Welcome to Part Three of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend, the character filled conclusion with the Post Race Party! Part One covered the Expo, Jay’s last-minute registration, and the 10K. Part Two followed us along the Half Marathon course as Jay ran his first RunDisney Race.
I knew when I signed Jay up for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, I would have a hard time convincing him to go to the Post Race Party at Epcot. It wasn’t his fault he was so tired, we signed him up late and he had no time to train even if he wanted to. We went home after the race and spent most the day either sleeping or on our respective computers. The Post Race Party officially started at 10 p.m. with admission as early as 8 p.m. I have an annual pass so we go whenever we please anyway, so there was no rush. Around what I thought was half past seven I suggested we start getting ready. It was actually closer to 6:30 because I had forgotten to change the clocks when we got back. We wound up arriving at Epcot around 8:30 p.m. which turned out fine, because we didn’t realize that nothing would be open from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. It never occurred to me things would close while they swept the regular guests out of the park, because at Magic Kingdom the special event starts the moment the park closes. I assumed Epcot would be closing at 10 p.m.
Silly Chelsea.
Our first stop in Epcot was actually Guest Relations because when we went for Food and Wine in early October we found the normal, not-part-of-Food-and-Wine margarita booth missing. I wanted to know where to find my frozen margaritas! Thankfully, Guest Relations assured me the quick service location in Mexico would have them, and she was right. We made the long, slow, hobbling walk up to World Showcase and got in line at La Cantina de San Angel just before 9 p.m. and were actually ordering as Illuminations went off overhead. It was the first time in what was probably several years watching it, because if I’m in the parks that late at night I’m usually watching one of the other nighttime spectaculars. Epcot is the park I spend the least amount of time in since Duffy was chased out by the evil Daisy Duck. We realized they had closed the line off behind us and that the park was shutting down. Jay looked at me, rather grumpy since that meant the place he wanted his drink from would also be closed. I promised him we’d make it to the Rose and Crown before the night was over and then we headed towards Germany. If we had to sit around waiting until 10 p.m., we might as well do it in line for something.
My sole priority for the Post Race Party was all about the characters, not the food. We had already been to Food and Wine once and had another trip planned so as soon as we had the brochure in our hand back at the Expo, I started planning. There was only one character on the list that I had never met, so we started there: the Witch from Snow White.
When we arrived in Germany there was a small line of about ten people already formed so we jumped in line behind them and sat down. Photos from the races were finally starting to show up on My Disney Experience, so I spent my time waiting downloading those and sending them to my Mom. The Witch appeared promptly at 10 p.m. and we groaned as we got to our feet and the line moved up. It was almost our turn when the Backstage Door beside the Witch opened for several Cast Members on their way to work the Food and Wine booths, and their reactions were priceless. Clearly they didn’t know anything about the event they were working, and they were so excited to see the Witch. We were up in no time and she fussed over Duffy before we took our picture and moved on.
The party had been officially started for ten minutes and we had already met one character! We moved on towards the U.K. since I had promised Jay a Welsh Dragon from the Rose and Crown. He was moving much slower than I was, so I suggested he jump in line for our next character while I went to fetch the drink. As we passed America we saw Mickey Mouse out in his patriotic best, the same outfit I met him in on the Fourth of July. I asked Jay to hop in the extremely long line and I kept going, only to pause as I passed Japan. I saw Minnie Mouse out sporting a kimono! I called Jay as I kept walking as fast as my sore legs could carry me.
“Do you actually want to meet Mickey?”
“No, not really. We met him this morning.”
“Okay, I’ve met him in that outfit. If you don’t care about it, I think you should move over to Japan and get in line for Minnie.”
By the time I got back to him with his Welsh Dragon, (it is a good thing I don’t like that drink considering long as I had to carry it around the park without drinking it) Minnie was being pulled off for a cheese break. She was supposed to be right back, but there was some sort of wardrobe malfunction and it was about half an hour before she reappeared. We were much more patient about this than some of the others in line. One man started yelling at the Character Attendant and it took everything I had not to step in to defend her.
We were in line long enough to see Minnie switch again, but the second time was much more expedient. Minnie immediately took Duffy away from me to hold him for the photo and blew both Jay and I a bunch of kisses. She was super cute. I love meeting different versions or special versions of my favorite characters.
It was about 11:10 p.m. so our second character had taken an hour on her own, but we were still two characters in already. I felt we were doing fairly well. Jay wanted to go see one more character and leave. I kept saying I wanted to see the Adventurers Club, but he seemed to think they wouldn’t be fun. Since we were right next to Morocco and the next show started at 11:15 p.m. I convinced him to stop for just a few minutes to watch the start, and then we could keep going.
We wound up watching the entire show, and laughing our heads off.
