Ep 1: Welcome to the Podcast!

Welcome to Rope Drop and Run! In this very first episode, Canadian sisters Jenny and Emily — science teachers, marathon runners, and lifelong Disney fans — share how Disney became such a big part of their lives. From childhood family trips and unforgettable character moments to marathon weekends and pixie-dusted surprises, they’ve experienced Disney in just about every way.

This podcast is for anyone who loves Disney, is planning (or dreaming about) a runDisney race, or wants help planning a Disney vacation from a Canadian perspective. We dive into why Disney means so much to us — the art, attention to detail, immersive storytelling, amazing cast members, and the nostalgia that keeps us coming back — and walk through our Disney timeline, from early family trips to multiple marathon weekends.

We also share hot tips for planning a winter Disney vacation, including what to pack, when to avoid peak crowds, and what makes the holiday season at Walt Disney World so special. Plus, we tease what’s coming up next on Rope Drop and Run, including RunDisney 101, planning a Disney vacation from Canada, race weekend must-haves, and traveling with the whole family. Follow us on Instagram @ropedropandrun or shoot us a message at ropedropandrun@gmail.com — and we’ll see you at the castle — or the start line!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the Rope Drop and Run Podcast. I'm Jenny. And I'm Emily. This is our very first episode.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

We are two Canadian sisters who love every Disney adventure from travel with family to running marathons. On today's show, you'll get to know us and some hot tips for planning a winter holiday at the most magical place on earth.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Disney braces.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

We just thought we'd give a little background info about who we are, just to introduce ourselves to all of our listeners. Both Jenny and I are high school science teachers, and up until very recently, we both taught at the same school. So why is it up until recently, Jenny?

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Because I retired. I retired from teaching. 32 years of teaching. And now I'm moving on to my next life, which is partly this podcast. And also more time to do other things, right? Things like things I love, like um puppeteering, and I love theater. I love dance. I'm I love, I'm gonna say I'm an actor. I'm a I'm a pretend actor. I'm a I'm an amateur actor, but I love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

And Emily, what do you like to do? There's no small parts, only small actors. Uh, what do I like to do? I love the outdoors. I love spending time in in nature. Um, even so much so I just got a bird feeder for Christmas, and I love watching the birds come to my my uh bird feeder. Um, I love the outdoor sports. Uh I love to ski, I love to go camping. Just generally, I love being in nature.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

I like camping too. So that's why, you know, both of us we love running marathons, particularly Disney marathons. Especially Disney marathons.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

They are the best ones. The best. Running a marathon is really hard. Um, and they're really hard to run at Disney as well. But half of what makes them hard is the mental bottle. Yeah, and Disney just makes it so much more enjoyable.

unknown 2:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

So we want to talk to you um about our love of running marathons.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

But you should know that there is a third sister. Yeah, just a heads up, everybody. Watch out for Sarah. She's the middle child.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

So, why are we doing this podcast? Who is this for?

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Well, when training for the uh Disney Marathon, the Dopey, there's a lot of hours spent out there on the trails and and the um on the track. And I really enjoyed, we both really enjoyed listening to podcasts. And with so many hours to fill, we thought that you know what? We could do a podcast as well.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yeah, it's true. We listen to so many podcasts, and there's so many good ones out there that talk about Disney trips and running Disney races, and we just love Disney so much, we really just want to talk about it more. So that's basically it. That's basically it. And we want to talk about Disney with anyone who wants to listen to us, um, and anyone who loves Disney and just loves talking about it.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

We felt as coming from Canada that we may have a different perspective, or at least on traveling and planning for Disney holidays, uh, perhaps. So um maybe that that puts an extra little spin on it.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah, and we also think this would be a good podcast for anyone who loves running Disney races. Um, and also for people who love running Disney races, but maybe you don't have one planned, um, but you just like to listen to what's happening uh at Disney races.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

We also love traveling, not just for Disney races, we love going to Walt Disney Worlds all the time, um, or whenever we can, I should say. We don't get to go as much as we would like to, but we've really enjoyed traveling as an entire family. So going with our parents, um, going with kids, and traveling as a group. And we thought that we would love to share some of the tips and tricks about that with you all as well.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, whether we're going for a run event or just for park hopping fun, whether we go for a whole week or maybe just a weekend. Um we love it all. And so we want to be able to share our experiences, we want to help you plan vacations. Um, this podcast just helps us fuel our own Disney addiction selfishly. Um, but we can also help you prepare for run Disney events. Why do we love Disney so much?

