The Chilliest Place on Earth

I don't know if it is an official slogan, but at one time I can recall Disney World being known as "The Happiest Place on Earth." For this weekend, at least relatively speaking, it could be called "The Chilliest Place on Earth."

I understand from our friends at The Weather Channel that the entire country, with the exception of Southern California, is in the deep freeze. But when you sign up to run a marathon at Disney World, the last thing you consider is the idea of sleet, freezing rain, wind chill and sub-freezing temperatures. But that's exactly what we have in Orlando this weekend.

In addition to not thinking about cold weather, my entry in Disney Marathon weekend is more than just a marathon. I'm running "Goofy's Challenge," which consists of a half marathon on Saturday morning and a full marathon on Sunday morning.


The half marathon begins at 5:40 a.m. just outside Epcot. The large crowd and the early start created the need for a 3 a.m. wake up call today. Since I was on the west coast all week, I was waking up at midnight Pacific time, which is when I went to bed on Thursday night.

The marathon course winds around on Disney roads you likely never noticed before the race enters the Magic Kingdom at the six mile mark. As cold, windy and sleet filled as it was, running in to the Magic Kingdom is pretty, pretty neat. Just before entering the Magic Kingdom, the morning darkness provided a great view of Space Mountain. After passing space mountain, the race enters Main Street U.S.A, which remains decorated from the Christmas season. From Main Street, you turn right into Tomorrowland then wind back in to Fantasyland.


It was at this point where I decided to stop for a picture with the Mad Hatter, Alice and the Queen of Hearts. As I stepped up for the picture, the Mad Hatter looked at his watch and said, "Hurry up, we've got to get going." While there was time for a picture, there was no time for a conversation.

I would love to tell you about all the exciting encounters experienced after we left the Magic Kingdom. Problem is, there weren't any. It was kind of like running in Tupelo...only 40 degrees cooler.

Just after the 12th mile mark you enter Epcot and the iconic globe. A quick lap at the front of the Epcot puts you near the finish line, which was very welcome as the sleet had turned to rain at this point in the day.

While we had planned to enjoy the day in a park or two, the weather caused us to pretty much stay in side. I have a history of just making it through bad weather while visiting Disney, but it's just too cold today to expect any enjoyment out of a day in the parks. I'm sure there are no lines, which would be a great thought for someone visiting in August...but it's just going to be a rest day while staying warm and trying to recover from today's run.