Calling all Princesses! (2014 Princess half marathon board)

[SRUAlmn]

Gotcha. According to runD, the Princess breakfast is in the Family Reunion area, which wasn't in EP previous years; it's in the parking lot. So you'd for sure need to use tix to go through EP.

Oh geez! Thank you! I might be losing it I could've sworn I saw somewhere that the breakfast was in the Horizon pavilion in EPCOT. Thank you SO much for pointing that out for me. Guess that doesn't really give an advantage to the EPCOT resort area except that the bus ride would be a little shorter. All WDW resorts are host resorts, right? Thanks again!

 

[PrincessV]

Oh geez! Thank you! I might be losing it I could've sworn I saw somewhere that the breakfast was in the Horizon pavilion in EPCOT. Thank you SO much for pointing that out for me. Guess that doesn't really give an advantage to the EPCOT resort area except that the bus ride would be a little shorter. All WDW resorts are host resorts, right? Thanks again!

I'd call runD to confirm, just in case. I'm thinking it could possibly be in one of the pavilions - they could have you go in through a backstage entrance, since the course and start/finish area is more or less right behind Wonders of Life, Test Track, M:S. my other thought is that they may have it in the same tent as the half's race retreat. Either way, I think the odds of WDW letting anyone into EP without handing over their wallet is slim, lol!

If it helps any, I stayed at AKV Kidani last year - about as far away as you can get. And we were at the races in no time! We also had one of the shortest waits for buses back to AKV after the race. So I wouldn't put too much weight on proximity.

 

[mommy2lt]

Back to the Airline talk..... I booked the other day and it cost a fortune, but it was the only way I could guarantee getting the 1 nonstop flight they do a day because I am traveling alone and REALLY didn't want to attempt to navigate ATL by myself, nor did taking 6 hours (with layovers) appeal to me Now I am terrified and keep having the nightmare that I arrive at the airport and they have over booked the flight and bump me I am already cutting it crazy close by flying out on Friday morning ( have to get to the EXPO that day to pick up my bib for the 10k Saturday). On the way home, it wont be as big of an issue ( I am flying out Sunday night), but is there any way to avoid getting bumped? I paid the extra for the early bird check in, hoping to avoid all this, because this could be potentially disastrous ! What happens if they cancel the flight??? Anyone have that happened? I know I am worrying way to much on "what if's", but this would be just my luck. Spend a fortune on all this and put all the training in and miss the entire thing

 

[SRUAlmn]

I'd call runD to confirm, just in case. I'm thinking it could possibly be in one of the pavilions - they could have you go in through a backstage entrance, since the course and start/finish area is more or less right behind Wonders of Life, Test Track, M:S. my other thought is that they may have it in the same tent as the half's race retreat. Either way, I think the odds of WDW letting anyone into EP without handing over their wallet is slim, lol!

If it helps any, I stayed at AKV Kidani last year - about as far away as you can get. And we were at the races in no time! We also had one of the shortest waits for buses back to AKV after the race. So I wouldn't put too much weight on proximity.

Thank you! It's really not a big deal to me, but my mom will probably go with us and she HATES taking the buses, so I was trying to see if there were any options that would at least avoid a bus in one direction Maybe the race buses won't be as insane as the park buses

 

[11point5]

SW was all over the place today. I got what i think are very good prices at acceptable but not ideal times. So I plan to watch sales and try to change my flight times if possible. Now my $104 flight is only available as a $456 flight! Crazy. I do think there was a sale ending today though. I believe there will be more sales between now and late fall, and am still hopeful. But I am totally befuddled as to what happened with those airfares today. There seems no rhyme or reason. JetBlue for me is over $600 pp outbound, 200 for the return. But I won't fly them unless i am desperate anyway. I have kids with a tendency to get very sick at vacation time, and they charge a huge change fee. Lost over $400 and learned this the hard way once. Southwest makes you pay the fare difference. JetBlue is the fare difference plus the $75-150 change fee.

I really wish I could get back to training so I could stop fixating on all these details. My injury has me on near total rest which is boring. but exercise always clears my mind, so the forced rest also takes that away from my daily routine. Now I just worry about all the details I can do something about, since I can't do anything about my running right now Very frustrating.

Wow, that's good to know about JetBlue with the change fees! I've never flown with them before but I'll have to reconsider booking with them based on this. Thanks for sharing your experience with booking PHM flights too, it's so frustrating that so many of us are having troubles with SW! Hopefully they come out with affordable flights for the better times that you want!
While you're recovering from your injury, maybe you could get your whole training plan all worked out if you haven't already? When it was crazy humid here the past month or so, I spent a lot of time researching training plans and then making my own and decorating it and stuff, just to keep my mind on running when I couldn't BE running. It helped get me really amped up to get back out there as soon as the weather cooled off!

