Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Mouse Ears podcast, where we talk about all things travel, but mostly Disney, brought to you by fairy tale journeys. Travel.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Mouse Ears podcast. I am one of your wonderful hosts, Brooks.
And with me tonight, we have the great man deep in the heart of Texas. Forklaps.
Kelton. Kelton, how are you doing tonight?
[00:00:40] Speaker A: I want to know. I'm good. I want to know what just fell off your wall.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: So when we ever released the videos, I have have lights on the tv. Well, at one point it was. Yeah, one point I tried to move them and so on. One of the lights, it is not as sticky on the tv now, and it only stays up for so long. Usually it stays up for the length of the podcast, and then it falls.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: But I was gonna say, like, as soon as you hit record, it just fell.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: So.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that was.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: But I'm great. Thank you for asking.
[00:01:16] Speaker B: That's good. And Steph is not with us tonight. She is on a well deserved vacation. She is currently at Disneyland. We are very, very jealous, and she is dead to us. No, I'm kidding. Steph, we love you. Well deserved. But with us tonight, we have two very special guests.
You know him. You love them. They are our running Ohana. We have Jordan. Jordan, how are you doing tonight?
[00:01:44] Speaker D: I'm great, Brooks. Thank you.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: And we have Robbie. Robbie, how you doing?
[00:01:50] Speaker C: I'm doing good. Hey, buddy. Hey. You know what they say it's good luck in show business, that, you know, some kind of technical thing goes wrong. You already got it out of the way right at the beginning.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, if that. If that was our only technical difficulty, then that's. This will be a great podcast.
But we are.
We have a very fun episode planned tonight.
We are diving into the wonderful world of run Disneyland. But before we dive into our topic, we have down in the mouse ear studio with the new news. Kelton. Kelton, take it away.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: Thank you, Brooks. I'm hoping that actually worked out really well, though. Hopefully you guys heard it. We'll see how it, uh, how it actually comes out. So, uh, to start off our new news segment, Disney unveiled their new disability.
We're going to call it the Das pass. I forget what the a stands for. I think it's accessibility. But the Das pass started Monday, May 20 of this year with updated rules and guidelines. Uh, we will be having Jennifer Turlington come back on the podcast to help us kind of break down everything going on with the new rules and guidelines. So stay tuned for that second thing. And something I am I know nothing about. But that's okay, because there are three people here that do. The new houses for Halloween horror nights at Universal Orlando have been announced, but we've got the museum deadly exhibit, major sweets, candy Factory, Goblins Feast, slaughterhouse cinema two, and monstrous. And Seth, I am so sorry that you're not here to correct me, but it's the monsters of Latin America, so I don't know. Yeah, I'm not doing Halloween horror nights like you guys know, but we were talking earlier that, that, uh, Robbie, you had got some more information or some, like, urban legends on Halloween horror nights. So.
[00:04:09] Speaker C: Yeah, so. So, Kelton, I'm a, a long time fan of Halloween horror nights. Did my first one back in 2014, so going on ten years, haven't gotten to go every year. This only be my third in a row. But big time fan. Love to do the rip, love to do behind the screens or unmasking the horror tours. So maybe, maybe if this works out, I'll come back and tell you guys about it after I do it this coming October. But yeah, I've been following very closely these house reveals, and it's kind of unusual this year because typically universal gives us those big ips first. They're going to give us, you know, your chuckies, your screams, your, you know, whatever Blumhouse is going to be putting out. But this year they've been focusing solely on doing their original stuff. And today was the fifth reveal, the fifth house. So we have five of the ten. All of these have been original. And this new one is probably the most exciting to me because they are focusing on three monsters from across latin american history. And I'm going to apologize to my spanish speakers out there. I am not at all well versed in this. But the first one is Tlahuilpucci, the second is La la Chuza, and the third is El Silbon.
And these are legends that have existed for a really, really long time. And one thing that universal does great is they take existing ideas, they put their own twist on them, and they find fun and interesting ways to kind of mix them together. So I'm pumped. I am so excited for these houses, especially this one, because it's all new creatures that I have never heard of.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: I'm not sure if fun and pumped and Halloween horror nights belong in the same sentence, but just haven't done it right yet.
[00:05:48] Speaker C: Kelton, we'll get you there, and we'll get you to do it the correct way.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Peter Brookhurt also tried, and we still have not succeeded.
[00:05:55] Speaker C: Yet.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: So who knows?
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Notice he said yet.
[00:06:00] Speaker C: Yet. All right, we're gonna do this.
[00:06:03] Speaker A: There's. I mean, in life, there's all, there's always a chance. Now, we for Hollow for me in Halloween horror nights, we're looking at like that, you know, kind of what they say on the back of like a hand sanitizer bottle like this one right here, you know, 99.99%. That's your. Your, .01% that's your chance of.
There's always a chance.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: So more like one in 100.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Yeah, one in a million. We're gonna.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: So a little saying. There's a chance.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: There's always a chance.
And to, to finish it off. I'm not sure if you guys had seen, but the Disney dreams that soar presented by at and t actually, they, they did the cast member preview just a couple of nights ago, so it's been all over my TikTok page. I guess I followed too many cast members, to be honest with you. But the show seems really cool. So it's a new ten minute show down at Disney Springs, which actually is starting tomorrow, Friday, May 24. So, as you know, we record on Thursdays, and it's going through September 2. Best place for viewing is going to be at Disney Springs on the west side. So between Cirque du Soleil in kind of the big. The big hot air balloon. So make sure to be up against the railing on the waterfront, of course, first come, first serve, you know, type of situation. And you can check your, my Disney experience app or the Walt Disney World calendar on the website for your show times.
That's all I have for the new news segment of this episode of the Mouse Ears podcast. Brooks, back over to you.
[00:07:53] Speaker B: Well, thank you, Kelton, for that wonderful news update, man. Again, I'm pumped for all the houses that they have announced for Halloween Horror night so far.
