I ran the 2024 runDisney Springtime Surprise Hakuna Matata Ten-Miler and had a BLAST with a few issues. First of all, I love runDisney. I really do. What started as just a one and done at Princess 2022 has turned into one a year. The community and excitement – and seeing characters along the route – makes for a fun and exciting experience.
This trip, we stayed at Port Orleans New Orleans. I will go into detail about Port Orleans New Orleans in another post but wanted to mention this for reference. One thing if you are new to runDisney race weekends, there is transportation to and from the expo and race morning. But it must be shared that the runDisney buses to and from the resort were a little more chaotic and slow than what I have had in the past. But this didn’t put too much of a damper in plans until post race which I’ll come back to.
The runDisney Expo
The Expo this race weekend, seemed kind of blah. I’m not sure if this was because it was the last race of the season or if there was just nothing that gripped me to purchase from the merchandise floor. I did want two items and and got just those two items. That alone is a win. If you know, you know the runDisney merch is a trap. You’ll want everything, Even the vendor Expo seemed lean and I was in and out of there in ten minutes – just enough time to grab my race shirt. I won’t lie, the Expo wasn’t something I needed to really stay at this race weekend. I wanted to quickly get to Disney Springs.
Getting runDisney Weekend Started at Disney Springs
After hopping back on the bus back to the resort, I dropped my Expo bags and took the boat to Disney Springs. This is where my weekend really got started. I took myself on a solo date Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’. Propped my happy self at the bar and enjoyed a fried chicken salad and watermelon moonshine. I don’t go to Disney Springs without a stop at Homecomin. Everything I’ve ever eaten there is always so good. The farm to table food is fresh and tasty. I highly suggest the Thigh High Chicken Biscuits, fried pickles, chicken and donuts, and really the whole menu. This meal really set the tone for my 2024 runDisney Springtime Surprise – it just got better and better.
Park Days
The race wasn’t until Sunday morning and every day leading up to race day we had our park days. We never bought Genie+ which was different for me cause I hate waiting in line, but you guys – we didn’t need it. We got out virtual queues for Guardians and Tron, and we got really lucky on the wait times. You may have previously saw my Magic Kingdom best day ever post on Instagram. We tracked our wait times for every ride and you will be very surprised. I also was able to track a food budget for you too for one day in the parks. Yes, I will share those details with you too.
Post Race Shenanigans
Race morning was of course an early one. We were on the bus by 2:45 and took off running by 5:45. We were all placed in corral D, and of course I won’t share my time, because that’s for me to know and me to improve on. 🙂 Here’s where things got hairy. We had a 10:30 breakfast reservation at Tusker House. I grabbed my medal and got on the first bus available back to the resort to get ready because there are three ladies and one shower. Well, I was ready to head to breakfast and Kristen and Ashley were on a lost bus. Yes, the bus driver was lost. Here’s the thing about the runDisney buses. They are not Disney drivers. So not all of them know the routes. I went on to breakfast already cutting it close, and had to get to the furthest park – Animal Kingdom. Let me set the scene. My legs and feet are tired. I just ran ten miles and now I’m running through Animal Kingdom to have breakfast with Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Daisy. Priorities, folks. It’s a good thing I left ahead so I was able to get us checked in with a minute to spare. This was one of those moments.
Overall, the trip was great. Every trip to Disney is a good one. This trip just had more moments that I didn’t plan for or were unexpected. If you’re interested in runDisney and want to learn more, check out my previous runDisney post here. If there’s something I missed that you want me to cover, let me know in the comments. Until then, see you at Wine & Dine 2024.