Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K! A Merry Race & an Even Merrier Introduction to runDisney!

First of all, let me state, I know this post is about 6 months late…  With that said, Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K is a Merry new addition to the runDisney Family 5K runs.  It now leads off the Walt Disney World Wine & Dine Half Marathon weekend as the 5K event, as of this past year, as Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party begins on the same weekend that the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival ends (convenient, right?!)  It takes runners through a beautiful morning 5K run through Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  When I say beautiful, I mean GORGEOUS! 

Most places are wonderful looking in the morning.  Walt Disney World is no exception; and while Disney’s Animal Kingdom is not necessarily my favorite park of the Disney empire, it is one of Disney’s most astonishing. 

*Note: for those of you whom have ran the Expedition Everest Challenge, Mickey’s Jingle Jungle 5K hasa very similar race path as the challenge…

The race starts off in the parking lot of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and ventures into the park itself.  While this may not seem that note worthy, it must be noted that almost the entire first mile (or 1/3 of the race) is completed in the parking lot…  WOWSA!  The corrals were simply divided and most people appeared to be there just for a nice morning jog, which was peaceful and relaxing, especially for those of us whom are not hardcore runners.  This race is therefore recommended for those of us whom just want to enjoy running, and not run to win or feel competitive at all! 

After running 1/3 of your race in the parking lot (it’s still crazy to think that, right?!)  runners venture into Disney’s Animal Kingdom heading past the Tree of Life and towards Camp Minnie Mickey!  Runners hit some nice backstage areas and then venture past the Tree of Life again, and towards DinoLand U.S.A. towards more backstage areas and out of the park towards the finish line and medallion reward area!

Overall it’s a cute and fun race if one is just looking to run.  It’s not a good race to get all the runDisney shabang that comes with runDisney events.  Jaime, our friend Jed, and I ran this race and we highly recommend it, at the very least for the morning view (& to run 1 mile in the parking lot)!

Happy running!

5 on 5: Passholder Anniversary

It's been a year since we have been Premier Annual Passholders, and we are celebrating our top 5 favorite moments!  Our passes were purchased on May 4, 2012 and expired on May 4, 2013, just in time for the 5 on 5! In honor of this anniversary we wanted to chronicle our top 5 memories of this year. Below is our list, enjoy!

Danny!
-Partner ring exchange at the "Storytellers" statue at Disney California Adventure - I felt like we fell in love at Disneyland and, just like Walt Disney's story began in California, I felt like our story began in California...  And since then we've had a blast!
-Running the Tinker Bell 1/2 Marathon - Who would not be proud or happy to have run a 1/2 Marathon?!  Let alone a 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland themed after Tinker Bell?!  Chello!!!
-Visiting Disney's California Adventure 2 months after it's grand re-opening - People say it's like stepping into the movie.  We say it's like stepping into someone's imagination, and getting the chance to visit this place before it was constructed, during its construction and after its construction was a true excitement, thrill and blessing!
-Going to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival - I didn't really know much about this festival, other then they served food from around the world...  What I didn't know was - HOW DELICIOUS IT WAS!!!  If there is one event from each coast I recommend going to at Walt Disney World, it is this one - The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.  IT.  IS.  A.  MUST.  DO.  (The event at Disneyland is any of Mickey's Halloween's Party, hard ticketed events)!
-Running the Expedition Everest Challenge and 5K - This is the event that started it all for Jaime and I, and also got me hooked on runDisney events!  Why not end with the best!  Also it got us more fit!

Here's to a new year!

Jaime:

Commitment to fitness by way of runDinsey - We purchased our PAP's the day before our Expedition Everest 5k knowing that we were going to make runDisney a part of our year and lives. Since then we have also run the Jingle Jungle 5k and Tinkerbell Half Marathon (Danny also completed the Princess Half) and have done other runs at home to keep us going for runDisney. I am so happy to have such an amazing motivator to keep me running!

4 Parks in One Day - This past March I had the opportunity to travel to Orlando for  professional conference and stayed an extra couple of days to enjoy the parks. On my last full day at the parks I visited all four parks. We hit all the major rides, got great food, saw some amazing shows, and had a wonderful time! I wouldn't recommend doing 4 parks in a day every trip but it was a fun exercise to see how much we could do in a day!

Passholder Merch - this isn't an event, per say, but I have really enjoyed getting to see and sometimes buy the passholder merch. This last trip the special vynalmation for passholders was a little Orange Bird, which has special significance for Danny and me. Since we had always collected a pin and vynalmation with each trip we have gone on it was fun to get a different array of stuff to consider.

Walk in Walt's Footsteps Tour - This tour is exclusive to Disneyland and was a great way to experience the park. Not only was it full of fun facts and trivia (my favorite) but we also were given special access to a few rides, got to see inside the lobby of Club 33 and got to go into Walt's apartment! I highly recommend doing this tour and walking in the footsteps of this visionary.

Our ring exchange - Last, but not least, is the memory of Danny giving me a commitment ring in front of the Storytellers statue in Disney California Adventure. Since we have written about it before in other posts and Danny listed it above, I don't feel that I need to elaborate much more, but needless to say, I will cherish this memory for the rest of my life. Love you Danny!

We can't wait to see what this next year as passholders has in store for us!