Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend Day 1

I first heard and the Tinkerbell Marathon a year and a half ago.  I thought it sounded so fun and proposed it to my sisters that we should do it in 2013.  At the time that sounded so far away I never really thought we would do it.  Well when registration time came up Stephanie, said let's do it.  And since we do every crazy thing that she proposes we agreed.  We knew that it would be an expensive race, but we heard that it was worth it.  So last June we signed up.  The race still seemed so far away, like a dream.
We made a few plans and got our airfare booked and then filed it away to think of another day.  After Christmas and New Years were over it hit me, we had less than three weeks to get everything planned and get in shape. Things were not looking good.

I squeezed in a few runs on the Dreadmill, since the air outside was so bad, but never really got in any long runs.  Luckily Holly was in the same boat as I so we made a plan to run walk the race.  Before we new it, it was Jan 17 and we were set to leave the next day.

We flew out of SLC early Friday mornign and met Holly at the LA airport.

Of course I made sure I had lots of leg room on the flight.  

After picking up our rental car, finding an In and Out to eat at, checking into the Hotel we were finally ready to head to Disneyland.

I just have to put it our there.  I LOVE DISNEYLAND!  Yes, I just shouted.  We had so much fun.  We only had one child with us, so we could do what we wanted and not have to worry about anybody else's schedule.  The best thing we did was use the MouseWait app to check the line times.  It really gave us our best guess at what lines were like so we could plan our fastpasses.  (Dear Disney, please don't start enforcing times on fastpasses, it will take all the spontaneity out of Disneyland.)

 Bevan had quite a good chat with the Mad Hatter and Alice.

Spinning rides, like the Tea Cups, make me ill, so I choose to stay off and take pictures while everyone else rode.

After riding Buzz, Star Tours twice, Autotopia, The Tea Cups, The Matterhorn, and Space Mountain, we needed a break.  We headed over to The Tiki Room to get a Dole whip and catch the show.  After the show we hit the Jungle Cruise, which is one of my favs.  I love the punny humor that the tour guides use on this ride.

After Dinner at the River Belle Terrace, I had a yummy turkey sandwich we hit Pirates, Indiana Jones, The Haunted Mansion, and the Train.  We rode the train over to Fantasyland with the intent of heading to Toon Town, but the parade was just coming down the road and we found the perfect spot.  Stephanie and Bevan ended up across the street from us and Bevan got to dance with several of the Charecters, including Pluto.  It made me wish that I had thought to take my big lens so I could zoom in.  

After the parade we quickly jumped in line for Small World.  They still had the Christmas overlay up.  I had seen pictures of this on the internet and wasn't really that amazed, it just seemed like a lot of lights.  Let me tell you, it was breathtaking in real life.  Only Disney can get away with that many lights on one building.  We even saw the clock go off and it was simply divine.  The inside is completely different at Christmas.  It was so cute!  They sing Jingle Bells, Feliz Navidad, and Small World.  I loved it.  I am totally planning a trip for Christmas time just to be able to show the kids this.  

After small world Stephanie, Holly and Bevan hit a few more rides, while my mom and I shopped.  Then we took a break and watched the totally amazing Fireworks.  I loved when Tinkerbell came flying down from the Matterhorn.  They were truly magical.  After the fireworks were over we decided that we were exhausted and headed back to the Hotel.  What a great first day.