Back in the days of Pleasure Island, the adult themed area of Downtown Disney, there was a venue known as the Adventurers Club. I’ve heard about it since I became a Jungle Cruise Skipper, but didn’t really know anything about it because everyone talks to me like I should know what it is. There’s something called a Kungaloosh, and until the Post Race Party that was pretty much all I knew. The Adventurers Club was a multi-act comedy show with different events happening in various rooms all night long. Based in a similar era to the Jungle Cruise, it is a grand organization of the world’s most daring and witty explorers. Due to the nature of Pleasure Island, they told jokes that Skippers would never get away with. Nothing graphic or crude, but lots of clever innuendo. The Kungaloosh is not only the club greeting, but a famous drink. For the better part of a year I’ve listened to the Pirate Crew (Jay, Robert, and Victoria) refer to it like I should be familiar with it. Unlike my friends, I did not grow up with frequent trips to Walt Disney World. When the Adventurers Club closed in September of 2008, I had just turned seventeen and was in my senior year of high school. The last time I had been to Disney I was fourteen, and if my mother had known what the Adventurers Club was she probably wouldn’t have taken me to see it. (Then again, she took me and two friends to the Rocky Horror Picture Show when I was sixteen, so who knows?)
So at long last, on November 5, 2017, almost ten years after the Adventurers Club closed its doors, I learned what they were all about, and I LOVE THEM. I used to frequent (and still do when I am in town) an improv show in Knoxville, and while the Adventurers Club was at least semi-scripted, it was the same kind of dynamic, quick humor. I wish I had gotten more of it on video. They taught the crowd to do the secret handshake, recite the Club Creed, and sing the song. There were three men and one woman, almost all equally funny, and I heard some jokes I never would have guessed I’d hear in a Disney park. With crowd suggestions, they did a rendition of “Old McDonald had a Farm”. We had a pig that went oink, a cow that meow and a moose that went vroom vroom. The final suggestion came from one of the Adventurers Club members, a haystack!
“A haystack doesn’t make noise!”
“Yes, they do, I used to walk past one every day on my way to school and it was always moaning.”
He proceeded to make a moaning noise like someone having a really good time. The Club President, Pamelia Perkins, quickly interrupted.
“It must have been a haunted haystack!”
“It sure was, because it was always shaking all about!”
So sure enough, we sang “Old McDonald had a haystack, ee-ay-ee-ay-oo, here a ooooooooh, there a ooooooh, here a ooooooh, there a oooooooh, everywhere an ooooooh oooh!”
I realize reading it isn’t nearly as funny, but I can’t wait to show some of the videos to my improv friends at Einstein Simplified. We walked away laughing so hard we were almost crying.
The strangest thing about the Post Race Party was instead of the usual soundtrack of World Showcase, they had a DJ playing music that reached around the world. So walking through the U.K. we saw a group of Cast Members dancing to the Cupid Shuffle. Had Jay not been so sore I would have joined them.
We made our way over to Canada where Koda and Kenai from Brother Bear were meeting. I had to make Jay watch the movie a few months ago because he had never seen it. While they’re not Duffy, I do love bears. Koda and Kenai were SO CUTE! They were dancing to music in between guest interactions. I got hug-attacked by both of them, and Koda wanted to keep Duffy.
Apparently, he belongs with other bears. We got our picture taken and I had to tell them Jay wanted a hug. This is a common occurrence; all the Disney characters always want to shake his hand until I say something. So, he got hugs from both and I got another hug from Kenai, and off we headed. We made one last planned stop by the Chocolate booth for the Nitro Almond Truffle. It was one of my favorite items from the Food and Wine Festival this year.
Our actual final stop was by the DJ booth by the Future World Fountains. As much as I love characters, and I loved the Adventurers Club, my favorite thing about this party as much was how much fun the Cast Members were having. A bunch of them were having their own dance party at the DJ Booth. A shift that late at Disney is going to be almost entirely College Program and Part Time Cast Members, and they were having the time of their life. It made me so happy.
It was about 12:40 a.m. by the time we got to the car. Staying awake for the drive home was almost more of a challenge than running both the 10K and the Half Marathon.
I love RunDisney. I love running their races, even if I don’t train for them like I should. The Wine and Dine Half Marathon is my second favorite race I’ve run, just behind the Princess Half Marathon. Especially now that Jay has the RunDisney bug, I hope to be running the Wine and Dine Two Course Challenge again next year. My only concern, as is a lot of RunDisney fans, is the ever-climbing price tag. The Challenges are over $300, and paying for two runners was over $500. That’s on top of the time I have to take off work. With my 30 by 30 plan now thrown off by the hiatus of the West Coast races, I’m not sure if it will be as much of a priority as it was.
I say that now, but we all know come registration day I’ll be signing up. I live here! At least I don’t need a hotel or transportation.
Cost: The Wine and Dine Two Course Challenge was $362.44. It included the 10K and the Half Marathon for 19.3 miles, three runners’ shirts, three medals, and a ticket to the Post Race Party. The Wine and Dine Half Marathon was $224.92. It included the Half Marathon for 13.1 miles, one shirt, one medal and a ticket to the Post Race Party.
Value: Pricey but worth it.
Duration: It’s a minimum of a three-day event if you do the Two Course Challenge because you have to pick up the bib and shirts at the Expo.
Add Ons: There’s all sorts of stuff and it changes with each race. They have VIP Runners’ Retreats and Cheer Squad for spectators.
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