Seven Seas Lagoon Run at #DisneySMMoms Celebration

On Mother's Day I was up early to meet whoever wanted to run one final time at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. I had an idea of who was coming based on Tweets and FB posts from the night before and yes...early that morning. I headed to the Contemporary lobby at 6:15 to meet up with everyone at 6:30.  We were going to run to the Grand Floridian and back around the Seven Seas Lagoon!  It is one of my favorite runs on property because of the amazing views across the lagoon.

Good Morning Contemporary! It is like waking up to the circus waiting to come to life! 

I love the scale on this picture! I look like Tinker Bell in a very small lobby.  I was wore my safety vest and light up Tinker Bell wings for our early morning run.  I thought we might make it out before the sun.  That was not the case, but it is always good to take safety seriously!

runDisney had invited Ali Vincent to the DSMMoms Celebration 

and she joined us at many events throughout the weekend including our morning run!  

She is a truly amazing individual.  

Her secret to success is that she is real.  

She is one of the most comfortable people to be around.  

She really puts herself out there to have fun and help others while trying not to forget herself.  

If you ever get a chance to do anything with her...do it!

Here is our running crew ready to set out! I love all of our Princess colors!  On the right is Nicole Brady with her husband and two amazing daughters.  Kia Smith is sporting the Minnie ears.  Andrea Howell from FB Once Upon a Run is in the blue tank.  Ali's camera run buddy is on the left.

We left the Contemporary and headed toward the Ticket and Transportation Center.  

Everyone familiar with runDisney's course to Magic Kingdom should recognize this dip in the road.  

Picture huge Mickey hands clapping and spinning the hits up on the overpass.

There was a lot of chatting, encouragement, and yes picture taking along the way!

Heading through the Ticket and Transportation Center.

There were just a few other folks around...which held true for the entire run.

Over to the Polynesian! What a happy crew! I felt like Tinker bell in a garden.

The girls were amazing! 

They were up for anything...including pictures! 

I know they had an amazing trip all around!

Our first view check.  The Contemporary is all the way across the Lagoon! 

Ali pointing out where we started!

The Polynesia is such a beautiful resort.  

Some day I hope to be so lucky as to stay at the resort.

You can't pass up a trip to the chapel when running around the lagoon.

Sisters!

Ali knew exactly what to do with the rings!

The half way point in our run.  We ran/walked our way up to this point.  

We had quite the mix of running abilities 

and were not going to drop anyone on the way to the Grand Floridian.  

On the way back we ran...

...and took some photos...

...and ran...

...and made it back to the Contemporary!

A parting shot of Belle, Aurora and Cinderella before cleaning up for Mother's Day brunch.

I can not wait to get back to Disney and hit the running paths again.  

I can't wait to meet even more of you this coming week at #DisneyRunFest '13!  

We will have to see where our runs take us!  I am looking forward to seeing some new sights.  

What are your favorite runs on property?

DisneyRunFest2012 - Part 3 - Our Monday Evening Run

When you think about Disney World does the Seven Seas Lagoon come to mind first?  How about Disney's 3 main resorts: the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian and the Contemporary?  Okay...what about Magic Kingdom and the Monorail?  Now wrap that all into one great adventure of a run and you have DisneyRunFest2012's Monday evening run!  Fantastic to the highest degree would you not agree?  This is why I flew to Florida this week.  I wanted to runDisney, but off the main course routes that I have run during Race for the Taste in 2009 and Princess in 2011 & 2012.  I wanted to run in my favorite place on earth and see it in an all new way (to me at least).  I am a running tourist who loves to take tons of photos along the way and this was my dream trip.

There were five of us out on this run.  I was quick to comment that on this runDisney run we were the character stops.  If someone wanted to stop to take a picture all they had to do was say so.  Chances were good that we all wanted to take a picture!  So there are a lot of photos in this post.  Most are mine, but some of them are Marcia Barton's my runDisney loving companion for all of DisneyRunFest2012.

