mmfan
Registered: February 2007
Posts: 73
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Review Date: Fri April 5, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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great fun - well organized event
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Cons:
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crowds!
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My DD ran the Princess Half Marathon for the second year, and as was our previous experience, it was great fun! We stayed at a host hotel, which makes getting around so much easier. Yes, the expo was much more crowded and logistically more difficult to get to this year, but I guess we were lucky that we did not hit huge crowds in the early afternoon on Friday. We picked up our race bibs, T shirts and bags (we as parents did the 5K) and were out in about half an hour.
I am amazed when I read that participants are put off by the crowds. If you do research, you realize this is a very busy event. This year was not the day to be trying for personal bests anyway, it was warm and humid. Many folks train to do walk/run to prevent injury, and saying no one should be allowed to walk is not only impossible, it can be dangerous. Participants should use better race etiquette for sure. Though the numbers are huge, I doubt Disney will back off on the number of entrants.
This race is intended to be fun AND challenging, as the number of people in costumes demonstrates. Yes, as spectators we were shoved and cut in front of as we waited for her to run by, but that is what can happen in large crowds, we take it in stride and stand our ground. Being in the MK to see her run toward the castle is a truly neat experience.
The bottom line is that you must start early to get where you are going, enjoy the day and be proud of the work you have accomplished to be able to run the race, and bask in the wonderful WDW experience. We found ourselves laughing often, and making friends along the way as we stood for what seemed forever to see her pass. Patience is important.
The parks were not overly crowded for us, but we are seasoned WDW veterans and so know how to plan. She loved wearing her medal in the parks afterward, and congratulating fellow runners.
My DD is taking a break from running, but I would go with her again in a heart beat if she runs this race again.
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candycakes
Registered: December 2009
Posts: 4
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Review Date: Thu March 14, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? No
| Rating: 2
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Pros:
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Finishing a half marathon!
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Cons:
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TOO CROWDED!!
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I love the idea of the princess half marathon. I started running a year ago, turned 40 this year, & wanted to celebrate with this race. From the beginning, it was an enormous headache. Rundisney advertises discounted packages. However, when I tried to book thought them, it was $1000 then booking on line myself. They didn't seem to care. They told me to book on my own then. We go to WDW at least once a year, so I knew what I was doing.
Once we got to WDW, all was good. Then the expo. Poorly operated, over crowded, no on directing you which giant line to wait in.
The parks were also overly crowded. We didn't get to a lot of rides, & only rode some once. Very disappointed.
The race itself was frustrating. I had trained hard for 6 months. I can run 10 min miles for the whole distance. However, there was no room to run. Too many people walk/run, and have poor race etiquette. Walking should not be allowed, period. I only ran 12 minute miles. Every photo op people literally jumped in front of me. Ever pic is ruined by some moron in a costume.
I would like to try again, but only in coral a or b. and next time I wouldn't be as nice if people jumped in front of me at photo ops;)
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tjm6515
Registered: May 2009
Location: Jax, FL
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Sat March 2, 2013
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Would you recommend the product? No
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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Finisher Medals, Race Transportation
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Cons:
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Oversold, course to narrow, too many walkers
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This review is for the Princess Half Marathon weekend....
First event was the Runners Expo, usually the Expos are held in two large facilities at the WWoS. This event was held at the Coronado Springs convention hall which was waaaaay to small!! The lines to pick up your race info, shirts, and merchandise were very chaotic, not near as smooth as the Wine in Dine expo last November. As comparison the PHM expo took us nearly 4 hours from the time we got there until we left, the W&D last year only took us an hour!
Saturday Morning I did the Royal Family 5K. Thanks to proof of time, early registration, and prior runDisney runner I got in Corral A. I found myself at the very front of the corral almost right under the starting line. I had a good run, course was empty, Epcot was great to run through, this was a great race.
Sunday Morning my wife ran the Princess Half, it was way oversold for the course size. Imagine 26,000 people on only a one lane wide course... My wife usually runs a 14:00/min a mile pace. Thanks to the mobs of walker, she manged only a 16:10 per pace, glad she was in an early corral or she may have been swept! She imagined running through the castle, but sadly it was not a run through the castle, but a large mob barley walking!
We will never participate in a PHM weekend again unless they limit the number of runners or make the course wider! There are too many walkers as well and rookies/walkers with no race etiquette!
