You may wonder why I chose the Animal Kingdom Lodge from among the many fabulous Resort choices at Walt Disney World. The answer is simple: for the safety (and sanity) of the animals, there are no fireworks within earshot. Why is this important to me? Well, the day before the 2010 Walt Disney World Marathon when we had stayed at Disney's Old Key West Resort, I awoke to give my husband moral support before he ran the Half Marathon on Saturday. As I fell back asleep in the wee hours of the morning, I heard the fireworks in the distance and knew his race was about to start. I went to bed around 8:30 Saturday night before the marathon -- my first full marathon ever -- convinced I would never fall asleep. What seemed like hours later, I awoke with a start to the sound of, you guessed it, fireworks. Heart racing, I leaped out of bed, certain I was about to miss the start of the marathon and calculating just how quickly I could throw on clothes and get to the starting line. All I could think about was the months of training going down the drain. Only when I looked at the clock did I realize it was only 9:00 PM and those "race start fireworks" were actually the Epcot nighttime spectacular, IllumiNations. It took forever for my heart to stop pounding, and as I struggled to get back to sleep, I vowed to stay only at Animal Kingdom Lodge for future Marathon Weekend trips. We stayed at the Kidani Village section with Chuck's parents in 2011, and I slept as well as could be expected for my first Goofy Challenge. I was looking forward to a similar experience at Jambo House for this year's Goofy.
We had an Advance Dining Reservation (ADR) at the Crystal Palace shortly after our arrival, so we pretty much threw our stuff in the room, greeted Chuck, grabbed the race packets he had picked up for my friends, and all rushed out the door for the bus to take us to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived at the podium more than 15 minutes late, and I was a little worried we would be charged the recently-implemented "no-show" fee of $10 per person, but the Cast Members got it all straightened out for us. We had to wait a little while to be seated, but since the "Cinderella's Castle Dream Lights" holiday icicle decorations were still on display I took a moment to snap a photo. I just love Christmas at the Magic Kingdom, and this put me back in a holiday mood (even though it was January 5).
We kept a close eye on the time and my phone, because I was planning to meet my friend to give her and her husband their race packets. They were running the 5K in the morning (in addition to the Goofy Challenge), and needed their bibs. As we wrapped up the meal and headed out to meet them, "The Magic, The Memories and You!" show started. Chuck hadn't yet seen the show, so I left him and the kids to enjoy it while I went to meet my friends. Race packet hand-off went smoothly and we were busy talking when Chuck and the kids got out of the park. We all spent a few moments chatting, but realized we couldn't talk long. They had a race to get to, and I had an early morning date with Jeff Galloway and 39 of our mutual friends!
