2015 Dopey Report

[Texas84]

My 2015 Dopey report:

Wednesday

Drove down and made it to the expo about 1600. There was a special separate check-in for the Goofys and Dopeys. Kind of felt like a VIP. Packet and shirts in the same place. Then had to do shirt swap because I've lost weight. Next, over to pre-ordered commemorative item pickup to get pins. I was asked for a card but I didn't have one. The volunteer frowned, checked my bib, and gave me my pins. Seems like a lot of people weren't getting cards.

Scored some New Balance size 10 Goofys and a runDisney MagicBand. Got a few comments on the MB over the weekend. NB had a screen up with sold out sizes. There was no NB line at that time. I wanted the 48.6 mouse ears car magnet but they only had the square Dopey and the small 48.6 ears.

Check-in at All-Star Sports. Thank goodness for online check-in because regular line had about 30 Brazilians. CMs were very frustrated. Two of them were in online check-in and got booted. Couldn't speak any English. CM was happy to see me. Also saw a bus load of Japanese runners.

Thursday

Got up at 0345 for the 5K. Shorts under tights and 4 shirts. Wind chill in the 30's. Bus line all the way through the lobby but moved fast. Bus was heated. 3-4 buses in line to pick us up. Long walk to staging from bus. Runners grouping together to try and block the wind. Survival instinct? 12,000 sign-ups announced and MCs joked 1400 expected.

Ran into Epcot under Test Track outdoor section with rotating warning lights on. Cool effect. Cold was not an issue during the run. Wanted to run faster but couldn't due to crowds. Finished in slow 32, brief water stop at 1.5 miles. Saw Japanese Chip & Dale.

There was no Dopey check. Just walked through a tent marked Dopey. Everyone was expecting a wrist band and there was mass confusion. Back into the cold to wait on a bus. Line to the All-Stars was long but seemed to move fast. AK resort guests must have been waiting long because they booed when a bus passed them and cheered loudly when a bus finally pulled up.

Shower, breakfast at food court, bus to meet the family at AK. Internet at Sports is horrible. Must be everyone facebooking and tweeting their results. Seemed very crowded but wait times were reasonable. 20 safari, 20 EE (no bird on stick), 30 Dino (went to 120 for some reason then dropped back), 20 on Primeval Whirl. Lunch at Restaurantosaurus. Tried to be good and have the chicken sandwich. Chicken was good but it had some strange sauce on it that bothered my stomach. Dinner at food court then bed at 2000.

 

[Texas84]

Friday

0300 wake-up for the 10K. Cold again but not as cold and less wind. 12,000 announced again and there must have been double the people. Looks like there were a bunch of no-shows for the 5K. Thought there were an unusual number of Dopeys for the 5K. One MC was wearing a white track suit and the DJ played Elvis music behind him while the other ones made fun of him.

The start on the road allowed people to spread out more than the 5K. Ran under an overpass with a really well done Frozen set up. A set on the overpass for the girls waving to the runners with a snowflake effect and fake(?) snow that got everyone excited. Figured it was soap flakes. Not sure. Dressed same as the 5K and overheated a bit. Ran at my goal marathon pace. Took 2 miles to warm up and cruised in. Only took water breaks. Chicken sandwich still bothering me.

Today the bus line was shorter and got right on. Still no wrist band causing more mass confusion. They told us in the Dopey check tent they would verify by pictures taken at the expo. So basically, they did not verify anyone doing Dopey did the 5K or 10K.

Ate the post-race snack box (really good stuff this year), showered and off to MK to meet the family. Got there at 1015. 7DMT was listed 80 minutes but guests bailed when the rain started and it only took us 45 minutes. Everything else we did was walk-on but lunch at Columbia House (?) was chaos. People were camped out there to get out of the rain and cold without food. We had to wait for a table and there was a big empty area reserved for wheelchairs. Left at 1400 to get off my feet and rest. Dinner at the food court, hot bath, in bed at 1900.

 

[Texas84]

Saturday

0300 wake-up for the half. Still freaking cold (40s is cold to me). Went with shorts and three shirts for the longer distance. I heard there were 26,000 for the half and it looked like it. The bus line at Sports was ridiculous but it moved fast. Got to corral K right when the wheelchairs started.