And then just looking at some of the stuff for that drone show is in 800 drones.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: 800. And so that the segment I saw on, on tick tock was a bit of. A bit of dumbo when that came out. That was sweet. But what they did with, with Star wars and the deaths, that was cool. That was.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: I think it's up house, too. The uphouse.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: I think it could be a great. Oh, yeah, they did. Now, I don't know if anybody remembers, they did a drone show, you know, many moons ago, when Alderaan was still a planet at the time. And I. And then I think it was a holiday. I think it was actually for Christmas for that. So it's cool that they're, you know, they're bringing that back. You know, bringing in that new technology.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: So.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Should be fun.
[00:08:58] Speaker C: Is it a show that runs multiple times a night or is it only once per night?
[00:09:02] Speaker A: That's a great question. I tried on the Disneyworld Disney dot go.com website to look at the calendar. When I. When I went to Disney Springs, it just said, open from 10:00 a.m. to 01:00 a.m. for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So I have not dug to found that information just yet.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, it just. It looks awesome and I can't wait to see it in person.
Hopefully they decide after September 2 to continue to do it.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: I'm hoping so.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. It honestly would be an interesting way to me to do a nighttime show in animal kingdom because you wouldn't have the fireworks.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: All right, but let's pause for a second on that.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: Animal kingdom had a killer show a while back. Jordan, you're nodding your head. Do you know which one I'm talking about?
[00:10:08] Speaker D: I loved rivers of light, but I.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Don'T know which one you're talking about. It's not the one I was talking with.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: The what?
[00:10:15] Speaker C: The tree projections with the seasons that they go through.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: The one I'm talking about was the jungle book show that they did. That.
That show was as. I mean, I think the kids say, like, it was buzzing or on fire or like, you know, just let them cook or whatever the new lingo is for. It was. Yeah, no, that. That show. Now I understand why they.
They probably took. I mean, there's a. That show took a lot of people to run. So it was very labor hour heavy, a lot of moving, you know, moving floats with and. But it was. It was a really cool show. So if, you know, if they, you know, maybe move the drone show to animal kingdom, I mean, that. I think that would really help continue to keep, you know, not just keep people in animal kingdom, but bring them. Bring them back after a, you know, some rest time.
[00:11:24] Speaker D: I loved cocktails.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah, but the. I mean, because pandora at night is phenomenal.
So it would be. It would be nice that they had something to kind of keep people there longer.
[00:11:44] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:11:45] Speaker C: Do you guys think that this is going to lead to them implementing drones and some of the other shows, like, some of the existing stuff, we might start seeing them in, like, magic Kingdom while fireworks and stuff is going on, or after fireworks is over? Maybe we got drones that point to the exit, like, hey, this way to get out, you guys. We got to clean up.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: So it's. It's kind of interesting that you met. So I don't know.
Okay. So for those that I do have. So I work in aviation. We'll just put it that way. So I work for a major airline. So I do know with the drone stuff, you do have to have x number of FAA certified people there. They don't actually have to be the ones operating. They're just overseeing per se. So I'm wondering how that's gonna. How that would work if they were, you know, to incorporate things into the parks. Because then, you know, for x number of drones, you're gonna have to have so many FAA certified people. And. And I'll tell you, those FAA certified people make big money.
So it's gonna be. It's gonna be interesting to see what they do after.
After the show ends in September.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel like they're using this as kind of a test run for something else later on down the road.
So, I mean, I feel like we can. We could talk about speculations all night, but I. To get into our topic, we are talking run Disney. I thoroughly enjoyed our episode that we did last year with Run Disney, and since then, I have done another race, or I say half a race. I did the Akuna five miler, but Jordan and Robbie here, not only did they do the akuna matata ten miler, but they also did the ten k and the five k. They completed that chat. They completed the stitch challenge.
But I have been friends with Jordan for several years now. And through Jordan, got to meet now one of my very good friends, Robbie.
And who was it that coined the running Ohana name?
[00:14:26] Speaker C: I think it was Jordan.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
So we have a group text going on now that's called the Run in Ohana.
And they are a great inspiration and great encouragement to continue this journey. But we are talking about run Disney tonight and going into what is run Disney. This, and this is from the Run Disney website, is the premier destination race series where the magic of Disney provides you inspiration.
A run Disney race is anything but ordinary with us. You'll move through. You'll move with magic, through Disney parks all over the world, become part of adventures that will take you under the sea, through classic enchantment, and into a springtime of surprises.
And with everything from kids adventures to a full marathon, Disney characters, live entertainment, and commemorative Disney finisher medals all await.
And it is.
I. It's not something that I. The only other race I've ever done is the Cooper river bridge run here in Charleston.
There there is nothing like a run Disney race.
Once you start running those, you get spoiled.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: That's a very true statement.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: Yeah. So. And not only that, it's just like the. The amount of people that are there not only to run, but just to stand on the sidelines and encourage you very, very rarely. And it's mainly just because there's areas that you can't really get back to is they're not someone they're cheering you on. It's cast members, it's family. It's members of other families. It's just random people that are walking by and, hey, let's staying here.
But a little bit of a trivia question for you all about how many people ran in the first run Disney race, which was the Walt Disney World Marathon. It was called the Disney Endurance Series back then.
[00:16:46] Speaker D: It was like 5800 people, wasn't it?
[00:16:51] Speaker B: Is that your final answer?
[00:16:53] Speaker A: 17?
[00:16:54] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: My final answer now is this price of right. You know, what is it?
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Price is right rules. Are we playing prices right rules?
[00:17:03] Speaker B: We can.
[00:17:04] Speaker C: Are you going to do decimals on there? Like 17.1 Kelton? Is that what you're going for?
[00:17:10] Speaker A: How. I mean, point of a person, maybe.
[00:17:14] Speaker C: They had a toddler or something.
[00:17:20] Speaker A: I'll go 17.
Keep it on the lower.
[00:17:24] Speaker C: I'm gonna say 2300.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: So I think I need to look is up. I think it's like, I think it's like 5822 people ran the first race.
