Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend

[surfsupdon]

I was honestly surprised they did not at least shorten the race.

I did enjoy them, and DL showed drastic improvements from January.

One thing that has not improved are the race hosts. Carissa carried the whole show. They really need to bring Pelky and or Riley out West.

Two more things....

1. They were not prepared for how much people would need water and power aide at the half, the volunteers were overwhelmed
2. The line for the Challenge and Coast to Coast medals were egregious. To have folks run 13 miles in that weather, then have them stand in a long line in the sun? Lots of mumbling. I did not complain but felt like it should have been handled better.

While the character situation was better. They just simply did not have many. I mean for a 13 mile race they offered very few characters. I understand the logistics are different, and having a ton of characters at miles 1.5-6 jams up the course, but don't tell me Disney could not figure something out.

Yes the hosts!!! Eeeek! I wanted to like Matt but he adds nothing to the chat. So painfully scripted and one dimensional…just keep telling Dad jokes and show no emotion. And Twitch, yikes, was his sole job pre race Halloween trivia??! It just fell so flat.
Carissa needed to carry that show, her energy and enthusiasm and passion were the only thing worthwhile.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I did not run this weekend but I listened to the 321 Go Podcast with WDW runDisney Race Director today which was timely. runDisney and the various teams take their jobs very seriously and have numerous plans for when they need to pivot due to weather and what not. runDisney would not have run the race if unsafe. Regardless of whether the course was shortened or not too this still could've happened.

My heart and condolences go out to his family during this time. I know everyone will be learning from this event.

From a TikTok he posted on Saturday, he seemed to be having cardiac problems from a simple walk. Does Disney do medical deferments?

 

[Greenlawler]

Yes the hosts!!! Eeeek! I wanted to like Matt but he adds nothing to the chat. So painfully scripted and one dimensional…just keep telling Dad jokes and show no emotion. And Twitch, yikes, was his sole job pre race Halloween trivia??! It just fell so flat.
Carissa needed to carry that show, her energy and enthusiasm and passion were the only thing worthwhile.

Tetris, is his name I believe.

The trivia stuff is fun, but one of the keys to trivia is having the person asking a question to appear confident, like they know the answer.

And when I say the trivia stuff is fun, I mean it's fun in bits. Interviewing people for their stories is what he should be doing. However, I don't think they give him that freedom, because he is clearly not good enough to do it without some sort of script or supervision, thus reading trivia instead of back and forth.

As for Matt, he's likable, but dull. It also appeared like he botched a lot of cues. These may have not been his fault but when you are hosting an event it's going to look like you screwed up because he's not charismatic enough. Carissa is that charismatic, that she can get away with an error and it does not look like a mistake.She can even say she messed up and the crowd will forgive her because she is likable.

And on Carissa, she has improved light years. I used to not think she was as good but now I think she is as talented as any of them (maybe not Pelky).

I have done impromptu theater for 30 years and have MC'd many events. I am kind of harsh on the hosts, and it's just my thing. So no offense to them personally.

 

[surfsupdon]

You hit it exactly on the head @Greenlawler Your breakdown of each host was on point and exactly correct. Well done.

My ch’Ear squads favorite parts of the race are at the finish line for Carissa’s humour as people enter!

As per usual, Christmas music was queue’d up as I came down the home stretch.

 

[surfsupdon]

The Half and Challenge are still open despite opening at 10a this morning. Wonder how many spaces are left...remember back in the day they had a "percentage full" bar graph???

 

[Rteetz]

The Half and Challenge are still open despite opening at 10a this morning. Wonder how many spaces are left...remember back in the day they had a "percentage full" bar graph???

Things lasted much longer than the inaugural. I think time of year is playing a large role. I also think the heat probably deterred some.

 

[surfsupdon]

Things lasted much longer than the inaugural. I think time of year is playing a large role. I also think the heat probably deterred some.

I loved my experiences at DL Half Weekends. I don’t think the cost of event should be comparable to a WDW race.
There’s no busing, character entertainment is non existent at start/finish, and the amount of entertainment at a WDWHalf spread out over 13miles is far more than the DL entertainment on course from miles 2-6. Sure the included photo pass was terrific!
So for me it is cost vs value. And I don’t see how a DL race can be so high yet not have nearly as much as WDW for similar price.
I want to run for sure, but I have hit a tipping point.

 

[Rteetz]

I loved my experiences at DL Half Weekends. I don’t think the cost of event should be comparable to a WDW race.
There’s no busing, character entertainment is non existent at start/finish, and the amount of entertainment at a WDWHalf spread out over 13miles is far more than the DL entertainment on course from miles 2-6. Sure the included photo pass was terrific!
So for me it is cost vs value. And I don’t see how a DL race can be so high yet not have nearly as much as WDW for similar price.
I want to run for sure, but I have hit a tipping point.

Entertainment at DL is obviously tough. For the half specifically, you can't have Disney characters outside the parks like at WDW. I ran January but not September and heard from many things improved. I want to go back, just not sure when that may be.

 

[surfsupdon]

Entertainment at DL is obviously tough. For the half specifically, you can't have Disney characters outside the parks like at WDW. I ran January but not September and heard from many things improved. I want to go back, just not sure when that may be.

Oh, I completely understand and I agree. I know logistics with these races. I understand the reasoning.
What I was saying was that if WineDine Half had 13 entertainment options on course (characters, DJs, bands, HS groups) there is no way Dland includes all 13 on the in park 4-5 miles (because they cannot have these on the streets of Anaheim).

I get WHY Dland cannot have that entertainment over 13 miles....so what I am saying is that the price should be cheaper because there is far less entertainment/buses/etc required.

Right?

 

[Swissmiss]

I get WHY Dland cannot have that entertainment over 13 miles....so what I am saying is that the price should be cheaper because there is far less entertainment/buses/etc required.

Right?

From that perspective I understand your logic, but it also means they have higher costs for road closures and security, since it not completely on Disney owned property. And is the expo in a Disney owned location? (But while that should account for some of the costs, I agree with you that it would be hard to justify the same price for a lesser experience.)

 

[LAKid53]

From that perspective I understand your logic, but it also means they have higher costs for road closures and security, since it not completely on Disney owned property. And is the expo in a Disney owned location? (But while that should account for some of the costs, I agree with you that it would be hard to justify the same price for a lesser experience.)

I believe the expo is in the Disneyland Hotel.

But I agree. The costs related to road closures & LE on non-Disney property justifies the price. Plus, those "volunteers" are paid under CA labor laws.

 

[Rteetz]

I believe the expo is in the Disneyland Hotel.

But I agree. The costs related to road closures & LE on non-Disney property justifies the price. Plus, those "volunteers" are paid under CA labor laws.

WDW now pays CMs to work those races too. Neither coast uses volunteers anymore.

 

[LAKid53]

WDW now pays CMs to work those races too. Neither coast uses volunteers anymore.

I know the change in CA laws required runDisney to pay those working races at DLR. Didn't realize that rD followed suite with "volunteers" in FL.

 

[Rteetz]

I know the change in CA laws required runDisney to pay those working races at DLR. Didn't realize that rD followed suite with "volunteers" in FL.

Yeah, started fairly recently. They started struggling getting volunteers after they took the ticket perk away so they just went full fledge staff.