HighRoller
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Posts posted by HighRoller
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I'm curious:
Did anyone else sign up for the new Dopey Challenge? I'm signed up, and would love to know who else from TPR will be running the nearly 50 miles that weekend!
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Glad to see you're nearly ready for the updates, Big Mike! I'm sure the last few months have been trying.
Enjoy Hawaii! I know you're not headed there for the coasters, since I think you have all of their traveling models already. Hope your trip is relaxing!
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Did anyone sign up for the Disneyland Marathon Weekend events? WOW, they sell out fast!
I wanted to register for the 10K, which went on sale at 9am today. I logged on at 1:30PM and it was all sold out!
So I settled for the 5K, which I'm still happy with. It is my first race after all.
I (like Joey) got signed up for the Dumbo Double Dare during the Expo at WDW Marathon Weekend. Unlike Joey, however, the electronic registration systems were working properly when I did mine, and so I have the full confirmation that I'm in.
I know this is record speed for a runDisney race, with the half selling out just over 26 hours after it opened, and the DDD and 10K incredibly fast, but this is tarting to reach the speed of some of the most popular MARATHONS (Chicago, Boston, Marine Corps) in the country. it's a little insane.
It seems that your best be of getting into one of the west coast events is to visit a runDisney expo just before registration is scheduled to open. I shudder to think how fast Tink '14 will sell out - or if there will even be a GP registration.
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Did anyone see this sign? It was from Disney, and replaced the Sharpie signs. It said, "I'm the next door neighbors imaginary friend." Couldn't understand what it meant, and seemed a little creepy.
I saw that one too - I remember it being amongst a bunch of other "stupid joke" type signs, and laughed it off as a non-sequitur like a few of the others.
The only real complaint I have is the Run Disney booth at the Expo. It was an absolute nightmare. They kept on telling everyone to make sure and sign up for the Dumbo Double Dare at DLR because it will sell out, but they clearly did not think people would actually sign up. They had only 3 computers to sign up on! There will be about 50,000 people going through this Expo and they really thought three computers would be ok!? One of them broke, so then they were down to two! They also didn't have a cast member designated to help with the computer registration. When someone had an issue, they had to walk around and find a free cast member to help them. One lady took over 15 minutes just to register! They finally got three computers, and then four. Then after we had waited over 2 hours, that's right, 2 hours, they finally gave us some paper applications to register with. However, they didn't have enough pencils or pens (they literally had about 5). I just got an email confirming my registration for the Dumbo Double Dare, but the "see your details" link didn't work. I called Active.com and they said I was only registered for the Expo, but not for any races. So I emailed Run Disney and am hoping to hear back from them soon. They also didn't mention that I could have used my Disney Visa card to register online, saving me 2 hours at the expo.I don't know when you went through the expo, but when I was there around noon on Friday, they had 8 computers there in use for the signups. The line was still slow, but nothing nearly as bad as you experienced. Hopefully this was a "fix" from your experience, rather than the original plan and several broke. I do recall that last year when I attended the expo on Thursday, they only had 3 computers for DL 1/2 advance registration, so I hope this was the improvement once they realized that it was going to be more popular than originally planned.
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A few quick notes about the race weekend, now that I've made it home:
Start Time and Temp were in the 62-65 degree and 97% humidity range both Saturday and Sunday; I found neither to be oppressive for the start.
As one of the "faster" runners, I didn't find the weather too bad for finishing the Half, either. Finished before 8 Am, with a time of 2:03:37, nowhere close to my PR of 1:45:01, but I wanted to save something for the next day.
The end of the marathon started to feel somewhat hot for me, though - I was up to pouring water on my head starting around mile 9. With that said, tough, I set a new PR by about 49 minutes of 4:05:08, partially owing to insufficient preparedness on my only other marathon. I did get some funny looks, though, when I went almost directly to EPCOT to have some lunch after the race.
Since I can't compare it to the old out-and-back from Animal Kingdom, I don't know how much better going all the way to WWoS this year was, but I certainly found the leg from AK to WWoS to be the most boring leg of the course. I was also somewhat disappointed by the "Mile 20 Spectacular" which was, in my opinion, overhyped. Also, running around the baseball field was not nearly as inspiring as Angel Stadium on the DR 1/2 course.
Anyone else have thoughts?
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I guess it falls to me to be the first dissenting voice...
I dislike the move to September. As one of the admittedly few runners here on TPR, my late summer/September trip to the west coast is centered around the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend. Justifying two trips a week apart or even a full week out to be able to do both race weekend and WCB is more than likely a no-go for me.