Too crowded to get the speed I wanted and settled for a 2:33. Turned out to be good full practice though. Uneventful run. Finished strong. Felt really good when the sun came up but got cold again when the body temp dropped after finishing. Still no Dopey check. Are they going to check cameras? Got on the bus (no wait). Finished the snack box and took a long soak in the tub. Got some lunch at the food court around 1130. Chicken burger was pretty good. Everyone at Sports was bundled up and I was out in my running shirt and flip-flops. Am I getting used to the cold? Food court CM called me crazy and I said, no, Dopey. Yes, lots of bad Goofy & Dopey jokes over the weekend. I was really tired for some reason and went to bed at 1500. Then woke up to eat around 1830 then back to bed.

 

[Texas84]

Sunday

0300 wake-up for the marathon! 26,000 marathon, 7500 Dopey announced. Didn't hear how many Goofys.

Perfect day for running. Got a little rain at the end which actually felt good. WWoS was not that bad mentally for me this year. Made it to mile 23 with NO wall and realized I had a chance to beat five hours. Passed the 5-hour pacer in Epcot and did a 4:58. Totally focused on running and ignored most everything else. Hal Higdon had me ready. Did both banana breaks even though I don't like them. Sure is good during a marathon though. My family got to watch me finish. Heard my brother-in-law yelling at me. My overall marathon pace was a bit faster than my half pace. Got a Dopey picture with all the bling and got right on a bus. No wait. Disney gets an A+ from me on bus logistics.

At the start saw a young lady from Australia in my corral looking wide-eyed and excited. Just looking around and taking it all in. I got home, soaked in the tub, showered, and went to lunch at the Sports food court. I was seated at a window and saw Australia girl limp by grimacing but she had that marathon medal. So she probably finished an hour after I did. But she finished. Good for her! Wanted to run out and give her a hug but thought that might be creepy.

Watched the NFL playoffs in my room, got some dinner, went to sleep. Just wanted to relax. Family went to Epcot and said Soarin’ and Test Track were only 30-40 minute waits.

I'll have to be honest, the Frozen characters in these races cheered me up. And I'm not giving up my man card. I have a lot more tolerance for "Let it go" now.

 

[Texas84]

Monday

Drove to OKW to hang out with the rest of the family. Weather was looking bad so we went Downtown for lunch and shopping. More Dopey/Goofy jokes at Downtown, everyone congratulating each other. Felt good. The storms busted loose when we got back. Went back to Sports after the storms eased up and couldn’t get out of OKW because of traffic. Guessed there was an accident. Had to go the long way around Downtown and the main road was flooded. They were routing traffic through the new parking garage. Couldn’t stay up and watch the college national championship game.

Tuesday

Got up at 0600 for my last Sports breakfast (love the food court), picked up the folks at OKW and drove back home to Georgia. Right heel was in bad shape after sitting but it would loosen up after some walking.

Off to Star Wars Thursday!

 

[Kristia]

Congrats on your amazing marathon time! Great reading your report. I don't think I will ever do Dopey....maybe Goofy again. Good luck at Star Wars!

 

[FerretAfros]

Congrats!

It sounds like we were in line for 7DMT at the same time. We were in the covered portion of the queue when the rain really started coming down, but it let up by the time we got on the ride itself

I was also confused by the lack of any apparent Dopey procedure. One volunteer told my friend that there were chip scanners in the tables that we walked between, which verified that we completed the races. If that was the case, why not just use the timing mat at the finish line? I looked around and didn't see any cameras mounted in the tent to record who went through, so there was no verification. Other than ensuring that the same person picked up the bib and ran the marathon, there was nothing done to ensure that they had actually done all 4 races. I much prefer the wristbands, since they were reasonably accurate and fool-proof, and came with bragging rights in the parks!

And I was shocked that they weren't handing out foil blankets after the races. Yes, the last few years have been warm, but when the temperature is in the 30's, they really need to have them ready. The race is in January, and they have had a history of cold years; they've even handed them out when it's not-so-cold just to be safe and prevent folks from going into shock. The medical volunteers were trying their best to be helpful, but they simply weren't given the supplies that they needed. I fully blame Disney for this, and with the price they charge for their races there is no excuse

 

[dreamfinder]

Congrats @Texas84 appreciate the report. Need to live vicariously through you guys this year.