SPEAKER_02 5:26

Oh my goodness, where do we start? Um for me, it just when you when you get into that Disney bubble, and you know, when you first drive it through the arches and and it says Walt Disney World, and you just get that little sparkly bubble, you know, in your and you just feel the joy. Um it's it's the nostalgia, um, it's the amazing experiences, it's the absolute excellence.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Driving into the bubble is real. Um, the magical happy uh bubble of immersion in this world where every place you look, every smell, sight, sound is uh taken uh into consideration so that you're never rarely, I should say, thinking about what's happening in the outside world. Like you actually get to just literally be in a different world. And I find this really hard to articulate to people when they say to me, Why do you love Disney so much? The artwork uh is incredible. Um and it's not just like visual art, but uh the music, the like literally the smells they pump out into the streets so that it triggers some kind of feeling, good feeling in you. Um the uh it how you move through the place, like it's just everywhere you look is a a different world, and it's happy and it's and people are looking after you and you're treated so well.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Yeah, the cast members are excellent, absolutely excellent.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

They really are, they are trained really well. Um and uh they just really make you feel special, they make you feel cared for, and um I love how when you arrive at the hotel, uh someone is there to greet you and say, Welcome home.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

And I always just feel like, yeah, this is my home.

unknown 7:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

So the nostalgia part comes because we've been really fortunate to have enjoyed um many trips over the years, starting way back, way back when even I guess you've been going for the longest, right? So what so let's start with our Disney story, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah, I like I'm the oldest, okay. I um went to Disney the for the first time in 1973, um, which was shortly after it opened, um, with my baby sister Sarah. Um, but this was before Emily was born. And uh my mom and dad had heard about Disney World in Florida, and they thought, what is this all about? And let's go for a trip there.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

So we've had many trips um since that time, and I have got to go, of course. Um, and we've got so many memories from way back when. So maybe we'll just try to cut it down to can you think of like just give us a highlight? What's one of your favorite memories from way back then?

SPEAKER_01 8:39

Well, one of my earliest memories, I've got so many memories, it's hard to pick a favorite, but one of my earliest ones was um the three of us being very small, and um we had been in Florida probably at Clearwater. What my we would go to Florida every year almost and stay somewhere on the Gulf Coast around Clearwater for March break. For March break, and then um, you know, my dad would say, Let's go, he's a very spontaneous kind of guy, and let's get in the car and drive up to Disney and see if we can get a hotel. And I remember driving up to the contemporary resort and driving along like whatever the laneway up towards the hotel, and there were these um the bushes, you know how they like carve them out in the shapes of I don't know what you call that. Like they carve them out in the shapes of like um in the shapes of the characters, and I was amazed by that. But I rem I remember going into the lobby and I still am amazed by those. Going up to the desk with dad and him asking about a hotel room, and they said there's no room at the inn. Um, and then he went and grabbed Sarah, and I went back with mom, anyways. It's sort of a long convoluted story just to say that somehow my dad managed to get the guy to get us a room, and we got a room, and that like was just a really early memory, but I remember waiting um in the old arcade room or like a games room that was just sort of around the corner from the front desk, and it was like this magical world all of its own.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

It was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Because the arcade games, and I remember there was this little movie theater in the corner, and I swear to god, we went in there and we watched the whole movie of um oh my god, I was gonna say Freaky Friday. That's not it. It's the um the one where the twin girls switch places. I can't like it was a different time, like you just let your kids go and watch a movie and go do go somewhere else. I just can't imagine parents leaving their kids like that now, but it was a really memorable and fun time. And like the the big mural in the contemporary and the monorail going through the building was all so fantastic. So that's sort of a fond and first memory for me. What about you, Emily?

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Well, if someone were to ask me, you know, think of your happy place. The first thing that I think of is standing in the archway of the castle of Cinderella's castle with the um uh the mural behind of Cinderella's story and uh the music playing of Cinderella singing. Um I don't I'm gonna sing it, I shouldn't sing it, but a dream is a wish your heart makes. And um that's just a special spot for me. And just being there with mom and just feeling them the magic. Um yeah, it's just that that's just the summary. That's probably the best spot in the whole world.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

And I like how that music sort of is kind of echoey in that space in the castle, like it's so it sounds so dreamy because it's just sort of echoing around in this inside of the castle where you're walking through and seeing like the incredible um tiling in the artwork that tells the story of Cinderella.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

What do you call that when it's a mural made out of tiles? It's like um I forget.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Mosaic?

