Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
@Texas84, have you found a DVC room yet? You know, you can do a DVC cash rental and many times, beat any current cash room discount. I had to do that for my visit Thursday for the Pandora preview - got a savannah view studio at Jambo cheaper than most deluxes with the current Spring discount for APs.

Speaking of Pandora, I want to give a shout out and thanks to @wdwmagic for the excellent videos of both the land walk through and Na'vi River Journey y'all uploaded to YouTube. My apologies for going off topic...
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Just had a look at this write-up from last year, is the expo always like this?! We were planning on taking Jnr with us to the bib pick-up (hoped for a quick pick up and brief look at merchandise) but might think twice....?!

https://www.mouseplanet.com/11617/Recapping_2016_Wine__Dine_Half_Marathon_Weekend

Depends on when you are going to the expo. Typically the first day of the expo will be a madhouse. I've been at a few expos where the line to get into the Jostens center where they have most of the shirt pickups, most of the merch and alot of the vendors has a line that pretty much wraps around a soccer field waiting to get in. (But you can walk right into bib pickup, but may need to go to the Jostens for the shirts) And a good chance of merchandise being pretty picked over a few hours after it opens. If you go later on, especially on a Saturday, it should be pretty empty.
 

Texas84

Well-Known Member
@Texas84, have you found a DVC room yet? You know, you can do a DVC cash rental and many times, beat any current cash room discount. I had to do that for my visit Thursday for the Pandora preview - got a savannah view studio at Jambo cheaper than most deluxes with the current Spring discount for APs.

Speaking of Pandora, I want to give a shout out and thanks to @wdwmagic for the excellent videos of both the land walk through and Na'vi River Journey y'all uploaded to YouTube. My apologies for going off topic...

I'm on the wait list for OKW and SSR. Also have an offsite timeshare booked if the waitlist doesn't come through. Looked at the rental prices and would rather save the $ and stay offsite.
 

Figment82

Well-Known Member
If you're not really concerned about the merchandise, I'd recommend going much later in the day or waiting until the following day. I'll pop over on my way home from work, and it takes longer to walk from the parking lot and navigate the elaborate maze they have set up than it takes to actually get my bib and shirt. The merchandise area is usually pretty quiet at that point, but you won't get the full availability that you would at opening. You'll probably keep your sanity though!
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
I think it also depends on the race and whether it's an inaugural or anniversary year. We showed up on Friday morning for last year's SW Dark Side. Hardly anything left - magnets, shirts, mugs - since it was the inaugural year.

This year's Princess Half, while crowded, was nothing like the Dark Side 2 months later. However, since the 2018 Princess is the 10th anniversary of the Half and 5th anniversary of the Challenge, I would expect a zoo at the official race merchandise area - which is why I pre-ordered all the commemorative/pins/runner's bundle merchandise when I registered. I would anticipate the same demand for the 25th Marathon next January.

Within a week or two after the race weekend, the Shop Disney Parks app has all the official race merchandise - shirts, magnets, cups, mugs, etc. I picked up a few things from there that I didn't see at the expo.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
I did not know that!

The official race merchandise for SW Dark Side is still available on the app. I keep checking daily because I hope the race banner that you can have your name and time added and attach your bib to will go on sale. They offered one for the Princess Half.
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
I did not know that!

Definitely only seems to be a subset of the merch that is usually available. Not sure if they have just expanded the offerings (had been offering the "I Did It" shirts for a while) or if they are finally offering most of the merchandise online now.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Just about everything at the expo was available - the I Did It shirts, other race shirts/tanks, the large Tervis mug, coffee cup, travel coffee cup, glass, magnets, the race specific jackets, medal pins. The only items not shown were the pre-purchased merchandise - pins, jacket, ornament and and small Tervis mug.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
WineDine has reopened y'all. If that's your thing :)

And? Are you running or sitting this one out?

Edit: Wasn't the Half sold out? Everything is open now. Are charities returning bibs due to lack of interest? Are the prices making many runners reconsider? The problems with 2017 Tink races and the postponement of registration for 2018 Light Side and Tink making runners reconsider? If registrations start to drop off, will runDisney rethink their prices? Nah.... Is this too many questions?
 
Last edited:

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
And? Are you running or sitting this one out??

I am not running. As a perfect WineDiner I will be sitting this one out without regret. I gave the morning runs a try last year, but there was nothing special about this event- it felt like any other rD weekend. Everything that made it unique was ripped away, from the start time, to the course, to the afterparty vibe.

I am sure down the road I will return, but not this year.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
I am not running. As a perfect WineDiner I will be sitting this one out without regret. I gave the morning runs a try last year, but there was nothing special about this event- it felt like any other rD weekend. Everything that made it unique was ripped away, from the start time, to the course, to the afterparty vibe.

I am sure down the road I will return, but not this year.

Wouldn't it be nice if the rumor of a nighttime race meant changing the Half back to a night race? That's what got me interested in running W&D in the first place....
 

surfsupdon

Well-Known Member
Wouldn't it be nice if the rumor of a nighttime race meant changing the Half back to a night race? That's what got me interested in running W&D in the first place....
It'd be brilliant, yes! The best races all were at night and had an afterparty component. Tower 13K, Tower 10Miler, Everest, WineDine.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
It'd be brilliant, yes! The best races all were at night and had an afterparty component. Tower 13K, Tower 10Miler, Everest, WineDine.

