Calling all Princesses! (2014 Princess half marathon board)

[Mariannekay]

Hoping for a room at Wilderness Lodge for our trip. Just DH and me...no kids, no parks, just the run and some much needed relaxation for a few days afterwards. I think I may even book a spa package for us! So excited!!!!

 

[*~PrincessBelle~*]

For those that have run the PHM before would you recommend a monorail resort for the weekend or an EPCOT area resort? Or another area all together?

I guess im wondering if we were to stay at a monorail resort if that would circumvent the use of buses on race morning? And for those staying close to EPCOT (thinking BWI or BC) if the journey fairly quick on the bus to the start? What about taking a taxi?

Just really looking to stay wherever will be most convenient on race day - im also doing the GSC but my team mate for the PHM is not - so a nice pool is a must (keeping optimistic weather will be nice enough for that) also its my teammate's first ever Disney trip and really wants to go all out

 

[kappyfamily]

For those that have run the PHM before would you recommend a monorail resort for the weekend or an EPCOT area resort? Or another area all together?

I guess im wondering if we were to stay at a monorail resort if that would circumvent the use of buses on race morning? And for those staying close to EPCOT (thinking BWI or BC) if the journey fairly quick on the bus to the start? What about taking a taxi?

Just really looking to stay wherever will be most convenient on race day - im also doing the GSC but my team mate for the PHM is not - so a nice pool is a must (keeping optimistic weather will be nice enough for that) also its my teammate's first ever Disney trip and really wants to go all out

I'm staying at CR and did last time I did princess. It's so easy taking the monorail....if you can do it, I would say a monorail resort is the way to go.

 

[momof4disneykids]

I'm booked at POP too! Got a bit of a discount through a travel agent. She said she would have discounted tickets too sometime this month. Been a while since I have stayed here. Because we have a family trip scheduled for May/June wanted to limit expenses for this trip. Happy planning and training everyone!

 

[laura428]

I'm booked at POP too! Got a bit of a discount through a travel agent. She said she would have discounted tickets too sometime this month. Been a while since I have stayed here. Because we have a family trip scheduled for May/June wanted to limit expenses for this trip. Happy planning and training everyone!

I may have to look into this travel agent thing. I'm actually switching from POP to AS Movies because one of my dearest friends has just agreed to come with me ( ) and ASMo has been her family's home resort on all of their trips. She really likes it, and considering I know nothing about POP vs. ASMo, I'm letting her decide that one.

 

[Pixiedust2758]

So, if I'm understanding correctly; if you're staying at a monorail resort, you can just hop over to the TTC & then take the monorail to Epcot for the start of the race & after you finish...?

Man, maybe I should change my plans...

Who has experience with this and how did it go?

TIA!

 

[PrincessV]

For those that have run the PHM before would you recommend a monorail resort for the weekend or an EPCOT area resort? Or another area all together?

My honest opinion is to book at whatever resort best fits your budget and preferences, as they all will get you to the race. I stayed at AKV-Kidani for this year's PHM and thought it was a great location: relaxing atmosphere, quiet room, on-site food I liked - perfect for what I wanted in a resort. Caught buses for the 5K (as a spectator, but left at the same time as the racers I was there to watch) and the half with no issues at all. I think the key to transportation is simply to get there early; I was outside, ready to board the bus, at 3am the morning of the half and there was no line and plenty of empty seats when we took off 5 minutes after I got on the bus.

Now if the GF, CR or Poly fits all other criteria, I'd consider the monorail access a perk... but don't forget that monorails can fail and be delayed just as easily as buses. I'd still be planning to get an early start if running late will cause stress.

As an aside, but spinning off my last sentence... I'm one who stresses greatly when running late, or even on time; I much prefer to be early for things. BUT, after seeing how it all worked last year, I'm a lot less worried about it now. It took a long time to get all of those corrals started; had I needed an extra porta-potty stop, or had to run back to my car for something, or my bus had been delayed, I could easily have started in a later corral and been just fine. YMMV, of course, if you're super fast and really need to start in A, or if you're corralled in H and really, really late. But generally speaking, I don't think it would've been a big deal at all if I'd started a corral or two later (I was in C.) Just something to throw out to the group!

 

[mickeymom629]

PrincessV - thanks for your incite about the resorts and transportation! I will most likely be toward the back of the race since I am walking and signed up only recently. (finished the 2010 PHM in 3:20).

I am looking for a DVC resort villa for DD21 and myself. I would love BLT, but am thinking of AKL also. How were the busses to the EXPO and the MK? I think we may only get to the MK on this long weekend trip.

For that matter, can anyone tell me how the busses are to the EXPO and the MK from any DVC resort (since I have not idea where we will be able to get reservations)?

Thanks!

 

[PrincessV]

How were the busses to the EXPO and the MK?

Sorry - I can't comment on expo buses as I stayed at CSR the night before hitting the expo, so I just walked over from my room (expo was at CSR this year.) But I stay at AKV quite often and have never had issues with the buses to MK. Nice thing there is that there are only two stops: Kidani and Jambo. So you don't spend a bunch of time touring the resort (like at POR or SSR or OKW) before hitting the highway.

For that matter, can anyone tell me how the busses are to the EXPO and the MK from any DVC resort (since I have not idea where we will be able to get reservations)?

I haven't taken any buses to expos from any resort, so I'm no help there. I've been talked into taking the buses to MK by my son often (I HATE the WDW buses! I have a car and prefer to use it)... meh. It's very hit or miss; some days there's a MK bus rolling up every 5 minutes, others I've waited 45 minutes. Per DVC resort...

SSR - I find it a big time suck to go through all of the resort bus stops for any park.

