Wine and Dine 2015

[sperkins921]

I was thinking maybe you meant you hadn't checked since earlier this year.

No, as soon as you said that, I realized that that was totally how most people probably would have taken it (ie, the way you interpeted it) and when I posted was still in post 'I can't believe I signed up to run 13 miles if 10.5 just totally made me ready for a nap' haze so I didn't even think to say next year. But in all honesty, I haven't checked that part of their site since early summer....

Bah. It's too hard to clarify things on the net. This is where it's so much easier to communicate in person. lol

 

[Keels]

I just caught up on over 20+ pages of this thread. It's been a busy few months.

To catch up, we're staying at POFQ through Race Weekend than moving over to OKW for the remainder of the week.

My times in runs have been staying fairly constant. Just switched to a 60 second run, 90 second walk with a constant 11:58 minute per mile time.

1/2 Marathon #8 for 2015 was 2 weeks ago. Plano Balloon Festival Half.
#9 is this weekend. Showdown 1/2 in Fairview, TX
#10 is next weekend. That Dam 1/2 in Lewisville, TX
#11 is W&D
#12 is Rock n Roll San Antonio
#13 is the Dallas 1/2
#14 & #15 are the New Years Double Double in Allen, TX.


Good luck to everyone!
Any other Half Fanatics on this thread? #11634 checking in.

Hoping to finally qualify with my September-October-November races! October is the only one that could put a wrench in my plans ... at least for Neptune. Otherwise, I still have a shot at Uranus as well!

 

[bellrae]

You've got this!

I'm actually going for time at Cocoa Beach on the 25th, so my W&D goal is to finish both races but depending on what corral I'm in will definitely determine how early I get to the staging location. I learned that lesson the hard way at DLH.

What happened at DLH if you don't mind me asking? Always good to learn from others

 

[Keels]

What happened at DLH if you don't mind me asking? Always good to learn from others

Oh - there were A LOT of corral jumpers in my Corral (D), so it pushed latecomers in Corral D to the very back of the race. I blame DLH for quite a bit of it, honestly - that Corral was HUGE to begin with and they didn't do a really great job policing bibs as people entered the corrals.

I got in to the Corral around 5 and was in the top 1/3rd or at least the first 1/2 of the Corral, but I was surrounded by people with F and G bibs. Some were being sneaky about it (wearing SpiBelt or whatever up high over where the letter is) and some were just doing their thing and going in to whatever corral they pleased with their friends.

It just made an overly crowded Corral even more crowded, and, frankly, the first four miles of the course through the park are SO tight, you couldn't really do anything unless you were at the very start of the corral.

It was just a debacle that made for a lot of upset runners.

 

[opusone]

Oh - there were A LOT of corral jumpers in my Corral (D), so it pushed latecomers in Corral D to the very back of the race. I blame DLH for quite a bit of it, honestly - that Corral was HUGE to begin with and they didn't do a really great job policing bibs as people entered the corrals.
-----------------------
It was just a debacle that made for a lot of upset runners.

This is really disheartening: (i) I was hoping that Disney (or the race management company that Disney uses) would do a better job of race management, and (ii) I was hoping that runners at rD events were better/more polite than average. I guess people are people wherever you go.

I will be running my first rD event next April (WDW Star Wars Dark Side Challenge), so I guess I will see first hand how a Disney race differs from normal races. I am looking forward to it.

 

[Ariel484]

I think they police the corrals better at WDW. The corrals are smaller and they have more volunteers...or maybe I'm just woefully naive.

 

[lovingeire]

This is really disheartening: (i) I was hoping that Disney (or the race management company that Disney uses) would do a better job of race management, and (ii) I was hoping that runners at rD events were better/more polite than average. I guess people are people wherever you go.

I will be running my first rD event next April (WDW Star Wars Dark Challenge), so I guess I will see first hand how a Disney race differs from normal races. I am looking forward to it.

I think they police the corrals better at WDW. The corrals are smaller and they have more volunteers...or maybe I'm just woefully naive.

