Hi again guys!

So it would appear no matter how hard I've tried, sticking to a schedule the last month or two just hasn't happened, and believe me I'm super sorry!

However I'm back from my Halloween trip to DLP and have a small window before I go back again for Christmas, so I'm hoping I can stay motivated enough to finish up this trip and write up most of Halloween and get it all scheduled!

So Back to where I left off, you can catch up with the end of Saturday, and then that brings us nicely to Sunday morning, and another super early start ready to walk to the start line, today's outfit was the most simple out of the three as I was conscious running more than double the distance in a more complicated costume could be quite difficult, so Aurora was my costume of choice, and to be honest, I was really happy with it.

I got to the corrals a little later than intended, and although I still managed to get quite close to the start of my corral, I couldn't find Steven, so I ran the full 21.1km solo, at least this way I didn't have to worry about holding anyone back or leaving anyone behind, it was just me and the course and I was ready to throw my all into it, one last push.

The corral wait always feels quicker than it actually is, and once again I managed to stay quite warm which was a pleasant surprise, soon we were off, and a whole spectrum of emotions came over me, excitement, fear, exhaustion, relief.

The half marathon course started outside Vapiano/Five Guys the same as the 10 Km the day before, and then went through the studios park, where there was an option to cut through from the backstage near Rockin Roller to meet Spider-man, I decided to skip this one in the hope of finding some slightly more rare characters further along the course, we then went through the back of tram tour where the cute flower set up from the previous races finally had a character present, when I got there it was Alice, so again as she's not a particular favourite of mine I carried on looking for something more unusual, but if I had run slightly quicker or slower I could have met Tinkerbell there instead, which honestly is a little upsetting as there's no other way to meet her in Paris, but hey ho, that's the way it goes, win some lose some.

Carrying on full steam ahead the course looped round backstage and brought us out at th back of Frontier land by Cotton wood creek and the Frontier land station, as we ran towards Big Thunder Mountain, the next character stop came up outside the Fuente del Oro restaurant, this is the first meet I stopped for along the course and I'm so glad I did as to fit perfectly with the Mexcian theme of the restaurants, the three Caballeros, Donald, Jose and Panchito were meeting! This is a meet you can get quite easily in WDW however it isn't one I've ever seen before in Paris, they were really fun and their costumes looked great, a perfect start!



We then ran through the rest of Frontier land towards Phantom Manor where we were able to cut through to town square at the bottom of Main Street, here at the Gazebo Mickey and Minnie were meeting, now this may not sound particularly special but they were both in their 25th outfits, making this one of the very few times you've been able to properly meet mickey in his blue and silver best the queue was quite long but luckily it moved really quickly and I was just so happy to get a photo with Mickey in his blue to match the rest of the VIPs.



Next it was time to run up Main street towards the castle, on the left hand side the pavement was full of cast members who were so supportive, and on the right friends and family of the runners who were able to get access to enter the parks to cheer their runners by collecting a wristband from the expo. About half way up Sophie was waiting for me with Duffy, and though it's such a simple thing that extra support is such a huge boost, thank you again so much Sophie =)

Once we reached the hub at the castle end of main street we took a left into Adventure land and round past the Hakuna Matata restaurant, Timon and Rafiki were meeting but they were due to swap any min so I joined the queue and let a few people in front of me while we waited for the change, why was I so keen to wait for the swap you ask? The Hyenas! Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, they are pretty much never out, and although I've not met Timon yet, I know he'll be meetable on a future visit where I couldn't guarantee the Hyenas would be.



After the Hyenas we ran past the tree house, past pirates and into fantasy land, I believe Chesh or some of his friends may have been meeting outside the labyrinth at this point but I didn't stop, we ran through the castle, which is always one of my favourite parts, and then past castle stage where Scrooge McDuck was meeting in his 25th anniversary blue and silver, and on towards the small world gates.

Outside the gates 2 of the horse and carriages from Stars on Parade were parked up, and with them were Rapunzel and Flynn and Snow White and her prince, I have never met Flynn or Snows Prince before, and as I was dressed as Aurora I decided to take a few mins to get a Princess Squad photo with them, it would have been rude not to right?



We headed down towards Casey Junior and the story book boats and did a small backstage loop where we got to see the finding Nemo float from stars on parade up close, and then this brought us out in the back of Discovery land for the last 2 character meets of the run, and they really did save the best till last!

Outside the Discovery land theatre, previously home to Honey I shrunk the audience, and Captain EO our friends from Zootropolis/Zootopia were taking it in turns to meet, I got Judy Hopps and I was really happy with that, she's probably the one I wanted most, and as a character that isn't normally in DLP it felt really special to meet her, and I loved her backdrop.



