Oh boy, oh boy! Registration is coming up fast for the 2024 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend! In fact it’s on Tuesday, March 12 at 10:00 a.m., ET! If you’ve been through the registration process before you know that you need to be online and logged in to your runDisney account ahead of that, really no later than 9:45 before the games begin. If this is your first time through, I recommend checking out my post about registration.
I’m registered for the chal lenge already through Club runDisney, and I told myself that for the 2024-25 season, I don’t need to run all the races, I need to save up some cash. But flerdyschnerkenhoopy torp, they had to trot out the Swedish Chef for the 5K mascot, and this child of the 70s cannot resist, bork, bork, bork! So it looks like I get the great joy of joining the masses for general registration on Tuesday to try to score that race. To my knowledge, this is the first-ever Muppet-themed race, so I’m expecting a lot of shenanigans.
Post-Race Party – November 3, 2024 – $110 (remember that if you run the Half Marathon/Challenge, your Post-Race Party ticket is included. This is for extra tickets for guests and those not running the Half).
Some race merchandise is available at the time of checkout, though I recommend you actually complete your checkout first and then go back and buy the merch, if you want. Check out this adorable chef’s hat:
Got questions? I can help! Drop a comment, and good luck on registration day!
Hi runners! It’s been a minute. I just finished up my very busy season at work, and between that and training for Dopey, I haven’t had much time for writing. There has been a lot of news that’s come out in recent weeks. I decided to combine it all into a single post with all the important dates happening in the next season. Some of the 2025 races haven’t been confirmed yet, and I will at Proof-of-Time deadlines as they become available.
For informational purposes only, all dates & events subject to change.
Downloadable version below.
January, 2024
January 3, 2024 - WDW Marathon Weekend – Expo Opens
January 4, 2024 – WDW Marathon Weekend – 5K
January 5, 2024 – WDW Marathon Weekend – 10K
January 6, 2024 - WDW Marathon Weekend – Half Marathon
It’s hard to believe a week has passed since Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend already. I’ve been quietly trying to recover from all the weekend’s activities and only just now mustered up the strength to write about it.
Sunrise over the World Showcase
The weather was close to perfect, and it was an awesome weekend for racing, park-hopping and connecting with all my runDisney family. This weekend was extra special for me as my 14-year-old daughter begrudgingly agreed to run the 5k with me for 2 reasons: 1. Alice in Wonderland is her all-time obsession and 2. It would get her out of school for four days.
The Expo merchandise sale was the usual feeding frenzy of desperate people grabbing any and all merch they could get their hands on. I only collect pins, so I am usually in and out pretty quickly. There is a 125% chance that you will hear people will complaining about merchandise availability at the expo, and I understand why. The reality is that Disney doesn’t want to be stuck with a bunch of merchandise that doesn’t sell, so they only manufacture fairly limited quantities of everything.
There are always gripes about resellers and non-runners buying merch, but I am not convinced this is actually true. As a Gold Club runDisney member, I get early access to shopping. I was in the Advent Health Arena at 9:00 a.m. and items (notably the challenge medal pins) were already gone. It seems they only had enough for the pre-orders, so everyone else was out of luck.
Personally, I am a bit leery of the pre-orders. My understanding is that if for some reason you don’t show up, you forfeit the merchandise, and no one else can pick it up for you. Of course everyone always plans on being at the expo, but when you register and purchase 9 months ahead of time, there are too many variables at play to make it a sure thing. The other issue with pre-orders is that Annual Passholders don’t automatically get a discount. I have heard that you can return and immediately re-buy the merch to get the discount, but I have not personally tested this and, TBH it sounds like a hassle.
Costume Guidelines have been the subject of much (deserved) brou-ha-ha over the last couple of months. For those of you joining our program in progress, the costuming rules were reinforced for this season, and a lot of drama ensued. The biggest concerns being no “layered” costumes, no big structures that could cause a safety hazard, no hooped ball gowns or costumes that don’t “follow the natural contour of the body”.
In a bit of a panic, I hacked about 2 feet off the bottom of my beloved Belle costume (did I mention that I can’t really sew?) and then observed what people were wearing very closely. I have a few layers planned for January’s marathon, and a (costume) 19th-century dress I would hate to disfigure. Well guess what… I saw all of the following make it past the costume police:
Full-length capes (an explicit no-no, and Edna Mode is seething)
A full-body churro
Numerous floor-length dresses
So, long-story short, I’m not worried about the rest of my costumes this season, and at least this past weekend, the expected costume carnage didn’t happen.
