After 8 long months, the day finally came…the Romagnolo
girls were headed to Disney to run in our first runDisney race. To say that we were excited would be an
understatement.
Our flight and landing went smoothly. When we landed in Orlando we headed straight to Disney Magical Express since our bags were being picked up and delivered to our resort by Disney. We met up with our good friends Angie & Jamie (& Jamie’s husband, John). Angie was my roommate for the weekend. For this trip, we were using my DVC points to stay in a one bedroom villa at the Wilderness Lodge. We were lucky because we were able to walk straight on our bus for our resort and we were going to be the first stop. Woo-hoo! There is nothing better than seeing that wonderful sign welcoming you onto Disney property.
We went to our room, dropped off our carry on bags and went to our resorts counter service to grab some lunch. After that we hopped on a bus to head for the Expo. We arrived at the Worldwide of Sports a little after 1:pm. By that time, there were no crowds. I had heard horror stories about the Expo first thing in the morning. Unfortunately there are a lot of people that aren’t racing that go just for the race merchandise so that they can resell it on Ebay for way more money. So sad. Often times, there are fights over the race merchandise like I heard that there were that Thursday morning.
Angie and I parted ways because she had to go to the relations booth to get her corral placement straightened out. The girls and I went to pick up my 5k Bib, their race bibs and shirts and then get my Challenge Bib. As I was going to get my Challenge Bib I noticed that Lumier was out for a photo opportunity. I grabbed my Challenge Bib and we then hopped in line to get a picture with him and our bibs. After that, we left the field house and headed across to the Josten’s Center for some shopping and to pick up my 5k Race Shirt. You are also able to exchange shirt sizes here too.
I was very excited for this part of the Expo. There were many booths to explore and my girls were troopers. Our first stop was the New Balance booth were I bought my first pair of Disney themed Running Shoes. I chose the Little Mermaid.
I then saw Jeff Galloway! We of course had to get a picture with him! The girls didn’t have a fat clue who he was, but they did a great job posing for the picture. J When I first started training for my half marathon, it was Jeff’s training apps and interval running that I used and still use today. It was cool to meet him and he also signed both of my Race Bibs.
After that, we stopped by the Sparkle Athletic booth so that I could get a new visor to go with my half marathon outfit. I just love the folks at Sparkle Athletic. Their leggings were part of my 5K outfit and their skirts were part of my girls’ race outfits. We walked around and looked at some other booths. I had to quickly walk by the Sparkle Skirts booth so that I wouldn’t be tempted to buy another one. J I wasn’t really looking for a lot of runDisney merchandise. Thanks to my sweet friend Kelly, I did score this great magnet.
The only thing that I REALLY wanted was an “I Did It” shirt for the Challenge. They had it in two different color and materials. I chose the black because I felt like the other one while it was a pretty color, it was see through. I’m a little too modest for that. J After I got my shirt, we took a few pictures and then headed out. My girls were getting tired and we still had plans to meet my dad and step-mom at Ft. Wilderness for dinner and then end the evening at Magic Kingdom.
My first experience with the runDisney Expo was an easy and great one. I would say that unless you are dying to have those pins and other merchandise that might sell out, I’d recommend going to the Expo in the afternoon. Stay tuned for more about our Wine & Dine Weekend. Be sure to check here for my Race Recaps too.
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