Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

[imagination30]

@Ariel484 - yes it does hope you get the monorail again.. it sure makes a difference.. , thank you for your input in that for my marathon weekend trip!

 

[Marcy0912]

Hi all. New to this forum. I am turning 50 this year and cannot think of a better way to celebrate than running Dopey in January. The WDW half was my first ever in 2007. Boy did I know absolutely nothing about distance running.

Now, 7 years older and much wiser I am so excited. Already downloaded the Higdon plan. Hubby is going to run Goofy. Unfortunately he always has to be at a trade show in Vegas on marathon weekend so he could not get to Orlando until Friday. He is just starting and we are going to do this together. Going to do the Higdon Novice 1 12 week half plan and then start on the Dopey plan. That will be a gradual build for him and I can just have fun running with him. My mom is going to come and run the 5k and 10k with me.

So, a 30 week plan what starts June 16th. How nervous should I be that the races will sell out if I plan on being on to register at noon (11am for me) on April 22nd. I am a former triathlete and know those races can sell out in minutes!

 

[imagination30]

Hi all. New to this forum. I am turning 50 this year and cannot think of a better way to celebrate than running Dopey in January. The WDW half was my first ever in 2007. Boy did I know absolutely nothing about distance running.

Now, 7 years older and much wiser I am so excited. Already downloaded the Higdon plan. Hubby is going to run Goofy. Unfortunately he always has to be at a trade show in Vegas on marathon weekend so he could not get to Orlando until Friday. He is just starting and we are going to do this together. Going to do the Higdon Novice 1 12 week half plan and then start on the Dopey plan. That will be a gradual build for him and I can just have fun running with him. My mom is going to come and run the 5k and 10k with me.

So, a 30 week plan what starts June 16th. How nervous should I be that the races will sell out if I plan on being on to register at noon (11am for me) on April 22nd. I am a former triathlete and know those races can sell out in minutes!

see that dopey sold out the quickest for this years Marathon weekend , I would be sitting on the computer . and ready to go when the time comes bc depending on the crowd , traffic this year , the site might crash again.. like it did this past year and it took me a hour to get registerd!.. so good luck!! .. and if you get in have a magical time!

 

[Kristia]

Hi all. New to this forum. I am turning 50 this year and cannot think of a better way to celebrate than running Dopey in January. The WDW half was my first ever in 2007. Boy did I know absolutely nothing about distance running.

Now, 7 years older and much wiser I am so excited. Already downloaded the Higdon plan. Hubby is going to run Goofy. Unfortunately he always has to be at a trade show in Vegas on marathon weekend so he could not get to Orlando until Friday. He is just starting and we are going to do this together. Going to do the Higdon Novice 1 12 week half plan and then start on the Dopey plan. That will be a gradual build for him and I can just have fun running with him. My mom is going to come and run the 5k and 10k with me.

So, a 30 week plan what starts June 16th. How nervous should I be that the races will sell out if I plan on being on to register at noon (11am for me) on April 22nd. I am a former triathlete and know those races can sell out in minutes!

Welcome to the forum! If you plan on registering the day it opens, you SHOULD be ok. I expect that the Dopey sold out quickly this year because it was the inaugural year. You can never tell though how long it will take to sell out. Good luck to you and your husband on your training!

 

[Sumrdog]

Hi all. New to this forum. I am turning 50 this year and cannot think of a better way to celebrate than running Dopey in January. The WDW half was my first ever in 2007. Boy did I know absolutely nothing about distance running.

Now, 7 years older and much wiser I am so excited. Already downloaded the Higdon plan. Hubby is going to run Goofy. Unfortunately he always has to be at a trade show in Vegas on marathon weekend so he could not get to Orlando until Friday. He is just starting and we are going to do this together. Going to do the Higdon Novice 1 12 week half plan and then start on the Dopey plan. That will be a gradual build for him and I can just have fun running with him. My mom is going to come and run the 5k and 10k with me.

So, a 30 week plan what starts June 16th. How nervous should I be that the races will sell out if I plan on being on to register at noon (11am for me) on April 22nd. I am a former triathlete and know those races can sell out in minutes!

Awesome! That's a great way to celebrate your birthday!
I just successfully registered for the Disneyland Dumbo which sold out in 40 minutes. I had my browser on the Active page and ready, just to the first page when it opened and I had no trouble. I would just do that and you should be in. Good luck!!

 

[Ariel484]

@Marcy0912 - Welcome! I'm with everyone else, if you know what you want to sign up for, be ready to go as soon as registration opens.

