Official 2017 Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend!

[Ariel484]

I always like it when you post your packing lists because I don't ever have a comprehensive packing list, so I just steal yours and adapt it. My plan is to actually make a list this year and then figure out how to use my new handy dandy packing cubes.

Steal away!!

Ooooh, my plan worked... @VickiHD you posted a few things I had forgotten (poncho, RaceDots - which I use instead of safety pins, and water for the room). Thanks!!

Dang it now I think it's Friday!

Soorrrrrrry! It hit me walking into work today that I needed to crowd-source for packing ideas

The facebook post says it is the same price no matter when you buy. I have a WDW AP so I have been spoiled with all the free pictures for the last few races. We will be running two of the races, and then doing the parks until Wednesday so I will have plenty of time for photopass pictures.

Me too!! This will be my first time having to pay for pictures since I have had some kind of AP for the other races I have done (I have a WDW AP now).

And I SUPER SUPER love your binder idea...OMG. I may need to steal that idea!

 

[ZellyB]

As for packing, one of the things that I have been doing for race weekends is buying one of those flexible 1" three ring binders. I use the clear plastic page sleeves to hold all of the information I need for the weekend. Waivers, preorder receipts, race maps, my printed itinerary, packing list, etc. Then I use the pages that are trading card size to hold the gift cards that I have collected over the year, my DVC card, AP card or park tickets. I will carry the binder with me in my tote and bring it with me to the expo. It is so nice to have everything organized and easy to access. Also, when I pick up the bibs I slide them into one of the page protectors so that I don't lose them!

When I get home, I keep the binders with all the info together so that I can reference them later.

My packing list is pretty similar to Ariel484's. I always pack all of the race stuff in a carry on. I was at OKW last year for Princess and there were two ladies at the concierge desk because their luggage was missing. That is my worst nightmare.

I'm not sure if it is on anyone's list, but I also pack a small alarm clock as a back up. The DL races are not so early as the WDW ones, but I would still hate to sleep in by accident!

I do something similar but I use one of those small expandable file folders. Like this

I usually organize it by day. So the day we leave has boarding passes, hotel reservation info etc. and then waivers for expo day etc. Information on dining reservations by day and then my daily schedule of activities. I call it the travel bible.

I'm trying to decide what I want to do on luggage. We paid to check bags on our last trip to WDW and decided it was so worth it not to mess with carry on. But, I also worry about race stuff, so am debating about a smaller carryon for race items. But, I'd love to have no carry on at all. It's a nonstop flight, so odds are slim the luggage won't make it and we'd have nearly 2 days before our first race for it to get to us even if it did get lost. But, then I fret about if it doesn't make it. But, then it's just an excuse to buy clothes at the expo right? Or make a road trip to INKnBURN headquarters. So, yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do yet.

 

[Ariel484]

@ZellyB @HockeyMomNH and here I thought I was super-organized...you two put me to shame! I need to step up my game!

 

[VickiHD]

I do something similar but I use one of those small expandable file folders. Like this

I usually organize it by day. So the day we leave has boarding passes, hotel reservation info etc. and then waivers for expo day etc. Information on dining reservations by day and then my daily schedule of activities. I call it the travel bible.

I'm trying to decide what I want to do on luggage. We paid to check bags on our last trip to WDW and decided it was so worth it not to mess with carry on. But, I also worry about race stuff, so am debating about a smaller carryon for race items. But, I'd love to have no carry on at all. It's a nonstop flight, so odds are slim the luggage won't make it and we'd have nearly 2 days before our first race for it to get to us even if it did get lost. But, then I fret about if it doesn't make it. But, then it's just an excuse to buy clothes at the expo right? Or make a road trip to INKnBURN headquarters. So, yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do yet.

It's funny I use that organizer thing for trips to WDW since that is so overwhelming compared to DL trips.

 

[roxymama]

And I'm stealing all these lists. I'm probably also packing a bathing suit even though I'm not really planning on swimming but I hate when I don't have it and then a hot tub or pool calls to me.

I'm bringing a rolling carry on and a large purse/bag for the plane without checking any luggage. So I'm going to try to leave that purse/bag as empty-ish as possible so that I can stuff my new goodies into it! And I'm not going to pack a small park purse because DOONEY! My plan is to do everything possible not to over-pack for non-race park days, but to make sure I have everything possible I could need for race day. I'd imagine if I were doing more than one race I'd end up checking a bag.

So yeah...stealing your lists.

 

[The Expert]

I *think* it's the $78 deal. Last year I had an AP so I got them for free...so I'm not sure if the PhotoPass needs to be purchased ahead of time or what. But $78 for park pictures AND race pictures is a good deal, I think.