The races were awesome as expected, and I personally don’t have too many complaints. Although the course of the half-marathon was frankly a bit boring after mile 6 or so, the crowding issues that plagued last year’s course were significantly mitigated.
The People – oh my goodess! Every single time I go to a runDisney event I know instinctively that I am with my tribe! These are the people who unabashedly bust out into song! In stereo! These are the people who are not afraid to show their playful hearts to the world. I salute you! I got a chance to briefly say hello to so many runDisney friends, including Raj Hope Running, Puppet Runner, Jogging Jack Sparrow, DW Burge, and so many more.
The After-Party – Yes, it was fun, but I was a bit underwhelmed. Last year I went early, which I learned was a big mistake. In my sophomoric wisdom, I got to Epcot around 7:30 this year. I knew I wanted the special limited edition pin that would only be available at 8:00, so I slowly moseyed to the Creations Shop around that time and wandered around trying to figure out where the pin was. Something felt off – I was expecting a lot more people.
This is the pin that caused all the drama
Unlucky for me, I had picked the wrong door, and was nowhere nearly aggressive enough at asking a cast member where the pin was. I finally got the info and headed out the side door near Test Track to find the line. And, well, oops. There was the line, snaking around outside of the door, and then wrapping around the building. WAY around the building. Headed back towards World Showcase. I walked and walked, desperately hoping to spy the end of the line. When I finally found it, my spirits sank. It wasn’t too long before a cast member came by to tell us there were only 500 pins, and being in line was no guarantee that we would get one. WHAT? ONLY 500? If someone would have told me that before, I totally would have planned my evening differently. Looking at the vast swath of people in front of me, I was not too hopeful I’d get the pin.
But, I persevered. Maybe 20 minutes after sales started, a cast member came by counting people on his cell phone. As he passed me, I peeked and saw the number was 358. So… I had a chance, but since everyone in line had the opportunity to buy 2 pins, again there was no guarantee, and I was kind of nervous. We inched closer to the front, and then the line stopped. I was sure they were out of pins, about 10 people in front of us. And then, miraculously, the line started moving again. We were handed tickets… I got 342. The ticket gave me the right to purchase a pin! Hooray, my perseverence paid off! Just like during the races, it would have been so easy to quit. But in the end, sticking to the plan was the right path.
The rest of the after party so with pin in hand I was ready to “party”. OK… really.. I am 52, have had about 5 hours of sleep in the last 3 days, and just run races 3 days in a row. Oh yeah, and when I wasn’t running, I was at the parks, like from rope drop to very late in the day. I was toast. Like multi-grain toast that went through the cycle twice.
The after-party is billed as a chance to get on Epcot attractions with short waits. Well. Not sure I agree with that assessment. I really wanted to ride Guardians of the Galaxy. I read comments from last year’s after party that said they rode 3 times with almost no wait at the end of the night. Either this year was totally different, or that was a complete lie. My daughter and I went back to Guardians around midnight (after giving up earlier) and the line was an hour and 15 minutes long. We waited about 40 min for Test Track at the start of the night (I usually do single rider line in about 10) and probably waited 35 min for Soarin’ over California. I think the “short lines” story is a bit of a marketing job.
I’d love to give Soarin’ some props for just a second. I was a cast member in the College Program in 1992. Soarin’ Over California was the new thing at Epcot at the time, and I loved it. I also loved Soarin’ Around the Worldwhen it was released, but I did miss its predecessor a bit. As part of the Disney 100 celebration, Soarin’ Over California is back until the end of the year (if rumors can be trusted).
Soarin’ Over California is a bit older and less sophisitcated than Soarin’ Around the World. But. It’s beautiful. I was so happy to see that show again, with it’s unique smells and images. I was so happy to share it with my daughter. It was like seeing an old friend. One I am not sure I will see again. Thank you, Disney Parks for reuniting me with this happy memory.
The other big billing of the after-party was the special cocktail in a light-up glass, the “Wonderland Potion”. Cool. Well, lines were long early in the night, so I figured I’d grab one after Soarin’. It was about 11:30 and the party had officially started at 10. Already, the first location had sold out of the drink, so I walked some more. The second location had sold out. I left my daughter in line for escargot and walked to the next place, and the next, where they finally admitted the drink had already sold out park-wide. Boo. Kind of like my concern with the pins, if there are only 1,500 of the cocktails available (that was the post-mortem rumor) , PLEASE tell me ahead of time so I can plan! I would have grabbed one of those bad boys to enjoy while I was standing in line for my pin.
