Disneyland Half Marathon 2024

[Neon Cactus]

WAFDL: I’ve done Genie + a few times at WDW, for MK and DHS. At DL, my daughter and I got it for Disneyland and it was a much better experience compared to WDW, in terms of return times being close to when we reserved them.

We were doing the Halloween party at DCA at night, so we used it for Disneyland during the day and got on 5 rides between 8 am and 3 pm. And since Disneyland park was open another hour after the Halloween party ended, we were able to reserve another ride on Haunted Mansion late night. So I’ll probably get it on this trip.

We did LL for Radiator Springs and I’d do that again. It was still a 25 minute wait but much shorter than the standby line.

 

[dis_or_dat]

WAFDL: We always do G+, but I really hate all the nickel and diming - it really adds up! Luckily my kids don't like the ILL stuff so sometimes I'll do standby alone. I've been really lucky that the rare times I've tried, it's basically walk on.

 

[AJruns]

WAFDL: Usually I travel by myself and prefer to wait than spend, but on my most recent WDW trip my 80 yo mom joined for a day and I took her to 3 parks. I got us G+ to minimize her standing time, though I was annoyed with how being on my phone at specific times interfered with the rides I was currently on. With more practice I guess it gets easier? I probably wouldn’t do it even with one day scheduled for DL except my friend and her 4 yo are joining, so we might want it to make our lives easier with a little kid.

 

[AZMermaid]

I interrupt this thread because my student brought me this beauty from her Disneyland trip. It’s broken but still amazing!! This is from Jolly Holiday and you have to get it early- they run out.

 

[DopeyRunner486]

After today's W&D registration and assuming I get into Dopey 2024, I will have run every runDisney race from Springtime 2022 through Disneyland 2024. 223.4 miles and 37 medals. I don't plan on signing up for Princess lol.

 

[nekonekoneko]

After today's W&D registration and assuming I get into Dopey 2024, I will have run every runDisney race from Springtime 2022 through Disneyland 2024. 223.4 miles and 37 medals. I don't plan on signing up for Princess lol.

Yikes! Disney needs a special "I ran everything!" medal!

Ok, all kidding aside, it took a fair bit longer for registrations to start closing up for W&D. We can't really compare it to DL, because different park, different rules within their respective cities, very possible a different number of people allowed to line up.

But how was registration compared to like Princess or Springtime? The time it took to close was much higher than MW23. So I'm wondering if rD was slowing down the crowd flow, if the gates got more entries, or of it's not as high in demand?

 

[DopeyRunner486]

Yikes! Disney needs a special "I ran everything!" medal!

Ok, all kidding aside, it took a fair bit longer for registrations to start closing up for W&D. We can't really compare it to DL, because different park, different rules within their respective cities, very possible a different number of people allowed to line up.

But how was registration compared to like Princess or Springtime? The time it took to close was much higher than MW23. So I'm wondering if rD was slowing down the crowd flow, if the gates got more entries, or of it's not as high in demand?

Marathon 2023 registration was the worst of them all. No matter what tho they are not easy stress free experiences.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Marathon 2023 registration was the worst of them all. No matter what tho they are not easy stress free experiences.

That two and a half hour delay didn't help at all. Oh I know none of them are easy. This makes Black Friday at Walmart seem like a walk in the park! But the time it took for today's races to sell out were a bit longer than what I'm used to seeing.

 

[DopeyRunner486]

That two and a half hour delay didn't help at all. Oh I know none of them are easy. This makes Black Friday at Walmart seem like a walk in the park! But the time it took for today's races to sell out were a bit longer than what I'm used to seeing.

My theory about today is they let less people in the registration room at a time. People's wait times were also pretty high compared to normal. There was a point too where wait times all jumped up.

 

[Novatrix]

My theory about today is they let less people in the registration room at a time. People's wait times were also pretty high compared to normal. There was a point too where wait times all jumped up.

I second this. I don't normally have the best of luck with queue waiting times, but the wait times for each of my queues this time were the worst I ever experienced for registration.

 

[Deisell78]

Regarding the photos, I do believe if you buy photo pass for the day or memory maker then the race pics come with it. My question is I am not planning on going to the parks that day of the race, will I still have the option to buy photo pass if I don't have a park ticket? Or maybe there is another site where I can buy individual Pics of the race?

 

[fatmanatee]

Regarding the photos, I do believe if you buy photo pass for the day or memory maker then the race pics come with it. My question is I am not planning on going to the parks that day of the race, will I still have the option to buy photo pass if I don't have a park ticket? Or maybe there is another site where I can buy individual Pics of the race?

Disney definitely wants you to buy photos from them whether you go to the parks or not, you’ll have the option to buy from them. Don’t believe there are any third party options.

https://www.rundisney.com/results/

 

[nekonekoneko]

I love the responses for the question last week! A lot of fun discussions all around!

This is one that comes back and forth with me and my wife, so I'll throw this one at you:

WAFDL: do you plan on seeing any nighttime events (Fireworks at Sleeping Beauty Castle, WoC, F!), or, because of time, are you going to try and sleep early?

For me, I want to try, as I've never seen any of them, and with how relatively easy it is to get back to my hotel on Harbor, we should get back at a "reasonable" time to sleep.

 

[DopeyRunner486]

WAFDL: do you plan on seeing any nighttime events (Fireworks at Sleeping Beauty Castle, WoC, F!), or, because of time, are you going to try and sleep early?

I will be trying to see as many as I can. In slower seasons Fantasmic doesn't run every day so that could hinder things.

 

[Naomeri]

WAFDL: I have available days before and after the races to do nighttime events, and I definitely will be using them. I might even do something on the nights before the races, since the time change to pacific works in my favor and the early mornings should be less painful than at WDW

 

[DisneyParrothead]

WAFDL: I've been to DL a few times since WoC started, and I just haven't been able to make it. Granted I lived in Dallas at the time and it was hard to try to stay awake. If I don't do WoC, I am still planning on one of the walking tours in the park after my race. No need to save my legs after that!

 

[AZMermaid]

WAFDL: Hmmmmm maybe lol! We aren’t usually Fireworks people- but I’m kinda interested in the new shows the WOC dessert party is totally awesome- but with 4 of us going… it gets pricey. Same with F!. Last trip I had the pirates dining package book and then just couldn’t swallow the price. My kids have never seen it though so maybe this is the trip! But regardless anything we do would be for Sunday night. Saturday I’ll be in bed early- hopefully!

 

[Neon Cactus]

I'll definitely try to see the nighttime shows if they're scheduled when I'm there.

 

[eminemilie]

WAFDL Probably. Making a whole vacation out of this trip, going to have a few days in DL, probably going to hit Universal for a day or two, have a few beach days, and do a number of other things that have been on our LA bucket list for awhile. It’s been about 10 years since we’ve been to LA, and complied a pretty decent list because we almost decided on doing the PCH with time in LA for our honeymoon.

 

[AZMermaid]

WAFDL Probably. Making a whole vacation out of this trip, going to have a few days in DL, probably going to hit Universal for a day or two, have a few beach days, and do a number of other things that have been on our LA bucket list for awhile. It’s been about 10 years since we’ve been to LA, and complied a pretty decent list because we almost decided on doing the PCH with time in LA for our honeymoon.

If there’s anything even halfway decent showing…. A movie at the El Capitan theatre is really great. We have actually only done it once but Id love to do it again. It’s in Hollywood though- so about an hour from DL.