[00:17:38] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: Way to go, Jordan.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: A little. There's a little, there were a little bit more people, I think, in the b corral at the kuna matata.
That corral went on forever.
It's like wave 13.
It's like, good.
It's like my warm up is gone.
[00:18:01] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:18:02] Speaker D: Uh huh.
[00:18:03] Speaker B: So, yeah, but with, with these run Disney races you run, we've talked about before, but you run through the Disney parks before the parks even open. So it's. You have great opportunities for, you know, pictures that you couldn't. You can't get anywhere, anywhere else. They bring out rare characters for meet and greets, even though if you're running low on time, you may not be able to do those meet and greets.
But here's a question.
What kind of person would wake up at 230 in the morning to get ready to then get on a bus or drive to a park, wait 3 hours, then run through the parks, then go back, change, take a shower, and then go to the parks all day?
[00:18:59] Speaker C: Yeah. Pretty accurate.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: So the picture I have surrounded by psychopaths, the picture is like when. When you think about the getting up at 230, I think it's this face right here that have a background.
Just the look of defeat, just like. Are you kidding me?
[00:19:18] Speaker D: I think, you know, when you're getting into costume and you're, like, fully dedicated, you might wake up at 02:00 a.m. to put on a full face of makeup to run 10 miles. Not speaking from experience or anything.
[00:19:35] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:19:36] Speaker B: But I will say, and.
And I feel like it's the same for most people, and it's.
It's a similar experience of, you know, people getting up at 530 in the morning to get ready for work, too, versus getting up at 530 in the morning to get ready to go to the parks.
You get, like, that.
[00:20:00] Speaker A: Two different people.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Yeah. So when that alarm gets goes off at 230, it's not the. I've only ran into races so far at run Disney, but both of the times when that alarm went off, the. The dread was not there.
I was. I was pumped. Now, I think Kelsey, on the other hand, would have a completely different point of view, because it's. I was having good sleep, and now I have to get up in to see you off, and then I'm by myself.
[00:20:39] Speaker C: Well, it depends, Brooks, because, you know, my buddy Chris came down with me and was my roommate. He did not wake up for that first race. He slept through me turning the lights on, getting a shower, putting all my costume stuff on, and emptying all my merch out to find a little pin that I wanted to take, and even opening the door, and he didn't wake up. So, uh, you know, maybe Kelsey needs to learn to. To sleep like Chris won't be an issue.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: I would say she slept through, um, me getting ready for the ten mile. Of course, the. The first time we did it, we didn't have Ellie this time. Uh, we had Ellie with us, so I had to be extra quiet as to not wake Ellie up as well.
[00:21:22] Speaker C: Don't we, baby?
[00:21:23] Speaker B: I don't know how I did it, but I did it.
[00:21:26] Speaker C: I feel like you should have gotten a medal for that, Brooks.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: Yes, that's what. That's why they gave me the medal.
[00:21:33] Speaker D: I had my adult child with me, my husband. And he got up and went with me to the start line every day.
I tell him every time, you don't have to do this. But he does every single time.
He always comes away with two coffees or a picture with Donald Duck or something. And I'm like, he's having a great time. If he wants to get up 230 in the morning with me and be at that start line and get annoyed by all of the commentators and the DJ, like, whatever, dude. Live your best life. You came down here with me. I'm running you. Do you.
But he's always at that finish line, cheering me on, and I'm really thankful for that, for sure.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Now, Kelsey, she did. She did get up and get Ellie ready, and both of them were ready to meet me at the finish line. So it's that she deserves a medal in that.
But getting into kind of our run journeys. Robbie Jordan, what or who inspired you to start running or get into the races?
[00:22:52] Speaker D: Robbie, this one's all you, buddy.
[00:22:55] Speaker C: Yeah. So I started my running journey a little over four years ago. 2019 is when my good friend Rachel said, hey, why don't you come do this race series with me here in St. Louis? It's called the Snowball series. Four races in the middle of December and January, you know, the coldest months. It's a race every two weeks. I had never run a race before in my life, and I was like, you're crazy. And she's like, no, you should really do this with me. And I'm like, and I have to pay for it. But, guys, then I saw the medals, and I'm not gonna lie, that was the first thing that got me kind of hooked into racing, is all the shinies and all the bling, and I. It's like, oh, man. Like, I want that. Like, I went a little golem, and I was like, my precious.
So that's kind of what started me. But ultimately, the reason I stuck with it is it was good for my health and a little bit about my personal background.
My. My father was injured when I was very young, and he was permanently disabled and wasn't able to do a lot of physical activity, and. But he was one of the best cheerleaders that you could have in your corner. And seeing how proud he and my mom and my sister and all my friends were of me not only doing these races, but getting up and doing the training that you have to do and all of the prep work that it takes to be able to do this, that's what kind of got me inspired and got me to keep doing it. And within a few races, we were starting to already talk about run Disney and coming down for princess.
And in fact, we had even signed up. I got a whole bunch of my co workers to sign up, and we were going to do princess run in 2020. Guys, do you remember? It's like something happened in 2020. And, yeah, I know it's weird. Like something happened and everybody's plans kind of changed, and so I had a little bit of a false start. Yeah, something like that.
Yeah. So we had the pandemic.
Oddly enough, as horrible of a thing as that was, it kind of worked out perfectly for me because there wasn't anything else to do except get out there and get miles and do virtual races and keep building my shiny collection of bling. And by that point, I was hooked. And it was only a matter of time before I was going to get back to run Disney. And I did springtime surprise. 2022, did the five k, and I ran my first ever ten k. Here we are two years later, did springtime surprise once again. I did my first ever ten miler. So that's one of the things that's really great about it, is you do see that actual progress. You hit those milestones, you get to keep going, and you meet really great people. I would not know Jordan, I would not know Brooks, I would not know Kelton if it weren't for run Disney and doing these races.
Fantastic.
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I completely agree.
One thing with run Disney, and it was, again, the only other race I've ever done is other than a virtual is Cooper over Bridge Run. And I did that twice. But the community that you meet with run Disney, strangers become friends. Friends become family.
