Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend Day 3 - The Studios and Race Day

Basically everything went off without a hitch on Saturday. We got up and hit the Studios at rope drop since it was early entry that day. The park was more or less empty when we got there. We did our normal thing and got a fastpass for Rockin' Roller Coaster and then headed straight to Tower of Terror.

There was some different things about Tower of Terror this time. First off, the wait time was 5 minutes instead of the usual 13 minutes. And for a good reason. There was NO ONE there! It was really creepy. There were the CMs, but no other guests. Finally a family of 3 came in and joined us in the Library. It was really kind of neat because I was able to get some pictures of the empty Lobby and really got to look at some cool stuff in the Library. After the preshow, we went through and decided to go straight ahead while the other family turned right. I'm glad they did because we walked right on the elevator and had NO ONE with us! We were totally alone in the thing! I got our photopass picture that I'll post later on in a separate photo post.

After that we did what few things we cared to do, but there really isn't much there that I must do there. The Studios is more of a stop and look park than anything for me. Sure there are some cool rides, but I don't have to see them. We walked around, looked at all the detail of the buildings, did some shopping and such before going over to the Great Movie Ride.

I like the Great Movie Ride. It's really just a nice place to sit for a long time and enjoy the air conditioning, but this time was really neat. My aunt and I with about 10 or so other people were the only ones in our car and our tour guide... Jack, I believe was really one of the best ones I've had. GMR can be a great experience if the Cast Members do their job.

After GMR, it was time for our reservation at the Brown Derby. Let me just say that this was probably one of the best meals I've EVER had at Walt Disney World. Superb service and excellent food. So good in fact that I'm going to do a separate review of the Brown Derby in an up coming Restaurant Review, so stay tuned! I do want to say that one of the Cast Members there really made our lunch special. Usually, the first people with reservations get special treatment through the restaurant. There is a ribbon cutting ceremony and a little parade through the restaurant with the "first family". After it's all over with, a CM takes their picture and they get a special little memento. Well after the first few families were seated it was our turn and as we were walking to our table, I was stopping and taking pictures when the picture taking CM (I think was named Bill) asked me what the special occasion was. Well I said that it was my first time at the Brown Derby. He got real excited and ran off. Right as we sat down, he ran up to us and took our picture and later on after the meal, he comes back to us and hands us a folder with our picture in it. I thought it was really cool and it just made our meal even that much more special.

I had intended on going to Guest Relations and giving Jack and Bill (?) a positive review but never got around it. So... I was wondering if you guys know of anyway that I can still do it. Is there a way to email Disney with CM reviews? They really made our day that much more special and I'd like to acknowledge them for it.

Anyway, after lunch we decided to go back to the resort and rest for a while. I had intended on meeting up with Justin at Epcot for a little while and do some Food and Wine, but I figured that I may as well go back and rest. I really needed it. Food and Wine would have to wait again...

So we get back to the room around 1 and I lay down and I'm zonked out. I think I slept heavily for almost 5 hours. I remember it being about 4:45 by the time I woke up. All the while I'm getting texts from Rae asking if I was ready. I freaked out because I thought it was past time! Ha ha!

We both slowly got ready. Went and got us some caffeine and a little bit of food and continued getting ready. By the time we were both dressed up in our chef's outfits, it was time to get on the bus.

At the time I could not understand why we had to be on the bus so frickin early for a race that started so frickin late... that is until I saw the C.F. of a mess the buses were at Wide World of Sports! That was the very definition of a cluster "mess"! Ugh... and to think that the Relayers had to take a connecting bus to Animal Kingdom! That was just a mess all together. But we finally got there and it is VERY crowded. But De'Dee and I are still looking for the Team Voice shirts, but all I could find were W.I.S.H. shirts (seriously... we need Florescent Orange or Blue or something). And for some reason, AT&T's service went out on me so I had no way of contacting any body. But we kept trying and I finally able to get some texts out to Eric and we eventually rendezvoused with Team Voice.

The spot where they were at was kinda cool because it was right beside Mickey. While De'Dee and I sat there a race official pointed to her and talked her into coming up to see Mickey. When she did, he let both of us run up, break in front of everyone in line and let us get our picture taken! That was really cool! Then a little while later, Jeff Galloway came off the stage and we all got our picture taken with him too. At the time I didn't know who he was, but pretty cool now!

It's at this point that I'm going to stop because after the trip reports will be a race report. I'm trying to have a separate category for race reports so we won't have to dig through everything else to find it, so again, stay tuned!

After the race, we are both tired and in a great deal of pain. Thankfully we did not check any bags. And it's a good thing too because that was another gigantic cluster "mess"! Did any TVer's check anything? I'm curious to know how that went and if they got everything.

Anyway, we get out into World Showcase and it is a MADHOUSE! I mean, just insane. I cannot believe people were forced to pay to go to that after party. Just ridiculous. We worked our way around to Japan and found a bench and sat our behinds right there and did not move the entire night. Thankfully Justin and Mike R. were willing to come see us there. We had a good visit and I'm glad we got to finally meet them! Apparently there was some other drama going on within Team Voice, but as I was not there, I'll let those involved talk about it.