Official 2014 Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare, Half Marathon, 10k, and 5k Thread!

[StarGirl11]

thanks! Will look into the Marriot at the convention center. I do like how close the Fairfield is to the park entrances (we've stayed at Hojo before and I believe its very close to that) since we plan on going to the parks as well. I don't really mind a little walk to race start either, I felt like I had to walk forever to the race start at the Disney World Half a couple weeks ago lol! but I'm also wondering about safety walking over at that time of the morning?

Safety not really a concern because you have a whole ton of runners (not just the one at the Fairfeild, you have the ones at HoJo and a few other hotels making this walk plus some are grabbing breakfast over at IHOP across from the shuttles) who don't have shuttles making the walk to the start. Their are traffic signals and everything. I stayed over at the Fairfield when I did the 24 hour Disney because I wanted to be close by in case of traffic problems and wanted to leave the park. I never once felt I was in danger when I made the walks to and from the parks.

Though one thing to keep mind for anyone staying off propertyits going to be a length walk no matter where your staying. The walk from the drop off area over on Harbor (right at the front of the ART shuttle stop) to the main gates is 2 tenths of a mile walk. And that's just puts you in the promenade you haven't even gotten to Downtown Disney yet. I didn't calculate how far it was when we did Tink but I'm guessing it was somewhere between a half mile to a mile walk from the shuttle stops to the start if not more. I know the walk to the Disney World start is around half mile if I remember correctly.

Also XMom I gues you could say the hotels that are at the convention center are in walking distance. But after a race they sure the hell aren't going to feel or look at walking distance. Just for reference the DL 10k used the run down to the convention center as their first mile. So from the backside of the convention center to the start its around a mile walk. From everywhere else I'm not sure. But let me tell you after a day at the races. And a maybe a day at the parks walking that distance isn't going to sound very appealing. Especially since in the past they've given the ART passes for free on race weekends.

 

[cepmom]

Safety not really a concern because you have a whole ton of runners (not just the one at the Fairfeild, you have the ones at HoJo and a few other hotels making this walk plus some are grabbing breakfast over at IHOP across from the shuttles) who don't have shuttles making the walk to the start. Their are traffic signals and everything. I stayed over at the Fairfield when I did the 24 hour Disney because I wanted to be close by in case of traffic problems and wanted to leave the park. I never once felt I was in danger when I made the walks to and from the parks.

Though one thing to keep mind for anyone staying off propertyits going to be a length walk no matter where your staying. The walk from the drop off area over on Harbor (right at the front of the ART shuttle stop) to the main gates is 2 tenths of a mile walk. And that's just puts you in the promenade you haven't even gotten to Downtown Disney yet. I didn't calculate how far it was when we did Tink but I'm guessing it was somewhere between a half mile to a mile walk from the shuttle stops to the start if not more. I know the walk to the Disney World start is around half mile if I remember correctly.

thanks again! great info to know!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

thanks again! great info to know!

I stayed at the Hilton by the Convention Center for the Tink. It was a really easy walk to the corrals on DL Drive. I walked out through the Hilton food court to the Convention Center then north along the pedestrain walkway to Katella, then west to Disneyland Drive, where I crossed at the light.

As I was heading towards the door of the hotel, I joined 3 other women, all heading the same direction. Where else could they be going at 5:20AM dressed in tutus?. Some of the hotels even had coffee and breakfast foods for sale at tables along the sidewalk on Katella.

The Marriott is about 0.1 -0.2 miles farther than the Hilton.

With the ART bus, even after the bus ride, you will still have about a 1/2 mile walk. Even though it's free for RunDisney runners and their friends/families, I would not bother with the ART bus from the Convention Center hotels to the starting line.

If your family plans to cheer you on in the east side of the esplanade between DL and CA or on Harbor Blvd (or both!), the ART bus may make sense for them. -- Suzanne

 

[zanzibar138]

We booked a palour family suite (for 4 adults) at Desert Inn & Suites back in about October last year. We walked from Peacock Suites last time we went to DLR, so I'm sure we can manage the walk from Desert Inn!

That was back before I knew that the 5k was going to be on the Friday though, so we were only going to check in on the Thursday. Now that we've signed up for the 5k too, we'll be adding an extra night to the start of our ressie, and will check in on the Wednesday.