But, Jordan, did you want to weigh in? Then I can talk about mine real quick.
[00:26:30] Speaker D: Growing up, my dad has always been one of my best friends. And my dad is six foot six.
He's very tall. He's been an athlete his whole life. And so watching my dad run, when I was younger, I hated running. I was like, my dad is a superhero because he gets out there and he does this all the time, and he loves it. And, you know, we live in Atlanta. So I grew up watching my dad run the peach tree every 4 July and probably share a little more about that later. But the peach tree is the closest thing that I have ever seen to a run Disney race outside of Disneyland. And it still doesn't hold a candle to run Disney. But I actually met Peter Burkhardt back in 2017, and that was right when his red Disney journey was really amping up and he was starting to do every race weekend. He and Sarah had moved to Disney and they were living in Florida and I starting their journey, and Peter just kept talking up around Disney, kept talking it up, and kept talking it up. And on our honeymoon, we walked the castaway key five k, and it was hot as Hades. On castaway key that day. It was in June, y'all, so, like, it was hot, and. But we did it, and it was really cool. And, you know, we got the little silicone metal, and it was awesome.
And so I kept watching Peter do run Disney weekend after run Disney weekend, and I watched their vlogs, and I was like, you know what? I am going to do the 2022 marathon weekend half marathon with Peter. And he told me, if you train, if you get ready for it, we will run that race together. And I was like, perfect. So bring on the famed 2020.
I start running, and it was mother's day, week of 2020. And I was running, and I ran that morning, and by that evening, I could not sit up. I either had to be completely horizontal or completely standing. I could not sit. I had the worst pain traveling from my back all the way down my left leg. And I had had another back surgery when I was in college or in graduate school. But I just. The pain got increasingly worse. Increasingly worse, increasingly worse. And I ended up having a completely compressed l five s, one disc in my back, and had to have another herniated disc surgery. And my surgeon looked at me and said, you're not running again.
Like, you're not going to be able to run. And one thing that everyone who knows me, knows about me is I'm very stubborn. And if you tell me I can't do something, I'm going to do it. And so that was kind of the case here. And so I started going to physical therapy after surgery and ended up working with my physical therapist for the better part of three years to learn how to run safely for my back. And so, February of 2023, I was registered for the princess ten K. I had never run a ten k before, and I went down, and about a month before, my friend Laura called me, and she said, hey, would snow and white rather run with Dopey or the evil queen? And I almost started crying, and I was like, dopey's marathon weekend run is the evil queen.
And so Laura came down and paced for me, and I did my first ever run Disney race, and now I'm registered for dopey. So, like, it just went from one race to scratch the itch and be done to, you know, I'm running four races next month, and I. I'm, you know, doing my first half marathon at Disneyland, and I blame robbie for that.
Running my first half marathon. I'll be running three half marathons this year, so there's no such thing as scratching the run Disney itch, because it's.
[00:31:07] Speaker C: Like chicken pox, right? You scratch it, and it's just going to spread even further.
[00:31:11] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. You open that can of worms, and there's no shutting it again.
And now, you know, it has absolutely changed my life, and it is the best decision I ever made for myself.
You know, being a cancer survivor, it's keeping cancer at bay. It's keeping me healthy. So I'm not stopping anytime soon. That's for dang. Sure.
[00:31:36] Speaker C: Yeah. What? What?
[00:31:41] Speaker B: So just kind of talk about real quick with my story. So, growing up, I. I've always been, uh, as they talk about Tommy Boyd, uh, always had a little bit of a weight problem. Um, we grabbed bear claws two at a time, and it gets stuck right in this region here. Uh, but, uh, like I joke, in 9th. In 9th grade, I went out for the track and field team, uh, more the field instead of the track team. And I had to do a, uh, do a physical. And my mom physically asked, can he physically do this?
And the doctor looked at me. He's like, he has a little extra insulation, but he can do it. Um, still to this day, the kindest way anyone's ever called me fat. Um, but, like, just, uh, senior year, I did my. The first, uh, cooper river bridge run that I've ever done. A couple of years later, I did another one, and at that time, I was starting to, like, kind of really enjoy running.
Coming down the bridge, pulled my hamstring, and then had to limp along the next 2 miles to the finish.
And then I was like, well, I guess since my last name is walker, running is not really in the cards for me.
But then kind of fast forward to 2017. I've talked about a little bit with my. The health issues that I had, and I remember being in the hospital, and one of the things that Kelsey and I would do is Jordan have recommended the Burkhardt project.
So we started watching the vlogs every night. That was one of the things that we did while we were in. While I was in the hospital, because when I was in ICU, we can only see each other for 2 hours a day.
So started doing that, and he was talking about run Disney, and literally, it's just like a little. That little earwig that just kind of went into my brain that I was like, that sounds fun. Eventually, I would like to do something like that.
I got.
I was able to get out of the hospital, recover, then kind of spend a year after that getting healthier.
Weight kind of got higher, and then quarantine hit then my mom, unfortunately, passed away during that and then decided I want to start kind of get healthier, you know, for my. For my future.
And then started training for the princess half marathon.
And I did that in 2022.
So before then, I had only ever done a. Either a five k or a ten k.
And then, you know, we talked about the itch. I was like, okay, I've scratched that itch. I've done that. You know, maybe I'll. Maybe I'll do another one. But I think I'm good for a while. And then I was like, oh, man, I really want to do another one.
[00:35:09] Speaker C: You fool. You thought you were inoculated. Ha ha ha.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: So, like, I started looking at different races, and then we got. And then Kelsey got pregnant. So pretty much everything with that, like, okay, we're not doing anything like that. I had even, like, tried to convince her, say, hey, you know, marathon weekend, you know, may, I could do that, then come right back. It's like, you are not leaving me three weeks before having this baby, so.
But it's something that, you know, it's not. It's not something that trying thing the way it's a. It's a. It is just like a lifestyle change. It's not something they do. And then, okay, now I'm on to the next thing. It's something that, if it's that I want to stay committed to because I want to be able to enjoy the years that I have and with. With the people that I've met and care about, so help me. But, yeah, so first race I ever did was princess.
