Tell YOUR runDisney story via Instagram!

 RUNDISNEY on Instagram

     One of the newest crazes to hit the Social Media is world is Instagram! I'm a huge fan of this app, love adding filters to my pics and have a crazy huge ton of fun being able to share instantly with the world just exactly what is going on in the world of BamagirlRUNS!

     Of course when runDisney stepped onto the Instagram scene, guess who #JustGotHappier??? That would be me!!

      I have had an Instagram account for a couple of years now and have been waiting for runDisney to create an account. Since they added their page, it's been a gaggle of fun tagging them, searching hashtags, posting pics and interacting with other runDisney enthusiasts. I've even had two of my pictures featured on THEIR page!! OMG. How fun is that????

      I've read articles before that Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts are two of the most popular Instagrammed vacation destinations. I have to believe that that is a true statement because I know that when I vacation to Disney Parks, whether it's with my family or with my running friends, I'm an Instagramming fool! I'm totally okay with that because when I'm at home and I have friends posting from the parks in real time, I'm able to instantly add some magic to my not-so-magical day at home. Disney Magic at home...now that's what I'm talking about! 

This was my very first Instagram pic!
I love everything about it.....
I'm at Walt Disney World drinking coffee in front of Cinderella Castle. #BEST.

Three of my favorite accounts that I follow:
@runDisney, @WaltDisneyWorld and @Disneyland

      I've always been accused of being a shutterbug and taking waaaaay too many pictures. Is that REALLY a bad thing?? Are my kids going to be mad when they are adults because their mom took zillions of pictures of them as kids??  Will I regret having thousands of race pictures when I'm just too old to put one foot in front of the other?? Probably not. And if that's my biggest problem in life...whoops. #SorryNotSorry.

     Not only do I love Instagram, but my kids do too! So much so, that we even celebrated my daughter's 13th Birthday with an Instagram Birthday cake. For a brief moment, I was the COOLEST Mom amongst a room full of 13 year olds. I secretly know that my kids still think I'm the coolest Mom EVER. LOL.

Happy 13th Birthday Lindy!

The Instagram Cake was a success! #CoolMom

  

     I was not able to attend Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon or Expedition Everest Challenge this year but because of Instagram, I could see all kinds of pictures from hundreds of my runner friends posting pics from the beginning of the weekend starting with the Health and Fitness Expo all the way to the end and then wrapping it up with the Post Race Parties at Epcot and Disney's Animal Kingdom. I would do a simple search of either #WineDineHalf, #NBYetiGram or #runDisney and had thousands of pictures from the races at my fingertips! At Expedition Everest Challenge, runners could even stop by after the race and pick up a printed copy of their picture that they hashtagged using #NBYetiGram. 

#NBYetiGram

    

    At The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler Weekend, runDisney had a very cool booth set up that we could download a free Instagram picture with our most "terror-ific" faces on it. 

Here's how it worked:

--First, we had to get in line with our smartphones and show the Cast Member, who was also a Bellhop, that we followed the @rundisney account on Instagram. Duh. OF COURSE I'm following!!

--Next, we had to pose with the Bellhops. JUST Kidding. I couldn't resist. ;)

I was "Terror-fied" of this dude.

--Next, we posed in front of the green screen. We needed to make sure that we had a look of Terror. Check. After all, we were about to run 13.1 spooky miles. Terror face on!!

I mean, who wouldn't be scared to death of these two chicks?!?!

--Grand Finale! The Bellhop Photographer took us over to the computer where we entered in a few of our details...Name, email, phone etc. and then we would receive an email with the link to our image in just a bit. We were now free to download the pic and do with it whatever we like! To my surprise, the edited picture, complete with the #Tower10Miler stamp and runDisney logo turned out to be one of my most favorite pictures of the whole weekend! Thanks @runDisney for the great picture!!!

So what was the first thing that I did when I received my picture??? I Instagrammed it of course!! #FUN. #LOVEIT. #FAVORITE.

No more green screen....
My friend Leigh and I were 'dropped' right into the lobby of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! EEEEK!

     So another really cool thing that @runDisney is launching are hashtags that are specifically designed for runDisney enthusiasts to share THEIR story with other friends, runners and people who have never ran a runDisney race.

#OnTheRoadToDisneyParks

     I was lucky enough to the attend the #OnTheRoadToDisneyParks meetup in Atlanta and the runDisney PR staff was on hand to give us a little insight to the new hashtag! If you would like to share why YOU runDisney, hashtag your pics and follow along using #WhyIRunDisney to join in on the fun! I tagged in a few of some of my favorite #WhyIRunDisney race pictures already. ;)

In case you missed it, you can read my recap about the Inaugural #OnTheRoadToDisneyParks Atlanta here.

#WHYIRUNDISNEY

     On the runDisney blog, there's an interesting article about Carl Savard, a Subway Commit to Fit Ambassador from Canada who has accepted the challenge to lose weight, become fit and run the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon! You can read the inspiring story of Carl here but another fun way to keep up with Carl and other fellow runDisney enthusiasts that want to share their story is by following along using the Hashtag #RoadToRunDisney. You can also use this same hashtag (#RoadToRunDisney) to share YOUR own training and what got YOU on the #RoadToRunDisney. I can't wait to "see" all of the different reasons of why people runDisney through everyone's Instagrammed pictures!

      Is your reason for running Disney to lose weight? Do you want to be fit and healthy? Are you overcoming a major challenge in life? Is it just fun to runDisney? Do you run with your friends and family? Do you need to show off your creative Disney costumes? Are the runDisney medals just too fabulous to pass up? Start using that hashtag and let the world see!

#ROADTORUNDISNEY

     I've created this list of Hashtags that I'm currently following to see the latest pictures on all of the @runDisney, @WaltDisneyWorld and @Disneyland Resort accounts.

#RunDisney

#DisneySMMoms

#DisneySide

#WhyIRunDisney

#WaltDisneyWorld

#Disneyland

#RoadToRunDisney

#NBYetiGram

#DisneySportsFestival

#ESPNWWOS

#DisneyMP

 @runDisney uses these Hashtags as their official Hashtags for their races:

#WDWMarathon

#WDWHalf

#WDW10K

#FamilyFun5K

#GoofyChallenge

#DopeyChallenge

#TinkHalf

#Tink10K

#Neverland5K

#PrincessHalf

#RoyalFamily5k

#Enchanted10K

#GlassSlipperChallenge

#ExpeditionEverest

#DisneylandHalf

#Disneyland10K

#DumboDoubleDare

#Disneyland5K

#HappyHaunted5K

#Tower10Miler

#JingleJungle5K

#WineDineHalf

runDisney/Disney Parks Blog Meetup Hashtags: 

#WDWMarathonMeetup

#TinkHalfMeetup

#PrincessHalfMeetup

#DisneylandHalfMeetup

#WineDineHalfMeetup

#OnTheRoadToDisneyParks

     So As you can tell, I really love runDisney, Walt Disney World, Disneyland and Instagram. Being able to combine all of these is a recipe for Social Media Magic!! Feel free to follow me on Instagram...I love meeting new friends who share my same love for Disney and I can't wait to see your pictures. :)

My profile.

 Happy Running and "See" you at the Castle!

 I'm training for #DopeyChallenge so I will be posting pics of my training, the races and my medals real soon! :)

#BamaGirlRunsDopey

**Are you on Instagram?
**Are you following runDisney?
**Do you have your own #RoadToRunDisney story to tell?