We're coming from Australia, so need to leave the extra time in case of flight delays/cancellations and for getting over the jetlag. Plus, we'll be able to be to be at the expo right on opening

 

[StarGirl11]

I stayed at the Hilton by the Convention Center for the Tink. It was a really easy walk to the corrals on DL Drive. I walked out through the Hilton food court to the Convention Center then north along the pedestrain walkway to Katella, then west to Disneyland Drive, where I crossed at the light.

As I was heading towards the door of the hotel, I joined 3 other women, all heading the same direction. Where else could they be going at 5:20AM dressed in tutus?. Some of the hotels even had coffee and breakfast foods for sale at tables along the sidewalk on Katella.

The Marriott is about 0.1 -0.2 miles farther than the Hilton.

With the ART bus, even after the bus ride, you will still have about a 1/2 mile walk. Even though it's free for RunDisney runners and their friends/families, I would not bother with the ART bus from the Convention Center hotels to the starting line.

If your family plans to cheer you on in the east side of the esplanade between DL and CA or on Harbor Blvd (or both!), the ART bus may make sense for them. -- Suzanne

Point of views I guess. I have problems standing for long periods (I spend the entire time up until the corral starts moving sitting down on the ground) and it tends to aggravate the same pressure point when I'm walking (I'm fine when I'm running go figure on that one). You couldn't pay me enough money to do the extra mile walk from the Convention Center to the ART shuttles along with the half mile walk from the stops to the start. Partly because I still have my walk breaks between my run intervals and I want to conserve everything for when I'm actually running.

And for anyone wondering where I am getting the mile thing from. This is where I am getting it from:

You see where it turns in right at mile one? That's the back side of the convention center. After it zigzags over a bit is where the hotels are roughly. This is last years 10k map. Yes I am aware of the fact that mile 2 is after the turn off. However the turn off isn't at the shuttle stop, its before then. So since your going further to get the shuttle stop your still going about a mile to get from the Convention Center hotels to the shuttle stops. Plus another half mile+ (and its at least a half mile considering its 2 tenths of a mile just to get from the shuttles to the middle of the promenade. I'm at Disneyland all the time for a variety of reason I do that walk all the time I know how long that walk is) to the start line.

 

[PeterBanning]

It really makes no difference to me where anybody stays. There are many good choices and it will just come down to what factors are most important to each individual. I’m a numbers guy and here are some I picked off Google Earth to aid in my decision:

• 0.81 miles – Distance from entrance of Anaheim Marriott to intersection of Downtown Disney with Disneyland Drive (just for reference). This is going straight north to Katella, west on Katella and north on Disneyland Drive.
• 0.74 miles – Distance from entrance of Fairfield to the same reference point.
• 0.51 miles – Distance from east side of Harbor, though Downtown Disney to same reference point.
• 0.40 miles – Distance from intersection of Katella and Disneyland Drive to same reference point.
• 0.65 miles – Distance from Katella/Disneyland Dr to center of Esplanade cutting through GCH.
• 0.70 miles – Distance from Katella/Disneyland Dr to center of Esplanade going through all of DT Disney.

Like I said, those are the numbers that helped me. Hopefully they help others. If anyone’s curious, I booked the Annabella. They have a book 3 nights get the fourth free special on their site. I made the start of the race, along with price, more of a priority than entrance to the park.

 

[lap3]

Booked the Disneyland Hotel. Traveling from the east coast will the mark the first DL trip for me and the hubby. Never been to CA prior so just wanted to be on the safe side and not mess with logistics and directions to and from the race. For those that have stayed there for the races what time would you recommend leaving the hotel if you want to be in your corral (middle of the pack based on my WDW corral placements in the past)with just enough time to take a few photos and stretch prior? Where exactly is the start line?

Unless they change the start and finish, the DLH is the closest hotel to the expo, start, and finish. The corrals for the start have been near the corner of Magic Way and Disneyland Drive with the finish going around the backside of Paradise Pier going onto Downtown Drive and ending pretty much right next to the DLH. I usually head down to the start about an hour before and I'm usually good. Although, last year felt more packed than usual so I might get to the start even sooner.

I think you're making a great decision to stay at the DLH solely on logistics.