At Princess they did a pretty good job, as far as I can tell, policing the corrals at Princess. They definitely checked our bibs.

 

[Keels]

Like others have said - it looks like WDW polices corrals better than DL, and that's on DL. Plus, it seems like they can't keep with a consistent year-to-year corral divide either. I think it was just augmented this year because there were SO many jumpers there was zero room in the Corral for D people. They moved the Corrals up faster to try to feed more runners in, but in the end, there just wasn't any space.

Again, getting there earlier would've gotten me a better spot in the corral, but still could possible never guarantee me a spot if people jump.

Also, I think it's hard to compare this race (DLH) to the WDW races (I haven't done a WDW race yet, but I have done a RnR race and a few local races) - WDW seem to be more spectacle and are fully immersive experiences, where DL races are always going to be more about just running than character meets and things. If that makes sense?

 

[wilkeliza]

At the WDW races it is incredibly well managed. I noticed a lot of line jumpers at Avengers last year as well. I have never seen any line jumpers at WDW races. I'm not naive to think there aren't any ever but I know there are less at WDW.

 

[bellrae]

Like others have said - it looks like WDW polices corrals better than DL, and that's on DL. Plus, it seems like they can't keep with a consistent year-to-year corral divide either. I think it was just augmented this year because there were SO many jumpers there was zero room in the Corral for D people. They moved the Corrals up faster to try to feed more runners in, but in the end, there just wasn't any space.

Again, getting there earlier would've gotten me a better spot in the corral, but still could possible never guarantee me a spot if people jump.

Also, I think it's hard to compare this race to the WDW races (I haven't done a WDW race yet, but I have done a RnR race and a few local races) - WDW seem to be more spectacle and are fully immersive experiences, where DL races are always going to be more about just running than character meets and things. If that makes sense?

That sounds really ordinary

I must admit I didn't enjoy the packed corrals at Star Wars back in Jan - but just thought that was how a Disney race worked (as I have only done a 5K in WDW and that too was chaos with lost of people walking in the earlier corrals making it hard for people wanting to run to get around).

Am hoping we don't see the same at Avengers! But am heartened by people saying that WDW are better at managing the corrals and bibs than DL.

 

[Figment1990]

For what it's worth, they were checking bibs at wine and dine 2013. And I had a different experience in DL for Tink 2014 - I was (amazingly) in corral B and didn't get there super duper early but it didn't seem obnoxious. Princess 10k different story- not obnoxious but very crowded. Princes half, much better (was in later Corral for princess but it was still ok). even though waiting is hard I find the wine and dine pre-race festivities to be entertaining and most fun so don't hesitate to get there early.

 

[Miranda]

Tink seemed to be pretty well policed this year. Although I didn't try to get into any of the earlier corrals. But I did see them checking bibs.

 

[Dis5150]

So sorry if this is a stupid question but I have never done a character meet before. I signed DD25 and I up for Meet Micky in Town Square Theater Fast Pass on Sunday. Will this allow us to get pics with Micky with our medals? I am not counting on any character pics during the race as I just want to focus on finishing (and not getting swept!), but wanted to get SOMETHING lol.

 

[minniebeth]

So sorry if this is a stupid question but I have never done a character meet before. I signed DD25 and I up for Meet Micky in Town Square Theater Fast Pass on Sunday. Will this allow us to get pics with Micky with our medals? I am not counting on any character pics during the race as I just want to focus on finishing (and not getting swept!), but wanted to get SOMETHING lol.

Of course! Lots of runners wear their medals to the parks following races. It's really fun character interaction with them while wearing the medals and taking photos.
Most will acknowledge them and congratulate you in their own ways. The best character interaction while wearing our medals was with Snow White in DL who couldn't understand why we would run so far for no reason (according to her) and wondered if her shoes could help her do the same so she could get a medal too. It was darling.

We also saw some pretty unique medal photography at the 1/2 weekend in DL. We saw one lady lining up all her runDisney medals (obviously from many races) hanging on the fence in front of the DL 60th/train station in the front of the park~ and taking pictures~ that was so cool! We also saw people hanging all their medals on King Arthur's sword and also with wearing them in front of the castle for Photopass pictures.

