Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend: The Expo

So, as most people in the blog-world know, this past weekend was Princess Half Marathon Weekend!  Ray and I arrived on Thursday night and left Sunday afternoon.  I got an opportunity (ok, and illegal one...) to run the 5k, but didn't end up doing so because I didn't get the paperwork on time.  Which is probably better, since I'm not usually a rule breaker.  But at any rate, we ended up going to the expo about an hour before closing on Thursday night, which was a wonderful and empty time to go! We picked up my packet and briefly looked around, mostly just at the official RunDisney merchandise because I know that sells out the fastest.  I still managed to miss some of the things I wanted, like one of the headbands (not just the ones that say RunDisney, the cute ones they had!).  We also looked at the Dooneys but they had already completely sold out!  And crazily enough, Ray was even thinking about buying me one as a late Valentine's Day present!  Ok, and so he could buy gun parts without feeling guilty, but I like to focus on the romantic part.  However, he did end up getting me a Dooney, just not a PHM one, and I absolutely love it!  It has so many Alice related charms and it's perfect!  Thursday night we ordered dinner in to the hotel room.  Just a warning, we ordered the Four Meat, and I think there was more meat than pizza!  

Friday morning we woke up and went back to the expo, and I did all of the buying I needed to.  A SparkleSkirt (my first medium, down from larges!), a SparkleAthletic sparkly visor with a tiara to attach to it, a Handana, and other things I'm sure but I can't remember right now.  We also got our body fat percentage/body composition info from the hospital that was at the expo - WOW what a wake-up call!  I knew I needed to lose weight but...it stung a bit to see the info!  We also met Jeff Galloway, which was such an honor.  Without him "legitimizing" the run/walk method, I would never have gotten this far!  It's seriously been a life saver and is the only way I can run.  We also watched a bit of Braves spring training, which apparently you're not supposed to do without a season pass - whoops!  But Ray is a Braves fan, so it was super exciting for him, especially after all the glitter of the expo!  

After the expo we went to Downtown Disney, and stopped in at the Earl of Sandwich for lunch.  It was delicious, quick, and cheap for Disney!  We got there about 11:20, and the line looked longer when we left, but it moves quickly.  I would definitely recommend it!  For dessert we stopped at the Ghiradelli store and both got Nob Hill Chills.  It was absolutely heavenly, and I definitely had a chocolate high!  Then we headed out to the Poly resort for the #runnerslove meet up held by Meg and Kristy.  I was so excited to be able to meet both of them, especially after reading their blogs for so long!  I also saw a few other bloggers who I follow, but being my shy self didn't say anything.  Take a look at all of the loot we won!  It was so amazing the sponsors they had gotten, and I heard of a few new great companies to take a look at.  Unfortunately it did start to rain during the meet up, which made it slightly chaotic.  I was sad that Rachel didn't make it in time due to delayed transportation, but luckily we saw her on the way back up from the beach!  It was great to catch up with her for a little while before dinner.  Dinner was at the Kona Cafe, and we actually got in about an hour before our reservation which was great, because we were both starving!  We started out with some amazing sushi (and the bread, oh my the bread!) and then I had Pan Asian noodles and Ray had a tuna dish.  Everything was so delicious and I definitely recommend this as well!  After dinner was a very exciting time - Ray's first monorail ride!  He'd seen a documentary about it when he was younger and was adorably excited to ride on it, whether he wanted to show it or not.  It was nice to just sit and ride it all the way around, and see the castle and Epcot ball all lit up from afar.  Finally we got back to the resort and went to bed not quite early enough!

Thursday and Friday were both great days, and I have a bunch of photos below!  They should be in order with my ramblings above =)

What did you think of the expo?  Have you been to Earl of Sandwich or Kona Cafe?
Lauren