New Star Wars half at WDW announced

Chet Dakota

Chet Dakota

Well-Known Member
Texas84 said:
Corral D. I'll take it!
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I am in C for the Dark Side. It looks like they have a lot more corrals at WDW than what they had for the Rebel Challenge at DLR (They had Elite, A, B and C there). I was in Corral A for the Rebel Challenge. Why do they have so many more corrals at WDW than Disneyland? This is my first runDisney event at WDW.
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
Chet Dakota said:
I am in C for the Dark Side. It looks like they have a lot more corrals at WDW than what they had for the Rebel Challenge at DLR (They had Elite, A, B and C there). I was in Corral A for the Rebel Challenge. Why do they have so many more corrals at WDW than Disneyland? This is my first runDisney event at WDW.
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I heard it was to have smaller corrals with shorter start times between corrals. Maybe someone else here has more information.
 
LindsayLoves

LindsayLoves

Well-Known Member
Chet Dakota said:
I am in C for the Dark Side. It looks like they have a lot more corrals at WDW than what they had for the Rebel Challenge at DLR (They had Elite, A, B and C there). I was in Corral A for the Rebel Challenge. Why do they have so many more corrals at WDW than Disneyland? This is my first runDisney event at WDW.
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There are WAY more participants in the WDW races vs. DL races. For some perspective the Star Wars race in January had around 11000 finishers. Based on the corral assignments for this one there are going to be over 20000 participants in the half, almost double the size. If you look at the corral cut off times for Light Side vs. Dark Side for corral A in DL it was >2:05 and for A at WDW it is >1:49. More runners mean they can make the corral cutoff times tighter.
 
Chet Dakota

Chet Dakota

Well-Known Member
LindsayLoves said:
There are WAY more participants in the WDW races vs. DL races. For some perspective the Star Wars race in January had around 11000 finishers. Based on the corral assignments for this one there are going to be over 20000 participants in the half, almost double the size. If you look at the corral cut off times for Light Side vs. Dark Side for corral A in DL it was >2:05 and for A at WDW it is >1:49. More runners mean they can make the corral cutoff times tighter.
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Understand the math of the corral cutoff times. I was not aware that the WDW race will have nearly double the runners. I was thinking the reason was related more to spacing and width of the course to spread the crowds out more and limit the bottlenecking.

I am curious to see how the WDW version of this run goes. My Rebel Challenge weekend was my first runDisney event and I was very impressed with how DLR managed the races and courses. By far, the most fun course at DLR was the 10k. Running through a majority of both DL and CA was great. There were lots of "plussing" to the courses with the theming that I thought really made a difference (music, lighting and sound effects).

Initial perception of the course routes at WDW does not impress me. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.
 
LindsayLoves

LindsayLoves

Well-Known Member
@Chet Dakota - It will be different. definitely more crowded. I really enjoyed the Disneyland Half last year because it never felt crowded, I started in corral A towards the middle and it was definitely a lot more open than any race I've experienced at WDW. I am hoping for some awesome theming along the way, especially during the miles along the rather dull Osceola Parkway. With a 5am start time I anticipate that I will be running most of this race in the dark.

The major bottleneck point will be the walkway between Epcot and the Studios. It is about as wide as a normal neighborhood sidewalk, so only 3-4 people can comfortably fit abreast. This is a notorious bottleneck area for Wine and Dine and the full marathon (the only two races that use that path) and in those races this area comes at the end of the race, miles 11 and 24 respectively. We shall see how this area pans out so early in the race. Maybe there will be more time between
 
FigmentPigments

FigmentPigments

Well-Known Member
I've raced on both coasts before, and there should be theming along the entire way in Florida. DL events tend to no have characters once outside of Disneyland. They are much more reliant on local entertainment and volunteers (which they do an excellent job, by the way). The one good thing about the WDW races is they "own" the roads we'll be running on. Since the streets are only used by WDW guests and cast members, it's easier to block off the streets and have characters along the way. I also notice that there are characters at the end where you can take pictures with your medals. I don't know if this will hold true with Star Wars characters, but here's hoping.
 