After Judy I knew already who was waiting outside the Hyperion Cafe for the last meet (friends in all the right places eh?) so I literally sprinted around the back of Hyper Space Mountain and Nautilus past the entrance to Autopia and straight into the queue for Sadness from Inside out! It's one of those films I've adored from the moment I first saw it, and one of the things I was regretting most about not going to WDW with my friends that weekend was not getting to meet Joy and Sadness, so being able to meet one of them made me so very happy, and I really like sadness because she reminds me so much of Eeyore and I just wanted to give her a big cuddle. I love my photo with her, and it might be one of my favourite ever Photo Pass pictures from DLP1



We then left the park via a backstage exit to the right of Autopia for the portion of the race that isn't on Disney property, I like that they changed the route slightly this year to give more time in the parks and cut out a big section of off property running, the only part I didn't like was the loop of a lake somewhere in Val D'Europe which was also present in the 2016 edition, like really it feels like the never ending lake when you're running around it, yet it looks so small on the map etc, very deceiving.

Credit where it's due though, the support along the course outside of the parks was incredible, so many locals out clapping and also various artists and performers who gave up their Sunday morning to provide entertainment on the course, you guys are the real MVPs, thank you, from not just myself but every single runner, it makes such an incredible difference, especially if you're on your own or struggling.

Once we got back onto Disney property it was a lap of the outside road of the Santa Fe hotel, and a cut through the middle of the Hotel Cheyenne, and this is where I really started to struggle around 17 Km I was just so exhausted and I could so easily have given up, thankfully my friends were right at the end of the phone to remind me they'd disown me if I gave up ;)

After a run round Lake Disney (why does it feel so much longer when you run it than when you walk into the parks from your hotel!?) we headed through Disney village and back into the studios towards the finish, as I ran through the tiny bit of Fantasia Gardens Sophie was again waiting for me with Duffy bear, who she'd even got changed ready for our park day! This girl is my hero, she was so supportive throughout the entire weekend and seeing her so close to the end when I needed someone most really was the icing on the cake!

Just before the finish we ran through the stunt show where we had the change to have a photo with the 25th Blue family of honour car, the queue was short, and weirdly I really wanted this photo so that was my last stop of the morning!



It was then just a sprint to the finish line and that was it, I'd done it! 1 weekend, 3 races, 4 medals, 36.1km covered and a million memories I'll hold on to for such a long time. Getting those final 2 medals round my neck was a moment I never truly believed would happen for me, is it weird to say I was proud of myself? Because amongst 100 other emotions, that's the one that sticks out. Pushing myself to train and to run those races started out as a crazy idea, and ended up being the best decision and best experience, and in truth, I'm a little sad it's over until next September.

So that was the half marathon, at least from my eyes, did you run? How was it for you? Would you like to try Run Disney in the future?

I'll be back soon (no really this time I will) with the remainder of Sunday and Monday and then this trip is all wrapped up, thanks as always for following along!

Hoodsie

Hi guys!

Don't forget to catch up on the last post in this series the 10 km race this will carry on from where I left off, I seem to have loads of this trip left to cover so lets jump straight in!

After the 10 Km race I was lucky enough to be able to head back to they Cheyenne with Steven to use the shower in his room to save me going all the way back to the hi park, this was so much more convenient, and re affirmed my love for the Texas rooms in the Cheyenne hotel, they truly are beautiful, it's a great hotel.


After a shower and a quick change, apart from staying in my running shorts because Sophie forgot my jeans, it was time to head back to the parks, we decided to do the studios first to see Mickey and the Magician as I  hadn't seen it since November last year, the show has had a few tweaks and updates for this season, as well as a new cast, but I'm pleased to say it hasn't effected the overall quality of the show, it really is a very special show and deserves all the praise it gets.


After Mickey and the Magician I wanted to get some photos in my ratatouille top from Pop corn clothing and with Duffy in his chefs outfit, so we headed over to Place de Remy, I think the plan was to grab something from the food and wine type stalls, but it was just really really busy, we got our photos and were making our way back through the Studios when we saw Sulley was out on the scare floor, his queue was closed but the lovely CM told us what time his second set would be, so we got some food in Studio one then headed back to join the queue for his second set.


After meeting Sulley there wasn't much else we were desperate to do in the studios so it was park hop time, I wanted to grab some pictures in front of Dumbo in my other top from Pop corn clothing, and then we stopped off to meet Chip and Dale in their gorgeous new costumes in adventure land round the side of the Pizza Outpost, as always they were super cheeky and really fun.


We popped round to fantasy land and stopped to see the princes and princesses on their way back from the waltz on castle stage and by this point I was really struggling from a combination of being tired, and pain in my calves from the 10 km. We headed back to the Expo in Disney village where I was able to get a free massage, which made a big difference!

Then it was back to the main park so catch Stars on Parade, honestly I know this parade gets a lot of mixed reviews, but I love it more and more every time I watch it, a real highlight for me. By the time parade finished I was 100% exhausted and done for the day, so we headed back to Hi park and i took a nap for a few hours while Sophie went shopping near by, I hate that I missed so much park time but honestly I just couldn't keep going at this point, with the half marathon the next morning too it was just better to play it safe this time and get some rest in.

We did pop back to the village in the evening, as I forgot to collect my bag from concierge, and we got a 5 guys to make the trip back worth while, but I'm afraid it was a rather unexciting and early evening for us.