So there are my many two cents on the weekend. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. Now – I have MUCH training to do before Marathon weekend… so gotta run!
We’re only two weeks out from the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend! If you’re headed to Orlando it’s time to start your checklist! There’s a lot that’s the same about this year’s event but there are a few updates to share, so I’ll focus on what’s new for Wine & Dine 2023:
Course maps have been released. They have been published in the Virtual Expo. They are not terribly different from courses in the past, so I will spare you the detailed commentary. What I am foreseeing, looking at the Half Marathon map is a massive bottleneck between the Boardwalk and Hollywood Studios between miles 3 and 4. Best to just plan on walking this stretch and making some new friends!
Costume Guidelines have been updated (and are the source of much controversy and angst). An initial, and very vague email was sent to runners, but fortunately has recently been clarified. I know that the new guidelines are in the interest of safety, but I have to admit that I am disappointed that we may not be treated to some of the extravagant get-ups we’ve seen in the past.
Here’s what runDisney has to say about costumes (from an email dated 10/18):
Layered costumes, such as ball gowns, hoop skirts, those that have an infrastructure with metal components or hard edges, costumes that do not follow the natural contour of the human body, and/or. costumes that could conceal prohibited items are not permitted.
Layered clothing, including tutus over running shorts, cold-weather gear such as sweatshirts or sweatpants, and clothing that follows the natural contour of the body are permitted unless they present a safety hazard (e.g. dragging on the ground).
Costume or large props including, without limitation, those that surround the entire body (e.g. cardboard, plastic or other wearable costumes with hard edges, such as a house from Disney-Pixar’s Up), those that are inflatable, or those that physically connect multiple participants to each other are not permitted.
Small, inflatable or soft-bodied, handheld props (e.g. an inflatable Toy Story ball) are permitted. Foam swords and all-plastic lightsabers may be permitted, however, they may not exceed 36″ in length.
Now I think there’s a whole lot of grey area between what’s a “costume” and what is “clothing”. Ultimately it will be up to the volunteers to decide what will and won’t fly that day. My suggestion is that you have a backup plan if you get flagged for a costume. That is, make sure you’re wearing something you can run in (publicly!) under your costume if you need to ditch your creation. Looks like I need to pull out the sewing machine and see if I can hack a few yards of material off my “ball gowns”.
Bling Honestly there’s too much to cover in this post between medals and merch! I’ll cover these later this week!
Epcot at Night
After-Party The much-awaited after party takes place at Epcot the evenig after the Half Marathon on November 5. It’s a ticketed event, and in true runDisney style is sold out. All Half Marathon runners should have received a hard ticket in the mail by now. They come in plain white envelopes and are pretty easy to miss if you’re not paying attention. If you purchased an extra ticket at the time of registration, your ticket came in an email with your confirmation. You may need to scroll waaaay back in your email to find it.
So, as with all sold-out events, there is a scramble for party tickets on the secondary market. People are selling tickets on the various runDisney Facebook marketplaces from face value ($105) up to about $120. For what you get at the party, I’d really think carefully about how much I am willing to spend, especially if you want to snag multiple tickets.
Party Ticket
Although a letter mailed with the tickets said that you must bring the hard ticket with you, I’m doubting they will enforce that if you have the ticket linked to the My Disney Experience app. I haven’t done this myself yet, but I have heard that linked party tickets are showing up in the app as “magic bands”. I think once a ticket is linked it becomes much more difficult, if not impossible, to transfer to another person. So my advice is to wait to the last minute to link your tickets to your profile, just in case you have the need to sell/transfer.
If you lost or never received your ticket, you can go to the box office at the Advent Health Arena during the expo to get a replacement. Heads up that this might be a difficult process. Last year I had to do this for a friend with a Canadian address, and I wasn’t sure they were actually going to give it to us, although we eventually did get the missing ticket.
Sheila E
So what do you get at the afterparty?