I hope you all enjoy WCB13, and I'll hope to see it return to it's old time frame for 2014. I'll miss you.
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Have to say I;m getting excited about Marathon Weekend as well... I'm doing the Goofy Challenge this year... I'm #22124, and am in Corral B. Hope to see many of you there!
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^^^That is outstanding!
I admit, I had a strong plan for 5, had I made the finals, but you clearly wiped the floor with all of us. KUDOS.
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Joey -
That's awesome! I totally agree with you about 88 being WAAAAYY too hot for running - kudos to you for keeping it up anyway.
See you in January, I'll be doing JUST the Goofy. (I know, just nothing right?)
In the meantime, anyone in the DC area, please come cheer me and the other runners on in the Marine Corps Marathon this coming Sunday! It's my first full marathon...I sorta am ready for it to be over just to be able to say I've done it once.
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Someone may have answered this question in a previous post, however, I wondered if there will be a West Coast Bash 2013. I think I saw a post that referred to an off-season event and a potential TPR West Coast Tour.
you are correct...:
Question... with the West Coast tour [theoretically] scheduled for late July, will West Coast Bash still be happening in the February/March timeframe, like usual, or is it expected to get pushed to coincide with the trip? Just curious on how to plan for "off time" from work.We like the 'offseason' WCB Event in the Winter Time and will most likely be keeping that and doing something different on our tour. -
We like the 'offseason' WCB Event in the Winter Time and will most likely be keeping that and doing something different on our tour.
Yay! That makes me happy, as I'm a fan of the 'offseason' event, too!
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Seaside? Mountains? Islands? Tropical vegetation? All in one spot? EFFIN' AMAZING!
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Question... with the West Coast tour [theoretically] scheduled for late July, will West Coast Bash still be happening in the February/March timeframe, like usual, or is it expected to get pushed to coincide with the trip? Just curious on how to plan for "off time" from work.
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Yay for Big Mike and the China Culture!
and, really is there any doubt? I want to see Megan's cartwheels, too!
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Congrats Arosiana & Ahecht!!!!! We won't bother posting Coreysjunk's paltry pic of 3.
Same from me... I unfortunately fell behind and had hoped to get out for a last ditch effort this afternoon... but my training run for the upcoming Marine Corps Marathon took precedence on my time. Good luck in the finals to both of you!
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After looking at a friends pictures on facebook I mentioned to my wife that one of my "bucket list" items was someday to do a mud run, as my friends all seem to have a blast with them. This started an hours discussion on how we should be getting more exercise anyway and we have decided to start running. For both of us it has been a very long time since we last run. For me personally the last time I ran was when I was in the 10th grade for PE (12 years ago). We were already walking about 3 miles a night so we decided to work with that. We increased the walk to 3.5 miles, with a mile and a half of it being a jog. With so many of you here running marathons you can go ahead and laugh, but for somebody who has basically never attempted running before the mile and a half feels like a huge workout. After running that path the last two days my legs are pretty sore to say the least.
I did sign up to do the 5k foam fest in early November. I figure having something to work towards will help provide some good motivation. No matter what happens, I'm happy that I will be able to knock something off the bucket list!
Good for you! I can personally attest to the fact that having a goal to work towards makes for good motivation. I will freely admit that as of last October, the longest I ever ran at any given time was my 1.5 mile physical fitness test for the reserves... now I've got the Marine Corps marathon coming up in about 5 weeks. Congratulations on your first step into this new world, and I think I can safely speak for all of the runners here on TPR when I say that I hope to see you at a race sometime soon.
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they're going to be selling body shots of princesses in a year or something.
I'm in! Sign me up!
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This park has added Intimidator 305, Windseeker and Dinosaurs Alive! all in the span on two years.
The nitpicker in me is screaming, gotta get this off my chest:
I095 opened in 2010, was tweaked and silently reopened in 2011, with WS and DA arriving in 2012. That's three years' worth of attractions.
Still, an outstanding lineup of capital improvements, no matter which way you slice it.
now back to your regularly scheduled complaining about the "Non-announcement" that is the new Planet Snoopy.
Personally, not only am i not surprised, I think that this is a thrilling addition for this park. As the parent of a 10, 7, and 4 year old, I usually found it not worth my time to take the family to KD, opting for BGW instead. Now i have to actually think about where to taker the family. I suspect that a lot of the DC-based families may have the same thought - it's an extra hour to BGW for us, if KD has improved its kids area so much, let's try that out. As we've seen, they don't really seem to be flocking to the new Thomas, ahem, Train Town at SFA.
