The Tinkerbell half-marathon weekend is over and I’m exhausted. Lots of family time, seeing the parks and of course – the races. The next couple of posts will be a recap of all of our race related activities over the whole weekend.
Day 1 (Thursday evening): After we checked into our non-Disney hotel (Hampton Inn & Suites, Garden Grove) my sister, hubby, Mom, niece and I headed over the Race Expo in the Disneyland hotel to pick up our race packets and check out the Disney gear. When we entered, it wasn’t too crowded. There were plenty of printers to print out the race waivers and only a few people in short lines. There were separate counters for the Pixie Dust Challenge (10K plus half-marathon) and the other races (5k, 10k and half marathon).
For the Pixie Dust, my sister and niece had to get their pictures taken after they picked up their race packets. Once they were done — I walked over to the 10K area and my sister & niece started heading to get their shirts. All of a sudden they realized I wasn’t with them and I was in the 10k line for packet pickup! My sister was very surprised that I was running the 10k and was very happy! She realized that it was ME that she saw a few days ago when she searched for her bib number.
At the 10k desk, I handed in my signed waiver, showed my driver’s license, then had to sign that I received my packet and initial that I received the pin that I had pre-ordered. Quick and easy. On the same floor as packet pickup Pandora Jewelry (a race sponsor) had a small booth where you could buy the special Tinkerbell charms and Dooney & Bourke has special Tinkerbell purses for sale. My sister bought each of us the Tinkerbell charm for our Pandora bracelets.
After packet pick-up, we headed upstairs to the Race Expo to pick up our shirts. The tables weren’t clearly marked for which type of shirt that you needed, so there were plenty of Disney staff to answer questions and guide you to the right area. I showed my race bib and I was handed my shirt. A separate area was available if you wanted to exchange a shirt for a different size.
The Race Expo wasn’t as big as I thought it was but the vendors were good. Skirt Sports had a big booth and so did Pandora Jewelry (one of the Race sponsors). Jim Galloway was there talking to runners and you could take your photo with him and there were the requisite fuel belts, shirts, headbands, shoes, shirts, etc. At the very end of the Expo, runDisney sold all the race merchandise. There was a small line to get into the booth but in typical Disney fashion, the line moved pretty quickly. Most of the race gear was really for the half-marathoners and the Pixie Dust challengers. I was also surprised that there was quite a bit of cotton merchandise. The prettiest item was a light pink jacket from Champion but it had the Pixie Dust logo, so I couldn’t buy it – as I only ran the 10k.