I'm not sure what is going on with SW! I mean...they just released the dates. How can all of the WGA flights be gone for my return day?

I know right?!? I refuse to believe they are all gone! Maybe this was just the first batch of them or something. I checked one last time before bed last night and there was suddenly an earlier better departure flight leaving at like 630am or something! That was never there before! And today it's gone again :s I think someone at SW must have quit their job this week and wanted to play some airline pranks on us before they leave!

Keep checking back, they will reduce more wanna get away fares. Jet Blue almost always said there are only a few seats left at the price but I don't think its true. I think they want you to commit. I would keep watching both airlines and book when the price goes down to something you can live with, atleast you can get a credit on both those airlines if the price drops again!

Thanks, I am hoping they will release more! And I agree about Jet Blue trying to get people to commit by doing that "fear of loss" type sales strategy. I have my max budget number in my head and as soon as one of the airlines dips under my limit I'm booking!

Did you try looking at the site with your browser in a private session/incognito mode? I don't know if it'll help with your situation, but I heard that they sometimes increase the prices if you keep checking back so I tried it out. Ended up getting my tickets almost $100 cheaper!

Thanks for the suggestion! I tried it but it didn't work for me. Congrats on getting such a great deal though!!

DH flies for SWA so he can provide some help though he would say he just flies the plane ! EVERY airline sells only so many seats at a certain price and even more so at a sale price (think grocery stores who limit you to only 2 per purchase or say limited to stock on hand). So yes the seat selection can show the plane virtually empty but the airlines want to sell the remaining seats at a higher price to last minute travelers. flying around holidays and during the summer are more expensive with the exception that if you can fly on the actually holiday it can be cheaper (fly on thanksgiving day). PHM weekend is generally around president's day weekend a big mid winter break so yes...higher pricing.

I will say SWA is generally pretty good about if the price drops on your exact flights at a later date they will give you an airline credit.

Orlando (or in airline lingo MCO which stands for mouse company) is a busy market and planes are always full. We bought tickets on our own airline for the PHM this year since all flights were oversold out of San Antonio.

Hope this helps !

Thanks for the insight into airline pricing! I'm happy to hear SW is good about airline credits, I'll probably be needing some at some point in this situation! MCO = mouse company, hehe that's so cute I love it!!

 

[11point5]

You could look at flying out of Rochester its like 308 per person from thurs to Monday. Also, usually if there are only 2 seats left, they will open another route and prices drop. I was in the same boat it was like over 300 to fly (in November), a few weeks later they opened a nonstop at 222 roundtrip.

Thanks for this tip! I'll keep an eye on the Rochester flights as well as Buffalo, right now Rochester's WGA nonstop departures are showing up as more expensive than Buffalo, and no WGA fares for return flight either. Ah well, at least I have 6 and a half more months to find the perfect flights! Glad to hear you had such a good experience booking your Nov. flights!

So another Airline story....after having to cancel my NY marathon trip last year, Delta gave me credit for the ticket (medical reasons--no change fee). It was set to expire tomorrow, and they kept telling me that I would have to complete travel by tomorrow. They even said the same thing today. So I looked at booking my ticket online and lo and behold, the credit seemed to apply. Only I couldn't do it online, because of the "special condition". So I call up again, literally minutes after them telling me I couldn't use it past tomorrow and just pretended like I'm booking my Orlando flight and they applied the credit!

So instead of $351 (which I wouldn't have paid--would have kept looking), I paid $170 (they still stuck me with a $25 agent fee, but I didn't want to press my luck).

So now I guess I should tell my DH that I'm going!

Maura

How lucky that they did apply the credit after all!! You saved a bundle! Hahaha let us know how your DH responds! Hope that chat goes smoothly

Another thought... are you trying to book together? I know on my last flight, I had to book dh, dd and I separate. If I put in 3 travelers, the rate per flight was higher. If I put in one at a time... voila... cheaper.

Ooohhh as I was reading this I was like OMG THIS IS GOING TO WORK and I quickly opened up a new private browser just in case and tried it out...but it did not work for me sighhhh. I will keep this in mind though, seems along the same lines as Disney ADRs so maybe it'll help me out down the road! And if it's worked for you before, it's sure to work again. Thanks for sharing!

I booked our flights on Monday when they were released and thought they seemed a bit high at $151 each way. I was hoping for them to go down! Now I see the March 1st return flight has jumped up to $440... Yikes! Hope you find something more affordable. That is insane!

Aghhh I know! I was expecting them to go down too! Not jump up by almost $300! Maybe I'm being impatient though, it IS still pretty early. I'm thinking maybe the reason March 1st is so expensive is because it's technically more than 6months out; I have a hopeful feeling that in early August the March 1st WGA fare will be available and affordable. Thankfully August is almost here! Congrats on getting your flights booked while they were semi-affordable! Must feel good to not have to worry about them anymore!

