Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend 2026

I saw the Carissa video. Interesting they seemed to hold the balloon ladies a second to be truly last. But I loved it. She’s talking like it’s never ever again. 😭

I had a race. Haha. My knee almost gave out at mile 0.5 and I was like oh. No. It hurt so so so bad. I started walking and noted it didn’t hurt walking. But I also don’t walk fast enough to do that the whole time. I slightly panicked but realized I could do a 30/30 with short strides with a functional level of pain. So that’s what I did, one mile at a time. I didn’t stop for any characters because I was worried if I needed to move to a full walk, I’d regret stopping if that made the difference. In hindsight I could have stopped for at least one. I saw the balloon ladies when they were just past 7 and I was just past 9, so then I knew I’d make it! I was still relatively okay until mile 11 when the pain increased again. But I did it! I finished and got my C2C!

I went to the hotel, showered and headed to DL. I got lucky and caught the Small World spot with only one family ahead of me. He must have just gotten there. The partners and castle spots were way too long for me all day. Wish I had checked here and seen that tip! I did get some good main st shots.

I liked this course better than 2024 except for the overpasses at the end. Those sucked. I liked going around that park and there seemed to be less potholes. Someone did go down near me around 10ish but she was able to keep going. The out and back didn’t bother me as much as I thought it might. As a slower runner it was nice to be able to gauge how I was doing.

DL is a much easier trip for me so I’ll miss the opportunity to do these races. Hopefully they come back in a few years.
 

Has it been noted that Disneyland Park opened at 8:30 AM on Sunday instead of the published 9 AM? I was with my party being pretty leisurely on Main Street at around 8:20 after rushing to shower and change and get back to the park after the race. At 8:30 I heard the “walk to your first destination” rope drop announcement and was pretty surprised. We had a VERY productive first hour as it was very quiet.

Was the published 9 AM opening just playing it safe depending on how race cleanup went? Or has earlier than published rope drop become more common since discontinuing the hotel guest early entry?
 
Was the published 9 AM opening just playing it safe depending on how race cleanup went? Or has earlier than published rope drop become more common since discontinuing the hotel guest early entry?
Rope drop is no earlier than 8 am.

During events like the half marathon or CHOC Walk, if they can clear the park early and be ready to open closer to 8 am, they will.
 


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