2017 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend

[FloridaGirl087]

I would love to use this. Should I PM you my info? Thank you so much

Absolutely! Yes, please do and I will e-mail it over to Raw Threads. It may take a couple days for them to get back to you because I know their e-mail is busy, but please let me know if you don't hear from them next week and I'll follow up for you!

 

[TeeterTots]

I did it! I bit the procrastinating bullet and booked my flight! Yay! SW down and united back but it saved me $150 and I had reward $$...flight $17! Woot woot!

 

[Ariel484]

Been waiting all weekend to say this...Light Side is over and

WE'RE NEXT!!

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

Buses run from 3-4 for the half marathon and she needs to be in her corral by 5:30. There's a good 20-minute or so walk from the staging area (where the buses drop off) to Corrals. It'll be obvious to here where to go since 20K others will be going the same way.

I haven't done ChEAR Squad so can't help with that.

It sounds like you're taking the bus with her? So once she heads to Corrals you won't be able to go any further with her. Then you can get on the monorail (10-minute walk or so for you, volunteers or Cast Members will be happy to point out how to get there) and take that to the Magic Kingdom. You'll have a bit of a wait for her so I'd suggest signing up for runner tracking. She won't be getting to MK until mile 5/6. Being snacks/cash to buy snacks for yourself.

After you see her at MK you can hop back on the monorail back to Epcot to see the finish.

Thank you!!

I will be riding the bus with her to the corrals. She's only 15 and while quite responsible she gets very nervous before the races. I'd rather know she is safely on her way the corral. I do the same thing when she runs at Disneyland.

 

[JulieODC]

Been waiting all weekend to say this...Light Side is over and

WE'RE NEXT!!

Ahhh yay!!!

 

[miker1251]

Thank you!!

I will be riding the bus with her to the corrals. She's only 15 and while quite responsible she gets very nervous before the races. I'd rather know she is safely on her way the corral. I do the same thing when she runs at Disneyland.

Nerves before the race are common. It is great you will be with her until she starts for corral. A few things of which she, and you, should be aware. 1) Since you are staying at the POP, lines to get onto the bus will be long. Get there early. 2) The temperature and humidity will be higher that at DL. 3) After passing through security, there is a large area with lots of runners and spectators. Ask a volunteer which way runners go to get to corrals. 4) Walkout will be a little longer than at the Star Wars race. 4) IMHO the SW Lightside is the flattest of all Disney races. WDW has two overpasses at the end of the race meant to kick butt. 5) Once your daughter finishes the half, just follow the crowd back to the baggage check area (look at map in the Event Guide). You will be meeting her after the race once she passes through that area. It will probably be very crowded. Make sure you have a designated spot to meet. Hope this helps a little.

 

[Ariel484]

Thank you!!

I will be riding the bus with her to the corrals. She's only 15 and while quite responsible she gets very nervous before the races. I'd rather know she is safely on her way the corral. I do the same thing when she runs at Disneyland.

So when I spectated the Princess Half a couple of years ago, the three things I found to be most helpful in finding my BFF were my own knowledge of the race course, my own knowledge of WDW's transportation system, and being able to text with her to figure out where she was.

They do have runner tracking that you can sign up for to get text alerts...most of the time this works really well, but sometimes there can be a delay - that was the case when we were trying to see my BFF. There was a big delay with the texts and we didn't get timely updates for her (they send updates at the start, 5K, 10K, 15K and finish for half marathons, if I remember correctly). But she had her phone on her and was texting us to let us know where she was, so we knew when to look for her coming into the Magic Kingdom.

Here is last year's event guide so you can check out the course map: http://as1.wdpromedia.com/media/rundisney/pdf/princess/2016/2016-princess-race-weekend-program.pdf (since I don't anticipate 2017's event guide coming out for another few weeks...)

The courses should be exactly the same, if not very similar this year. You can see that the Magic Kingdom portion of the course comes in between Mile Markers 5 and 6 - plenty of time for you to see her at Main Street and the finish (forgot to mention in my previous post - you WILL NOT need to use a ticket to see her in Magic Kingdom). Pages 52-54 of the Event Guide linked above have information on the ChEAR Squad and spectator viewpoints.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

Nerves before the race are common. It is great you will be with her until she starts for corral. A few things of which she, and you, should be aware. 1) Since you are staying at the POP, lines to get onto the bus will be long. Get there early. 2) The temperature and humidity will be higher that at DL. 3) After passing through security, there is a large area with lots of runners and spectators. Ask a volunteer which way runners go to get to corrals. 4) Walkout will be a little longer than at the Star Wars race. 4) IMHO the SW Lightside is the flattest of all Disney races. WDW has two overpasses at the end of the race meant to kick butt. 5) Once your daughter finishes the half, just follow the crowd back to the baggage check area (look at map in the Event Guide). You will be meeting her after the race once she passes through that area. It will probably be very crowded. Make sure you have a designated spot to meet. Hope this helps a little.

