I didn’t take pictures of all my fun at Disney World because I was trying to be in the moment. (Yes, a weird concept for someone glued to social media most of the time.) But I know some of you world travelers would appreciate the highlights of my stay and eats.
New Balance put us up in The Grand Floridian. The Grand Floridian is swaaaaanky to this girl. As soon as you arrive several cast members greet you “Welcome Home!”.
We arrived around dusk and the views and sunset were gorgeous!
The rooms are very nice, but not as fancy at the lobby. The service is what really sets this place apart – everyone was so friendly and helpful and quick.
The lobby is grand and they are starting to bring out the Christmas decorations. I spotted a few hidden Mickeys too!
As soon as I received the itinerary I called my mom and told her where I was staying. We love Disney and knew this was a fancy place!
The Grand Floridian is where the legendary real Gingerbread House is located. It is not done yet, but almost and we got a sneak peak and the awesomeness! Now I am craving gingerbread like you don’t even know.
There is a wedding chapel on the property and we saw several bridal parties over the weekend. (I heard that the altar has a view of the castle in the Magic Kingdom.)
One of the couples was picked up after their ceremony by a horse drawn carriage. Fairytales do come true.
The hotel is a Victorian design and has several separate buildings, most rooms have awesome views of the water or courtyard.
It’s a great location, practically everywhere you go there are gorgeous views. I can’t believe this is my life!
There is a path between the GF and the Polynesian Resort. It’s supposed to be a mile but is cut a little short due to construction. I love that NB sponsored the path in an effort to make this area friendly to people who want to stay active. The first morning SR and I tried to run off resort property and it was challenging. There were not options to run on a safe sidewalk. 
Dining at Disney and the race expo
On Friday I started my day with some hotel room cereal. I was going to take a picture, but figured you might have seen cereal before. If you haven’t, google it.
We hit up the expo at the Wide World of Sports. It was the usual ‘big race’ expo and featured some of my favorite companies like Sport Hooks. They have amazing marathon medal holders.
and Sparkle Athletic.
The Run Disney expo is the only place to buy the limited edition New Balance Disney shoe. The NB reps told us they made 1,000 when they first made these and they sold out on the first day.
NB is working on a new shoe for 2014. It’s also going to have a special RunDisney / New Balance box. You can check out more on their promotional video.
Running in Orlando and Jenny Simpson
Then we made our way to the New Balance field. 
The lovely team from New Balance organized a lunch for us right on the field. This was awesome because Jenny Simpson was doing a track workout right beside us!
It was also lazy as we sat and ate while she ran so I stuck to one cookie as opposed to thirteen.
What Jenny Simpson eats
Jenny Simpson is the fastest female mile runner this year. She is amazing!! And she is also super sweet, I feel like I’ve met her before but that might just be because she was so friendly.
After lunch we had a question and answer session with Simpson. She LOVES the New Balance 1400s so I wore them to the race to be fast like her. Apparently running shoes don’t work exactly like that, but I did have a good race!
Any time I have the opportunity to ask a fitness superstar a question I ask this super important one:
What do you eat before and after your race? (or hard workouts)
Before races Simpson eats oatmeal or cereal like Cheerios. She also has something with caffeine, like tea before her runs.
After she believes in re-fueling as soon as possible. A dietician told her it’s not just the 20-30 minute window after a workout – you should try to eat right away. She does a smoothie, chocolate milk (!) or yogurt right after.
She also talked about running at night or different times of the day. This is standard for a track professional to have to run at various times.
She said not to worry about what food is appropriate for that time of day (don’t feel like you have to eat dinner food) and eat what works for you before a run.
Dinner at Disney World
On Saturday night we had dinner at The Wave in the Contemporary Hotel. We took the monorail there from our hotel and it was super convenient.
The team put together a menu with options for us, reminding me of one of the best Asian restaurants in Boston, so I can’t speak to all the restaurant’s offerings but it was a delicious meal – definitely the best I had the entire trip!
(I had two glasses of white wine that missed the camera.)
My favorite course of the night – CRAB CAKES! Gets me every time.
Triple tail fish with edamame stew.
The next day we had brunch at the Grand Floridian convention center. It as delicious!
Fun fact: Mickey shaped food just tastes better!
On Saturday we explored Animal Kingdom.
Love.
And then SR and I spent a little bit of time at the Magic Kingdom. They are just starting to decorate for Christmas, but the tree isn’t up yet. This makes me really want to go to Disneyland for Christmas. It gets me in the spirit!
SR was the official photographer because is responsible with her camera phone and I am not.
On the way back I stopped solo at the Polynesian Resort for food. I went to Capt Hooks and got some veggies and a salad to go.
I wouldn’t recommend this place, it’s a quick service restaurant with limited options.
I received a special delivery of chocolate covered strawberries to the room on Saturday. Um, best day ever.
Question: Did you go on a vacation this year? Where to?
Disclaimer: New Balance invited me on this trip as part of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend. All opinions are my own.
I know I just went there in June but I miss it! It looks like you had so much fun. I hope I get to stay in the Grand Floridian someday.
I actually went to Disney World this summer! Looking at your pictures makes me want to go back so bad, it was sooo fun! My husband and I are big Disney nerds (we live in the LA area so we frequent Disneyland often) so it was basically a dream come true. I think I’m going to have to start trying to convince him I need to do the Wine and Dine next year….
I live in Boston and we rented a house on Lake Winn. in NH this past Sept. We usually go somewhere warm, like Jamaica or Naples, FL but we decided to put $$ into renovating our kitchen this year instead of vacation…booo!
