A Practically Perfect Princess Weekend
Tiffini Hensley10.4.18Last spring a friend of mine asked me to join her in running 13.1 miles at Walt Disney World for the 10th Anniversary of the Princess Half Marathon. We quickly decided to make it a weekend full of princess activities, since she and I only have boys at home.Here is the story of our perfectly princess weekend.Once upon a weekend there were two girls who dreamed to be princesses. They then learned their dreams would come true when they would be able to run dressed up as Cinderella and Ariel in the Walt Disney World 10th Anniversary of the Princess Half Marathon. To make their princess weekend practically perfect, they started off with accommodations fit for royalty.The Royal Guest Rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans-Riverside Resort are beautifully appointed with nods to many of the Disney princesses, from magic lamp faucets to magical headboards featuring the Princess and the Frog.Once checked into their royal accommodations, the girls made their way to the runDisney Expo, located at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports, where they were able to take numerous pictures and pick up their race bibs and the information about their upcoming race. At the expo there were photo opportunities with princesses, as well as merchandise available for purchase. From the expo, the next stop for the girls was dinner at 1900 Park Fare, to dine with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Anastasia, and Drizella. This popular character buffet is located at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa and is only one table service credit on the dining plan. The food is plentiful and delicious, offering a fan favorite of strawberry soup as one of the options. The character interaction with the stepsisters is a fan favorite as well and are always good for a lot of laughter.The next day the girls went to Magic Kingdom, where they conquered a few of the mountains (Big Thunder Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Space Mountain) like true princesses and ate dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. Dinner inside the castle was nothing short of amazing and was worth the two table service credits on the dining plan. The experience started off with a meet n’ greet with Cinderella, before heading upstairs to their table, where the dining room overlooks Fantasyland. Throughout dinner, they were able to meet Snow White, Jasmine, Ariel, and Aurora. Since dinner overlapped with the evening showing of the Happily Ever After fireworks, they were even able to have a view of the fireworks behind the castle.Epcot was the girls’ next adventure, where they ate lunch once again with the princesses at Akershus, located in the Norway pavilion right next to Frozen Ever After. This meal is also one table service credit on the dining plan and starts off with a meet n’ greet with Belle, before meeting additional princesses during the meal itself. Speaking of the meal, it was fabulous and started with a salad bar featuring many Norwegian delicacies, followed by an a la carte lunch, completed by a trio of mouth watering desserts!. After lunch, the rest of the day was set for relaxation to prepare for the big race the next day!
Sunday was race day! The half marathon started off very early in the morning so that the race was completed before the theme parks opened to guests. They did this because the race itself winds through both Magic Kingdom and Epcot! The race started off the side of one of the Epcot parking lots, then went down the highway (they had the roads closed to traffic) through the gates of Magic Kingdom, through Transportation and Ticket Center, then into the park itself. It was such an exhilarating experience for the girls to run down Main Street USA, being cheered on while staring up at Cinderella’s Castle. After running directly through the castle, runners were then lead behind the scenes before exiting the park to run past Shades of Green and the golf course, then back on the highway to run back towards Epcot. The last leg of the course took the girls through Epcot, with the finish line located back through the gates and into the parking lot of the park.
In addition to running through the parks themselves, the Disney races are special since they incorporate character meet n’ greets and entertainment throughout the race into the race itself. For this race, there were special meet n’ greets with several of the Disney princes, the evil queen from Snow White, the Genie from Aladdin, Captain Jack Sparrow, the Queen of Hearts and more!
Upon completion of the race, the girls were exhausted but felt that they had given it their all! To celebrate, they continued with a little pampering at the Senses Spa at Saratoga Springs Resort, before grabbing dinner at Raglan Road (because Ireland is close to Scotland, which the girls felt was a close enough tie in for Merida from Brave), then calling it a night.The next morning the girls hopped on their magic carpet home, with a feeling that they truly had a perfectly princess weekend!If you’d like to see additional pictures and videos from my visits to Walt Disney World, please check out my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/thensley.wft. If you’d like more information, or to start planning your next vacation, please contact Tiffini@wishesfamilytravel.com