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Mosaic, yeah. But that's just the that's just one of the highlights. I mean, there's so many things. The character breakfasts, the the excitement of um, you know, seeing the characters or going on the rides, uh, but mostly it's that that feeling in that cast in the castle archway.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Yeah. We were lucky. We started going to Disney before we could even walk, and we continued going every year or so, um, all through school, all through high school, even.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

And um Yeah, we did kind of slow down a little bit as we got older. Um, we didn't go as frequently.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Yeah, I kind of I remember going in grade nine, and then I think the next time I went, I was in grade 12. Right. So maybe it wasn't every year, but like every four years, yeah, or something.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

Yeah, and then we went a few times here and there, but not as a whole family. Like um when I was my first year teaching, actually, I was in North Carolina, and mom and dad came down to visit, um, and we did a weekend trip. We thought, well, they're they're in North Carolina, let's keep going. And we did a weekend trip down to um Walt Disney World, just and stayed for about 24 hours, and that was great. We stayed at the Coronado. Was it good? Yeah, yeah, it was pretty good. I enjoyed it, but that's the only time I've been there. I'd love to go back because I'd like to be able to hit all the different things.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

We have so much to talk about because I want to hear all about the Coronado, but I feel like if we start going off on a tangent, then we're gonna lose a track. Yeah, let's so yeah, we went a few times like during university days. I remember going with my friends for a reading week break, and uh we just rented a car and drove up to Disney for the day. Same kind of thing. I think we did Epcot. No, we did uh MGM. It was epic.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Oh my god, it was called MGM Studios back then instead of Hollywood Studios. Oh guys, we're old. Um and then uh-uh, we're experienced. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

And then after university, I think there's a bit of a gap because we all kind of grew up and you know, got families and jobs and things, and it wasn't until um mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary that we all went back, and now there were grandchildren involved, so we had a huge group of us, an epic March break trip, which was epic because we were going to Walt Disney World, but also it was leaving the day that that we were to leave to fly out.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Um there was a I would say a hundred-year storm. It was a massive snowstorm, massive snowstorm. Storm of the century, yes, it really was, and it became planes, trains, and automobiles of trying to get to Orlando. Um that's a whole other story as well, but but we did it. But man, it was that that trip was epic. It was the first time for the all the kids to go. Um, and it was really special.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Yeah, special and magical. And uh despite the crazy time we had getting there and um kind of crazy time we had being there because uh dad had just had knee surgery and I had just had major abdominal surgery, so we were recovering, but it was still like this trip that just hooked us back into Disney again. Right. And it really did start off the whole next generation of Disney lovers. Totally. Because we went back the next year. It was so good, and then we went uh and then and I had started running marathons by then, not at Disney, but um in Ottawa, and um and then I wanted to sign up for the Disney marathon, and um Emily said she was gonna do the half marathon.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

Yeah, you you suggested, you know, we should do this. I'll you said to me, I'll do the marathon. I had never run a race before. Um, I don't even think I'd done a 5k. Well, you know, I'd never done a race, but we used to do the odd time, the Terry Fox runs and take some time to do that. But anyhow, you had suggested I'll like I'll do the marathon and you do the half marathon. That's doable. I'm like, okay, yeah, that's doable. And um, it's not like I was on the couch. I was an active person, but I thought, yeah, I can do a half marathon.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

So um I think I was going to do the goofy.

SPEAKER_02 16:47

Well, no, what it started was you were gonna do the marathon, I was gonna do the half, and we signed up for um a clinic together, a running clinic together. And as we got started early on, other people that were doing that clinic were doing the the goofy, and you thought, you know what? I think I'm gonna do the goofy. And then I thought, well, I think I'm gonna try to do the marathon. So we both went upped it, and then as the clinic kept going, everybody else in the clinic was doing the goofy, so I thought, well, why not? I'm gonna do the goofy too. And that was back when um the races didn't sell out in the first hour or whatever ridiculousness it is now. But so we we could decide later, there were still spots available. So yeah, we we both signed up for the goofy.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

