a room in a Walt Disney World hotel in a reasonable time frame?

 I’ve talked about some of my odd room reservation experiences before, and I’ve learned a lot from them. Primarily, I’ve learned to book a room the SECOND you so much as CONSIDER going to WDW, a year in advance if possible.

 I was smart for this year’s Wine & Dine Half weekend, and booked my room at Pop in January. When I decided to extend my races weekend to include the 10K, I was luckily able to cancel my first reservation and re-book with the additional night. That was March.

 Two months later, I asked my race weekend buddy Erika if she had booked a room yet. She’s a newbie to WDW and runDisney, and she hasn’t decided yet if she wants to share a room with me or bring her kids and get her own room. I encouraged her to book a room now just to be safe; she can always cancel later. (For the record, you can cancel a WDW hotel reservation up to a week in advance without penalty. The more you know!)

 I promised to send her an email with info about Pop, where I’m staying, as well as some alternatives. A search on the Disney site with our dates found that, six months in advance of arrival, you can stay… practically nowhere. 

 Certainly no values. Art of Animation has suites, but they’re twice as expensive as a regular room. On the moderate level, I’ve seen Coronado and Caribbean waft in and out of availability – but they’re both under construction, so yuck. And then of course you have a smattering of deluxe resorts, but it’s mostly only the fancier rooms that are still available, with views and suchlike. I don’t run in circles where the people are made of money, so.

 For now I’ve advised Erika to pick up the Art of Animation suite (which wouldn’t be the worst to have with two kids). If she wants to stay with me in the end, great; she can cancel. If not, she has a room – and in the meantime she can keep checking back. If her nerves are steely enough, she can probably expect a value to pop up a couple weeks out from check-in day. I’ve had that luck before.

 Remember the good old days, when you could wait until room-only discount offers were released a couple months in advance and casually book then? Yeah. I wouldn’t hold my breath for a return to that model any time soon. When Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge opens, we better all watch our backs…


What’s your Disney hotel reservation strategy? Have you ever been locked out?

 Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!

In Which Jenn Tries To Let The People Choose Her WDW Resort

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I know what you’re thinking: Jenn, since when are you a Democratic Republican?*

Generally never. Well, I always consult with my traveling companions before I make WDW-related travel plans, but I certainly have the final word when the only traveler is me.

Nonetheless I found myself somewhat perplexed when attempting to select a resort for the WDW Marathon in January. Of the value resorts, Pop and All-Star Movies were both available. Pop was about $25 more expensive, but I like Pop and feel comfortable there; you could call it my home resort. I’ve only stayed at an All-Star once, but I wasn’t the diametric opposite of a fan of the shared bus system and the location felt even more remote than Pop’s for some reason. But then again, $25 is $25 – and isn’t it good to try new things?

Given that there were arguments for each, I invited distinguished scientists for all over the world to help me make my decision. Unfortunately, none of them showed up, so I decided to take to Twitter, stumping for commentary and ultimately with a poll. There was a surprising debate with enthusiasts and detractors on each side, but I was resolved to fall with the people’s decision. It came out thusly:

There you are, then! Razor thin, but All-Star Movies it was to be. Not what I would’ve chosen myself but I’d save a little money and expand my horizons. Nothing wrong with that. I brought up the resort on the Disney site for my dates and…

Nothing.

Nothing was available. No Pop, no All-Stars. Nothing value at all. Closest thing was a stay at Coronado at almost twice the price. Well damn. How did all value resort rooms sell out overnight? I mean, I know that race weekend is popular, but geez. Losing all options in 24 hours seems a trifle excessive.

I did not panic, though. I thought. I considered my options. I did some experimenting. And I discovered something very interesting.

I found that if I tried to get a value room just for the night before the marathon, I could. And if I tried to get a room for just the night after the marathon, I could. Oh, I thought, they must be different room categories, like pool view or preferred or whatever. I guess I could make two separate reservations.

But upon closer inspection, I found that this was not that case – at the very least a standard pool view room could be had on both nights at Pop. Then – this was the kicker – I tried to get a room for a full week encompassing my dates. No problem, totally doable.

I concluded that the rooms existed in the reservation system; it was only that the website refused to let me access them.

Hmmm.

Naturally I called up the WDW reservations phone line, and a lovely CM helped me grab the same room at Pop over the course of two nights and with an AP discount to boot.