 

[Mickeyfan74]

Thank you! I have never run a race where I had to keep a set pace so I am really nervous! Good luck with your training!

Charmed. I mostly have walked 80% of my events. Run 30sec / Walk 90sec. I have managed to avoid the Dreaded SWEEPERS!!! Working up now to run 1 Walk 1. Lofty goal. Hope to complete it. I really think you can do it. . We all wish for that extra pixie dust on race morning.

 

[annmarieda]

Ooohhh as I was reading this I was like OMG THIS IS GOING TO WORK and I quickly opened up a new private browser just in case and tried it out...but it did not work for me sighhhh. I will keep this in mind though, seems along the same lines as Disney ADRs so maybe it'll help me out down the road! And if it's worked for you before, it's sure to work again. Thanks for sharing!

DARN! I wish it had worked for you... but... keep that in mind should you see a fare that is one price and then when you look for 2 it jumps up. I always search for one... then I try for 2 +

 

[jockey]

Does anyone know if the NB disney trainers will be available at the expo...and roughly how much they cost?

 

[dizdreamer1955]

Back to the Airline talk..... I booked the other day and it cost a fortune, but it was the only way I could guarantee getting the 1 nonstop flight they do a day because I am traveling alone and REALLY didn't want to attempt to navigate ATL by myself, nor did taking 6 hours (with layovers) appeal to me Now I am terrified and keep having the nightmare that I arrive at the airport and they have over booked the flight and bump me I am already cutting it crazy close by flying out on Friday morning ( have to get to the EXPO that day to pick up my bib for the 10k Saturday). On the way home, it wont be as big of an issue ( I am flying out Sunday night), but is there any way to avoid getting bumped? I paid the extra for the early bird check in, hoping to avoid all this, because this could be potentially disastrous ! What happens if they cancel the flight??? Anyone have that happened? I know I am worrying way to much on "what if's", but this would be just my luck. Spend a fortune on all this and put all the training in and miss the entire thing

First, I believe in prayer so my advice is: pray that the flight isn't canceled and that you don't get bumped. On Delta, if they are overbooked, they ask for volunteers first and usually offer an incentive. So hopefully, someone else would take the incentive if it came to that.

Secondly, are you doing the race with anyone? If not, maybe you can find someone on our message board who is staying at the same hotel that you are. Run Disney allows you to give a copy of your ID and race waiver to a friend/relative/kind stranger and allows that person to pick up your bib and shirt. If your flight were to be delayed and you would not get in until after the expo closes, that person could leave your items at the front desk for you.

I hope everything will work out - please don't spend the next months worrying!!!

 

[dizdreamer1955]

Does anyone know if the NB disney trainers will be available at the expo...and roughly how much they cost?

No word on the NB shoes yet. I believe the price was about $125.

 

[Twingle]

No word on the NB shoes yet. I believe the price was about $125.

I've heard there will be new designs for the Princess They're supposed to be on display at the January marathon!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Does anyone know if the NB disney trainers will be available at the expo...and roughly how much they cost?

Omg! I had no idea they made these!?!? Are they different colors/styles each year? So fun!!!!!

 

[SRUAlmn]

I've heard there will be new designs for the Princess They're supposed to be on display at the January marathon!

Cool!!!! What are the chances they sell out early??

 

[Cripey]

Princesses! If you suffer from PF at all, my most favorite shoe to fight the pain, Sole brand, is having a sale on a bunch of their flip flops. (yoursole.com) I live in these...it's the only thing that gives me immediate relief when the PF is flaring up....they are great to have to put on post-run too. I'm definitely picking up a couple today while they are on sale...they are a bit more than I want to pay for a flip flop when they are regular price! (But TOTALLY worth it!) Gonna post this for all the Tinks too!

 

[jmasgat]

Back to the Airline talk..... I booked the other day and it cost a fortune, but it was the only way I could guarantee getting the 1 nonstop flight they do a day because I am traveling alone and REALLY didn't want to attempt to navigate ATL by myself, nor did taking 6 hours (with layovers) appeal to me Now I am terrified and keep having the nightmare that I arrive at the airport and they have over booked the flight and bump me I am already cutting it crazy close by flying out on Friday morning ( have to get to the EXPO that day to pick up my bib for the 10k Saturday). On the way home, it wont be as big of an issue ( I am flying out Sunday night), but is there any way to avoid getting bumped? I paid the extra for the early bird check in, hoping to avoid all this, because this could be potentially disastrous ! What happens if they cancel the flight??? Anyone have that happened? I know I am worrying way to much on "what if's", but this would be just my luck. Spend a fortune on all this and put all the training in and miss the entire thing

Not sure you said what airline you booked, but I wouldn't "worry", rather try to be "prepared". First, don't bother looking at seat maps trying to figure out if a flight is full--they are irrelevant. My sister is a pilot , and the only thing that she looks at is flight loads. The agent on the phone will be able to give you an indication if the flight is full, so you could try calling a day or two before your flight to ask.

