Disney World races question

taratru · March 2012

DH and I talked the *whole* time we were in Florida last week about coming back out with the family in the next year and me running a race. We are going to invite SIL and her family and MIL. I have started to look into stuff, but figured I better start with deciding which race I actually want to run. I think all three are in off-season, but could be wrong, so I'd love your input. We would go for 5-6 days.

Those of you who have experienced them (or even if you haven't), which would you suggest?

[Poll]

JoBell123 · March 2012

I've done both the Wine & Dine and the Princess Half. Honestly, I liked running at night better than super early am (I couldn't fall asleep early before the Princess half and ran it on only 3 hours of sleep). I would run either of them again, though. I liked the fact that the Princess half was women-heavy, but the food & wine after party was a ton of fun.

I'd recommend either, so maybe check with your fam and see what time of year they'd want to go and pick the race from there.

stinkerbell6879 · March 2012

I did WDW and really had a blast, but I have to agree with the fact that a night race might be fun and if your traveling in you won't have to worry about the time difference in the AM. IMO no matter what race you pick you will have fun.

Brie2010 · March 2012

I did the Princess and it was great, but I can't really compare it to the others. I would love to do the Epcot Wine & Dine in the future, but I think it would kind of suck to run at night and have to waste that whole day either resting or being paranoid not to waste your legs walking around the park.

FWIW, a few years ago, the WDW half/full were freezing cold because it's the first week in January. You might want to avoid that.

C.squared · March 2012

I just did the Princess and loved it. I'd definitely do it again. We did 4 days in the parks before and my legs and feet were TIRED on race day, though. I didn't mind the early wake up - it was actually kind of nice to go to bed early the night before and be done running by 8am, lol. Running through the castle right around sunrise was pretty spectacular too. The only drawback for me to the early time was that we didn't want to wake DD that early, so she stayed at the house with my MIL (I would have loved for her to see the runners in tutu's and to give me a high five).

It's definitely not a race I would do for time, though - I was in the second corral (I'm not fast at all - usually a little under 10 min / mile) and couldn't get under 11 minutes a mile until almost mile 3. It was crowded and the course narrows on the entrance ramps to the highway which really bottle necked things. I think you'd have that at any WDW race, though (I say this without knowing the courses for the others). I think you'd enjoy any of them - Disney definitely knows what they're doing!

ETA: We went the week before the race, so it was President's Day. We didn't find the parks to be too crowded and never really had to stand in line for anything, though we were also entirely focused on rides for a 3 year old, so didn't try any of the "main" attractions. It was Mardi Gras too, so there were a lot of people from LA and I think people in NY and MA had spring break that week too, but it wasn't too bad.

kylara111 · March 2012

WDW Weekend in January is the 20th anniversary so that's a big draw for people this coming year. The only reason I'm not doing it is because I'm doing Tinkerbell in Disneyland CA so I can get a coast-to-coast medal.

I did Princess in Feb and it was ok. Ditto everything the PP said about Princess and the crowds, but I'm not sure other races are any different. Sounds like they're adding more people each year. I thought the course had a lot of boring highway time so my Disney World race next year will be Wine and Dine. Sounds like a fun party in Epcot and if I remember right it goes through 3 parks vs. the 2 for Princess.

BAMFMrsB · March 2012

My DH just ran the full in Jan and while he liked it a lot, there were a TON of racers. He said he was glad he was in Corral A as it did bottleneck in some places and he said for sure in larger corrals, people would lose time at those points. He did run it for time and not fun, though. So he was in it to win it (he finished in the top 2%).

I think we'd enjoy going back next year, if we decide to haul our first born there. We'll see how the end of the year goes. Big Smile We may do the Wine+Dine in '13. We won't have time this year as DH is running Chicago and I'm having a baby.

Just an FYI: I believe the Goofy Challenge is different next year. In 2012 it was Sat 1/2 followed by a Sun full (the next day). I think in '13 they're going to have a Sat 1/2 then wait a week then the Sat full the next weekend. Kinda defeats the Goofy-ness of doing back-to-back races, IMO. Huh?

PrincessPeach05 · March 2012

How funny! I want to run Disney also next year! I am thinking of doing Disneyland though, I am from CA and so many of our relatives live there, so it would be a better trip for family.

mehgank · March 2012

If you're running by yourself, I'd say do the Princess Half, but if you're running with DH or a group, then I'd say do the Wine & Dine. My H and I are signed up for the Wine & Dine this year, and I ran the Princess with 3 of my running buddies (all women). There were around 19,000 women signed up for the Princess, and just under 16,000 ran it (I think the rest either deferred or DNFed). I think there were only around 9,000 at the Wine & Dine last year IIRC from reading the website.

Disney races are so much fun. Yeah, the crowds can be a hassle, but if you expect that, then it's only a minor annoyance.

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