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tjm6515
Registered: May 2009
Location: Jax, FL
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Mon November 19, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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neat experience, great after party, well organized
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Cons:
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less on course entertainment than hyped, EPCOT very crowded at after party
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The wife and I ran our first W&D Half marathon on Nov, 10 2012. The ‘weekend’ consisted of several events. First was the expo and packet pick up. For the amount of people in attendance it went very smooth.
We stayed at a host resort, I highly recommend doing the same or you are on your own for parking. We checked if on Friday (Nov 9th), then immediately took the special event bus from our resort to ESPN WWoS. We arrived at the Packet Pickup 15 minutes prior to opening. The line to get in seemed a mile long. However, once the doors opened, within 15 minutes we had our race swag in hand. After pickup you head to the expo to pick up your shirts and explore the booths at the Expo. Also available at both packet pickup and the expo are event specific merchandise. The checkout lines were long and some merchandise sold out almost immediately. We went back to the resort to drop off our goodies and head to Magic Kingdom for Lunch.
Since the race was a night race we lounged around our resort Saturday afternoon and took naps here and there, watched TV and just relaxed. The wife got bored and headed back to the expo to see if anything new was occurring, was the same stuff as Friday. At 7PM we took the bus to ESPN WWoS. We dropped our bag at bag check (we had a pair of old sweat shirts, fresh socks & shirts to change into after the race). I would not recommend valuables such as cell phones, for that invest in a nice runners (ok fanny) pack. There were some pre-event photo ops with different backgrounds, music, and the event hosts with announcements and ‘comic relief’. I wish they would have had just a big screen and shown Disney movies much like the resorts do in the 2 hours leading up to race start, as you are required to show up 2 hours before race start and there is nowhere to sit except the grass. At 30 minutes prior you are herded into your corrals and the race begins. It was a very smooth start with each corral starting in 5 minute increments.
Entertainment on course was not what I anticipated. There were maybe 5 characters for photo ops along the course, a live band and a few parade floats. The course was relatively flat aside from 3 overpasses. The course did go through some backstage areas of DHS and EPCOT which was neat. I finished a respectable 2:21 but waited another 30 minutes for the wife to finish, being her first half marathon, she did awesome!
We had 2 hours to enjoy the after party. The after party was very crowded, the popular food booths had very long lines and people were everywhere. The good news is all the rides were walk on except for Soarin’ which was 20 minutes, We were so sore, cold, and tired from the run we just did a loop through world showcase had a few bites to eat and headed back to the hotel. We did have our photo taken with Pinocchio and Jepetto before leaving.
For those thinking of running this race, be serious about it as they do enforce the 16 minute per mile pace. I ran an 11:22 pace and the wife 15:20 per mile. So if you want to do this race, you need to practice for a ½ marathon, not a 5K or 10K. Looking at the numbers, if the total numbers of runners starting vs. finishing was correct, I think around 2,000 folks got ‘the sweeper’ on the course. My advice is to train, then run a local ½ marathon in your area a few months prior to see how well you handle 13.1 miles and learn some strategy to help you on your run. I think in 2013 we will try the Disneyland ½ marathon and go for the coast-to-coast medal!
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tjm6515
Registered: May 2009
Location: Jax, FL
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Wed May 16, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? No
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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Nice Finishers Medals, T-Shirts, Post-Race Party
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Cons:
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Crowd Control, To narrow of running path, cost, lame skit, warm post race drinks
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Me & the wife ran the Run Disney Expedition Everest 5K challenge. Overall it was a neat event, but Disney failed on many levels. First off crowd control, they could have pre-staged the event better. Imagine a mob of 3000 people and having to cram through a 10 foot opening in a fence to get to the starting chute when one of the eight waves were called. Also we arrived 2 hours early as recommended , nowhere to sit, except on the hot asphalt. During this time we had to listen to a lame skit performed by the two race hosts.
The course was too narrow, poorly lit, and too many walkers, not a good race if you are a fast runner and in a later wave. Saw a few shouting matches between walkers hogging the path, and runners yelling at them and vice versa. After you finish the 5K you go back through the course solving clues, most of the time you are sharing the same path with runners in later waves, also lack of signage caused some runners to venture into the clue solving areas (Camp Minnie-Mickey).
At the finish, you are in a mob trying to get your finishers medal, then given bottled water and/or PowerAde that was disgustingly hot, like it sat out in the sun all day. The cool part was the after party. Dinoland, Expedition Everest, and Kali river rapids are open to park guests were open until 3am, by 1am it was nearly vacant, walk right on and off the rides.