OH does anyone know if AP still gets them free? And what levels of AP? I'm doing Light Side in January (if reg ever opens) and it's a wash to do an AP in terms of park days, but if it gave me photo pass for both races (versus spending $78 twice), that might just put me over the edge to getting one.

 

[Ariel484]

OH does anyone know if AP still gets them free? And what levels of AP? I'm doing Light Side in January (if reg ever opens) and it's a wash to do an AP in terms of park days, but if it gave me photo pass for both races (versus spending $78 twice), that might just put me over the edge to getting one.

Definitely study what is included in the APs before you purchase. I'm sure they can change the terms at any time!

 

[Jsciv]

OH does anyone know if AP still gets them free? And what levels of AP? I'm doing Light Side in January (if reg ever opens) and it's a wash to do an AP in terms of park days, but if it gave me photo pass for both races (versus spending $78 twice), that might just put me over the edge to getting one.

Perk as listed on the DL website: "All your Disney PhotoPass photos and attraction photos are now included with your Disney Signature, Disney Signature Plus or Disney Premier Annual Passport."

 

[NewRunner]

I read that the VIP Experience includes Photopass...does anyone know if that's only Photopass for race day...or would it include the whole weekend? I don't know how Photopass works at Disneyland so unsure about this? Thanks!

 

[roxymama]

I think I definitely want photopass for this weekend. We don't get it when I'm at WDW because my hubby is so good at taking iphone pictures and he's a master editor on that thing on the fly...but I'm so not good at taking pictures...and really really really terrible at selfies. The fact that it is cheaper than WDW is a bonus for sure.
So I'll probably bug you all on tips as we get closer (like for park photospots/magicshots/etc) I'm a photopass newbie.

 

[The Expert]

Perk as listed on the DL website: "All your Disney PhotoPass photos and attraction photos are now included with your Disney Signature, Disney Signature Plus or Disney Premier Annual Passport."

Damn. I'm looking at Deluxe. The Signature pass math definitely doesn't work! Thanks for finding that.

 

[roxymama]

In case y'all wanted to be excited (or freaked out) about something.
The 10 day weather forecast now officially includes Thursday 5/11.

high 81/low 60, 0% chance of rain, humidity 32%
Well that just sounds downright lovely

Looks like rest of weekend on the "monthly" reports are pretty much the same, although I realize we are still pretty far out. Eeeeee!!!

 

[ZellyB]

In case y'all wanted to be excited (or freaked out) about something.
The 10 day weather forecast now officially includes Thursday 5/11.

high 81/low 60, 0% chance of rain, humidity 32%
Well that just sounds downright lovely

Looks like rest of weekend on the "monthly" reports are pretty much the same, although I realize we are still pretty far out. Eeeeee!!!

Sounds heavenly to me. Maybe a bit warm for running, but I'll manage.

 

[VickiHD]

In case y'all wanted to be excited (or freaked out) about something.
The 10 day weather forecast now officially includes Thursday 5/11.

high 81/low 60, 0% chance of rain, humidity 32%
Well that just sounds downright lovely

Looks like rest of weekend on the "monthly" reports are pretty much the same, although I realize we are still pretty far out. Eeeeee!!!

I was JUST going to check the weather !!!! 14 days now until the EXPO !!!!

 

[hulamom]

Hi everybody! My friend and I are running in the Tinkerbell 10k -- it's our first... actually our first RunDisney event ever and we are super excited. Newbie questions (and apologies if everybody know this):

1. What time should be arrive in the corral? The guide says 4:30 but that's an hour before race start. Is that a correct estimate?

2. Can we enter the corrals on Disneyland Drive via Katella? We are staying at the Residence Inn next to the convention center near the corner of Katella and Harbor so hoping to just walk there. Otherwise, is the only entrance from the main entrance off Harbor?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ZellyB]

Hi everybody! My friend and I are running in the Tinkerbell 10k -- it's our first... actually our first RunDisney event ever and we are super excited. Newbie questions (and apologies if everybody know this):

1. What time should be arrive in the corral? The guide says 4:30 but that's an hour before race start. Is that a correct estimate?

2. Can we enter the corrals on Disneyland Drive via Katella? We are staying at the Residence Inn next to the convention center near the corner of Katella and Harbor so hoping to just walk there. Otherwise, is the only entrance from the main entrance off Harbor?

Thanks in advance!

Hi. This is my first DL race, but I've run quite a few races at WDW. They do ask you to arrive at the corrals pretty early and at least at WDW, we try to get there early. You may be able to push that back some, and I defer to the DL racing vets here on that, but you don't want to push it off too much. The races are big and crowded and you want to be sure you give yourself plenty of time to get where you need to be.

