Official Avengers Super Hero Half Marathon Weekend 2014 Thread!

[jeanigor]

Is anyone familiar with the Fairfield Inn on Harbor? It doesn't look like it would be a bad walk, but not sure of the logistics?

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/laxoc-fairfield-inn-anaheim-disneyland-resort/

I've stayed around the corner at the Quality Inn (which is a further walk by about 5 minutes due to walls and large landscaping). It is a quick walk to the Esplanade where the ART buses drop off. Its not the closest, but it is certainly reasonable!

 

[kirstie101]

Is anyone familiar with the Fairfield Inn on Harbor? It doesn't look like it would be a bad walk, but not sure of the logistics?

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/laxoc-fairfield-inn-anaheim-disneyland-resort/

I haven't stayed there but I've stayed at Hojo's which is one property further away than the Fairfield. To get to the parks you just walk down Harbor a block or so and cross the street at the crosswalk and that puts you at the shuttle drop off /entrance to the parks. Its maybe a 8-10 minute walk from the Fairfield to the park gates. On race morning you'll just keep walking through the Esplanade and then through Downtown Disney to get to the race start area. When I stayed at Hojo's it was about a 20 minute walk before the race and a 30 minute walk after the race. There will be lots of people walking over for you to walk with or follow.

 

[Krandor]

So I have a question. I know at WDW, it is easier to stay on-site since they do busses to the starting lines and all that. It sounds like it is not quite the same at DLR. So is there any real reason to stay in the more expensive on-site properties? How tough is it to get from the off-site hotels to the parks or the starting line?

I know. Newbie question, but never been out to disneyland before.

 

[poppinspal]

So I'm looking at the deals on Get travel. I plan on staying for four nights as it's my first trip to Disneyland and the day of the half is my birthday. (Yay!!) Get travel seems to only have a limited amount of days. Can you book with them beyond the days listed or is that it? Also has anyone ever booked the hotel with Disney and the tickets with Get?

Sorry Disneyland is so new to me.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Thanks Kirstie101 and Jeanigor! I have a room booked at that Fairfield, looks like I'll keep it!

 

[VAfamily1998]

So I have a question. I know at WDW, it is easier to stay on-site since they do busses to the starting lines and all that. It sounds like it is not quite the same at DLR. So is there any real reason to stay in the more expensive on-site properties? How tough is it to get from the off-site hotels to the parks or the starting line?

I know. Newbie question, but never been out to disneyland before.

Hi! I've only run one Disneyland race, which was Tinker Bell 1/2 a couple months ago. That time, I went with 2 friends and we stayed onsite at the Grand Californian (expensive, but not as bad since we were splitting the cost 3 ways plus one friend had an employee discount!).
At that time, I think this was a good decision. We stayed 3 nights, went into the parks all 4 days we were there, and the early admission in the mornings really helped us get in some rides before the big crowds.

For this race, I do not plan to stay onsite. I'll be on my own this time--so the cost will be MUCH more, and I don't plan to go to the parks, so the early admission incentive is not as big. I used to live in Orange county, and still have lots of friends and family in the area--so my stay in Anaheim is really just going to be about easy access to the race in the morning, and the other days in So. Cal I will be staying with family or friends and hanging out with them--not in Disney.

So, my answer to you would be: If you are doing this as a trip with family/friends and plan to go to the parks while you are there, it might be worth it to stay on site. If you are mainly just going for the race, and don't plan to spend time in the parks, then off site should be fine--at least, that's what I'm doing

 

[jeanigor]

So I have a question. I know at WDW, it is easier to stay on-site since they do busses to the starting lines and all that. It sounds like it is not quite the same at DLR. So is there any real reason to stay in the more expensive on-site properties? How tough is it to get from the off-site hotels to the parks or the starting line?

I know. Newbie question, but never been out to disneyland before.

If you can walk from the Swan/Dolphin to International Gateway or the Studios, you can just as easily stay at most good neighbor hotels. There is a sticky on the Disneyland forum.

