2016 WDW Star Wars race rumors?

[MeridaAndAngus]

As we approach registration for the 2016 DL Star Wars half marathon weekend, I find myself wondering more about a possible 2016 SW race weekend in Disney World. Since this weekend will be the last running of the Expedition Everest Challenge, many have speculated that a new WDW race would take its place in 2016.

Does anyone have any new (credible) info on whether rD might be adding a SW race weekend at WDW? If so, how far in advance do you think rD would announce it? It seems that rD mostly opens registration for race weekends about 6-7 months ahead of the race weekend.

It would be awesome if they announced a special Coast to Coast SW challenge before the 2016 DL SW half weekend. Also, it would be easier to plan my rD race budget for 2016 if they announced soon

 

[Nole95]

This is something I have speculated about and hope that they eventually do. It is easy money for RunDisney and would bring a much needed race back to WDW. With Tower and EEC going away, DL will now have more race weekends than WDW.

On another thread, someone claiming to have a source in RunDisney said they were looking into adding another half marathon in May. To me it would be a no brainer to have some kind of night Star Wars race to kick off Star Wars Weekends, have it be a Dark Side Half Marathon, and pair it up with the DL race where you get a special coast to coast medal for only doing those two races. Yes, it would still be warm, but having it at night would offset that somewhat, and I have seen the stories about how warm Tower has been in September/October, and I can tell you it was quite warm for the DL half last year.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I really doubt Disney is going to do a Star Wars Half at WDW. We get to have Star Wars Weekends, which they don't get to have.

 

[Castle2Castle]

I wouldn't count on anything for 2016. Expedition Everest's end seems more a result of the continuing construction in Animal Kingdom and the scheduled debut of the nighttime spectacular in Spring of next year; it makes sense that the Parks division would not want to close the park early while making their push to have guests stay in the park later. If that's the case, they're not likely to plan any other race for that time period in 2016.

Assuming attendance numbers with the nighttime entertainment and the 2017 opening of Avatarland support a runDisney race returning to the May time slot, I think it likely Avatar would be the front-running theme for a new race -- especially an AK centric race.

A Star Wars theme seems to appeal most to runDisney fans closer to Florida who don't want the higher travel costs of going to Disneyland, or who simply prefer WDW to Disneyland. Keeping in mind that runDisney races are typically during lower attendance times to boost revenue for the parks and resorts, Disneyland benefits more from exclusive races providing additional incentive to travel there. Even if Disney and runDisney agree that Star Wars in WDW wouldn't cannibalize the Disneyland race, I think they'd center that more around Hollywood Studios and likely not until the rumored expansion of the Star Wars presence in that park (a few years down the road).

 

[Keels]

I was totally thinking it would be another Star Wars race for WDW, but now I've changed my mind.

With all the construction, I'm thinking it's going to be a Pirates-themed race that involves the water parks.

 

[DOOM1001]

All I know is WDW needs a new full race weekend,you can't get rid of TOT and Everest without something to replace it.I'm hoping TOT comes back so I would leave October open for that to come back but a May nighttime marathon would be great and now that Keels mentioned including waterparks that has me even more intrigued,can you imagine running a half marathon through Blizzard Beach and finishing at Typhoon Lagoon and 10 minutes after you finish exchanging your run clothes for some swim trunks and heading for the TL wave pool with the waves wiping you out or likely even more popular 10,000 runners being extra lazy in the lazy river .I don't know how many people will be climbing the stairs to the big slides but a waterpark for about 2-3 hours after finishing a race is right up my alley.I still do think at some point a Star Wars race will come to WDW but I love waterparks and it would be cool to run through them and then cool off in them after the race.

 

[taffy]

I was thinking they would create some kind of Avatar themed race when the new expansion happens in AK.

 

[Keels]

All I know is WDW needs a new full race weekend,you can't get rid of TOT and Everest without something to replace it.I'm hoping TOT comes back so I would leave October open for that to come back but a May nighttime marathon would be great and now that Keels mentioned including waterparks that has me even more intrigued,can you imagine running a half marathon through Blizzard Beach and finishing at Typhoon Lagoon and 10 minutes after you finish exchanging your run clothes for some swim trunks and heading for the TL wave pool with the waves wiping you out or likely even more popular 10,000 runners being extra lazy in the lazy river .I don't know how many people will be climbing the stairs to the big slides but a waterpark for about 2-3 hours after finishing a race is right up my alley.I still do think at some point a Star Wars race will come to WDW but I love waterparks and it would be cool to run through them and then cool off in them after the race.

That's what I was thinking! If you're going to do a summer race in Florida, it needs to be at night and there needs to be a serious payoff. Nighttime in the wave pool or the river? Heck yes! I'm in!

 

[DOOM1001]

I was thinking they would create some kind of Avatar themed race when the new expansion happens in AK.

I just can't see the popularity of an Avatar race,plenty of threads on these boards talking about how even if the the new area and attractions at AK is amazing the movie just doesn't have the popularity of the Star Wars movies.I'll tell you what,Avatar was the Disney response from Universal getting Harry Potter,if Universal were to ever get in the race game a Potter half marathon would be a great solution for the Run Disney popularity.You put a Halloween Horror Night half marathon in October at Universal and a Potter half marathon at the end of January I guarantee you Wine and Dine and the Disney marathon weekend races will not be selling out in an hour.

 

[taffy]

I think we shall have to wait and see when avatar 2 is released . I think serious thought and finances have gone into the avatar theming and someone must think it has some payoff in the Disney brand. I think the 2.7 billion plus in box office shows there is an audience that they hope will enter the parks .