Ariel484 has a recent trip report with awesome character pictures with her medals. Such a cute idea to get a pic with each character on the medal!

Enjoy! So much fun!

 

[jeanigor]

Count me in as one that wears headphones. Simple to keep the volume down when you want/need to.

On a side note that only you guys would understand.... WHERE ARE THE WAIVERS AND PROGRAM INFO?!?! I'm getting a tad impatient. Let's get this show on the road people!

The site now says two weeks prior instead of about a month, like it used to. But I am fairly certain that the internet sleuths will have the link here before it is emailed out to us.

I think they police the corrals better at WDW. The corrals are smaller and they have more volunteers...or maybe I'm just woefully naive.

I think this year's Dopey was well managed for checking corral placement. I think a combination of WDW securing the corrals more along with a much larger, more mature (not a ton of middle and high school kids like in DL) volunteer force helps.

Unfortunately there are folks who just are gonna hop up corrals and be dishonest, even at a Disney race.

 

[Figment1990]

So sorry if this is a stupid question but I have never done a character meet before. I signed DD25 and I up for Meet Micky in Town Square Theater Fast Pass on Sunday. Will this allow us to get pics with Micky with our medals? I am not counting on any character pics during the race as I just want to focus on finishing (and not getting swept!), but wanted to get SOMETHING lol.

Not a stupid question at all. Before having DS I had never met a single character!

I hope not a lot of people read this answer because then it will change and who knows maybe it will be different this year because the race did sell out awful quickly but - don't count yourself out from getting pics on the course. I have found that sometimes the lines during wine and dine are shorter than during princess and Tink. I did NOT expect to stop in my first race- just finish without getting swept. But at mile 10 in DHS there was wreck it Ralph, DS had just seen the movie and loved it and I just had to stop for a pic with him. Same thing happened the next year with Vader. I did stop once for Jack Sparrow and regretted it not because it was a long line (it was maybe 5 min) but it totally threw me off and I had a really hard time getting myself back into the groove. There aren't as many characters as in some of the other races but comparing their lines to princess and Tink (and I was in the second to the last corral for my first and a middle corral for my second wine and dine) I found it possible to stop. I'm a 12:45 minute miler for the half and a novice so I was afraid of getting swept but it was worth the 2 minutes for each photo. I remember passing Vader at Tink and seeing the line and thinking wow no way. That wasn't the case at Wine and Dine. (Watch that will all be different this year and you'll think me a liar). But SHHHHH everyone don't spread that around

 

[Dis5150]

Of course! Lots of runners wear their medals to the parks following races. It's really fun character interaction with them while wearing the medals and taking photos.
Most will acknowledge them and congratulate you in their own ways. The best character interaction while wearing our medals was with Snow White in DL who couldn't understand why we would run so far for no reason (according to her) and wondered if her shoes could help her do the same so she could get a medal too. It was darling.

We also saw some pretty unique medal photography at the 1/2 weekend in DL. We saw one lady lining up all her runDisney medals (obviously from many races) hanging on the fence in front of the DL 60th/train station in the front of the park~ and taking pictures~ that was so cool! We also saw people hanging all their medals on King Arthur's sword and also with wearing them in front of the castle for Photopass pictures.

Ariel484 has a recent trip report with awesome character pictures with her medals. Such a cute idea to get a pic with each character on the medal!

Enjoy! So much fun!

Thanks! Those would all be awesome pictures! This will be my first medal so I want to get something. :0
And @Ariel484 has the best trip reports! As soon as I signed up for W&D I read all her trip and training reports (stalker?? lol) and really felt like I was much better prepared for what to expect, for training and for W&D.

Not a stupid question at all. Before having DS I had never met a single character!