Will be back soon with the next part of the trip, the half marathon! Until then speak soon!

Hoodsie xx

Hi guys,

Catching up from where we left off at the end of the Run Disney opening party, after a very short sleep at the Hi Park it was 5 am and my alarm was going off to tell me it was 10 Km day! I eventually got up and ready and before I knew it I was making the walk back to the parks!

Race day morning atmosphere is always super weird, at least in my experience anyway. It has a weird buzz, a mix of excitement, nerves and definitely a weird wired awake feeling, where I know I'm exhausted but I also feel a strange kind of couldn't sleep even if I tried thing.

After going through security at Newport Bay (which has made me even more excited to stay there soon!), it was a quick stop in the expo to drop off my gear bag, then straight to the corrals to try and find Steven. Despite it being super early and pretty dark out, things were starting to fill up but a combination of being small and polite helped me to navigate through the building crowd and get to Steven which instantly made me feel more relaxed. as the 10 km and half marathon start lines followed the format of the previous year and started outside Vapiano/Five guys, this meant the stages with the big screens were back, and though I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to a lot of what was going on, it certainly sets up a good pre-race atmosphere.


Before we knew it it was time to start, this would be the first course of the weekend that encompassed both parks, and being the first 10 Km race every at Paris, it was really exciting to see how many characters would be out, and to experience the route for the first time.

The course first took us through Studio 1, and into the Walt Disney studios park, where out first meet was outside art of animation again, the three little pigs! Fiddler Fifer and Practical pig, don't ask me which is which because honestly I just haven't got a clue! But what I do know is these guys are pretty rare to meet, and apart from the occasional farmers brunch in Inventions, meeting them is a real treat, I guess I don't need to tell you how happy I was to see them, it's written all over my face!


After the three little pigs it took a while to get to our next character, but once the characters started they just didn't seem to stop and kept getting better, so it was worth the wait! The course took us back out of the studios, through fantasia gardens and up main street, at this point it was just starting to get light out, and how I wish I had taken a photo of our castle against that beautifully perfect pink and blue morning sky, it really was something incredible to see.


Once we got to the top of main street we took a right turn into Frontier land, and ran through to Adventure land and this is where the character meets started again, As we rounded the corner into adventure land I could see Genie and Prince Ali, I think I was pretty much set on stopping for them, when to my delight they switched out for Jasmine and Sultan! Now if anyone remembers, last year I just missed the Sultan and Jasmine on the half marathon as I was next in the queue when they got swapped out, so I was so so happy to get my photo this year, I'll really treasure this one.


After adventure land we cut back into fantasy land round to the Carrousel de Lancelot, where Pinocchio and his guide Jiminy Cricket were meeting guests, this was really cool and though I would admit I'm not particularly a Pinocchio fan, the idea of meeting Jiminy was really cool, as an avid character hunter, anything out the ordinary was going to impress!


After Pinocchio and Jiminy it was time for one of the best parts of run Disney, running through the castle! Its such a small thing but it's the perfect touch, I just wish there was a photographer to catch the moment, after the castle we ran past castle stage, where the giant steam punk Maleficent from Stars on Parade was blocking the walkway to Fantasy land towards small world, meeting in front of it were the three fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, I have a recent obsession with all things sleeping beauty, so even though the queue was long, we decided to wait, after a few mins the CM came over to tell us the fairies would be leaving soon, but that Aurora and Philip would replace them, and although a little disappointed as the fairies are a more rare meet, it was still good enough for me to stay in the queue, Steven was very kind and agreed to stay with me, and our friend Seb joined us too.


After Aurora and Philip it was round to Discovery land where we had been told Stitch was meeting, this was someone Steven really wanted to meet so it was full steam ahead, when we got there, Angel experiment 624, was with stitch and i think its clear from the pictures I was very very excited to see her, even though I must admit I did feel a little bit bad meeting her without my good friend, and total stitch fanatic, Shouls, who was holidaying in WDW.


Next was a quick run around the Back of Space mountain, and down the path that take you to the Fantasy land gates next to Small world, here the first float from Magic on parade was parked up and the Fairy God mother and Merlin were meeting with it, now in hindsight, this is probably one of those things I am going to regret skipping, but, we'd been told Bullseye was out with woody and well, I needed to try and see that, so we carried on a loop around the back of story book boats and Casey Jr to bring us out to run around the labyrinth, I think Chesh and White rabbit may have been out, but if they were we skipped them as we'd met them before, we stopped quickly outside Dumbo to get a photo of my costume with the 25th board then into adventure land and another backstage loop behind Indiana Jones.


This brought us out to the back of Frontier land by the Chapparel theater and towards the cowboy cookout, sure as anything Woody was there, Jessie was with him but unfortunately we'd missed Bullseye, Steven had run ahead to try and get in the queue for us, so we met back up with him, as I still wanted a photo with my Toy Story favourites.


We then carried on towards Phantom Manor where Jack and sally were meeting, and I'm honestly gutted to say the queue had already closed when we got there so we couldn't meet them, this was a real shame as I personally haven't met the two of them together since 2012 and its only Jack that meets during the Halloween season, at least I'll get to see him really soon!