I find this odd. Why would the WDW site have such a disapproving opinion of two-night stays? You could argue that they’re trying to discourage shorter trips, but then why let me have a single night? Is it simply that something’s wrong with the programming? Am I personally obnoxious and disliked?** Or is there a higher purpose here?

We may never know. But I now know this: if you can’t get the dates you want at the resort you want, don’t revert to plan B immediately. Poke around. See what you can find. And always try a phone reservation for the final word.

The door is still open for suggestions about where to stay in April for the Dark Side Half, so feel free to chime in.

This post is brought to you by musicals about the American Revolution.

* Sit down, Jenn.
** For God’s sake, Jenn, SIT DOWN.

Don’t forget, you can follow us on Twitter @fairestrunofall. To see how our training is going, check out Jenn’s dailymile here and Moon’s dailymile here. If you have any questions for us, leave a comment or email us at fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!

The Fairest Trip Report Of All: 11/07

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Trip report time! I’ll be covering my November 2016 trip. You can read all posts in the trip report here. Onward!

Ugh, leaving day. Always hate the last day of a WDW trip, no matter its length. It’s just so demoralizing. But I’ve given myself the wonderful guarantee of being registered for two more runDisney races in the future! I was at least able to comfort myself with that promise as I woke, performed my morning ablutions, checked my carry-on at luggage assistance, and hopped a bus to the Magic Kingdom.

Said bus took a bit to show (not my luckiest trip for bus catching), but I was still through the gates in plenty of time to catch my Space Mountain Fastpass. That done, I intended to take a spin on the Peoplemover, but there was a Cast Member holding the line for some reason. I proceeded directly to make Haunted Mansion FP instead. It was a remarkable trip only in that I was at no point stopped by playful spirits. Also, I swear I heard Little Leota tell me to bring my birth certificate if I decided to join her. Am I going insane or did they actually make that switch?

I came out of HM just in time to catch a showing of the new Great Moments in History with the Muppets. I understand that there are two shows, and this was the one about the Declaration of Independence. I found it to be classic Muppets – some okay jokes, a few hilarious jokes, but mostly jokes that are so bad they circle right back around to amazing. Mostly I was just pleased to see my favorite Muppet, Sam Eagle.

I am Sam Eagle and these are some important safety instructions.

I decided to walk back to Tomorrowland next, where I was pleased to see the Lunching Pad had opened an hour early. I made breakfast out of my very first cream cheese pretzel, a storied snack which I found quite pleasant but not necessarily get-it-every-trip worthy. Now, if Disney wants to start selling a pretzel stuffed with straight-up cream cheese frosting, I’ll buy six.

If you prick a sweet cream cheese pretzel, does it not bleed sweet cream cheese?
If you eat it, does it not revenge?

The Peoplemover’s line was flowing once again, and I jumped in a private car for a luxurious trip around Tomorrowland. I shall summarize my feelings about this attraction with this tweet:

While I was in the area I decided to take in the Carousel of Progress; not sure if I’d done it since, say, 2011, maybe? Obviously it’s quite dated, especially in that final scene, but it’s eminently quotable and ultimately charming. I dig that their dog is immortal. Where can I get one of my own?

By this point my Splash Mountain FP had opened up; I took a satisfactual spin while learning first hand that holding your Minnie ears onto your head while simultaneously attempting to pose for the drop camera is an art I need to study and refine. WDW power user moment: I snagged a Pirates FP while still actively on Splash.

On the way out I was chased down by a CM who loved my Cheshire Cat dress. Here’s my recent philosophy on dressing for the parks: obviously, comfort is paramount. However, my first adult trip to WDW I decided it didn’t matter how I looked because I’d be in WDW; who cares? And to a degree I was totally right, and if that’s your M.O., have at it. However, I pretty much across the board hate all photos of me from that trip. Therefore I now try to dress up a little, slap on some makeup. Not, like, ballgowns and heels or anything completely unhinged, but something a little cute and Disney-ish.

Call it vanity, call it Disneybounding, call it approximately 10 compliments on my Little Mermaid dress, 4ish for the Cheshire Cat, one for my blue Chucks, and none at all for my Eeyore shirt and tutu. Hold on to your hats because this is – believe it or not! – about to become a plot point.

These.