Early entry to Epcot at 5:00 p.m. I did this last year and I totally regret it. I’ve never seen Epcot so crowded, and it wasn’t very much fun
The private party that starts at 10:00 p.m. and goes till 1:00 a.m. I was so tired I barely made it to 10:00 last year, but by 9:00, the park started clearing out and crowds were more manageable
Many attractions (including Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind!) with much shorter wait times than normal
Character meet-and-greets
Epcot International Food and Wine Festival food booths. Half Marathon runners will get a $15 gift card shortly before the race, but other than that, bring your money cause none of it is free 😦
There has not been any mention of a special concert at the after-party (boo!) but if they do announce one, I am putting my money on the artist being Sheila E, who will be performing November 5 & 6 at the Eat to the Beat Concert Series. If you have your heart set on hearing her, DO get to Epcot early as she has shows scheduled at 5:30, 6:45 and 8:00.
So there’s lots more, but too much to cover here! Got questions? Drop me a comment! Want to meet up during race weekend? Drop me a comment! Have more info? Drop me a comment! I can’t wait to see you all in Orlando!
If you want to run in this year’s Wine & Dine races, grab your lucky registration shirt because the menu has been set!
General registration is this coming Tuesday, March 21 at 10:00 a.m. ET
This year’s themes all focus around dining, and I think they really nailed it!
5K – The Mad Tea Party
This Alice in Wonderland theme set off a bit of a frenzy at my house!
November 3, 2023 at 5 a.m.
$108
10K – Be Our Guest
This Beauty and the Beast theme feels slightly redundant since Belle was featured at Princess weekend, but hey I can get some more milage (pun intended) out of my Belle costume.
November 4, 2023 at 5 a.m.
$151
Half Marathon – Encanto
“Isabella, your boyfriend’s here! Time for dinner!” Who can forget the incredibly awkward dinner scene from Encanto? We’ll have 13.1 miles of Encanto-themed fun that is guaranteed to have us talking about Bruno all day.
November 5, 2023 at 5 a.m.
$235
Two-Course Challenge – Figment
I’m not going to lie, the Challenge might sell out faster than the virtual queue for Cosmic Rewind. Everyone will be clamoring for the medal featuring Epcot’s own “Figment and his topsy turvy kitchen”
November 4-5, 2023 at 5 a.m.
$389
Afterparty
Don’t forget that Wine & Dine weekend features the afterparty on Sunday night. The afterparty is a private event at Epcot that hypothetically offers short wait times for attractions and rare character meet and greets. Half marathon and challenge participants get free tickets to the afterparty, and you can purchase tickets for friends and family during registration for $105 each. Last year, the party sold out and tickets were hard to come by.
Virtual Races
Virtual races will be offered as well, registration for these starts on March 24. Prices are slightly less expensive. But please don’t ask me why the longer distances are more expensive than the shorter ones. It’s not like runDisney needs to close roads and find volunteers!
5K – $85
10K – $106
Half Marathon – $126
Two Course Challenge – $270
I’m not planning on missing a minute of the weekend events! Drop a comment and let me know which ones you’re excited for. If you need help with registration, you can prep by reading this post. Good luck!
I know I am not the only one who is excited to finally have the opportunity to not only run a race at Disneyland, California, but to get the coveted Coast to Coast medal! These were discontinued several years ago when Disneyland races were put on pause. I’m really hoping to add “all the medals” to my wall, and this is a giant leap forward!.
So what is Coast to Coast?
Simply put, Coast to Coast is a medal runDisney runners earn if they run a long race (10 mi+) at both Disneyland and Disney World in the same calendar year.
Runners do NOT have to register for the challenge; it’s automatic. (What’s that… no separate fee? Like really? Disney passed on a money-grab opportunity? Huzzah!)
So besides money, why is this tricky?
There are two factors (other than OMG I’m running races two weeks in a row?????) that look really important to consider right now:
Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (Florida) and Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend (California) races are back-to-back in January, 2024. Yup Florida is January 3-7 and California is January 11-14. If you want to do both, you’d better be able to have 2 weeks in the bank or be willing to accept a really chaotic remote work schedule.
Registration for the Disneyland races is soon… SOON! Club runDisney members start their registration on Feb 7; general registration is on Feb 14. No time for general registration has been announced yet. I’m presuming it won’t be 10 a.m. ET just since they should be catering to the Pacific Time audience, but that is only my opinion. I’ll post more when I know it.
Keep in mind that it has been years since there has been a Disneyland race. If you thought Dopey 2023 registration was bad… you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. I predict instant bloodbath.
So what else do I need to know?