The course then cut back across to the Studios park with a loop of catastrophe canyon and a run round the tram tour and through the stunt show, I believe Remy and Emile were out again, but same as the 5km the queue was already too long for me to have time to meet the rats, so it was straight to the finish line and to get our second medal of the weekend!


A huge shout out to both Steven and Seb for running with me, when i started to feel in pain around Km 7 they never left me or gave up on me, and it was an absolute pleasure to cross the finish line and collect my medal with them.

So that was the race, I'll be back soon with my round up of how I spent the rest of my Saturday.

Hoodsie xx

Hi Guys,

This should be a bit of a shorter one from me as we catch up where we left off at the end of the 5 Km race!

The opening party was something I wasn't 100% sure I'd do again, as last years had some teething issues to say the least! Luckily for me, a severe case of FOMO and a slight price reduction had me handing over my money to Run Disney in no time, I know I'm a sucker right!

Now I have to say overall I did enjoy the party, however in my eyes this was the main thing that left so much potential unfulfilled, so I'm going to try and give honest feedback on how the event unfolded in my experience, having said that, if the price is right for the next run weekend, I would definitely try again!

The party was on the Friday evening the same as last year, however this year that meant there was a slight matter of running the 5 Km first, the party and the race were also both held in the same park which meant people had to clear through the left hand side (Think Toon studio, Place de Remy and Toy Story Play land) before the party could start. It also meant the Left hand side (Rock N Roller side) couldn't open fully as runners were still finishing.

After Finishing the 5 Km and getting our medals, it would have been ideal to have been able to go straight into the party, however there was the small matter of our gear bags, once you stop running you get cold pretty quickly so i wanted my hoodie as well as my other personal items which I had left in my gear bag, the bag drop and collection however, was located in the expo tent at the back of Disney village, so yep that's right, I had to leave the studios to walk to the far side of the village and back to be able to have my stuff with me for the party. This meant the party had been going for a fair while by the time we got there!

On entry into the party there was no list/ schedule of what rides were open, or what characters were out, this was a bit disappointing as we had guides for the party last year and it meant we could prioritize what was most important and head there first.

Out in front lot Belle was meeting where we had seen Cinderella and Prince Charming during the race so we decided to stop as Sophie was dressed as Belle too, the queue was quite quick and Belle was ever so sweet!


We walked through Studio one, and found the Hunchback guys were still meeting outside Art of Animation, we got Quasi and Frollo during the run, and it was Clopin and Esmerelda out at the party when we arrived so we decided to take the chance to finish the set. Just after Sophie had her photo, they brought Quasi and Frollo back out ready to swap over for a while, but as I was desperate to meet Esmerelda, i managed to jump in quick and got a photo with all 4!


The only bad thing about this meet was the misunderstanding between guests and the photo pass photographer, they weren't scanning peoples existing photo passes and were instead just giving out the temporary cardboard passes, Luckily the following day we got these transferred onto our actual photo pass, so it was more of a slight inconvenience than anything!

We then found out the Aristocat kittens were meeting over at Place de Remy still, as you may have seen in my 5 Km post I really regretted not stopping for them during the race, they boy Kittens have been on my want to meet list for forever so I had to try. So off I went sprinting towards Place de Remy, the queue wasn't huge when I got there and I finally thought this would be my chance to meet them. And then it happened. we were a few people away from the front when the Cm said the Kittens needed to go in for their break and only Marie would be returning. I don't even think "gutted" covers it, in fact heartbroken is the word I would pick, I have wanted to meet those kittens for such a long time and I really thought this would finally be my chance, but it wasn't meant to be unfortunately!

However, all was not lost, as they left Toulouse (who just happens to be my favourite of the brothers) stopped on his way past, gabbed my hand and gave me licks/kitten kisses, and luckily Sophie was on hand to take a photo. Of course I'm still really disappointed to have missed them and not being able to hug them, but I think he could see how upset I was, and it did take the edge off a little. 

As we were so close to the front of the queue we decided to hang on and meet Marie anyway, I mean one kitten is always better than 0 kittens, and she was really loved and gave me the biggest cuddle!


We then go told by a friend (again no official program of events to be found, I don't know what we would have done if it wasn't for the tip offs we had) that some of the VIPs (Mickey & Minnie etc) were meeting in their Run Disney tracksuits outside rock n roller, so we made our way straight across to the other side of the studios, but when we got there the queue was already closed, more disappointment!


Our friend Chrissy with Mickey and the gang!

At this point we decided to call it a night, we were both tired, still needed to walk back to the Hi Park and I had the 10 Km race to get up for at 5 am so it was probably the right decision.

Overall, yes I did enjoy my time at the party, and it looked a lot better than last year, however I do think it had potential for so so much more, a guide of when and where the characters were out would have been useful, also having the party straight after the race wasn't, in my opinion at least, ideal especially for people starting in the last corral as you wanted to enjoy and stop for the characters on the race but also juggle that with getting back for the party, personally i would like to see the party moved to the Thursday.