There was no couch potato to 5k. This was like from zero to run a marathon and a half marathon in two days in sanity. But uh, that's how we started the Disney running.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

I do want to say for those of you listening and think you can, you know, do that. I was I was doing other things, other activities. I just wasn't running. Like I was I was swimming um a lot, so I did have some sort of activity background. I just don't want to say like, and we did we did take it easy as far as uh you know the training goes. So it wasn't like we over overdid it. We and we started early, so we actually trained for the half marathon, the September half marathon, the army run. Remember that? Yeah, and then and then kept going. So it was a long time in planning, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

You had a half marathon under your belt before you did that training. That's right. It wasn't totally zero to nine.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Yeah, but when we made the decision to do it, I was a newbie, a newbie runner for sure. And then I got hooked. That was it. Yep. That was one one Disney, one run Disney event, and you're hooked.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

And like, and back then, and we're talking like twenty eleven when we did that first one. Um we thought we were being so whatever we thought we were being when we put goofy hats on when we ran the race. But there was a point recently, um, I guess we did our our just jumped to like our most recent uh Disney race was the um Dopey Um in 2024, January, like two years ago now. And Emily said to me, Oh, we gotta up our game. People are really wearing a lot of different like I want to say costumes, but like Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

Well, we found like on that very first weekend, and we found the goofy hats when we went there for the run Disney were like, Oh, wouldn't that be fun if we wore goofy hats because we're doing the goofy? But we ran with the other people that we trained with, and we found that everybody that was cheering on the runners, everybody cheered us on. Go goofy, go, go, and and we got more attention, which really helps. I mean, when you are two thirds of your way through your marathon and things are starting to hurt when you're three quarters, you need every little cheer, every little help that you can get, every little positivity. So, yeah, we really found that helpful. So ever since Since we have put on something to make it a little bit more recognizable.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Yeah, we have. Yeah. But you like in back then it wasn't a thing. People weren't dressing up in tutus and stuff for not as much. No. Like it was really unfrewing. Really infrequent. I think people did, but it wasn't most people didn't. But now it's the opposite. Like most people have some kind of outfit on that.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

Especially for the 5K. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

So yeah, yeah. Yeah. So that's super fun. Um so, anyways, we have so much to say about our experiences running, running and run Disney events. But let's talk now a little bit about um planning a vacation. Because coming from our perspective, how about some hot tips for a winter vacation in the most magical place on each other?

SPEAKER_02 20:49

Especially when you're not as close, it's not just a hot skipping away. Although it's not that long of a flight. Um, but yeah, we have some some tips for you. Um, if you're gonna travel in the winter time to Florida, I mean, yes, Florida is a lot warmer than it is in Canada, particularly in our winter months. However, we still very much recommend that you bring some layers with you. Um, bring your jeans and your your sweatshirts, but I would also say bring like um kind of one of those spring coats that you might have. Like I have, I think you probably have one as well, a little thin, um packable, like down, what are they called? Like a downfilled coat, but it's nice and puffy, and you can put it in a stuff sack.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

We got them at Uniqlo, I'm just gonna say it because they're so great. They're I have one from Costco. Oh, do you? Yeah. We you can squish them down into a small, like it mine even comes with a little bag. You can shove it in, you can use it as a pillow on the plane. Um, but I don't know, I was just at Disney a couple weeks ago, and it was just so good to have it there because uh it's Florida and you can have beautiful, warm, sunny days, and then it can be like 10 degrees at night. That's 10 degrees Celsius, and that that's chilly, and so I was really glad I had that coat with me.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

And then with that, I would pack a thin toque. And for those of you that are non-Canadians, a toque is a little hat, I think maybe called a beanie, perhaps. Bring a hat and mitts. And like gloves, like those dollar store gloves, like the thin, yeah. It just it it doesn't take up much space in your suitcase, and plus it has the the also the benefit of when you get off the plane on the other side when you're coming home.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Right, when you're arriving back in Canada and it is winter, back to reality. Um, you have at least a a layer to to uh hit the yeah hit the doors in, get you to the parking lot.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Get your car warmed up.

unknown 22:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

Um yeah, so um traveling in the winter months, um, or around the winter months there, um, we would recommend that like try to plan your trip if you can around the American Thanksgiving weekend slash week. Um, try to miss Christmas and New Year's, unless that's a thing you want to do, like do it by all means do it. But marathon weekend, the princess race weekend, they're all very, very busy times. Busy, busy, busy. Crowds are high, um, prices are higher. Um, I, you know, so if you if you want to go for those reasons, like go for sure. Those are fun times to go. Just be prepared for more crowds and some higher costs.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