There will be two different versions of the C2C medal offered. One for those who complete a race during Marathon Weekend first, and one for those who complete a race at Disneyland first. Do we know the difference? No. Did runDisney make it clear that the medal for those who complete the Marathon Weekend first (thus doing back-to-back weekends) is special to 2024 ? Yes. Is that the money grab? To get marathoners to sign up for Disneyland one week later? Maybe.
You can only get one C2C medal per year. If you run Marathon Weekend then Disneyland, there’s your medal. No double-dipping if you head back to Florida for Princess.
Virtual races will not qualify. This makes perfect sense to me. The point of the medal is to go to California and then go to Florida. If you do it all on your treadmill, where’s the challenge in that?
So which races qualify?
Per the runDisney site, challenge or 10 mile races will qualify you in 2024. You must have a Florida and a California race/challenge:
Walt Disney World Half Marathon (FL)
Walt Disney World Marathon (FL)
Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge (FL)
Dopey Challenge (FL)
Disneyland Half Marathon (CA)
Dumbo Double Dare Challenge (CA)
Princess Half Marathon (FL)
Fairy Tale Challenge (FL)
Springtime Surprise 10-Miler (FL)
Springtime Surprise Challenge (FL)
Wine and Dine Half Marathon (FL)
Two-Course Challenge (FL)
I personally am beyond exited. Can I pay for this? No clue. I’ll have to make some choices and beg my boss for a lot of time off. But I am ready to charge forward.
Is it bad that I am simultameously thinking “Castle to Chateau????”
Marathon weekend is around the corner! Although the event guide hasn’t been released yet, you can find answers to some of the most common runDisney questions here!
1. I registered but now I can’t run. Can I sell or transfer my bib?
This is hands-down the most asked question on the runDisney forums. It makes complete sense – to get a spot in a race you have to register nine months ahead of time. Sooo much can happen in that time. Injuries, pregnancies, emergencies, failure to train and a thousand more things can happen. Unfortunately the one-word answer is no. runDisney does not permit any transfers, sales or deferments at this time. Rules have changed over the years: long ago they offered deferments (I got one when I was pregnant half a lifetime ago), sometimes they have offered partial refunds via a gift card (not so much recently). The current policy is absolutely no transfers permitted. If someone were to run under someone else’s bib, the potential penalty is permanent ban from runDisney races – for both parties. Just. Not. Worth it. Not.
2. What’s the best Disney Resort to stay at on race weekend?
Honestly… the only parameter is budget. ALL the Disney resorts offer race day transportation. For most people that’s the crucial question, and the easy answer is take your pick. The Disney resort offerings go from almost afforable to “People can actually pay this??? Like, for more than one night???” At the low end you get a very acceptable motel room with coffee and a fridge. At the high end you get… I’ll be completely honest. I’ve never stayed at the high end. Rumor has it that it’s better.. and quieter. The “value” resorts are often full of school groups and the party crowd. But I will also be very clear, despite my insomnia, noise has never kept me awake at a value resort.
3. I am staying at [XYZ Disney Resort]. Do they offer race-day transportation?
See above. Yes, they all offer race-day transportation. There have been some rather frightening stories of bus drivers getting lost on the way to the start line. I know that sounds impossible, but there are many road closures on race mornings, so those could potentially be contributing factors. I do advise you to grab the earliest bu possible from your resort, if nothing more than for peace of mind.
There are also a few off-property hotels that offer race day transportation. I’d suggest doing a quick internet search, particularly for the hotels in the Disney Springs area. These hotels are the most likely to offer these packages.
The scary, scary Balloon Ladies
4. I am a new runner (or I am currently running 15-minute miles). I am so scared of the Balloon Ladies. Help.
Ok, this isn’t really a question, but the prospect of being swept has kept more than a few newbies and some experienced runners awake for nights on end. The much feared “Balloon Ladies” are the last to cross the start line and run at a steady 16-minute mile pace. They are the unofficial harbingers of the sweep. If you fall behind them, the race officials can pull you off the course and put you on a bus.
There are many factors that will impact whether or not runners behing the Balloon Ladies will actually be swept, including congestion on the course and where you are in terms of milage. While there are rumors out there that they can’t sweep you if you are in the park or just outside the park, that’s actually not true. Sweeping is completely at the discretion of the race officials. The only place you’re truly safe from being swept is at the finish line.
That being said, if you are able to run any of the course at all, a 16-minute walking pace, even for a few miles should be achievable for most. If you find yourself falling behind, just keep moving. There are no guarantees, of course, most people who have trained and keep moving have reported a succcessful finish.