 

[thndrmatt]

Should I add everyone's hotel info to the top post? In a separate section or just add it to the bib numbers area like "1234 - thndrMATT - VGC" or something?

 

[jerivera]

I went with Hilton Anaheim, mostly because I got a Jetblue package (flight + hotel) which gets me extra miles, and the Hilton Anaheim had a "4th night free with 3 night stay" offer. Only through Jetblue, though. I couldn't find the offer anywhere else.

Too good not to grab it. I just hope it works out!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Point of views I guess. I have problems standing for long periods (I spend the entire time up until the corral starts moving sitting down on the ground) and it tends to aggravate the same pressure point when I'm walking (I'm fine when I'm running go figure on that one). You couldn't pay me enough money to do the extra mile walk from the Convention Center to the ART shuttles along with the half mile walk from the stops to the start. Partly because I still have my walk breaks between my run intervals and I want to conserve everything for when I'm actually running.

And for anyone wondering where I am getting the mile thing from. This is where I am getting it from:

You see where it turns in right at mile one? That's the back side of the convention center. After it zigzags over a bit is where the hotels are roughly. This is last years 10k map. Yes I am aware of the fact that mile 2 is after the turn off. However the turn off isn't at the shuttle stop, its before then. So since your going further to get the shuttle stop your still going about a mile to get from the Convention Center hotels to the shuttle stops. Plus another half mile+ (and its at least a half mile considering its 2 tenths of a mile just to get from the shuttles to the middle of the promenade. I'm at Disneyland all the time for a variety of reason I do that walk all the time I know how long that walk is) to the start line.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. From the Marriott or the Hilton, I would not recommend going to the shuttle stop on the east side of the Esplanade. Instead, walk to Katella then to the west along that street before heading down Disneyland Drive.

For those hotels, that walk, as posted by Peter Banning, is 0.8 miles to the start. For those hotels, the shuttle requires waiting for the bus, riding the bus and then walking 0.5 miles to the start. That makes the difference 0.3 miles.
-- Suzanne

 

[StarGirl11]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. From the Marriott or the Hilton, I would not recommend going to the shuttle stop on the east side of the Esplanade. Instead, walk to Katella then to the west along that street before heading down Disneyland Drive. For those hotels, that walk, as posted by Peter Banning, is 0.8 miles to the start. For those hotels, the shuttle requires waiting for the bus, riding the bus and then walking 0.5 miles to the start. That makes the difference 0.3 miles. -- Suzanne

Ohhh. Okay that makes sense. I think I finally see what your talking about in my head. You might have been clear the first time I might have just mis processed it. Sorry loaded up on cold meds at the moment and not thinking the best.

 

[mommy in wonderland]

I look at the walking as a good way to get warmed up. It's after the half I'm thinking about. The last half I did my hamstrings were pretty tight. But once again I could think of it as a way to cool down and loosen my muscles up. I'm excited to be going! It's an alone trip for DH and I. Plus it's the first time we will run a half together.

 

[StarGirl11]

Mom and I were talking. I'm talking about doing a half before then just as a freshen upper and to get my sea legs again. I have my surgery next month and I would like to get one "normal race" in before Dumbo if I could. So I'm looking at running the 2nd Half of the Wipro San Francisco Marathon. Run the course before its one of my favorite races. Would love to do it okay. My trainers still on the fence on this one though.

I still need to find a 10k for post op that's pre-Dumbo corral cut offs. That's going to be interesting.

On a side note. I'm almost positive the corral cut off is June 1st now. The main website says June 1st. And out of curiosity I popped over to the Tower of Terror side to see when there cut off is, there's is listed as July 1st. So it appears cut off is 3 months pre-race this year.

 

[allsassy612]

Registered for Dumbo Dare, but looking at the corral charts from last year, I am going to be in the last corral. Planning on submitting a 10k time, but not sure I can get my turtle pace up fast enough to predict a half finish time of under 3hrs. Has anyone been successful in completing a RD half if starting in the last corral? Concerned about being swept and it is terrifying. I plan to train hard to get my pace down to 14min mile.

 

[StarGirl11]

Registered for Dumbo Dare, but looking at the corral charts from last year, I am going to be in the last corral. Planning on submitting a 10k time, but not sure I can get my turtle pace up fast enough to predict a half finish time of under 3hrs. Has anyone been successful in completing a RD half if starting in the last corral? Concerned about being swept and it is terrifying. I plan to train hard to get my pace down to 14min mile.