Before we get there, though, I should note that I took in a showing of the Country Bears. It is absolutely insanity, total absurdity, and I love it for that. I can see it being a divisive attraction for those reasons, however.

Anyway, any blood on saddles aside, my Pirates of the Caribbean FP window opened and I took my place in line. There was a little girl behind me who kept asking her parents if the ride would be scary, but despite their reassurances she remained worried. Suddenly she turned to me and told me my dress was pretty – and then turned to her dad and told him that she had told me that my dress was pretty. This apparently cheered her up enormously, and her parents noted that my dress had cured her fear. Magic!

I wound up in a boat with her, and she would periodically twist around and wave at me; at one point I swear she told me I was “very brave.” Our brief but intense friendship ended with a final wave as we parted ways in the post-ride gift shop. The Cheshire Cat: he brings people together.

I was out of immediate plans; I fired up MDE but didn’t find any FP slots to my liking. Instead I picked up a bus to Epcot for my final foray into the Food & Wine Festival. I’m lucky that was my main goal because there were NO FPs worth having available at any point during my time there and lines were pretty long.

The Chew was my first kiosk stop, where I got a peanut mousse that was very enjoyable, although I personally could’ve done without the added crushed peanuts. I also grabbed another Shipyard milk stout, the only thing I got twice during the festival, simply because I enjoyed it so much. I need to find a milk stout in my area.

I got in line for France, thinking I’d get some escargot, but my culinary interests took a left turn; I went and got some hummus fries from Morocco instead. They were subtly different from falafel and came with a spicy sauce I enjoyed.

After a failed attempt at the Test Track single rider line (even that was long), I went back to F&W for a red wine truffle. It wasn’t particularly red-wine-y as far as my tastebuds could discern, but I was fairly tired by that point so my brain might not have be syncing properly with my tongue.

I chilled for a bit in the fake grass by the future foods kiosks before suddenly realizing I’d almost forgotten to get Pat some caramels from Karamell-Kuche or however you spell it. I trekked over to Germany and stood in what I must say is kind of a ridiculous line for a food stall. It took like twenty minutes to get one chocolate-covered caramel square. But Pat liked it so it was worth the time.

As I walked back from that venture I came upon people sitting in wait for the Jeweled Dragon Acrobats in China. I picked up a Ritzy Lychee drink from the China kiosk (holy alcohol, Batman; if you complain about light pours at WDW, get this and be soothed) and plunked myself down on a stone bench behind the show. The show was pretty underwhelming but the fifteen minutes of sitting with my legs elevated made a world of difference in my morale. If you ever know I’m a WDW, tweet at me that I should sit down for awhile. No matter when, no matter what I’m doing, you’re probably right.

I caught Mariachi Cobre on the way out of World Showcase, then picked up a celebratory glass of rose champagne from the Desserts & Champagne booth as I slowly made my way out of the park. It was a sweet, sad thing, sipping the remains of my sparkling wine, gazing at Spaceship Earth, saying goodbye but also see you real soon.

I caught a bus to Pop and arrived over an hour ahead of my Magical Expres bus; I killed some time at the pool bar before leaving, slightly sloshed and very sad, for the airport.

And that’s more or less it – but not quite. I still have reviews of my wine tasting experience and Nomad Lounge. Stay tuned!

Don’t forget, you can follow us on Twitter @fairestrunofall. To see how our training is going, check out Jenn’s dailymile here and Moon’s dailymile here. If you have any questions for us, leave a comment or email us at fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!

The Last Photos: Walt Disney World, 2008 – 2012

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The Disney Hipsters recently did a nifty series highlighting the final photo they took on their Disney vacations. I have neither the photographic skill, nor the effortless style, nor the devastating wit of the Disney Hipsters. What I do have: a bunch of rapidly ageing Disney park Facebook albums and a crippling weakness for nostalgia. And so I give you: The Last Photo From My Disney Albums, Part 1.

Apologies for the quality on these; being from the oldest trips, I don’t know where the originals are anymore.

The year: 2008
The companion(s): Moon, Elizabeth, and mutual friend Megan
The title of the album: Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me?
The why: We spent our last day at the Studios and killed time in One Man’s Dream before leaving to catch our train home. Now that it’s gone, I kinda miss it.