5. I just bought these shoes, but I am not sure about them. Anyone else have the same experience?
I personally wouldn’t put a ton of faith in the opinions of well-intentioned Facebook commenters on particulars of running shoes for my body. Every shoe fits every person differently. Maybe if there’s some poor manufacturing issues you might get some confirmation on social media, but beyond that, I’d urge you to talk to a qualified fit specialist at a legit running shoe store.
6. I am trying to plan my race day nutrition. Should I bring my own fuel? What kind of hydration is available.
Shorter races like 5K and 10K generally have a number of water stops, but not much else. Half marathons will have Power Ade and some sort of fuel like Gu or Sport Beans. There are more options at the full marathon, which will also offer bananas and candy at some point. The course maps which are published a few weeks before the race will detail what’s available. If your nutrition is important, I suggest you check the course maps carefully. The last time I ran the full marathon there wasn’t a banana in sight until at least mile 9 and I was STARVING by then… it was way too late. I would have been wise to carry a snack with me.
7. I’m following [XYZ] program and I missed a run. What would you do?
We all miss runs, it happens. And rarely is it a reason to panic. I do think this is an area where crowdsourcing some advice can be helpful. You’ll find many experienced runners from numerous training programs stepping up to give advice. Ask away!
8. I missed out on registration. How can I run my race?
As we’ve covered in a previous blog post registration is a stressful and fast process that leaves a lot of would-be racers disappointed or empty-handed.
One option is to raise money for a designated charity. You can find participating charities on the runDisney site under Plan Your Trip> Travel Providers & Charities.
The other option is to stalk the runDisney site to see if registration will re-open for your race. It does happen from time to time, but as with initial regisration is likely to sell out quickly. Just keep checking or follow the Twitter account @runDisRegStatus which offers updates when races re-open.
9. I am staying at Disney, but not running a race. Where are there some good running trails?
Disney has actually published a list of places to run on property. You’ll be able to find options at most resorts. Some of the most popular ones include:
Around Seven Seas Lagoon at the Magic Kingdom resorts
Around the Boarwalk at the Epcot area resorts
Around Hourglass Lake between Pop Century and Art of Animation resorts. This one is particularly fun, because if you turn on your GPS watch while running, the trail will look like the shape of Olaf from Frozen!
10. What’s the best post-race watering hole / breakfast spot?
OK, so if you’re looking for a watering hole after a 5K or 10K, you probably need some help because you’l definitely be done by 9:00 a.m. That being said, you may be able to find some champagne at the finish line. A lot of folks are looking for breakfast spots after one of these races. Might I suggest Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort? No matter where you settle, make sure you have a reservation. Anything better than a resort food court may still need a reservation, particularly if it is character dining.
As for watering holes, there are two great options. If you have a park ticket, head over to Epcot to drink “around the world” and grab some pics with your medals. If you don’t have a park ticket, grab the bus from your resort over to Disney Springs. You can bar hop to your heart’s content and take in some live music at the same time. Whatever you decide, leave the driving to the Disney pros and have a well deserved blast!
Phew! The dust has settled, hopefully all the travelers have made it home safely, so let’s recap the weekend that was Wine & Dine. As with anything, there were highs and lows, I’ll try to cover everything I saw here, but as always, drop a comment if I missed something.
—————————————
The Best
The start line: For me the best part of any race weekend is the party atmosphere at the start line. It’s a big costume ball with sneakers, and boy were there some great costumes! Carissa and Riley were there, providing the hype and fireworks blasted each wave across the start line. It was so great to be back in person.
————————————————-
The Worst
Half Marathon: The entire Half Marathon experience was pretty much the worst this weekend. It started with really high humidity and some light rain, and just went downhill from there. The new course they tried out was narrow and filled with soul-crushing highway miles towards the end. I got the worst corral placement possible. Stuck in the back, there were more walkers than runners and more bottlenecks than stretches where I could actually run at the pace I wanted. There was also a disappointing lack of etiquette on the course. Walkers spread out across the entire path making passing impossible, but in their defense, there really wasn’t any “right” for them to move to. With humidity climbing and paces slowing, it was pretty much 13.1 miles of prolonged frustration.