I'll be curious to see how quickly things sell out this year. My guess is the 10K will fill up first - seems to be a really popular distance for runDisney race weekends. I think Goofy will fill up quickly this year because it's an anniversary year. Dopey will probably sell out quickly and I remember the 5K did as well last year, so that might happen again unless they tinker with the number of Dopey spots. Hmm...

 

[-em]

the 10ks sell fast mainly as there is so few spots available since its usually a 'qualifier' race so over 50 to 70% of the spots are reserved for whatever challenge is offered..

I'm only running Donald next year (vs Minnie n Donald this year)

-em

 

[FerretAfros]

the 10ks sell fast mainly as there is so few spots available since its usually a 'qualifier' race so over 50 to 70% of the spots are reserved for whatever challenge is offered..

I'm only running Donald next year (vs Minnie n Donald this year)

-em

I agree that this is a huge factor in the quick sell outs of the 10Ks. The Tink 10K wasn't a part of a challenge and still had spots available until after DL1/2 weekend, even though registration opened in early July. The Tink Half sold out in about a day (or less?), so it's not like that weekend isn't popular with runners

 

[lukacseven]

Does anyone know how many entries there were for Dopey?

Did they increase the number of Goofy entries? The first 4 years they capped Goofy at 3k and then expanded it for the 5th Anniversary to 7,500. I thought they increased again to 10k for 2013, so I'm wondering if they will increase the cap again for 2015, as it will be the 10th.

 

[LindsayLoves]

Does anyone know how many entries there were for Dopey?

I believe it was 7,000 for Dopey. I am hoping to get one of the Goofy spots for 2015

 

[FerretAfros]

From my understanding Goofy and Dopey were each around 7,000-7,500. Of course this had the biggest impact for the 5K and 10K (10,000 total runners each), but even in the longer races (25,000 runners each) the majority of runners were doing a multi-race event

Goofy took a long time to sell out this year and Dopey went quickly, but with Goofy's 10th anniversary and Dopey not being inaugural, I could see that trend switching

 

[dreamfinder]

From my understanding Goofy and Dopey were each around 7,000-7,500. Of course this had the biggest impact for the 5K and 10K (10,000 total runners each), but even in the longer races (25,000 runners each) the majority of runners were doing a multi-race event

Goofy took a long time to sell out this year and Dopey went quickly, but with Goofy's 10th anniversary and Dopey not being inaugural, I could see that trend switching

Yeah, approx 2/3rds of the runners at the half and full were doing a challenge event, and Dopey was the main reason why the 5k sold out as fast as it did.

I don't think they can increase the cap any more. Short of finding some way to keep the course open later, that 23-25k is pretty much the limit you can put through the full marathon course in the time allotted.

 

[FerretAfros]

But realistically, is there anything stopping them from keeping the course open later? Until last year, the Magic Kingdom was ~9 miles in and Animal Kingdom was ~17mi, and they still managed to get day guests into the park just fine (though I heard reports of some minor course detours toward the end of the pack in MK). With the 'new' (2012) and unimproved course, I would think these are even less of an issue

I would guess that the big pinch point is ~22mi on World Drive, where traffic is condensed into one lane, which is the same with the new and old courses. That area is open to runners until roughly 12:30 (22mi x 16m/m = 5h52m + ~6:30 start time for last corral), so the vast majority of non-running guests are already in the parks by the time they reopen that point

Disney owns the roads and all of the big 'destinations' that the roads serve; if they wanted to keep the course open longer, there's really nothing stopping them. With how much Disney likes making money, I'm surprised they don't try some other tricks to allow a bigger running field. The new corral system seems to work pretty okay, so I wonder what they'll try next

 

[lukacseven]

I wonder if they'd consider moving the start up to 5:00 am? Years back it was a 6:00 or 6:30 start. How many thousand people can you move across the start line in 30 minutes?

 

[dreamfinder]

I'd really doubt they would push the start up earlier to add runners, or let it go later for the same affect. Most runners already wince at a 3AM wake up, that would need to be moved to 2ish. And conversely, pushing back the close of the course means more runners would be running in the heat/sun. Neither is really an ideal situation. The expo already gets slammed now imagine if they tried to cram another 3000 people in there, there are still pinch points early on in the course, like the ramp onto World Drive at like mile 2, adding more runners just makes that worse. We may need to accept that the max runners for a runDisney 1/2 or full course at WDW is about 25,000.

 

[Ariel484]

New info posted for 2015...ouch.
(Last year's prices in parentheses...)