You know, I decided to go big. You know, don't. Don't do one of these little five.
[00:36:29] Speaker C: K with a half marathon. Wow.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
I believe I was called a psychopath a couple of times. It's like, are you seriously, like, you're just going to jump into it doing. But.
So I have to add. So y'all have done a few more than I have with the run Disney. What has been your favorite run Disney event?
[00:36:53] Speaker C: Jordan? Do I. Have you fully converted?
Yeah. Okay, so, yeah, so I've done springtime surprise. I did the 2022. I did the five k and the ten k. Then this past January, I went down for marathon weekend, and I did the five k, the ten k, and the half marathon. Brooks, you still got me beat, though, buddy, because that was the half marathon that actually got cut in half due to weather issues. So we only ended up doing a little right around 6 miles.
[00:37:26] Speaker B: But, hey, you did it.
[00:37:28] Speaker C: I did it. You're right. I did do three races in a row, which was, you know, a new one for me. And then doing this, this five k, ten k, and ten miler on all three of my run Disney adventures. The ten k has been the same course. And my goodness, I absolutely love it. And I think I've made that Jordan's favorite now, too. The distance is challenging, but it's doable. And just the way they do the course, when you get to run around the boardwalk and beach club and all that stuff, you tend to hit it right around sunrise and you get that beautiful glint off the water. And, you know, you might be starting to feel a little, a little worn out. You're running out of energy and you see that and my gosh, it is just gorgeous. And it reinvigorates you to keep going. And you get to go into epcot right after that and see that as the parks come to life, as they're starting to run, those skyliners. And it is just absolutely amazing.
[00:38:28] Speaker D: Yeah, no, I agree 100%.
I thought that the ten k that I had done for Princess and Wynandine was my favorite race until I did the ten k with Robbie at springtime. And, I mean, the course was amazing.
Something, some form of adrenaline that we had never experienced before was pumping through both of us during that race. Because at one point, I was like, what are we doing here? And Robbie goes, let's run. And, like, we didn't just run. We, like, like, we just took off. And there was just something about that course, something about, um, we stopped a lot around the boardwalk and took selfies because the sunrise hit right when we were at the boardwalk. But I'm telling you that ten k. Ten k is my favorite distance anyways, because you get past the first 3 miles where your body's like, why am I doing this? And then you loosen up and you're feeling good, and then it's just a quick five k and you're done.
So, yeah, I agree 100%. The springtime surprise ten k, by far my favorite race course.
[00:39:43] Speaker B: Well, I've only ever done the princess half and the Okuna five miler, but I. So we just found out recently that all three of us are going to be doing another race here again, the third marathon weekend, we're going to be doing the ten k.
And then, like. And I was told that I'm wearing a costume for that race, and that's, that. That's one thing I have not done.
[00:40:20] Speaker A: Is non negotiable, not wait to see this costume.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: So I have I have not dressed up ever for run Disney because my whole goal was, I just want to finish.
That has always been my goal.
[00:40:35] Speaker C: So let's. Let's talk about costumes a little bit, because that's another thing that has become, for me, a major motivation for doing these races. Like, I have never been, like, a costume wearing person. I've gone to some cons. I've gone to anime conventions. I've gone, well, I don't know what you'd really dress up for for a board game convention, but I guess you could be some kind of game piece or a meeple, but I've never been one to dress up. But Mister Monopoly, there you go. Get a. Get a good monocle and a top hat. Don't think I own either of those, but that would be a good excuse to get them right.
[00:41:11] Speaker B: If they ever do a duck tales race, you can be Scrooge. Like, duck.
[00:41:18] Speaker C: Oh, buddy. Um, we've talked about there might be some duck tales in marathon weekend courses next year, my friends. So there's. There's. There's plans in the work, but until those come together, we're not gonna. We're not gonna set unrealistic expectations, but we'll just say it's.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: It's.
[00:41:34] Speaker C: It's on the cooker. Uh, but anyway, so, yeah, costumes, like, when. When I did the Jordan. I don't know about you. Uh, you can certainly weigh in. But, like, when my friend Rachel had said, you know, hey, we're gonna. We're gonna do these races. We did springtime surprise, and she was like, did you know that each of the races is themed? I'm like, mo, I had no idea. And she's kind of telling me the themes, and she's like, people dress up. You should think about dressing up. And the. The five day that year was, I think it was themed around Yeti, but it was around expedition Everest, but, you know, it took place at animal kingdom at night, and so it was just kind of like, do whatever you want that's related to the parks and that, and I decided to be Russell from up. And I found a shirt that I really liked. I found a hat. I found a little Doug plush that went onto my shoulder. And the feedback that I got from that costume and the interactions I had with people, and I had strangers stopping and being like, hey, can I take a picture with you? Which I've never experienced that before. That just blew me away, and I was like, oh, mandy, this is a thing in my life now. Like, from now on, this is something I need to do to bring joy to myself and to, you know, interact with other people. And so costumes became a thing, and I have done a costume for every single race. Jordan, you've done a bunch of costumes, too, right?
[00:42:59] Speaker D: Yeah, I've done a costume for every race as well. And I need to chime in on your Russell costume because that costume gave me life. Like, y'all, I ran that ten k with Robbie, and he is Russell. Like, the energy, the enthusiasm, the excitement for life is Robbie Clark. And so when. When we were running that race, like, every time we come up to photopass, like, every time that outfit. I mean, Brooks, I hope there's some way that you can share a picture of his costume with your listeners.
[00:43:36] Speaker A: Yeah, we do want to see that in the group. Absolutely.
[00:43:40] Speaker D: It's amazing. And I was just the adventure book over in the background. Like, Robbie was the star of the show during the ten k. Hey, every.
[00:43:47] Speaker C: Every wilderness explorer needs an adventure book. So, you know, it was fun because.
[00:43:52] Speaker B: The wilderness must be explored.
[00:43:54] Speaker C: Exactly.
