On Thursday night I had the opportunity to attend RunDisney’s Wine and Dine half marathon meet up at Epcot. I’d heard about these special events before but never had a chance to go. RunDisney usually teases people on Twitter in the week or two before each of their races and then BAM they post about it on the Disney Parks blog and you have a very short amount of time to RSVP. I saw them post about it an Facebook and did what I could to RSVP in time… and I did!
One of the biggest differences about this RunDisney meet up is that it was at night (since the Wine and Dine half marathon is also at night). The night start time meant that I could go to work and still attend. We were able to check in at 7 pm even though the event didn’t officially start until 8:45 pm. I got there right at 7 so I’d have time to enjoy the park for a little bit before hand. At check in we were given our Run Disney shirt, park ticket, and a Fast Pass for Test Track. I hadn’t been on it since they redid it, so I was excited when I saw that.
My friend Steph arrived around the same time I did so we ended up hanging out together. We hit up Test Track (where I designed us quite the badass purple truck), grabbed a coffee at Starbucks, and then walked around World Showcase before finding out way to the VIP viewing area for Illuminations.
There were around 125 people there for the event so we had a chance to mingle before the show started. I even got a chance to meet Jeff Galloway and get my picture taken with him. He is SUCH a nice guy!
I hadn’t seen Illuminations in a few years and it was so neat seeing it from our own special area. We were right up against the railing and were able to see everything!
After Illuminations they held us there for a little while to let the park clear out. Then we headed to the American Theater for the rest of the night’s activities. We had some light food and of course some wine while enjoying a variety of speakers. We even had a chance to get pictures with Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy.
Once the speakers were done we were split up into our groups for the 2 mile run through Epcot. I signed up to do the run/walk/run group for a couple of reasons. I hadn’t been running in a couple of weeks AND I wanted the chance to run with Jeff Galloway. It was so cool getting to run through an empty park at night!
We finished up with some group pictures and then a champagne toast right before midnight! It was such a fun event and I’m very happy that I was able to participate. The only downside was that it really made me wish I was participating in the race on Saturday. Maybe next year I will have to bite the bullet and sign up!