So if you're looking at if you have the flexibility of the luxury of being able to kind of choose when your holidays are and and don't have, as teachers, we we have great holidays, but they are um you can't, they're not flexible. But if you are able to be flexible with the days that you can travel, um, definitely check, you know, the flight deals and and when to go, because if you're gonna go for March break, your prices are flight places are gonna be so much more expensive than maybe the week before or two weeks before. Um, it it will definitely make a difference, anyhow. The other thing you could do is is look at when does the flight arrive? Because up until I guess through 2026, or we're not sure of when the the date ends, but right now, um, while Disney World has um an incentive that or what would you call it? An incentive, yeah, perk, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

And it it's something that they've been doing in 2025 and they're continuing it in 2026, which is that you get free admission to a water park on your day of check-in. So we recommend if you can book your flight to arrive at MCO, that's the in um airport in Orlando, um, uh as early in the day as you can, then get to your hotel, um, check your bags with Bell services, and have an extra little bag packed with your swimsuits and head on over to uh the water park and you can get in for free and spend the afternoon at the water park.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

Also, it'd save you um having to get a park pass for the day. So if you were looking at, you know, maybe um doing more of a budget, that you it gets you somewhere really fun, but you'd it's all part of the, you know, you're already paying for it with your hotel. Yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

And uh I note that the water parks close at five o'clock. So um I always aim to have my flight land in the morning if I can, like by 11 o'clock, is it I think by noon I might be at my hotel. And you can pre-check in. So the check-in part can go really fast. Leaving your bags with bell services can go really fast. And if you've got your little carry-on bag or whatever, your little purse, whatever you're carrying your bathing suit in, don't worry about towels, just have your bathing suits, have your sunscreen, and um get on the bus to Disney Springs, which will connect you over to Typhoon Lagoon, probably is the one that's open. I don't know. It usually is Typhoon Lagoon, and uh get there by one o'clock, then you've got four hours to spend in the water park.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Now, here we are talking about a winter vacation, and we just finished telling you make sure you bring some warm clothes as well, because it can be chilly there in in January or what have you. Um so the air temperature, depending on the day, uh, could be cool, but the water is always warm. So you'll you'll be there if it's if it's in the winter months, you might be there with a whole bunch of other Canadians running around and the lifeguards are in there, practically in their parkas.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

It's true. And the par the water parks might be mostly empty on those cooler days, but you'll have pretty much uh your own your run of the park. You and the other Canadians or other cold, weather-loving people will suffer it. But uh, you know, the water temperature is like 85 degrees. Now I'm gonna speak in Fahrenheit and Celsius because I only know water temperatures in Fahrenheit because of our pool, but um, the water temperature is good, the air temperature might be chilly, and it's not always like you can have some warm days for sure.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

Um, but that's another side tip is um even in those uh cooler days, watch the screen or the the wear sunscreen because the sun is pretty intense, even still. And our um well-covered up skin here in you know Canada and hasn't seen the day of light since uh September. Um, it could the the sun intensity could give you a bad burn. And you don't want that on, especially on your first days, because that could spoil some things for you. So pack your sunscreen.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

And when you one other thing I just thought of is when you arrive at the water park, um, you can rent a locker. This is what I did with my boys uh last time we went. Um, so we just literally dropped our stuff. We were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, left our stuff with Bell Services, got on the bus, went to the water park, changed, rented a locker, shoved our stuff in the locker, and off we went. Um super fun. Um some other like unique things to traveling, specifically in December, are some holiday-related um events that happen, which are super fun as well. At Epcot, there is the International Festival of the Holidays. And it just is just about over now for 2025. So it ran from November 28th until December 30th. Um, by the time you hear this, it will be over. Um, but it's a really fun something to think about for next year. For next year, planning ahead. Basically runs for the month of December. Um, it offers global holiday traditions, festive food at holiday kitchens around the world showcase. It has the candlelight processional, the holiday cookie stroll, which uh a lot of people love to do. You get a little passport and you can go and buy the different cookies in different places, and they're all really yummy. And um they have special entertainment like a show called Joyful. They have storytellers in each um pavilion in the world showcase. And all of that is included with your regular park admission. Um, some things that people really love are the celebrity narrators for the candlelight processional, and that can get busy. I was there one day when I was there just a couple weeks ago where Epcot was super busy, and I think it was because there was somebody really famous doing the um the narrating for the candlelight processional. And then they have really unique holiday treats. Um, for example, the salted caramel spaceship earth cookie, and there's lots of cultural storytelling from around the world. Like it really is a neat little festival with little kiosks around in and around the um 11 countries of the world showcase that are in addition to um the countries that are there.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