Chet Dakota

Chet Dakota

Well-Known Member
LindsayLoves said:
The major bottleneck point will be the walkway between Epcot and the Studios. It is about as wide as a normal neighborhood sidewalk, so only 3-4 people can comfortably fit abreast.
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Interesting. I don't really remember any real crowding at either of the 2016 Rebel Challenge races. Don't get me wrong, there were what I thought was a lot of people, but once you got past the first 1/4 mile from the start, I thought it was good. The 5k was somewhat of a mess, but I started in Corral C with the wife and kid, so we were running past people like crazy.

The one observation that I did not expect was the number of walkers, especially in the Half. I was running right at a 9:20 pace, and when we came back up Harbor to Katella, there was this mass of humanity walking south. I was at Mile 11-12 and they were at maybe 5.
 
George

George

Liker of Things
Premium Member
Chet Dakota said:
Interesting. I don't really remember any real crowding at either of the 2016 Rebel Challenge races. Don't get me wrong, there were what I thought was a lot of people, but once you got past the first 1/4 mile from the start, I thought it was good. The 5k was somewhat of a mess, but I started in Corral C with the wife and kid, so we were running past people like crazy.

The one observation that I did not expect was the number of walkers, especially in the Half. I was running right at a 9:20 pace, and when we came back up Harbor to Katella, there was this mass of humanity walking south. I was at Mile 11-12 and they were at maybe 5.
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I'm a bit slower during a long race (think 10:30/mile) and every time I've run a half (at WDW or elsewhere) or the ToT Ten Miler there always seems to be a point 3/4 of the way into the race where I see walkers 3/8 of the way into the race being trailed by the 16 minute mile van. Usually at this point the fast runners have been done for a while. Because of my pace, I find that I'm oftentimes alone on the course even in a race where there are thousands or tens of thousands of people. Fast people are way ahead of me, the walker/joggers are way behind me. Random tip: I showed up at a local half 18 minutes late because I just had the start time wrong (I really thought it was 8, however, it was 7:30). I had a friend working the start of the race. After an annoyed cop saw my number and let me through the blockade and I was able to park I ran to the start/finish line (0.6 miles of free running!). I saw my friend and said, "Can I start?" She simply replied, "You'd better". Anyway, I eventually caught up to the walker/joggers and weaved my way in and out of them for several miles. Thus, I a) got some free running, b) got a huge ego boost by feeling like I was Mercury himself weaving in and out of folk for a while, and c) didn't have to worry that I was lining up in the correct starting corral. :lookaroun
 
Mad Stitch

Mad Stitch

Well-Known Member
Heads up runners. Extra Magic Hours have changed for race weekend. The Extra Magic Hour at the MK on Friday, April 15 has been canceled. On that same date, an Extra Magic Hour has been added at Epcot in the morning.

I don't know how to feel about this. It sucks that they do this after fast passes and dining reservations have already been booked, but at the same time if it pulls people away from the park that I want to go to, all the better.
 
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Witchy Chick

Witchy Chick

Well-Known Member
Wow. I'm wondering about logistics of clearing the 5K runners/staging with Epcot opening at 8am.

Any ideas on how staggered the corrals will start? Every 5-10 minutes?
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
Witchy Chick said:
Wow. I'm wondering about logistics of clearing the 5K runners/staging with Epcot opening at 8am.

Any ideas on how staggered the corrals will start? Every 5-10 minutes?
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5K should be clear by then. But they have plenty of experience with runs through Epcot during guest hours. Just like a parade. :)

There will probably be 6 corrals like Marathon Weekend. The time between 5K and 10K corrals was something like 6-8 minutes I believe.
 
Witchy Chick

Witchy Chick

Well-Known Member
Thanks. We have 8am ressies at Hollywood and Vine. So I'm trying to figure out timing/logistics of finishing 5k and high tailing it to DHS. LOL
 

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