OKW - ditto

BCV - drive my car to MK

BWV - didn't go to MK

VWL - took the boat to MK; long wait one trip, not bad on others

AKV - bus was fine to MK; never had a long wait there

My patience for bus travel is pretty much nil, so take my review with a grain of salt, lol! I'm semi-local, and driving myself is always faster than a bus, form any resort to any park. Hard to justify the bus in my case.

 

[mickeymom629]

I hear you on the busses! Usually I am with DH and we drive from MD, so we always have a vehicle also. He won't be coming on this trip, so DD and I will be flying.

In 2010 the EXPO was at WWoS, so I'm surprised to hear it was at CSR last year. Any idea where it will be this year?

 

[PrincessV]

In 2010 the EXPO was at WWoS, so I'm surprised to hear it was at CSR last year. Any idea where it will be this year?

This year was an anomaly - something about conflicting events sent the expo to CSR. It was a madhouse. The stuff of legends. runDinsey got a whole lotta feedback on that one. All indications so far point to a return of the expo to WWOS for 2014.

 

[mickeymom629]

All indications so far point to a return of the expo to WWOS for 2014.

Interesting! Thanks!

 

[Cripey]

I hear you on the busses! Usually I am with DH and we drive from MD, so we always have a vehicle also. He won't be coming on this trip, so DD and I will be flying.

In 2010 the EXPO was at WWoS, so I'm surprised to hear it was at CSR last year. Any idea where it will be this year?

Should be back at WWoS for 2014...it was planned there originally for 2013 as well, but was moved...the general belief was because of a scheduling conflict with a Braves spring training game. HOPEFULLY they have that all worked out for 2014 because it was a nightmare at CSR...and I stayed there as well. It was just way too small, you could barely move around in there at times.

 

[STILLWISHING]

Any princesses out there run in Hoka One One shoes? Broke my ankle/leg last spring and wondering if the extra cushioning would help the leg (still hurts sometimes) for longer runs. If so, how long do they last for you?

 

[JRM393]

Should be back at WWoS for 2014...it was planned there originally for 2013 as well, but was moved...the general belief was because of a scheduling conflict with a Braves spring training game. HOPEFULLY they have that all worked out for 2014 because it was a nightmare at CSR...and I stayed there as well. It was just way too small, you could barely move around in there at times.

How many people run in the PHM weekend? I know during marathon weekend this year it took me like 2 hours to get my packet, the line was wrapped all the way around the fields and almost back to the track! I know there's less just wondering about how many. Thanks!

 

[Cripey]

How many people run in the PHM weekend? I know during marathon weekend this year it took me like 2 hours to get my packet, the line was wrapped all the way around the fields and almost back to the track! I know there's less just wondering about how many. Thanks!

Beats me! I think they posted one of those "by the numbers" graphics a few days before the race that gave all the race stats, etc, but I couldn't find it. 20k maybe? I really don't know though. The way it was set up at CSR was it was in one big ballroom and looked like it was divided in half or so, one side for packet pick up and the other for the expo. I got there around 2 or 3 ish that Friday afternoon and the packet pick up side was EMPTY...not a soul anywhere...but the expo side stayed a madhouse the entire weekend. I went back several times wanting to look around hoping it had died down, but it never did. The official merchandise booth was grossly under-sized. They should have had that in a ball room all by itself...it was insane...people pushing, trying to grab stuff off the racks....total chaos in there....and a snaked line taped off on the floor outside of it just to get in. walkways through the expo were so narrow that they sometimes were blocked by people waiting in line to pay at a booth. Really, one of the things I kept thinking all weekend was I can't even imagine how much merchandise "walked" out of that expo that weekend without being paid for. some of those poor booths looked overwhelmed. I'm hoping for a better experience next year back at WWoS, though it can still get a little crowded there too!

 

[Outonarun]

How many people run in the PHM weekend? I know during marathon weekend this year it took me like 2 hours to get my packet, the line was wrapped all the way around the fields and almost back to the track! I know there's less just wondering about how many. Thanks!

To get an idea, I went to the "Results" tab on the runDisney homepage, selected the 2013 PHM race, and then viewed the women's half marathon finishers count, and the men's half marathon finishers count (there are also statistics for military, team, and 1-mile).

Total Women Finishers: 21,238
Total Men Finishers: 1,501

This will be my first Princess Half... it is all very exciting!

 

[PrincessV]

The official merchandise booth was grossly under-sized. They should have had that in a ball room all by itself...it was insane...people pushing, trying to grab stuff off the racks....total chaos in there....and a snaked line taped off on the floor outside of it just to get in. walkways through the expo were so narrow that they sometimes were blocked by people waiting in line to pay at a booth.

^THIS was just awful. AWFUL! I couldn't wait to get out of there and didn't buy half the things I'd planned to - unfortunate for the vendors who lost sales.

Total Women Finishers: 21,238
Total Men Finishers: 1,501

I remember hearing the number 24,000 being tossed around a lot for all races - including the half, 5K and kids' - so that makes sense.

 

[annmarieda]

I remember hearing the number 24,000 being tossed around a lot for all races - including the half, 5K and kids' - so that makes sense.

I think total it was more than that who registered. You have to think...not everyone finishes the race... I think the 24k is just those who registered for the half. That total number of finishers (22739) would not leave enough room for those who were swept and those who ran the 5k and kids races.

 

[gmakosy]

I only recently found out about DISboards because my family and I are 2 weeks out from our first Disney Cruise and I stumbled across this thread. I'm so happy I did, as this will be my fourth year running in the Princes half with my friends. We have a group of 8-12 each year and this year will be even bigger. I was worried how I would spend any free time after the cruise and now I know . I'm so excited to participate in the Glass Slipper Challenge this year, too. A couple friends and I ran in the Goofy Challenge last year. I hope to have time to go back and read through the 160 pages I've missed (after the cruise).