My January Disney Vacation!

I LOVED being in Orlando, FL for a few days a couple weeks ago during the 20th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon. A Disney weekend is always fabulous – especially when it’s 80* there and around 30* at home in CT! It was a little different than my previous runDisney race weekends for a few reasons:

This was my first time staying at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. It was basically a giant, cozy cabin – complete with fire, rocking chairs, and (supposedly) bunk beds! We enjoyed a late night dinner at Wilderness Lodge’s Roaring Fork (quick service) restaurant on Friday night after arriving in Orlando. The next morning, we kicked off our fun weekend at Whispering Canyon Cafe with Mimosas and Bloody Marys. This was probably my favorite meal of the weekend (but I’m biased toward breakfast foods…) – chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes (Chocolate chips were mixed into the batter as they should be!), a side of bacon, and milk. Hungry yet?! (Sidenote: If you ever dine here, please ask for ketchup. If you do, everyone in the restaurant has to bring you their ketchup until your table is covered in ketchup bottles!)

While I got to check out all four parks while running around Disney during the 20th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon, we didn’t visit the parks this trip. Normally we do during half marathon weekends, but I didn’t want to risk any tired legs come race morning for my first marathon. No worries – I will be hitting up the parks in 25 days when I return for the Disney Princess Half Marathon! I have had reservations at the brand new Be Our Guest restaurant in Fantasyland since the fall. I cannot wait!

We spent way to much time at the Expo Saturday afternoon! I really enjoyed all the photo ops/booths thanks to New Balance! They’ve never had those at the Princess Half weekends before. While I made some good purchases at the Expo, I was a little disappointed that a lot of the vendors had sold out of merchandise already (although it makes sense with the Goofy Challenge taking place). I went into a slight inner panic when I couldn’t find the race fuel I was searching for. In addition, it’s tradition for me to add some shoe bling to my sneakers post-race, but BeeCause Charms was out of “26.2” charms! I was a little bummed, but my charm arrived to my apartment via snail mail shortly after the race.

Don’t ask me why I am dressed for snow…

I wish I had gotten in some much needed pool time, but we were way too busy eating, sleeping, running, and being out and about! We still had time to enjoy the wonderful weather though. Sunday evening we ventured out of Disney to nearby Rocco’s Tacos. (It was recommended to me by a friend. My family and I also recommend it now to anyone visiting the Orlando area.) The vibe of the restaurant is just as cool as the food! Luckily, we had a perfect table on the patio overlooking the water. We started off with their salsa (surprisingly not free with the meal), famous guacamole, and chili con carne. The chili con carne was a table favorite! With all the delicious appetizers, I just ordered a single chicken taco for my meal. I highly recommend getting a bunch of items to share, so you can try a little bit of everything. We will definitely be back during future visits to FL!

As mentioned previously, I will be back at the House of Mouse for my 4th Princess Half Marathon. We usually stay at Caribbean Beach, but we are switching it up by staying at the Saratoga Springs Resort in February. I’ll miss sleeping in pirate ships and having Johnny Depp’s face hanging on the wall…

Will you be joining me for the runDisney Princess Half Marathon weekend? Have you heard of any fun meet-ups/blogger get-togethers? I’d love to join! Let me know in the comments below.

Stay fit and fabulous (and warm!),

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