I guess one of the biggest changes I would like to have seen was with the bag drop, some option to collect your bag without having to go back to the expo, perhaps some way of marking your bag if you're a party attendant so that they're transferred to the studios, this would have saved us a lot of time, and may have been the difference in us being able to meet the kittens!

So that was my experience, did you attend? What did you think? What was your highlight and what changes would you like to see next year?

Drop me a comment and I'll be back soon with my experience of the new 10 Km!

Hoodsie xx

Hey Guys!

Thanks for sticking with me through this trip report so far, its great to be able to re live everything and share the memories so hopefully you're all enjoying it as much as I am, remember if there's anything extra you wanna see or know about, please leave me a comment and I'll do my best to sort it!

To carry on from where we left off with Day 2, we had gone back to the Hi Park hotel for a quick rest and to get changed into our race outfits for the evening. It was a short walk back to the parks and this served as the perfect warm up, if only we hadn't had such a long wait in our corrals for the race.


I had been allocated Corral B and Sophie had been given C, as it was her first ever Run Disney event, and even more impressive her first ever 5 km, and I feel like I may have sort have influenced her decision to come, there was no way I was letting her start alone, so we got there nice and early allowing me to drop down to C but be right near the front ready to start.

 I think that's a top bit of advice actually, the further back your start corral, the earlier you want to look at getting there, its worth it just to get a head start on the character queues! Don't worry there's plenty of entertainment while you wait, and porta potties if you need them!

There were a few changes to the 5 Km race for the second edition of the DLP run weekend, firstly this was now an evening race on the Friday rather than a morning race on Saturday (which is obviously to allow for the addition of a 10 Km course), secondly the 5 Km course is now solely confined to the Studio's park, which I think is a real shame, especially for people who aren't running the other races, and children who won't get to run through our beautiful, iconic castle. All races now finish in the Studios park (I really love this change) and finally, the start line for the 5 Km is now around Lake Disney!

Because of the change to the starting place there wasn't really room in the corrals for video screens showing the pre race warm up, so instead the team were sent out on to lake Disney on a floating stage complete with speakers, I actually thought this was a really fun touch and it ensured everyone queuing around the lake had a chance to get involved.

After getting all warmed up it was time for the race to start, the route first took us through Disney village, now because of the 8pm start time on a Friday night, you can imagine the village was pretty packed, and although it created an amazing feel to run through, I'm not sure how practical it was in terms of guest flow within the village for non runners, a great deal of which I imagine booked their trips without even knowing about the races that weekend! Bet that was a bit of a surprise!

After Disney village it was into the studios, the first character stop was in front lot, when we arrived it was Cinderella and Prince Charming, however looking at photos others had on the course it looks like Belle and Beast were also meeting at this point too, It's a shame we missed them, especially as Sophie was running as Belle, but we were still happy just to be there. We decided not to stop for this photo op as the queue was quite long and we hoped we'd find someone better along the way.

We ran through Studio One and took a right towards toon town, outside Art of Animation was our second photo op for the evening and this was one I wasn't missing! It was Quasimodo and Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre dame, Frollo is often out at Halloween so I have managed to meet him before, however the rest of the Hunchback gang are very rarely out, and I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever seen Quasi in my 7 years of visiting the resort!


After our photo stop we ran past crushes coaster and the cars ride, where the cast member support was really really great - Thank you so much! We ran into Place de Remy, where the Aristocat Kittens were meeting, I seem to remember the queue for them being quite long when we arrived, but honestly, my biggest regret of the weekend is probably not queuing for them at this point!

We ran under the tunnel and into Toy story Playland, which honestly, looks it's very best at night time, and from there we ran towards the tram tour. The route took us on a huge lap of the tram tour and it was really surreal to run so far out but still not really be backstage. About half way round our next photo op presented its self, Gaston, looking like he was in the middle of the forest ready to hunt the beast! As Sophie was dressed as Belle, and we were making good time, stopping for Gaston was a must, and the queue was quite short and moving quickly anyway!


Close to Gaston there was another photo op but with no characters? It was a set with large flowers that I had a suspicion might be for use later in the weekend, but I guess it was a cool background and there were plenty of people getting a snap there!

We ran around the Catastrophe Canyon part of the tram tour which took us quite far out, and it was quite surreal to see it up close, the final photo op of the course was in the stunt show, where Remy and Emile were having photos with their Stars n Cars vehicle, this was a photo op I really wanted having missed them at last years race, and still having never met Emile. The queue was quite long but it was moving so we decided to chance it. Unfortunately we were just too late and by the time we were getting to the last 3rd of the queue the CM said that the rats had to go but we could stay and have a picture with the car.

We decided a photo with just the car would be too painful so skipped it, Sophie did get this photo of me with the rats in the background and I think it's clear how disappointed I was to be missing them again, fingers crossed one year I'll get there in enough time!


Aft the tram tour we ran the final straight past Armageddon towards the much missed Cinemagique! Crossing the finish line and getting your medal in any race is always special, but I think for me, this 5km is one I'll remember for a long time, running it with Sophie was amazing, and I can't tell you how proud I am of her!