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Ran again yesterday and it felt awesome! Up to 3 miles now with a pace around 9 min. 30 secs. Hoping to do a 5K next month and then possibly make it down to some of the Disney races next year!
That's outstanding! I started with my first 3-mile training run last October, and was able to be ready for the 1/2 marathon during the January Marathon Weekend at WDW. Hope to see you there!
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I posted a fuller review of the race in the DLR thread, as I was doing a long report of my whole trip, however, a few things here:
I finished in 1:48:40 - less than 4 minutes off my PR. I was glad to see that, as my PR was set when it was 20 degrees cooler outside.
I LOVED running through the parks - my first race was the WDW 1/2 last January, and I caught the bug - so this finished my Coast to Coast challenge, and my next race is the Marine Corps Marathon (end of October) on my way to Goofy in Jan.
Sorry I didn't manage to meet up with any of the other runners here - wish we could've all gotten together at some point wither before or after the race.
As far as the treadmill goes - I can't do it. I'm more sore after 30 minutes on the treadmill than after a half marathon - and it lasts longer too. No, it's strictly outside running for me.
I think I'll do the Tinkerbell in 2014, I know it's intended for women, but DL doesn't have a ton of races and I like the course they have for that one.Don't be worried, there's always a solid 1-2% men on the Tink and Princess races. I plan to get out to do that one as well, sometime, but it won't be 2013 for me either. Congrats on your first race!
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Interesting thoughts re: Hollywoodland, but it seemed to hold a crowd much better than Paradise Pier. I'd submit that, rather than a dark ride (of which it has two), it needs more B-C ticket rides that will actually draw a line. Agreed in that Zephyrs is underrated, but perhaps a few more rides in a similar vein to the fantasyland/tomorrowland outdoor rides that consistently have a 10-15 minute wait would be more useful.
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Finally sorting myself out after race weekend, and wanted to share a few observations.
Caveat: I'm normally a WDW person, my last visit to Disneyland was 25 years ago.
In no particular order:
Space Mountain was outstanding. Far superior to the MK version. Glad to see that they did a better job the second time around. Don't get me wrong, I very much like Space Mountain at MK - it's just that the trains, themeing, and actual darkness, plus the starfield, made this the better ride.
Matterhorn trains: the Disneyland fanboys have a point on this one. While the basic setup is the same as the trains from Space Mountain, MK, the big difference is in the choice of noodles. On Space (MK), the trains have lap bars, which are anchored behind the seat in front of you, leaving plenty of space (pun intended) to slide your feet alongside the seat in front of you, unless you have exceptionally long legs. By contrast, the trains on Matterhorn have seat belts, which, naturally, are anchored next to your own hips. The upshot of this is that while the seatbelt may be a more comfortable restraint, there is no room alongside the seat in front of you to slide your feet - leaving you "in the stirrups" (ladies know what I'm talking about) with your knees in the air during the entire ride. This also causes your butt to slide around on the seat, making the imperfections in an ageing ride more noticeable.
Fantasmic!: This is a show that should not have been brought to DHS in the first place. Seeing it at DHS just makes me go "WTF?" while seeing it on the Rivers of America ties the while thing together. Add in the Sailing Ship Columbia and "Murphy" (rather than the gigantic marionette at DHS) and the show is truly enjoyable to watch. The "Glow with the Show" ears add another fun element. This is Fantasmic! as it was meant to be - and it makes so much more sense now. Yay!
On the subject of the "Glow with the Show" ears - they're quite a bit of fun with both Fantasmic! and World of Color - but they need to figure out some way to get more people wearing them. There were only about 3 people in my range of view during WoC and about a half dozen during F! each time (saw it twice). Seeing the videos with everyone wearing them made me realize just how much more fun they'd be if we could up the normal number to maybe 15-20%.
Small World and Pirates were, as everyone says, much better at DL. The only thing about either that I wish for would be to hear the second verse of small world a bit more - it's only available in two places, and if you don't catch it at the right time, you'll miss it.
Tower of Terror and MuppetVision made me miss DHS, but only for a few moments.
World of Color was lots of fun - it's my favorite water-based night show that Disney does here in the states, beating out Fantasmic! (RoA) by just a little bit. Fantasmic!(DHS) is not in the same league.
Splash Mountain - another example of doing a better job the second time around - it's just that the second splash is at MK. I made the mistake of thinking it was an identical ride - and got soaked. I like the fact that at MK you get sprayed, but never soaked. The two across boats at MK vs. the single-file boats at DL make the difference.