I hope not a lot of people read this answer because then it will change and who knows maybe it will be different this year because the race did sell out awful quickly but - don't count yourself out from getting pics on the course. I have found that sometimes the lines during wine and dine are shorter than during princess and Tink. I did NOT expect to stop in my first race- just finish without getting swept. But at mile 10 in DHS there was wreck it Ralph, DS had just seen the movie and loved it and I just had to stop for a pic with him. Same thing happened the next year with Vader. I did stop once for Jack Sparrow and regretted it not because it was a long line (it was maybe 5 min) but it totally threw me off and I had a really hard time getting myself back into the groove. There aren't as many characters as in some of the other races but comparing their lines to princess and Tink (and I was in the second to the last corral for my first and a middle corral for my second wine and dine) I found it possible to stop. I'm a 12:45 minute miler for the half and a novice so I was afraid of getting swept but it was worth the 2 minutes for each photo. I remember passing Vader at Tink and seeing the line and thinking wow no way. That wasn't the case at Wine and Dine. (Watch that will all be different this year and you'll think me a liar). But SHHHHH everyone don't spread that around

Thank you! I won't give up hope on character stops and I won't think you a liar if they are busy, lol! I will be in the last corral as I was injured and not able to compete in my PoT race. And there were no others around me before the cutoff. I am a 14:00 minute miler so I would be cutting it a lot closer lol!

 

[Ariel484]

That sounds really ordinary

I must admit I didn't enjoy the packed corrals at Star Wars back in Jan - but just thought that was how a Disney race worked (as I have only done a 5K in WDW and that too was chaos with lost of people walking in the earlier corrals making it hard for people wanting to run to get around).

Am hoping we don't see the same at Avengers! But am heartened by people saying that WDW are better at managing the corrals and bibs than DL.

It's really different with the longer WDW races. They have a lot more corrals (P corrals for the January and February races), they are smaller, and they start every 2-5 minutes. It's really different from the WDW 10Ks and 5Ks, and from the Disneyland races...it's better at WDW, in my opinion.

So sorry if this is a stupid question but I have never done a character meet before. I signed DD25 and I up for Meet Micky in Town Square Theater Fast Pass on Sunday. Will this allow us to get pics with Micky with our medals? I am not counting on any character pics during the race as I just want to focus on finishing (and not getting swept!), but wanted to get SOMETHING lol.

Seriously, good call getting that FP! I went to meet Mickey in Town Square Theater after Dopey this year and he talked to me about it ("Way to go! I'm proud of you!" ) and we got a good picture. It was fun!

We also saw some pretty unique medal photography at the 1/2 weekend in DL. We saw one lady lining up all her runDisney medals (obviously from many races) hanging on the fence in front of the DL 60th/train station in the front of the park~ and taking pictures~ that was so cool! We also saw people hanging all their medals on King Arthur's sword and also with wearing them in front of the castle for Photopass pictures.

I so wanted to do that...just didn't make time for it.

Ariel484 has a recent trip report with awesome character pictures with her medals. Such a cute idea to get a pic with each character on the medal!

Hey thanks!

I think this year's Dopey was well managed for checking corral placement. I think a combination of WDW securing the corrals more along with a much larger, more mature (not a ton of middle and high school kids like in DL) volunteer force helps.

I agree, I think I actually remember them making you show them the letter on the bib? I could be making that up.

Thanks! Those would all be awesome pictures! This will be my first medal so I want to get something. :0
And @Ariel484 has the best trip reports! As soon as I signed up for W&D I read all her trip and training reports (stalker?? lol) and really felt like I was much better prepared for what to expect, for training and for W&D.

Thanks! I don't think you can call yourself a stalker since I'm an over-sharer!

 

[RogueKnits]

Got my e-mail notification this morning that my MagicBands have shipped! That makes it seem much more real for some reason. Unfortunately, I think I'm really going to struggle with training for the last few weeks. Seems like every time I go out for a run a new body part starts hurting.

 

[PaDisneyCouple]

2.5 miles for DW yesterday; 5 miles for me this morning. I'd planned to go longer, but something did not feel right, and I didn't want to chance it this close to the race. Upon post run inspection: I was right. Let's just say: keep those toe nails trimmed!

Got an email yesterday that our Magic Bands have shipped! Wonder what will be next: ME tags or race waivers?