I woke up at 3:30 AM the day of the race, and I was feeling those early morning nerves.  For breakfast, I ate a plain bagel, and I brought a bottle of water with me to drink on my way to the race.  It was chilly outside, but I was worried about it warming up and then needing to shed a layer.  The bib had to be pinned on the front of my body, which would make taking off a jacket inconvenient.  I had read some tips beforehand about bringing a large trash bag to wear to keep warm until race time, and I noticed others following that tip (it also looked like Disney sold a product with the same function at the expo that a lot of people had purchased), but I just sucked it up.


I wasn't quite sure about the shuttle bus, but luckily there were other runners staying at the Motel 6 who were waiting for the shuttle in the lobby, so I wasn't alone in figuring it out.  The bus dropped us at the bus hub at the main gate, and we walked through Downtown Disney to the Disneyland Hotel.  There were several restaurants open in Downtown Disney for those needing a bite to eat before the race.

I'm not a runner.  Sure, I can run... but I don't consider myself to be particularly great at it.  I'd much rather get my strength and cardio workout from the comfort of a stationary bicycle in a Cycling with Rachel class (that's a shout-out to the best cycling instructor I know, my little sister, who teaches at Fike Recreation Center in Clemson) than running on pavement under the hot California sun.

So when Rachel and I signed up in August 2014 to run the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland, we were reaching a bit out of our comfort zone.  Both of us had always wanted to participate in a runDisney half marathon, and we had run the miserably hot Castaway Cay 5k just a few months prior.  We thought that this would be a great goal for us to work towards and a unique way to keep us connected from coast to coast.

Pixie Dust and high-fives kept me going for 13.1 #TinkerbellHalfMarathon #runDisney #Disneyland #california #VictoriaOnVacation #VSCOcam

A photo posted by Victoria Shingleton (@vshingl) on May 10, 2015 at 12:13pm PDT

It wasn't long after moving to Los Angeles before I started hearing a little voice calling out.... "Victoria, come to Disneyland!"

I tried to ignore it.  Really, I did.  But it just kept getting louder!

So I decided one afternoon to get a quick "Disney fix" by visiting Downtown Disney at Disneyland.



One of the biggest influences in my decision is that Downtown Disney offers three hours free parking to visitors, and up to five hours free parking for guests who get their parking tickets validated at any sit-down restaurant or with a movie ticket purchase.

Ever since I moved to Los Angeles, the billboards and commercials were calling my name...

"Victoria, come to Disneyland!"

I thought that Mickey's Halloween Party would be the perfect opportunity to visit.  The Halloween Party is a special event, and for my date (Tuesday, September 30), the cost of the ticket was $63, tax included.  While the Halloween Party, exclusive to guests who purchased the special event ticket, took place from 6 PM to 11 PM, the ticket allowed entry to Disneyland as early as 3:00 PM.  On top of that, parking (typically $17) was complimentary for Halloween Party guests.

While for guests who have purchased multi-day tickets or are annual or season passholders to Disneyland might question whether or not the Halloween Party is worth the additional $63, for me, a day guest (holding off on purchasing tickets because I can't decide if I want/need an annual pass) it was a no-brainer.


Now, I had planned to enter the park exactly at 3:00 so that I could maximize my day... but I left a little behind schedule, and traffic and road construction caused a major delay.  So I arrived at Disneyland at 3:00 (phew, on time!)... and had to wait in a ridiculously long line to enter.  I was wondering what the hold-up was.  Part of it is that Disneyland is still using turnstiles (let's get some Magic Bands!) and the eTickets were having difficulty scanning, and the other cause for delay is that as soon as we entered, we received a wristband... and the wristbander for my line was a little clumsy with his hands.