So that what you're talking about, the Upcott International Festival of the Holidays, that's different. That's separate from Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, is it not? That's right.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

The Very Merry Christmas Party also happens from it's most of the most of the month of November and December. Um, and it takes place at Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park, and it has holiday entertainment, um, special treats in the form of cookie stations and um hot drinks. Like you can get um eggnog, not hot eggnog, but uh hot chocolate, um hot apple cider, and then like each station will have a cookie and a certain drink you can get. Um, they have um festive overlays on uh a few of the rides. They have special fireworks, special shows, uh special parades. Um this, however, is a separate ticketed event. It allows you access into the park at 4 p.m. The party officially starts at 7 p.m. and it runs until midnight. But you can be in the park from four o'clock onwards. It's just the Christmassy stuff doesn't start until 7. And um, it's a separate ticketed event. So I would suggest if you're gonna do the Merry Christmas party, don't get a park ticket for that day because you're gonna be paying twice. It's a it's basically the price of a park ticket for the day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:37

All right, last hot tip for a okay, so kind of taking a different spin. But if you're planning ahead and and uh I mean, if you if you can do a Disney trip on the fly and just think, hey, let's go next week, that is amazing. But I think most of us are are are planning a Disney trip well in advance. And um, let's be real. Disney is amazing. Walt Disney World, traveling there, we love it. And um we will go again and again, but it can be really expensive. So if you're thinking about, we talked about you know planning around the calendar because of busy times, but also looking at flight times and things like that to help save you some money. But um, you could consider if you're trying to set a budget about getting some Disney gift cards and um using the Disney gift cards, if you you know buy some in advance, or you could buy some as gifts if you're for that hard to shop for person, uh, you could help them on their Disney travels. But using the Disney gift cards once you're there, if you're staying on resort and you're using your magic band, uh, which can pay for you know, you just tap your magic band to pay for things. Our tip is to cash your your gift cards in before you check out because you have a credit card that is associated with your magic band. And so on your last day of your stay, they will um settle your bill and they'll settle your bill with your credit card. But if you have a pocket full of gift cards that you haven't used, then it gets a little tricky because you'll have to get reimbursed, etc. etc. And it's a little bit of a schmozzle. So make sure you use your Disney gift cards as you go. So maybe at the end of each day, um, pay off your bill for that day so that you can get those Disney gift cards used up.

SPEAKER_01 33:28

And to be clear, you can actually use your gift cards at the shops and in the restaurants and at the quick service, dining, like you can just use them to pay for things. Um, I was just saying to Emily earlier that I really like the convenience of paying for things with my magic band and then using the gift cards later to just pay my my room bill down um later, but you can obviously use them in place of like a credit card or a character.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

Right, or if you're not staying on property, um, yeah, you can just go use as you go. But it's a great way if you're getting Disney gift cards, it's just kind of a great way to spread out the cost um through over a few months rather than all in one lump sum.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

Yeah, it helps you budget a little bit. And then it feels like free money when you're there. Woohoo! And you know, I love getting a Disney gift card for a Christmas present or a birthday or any or retirement or a retirement present. I got the best retirement present ever. Disney Griff card.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

It's well known that Jenny loves Disney.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Well no, I just want to be there. Well, those are our tips for today, and there's lots more to come. We'd love to hear about your experiences too. So leave us a comment or send an email to ropedropandrun at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_02 34:52

Thanks for listening to today's episode. Here are a few topics we have planned for upcoming episodes. Run Disney 101, planning a Disney Vacation from Canada, race weekend must-haves, and traveling with the whole family from babies to grandparents.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Well, that's it for this episode of Rope Drop and Run. If you like what you heard, follow us on Instagram at RopeDrop and Run.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Please subscribe, leave us a review, and we can't wait to chat with you next time. We'll see you at the castle or the start line.