We went to disneyworld on our honeymoon- they make everything so romantic and special! I wondered if it would be as magical going there as a “grown up…” and it totally was. We even went to Victoria and Albert’s for dinner one of our evenings there. It was perfect 🙂
I went to Hawaii. Best place in the US to visit 🙂
And I went to Florida, but not to Disney. We’ve gone every few years since I was about 4 (now 30!). This trip included extended family, and we are waiting for the kiddos to be old enough to appreciate it before we go back to Disney. Because it’s not cheap. But it is where the memories begin!
I really would love to go to Disney. One day…I need to play the lottery.
We went to Florida last year and I declared we should get married at the Grand Floridian! It looks beautiful. I’ve been to Greece, Italy and Sweden this year and I’m off to Amsterdam for the weekend on Friday. Lots of shorter breaks.
I would definitely die and feel like I went to heaven if I was there!
Hi Monica! It’s true, you can see the castle from the wedding chapel! My husband and I got married there. They do amazing weddings at Disney!! By the way I’m the girl you met who ran her first half!! I ran 2:11 which isn’t too shabby considering I was feeling sick and turns out I had bronchitis!! It was great meeting you.
Ahhhh!!! Congratulations on the race! I had a blast – how was it for you? So glad you stopped back in to let me know how it went. Great to meet you 🙂
Thanks! It was great for our first race. Though it was not
Fun starting in the back. Having to get around SO many walkers really messes with your focus. I’ve already signed up for another half that will be in Ft. Lauderdale! Hope to see you at another race sometime!!
I went to Disney World with my family over Christmas one year, and there is nothing like Disney World at Christmas with all the decorations, but it is also one of the busiest times of year.
I went to Hawaii for vacation this year – then to Miami and Maine with friends!
I’d recommend this post for next time you’re looking for where to run at WDW 😉
http://blog.touringplans.com/2013/09/24/run-walt-disney-world/
Hehe, really though, hope I see you next time you’re around the ‘world! 🙂
I haven’t been on vacation in the longest time. Think almost 2 years ago! I’m going to enter the draw for the Nike Women’s Half in DC and if I get in I’m going to use that as a mini-vacation. Shopping, sight seeing and runnning! Sounds good to me.
You look so elegant in that mirror pic 🙂
I went to Hawaii in May. I want to go again, hopefully early next year.
What a fun trip, I have always wanted to stay at the GF. We use all of our vacation time these days to visit family since we’re all so spread out, so we are taking a big family ski trip at the end of the year to Big Sky! Can’t wait!
We went to Disney! We are FANATICS! We are going back again for Christmas and then again in January. We also went to Charleston and Chicago!
Wow the food looks amazing. I have not been to Disney World in 8 years, I think I need to plan a race there. This year I went to Boston three times (it is home), Mexico, New York City and we are going to Whistler, BC for the holidays.
Heading to FL in a couple weeks, but won’t be seeing Disney this time. The food looks delicious!
Just mini vacations for weddings and wedding related events…but we are going on our honeymoon next February so I think that will make up for it 🙂
I went to Naples, FL earlier this year— anywhere with a beach is fine by me!!
All of that food looks amazing!
I went to Tenerife for the millionth time- I love it! Next year, I’m off to Madrid for a honeymoon/holiday/half marathon in April, Tenerife in July and Disneyland Paris in October- it’s all go, go, go in 2014!
OMG that looks BEAUTIFUL!! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Love! Love! Love! I hope to do a Disney run one of these days and also get to Disneywolrd. Not so easy for a West Coast gal 😉
I’ve only been to Disneyworld once and it was a long time ago. I’d love to go back, it’s so beautiful there!
No real vacations this year but we are actually planning to go to disneyland next summer for my oldest’s high school graduation! I’m excited!!
as a southern california native, i have been to disneyland several times, but i still need to visit disneyworld someday!
my next big vacation is china! i’m leaving in exactly 2 weeks and i cannot freaking wait 🙂
No vacation this way due to my husbands schedule in medical school, but we are traveling a lot of residency interviews so I GUESS you can call that a vacation but it is too stressful to be an actual vacation! HA
The only vacation I’ve been on this year is a day trip to Assateague and Ocean city. I have trips planned for Christmas, and going to Vegas next March!
I went on vacation to Walt Disney World with my boyfriend last month. But that’s our home away from home so I suppose it doesn’t count as much as other vacations would.
Grand Floridian is a favorite hotel, along with the Animal Kingdom lodge. And next time you are here you should try the breakfast buffet at The Wave! It’s Amazing!
I’m going to WDW for the Princess Half Marathon weekend in Feb and I’m SOOOO EXCITED!!
Captain Cook’s at the Poly is good for breakfast (they have the famous Tonga Toast) and dessert (Dole Whip). Other than that, it isn’t worth going to, lol 🙂
I miss our romantic vacation together.
I’ve been to Jamaica and Mexico but I’m itching for Disney!
Spent a week in Dana Point, Ca this October. Had a condo with ocean views and the weather was just perfect except for the last day. Have not been to Disney in quite a while. Seems like I am missing out.
This year I’ve traveled to Charleston, SC, Little Rock, AK, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana for running related trips but the only non-running related vacay I took was to California. Started in San Francisco and Napa and then drove down the Pacific Coast all the way to San Diego. One of my best trips ever!
crab cakes! my fave!
We are going to Disney in January!!!! All of these posts are making me very anxious!!! I am probably more excited to go back then my kiddos…maybe? ….maybe not?!
I’m not allowed to stay there anymore; yes, there was a gingerbread house “incident”…