I do think that you can get to the corrals via that route (at least I'm hoping so) since we are also staying at the Residence Inn by the convention center. But, I'll listen to the vets on this one as well.

So, basically, I wasn't much help, but

 

[Jsciv]

1. What time should be arrive in the corral? The guide says 4:30 but that's an hour before race start. Is that a correct estimate?

2. Can we enter the corrals on Disneyland Drive via Katella? We are staying at the Residence Inn next to the convention center near the corner of Katella and Harbor so hoping to just walk there. Otherwise, is the only entrance from the main entrance off Harbor?

1. You can get to the corrals later, but you'll be further back in the pack. I'm not fast so I don't care about being early in the corral, so I usually enter closer to 5:00 (but by then all of the events in the family area are pretty much done and every minute or so the person on stage is saying "go to the corrals!").

2. Disneyland has new security setups such that you MUST come in through one of the security gates in order to get to the race start, and the entrance to the corrals is inside security so you'll have to walk to one of those entrances regardless. I've only ever raced with a Southbound start (and I drive to the parking structure) so I don't know exactly where it will be (possibly nobody does since this will be the first Northbound start since the security border was expanded), but it's probable they'll have a security gate down that way. You should be able to ask when you pick up your race materials if nobody else can answer you.

 

[Calfan]

Hi everybody! My friend and I are running in the Tinkerbell 10k -- it's our first... actually our first RunDisney event ever and we are super excited. Newbie questions (and apologies if everybody know this):

1. What time should be arrive in the corral? The guide says 4:30 but that's an hour before race start. Is that a correct estimate?

2. Can we enter the corrals on Disneyland Drive via Katella? We are staying at the Residence Inn next to the convention center near the corner of Katella and Harbor so hoping to just walk there. Otherwise, is the only entrance from the main entrance off Harbor?

Thanks in advance!

Hi. This is my first DL race, but I've run quite a few races at WDW. They do ask you to arrive at the corrals pretty early and at least at WDW, we try to get there early. You may be able to push that back some, and I defer to the DL racing vets here on that, but you don't want to push it off too much. The races are big and crowded and you want to be sure you give yourself plenty of time to get where you need to be.

I do think that you can get to the corrals via that route (at least I'm hoping so) since we are also staying at the Residence Inn by the convention center. But, I'll listen to the vets on this one as well.

So, basically, I wasn't much help, but

I've done two DL half marathons, so my experience isn't extensive, but for each race, I met the friend I was doing the race with in the lobby of the Grand Californian at 5:00 a.m. to walk over to the corrals. That got us there in plenty of time for last year's Tink and this year's Star Wars Light Side. Of course, if you are staying somewhere farther than the GC, you would need to build in extra walking time. But I see no reason to get to the corral area at 4:30 a.m. for a DL race.

 

[SparkleMotion]

So... a few questions for everyone. My boyfriend and I ran the Dopey Challenge last January. We had a trip planned to California to to visit an elderly relative, but for a variety of reasons that is no longer feasible. We were going to just cancel the trip entirely when we realized that the weekend is the Tinkerbell Half. Well, that C2C was just calling our names so... we jumped in and signed up.

Questions:
(1) We are arriving at 2:30 pm at LAX on Saturday. My mom is arriving a bit earlier than we are and can grab a rental car and pick us and our daughter up at baggage claim to drive us straight to the Expo. We see that it closes at 4 pm (GRR, why so early???). Thoughts on whether we are going to be able to make it before it closes down? I realize that much depends on whether the flight is on time - but assuming it is? I have read that we could likely go the the info booth super early Sunday morning and plead with runDisney to get our bibs if we don't get in on time.

(2) We are staying at the Embassy Suites Anaheim South. Is there a shuttle from there to the start? And just wondering if they do a shuttle to the park in general for post-race? Or maybe it's walkable? Hard to tell from what we can find on the web.

Very sorry if these questions or ones like them have already come up. I read about 25 pages in and then gave up.

Oh, and we are so inspired by Dopey, which was our first runDisney, that we are also doing costumes, so look for Wendy and John, and if you see us, say hi!

 

[Jsciv]

(2) We are staying at the Embassy Suites Anaheim South. Is there a shuttle from there to the start? And just wondering if they do a shuttle to the park in general for post-race? Or maybe it's walkable? Hard to tell from what we can find on the web.

According to the Digital Event Guide, Embassy Suites Anaheim South is indeed on the shuttle route. The guide is available on the Run Disney site under the Tinkerbell weekend and has TONS of great info!