So I'm looking at the deals on Get travel. I plan on staying for four nights as it's my first trip to Disneyland and the day of the half is my birthday. (Yay!!) Get travel seems to only have a limited amount of days. Can you book with them beyond the days listed or is that it? Also has anyone ever booked the hotel with Disney and the tickets with Get?

Sorry Disneyland is so new to me.

They may have a contractual set number of days at a set price, so contacting GET directly would probably be your best bet.
I did get entry into the Inaugural Tink through GET and park tickets another time. Flawless and friendly.

 

[kirstie101]

So I have a question. I know at WDW, it is easier to stay on-site since they do busses to the starting lines and all that. It sounds like it is not quite the same at DLR. So is there any real reason to stay in the more expensive on-site properties? How tough is it to get from the off-site hotels to the parks or the starting line?

I know. Newbie question, but never been out to disneyland before.

Its very easy to get to the parks and starting line from most of the off-site hotels on Harbor and Katella. From Harbor you just walk to the Pedestrian entrance which is also where the shuttles drop off. From Katella you walk down to disneyland drive for the race start. If staying on Katella and visiting the parks you walk down disneyland drive, cut through the GCH hotel if you wish, and get to downtown disney that way. Or you can skip the short cut and just take Disneyland drive and walk down to Downtown Disney. We go to DL a few times a year and always stay offsite.

For Tink this past year I stayed on-site at PPH. The previous year I stayed at my go to offsite hotel which is Hojo's. I will say that PPH is my new race hotel. I was in Corral C. I walked out the doors of the hotel on race morning and I was at the corrals. 5 minutes after finishing the race I was back in my room stretching out. Though the 20 minute walk to/from Hojo's was totally doable, I'm willing to pay the extra $ for the ability to sleep in on race day! Plus I split the hotel room with my mom so that makes it more affordable.

So I'm looking at the deals on Get travel. I plan on staying for four nights as it's my first trip to Disneyland and the day of the half is my birthday. (Yay!!) Get travel seems to only have a limited amount of days. Can you book with them beyond the days listed or is that it? Also has anyone ever booked the hotel with Disney and the tickets with Get?

Sorry Disneyland is so new to me.

I'm not sure if you can book through GET travel beyond the days listed. I'd try booking through the hotels directly before booking with GET travel for the offsite hotels. Rates might be a bit cheaper that way, especially if you have any discounts like AAA that you could use.

Edit to add that we booked PPH through GET travel last year and this year and everything went smoothly.

 

[sanibel93]

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn with my daughter for the Tinkerbell 1/2. Was a short walk to the race, about 1 block from the hotel to the entrance to the park. The hotel was nice and clean and rooms were ok. Staying there again for the Avengers 1/2.

 

[VAfamily1998]

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn with my daughter for the Tinkerbell 1/2. Was a short walk to the race, about 1 block from the hotel to the entrance to the park. The hotel was nice and clean and rooms were ok. Staying there again for the Avengers 1/2.

Thanks! I will see you there, I guess!

 

[pxefig]

What's going on with the pasta in the park party booking? It's 97% full but the only spots you can register for are kids. I'm booked up already but I have a friend who has decided to take the plunge and do the weekend with me but can't sign up for the pasta dinner.
What part of this am I missing? I would think the limit would be on room capacity and not on age. But nothing in runDisney's world works the way I think it should, and this will be the first pasta in the park party I do so I really have no idea how they operate!

 

[JRM393]

Anyone have any insight on getting from DL to the train station? I saw you can take the Pacific Surfliner (I think?) not far from what I can only assume is the Angels stadium. It seemed like it was still a few miles down, but I wasn't sure if this was the best way to get up to Union Station. Also would it be a safe bet to take a Taxi the few miles to get from DL to that particular station? It looked like this train happened to go right up to Union Station without having to get off.

We are planning on taking the Starlight up to Salinas on that Monday and wasn't sure if this was the best option or if not what the best one would be? Any insight would be great!