But, yeah, so costumes are a lot of fun, and it's a great way to meet people. And, you know, if you. If you want to throw a little side eye, like, yeah, well, my Russell's a little bit better than his. That's. That's always fun to do, too, but it's a lot of fun just to do that. And so I'm excited to announce that, assuming that Brooks is on board. Yes. What we will be doing for the ten K, which is Chippendale themed, is we are going to pull off the rescue rangers.
[00:44:24] Speaker A: I was so hoping you were going to say that.
[00:44:27] Speaker C: Yep.
We are doing it. I will. I've got a chip costume, uh, from rescue rangers that I wore for marathon weekend this. This. This year. With a little dale, huh?
[00:44:39] Speaker D: Including the hat, right?
[00:44:40] Speaker C: Including the hat and ears. Uh, yep. And I have a little dale that I set on my shoulder. Uh, we now have our gadget. And, uh, now that we've got Brooks getting to take part in this race with us, we got a Monterey Jack, you guys.
Yeah.
[00:44:58] Speaker D: I'm so excited to recreate our running Ohana photo in these Chippendale rescue rangers costumes.
[00:45:05] Speaker B: So what we need to do is I may have a fanny pack that will have, like, a little string that will be, like, holding a little bit of cheese and photo passes. We need to, like, hold it and it look like I'm.
[00:45:17] Speaker C: Yeah, we'll get you zipper, too, so that we got the whole crew.
[00:45:20] Speaker D: I'm fully committing. I will have the wig. I will have the goggles. I will have the wrench. It's. It's happening. I'm so excited for this race. It is going to be quite possibly my new favorite run Disney costume by far. I'm even looking for a jumpsuit. So if anybody knows where I can find a lavender jumpsuit, I mean, girl.
[00:45:44] Speaker A: You gotta be able to find that on Amazon, right? You would think you would. Amazon has everything better.
[00:45:51] Speaker C: Etsy. Etsy. You'll have somebody.
[00:45:56] Speaker B: Timu. Timu has a lot of stuff too.
So I. So I want to do. I want to.
I want to say. So I think y'all had talked about to some of y'all's favorite non run Disney events that you've done.
One that I am still looking to see if I can find and if I can find it. We're all doing it. Robbie, you talked about going to some anime conventions.
That is a guilty pleasure of mine. That was Kelsey jokes that I hid my love of anime and my love of wrestling from her until we. After we got married, when she found out. And I was like, well, too late now, sucka.
But I was like, you know, you can't. You can't get rid of me. My power level is over 9000.
But if I can find. If I can find a dragon Ball Z race, because I have found out that they make, like, say, like, saiyan armor running tanks.
[00:47:07] Speaker C: Love it.
[00:47:09] Speaker B: And I.
If I can find one. Oh, I will grow my hair out so I can get it to super Saiyan Brooks.
[00:47:20] Speaker C: We might. We might need to go take the pot over to Japan to do that. I know that there is one over there last time, but. Yeah, I'm in.
[00:47:32] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:47:33] Speaker B: So I so literally, I saw a TikTok the other day I was talking about. Actually think because the yen is not as strong as it was. Like, you can. A ticket for Tokyo Disney and Tokyo Sea is, like 50. $50 for an adult.
[00:47:59] Speaker A: There's. There's one problem, though. The flight over, affording to get over there.
[00:48:06] Speaker B: Yeah. But if you're planning on going anyway, which they talked about, there's actually, like, deals you can look out for. But once you get over there, it's actually. It's pretty affordable. So we'll just have to plan it around a run and then surprise Kelsey while we're there. Hey, by the way, while we're here, I'm gonna go run in a race. Yes.
[00:48:32] Speaker D: I'm down.
[00:48:35] Speaker C: That would be really cool. If the metals were, like, the actual dragon balls, that would be awesome.
[00:48:42] Speaker D: They'd have to have some type of motion factor, though.
[00:48:45] Speaker B: Can we talk to the Conqueror series? And they do a virtual.
[00:48:51] Speaker D: Submit that as an idea. I'm sure they'd be all over it.
[00:48:55] Speaker B: And then. And then the metal, like, you get to super saiyan and it's like you. You turn it and the hair goes from black to gold. Yes.
So, uh, that it kind of goes a little bit into, uh. Do y'all have any. What is your. If you could pick a dream goal for, like, running, like, run disney? Like, I think, jordan, I think I know kind of what yours is because you're working towards it right now.
[00:49:24] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:49:25] Speaker B: But, like, something that, you know, two, three years ago, say, oh, there's no way. But, yeah.
What would be your dream going?
[00:49:36] Speaker D: I went to dream is a perfect season, and that will be happening in 2026. Robbie, you, brooks, you guys have heard me talking about this for a while now, saying that we need to get all our local races out of the way next year because your girls hitting up all four run disney weekends in 2026, starting with wine and dine, 2025.
But that means that I will also have to conquer Dopey. And so I am actually attempting my first dopey in January of 2025.
So I am very nervous, very excited. I've been dreaming about Dopey literally every day since Christmas last year, and I've been talking about it just about every day. And Dopey is literally. I need to show you guys.
Dopey's the background on my phone. I don't know if you can see.
[00:50:38] Speaker B: It, but that's awesome.
[00:50:41] Speaker D: I think about Dopey a lot, and so I'm really excited to have you guys be part of my first dopey attempt real quick.
[00:50:52] Speaker B: For people that don't know what Dopey is.
What is dopey?
[00:50:58] Speaker D: The dopey challenge is just another factor of my psychosis. And you run all four races of marathon weekend. So Thursday you run the five k, Friday you run the ten k, Saturday you run the half marathon, and then Sunday you die. No, Sunday you run the marathon, and then you. And then you die.
[00:51:24] Speaker C: They have, you know, stretchers waiting at the finish line for you. So, you know.
[00:51:28] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, no, it's.
[00:51:30] Speaker B: You may look like this guy towards the end.
[00:51:33] Speaker D: Yes, yes.