The year: 2008
The companion(s): Moon
The title of the album: Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning
The why: My dad’s a train guy and loves the monorail, so I bought him the play model of the Contemporary for Christmas. Question: WHY did Disney discontinue all the other monorail loop models? Anyway, the box didn’t really fit in the airport security bins…

The year: 2009
The companion(s): Unofficial Guide people
The title of the album: Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas
The why: I’m cheating here a little bit; the ACTUAL last photos in this album were boring, stupid, and pointless pictures in the airport. The last real Disney photo I took was of this poster teasing the coming Club 23, which I enjoyed because I was in fact 23 at the time.

The year: 2009
The companion(s): My grad school friend Diana and her sisters
The title of the album: Practically perfect in every way
The why: This was our rental car. Why did I choose to take a picture of our rental car in the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom? Beats the hell outta me.

The year: 2010
The companion(s): Elizabeth
The title of the album: it’s a small world after all
The why: One of the Disney airport gift shops. Clever or just depressing?

The year: 2011
The companion(s): My ex-boyfriend
The title of the album: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
The why: Watching the happy people check into Pop Century while suffering quietly in wait for the Magical Express.

The year: 2012
The companion(s): Elizabeth
The title of the album: A magical kingdom with lots of witnesses and great security (yeah Burn Notice!)
The why: We caught the last hour of the Magic Kingdom’s Evening Extra Magic Hours. The monorail was shut down; this was our view as our ferry crossed the lagoon.

The year: 2012
The companion(s): Sometimes my cousin and his friend, sometimes random people, sometimes just myself!
The title of the album: There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow
The why: More self-torture as I wait for the Magical Express to whisk me back to reality, which seems pretty antithetical to me but whatever.

That’s it for this installment! Next time we begin with the trip that started all this nonsense: the 2013 Princess Half!

Don’t forget, you can follow us on Twitter @fairestrunofall. To see how our training is going, check out Jenn’s dailymile here and Moon’s dailymile here. If you have any questions for us, leave a comment or email us at fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!

In Which Jenn & Moon Run Around the Lake at Pop Century

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I mentioned on Tuesday that I don’t generally run outside unless I’m racing or at Disney. Here is the story of one out of two!

For our Princess Half Marathon trip, Moon and I were forced by tragic circumstance (*cough* grad school *cough*) to head down to WDW and leave the evening after the race. Naturally it’s better to do your park touring after your running, but what can you do. This did mean, though, that we had time for a little tune-up run before the race, so on Wednesday, after we’d gotten back from our first day in the World, we decided to head out for a few laps around Hourglass Lake.

In case you’re not aware, Hourglass Lake is the body of water between Pop Century and Art of Animation resorts, and YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT IT’S SHAPED LIKE. Oh, and there’s a bridge in the middle, so theoretically you could do figure-eights. We chose the more staid route, just a steady circle around the lake.

It was around 9PM and dark, but of course there were bright lights along the path and shining from the resort paths. There were a few people out on the benches, but it was quiet, and I was really… happy. Because it was the wonderful Zen feeling of a gentle run combined with the wonderful Zen feeling of being at WDW, where things are right, and it makes me wish I could always run there. My quality of life would improve tenfold if only I had a private plane…

I sent Moon an email telling her I was doing this post in case she had time and wanted to provide input. We had the following email conversation:

MOON: I like the big toys… I forgot for the name. It is round and has string and you toss it around. Star Trek is also good.

JENN: The giant yo-yo?

MOON: YES THAT’S IT!

I can’t find my picture of the yo-yo. Please accept this
giant vat of Play-Doh instead.

MAKE IT SO.
(Hey, look! Part of a yo-yo in the background!)

So yeah! Great scenery, Star Trek, WDW, happiness. After which we took showers and then got dinner at the food court and went to bed. IT WAS AWESOME.

Have you gone for practice runs at WDW? What are your favorite routes?

Don’t forget, you can follow us on Twitter @fairestrunofall. To see how our training is going, check out Jenn’s dailymile here and Moon’s dailymile here. If you have any questions for us, leave a comment or email us at fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!

The Fairest Week in Review: 8/12

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Good morning, campers! Jenn here. Moon is unfortunately experiencing some familial issues, so I’m taking over. Not permanently, mind you! Not even for very long: I’m in charge of today and most likely tomorrow. Then Moon comes back and the universe rights itself again.