Thank you for that it helps a lot! We are staying at Pop. We will plan on getting to the buses early. I was wondering about hills so that's good to know. She pointed out that Star Wars was a lot flatter than the Tink 1/2 she did last year. Not that Tink was "Hilly" but it did have some over passes.

So when I spectated the Princess Half a couple of years ago, the three things I found to be most helpful in finding my BFF were my own knowledge of the race course, my own knowledge of WDW's transportation system, and being able to text with her to figure out where she was.

They do have runner tracking that you can sign up for to get text alerts...most of the time this works really well, but sometimes there can be a delay - that was the case when we were trying to see my BFF. There was a big delay with the texts and we didn't get timely updates for her (they send updates at the start, 5K, 10K, 15K and finish for half marathons, if I remember correctly). But she had her phone on her and was texting us to let us know where she was, so we knew when to look for her coming into the Magic Kingdom.

Here is last year's event guide so you can check out the course map: http://as1.wdpromedia.com/media/rundisney/pdf/princess/2016/2016-princess-race-weekend-program.pdf (since I don't anticipate 2017's event guide coming out for another few weeks...)

The courses should be exactly the same, if not very similar this year. You can see that the Magic Kingdom portion of the course comes in between Mile Markers 5 and 6 - plenty of time for you to see her at Main Street and the finish (forgot to mention in my previous post - you WILL NOT need to use a ticket to see her in Magic Kingdom). Pages 52-54 of the Event Guide linked above have information on the ChEAR Squad and spectator viewpoints.

Thank you!!! I do sign up for the runner tracking. This time at Star Wars it was really off for the first half. I didn't get a start notification and her 5K time came in very wonky but it started working at the 10k time and was much more accurate. Part of that could have been the huge numbers in her corral (H) crossing the start all at the same time. Since we share the same iphone apple ID I use the "Find my iphone" feature to try to track her, lol. It's not perfect but gives me a general idea of where she's at.

Great id about texting me -- I totally missed her this race at the main street viewing and finish line. We were both there at the same time but since she was in a crowd of runners and I was in a crowd of spectators we didn't see each other.



Thanks for all the help!! We are both super excited for the Princess weekend. It's been a different trip for us to plan to WDW since it's all race centered. We are used to parks all day long both early and late but I think it will be a much more relaxed trip (for me at least, lol).

 

[bumbershoot]

The temperature and humidity will be higher that at DL.

Not necessarily! The temperature at least.

Princess 2015 it was literally freezing or below for the 5k. We were there for the January events and the 5k morning was almost freezing and that was bad enough (especially bc they refused to give out the space blankets and had no heaters...but for princess they changed their tune).

Be ready for literally any temperature for princess. (Ok maybe not 100 degrees or below zero)


Given that SW was 40s at the start, it's not an absolute that princess will be warmer. And the humidity when it's COLD makes it feel even colder.

 

[NewRunner]

Not necessarily! The temperature at least.

Princess 2015 it was literally freezing or below for the 5k. We were there for the January events and the 5k morning was almost freezing and that was bad enough (especially bc they refused to give out the space blankets and had no heaters...but for princess they changed their tune).

Be ready for literally any temperature for princess. (Ok maybe not 100 degrees or below zero)


Given that SW was 40s at the start, it's not an absolute that princess will be warmer. And the humidity when it's COLD makes it feel even colder.

I was there in 2015 and agree...I didn't do the 5k but it was VERY cold that day. Yet, if I remember right , the half marathon was quite hot so the temps over the weekend were varied. I thought I heard some cast members saying that was unseasonably cold, so I was hoping that we shouldn't have weather like that again this year? Does anyone know what the average temps are? Are we likely to have decent weather to run in (I know we should prepare for everything....I'm just hopeful for nice days).

 

[Ariel484]

I second the advice to be prepared for anything, not just with your race outfits but also with your throwaway clothes. The marathon last weekend was cold! Temperatures in the high 30s with 20ish MPH winds. Thankfully I had brought layers to wear in the corrals while waiting for the race to start (the worst part) and running clothes to layer!