No. And I, you know, I have friends who have done multiple dopeys. Peter Brookhart's done four. My friend Aaron has done three.
There are some perfect dopeys out there who have done every single dopey, which blows my mind.
But I'm, you know, starting my Jeff Galloway dopey training the last week of June, and I'm not looking back, but, yeah, that's. That's my dream. A perfect season. And starting with Dopey Robbie, do you.
[00:52:08] Speaker B: Have a goal or dream? Goal.
[00:52:12] Speaker C: I feel like I want to start singing from Tangled. You know, I've got a dream.
I feel like my dream has been kind of evolving. So a dream that I had going into this year, and I hopefully will be completing it, is for the first time ever run Disney introduced something that they call the coast to coast challenge. And what that was is you needed to do a ten mile or longer race in a single calendar year in both Disney World and Disneyland. I've never been to Disneyland ever in my entire life. So that seemed like a really good reason to maybe get over to the west coast and, you know, show a little love that I'm always given to the east side.
And so knowing that I was doing the half marathon in.
I was doing the half marathon in January, as well as getting to do the ten miler at springtime surprise. I also took a shot and got into that horrible, horrible virtual queue when they opened it up for the half marathon weekend over in Disneyland in September, and I got a spot. So that's what I'll be doing in September, is completing that challenge, getting that coast to coast medal, and then, guys, maybe I need to start thinking a little bit bigger. I don't know about dopey, but I guess it's a possibility, so.
Oh, that's scary. I'm not going to commit to that, especially not on a podcast. But think about it.
[00:53:41] Speaker D: Of course, you know, record.
[00:53:44] Speaker C: I know, right?
[00:53:47] Speaker D: No, when. When Robbie dreams big, he makes other people dream big. And so he convinced me to fly out to Anaheim and do the half with him. So I'm really excited. Well, actually, I think his mom kind of planted the seed.
She. She sent me a really sweet text after we finished the ten miler, and part of that text, she said, I wish you were doing the half marathon with Robbie. And I said, I do, too. And now I am, thanks to the American Cancer Society. And I'm so excited about it. So, yes, it's gonna be really cool to see, you know, one of my. My running Ohana complete another amazing goal. And I'm really pumped to get to be part of that with you. So it's cool.
[00:54:32] Speaker B: So. And that's. And that's something, too, that I mentioned in the last run Disney episode. But another thing you can do with Run Disney is you can fundraise through various charities, and one that Peter Brookhart, Jordan and myself have partnered up with in the past have been American Cancer Society and team determination.
But there are, there are multiple, you know, great charities that you can partner up with, be able to get bibs, and you set a fundraising goal, or you can register yourself and then just fundraise for a charity on your own.
So. But I. I like my. I would say my kind of dream goal, and then we can go to Kelton for his dream goal would be, I would like to eventually do a dopey as well.
So may, I've always said maybe before I turn 40, so I would only have two years left to try to do that. So maybe 2026 would be the last year I can try to do it, but real quick, because we're starting to run out of time. But what tips would you have for someone that's looking to get into running or looking to do a run Disney event?
Because, Robbie, you kind of quickly mentioned it, like, trying to sign up through those virtual queues is.
Is crazy in itself.
But what tips would you all have for someone looking to get into this crazy world?
[00:56:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
For the virtual queue signups. If you don't have a good Internet signal, get a friend who has one, because, yeah, I don't know that I would have made it into a couple of races I have come up if it weren't for Jordan, because my Internet is not great.
But in all seriousness, if you're talking about actual prep for the races, something that I find that really helps me is having other races, local races, things that you can't just shirk it off. You can't just say, oh, I didn't get out there and get my miles today. I didn't do my maintenance run.
Having something that you can't skip out on so that you stay active through your training. It's May. I've done 14 races so far this year, and I have at least seven more that are planned. And, yes, it's because I like it and I enjoy, you know, challenging myself and everything, but it's also to keep me on track for those goals. It's on. It's to keep me getting out there and being like, I can't just skip it. I can't just procrastinate on it for three months, and then all of a sudden I've got to run a half marathon, which I've never done before. No, I've got my races set up. I've got my training set up so that I can hit those milestones and make sure that I'm actually going to be ready when the one that counts the most is coming up. So I think that's a big one. And the one other thing, and then, Jordan, I'll gladly hand it over, is remember that you never run alone. Never. Even if you're in a race by yourself and you don't know anybody, you're not alone. One of the things Jordan and I love to do is we talk on the phone when one of us is doing a race. So I've got her in, in my ear if she's not by my side. And that is such a big help for making sure that you keep going. And even if you don't have that, your fellow racers around you, they're in the same boat. Literally. They are in your shoes. They know what you're feeling. They have been there, they have had that race. Even if you're struggling, they have done that before. And they can help you. They can give you that encouragement, they can give you that, that extra oomph you need to keep going. This past Sunday, I did a race at the zoo here in St. Louis, and at the end of it, I was on my own. Didn't know anybody else was participating. Got to the finish line, I was feeling pretty sweaty, pretty winded, but I saw another guy that was pretty sweaty, pretty winded, and our eyes just kind of met and I was like, hey, sweaty guy. I'm a sweaty guy, too.
[00:58:55] Speaker B: You know what?
[00:58:56] Speaker C: We got something in common. Let's talk. Talked to the guy for half an hour and made a, you know, a brand new friend. And it just further proved the point. You are never alone when you're taking on these challenges.
[00:59:08] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, definitely.
[00:59:10] Speaker D: I agree with that 100%.
And, you know, I'll tell on myself real quick. I have a couple tips, but, you know, I agree. Find those people. Find your people.
I got really emotional at about mile six. Robbie knows what I'm talking about.
I got really emotional at mile six of the ten miler because I realized at that moment that he wasn't going to be with me on the wine and dine half marathon.
And I was like, what am I going to do? You're not going to be with me. And he goes, it'll be okay.
And if you have to call me, call me.
Yeah, but it's early. And he goes, if you have to call me, call me. You have your people, you know, lean on your people. But a couple quick tips and I won't go into a lot of detail practice, fuel practice, you know, do your training.