 

So that's the 5 Km, 1 race down 2 to go, come back soon as I tell you all about the opening party!

Hoodsie

Back again!

If you need to catch up with Day 1 please do, otherwise lets jump straight back into the trip with day 2, Friday September 22nd.

5K day! As the 5 Km race has been moved to the evening this year, we still had a whole day of fun in the parks before we needed to think about running! As we knew we had a long day and a late night ahead of us we didn't rush to get into the parks for EMH and instead got to the studios around opening time, we stopped inside studio one to grab a 25th donut each for breakfast (healthy right?!) and then made out way over to meet Buzz Lightyear.


As I decided to run the 5 Km as Jessie again, I stuck to a Jessie bound for the whole day and teamed it with my Buzz Vans backpack from Asos, My custom ears from MakeWearPlay and My alien Toy story vans from Schuh Duffy dressed as woody to meet Buzz and later had a costume change into his Buzz suit to meet Woody and Jessie. The extra interaction gained from this was 100% worth it for me, and they are some of my favourite meets.

While we were in the studios we also checked out Cars Quatre Roues Rallye and Ratatouille, we were even lucky enough to bump into Simon and Lisa, who have a YouTube channel, who let us use their fast passes for ratatouille. Again thank you guys so so much for this gesture!


After the studios it was time to park hop and go back over to frontier land to find Woody who was lots of fun as usual, grabbed some more Halloween photos too, the decorations are really looking amazing, and although I am a bit sad most of Halloween seems to be confined to Frontier land this year, I can't deny they have made a really, really good job of it!


After meeting Woody there was a few hours break before Jessie was due out so this gave us chance to watch the Happy Anniversary show on castle stage which is one of my favourites, we also got waffles from the old mill in fantasy land to tide us over on the food front!


Soon enough it was time to go back to find Jessie, and her meet did not disappoint at all, she loved my outfit and all the toy story accessories, especially my alien vans which she tried to steal using "the claw" my only disappointment is that there's hardly ever a photo pass photographer here which seems like such a shame, but the CMs were more than happy to take photos on my phone to capture the moment!


After we saw Jessie we popped back to the expo at the back of Disney village to sort out our photo pass for the runs as you can't use your normal pass one and they have to be linked to at least one of your bibs, then we had a late lunch/early dinner at Vapiano for some last min carb loading before the 5km.

We walked the short distance back to the Hi Park and got ready for our first race and Sophie's first ever 5Km!


And on that juicy note, I'll leave you there for today, the race and opening party deserve a post of their own so that's whats coming up next, as always you can subscribe on the right hand menu so you don't miss the next part, and you can drop your comments down below because they make me really happy!

Hoodsie xx

Hi Guys!

I'm back again, trying to keep on a roll with these write ups before i start to forget everything that happened (if that's even possible on such a memorable trip?!). It was a real whirlwind 5 days and I still can't quite believe how lucky we were and that some of the things actually happened!

So here's what I got up to on day 1 of the trip, hope you enjoy!

Thursday September 21st, it was about 7 am when we left to get the tube to St Pancras to get our Eurostar and I was feeling super excited but a little nervous, we got a slightly later train than in August, but thanks to a shorter stop at Lille we still managed to get to the parks for about 1pm which left us a good chunk of time to explore the park.


We were super hungry when we arrived so after dropping out bags off we took a stroll down Main Street to Casey's corner for a hot dog, then we went across to Frontierland in search of Merida as she'd been out a lot recently despite not having an official meet in the program. As we entered Frontier land we were greeted with the amazing new Coco statues all around the land, they are really colourful and are way bigger than i expected and personally I think they are a great addition to Frontier land, and especial around the restaurant Fuente Del Oro in particular which I believe would hugely benefit from staying this way for the foreseeable.



We made out way towards the Chaparral Theater looking for Merida and were pleasantly surprised by an unscheduled appearance of Pluto and Goofy! I didn't manage to get a picture with Pluto but I did tell him what a good boy he was and gave him a pat on the nose, but I love my photo with Goofy from this meet, having the Train station in the background was a really nice touch!


As we left Cotton wood creek Merida had just come out so we were able to have a chat get an autograph and some photos and Shellie-May was wearing her Merida dress again so the interaction we got was amazing, I'm so so glad we took the time to go and look for this photo op as it really made my day.


After Frontier land a trip to meet the main mouse was on the cards, and as usual he didn't disappoint. The top I'm wearing is from the guys at Magical Thunder Press and not only do I love it, but Mickey loved it too, the ears are standard parks ears and are around €13.


After Meeting Mickey we got a few rides in and stopped to watch the Starlit Princess Waltz on castle stage before heading over to the Run Disney expo to pick up our Bibs and the pins we pre-ordered, stopped for a quick dinner in Disney village, back to concierge to grab our bags and then we got the shuttle to Hi park ready to check in and get some sleep before a very busy weekend kicked off!