Our running team for the evening:

Erin Williams – for the love of Disney running on FB; @lovedisneyrun on Twitter; and  http://lovedisneyrunning.blogspot.com/ 
Marcia Barton - @TravelRunEat on Twitter and Travelruneat.blogspot.com
Rachel Wright - @runnerstales on Twitter and http://runnerstales.com
Kirsten Reutebuch  - Facebook & Twitter
Jen Kelly - Facebook

Who wouldn't want to run in the happiest place on earth?

Meeting before the run in the lobby of the Contemporary.
 The staff was great about all of this!
We were in and out quite a few times over the course of the evening.

Out front waiting for our fifth runner to join us.

On the run toward Magic Kingdom
 Always be polite running along the walkways.
Passing a happy family on the way to the park! 

We were chatting about all things runDisney the whole way.

This was the moment when I knew we were going to be making a few photo stops.
"Can you take our picture?"

One of my favorite shots!
It is easy to get through bag check when you are running!
(Never run through bag check!)

The finer details in life!

Coming back around the Contemporary to head towards the Transportation Center

This section of the run was along the road...so caution was in order, but traffic was accommodating.
What a background eh?

And there I am taking the photo above...thank Marcia for catching me in action!

It was nice to have a moment off the shoulder.
We all wanted a real running path through here
and Rachel (the engineer in the group)
 is going to plan the additions we desire:
a new path here, a bridge crossing there.
She can be the Fairy Godmother of runDisney loving runners.  

Marcia in the lead taking on the traffic with a wave and a smile!

Coming through the Transportation Center

The welcome arches always make me happy!

Go ladies go!

On to the Polynesian!  I love this photo!  Another top pick from the run!

You know runners...it is all about their watches!

Which way should we go...which way should we go...look at that pool!

Love the theme details at the Polynesian!

Who could miss going to the chapel?  We all took our turn - Rachel!

Kirsten!

Jen!

Marcia!

& me - Erin!  (I love my RunningSkirt by the way)

Now let's explore the Grand Floridian!

Beautiful!

Potty break / Tweet fest in the Grand Floridian lobby

Even though we are wet and in our running gear
 I did not feel as out of place as I thought I might!
I love this hotel!
There were quite a few little Princesses roaming around!

Night falling on the lagoon

They need to build a bridge over there
and complete a running path all the way around the lagoon!
Please!

I love gaining perspective on a run...that is where we started.

Out front at the Grand Floridian!

Had to hunt for this sign.  It was all the way out on the road.

Bring up the lights!

Rather than risk the road on the way back to the Contemporary
we jumped on the Monorail at the Transportation Center.
Don't you wish you could have a handy monorail for your ride back when it gets too dark outside!

Party on the Monorail!

We were this close to getting our picture with Mickey
...we settled for the photo setup in the lobby of Chef Mickey's.

Great restaurant, but we were headed to the Polynesian for Drinks, Desserts & Fireworks!

So you think Florida is flat?  Any questions?

This was hands down one of my favorite runs as Disney World ever!  It combined so many amazing places and I was doing it all with such a great group of runDisney loving ladies.  Given that it had all come together so quickly I could not believe what a fantastic time we were having.  I really was having the time of my life and there was still tons more to come!

We once again ducked into the restroom at the Contemporary to change out of our wet running gear and get ready for the Polynesian.  Kirsten had already called in a night at the Transportation Center and headed home to get ready for a morning test.  So there were four of us remaining.  Once changed we headed for the Polynesian.  We gathered in the lobby with our leis waiting for Rachel only to realize that she had a change of plans and was headed home as well.

More on Drinks, Desserts & Fireworks at the Polynesian in the next post.

The full itinerary can be found at http://lovedisneyrunning.blogspot.com/2012/07/disney-run-fest-july-16-17-2012.html

Thanks for reading along folks more tomorrow!  Night!