I was there in 2015 and agree...I didn't do the 5k but it was VERY cold that day. Yet, if I remember right , the half marathon was quite hot so the temps over the weekend were varied. I thought I heard some cast members saying that was unseasonably cold, so I was hoping that we shouldn't have weather like that again this year? Does anyone know what the average temps are? Are we likely to have decent weather to run in (I know we should prepare for everything....I'm just hopeful for nice days).

Look at the crazy weather from Marathon weekend:

Thursday: high 70s and perfect
Friday: high 70s and perfect
Saturday: half marathon canceled due to lightning, temperatures dropping into the 40s
Sunday: high 30s and windy!

You just never know. Be prepared for anything!

 

[NewRunner]

Look at the crazy weather from Marathon weekend:

Thursday: high 70s and perfect
Friday: high 70s and perfect
Saturday: half marathon canceled due to lightning, temperatures dropping into the 40s
Sunday: high 30s and windy!

You just never know. Be prepared for anything! [/QUOTE]

Wow....when you put it in writing like that....it is crazy. Will def be ready for anything!

 

[Ariel484]

Wow....when you put it in writing like that....it is crazy. Will def be ready for anything!

Yeah...it was bizarre! Here's hoping Disney figures out how to control the weather sometime over the next few weeks!

 

[Ariel484]

Looking back at the Marathon Weekend weather thread, it looks like there wasn't a real sense of what the race weekend weather was going to be (especially the weirdness of Saturday - half marathon day and Sunday - marathon day) until the day before the race weekend actually began. So we can make guesses, but it can change!

 

[bumbershoot]

I thought I heard some cast members saying that was unseasonably cold, so I was hoping that we shouldn't ha

"Unseasonably" doesn't give any odds for the future though.

Not that I was visiting wdw then but January marathon weekend 2010 was called Disney on Ice for either the half or full. Because it was sleeting at the start. Sleet!

December 2010 hit the high 20s. That was our first trip. We went from the high 70s when we landed very late November to high 20s a week or so later. The day we left (2 week trip) in mid December it was in the 80s.

February 2013 was really cold everywhere in the area. I was so cold. We went to Daytona one day to met my cousins who had been on a Bahamas cruise and we were all turning blue! They had been wearing their jeans on the cruise and puffy jackets.

Marathon weekend 2014 got incredibly cold. I did my half (while very sick) and it was closing in on freezing then the next day for DS's Mile it was 80.

The 5k day the following year. We included the castaway challenge cruise that year and the day we disembarked we had to wear jeans and puffy coats to deal with the cold.

Then that year's princess 5k morning.


And weather can change 40+ degrees from day to day or even morning to afternoon.

Yeah...it was bizarre! Here's hoping Disney figures out how to control the weather sometime over the next few weeks!

If only they'd get to work on that dome!

 

[Keke]

Can someone check my spectator plan to see if this will work. It's my third Princess but my first with family there to cheer us on! Yay! Since it will be 3 small kids and 2 husbands, we decided the easiest idea would be for them to catch us around mile 12 or so in the Epcot area. This way they aren't dragging grumpy kids all over the place in the wee hours of the morning. So we plan for them to either catch a bus to Epcot or drive from AofAnimation around 8 am. From what I recall, we run pretty close to the bus drop and I remember spectators right before we entered the park. Then they can walk over to the finish line area. Does this sound feasible?

 

[Ariel484]

@Keke yes, I think so! Take your phone so you can update them on where you are.

 

[DisneyRay]

Sorry if this has been talked about earlier in the thread but 95 pages is a lot to go through. I am taking my DD for a Daddy/daughter trip to WDW and had planned to have our last day be at Epcot. I now see that that is the day of the Princess Half and wanted to know if it will impact our park experience. Should we avoid Epcot that day and go to a different park?

 

[Castle2Castle]

Sorry if this has been talked about earlier in the thread but 95 pages is a lot to go through. I am taking my DD for a Daddy/daughter trip to WDW and had planned to have our last day be at Epcot. I now see that that is the day of the Princess Half and wanted to know if it will impact our park experience. Should we avoid Epcot that day and go to a different park?

I think you'll be fine -- runners will circle through Future World to the edge of the World Showcase before running back out a service road to the finish line in the parking lot. With a conservative estimate of the last runners starting at 6:30 a.m. and a pace requirement of 3.5 hours, the park should be clear of active runners by 10 a.m. During the short time between open and the finish of the race, there will just be cast member crossings that slow you down getting from one side of Future World to the other (i.e. from The Land side to Test Track side).

 

[KateP85]

Is buying new running shoes at this point a terrible idea?