Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon April 2018 Day 3

Friday April 20th:
3am alarm! We got up and dressed to head to the 5k start line to cheer for Scott, Kathy, Melissa and Jen! We were on a bus by 4am. We met up with everyone in the reunion area and got some d-cot pics and group pics. Kathy was a bit nervous before the race, so I gave her a pep talk and lots of hugs. Scott was bouncing around, of course!! The announcement was made for participants to head to their corrals. We walked everyone as far as we could go before heading off to the spectator area by the start line. It was so cool to be a spectator! This was the first time ever we were there to cheer on runners and not participate in a race! We found a great spot just after the start line. We saw Scott and Kathy cross the start line and make their first turn before heading to the back road into EPCOT. Ryan and I walked to the character meet spot in the reunion area. We figured we might as well get some pics while we waited! We were able to meet Boba Fett and Darth Vader before heading to the finish line to see our racers come in! On our way Ryan and I grabbed coffee and cocoa at the Joffrey’s truck. As we were standing and watching runners come in, I got a text from Scott that he lost Kathy. He had stopped to take a picture and he couldn’t find her when he turned back around. He was frantically texting. I told him to stop, look around him carefully and if he doesn’t see her then to keep moving forward because she likely kept on going towards the finish. Scott was holding Kathy’s phone so he couldn’t text her to find her. Sure enough, not long later we saw Kathy crossing the finish line!!!!!! We saw Melissa cross just before Kathy! Scott crossed 2 minutes after her. So she gets the bragging rights that she was faster than him! I didn’t see Jennifer cross the finish line, but saw her a little ways down the finishers chute. It was so much fun to cheer and scream for all of them!! We met them in the family reunion area after they got their medals. I was so proud of them!! We went and got in line to meet Boba Fett with about a 20-30 minute wait. We said our goodbyes and took our buses to our resorts to get ready for the day.

Ryan and I grabbed breakfast and our pack for the day. We were on the bus to EPCOT by 9:25am and met up with Scott and Kathy. Test Track was down so we couldn’t use our Fast Passes. We went and rode Nemo. Then to Spaceship Earth to use our FP. Test Track was back up so we went over to use our FP’s. It was time for the 4 of us to use our FP for the character meet. The line was really backed up. Scott and Kathy waited in line to use their FP’s while Ryan and I opted to go get Starbucks! Next up was eating our way around the World! But first, it was getting warm out so we went on a boat cruise in Mexico. After cooling off we grabbed food. Ryan and I had two dishes at the China booth and they were both a miss. We walked through the Japan store and saw that the remodel was finally complete! It looked nice! Ryan and I split a Strawberry Sunset drink from the America Pavilion. We got the chocolate macaroon in France and it was INSANELY GOOD!!! We then took the International Gateway exit and started our walk to Beaches & Cream for our 3:10pm reservation. Ryan and I had never been there before. I can’t tolerate much ice cream, but Ryan was super excited! He gets excited when we get ice cream because he knows I just eat a few bites and he gets to eat the rest! This was Scott and Kathy’s reward to themselves for doing their first Disney 5k! I think it was a great reward! Ryan and I split a strawberry sundae. Kathy got a banana split and Scott got the Noway Jose! It was all yummy! After rolling ourselves out of our seats, we started our walk back to EPCOT. The plan was for Ryan and I to go to Disney Springs to meet up with my sister (Teri) and niece (Kailey). On our way out of EPCOT we ran into Melissa and Jen! We waited about 10 minutes for our bus to Riverside. I needed to pick up things from our room that I needed to get to Teri. Teri called when we got back to our room and said traffic was horrible. She was at a standstill and had been for nearly 45 minutes. Apparently there was a bad car accident on the freeway and it was pretty much shut down. Ryan and I stretched out and relaxed in our room while we waited to see how things were going to turn out. She eventually had to make the tough decision to turn around and head back home. By the time she would have reached Disney Springs at what her phone was predicting, she would have had to leave and head home within 30 minutes. It was a hard decision for her to make because we really wanted to see each other. But it was the right call for her to make. Ryan and I left our room and took a bus to EPCOT. We went and got Fish & Chips in the UK. Scott met us there. He was so heart broken for me since I hadn’t been able to see my sister. But we made the best of it and walk World Showcase! We stopped in Germany and grabbed chocolates and popcorn in their shop. We ran into Melissa and Jen again and visited for a bit longer. Kathy had gone back to their hotel room several hours early. And we saw how tired Scott was getting. He was such a trooper since he had been up super early for the race. But he was fading fast! So we sent him on his way to catch a bus back to POP. Ryan and I walked around Mouse Gears and some shops before heading to our bus back to PORS. We were on a bus at 8:30. We were tired from the early morning too! When we got back to our room I ate my cupcake from last night, so yum! Lights out by 10pm.
Miles Logged 15.5