Changes to Wine and Dine are coming!

[roomthreeseventeen]

From Facebook:

Dear Fans. . .

Thank you for being such enthusiastic supporters of Disney events. Our Disney team has been busy over the past few months with the WALT DISNEY WORLD Marathon Weekend presented by CIGNA and this month’s Disney Princess Half Marathon presented by Lady Foot Locker. We’re off to a great start in 2011, and expect to see continued success with the Disneyland Half Marathon in September and then the return of the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend at WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort September 30-October 1.

As a listening company, we constantly seek input from our guests so that we can make the guest experience even better. In the spirit of that commitment, the Disney team has been working on changes to improve your experience at the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon.

First, you may be pleased to note that the post-race party will be expanded to include a variety of Epcot attractions and many more food and beverage locations. In addition, the half marathon finish line will be moved to just outside the main entrance to Epcot. Our intent is to provide more space for the finish itself, a larger spectator viewing area, and a greatly expanded baggage claim operation. Different from the WALT DISNEY WORLD Marathon and Disney Princess Half Marathon events, the Wine & Dine Half Marathon finish area will be in a parking area adjacent to the Epcot main entrance, allowing for easy access to the post-race party inside the park.

I wanted to personally share these updates to assure you that we value your feedback and are committed to making every Disney race a world-class experience for you and your families. We expect to have exciting entertainment enhancements to share among other surprises, both during the race and during the post-race party, so stay tuned for more news on the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon and all Disney events in the coming months. We look forward to seeing you at the finish line.

Yours in running,

Ken Potrock
SVP, Disney Sports Enterprises

 

[momhmmx2]

Yay! Can't wait to sign up for the relay again 

 

[stampingoddess]

Not doing Wine & Dine this year but am glad that they are addressing some of the big issues from the inagural race.

 

[ultramickeymouse]

I will be there! Glad the changes are being made after all of the bad reports from last year!

 

[cewait]

From Facebook.....

Charles Wait - Glad you are listening.... As mentioned above please limit the crowd in the park post race. The issue was not that the rides were closed... it WAS too many tix sold to public.

I am not thinking this is a great spend of family resources. Maybe if I have a firm trip to FL on either side of the weekend I'll think about it - otherwise no. I am not taking a chance on the phrase

"post-race party will be expanded "

actually meaning that they are selling MORE passes to the post race party in addition to opening more of the park. Too many people

[ADDED] - they have not mentioned addressing the other huge issue... it was too dark for the mile 3 crowds in AK to have runners running four abreast along the entry trail from the gate through to Africa. Lots of pitch changes in the path and not far enough from the start to thin out the crowds.

 

[verticalchaos]

Thanks for expanding Coach! I read the "update" on FaceBook the other day and went back to the postmortem thread here and was trying to figure out what the "big improvements" were.

Glad to know I didn't miss anything.

 

[mousemgr2]

Has anyone heard about the Coast to Coast option if you do Disneyland and then do the Wine and Dine?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Charles, I agree. If they don't limit the tickets to the party, I am staying home and running a half here in NYC.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Has anyone heard about the Coast to Coast option if you do Disneyland and then do the Wine and Dine?

They have it now listed on their website. So, anyone who runs the DL half and then the Wine & Dine will get the Coast to Coast medal. I wish I could get two Coast to Coast for running the WDW Marathon, the DL half and the Wine & Dine! Oh well, one is good enough!

 

[cewait]

They have it now listed on their website. So, anyone who runs the DL half and then the Wine & Dine will get the Coast to Coast medal. I wish I could get two Coast to Coast for running the WDW Marathon, the DL half and the Wine & Dine! Oh well, one is good enough!

Correcting my post -- yes you can run the DL Half followed by the W&D in the same year and get the C2C

 

[FireDancer]

I think the announced changes are all for the good. Hopefully they will eliminate some of the turns inside the studios to get at least some of the extra distance to make it to the Epcot parking lot. I hope that by expanding the party they mean they are expanding the choices only and not the attendance. While having the rides open will be nice I was and will continue to be more interested in the food kiosks and having less of a crowd there is what I really want. I'm sure some people will be on the rides and lesson the crowds but they really need to limit who can get in.

That being said I'll hold judgment until I hear how it goes this year. Since I didn't have any crowding issues with the course I can't speak for those but hopefully they will get that ironed out. I wonder if a wave start would help.

I don't anticipate being back down there this year and since I'm aiming for a full in late October or Early November 2012 I'm not even sure if that will be my next Wine & Dine but as long as the race stays around for a bit I will definitely do it again. If the relay winners stay at about the same speed I may try to get one of my fast friends to do that. Only one relay team beat me and their second runner passed me about a mile after the exchange point so I would have been leading after the first leg.

 

[bounceliketigger]

Nice to hear that someone actually listens and takes action. Think I'll wait this year out though & see how the changes work out.