Will we do the EE 5K challenge again? Probably not, unless they axe the clue part and implement a strict walkers on the right, runners on the left policy and enforce it, surprised no one got hurt or fights breaking out.
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mmfan
Registered: February 2007
Posts: 73
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Review Date: Wed March 7, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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well organized
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Cons:
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monorail breakdown
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My DD participated in the Princess Half Marathon 02/26/2012 -- It was a great experience both for her and for me as a spectator. She chose this as her first half marathon as she hoped it would be fun as well as challenging, which it was.
We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter as it was a host hotel, and we were so glad we did. Driving the day of the race seemed very backed up. We were on the bus at our hotel at 3:30 AM, at the park by 4 AM. With crowds near 19,000 runners plus their familes, it was necessary to start very early. Everything was very well organized, easy to find and there were lots of volunteers giving assistance and direction.
It was a cool, overcast morning which was great for running but chilly to stand around, glad we had warm clothes. Families are not permitted near the corrals where the runners line up, so she wore an inexpensive sweatshirt prior to the race and just discarded it when she started, we were told all discarded items would be donated to charity.
She said the miles went by quickly due to all the first rate entertainemnt and characters lining the course. She paused a few times for pictures, but the lines were long to see characters. Fun definitely was the priority for most runners. Nearly all had on costumes (tutus, tiaras, wings, etc, guys as well as girls!) There were plenty of portable toilets everywhere, plus runners could use the regular facilities as they passed by.
After she went to line up for the start at Epcot, I made my way to the monorails to head to the MK. Unfortunately, the monorail broke down for 45 minutes, so the line got extrememly long. I was near the front of the line so I made it on the first monorail when it went back up. I made it to the MK quickly, Main Street was still nearly deserted. It quickly filled up with spectators though. Such a cool experience to see her run toward the castle, altough I could not get close enough to see her run through it. She said that running through the castle was a very neat experience!
I then took the monorail back to Epcot, as I felt that trying to see her anywhere else would take too much time. I received updates via text message, so I knew where she was on the course. We signed up for that at the Expo when she picked up her race packet. (The expo was great, so many vendors and speakers, lots of free samples)
I had plenty of time to find a spot near the finish line to see her cross. Lots of spectators, but orderly and plenty of room. Finding her after the race was a challenge, the area was packed. She had a long wait to get her medal engraved, but it was worth it. Also a wait to get back to our hotel on the bus, but SO many people. Again it was well marked and well organized.
All in all a great experience, but a very long morning with lots of standing for spectators. I was glad I knew the layout of the course and the theme parks well.
She is already planning to do a half marathon at Disneyland to get her coast to coast medal! I plan to go with for that too. Disney sure knows how to organize a fun, quality event!
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ccodevans
Registered: November 2011
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Mon November 14, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Super Fun
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Cons:
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Late night
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I ran my second RunDisney Event the Disney Food and Wine Half Marathon this year (Oct 1, 2011). The event was the most fun 13.1 miles can be. The event was well organized, transportation was reliable, and I really enjoyed it. It was fantastic to run through the Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios, down the Boardwalk. Such great memories- I still find myself reliving the run while on the treadmill 
Fortunately I am a night owl, so the event at Epcot was a great party after the event. My previous run was the 2010 Princess Half, which was fun, but not as much "in park" time. Now the decision which one next
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tink1965
Registered: April 2009
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 22
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Review Date: Mon November 7, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Well organized
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Cons:
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None
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I ran the Wine & Dine 1/2 marathon on October 1st and count it as one of my all time favorite memories. I stayed at POR so all transportaion to the event was provided for both myself and my DH & DD. Race information & packet pick up was laid out very well. I had no trouble finding everything I needed. Pre race entertainment was good! I was placed in Corral B and it was very easy to figure out where to go and when. There were lots of character greeting ops (I stopped for pics!) During the final leg of the race when we ran past the Boardwalk/Yacht Club area tbere were lots of spectators lining the pathway cheering everyone on! And if I'm not mistaken I do believe I spotted Deb along that way! Had a great time and wouldn't change a thing!
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jbulter
Registered: January 2007
Posts: 10
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Review Date: Wed January 12, 2011
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Would you recommend the product? Yes
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Well done
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Cons:
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3 am wake up calls
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Wow, wonderful race. Ran Goofy for the first time. Very well supported race, lots of entertainment and crowd support throughout the course. The half definitely suffers from lack of park exposure, you get a good shot through the magic kingdom and not much Epcot at all. Lots of banked road and a few tricky spots of uneven pavement. Wish I could do it every year!!
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