————————————————-
The OK-est
Afterparty: The afterparty was the busiest I can remember seeing Epcot. At least at the start of the evening, lines for everything were pretty long. Since party-goers were welcomed to the park at 5 pm and day guests didn’t leave until 9 pm, there was a lot of overlap. I heard that things opened up after 10 pm, but after 3 days of being up at 2:30 am, I didn’t make it that far. I did try a couple of delicious Festival foods – the French fry flight and the pork lettuce wraps, but I called it a night early since I needed to catch a plane in the morning. I was going to try to get on Guardians of the Galaxy, but the line stretched out to the Creations shop when they opened it, and my sore feet weren’t having it.
Virtual Queue: To try to manage crowd flow, runDisney utilized a vitrual queue for race merch shopping. To join the queue, you needed to be geographically within 45 miles of Wide World of Sports. This ended up throwing a monkey wrench in a lot of peoples’ days, especially those who live locally. It wasn’t horrible, but I heard many cases of people waiting at least 2 hours for their groups to be called.
—————————————————-
Brushes with Greatness
I was lucky enough to catch up with two of my heroes! Puppet Runner (+Remy) and Jeff Galloway, who inspired me through the last quarter-mile and got me across the finish line.
I also connected with a number of people I know from Facebook groups and Instagram. So much fun to see meet these amazing comerades.
————————————————–
Achievements Unlocked
Going in to the weekend I really had 2 goals:
Don’t get swept
Stop at some character stops to get some pics.
I’ve always been so terrified of the Balloon Ladies that I have never dared stop. I was determined this time to get some pics with characters… but I have to be completely honest, it almost sank me during the 5K! As I mentioned earlier I started in the back. There were 3 character stops in Epcot. Olaf was hanging out in Norway and the line was ridiculous so I kept moving. Remy and Emile were posted in France and I figured it was now or never. If I waited for the perfect moment I would end up empty-handed again so I got in line and waited. And waited. Then the characters went on break. And I waited. Finally they returned and the line started moving again and I got my first treasuered character pic. That’s when I realized ALL the runners had passed. I saw one person hobbling by on crutches, and after that, it looked like the staff was wrapping up. That’s when I kicked it into high gear and went straight for the finish. (Not last!)
I was still struggling with time, but I did manage to grab a few over the course of the weekend:
——————————————–
And Some Final Thoughts on Costumes
So this was the first time I went all-in on costumes. I’m not crafty or rich, so this was a bit of a stretch for me. Running with a friend, we decided to do couples costumes. They worked, although maybe not to the degree I hoped they would. The biggest issue was my selection of a full-body polyester cat costume. Unfortunately it was the longest race, the hottest race, and it was raining at the start line. Mr. Mittens made it 3 miles before I had to start removing pieces. It was a matter of survival. Oh well. I was very cute for the one pic I took in the hotel room.
And in the end, a good time was had by all. I’d love to see your costumes, too! Find me on Instagram @disneyparkrunner and show me what you’ve got!
We’re less than a week away from Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend, and I am so excited I could nearly burst. I haven’t been on property for a race weekend since the 2019 Marathon, so in the words of Lizzo, it’s about damn time!
If you’re headed to Orlando next week, there is one notable change to procedures. Due to demand issues (as in limited quantities of items getting wiped out quickly by resellers) and crowd management, Disney has opted to go with a virtual queue for merchandise shopping on day 1 of the expo (Thursday, November 3). There will be no standby line available.
This has not been a particularly popular decision, but I’m not going to debate the pros and cons and fairness of it all, just the facts.
Virtual Queue Details
The RunDisney Blog has a detailed post on the new process, but I’ll summarize:
1. You must have a smart phone with location services enabled, and the My Disney Experience app installed.
2. Virtual queue will open at 7:30 a.m., with first groups being allowed to begin shopping at 10:00 a.m.
3. You must be within 45 miles of Wide World of Sports to enter the virtual queue.
4. You will receive a push notification on your phone when your group is called, and then you will have one hour to make your way to the merchandise building at Wide World of Sports.
For Club runDisney members, you will not need to utilize the virtual queue. Platinum members can enter at 8:30 a.m. and Gold members can enter at 9:00 a.m.
So, what can I buy anyway?
If this is anything like past expos, there will be tons of runDisney merch available… everything from car magnets to shot glasses and keychains. The wild card is always the event-specific merch. Just in the nick of time, Disney has revealed a first look.
I probably have enough t- shirts and jackets to last me a while, but I will be all over that pin set for sure!
What about you? Got your eye on anything? Leave a comment and let me know.
Disney Park Runner 