Voyage of the Little Mermaid - I get the complaints about this ride, in that there's a great bit of the story missing. Given that Pinnochio, Snow White, and others of the classic dark rides in Fantasyland do the same thing (they get you to the darkes part, show a book saying "And they all lived happily ever after"), I can't see why this is out of character. It's very much in the same vein as Fantasyland, just in a different part of the resort.
Cars Land - I know this has been reviewed to death, but just a few sentences for my take: RSR is a great ride. Makes much better use of the system than Test Track, IMO. Looking forward to when they get it back up to full speed. MJJ is lots of fun. The line often looks long, but given the fact that they actually installed a double ride (two full sets of the jamboree on their own set of four turntables), it moves very quickly. A great new twist on a classic Whip. Luigi's Flying Tires - lots of fun. I wish they had done the same thing here as they did with MJJ - because it's such a popular ride that the line gets to 30 - 45 minutes regularly. A second table would go a long way. Also, there seemed to be 1-2 too many tires on the table, as the center was always clumped up, and whichever end of the table you were on was where you were. There was no way to hit all four corners in a cycle, not due to the length, but due to overcrowding on the table.
It seems that Paradise Pier is now in need of some upgrading - the only time that it was full was during WoC (and the race, but more on that in a minute). Toy Story Mania, California Screamin', and Mermaid seemed to be the only really popular rides, though Mickey's FunWheel did draw about a 15 minute wait. CS and VoLM are both capacity monsters, so the short-to-no lines don't really seem as much of an issue. But when you have semi-standard flat rides (and goofy's sky school) that were walk ons, it says something about that potion of the park. Some incremental upgrades over there seem to be in order.
Finally, the race itself. I loved that we could walk to the starting line - no buses like for WDW race weekends. I miss the fireworks for each corral start, which WDW does and DL does not; The only starting line pyro was during the National Anthem (The rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air). I thought going in that the rest of the race would be a downer, with the run through the parks being over by mile 4 - but I was totally wrong. First off, in the parks, though dawn was breaking, they had the fountains going and glowing, with the World of Color soundtrack being played, as we entered DCA through Paradise Pier. The Neon was still (or again) lighted in Cars Land, and there was so much energy, even without a lot of spectators in DCA. As we crossed the esplanade to DL was the first massive cheering section. more energy here. We ran through Disneyland in a mirror of the pattern we use at MK - here it was MSUSA, Frontierland, Big Thunder Trail (3 mile mark), Fantasyland and trhough the Castle, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland past It's a Small World, through Toontown, and out the north side. At this point, my expectations were blown away. Cheerleading squads were present beginning at the crossing over of I-5 and intermittently throughout the course - with the final group of them at the underpass back under I-5, where the cheers reverberated for about half a mile. There were several Bands, a polynesian dance exhibition, a latin dance exhibition (I was running by too fast to take enough notice to know exactly who or what they were, but I could recognize the region and costuming). Also, for about a mile (or more?) prior to us passing the Honda Center, there were classic car enthusiasts out with their cars parked along the side of the road - pretty much any car you've ever heard the Beach Boys sing about and more. Also, the entirety of the tenth mile (Mile marker 9 to mile marker 10) was at Anaheim Stadium, home of the Angels - and from the time we entered the parking lot, the route was lined with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, probably 8-10 deep. The entire lower deck along the first base line, as we entered the stadium was filled with more scouts. Talk about motivation. Also, as you passed the third base dugout was the camera that was hooked up to the JumboTron - putting all of the runners up on the big screen. Whether or not you like baseball at all, it's an amazing section of the course.
I know this has been a wall of text, but hope you enjoyed reading!
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So, I'll be on an airplane first thing in the morning (gotta get there from the east coast) and I was wondering... Though I really don't know anyone by face (yet), any chance of a meetup during the weekend? I'm planning to wear my TPR shirt tomorrow when I head to Packet pick-up and the expo, so hope to see some of you there!
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I read the park had to get special permission for Wild Thing and Power Tower, but I'm sure if they could get permission for Power Tower, they can get permission for a slightly shrunken Windseeker.
The special permission that you recall is correct. It is due to the fact that the park is directly in the approach path for the Flying Cloud Airport runway 36 (north of the river, for the GoogleEarth gurus amongst you). Any Windseeker would need to be more than slightly shrunken, as Wild Thing was decreed to be the tallest thing they would be allowed to build, when they asked for FAA permission for it.
Today's Burning Question - Cedar Point or Walt Disney World?
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
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I've had a CF Platinum Pass for a couple of years now - still haven't made it up to the Point (I know, loss of nerd cred right there).
I took up distance running in order to have a reasonable "excuse" to head to Disney and spend $$ in significant quantities.
Much as I love coasters, gotta go with the World on this one.