2026 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend

[PrincessV]

Here’s the thing with transportation: it takes time to rearrange cones, relocate law enforcement vehicles and CMs to redirect traffic. I don’t use buses, but as a car driver, I’ve sometimes had to wait for roads to reopen quite some time after runners are long gone from the EP entry/exit roads. I give rD/WDW a lot of flack, but I do think they prioritize road safety and think if part of a parking lot/road is closed, it will remain closed until the full race is finished: no way are they reopening for a short period of time then closing again - the logistics of that are just too sketchy. The pessimist in me assumes there will just be a whole lot more waiting around before and after the 5K.

But also, how does normal EP traffic fit into this? Assuming a 9am opening, resort buses normally start dropping off around 7:30a, right? Just as the last 5Kers start?? Will they go with a 10am opening to delay arrivals? That’s been done before.

It all sounds like a hot mess and I’m very glad it’s not my mess to figure out lol!

 

[KCO5988]

I mean, totally willing to register all 3 W&D races for you in exchange for your NYC marathon slot! (I kid, I kid.)

Hahaha! Believe me I'm stoked to be doing NYC. Registered with my charity before this year's race even happened to make sure I'd get that spot.

Not helpful (but maybe helpful), this year I flew to FL for the mushu 5K on Friday, flew back to DC Saturday and ran MCM on Sunday.

AND while at the expo on Saturday for MCM in DC, I saw someone in an Olaf 10K shirt from THAT morning!

Anything is possible for a great theme.

Hahaha you're not wrong! Maybe if I hadn't just done Dopey and wasn't also doing PW and SS, but I highly doubt I can get DH on board. I already used my "but omg the theme" to win him over on SS because of Winnie the Pooh lol.

 

[KellyKateri]

Saw on instagram someone speculating that the TTC may become a second “parking” location for the 5K. Maybe they’ll split up who can go where and when, but it’s good food for thought.

Have people do the pre-race characters etc all at the TTC, then have buses and monorails running to Epcot. That way, people can take the monorail as an exit after the race.

 

[bmr1591]

So here's my question about this: is this change being driven by runDisney, or by parks/resorts seeing the current slowdown in attendance and changes in travel habits and wanting to encourage more guests?

I think it's a pretty swift change, if it's an attempt to get more people IN the parks and hotels during peak hurricane season. But when you look at it in conjunction with free kids dining, and the other promotions they are running it is giving me pause.

Sure, the 5k (and everything else!) sells out quickly, but I'm assuming they are at a minimum doubling the number of bibs available (and hopefully spreading it the waves more for character lines.)

I’m going to guess it’s a rundisney change that parks is reluctantly agreeing to because of the slower expected traffic. The reason I say this is that they’re only increasing the 5K, the one race they can easily get people out of the parks before opening. The others haven’t added space because those affect park ops more dramatically.

 

[accm]

Another thing I considered. I wonder if they're adding enough 5k spots that it won't sell out immediately. So when regular park guests find out their trip is going to be impacted by the race, they have a chance to sign up for a race if they want. Maybe this improves the optics for infrequent guests who don't bother looking into what will be going on during their trip? Maybe people will feel less negative about a race they could sign up for, versus one that was already fully sold out by the time they booked? Or maybe I'm putting way more thought into this than Disney/runDisney...

 

[fatmanatee]

When they first announced this I figured they would add enough spots to fill an additional corral, maybe 20 percent more. That would mean that sellout times probably aren't THAT different than what we've seen in the past. They get more revenue from the races, spread out corral start times so the race isn't as crowded, etc. Assess how it goes in October and if it works out well then maybe you think about adding even more spots.

If they double the spots? No idea how that'll go, across the board.

 

[The Expert]

I can see this happening, actually. They may hold back a chunk of the bibs and release them later or on a regular schedule to give the newbies a chance. I don't hate that idea.