 

[pxefig]

What's going on with the pasta in the park party booking? It's 97% full but the only spots you can register for are kids. I'm booked up already but I have a friend who has decided to take the plunge and do the weekend with me but can't sign up for the pasta dinner.
What part of this am I missing? I would think the limit would be on room capacity and not on age. But nothing in runDisney's world works the way I think it should, and this will be the first pasta in the park party I do so I really have no idea how they operate!

Ha! I get to answer my own question. I emailed runDisney and got a response in like an hour- they opened up more adult dinner tickets, so YAY for things being taken care of!

 

[VAfamily1998]

Have they released any stats on the number of runners in the 1/2 marathon? And when do they know approx. how many men vs. women will be running? I saw someone on the facebook page mentioned something about it being a male-centered race (they may have used different words) and I was just wondering if a lot more men then women are signing up? It seems that in general at races there are more women than men.

 

[Castle2Castle]

Have they released any stats on the number of runners in the 1/2 marathon? And when do they know approx. how many men vs. women will be running? I saw someone on the facebook page mentioned something about it being a male-centered race (they may have used different words) and I was just wondering if a lot more men then women are signing up? It seems that in general at races there are more women than men.

None that I've seen. They seem like they only announce the stats with the release of the official event brochure closer to the actual event date.

Without seeing what was said on Facebook, though, I've heard other people talking about it being a more male-focused race relative to Princess or Tinkerbell; it seems to be more about perception than anything related to stats. It probably will be less overwhelmingly female than those two races but still probably more women than men comparable to the WDW and DL 1/2 marathons which don't have overtly female themes.

 

[rachlovestv]

Have they released any stats on the number of runners in the 1/2 marathon? And when do they know approx. how many men vs. women will be running? I saw someone on the facebook page mentioned something about it being a male-centered race (they may have used different words) and I was just wondering if a lot more men then women are signing up? It seems that in general at races there are more women than men.

I don't think it would be accurate to say it's male-centric in the same way that Tinkerbell and princess are female-centric. It's just a normal race.

I think what makes people think it might be male-centric is the superhero theme, but don't believe it! Superheroes are for girls, too!

 

[ten6mom]

My BF and I got in for the 5K. It'll be my first ever run of any kind and we are so excited! I found out about early registration by accident from the DIS so thank you all so much!

 

[swooshbear]

If you can walk from the Swan/Dolphin to International Gateway or the Studios, you can just as easily stay at most good neighbor hotels. There is a sticky on the Disneyland forum.


They may have a contractual set number of days at a set price, so contacting GET directly would probably be your best bet.
I did get entry into the Inaugural Tink through GET and park tickets another time. Flawless and friendly.

After a few trips to WDW and all the walking we did, we found that walking from any of the hotels on Harbor to DL is nothing. On our last trip, we stayed at the Hilton Anaheim (next to the convention center) and the walk felt short compared to some of the treks we did at WDW - walking around resorts like Saratoga Springs, Caribbean Beach, etc.

 

[TheDisneyDoll]

It was such a relief to get registered for the Half and the 5k. This is my first half marathon and I'm super nervous! But I can't wait to dress up and see the characters!

 

[bumbershoot]

Anyone have any insight on getting from DL to the train station? I saw you can take the Pacific Surfliner (I think?) not far from what I can only assume is the Angels stadium. It seemed like it was still a few miles down, but I wasn't sure if this was the best way to get up to Union Station. Also would it be a safe bet to take a Taxi the few miles to get from DL to that particular station? It looked like this train happened to go right up to Union Station without having to get off.

We are planning on taking the Starlight up to Salinas on that Monday and wasn't sure if this was the best option or if not what the best one would be? Any insight would be great!

Taxi! Easy peasy.

And yes it's in the Angels stadium parking lot, which is weird.

Catch a Surfliner that's earlier than you think you'll need. Amtrak's timing gets off the further along a line you go, so expect your Surfliner to be late, and don't make it a made rush to catch the Starlight (or worse, miss it, and have to stay overnight).