 

[DOOM1001]

I think the attraction at AK if Disney does it right can be a great addition,it will never be anywhere near as popular as a Star Wars or Harry Potter addition but if it has good immersive attractions people will enjoy it.The movie itself, I fell asleep while watching it,I tried watching it again on cable and I just had to change it,no way I could finish.I also don't see it working as a race,I see youtube videos of the Star Wars race in DL and there's tons of people in costumes,Star Wars is great for costumes,tons of options for people to wear,I just can't see a couple thousand people wearing Na'vi blue suits.I went to see the movie to see for the 3-D and visual elements but the plot itself just didn't go anywhere for me and unless someone makes me go see part 2 I think I'll skip it,unless of course if the reviews that come in are amazing.

 

[Ariel484]

I don't think they should have 2 Star Wars race weekends. Disney has so many other great properties they can draw from for inspiration.

My vote - Pixar Race Weekend!! Make this happen and take all my money, runDisney!!

 

[Castle2Castle]

I just can't see the popularity of an Avatar race...

I think you may be tying movie popularity too much in with race popularity. Neither Expedition Everest nor Tower of Terror have a popular movie tie-in, let alone movie franchise, and they've worked just fine as race themes by virtue of being centerpieces of their respective parks. If runDisney returns a race to Animal Kingdom in 2017 or 2018, Avatarland will be the new big thing for the park and be as sensible a race theme as EEC and TOT have been, with the addition of being marketable beyond people familiar with the park attractions.

As far as water parks, I'm not sure if they could convince parks to host an after party in either of them -- they may not be outfitted for nighttime operation leading to greater liability issues -- but they could provide an alternate course option for the next couple Wine & Dine races if construction in Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (rumored) pose any problems...

 

[derekleigh]

I don't think they should have 2 Star Wars race weekends. Disney has so many other great properties they can draw from for inspiration.

My vote - Pixar Race Weekend!! Make this happen and take all my money, runDisney!!

I agree. I've said before that I hope rD doesn't have a second Star Wars themed race when Disney has so many characters. An Avatar themed race weekend just doesn't seem to be a huge draw. I really do think TOT weekend will return. If not a Halloween themed race weekend should be used sometime in October

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I think you may be tying movie popularity too much in with race popularity.

I agree - people will come to WDW for just about any race theme. Why? Because it is a Disney race, and Disney does these better than anyone else. Heck, runners come from many miles away to run from a "blerch".

 

[RunDisney Crazy]

I must say I've never seen Avatar, so it really holds no interest for me. I think without a doubt, there will be a Star Wars themed race at WDW eventually. More than any other races, people are begging for it, it's a huge world-wide draw, and a money of river. This race would set the record for a RunDisney Race sellout. But I think it will be years down the road with construction and what not.

I have read that someone who was on the Castaway Challenge Cruise recently heard a talk by RunDisney reps and it was mentioned that ToT was done with. Now that is a shame.

WDW definitely needs to add races with the elimination of ToT and EEC. I plan on going to DL next year as part of my C2C, but let's face it. Limited places to stay, expensive, limited race distances. WDW needs additional races. They are hampered by the heat and humidity, but it's mostly about fun, so although the conditions are not optimal for racing, no one is looking or most people aren't looking to set world records. I've never thought or heard of a water park race, but I would be all about that after party. But logistically, it probably isn't possible. But that is another reason I believe WDW will host a Star Wars race, so it can be held at night, help a little with the heat, it's Star Wars and nighttime, hello, plus even more money if you factor in a special coast to coast challenge with DL.

We are just slaves.

 

[AThrillingChase]

I have mixed feelings about the races. I loved TOT and understood they'd close it due to construction...but W&D is still happening with the Osborne lights that are in the area rumored to close. So I am just totally confused on that one. I'm not sure we will get it back because it was a smaller weekend, smaller expo etc. They may just expand on it, or replace it. I do think any HS race will be a "darker" race like villains or star wars since MK and EP have already nailed the princess theme so well.

I understand the argument about FL already having SWW and agreed for awhile, but at the same time Disney isn't going to walk away from a cash cow. Plus they have the avengers race and attractions (hopefully) out there that we cannot on the east coast. So why not make as much money as possible?? Not to mention, they have SO many more hotels here to fill vs. Cali -- building up FL races seems like a no brainer. I'd venture when these expansions are done they will start popping up like crazy!

 

[rteetz]

I have mixed feelings about the races. I loved TOT and understood they'd close it due to construction...but W&D is still happening with the Osborne lights that are in the area rumored to close. So I am just totally confused on that one. I'm not sure we will get it back because it was a smaller weekend, smaller expo etc. They may just expand on it, or replace it. I do think any HS race will be a "darker" race like villains or star wars since MK and EP have already nailed the princess theme so well.

I understand the argument about FL already having SWW and agreed for awhile, but at the same time Disney isn't going to walk away from a cash cow. Plus they have the avengers race and attractions (hopefully) out there that we cannot on the east coast. So why not make as much money as possible?? Not to mention, they have SO many more hotels here to fill vs. Cali -- building up FL races seems like a no brainer. I'd venture when these expansions are done they will start popping up like crazy!

The Osborne lights are still there for this year. There isn't any construction started yet and doubt anything will be started by that time.

 

[AThrillingChase]

The Osborne lights are still there for this year. There isn't any construction started yet and doubt anything will be started by that time.

Right, sorry that wasn't clear - I meant I'm confused why they can't just have TOT then. I thought they'd closed it since construction would start, but W&D and the lights proves it isn't starting (at least not in any large fashion). Sooo...I just don't get the TOT closure. You win mouse. lol.

 

[crewmatt]

The construction is likely the backlot tour area which would interfere with ToT. But not with W&D.