If you're going to wear costumes for a rug Disney race, train in them because you want to know how those things are going to feel on race day. My biggest tip for anybody running, whether you are about to run your first mile for the first time ever in your life or if you are running an ultra marathon, please stretch.
Please stretch. Your girl is big on stretching. It's part of why I can run with degenerative disc disease, because I stretched.
But finally, have fun and run your race. Don't focus on anybody else out on that course.
And for run Disney specifically, if you're going for a pr, you're doing it wrong. Go out there to have fun.
Take pictures with the characters. If you can, talk to other runners on the course, support each other, encourage each other, but most importantly, soak in the magical miles and have so much fun.
[01:01:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:01:13] Speaker C: Kind of goes back to your first question, Brooks, about, you know, why, why do you run Disney? What kind of people do it? I mean, you know, you can draw a diagram, and you've got your, your runners here, you've got your Disney people here, and it's really those people that kind of meet in the middle, because if you're going to pay that much money, just like Jordan said, you want to be able to enjoy it. And there's so many unique experiences that you, so many unique Disney experiences, you cannot get any other way other than doing these races. So, Jordan, that, bravo. That was perfect. You have to be able to enjoy yourself on this. You cannot stress yourself out. You've got to have fun. And Brooks, buddy, I know that you can speak to that perfectly with the, your Hakuna five miler.
[01:02:00] Speaker B: Yeah. So I would say, like the, run your race. Like the, I saw this saying, they said a person that finished a marathon in three mile in 3 hours, and the person finished marathon in 5 hours, both of them finish a marathon.
You know, the, I was a little dead out. You know, I was a little down on myself after I got swept. Even though I went in expecting it to happen, I was like, I was like part of my mind, I say, I can do it, I can push through. And, you know, I talked about it. I was sick for about two months before and just could not do the proper training. And my body just wasn't ready to do that, mean miles in that amount of time.
But again, it's the people that are with run, run Disney. The I have a picture. It was about five other people that we got all swept around the same time.
And it was right at the five mile marker. And we're like, hey, we did the Akuna five miler, and we all took a picture at the five miler. And it's like, you know, but at the end of the day, and I think, and Robbie and Jordan, y'all, y'all kind of said, because I said, you know, my road to redemption, it's like, you know, redemption means that you failed. You didn't fail. You completed to 5 miles. And any race is a good race. Any miles you put in is good miles.
But, and then one other is like, not kind of sappy tip, but run Disney works with a great person that helps with the training plans. Jeff Galloway. That's the walk run method. I could not have done the half marathon without that training plan.
And it is a great way to slowly get into. And it goes all the way from a complete beginner to someone trying to do a marathon in 3 hours. There's plans for everyone. So look at that. But again, why do run Disney?
The people that you meet, I would not known Robbie if it wasn't for run Disney. Jordan wouldn't have known Robbie without run Disneyland.
[01:04:39] Speaker C: Nope.
[01:04:39] Speaker B: Like, the way I heard them, the way that I heard about them meeting, they were sitting at, wasn't it candlelight procession.
And Jordan, I think you were sitting in front of them and you just heard someone mention run Disney. You're like, wait, what?
[01:04:57] Speaker D: Yep.
[01:04:57] Speaker B: And then because of that, now we've, we've all methadore. So even Kelton.
[01:05:07] Speaker C: Kelton, buddy, you know, you're part of those run Disney connection now, too. You're in the spider web.
[01:05:13] Speaker D: One of us.
[01:05:16] Speaker A: Now. I love it.
[01:05:18] Speaker B: So. But we can sit here talking forever. But that just about does it here for the Mouse Ears podcast for this episode, don't forget to join our Mouse Heroes podcast Facebook group and our TikTok page for all the episode details. If you're interested in having a fairytale journeys agent book your next trip, visit fairytalejourneys.com and let them know that the podcast sent you. And lastly, if you enjoy listening to us, which I can't imagine you not enjoying this episode, we would love to hear from you and leave us a review wherever you listen to us. And Jordan, Robbie, I just want to thank you all again for being on. Yeah, it has been great talking with y'all, you know, seeing you all in person instead of a group chat. But if y'all have any socials or anything you all would like to plug, feel free. Now is the time.
[01:06:24] Speaker D: Yeah, Robbie doesn't do social media, so I am stuff Jordan says with an underscore on Instagram, and I post all about running. I do have a Disney page, too, but I focus more of my running journey on my regular stuff. Jordan says, underscore Instagram page.
But, yeah, if you guys ever have questions about Red Disney, feel free to reach out to me. I love meeting new people.
I never met a stranger, so feel free to reach out. I'd love to chat with you guys.
[01:07:02] Speaker C: So you met some strange people, though, right?
[01:07:04] Speaker D: Yeah, like you.
[01:07:06] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. Hey, Brooks, can I use my plug? Time to double down on everything Jordan just said. Also to plug the Mouse Ears podcast. This is the first podcast I've ever been a part of, and it was a lot of fun. So be out there and you're listening. Keep on listening. And I. Hey, if you, like, me and Jordan, maybe put that in your review, and maybe these guys will have us come back sometime.
[01:07:30] Speaker A: Well, now don't want to say because, like, what you were talking about. I'm hoping that we get you guys back on in season three for that very special challenge episode that we're. That we're gonna do. So I'm looking forward to having you guys back on for that one. We're not gonna mention anything. You have to wait till season three, mister.
[01:07:53] Speaker D: Yeah. Thank you guys so much for having us.
[01:07:55] Speaker B: Oh, thank y'all.
[01:07:56] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely.
Brooks and Jordan, we got this.
[01:08:01] Speaker B: We got this.
So for Kelton, Steph, and myself, from the Mouse Ears podcast until next. Next episode. Thanks, everyone. Good night.
[01:08:13] Speaker A: Good night.
[01:08:15] Speaker C: Bye, everybody.
[01:08:16] Speaker D: Bye, guys. It.
