DH and I both ran the half this weekend. I agree with a lot of what Rose said above.
We did not run last year's Wine and Dine. I have run the Princess at Disney and DH has done several local to us halfs, but this was his first Disney race.
BUS: We got to the Boardwalk bus stop just before 7:30 and waited 30 minutes (one or two buses came in that time but filled up). If we had been any later in line, I would have been more bothered by the bus issues. As PPs have noted, total traffic jam for the buses to drop us off. I'm not sure how to remedy that, but there must be a way for Disney to make it more efficient.
POTTIES: Lines for these before the race got insane. DH waited 30 minutes and I decided not to use them. There were more potties further across the holding area, but we didn't see them until we went to corrals. So maybe they just needed a sign pointing to the other location? Or perhaps this was a result of the bus situation. Still love that the restrooms in the parks on the race course were open! I have yet to use a port-a-potty at a Disney race.
CORRALS: I loved having the corrals so close (unlike the Princess) to the holding area. I also liked heading to the corrals later - a PP mentioned this might have been because of the late buses, but either way, I liked it. I was in B and DH was in A. Having the staggered starts was great - I think 5 minutes apart was just the right amount.
COURSE: There were a lot of turns and it was dark, but I never felt unsafe. As a walk/run person, maybe I just wasn't fast enough to have those parts of the course be a concern. There was a lot of congestion, but I wasn't passing many people, so it wasn't much of a problem for me. I just stayed to the right and let everyone run around. Surprisingly for me, Animal Kingdom was the highlight of the race. It was early enough that my injuries weren't bugging me, the decorations and music were fun, and the volunteers were awesome!
ENTERTAINMENT: I thought this course had less entertainment than the Princess. It FELT like it had a lot less, but in reality, it was probably only a few less things.
The enjoyment value may also have been partially an error on my part - due to ITBS that will just not quit, I had to walk to majority of the race, and yet I decided not to listen to my iPod at all, but rather, soak up the atmosphere of a Disney race. If I had been feeling physically better or had listened to some of my own Disney music for the highway stretches, maybe I would have enjoyed the race a little more.
On a practical note, my electrician/techie DH pointed out that it being a night race, every single entertainment spot was extremely expensive - generators, lights, staffing, etc.
FINISH: I couldn't tell where the actual finish line was. As someone else mentioned, there were several of those mats leading up to it, so I wasn't sure which one was the end. I don't think a bigger "FINISH" archway or decorations is too much to ask. Oh, and they didn't say my name. I didn't care about that specifically, but combined with the rest of the lame Finish line - Disney can do better.
POST-FINISH AREAS: This all flowed really smoothly. DH finished a little after midnight and I finished at 1am. People moved freely to the medals, food goody bag, waters, etc. Bag check took 2 minutes to get. Changing areas were a great idea. Were the massage people there? I didn't look all that hard, but couldn't find them. Like Rose, DH and I were really disappointed in the "free" beverage area. It's called the "Wine and Dine Half" and we were promised choice of wine or beer - not cool to only serve Bud and Coke - really should have had a wine option. Also, it was extremely congested to enter the front of the park. It didn't take too long, but it did cut into our party time.
PHOTOS: A little disappointed in lack of photographers and my finish photo is really terrible. But maybe it's a blessing given how expensive the pics are! I'm so glad I carried my camera and stopped for a few shots along the way.
AFTER-PARTY: I found this a little over-crowded. Also, I understand that from Disney's perspective, the party tickets were not "sold out." It wasn't unbearably crowded this year, but I hope that they don't try to fit more people next year! I appreciate that nearly the entire park was open for us to enjoy, but the majority of people were concentrated in the World Showcase. As a later finisher, with less than 90 minutes to enjoy the party, I didn't want to spend all our time waiting in the food kiosk lines. We eventually grabbed food at Singapore and one other place. I liked that there were characters - we were pretty excited to get our photo with Mushu.
My suggestions for next year's party -
* Only have the must-do rides in Future World open (Universe of Energy, really?)
* Have a few more character meets (since there are fewer characters and photo ops on the race course)
* Extra food/wine kiosks open - not sure this is totally possible - but maybe sell some wine and beer from beverage carts stationed in Future World? I know Food & Wine gets crowded during regular park hours, but at an "exclusive" after party, I didn't want to wait behind more than a few people for my Irish cheese plate.
Overall, it was a positive experience for us. DH is anxious to sign up for next year already. I'd like to do it, but I'm hoping I can get my time back to the 2:30 range again, so that I can enjoy more of the party.
I would think that Wine would be better for runners after a race anyway. I always thought fizzy drinks were bad news. Did they have Wine last year?
. It seemed to work well because I stayed with the same people (strangers) I started with for 5 miles and managed to stay on pace.