So that's day 1, stay tuned and I'll try to make sure the rest of the days follow up quickly there's so much more to come.

Hoodsie xx

Hey guys!

So I'm back from Disneyland Paris, and to try and avoid the Disney blues setting in just yet, I've decided to dive head first into writing up memories of my trip, i'll hopefully have a few posts coming up over the next few weeks to take you through everything that happened and I can't wait to share it all with you!

For now though, I'm just going to take a moment to revel in the fact that I actually did it. I went out to Paris extremely nervous that perhaps I had just bitten off way more than I could chew, 36.1 Km over 3 days is a big ask, and with factors outside my control training hadn't gone exactly as I had planned.


But I gave it my all, and with a little bit of faith trust and pixie dust, I went the distance and I crossed all three finish lines with a smile on my face, after all where is more magical to run than Disneyland?

So apologies if this comes across as a major gloating post, because it's really not meant that way, and if you follow me on my other social media profiles, I'm sorry about the amount of medal pictures you'll be seeing, but really I'm just so happy I managed to achieve so much over the past weekend and I just want to share it with anyone who will listen!


Over the weekend I met 50 different characters (Not including different VIP outfits) and walked 161,348 steps, came home with 4 beautiful medals, and a bunch of memories that will last a lifetime, and I feel so genuinely lucky to have experienced it all.

Finally a huge thank you to everyone who's followed me on this adventure, supported me and encouraged me, I couldn't have kept going if it wasn't for all the kind messages you guys sent!

I'll go into more detail about each race and each day of my trip soon, but that's all for now!

Hoodsie xxx

Hey guys!

Following on from my trip reports from my August trip, I wanted to share the bulk of my purchases with you guys, given most of them came from one shop there's quite a theme here so I hope at least some of you like it.

Disney pin trading is something I've only recently become more interested in since becoming an annual pass holder, the idea is that you buys pins in all the different hotels and parks, display your favourites on your lanyard and trade the rest with others to get pins you love even more! Now i must admit. I haven't fully embraced the idea of pin trading, as I seem to buy plenty, but I never want to actually trade them! Maybe in time once my collection has built up a little more I'll decide to start trading but for now I'm happy just to keep adding to my collection with more pins that I love or than give me special memories from my trips.

Pins are available in most shops and hotels across Disneyland Paris, however if you're lucky enough to be visiting on a Saturday or Sunday and you'd like to get some pins I would highly recommend taking a trip to Pueblo's Trading post, which can be round near cowboy cookout in Frontier Land. For me this along with Harrington's is one of the best places for pins, and is also where new Limited edition pins get their initial release. Its quite a small shop so can feel a little crowded but its a treasure trove of pins and vinylmations and I love getting to visit.

This is where the most of my shopping happened this trip as there were a few items I was dying to get my hands on and this was the best place to try and get it all in one go.

The first thing I picked up was the blue 25th anniversary lanyard, now if you've read my other haul posts you may remember I picked up one of these in April when I visited for the anniversary day. Unfortunately it was faulty and didn't realize until i got home, I did E-mail to see if it could be replaced however it was out of stock, so this i the first chance I've had to replace it, I made sure I checked this one over carefully before I took it to the till and am happy to have it in my collection now, this retails for €9.99 before any discounts.

Next I chose this Illuminations pin, to celebrate 2017's new night time show, sure it's had mixed reviews compared to dreams, but I actually quite like the show and this pin is truly beautiful it was €7.99 and is an open edition so should still be available and restocked for a while.


I got 2 new Cars pins which have been released recently, the first features both Lightning McQueen and Cruz Ramierez from the new film and was €6.99. The second just features Lightning which was €6.99 too, as cars is my favourite film I wanted these from the moment I first saw they were being released so I'm so glad I've been able to add these to my collection.


The final 2 pins I got this trip, I can't remember the prices for and unfortunately I no longer have the receipt but I'm pretty sure they were either €6.99 or €7.99 The first is this beautiful Marie pin with jewel detailing, I was torn between this and another Marie pin, but i think the extra sparkles on this one just edged it ahead for me, and knowing me, I'll probably pick up the other version on one of my trips this year.


The other was this Rainbow Mickey head, since seeing the Disney Store participate in the Pride events in London earlier this year I have been looking for some sort of rainbow Mickey pin to add to my collection and I'm happy to say this one is just perfect and I'm so proud to be able to wear it on my lanyard and know that Disney are supportive of this.


So that's my Pin haul for August, i have already pre-ordered some pins for my next trip in just over a week and I'm sure I'll find some more that I like on top, so there may  be another pin haul soon.

Until then, what are your favourite pins, any you want to pick up on your next trip? Let me know in the comments!

Hoodsie xx

Hey Guys,

Thanks for sticking with me, I swear it was the shortest DLP trip ever but its just taken me the longest amount of time to actually get everything down in writing! If like me you've kinda forgotten what happened on Day One, feel free to go back and catch up.

Day 2 started slightly later in the morning than day 1, I think the alarm went off around 6:30 am, which was actually quite pleasant compared to the day before, I was still totally shattered from the travelling and everything else the night before, and still feeling a little under the weather, eventually we got up with enough time to have some breakfast and get to the parks for EMH.