I'm hoping that this year with the new system the corrals are going to change. Heck if we go by the Tinker Bell corrals they almost certainly will change. Tinker Bell in 2013 had a sub 3 hour for its second to last corral (D at that time). This year to get into E (the second to last corral this year) you had to have some sort of proof that you were going to be running a sub 3:30 half. That's a 30 minute difference between the corrals.

But yeah I am in the same boat with you. I have a proof of time that puts me in the 3:20 range. I only submitted it because looking at these years races I noticed that if you have something submitted your kept out of the very back corral. And it seemed like something was better than nothing and I was positive my legacy status was the only thing that kept me out of the final corral in Tinker Bell.

Anyways I have a 10k on the 22nd where as long as I finish I should have a pace of 14 something to submit for proof of time (hour and half cut off). But I'm not quiet sure if I will make it to the sub 3 pace for April 10k after my surgery.

 

[where's_my_prince]

Registered for Dumbo Dare, but looking at the corral charts from last year, I am going to be in the last corral. Planning on submitting a 10k time, but not sure I can get my turtle pace up fast enough to predict a half finish time of under 3hrs. Has anyone been successful in completing a RD half if starting in the last corral? Concerned about being swept and it is terrifying. I plan to train hard to get my pace down to 14min mile.

I ran the Tink last month, didn't have any proof of time so I was put in the last corral. Finished in 2:30 with time for photo ops and everything

 

[bumbershoot]

Has anyone been successful in completing a RD half if starting in the last corral? Concerned about being swept and it is terrifying. I plan to train hard to get my pace down to 14min mile.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who have finished from the last corral.

For those who use GPS watches, I highly recommend NOT using the "auto pause" feature. Not for training, not for the race. The official clock doesn't care that 10 minutes were spent retying shoelaces or in the portopotties...they just care how long you were out there. And if your watch is telling you a time based on it pausing whenever you stop, you could end up in serious trouble if you are, like me, a slower runner.


I ran the WDW Half ridiculously sick, had my watch on autopause, and thought I was (surprise) 10 minutes faster than I was. I was disappointed in myself as it was, but to see the official time and to realize WHY really messed with my head.

 

[StarGirl11]

I'm sure there are plenty of people who have finished from the last corral. For those who use GPS watches, I highly recommend NOT using the "auto pause" feature. Not for training, not for the race. The official clock doesn't care that 10 minutes were spent retying shoelaces or in the portopotties...they just care how long you were out there. And if your watch is telling you a time based on it pausing whenever you stop, you could end up in serious trouble if you are, like me, a slower runner. I ran the WDW Half ridiculously sick, had my watch on autopause, and thought I was (surprise) 10 minutes faster than I was. I was disappointed in myself as it was, but to see the official time and to realize WHY really messed with my head.

I've never actually remembered to turn mine off. I like to keep it on because I usually like to see what mine would have been without having to stop for bathroom or something. Anyways usually its not too far off. My usual problem is when we hit something with bad reception and my GPS completely gets thrown off and throws in an extra half mile by accident. That happened twice at Tinker bell.

Also help I have a problem:

That's the weather outside my apartment. Guess who is supposed to go run today? Me. I don't want to walk to the gym in shorts when it feel like -8 out. This is a problem. And its only supposed to get colder.

 

[bumbershoot]

I've never actually remembered to turn mine off. I like to keep it on because I usually like to see what mine would have been without having to stop for bathroom or something. Anyways usually its not too far off. My usual problem is when we hit something with bad reception and my GPS completely gets thrown off and throws in an extra half mile by accident. That happened twice at Tinker bell.

I'll amend my statement. If you keep it on, REMEMBER what it will do to your mind.


Weather...brr.

 

[StarGirl11]

I'll amend my statement. If you keep it on, REMEMBER what it will do to your mind. Weather...brr.

That part is true. It's usually why I check the clocks when we hit the mile markers just to check and see if I'm roughly on the pace I want since I'm good at math on the run. Go figure don't ask me to memorize a route (I've knownly passed on a race because it would require me remembering the route while running the race). But math on the run I excel at.

And yeah brr describes it. It is now 5 degrees out.