Wait, don’t go! I know it’s not as much fun without her, but if you hang around I promise to compensate with some WDW trip planning. Mmmmmm, trip planning.

I love knowing there is more of this in the near future.

But first, to business. Um… training went pretty well for me this week. On Saturday night Moon and I joined some friends in seeing The Conjuring (mini-review: scary but not Paranormal Activity scary), after which I crashed at her apartment so we could run together on Sunday. We ended up just running in her gym, but that was exciting enough for me because her gym is MUCH nicer than mine. Mine doesn’t even have a bathroom or any sort of water dispenser, so the fact that hers has both puts her far ahead.

But those elements, while fantastic, are not the best part. The BEST part is the treadmill. My treadmill in my apartment complex’s gym is numerically challenged. At 99 minutes it goes ???????????, stops counting, and immediately starts cool down. It doesn’t matter how fabulous a groove I’ve established; at 1 hour and 39 minutes I am forced to stop what I’m doing and restart the treadmill. Totally fouls my mojo, man. But the treadmills at Moon’s gym? No such problem, my friends! I skipped merrily past 99 minutes and kept on truckin.’ Well, not skipped in the literal sense, but you get what I mean.

The rest of the week was fine. I practice PR’d on Tuesday – read all about that, as well as our review of Energy Bits, here. Wednesday was just some added mileage, and I stuck to ballet class for the rest of the week. Music? Flogging Molly. Of course.

But never mind all that. WALT DISNEY WORLD! Remember how, way back in our first ever post, I talked about how I don’t come from a Disney family? My parents took me twice (only once for my brother) and evidently felt this fulfilled the American tradition quota of our respective childhoods and we never went again. Years later, when my WDW addiction became clear, they expressed their befuddlement, declaring that they themselves had no interest in such silly pursuits and didn’t have any plans to visit any time in the near future if ever again.

Which is why I was utterly shocked when this email exchanged happened back in February, during our Princess Half trip:

ME: I need to decide if I want to turn my ticket into an annual pass before I leave. I’ve heard from some people who might like to go with me in the next year so it might be worth it.

MY MOM: You know, I think I’d like to go with sometime this year.

ME: …………………… You would?

Talk about a plot twist. I’ll go into all this in more detail as our trip gets closer, but we decided upon a week in early December with Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and the Candelight Processional and everything. I am SUPER EXCITED to introduce her to everything she’s missed since 1998 – she’s never even BEEN to Animal Kingdom! – and when Disney finally introduced room-only discount codes for our time frame and I leapt into action.

Where our dates and discount restrictions landed me at All-Star Music.

Um… Look. I know it’s wrong. But I’m kinda one of those Pop Century snobs. I can’t really afford to make the leap to a nicer hotel, but I want to stay on property, so Value Resort it is. But Pop is the preferred Value, no? It’s where all those in the know stay. It’s generally considered the best of the four. Aside from a sole splurge night in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I’ve never stayed anywhere else. We won’t be in the room very much, but… Guys, I’m scared!

I don’t like knowing there will be none of this in the near future.

Can anyone reassure me? Are the All-Stars really that bad? Does the bus system really suck? Are the rooms really inferior to Pop’s? Am I going to be trampled by cheerleaders?!

Anyway. Enough of that. Here are some posts from around the ‘sphere:

– Andrea of Once Upon a Run talks about, among other things, having Disney dreams. Just wanted to plant that subject in your brain for later in the week…
– Dad runsDisney wonders: is running becoming too popular?
– Megan of Elbowglitter tackles running on the treadmill, which is where I do most of my running so I’m in favor.
– I Run for Wine offers tips on running form.
– Get advice on flying to destination races – specifically runDisney races – at Magical Miles (or is it The Runner’s Guide to WDW? Or is it both with a colon in there somewhere? Help!)
– Kristy Runs Kato is hosting another blog hop, this one related to Princess Half recaps. Check it out – we’re there!
– And finally, in case you need some more pretty in your life, here are some beautiful Tokyo DisneySea photos from MiceChat.

Good show, everyone. I’ll be back tomorrow with a post on WDW haters. It’s gonna be awesome!

Don’t forget, you can follow us on Twitter @fairestrunofall. To see how our training is going, check out Jenn’s dailymile here and Moon’s dailymile here. If you have any questions for us, leave a comment or email us at fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!