As we were trying to make this a budget trip, we didn't stay in any of the onsite hotels, instead we opted for the Explorers hotel, which is a nearby partner hotel of Disneyland Paris, this was my first time staying here, and though I wasn't there long enough to really form a full opinion, what I did experience of it I really enjoyed, the beds were comfortable, the rooms were clean and had all the basic things you need, the whole hotel has a pirate theme which I loved and seems designed to be really family friendly, the pool though I didn't have time for a splash looked amazing, and I would definitely consider staying there again!


After breakfast we had the most disastrous Uber ride to the park as EMH hours starts at 8 and the first bus doesn't start until 8, but eventually we got there in one piece, dropped our bags off at the concierge again, and we were ready for our 2nd day of magic. To start with we met Chip and Dale, now these cheeky chipmunks are nothing short of hilarious at the best of times, but that day they were on top form. I had decided to go for a Maleficent look for Sunday as I had these awesome official parks ears for a while and I really wanted to wear them, I matched them with a Maleficent dress from EMP, and my purple Vans, I then finished the look by dressing Shellie-May as Aurora with a cute dress from Build a Bear workshop! Once it was finally our turn to meet Chip and Dale they did not disappoint, they were so playful and naughty, and took the time to recognize how Shellie and I were dressed and make a point of playing along and interacting. We got to spend so much time with them, and though I do feel really bad for the people waiting in the queue behind us, I'd happily re-live that meet over and over again, luckily Katie P did manage to film it, so I can keep watching it when I miss the magic most.


After chip and dale we popped round to see the dragon under the castle, which I don't visit every trip but every time i do see it, I'm kinda in awe of just how good it is! I think we did the tea cups quite early on in the day too, nothing helps settle your tummy after breakfast like a spin with the hatter! After a little time in fantasy land we decided to take some time out to go over to the studios as we hadn't been there yet this trip, though I'm personally not so much of a thrill seeker when it comes to rides, a few people in the group I was with are much braver so Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercoaster were on the list. As well as these two, I was able to do Slinky Dog Zig Zag Spin and Parachute drop over in toy story play land, and got these great photos of my new pin I got recently.


We also did flying carpets and i got to see the new Lightning Mcqueen photo location that went in recently. We had planned to do Mickey and the magician too, however the showing we were going to go to got cancelled and we didn't really have time to wait for the next one as it was such a short trip. Luckily it should still be on during at least my next 2 trips to Paris, so I'll get another chance to see it soon!


After the studios we found time to have lunch at Hakuna Matata in Adventure land, saw Forest of Enchantment again, and this time we were able to get there early enough for Shellie to have a quick costume change and then briefly meet Merida in the queue which was a huge personal goal for me having not seen her since 2014.

We rode the carousel and saw both the 25th anniversary show and the starlit princess waltz over at the castle stage, and before we knew it, it was time to think about getting our places for the parade., Luckily as we did this with time to spare we were right at the rope in a fairly good spot in fantasy land just before the annual pass office, it was beautifully warm and sunny by this point, so we took it in turns to save spaces so that a few of us at a time could run over to Adventure land to grab Pineapple whips, Yum!


Now I'm really growing to like the new parade, Stars on Parade, it was introduced earlier this year as part of the 25th celebrations and has really mixed reviews. The music is a lot different to its predecessor, and a lot of the floats have come from other parks or are rehashes of old ones, but I'm really liking it, I know it's a bit more choreographed than Magic on Parade was and this does leave less opportunity for interaction, but trust me it's very much still there!

Now this was a parade I had been looking forward to for a while, and getting a rope side seat was no coincidence, yep I'm not ashamed to admit it, my goal was to try and get some interaction or at least acknowledgement from some of the characters, in particular, those from Sleeping Beauty, and I'm so pleased to say it went to plan, in fact it's probably my most memorable parade experience to date.

The interaction started from the steampunk maleficent float, where prince Philip noticed me, he wasn't able to come over due to the choreography, but just getting noticed was enough for me, then one of Maleficent's goons came over to see Shellie as she was still dressed as Aurora, then when the fairies came past I got shouted at by Merryweather. The final person to notice me and come over on parade was probably the most unexpected of all, as right at the end of the parade before the last float, Kristoff shuffled over nervously to ask if i was going to breathe fire! Honestly it was just so lovely to be recognised by so many and have those unique memorable moments which I truly cherish!

After parade there was just enough time to hit the last few shops and pick up some last minute merch before heading for the Eurostar home, it was such a crazily short trip, but at the same time it felt like we got to see and do so so much, and I left with a totally full Mickey shaped heart for sure!


So that's it for the August trip, as with last time, the wonderful Sophie Square'd have complied day two into a Vlog for you all to check out, so please like and subscribe over there too, I know they would be so so grateful!

Other than that there's now only 2 weeks till my next trip back to DLP so I really should start thinking about packing! Thanks as always for reading,

Hoodsie xx