Now that Wine and Dine has sold out in record time, we're going to recap our experience from last year. Wine and Dine was our first half and is very special for both of us. So for those of you whose first race will be Wine and Dine 2014 we're here to tell you don't worry! If you put in the training this will be a magical experience!
Kayla and I both arrived in Orlando around 10:30am and decided to meet in front of the Disney Store at the airport. It was that day we learned a very important lesson that there's a Disney store in terminal A and terminal B. After a phone conversation going something like... "I'm in front of the Disney Store, where are you?" "No you're not, I'm in front of the Disney Store I don't see you," we found each other and boarded the Magical Express.
Once we arrived at the Boardwalk we breezed through check-in, dropped our stuff off and grabbed a quick snack. There was a large sign in the lobby with transportation information for race weekend making the buses easy to find.
We probably didn't get to the expo until 2:00/2:30 and were pleasantly surprised with the lack of crowds. After watching the expo fiasco of the Disneyland Half unfold over social media I was very hesitant to see if any merchandise would be left or if there were huge lines. Luckily neither was the case ; we were able to move around the official race merchandise area very freely where I snagged a tech-t and a sweaty band.
We found our way to the Raw Threads booth which was crowded but we managed to get through pretty quickly because we could pay in cash-score! We had purchased everything on our wish list at that point and wandered around soaking everything about our first expo in. We did feel slightly over stimulated and no idea where to turn next. There was just so much to see and do!
Since we had skipped picking up our bib's first we went over to the HP Field House to do so. That process was painless with only one person in front of me. We had run a 15K a few weeks prior and got moved up 3 corrals at runner relations! Luckily for us this was the last race where you were able to change corrals at the expo. Now that we have a few races under our belts this won't be of a major concern anymore.
We headed back over to the Josten's Center to pick up our shirts and take photos with our bibs. Overall we had a pretty successful first expo. Next time around it would be great to check out some of the speaker series as well.
QOTD: When do you think is the best time to hit up the expo?
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