Next....do you already have a seat? If so, you are in better position than those with unassigned seats. If you don't-and you can choose one- then select it now. If you are flying something like SW, then you have already taken the step of doing early boarding--which will help.

Next, I generally fly Delta (since they have a hub in DTW) and have experienced the situation during online check-in where the flight has been full and they have asked whether I would be willing to take a bump and at what price. They use this info at the gate IF it becomes necessary. This dovetails with the required policy of asking for volunteers first before doing involuntary bumps. Believe me, it's cheaper for the airline to take volunteers.

Finally, ID some alternative flights that would work for you. That way, if the worst happened, you would now what the options are that would work for YOU,not the airline, and could press for one of those. Example, since you paid for a non-stop flight, I would not want to settle for a connecting flight, or would expect compensation.

Honestly, I think bumps are more rare than weather delays (especially in winter), which I do try to keep an eye on.

Maura

 

[Cripey]

Cool!!!! What are the chances they sell out early??

Chances of sell out are 100%...unless they learned from this year and decide to bring more inventory to the expos this time. I got mine in January at the Tink expo...had to wait outside in a line for 2 hours starting at 6am just to get a voucher to come back later and be guaranteed a pair. and at 6am, I was already like 25th or so in line! Pure madness, but there's not much I wouldn't do for a cute pair of shoes... Count on me being out there at Tink in 2014 again...at least I'll have a second chance in February if I miss out!

If you miss out, there are ALWAYS several pair on ebay...if you're willing to pay triple.

I actaully wore mine to work yesterday...it's been a rough week with loooong days at work with a software conversion so they let us go casual...people were asking me about them all day long! They are definitely eye-catching...can't wait to see a new design next year.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Chances of sell out are 100%...unless they learned from this year and decide to bring more inventory to the expos this time. I got mine in January at the Tink expo...had to wait outside in a line for 2 hours starting at 6am just to get a voucher to come back later and be guaranteed a pair. and at 6am, I was already like 25th or so in line! Pure madness, but there's not much I wouldn't do for a cute pair of shoes... Count on me being out there at Tink in 2014 again...at least I'll have a second chance in February if I miss out!

If you miss out, there are ALWAYS several pair on ebay...if you're willing to pay triple.

I actaully wore mine to work yesterday...it's been a rough week with loooong days at work with a software conversion so they let us go casual...people were asking me about them all day long! They are definitely eye-catching...can't wait to see a new design next year.

Did the Tink EXPO begin at noon also? And people lined up at 6am? Yikes! I can't wait to see the new design!! We were thinking of driving in Thursday AM (since I teach, and getting two days off in a row is already going to be close to impossible,) but maybe we'll have to drive in late Wednesday so we can be ready for the EXPO madness. It's just hard to justify another couple hundred $$ for a hotel room when we wouldn't get there until 11:00.

 

[Cripey]

Did the Tink EXPO begin at noon also? And people lined up at 6am? Yikes! I can't wait to see the new design!! We were thinking of driving in Thursday AM (since I teach, and getting two days off in a row is already going to be close to impossible,) but maybe we'll have to drive in late Wednesday so we can be ready for the EXPO madness. It's just hard to justify another couple hundred $$ for a hotel room when we wouldn't get there until 11:00.

I'm not entirely sure...i flew in around noon-ish on a friday, settled in at the hotel and then went to the expo. Of course, they were sold out of Friday's alottment by then, but I checked. It was saturday that I got in line at 6am. They handed out vouchers starting around 8 I think...you had to tell them what size you wanted (no try-ons) and that's what you got a voucher for. Then, you could bring that voucher back anytime before 2pm (or was it 3pm...one of those) and be guaranteed that size shoe. Once the deadline passed, whatever was left was open to anyone to buy, first-come, first-served. I know that time my BF was in line with me to get a pair and it ended up that when we went back to get the shoes once the expo opened for the day, the size that he got a voucher for didn't fit well, so he ended up not getting a pair that trip. Thankfully, I snagged him a pair at the Princess expo the following month...didn't have to wait in a crazy line for that one...men's sizes were easier to get at PHM and I want to say they said they were bringing a much bigger supply to PHM than they did to Tink. BUT, there was still a looooong line at PHM for them one afternoon...they said they had sold out that AM but were expecting another small shipment that afternoon, so that's what folks were lined up waiting for. It was crazy...hoping if the poularity continues they may consider making them available for pre-purchase at time of registration like they did with the Dooney's. Although that may not work becuase the shoes are actually sold by New Balance and the purses are sold through Disney in their merchandise booth.

 

[STILLWISHING]

I booked my outbound flight today- yay!! Arrive at 12:00 on Friday should I head straight to the expo?