Dopey Challenge

• $530 by June 24, 2014 ($495)
• $560 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($525)
• $590 on or after August 20, 2014 ($555)

Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge

• $360 by June 24, 2014 ($340)
• $380 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($370)
• $400 on or after August 20, 2014 ($400)

Walt Disney World® Marathon

• $170 by June 24, 2014 ($160)
• $185 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($175)
• $200 on or after August 20, 2014 ($190)

Walt Disney World® Half Marathon

• $170 by June 24, 2014 ($160)
• $185 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($175)
• $200 on or after August 20, 2014 ($190)

Walt Disney World® 10K

• $105 by June 24, 2014 ($95)
• $120 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($110)
• $135 on or after August 20, 2014 ($125)

Disney Family Fun Run 5K

• $60 per participant by September 23, 2014 ($60)
• $70 on or after September 24, 2014 (Second-tier pricing didn't exist for the 5K last year)

runDisney Kids Races

• $15 per child by September 23, 2014 ($15)
• $20 on or after September 24, 2014 ($30 - wait, a DROP in price?!)

Mickey Mile

• $30 per child by September 23, 2014 (I have no idea)
• $35 on or after September 24, 2014 (I have no idea)

Race Retreat Packages

• $120 Half Marathon Package ($120)
• $120 Full Marathon Package ($120)
• $200 Goofy's Challenge Package ($200)

 

[Sumrdog]

New info posted for 2015...ouch.
(Last year's prices in parentheses...)

Dopey Challenge

• $530 by June 24, 2014 ($495)
• $560 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($525)
• $590 on or after August 20, 2014 ($555)

Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge

• $360 by June 24, 2014 ($340)
• $380 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($370)
• $400 on or after August 20, 2014 ($400)

Walt Disney World® Marathon

• $170 by June 24, 2014 ($160)
• $185 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($175)
• $200 on or after August 20, 2014 ($190)

Walt Disney World® Half Marathon

• $170 by June 24, 2014 ($160)
• $185 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($175)
• $200 on or after August 20, 2014 ($190)

Walt Disney World® 10K

• $105 by June 24, 2014 ($95)
• $120 between June 25, 2014 and August 19, 2014 ($110)
• $135 on or after August 20, 2014 ($125)

Disney Family Fun Run 5K

• $60 per participant by September 23, 2014 ($60)
• $70 on or after September 24, 2014 (Second-tier pricing didn't exist for the 5K last year)

runDisney Kids Races

• $15 per child by September 23, 2014 ($15)
• $20 on or after September 24, 2014 ($30 - wait, a DROP in price?!)

Mickey Mile

• $30 per child by September 23, 2014 (I have no idea)
• $35 on or after September 24, 2014 (I have no idea)

Race Retreat Packages

• $120 Half Marathon Package ($120)
• $120 Full Marathon Package ($120)
• $200 Goofy's Challenge Package ($200)

Yikes!

 

[dreamfinder]

Not surprised in the increase for Dopey. Last years price was basically a free medal and shirt, since there was no cost difference from signing up for Dopey vs signing up for Goofy + 10 k + 5k. Goofy is usually about $20 more than the half + full, so I'd expect Dopey to do in that same markup. So they are matching the $20 increase to the Goofy cost (which aligns with the $10 increase per half and full) and then adding in the $25 for Dopey shirt/medal.

But really? Another $10 per event that gets nothing new? Meh.

 

[Mad Stitch]

Not surprised in the increase for Dopey. Last years price was basically a free medal and shirt, since there was no cost difference from signing up for Dopey vs signing up for Goofy + 10 k + 5k. Goofy is usually about $20 more than the half + full, so I'd expect Dopey to do in that same markup. So they are matching the $20 increase to the Goofy cost (which aligns with the $10 increase per half and full) and then adding in the $25 for Dopey shirt/medal.

But that extra medal and shirt is not costing Disney $35 to make and distribute. They are making a large margin off of essentially nothing.

 

[dreamfinder]

But that extra medal and shirt is not costing Disney $35 to make and distribute. They are making a large margin off of essentially nothing.

But you need to look at the sum of the differences. Yes, Dopey went up $35, but Goofy went up $20, and the 10k went up $10. So updating my numbers to account for this years price increases. $360+$105+$60 = $525, so the Dopey shirt & medal only cost $5 bucks. Last year it was free, this year it's $5.

I agree completely that all the individual price increases are bunk however, but Dopey is still decent value over the sub races.