If I thought runDisney execs would listen to runners, I'd suggest a campaign to get them to move the Half back to nighttime.

As much as it would be cool to run in the foreign parks, they really need to get their act together for races at WDW and DLR, especially DLR. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about the volunteers - they do an amazing job.
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
WineDine has reopened y'all. If that's your thing :)

Did it close again? I tracked it as having re-opened 6/29.

Edit: Wasn't the Half sold out? Everything is open now. Are charities returning bibs due to lack of interest? Are the prices making many runners reconsider? The problems with 2017 Tink races and the postponement of registration for 2018 Light Side and Tink making runners reconsider? If registrations start to drop off, will runDisney rethink their prices? Nah.... Is this too many questions?

The half and 10k had both sold out for 4 months, both re-opened on 6/29. If they closed/re-opened again since then I missed it. I haven't' seen the 5k reopen since that closed the first time.

I think some of the charities and travel agents are indeed returning bibs. But there would need to be alot of returns for a) events to re-open as often as they have and b) for them to remain re-opened as long as they have. In other instances (W&D being one of them) I think they are pulling some slow selling challenge bibs and splitting them into their respective events. Both the 1/2 and 10k re-opened for registration on the same day in this case, so it would seem to be what they did. They have done it publicly before, so there is precedence for them to do it.

I think registrations have dropped almost across the board, with the exception being the Princess. Just glancing at my tracker, in 2017 so far
  • Marathon Weekend reg closed with 1/2, Full and both challenges available and the full NEVER sold out
  • Light Side reg closed with 1/2 and 10k open, 1/2 NEVER sold out
  • Princess all sold
  • Dark Side offered "late registration" for 1/2, 1/2 NEVER sold out
  • Tinkerbell offered "late registration" for challenge, 1/2 and 10k, 1/2 and challenge NEVER sold out
It's not just runDisney though, running events across the board seem to be down. Many of the obstacle course events have folded, and others don't have nearly the demand they once did. A few years back there was a new gimmick race every month, from Zombie runs to Glow runs and the like, and I don't hear about them at all now.
 

LAKid53

Official Member of the Girly Girl Fan Club
Premium Member
Did it close again? I tracked it as having re-opened 6/29.



The half and 10k had both sold out for 4 months, both re-opened on 6/29. If they closed/re-opened again since then I missed it. I haven't' seen the 5k reopen since that closed the first time.

I think some of the charities and travel agents are indeed returning bibs. But there would need to be alot of returns for a) events to re-open as often as they have and b) for them to remain re-opened as long as they have. In other instances (W&D being one of them) I think they are pulling some slow selling challenge bibs and splitting them into their respective events. Both the 1/2 and 10k re-opened for registration on the same day in this case, so it would seem to be what they did. They have done it publicly before, so there is precedence for them to do it.

I think registrations have dropped almost across the board, with the exception being the Princess. Just glancing at my tracker, in 2017 so far
  • Marathon Weekend reg closed with 1/2, Full and both challenges available and the full NEVER sold out
  • Light Side reg closed with 1/2 and 10k open, 1/2 NEVER sold out
  • Princess all sold
  • Dark Side offered "late registration" for 1/2, 1/2 NEVER sold out
  • Tinkerbell offered "late registration" for challenge, 1/2 and 10k, 1/2 and challenge NEVER sold out
It's not just runDisney though, running events across the board seem to be down. Many of the obstacle course events have folded, and others don't have nearly the demand they once did. A few years back there was a new gimmick race every month, from Zombie runs to Glow runs and the like, and I don't hear about them at all now.

I'm not surprised the gimmick races aren't as popular now - they were probably, "cool, let's run and get sprayed with Day Glow paint" and once run, you're done...no repeats.

I was surprised the DS half was open at race time. If my daughter hadn't had to work that Saturday, she and my son in law would have driven down, because he wanted to run in it.

I do, though, wonder if runDisney's prices aren't starting to affect registrations. And is it wise to offer another race in another foreign park, when you've got issues back in the states?
 

Mark P.

Well-Known Member
As much as it would be cool to run in the foreign parks, they really need to get their act together for races at WDW and DLR, especially DLR. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about the volunteers - they do an amazing job.
In all likelihood, this year will be our last runDisney year unless there's significant improvement. For what it's going to cost me to complete the Coast to Coast challenge, I could participate in, oh, I don't know, a dozen or so races. Yes, Disney's special, and last year's 10K was unforgettable because it was the first that my wife and I ran together, but Disney will always be special to us race or no race: we'll still be vacationing there, but I'm done paying exorbitant fees for "just another" race with only a handful of characters (better to save that money for exorbitant room rates and AP renewals, instead!).
 

Texas84

Well-Known Member
Off topic, but I ran the numbers and runDisney participation is actually up. Looks like the new 10Ks are popular and may be taking away from the half marathons. Been meaning to make a post on this but just too lazy. Will try to get that posted one day.
 

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