And I was shocked that they weren't handing out foil blankets after the races. Yes, the last few years have been warm, but when the temperature is in the 30's, they really need to have them ready. The race is in January, and they have had a history of cold years; they've even handed them out when it's not-so-cold just to be safe and prevent folks from going into shock. The medical volunteers were trying their best to be helpful, but they simply weren't given the supplies that they needed. I fully blame Disney for this, and with the price they charge for their races there is no excuse

What? No mylar wraps? I've gotten them even when it was warm out. Admittedly last year I think mine came from first aid when I was in there covered in blankets (couldn't feel my hand and they were concerned about my core temp but thats a different story) but thats a shame. runDisney should keep 50k or so on hand just in case the forecast is cold, even if they are either plain or just runDisney. I do miss the old event specific ones.

 

[JillC LI]

Friday
0300 wake-up for the 10K.

Earliest I've ever awakened for a race is 4:45am. I have sleep issues - don't think I could do 3am for several days in a row!

Saturday
Food court CM called me crazy and I said, no, Dopey.

Love the jokes.

Sunday
.
.
Passed the 5-hour pacer in Epcot and did a 4:58.
.
.
At the start saw a young lady from Australia in my corral looking wide-eyed and excited. Just looking around and taking it all in. I got home, soaked in the tub, showered, and went to lunch at the Sports food court. I was seated at a window and saw Australia girl limp by grimacing but she had that marathon medal. So she probably finished an hour after I did. But she finished. Good for her! Wanted to run out and give her a hug but thought that might be creepy.
.
.
I'll have to be honest, the Frozen characters in these races cheered me up. And I'm not giving up my man card. I have a lot more tolerance for "Let it go" now.

Great finish time! Cool side note about the girl from Australia. The Frozen set-up sounds really neat.

Good luck at Star Wars!

 

[LindsayLoves]

Thanks for sharing your report. Fun to read another perspective of the same races. Congrats on breaking five hours in the full!

Hope you have a great time this weekend, can't wait for report #2.

 

[dreamfinder]

And I was shocked that they weren't handing out foil blankets after the races. Yes, the last few years have been warm, but when the temperature is in the 30's, they really need to have them ready. The race is in January, and they have had a history of cold years; they've even handed them out when it's not-so-cold just to be safe and prevent folks from going into shock. The medical volunteers were trying their best to be helpful, but they simply weren't given the supplies that they needed. I fully blame Disney for this, and with the price they charge for their races there is no excuse

And I just saw elsewhere that apparently this is now runDisney policy? No mylar unless you buy a massage, or if you are "lucky" for free if you need medical assistance. I really hope that's not the case as that is just stupid.

 

[MiamiMatt01]

I saw a few people in the finish area with Mylar blankets and asked where they received them, one told me, "the loser bus." Seems to be in line with only being available for people needing assistance.

 

[FerretAfros]

And I just saw elsewhere that apparently this is now runDisney policy? No mylar unless you buy a massage, or if you are "lucky" for free if you need medical assistance. I really hope that's not the case as that is just stupid.

I sure hope that's not the policy now. If it is, I will seriously rethink my "Sure, I'll pay that much to run at Disney" policy. It's just not safe with the temperatures we had this weekend

For previous Tink races, they've handed them out like candy, so it will be interesting to see if they do the same for Star Wars this weekend. Typically WDW handles races much better than DLR, but since their temperatures are predictably chilly this time of year, DLR may come out ahead

I saw a few people in the finish area with Mylar blankets and asked where they received them, one told me, "the loser bus." Seems to be in line with only being available for people needing assistance.

I went to several post-race medical stations and they said that they didn't have any. One of my buddies was able to get a volunteer to give him one that was wrapped around the ice to keep it cold; he said that the volunteer got yelled at when she handed it to him. If this really is a policy moving forward, they have a serious problem with what they think is reasonable for any race, but especially one that costs nearly $200

 

[wdwmagic]

Congrats! Thanks for posting - enjoyed reading.

 

[Texas84]

I saw a few people in the finish area with Mylar blankets and asked where they received them, one told me, "the loser bus." Seems to be in line with only being available for people needing assistance.

Interesting. I wondered if they had brought them from a previous race.

Oh, and, they also got their bling.

 

[dreamfinder]

Oh, and, they also got their bling.

: ( That almost pains me more than hearing it may be bring your own mylar. Let's enforce new check in policies, not allow for last minute corral swaps, but still give out medals to swept runners. Sigh

 

[bethram]

Congratulations!!!!