Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend 2024

[StarGirl11]

Saw a vid from the course, looks like they had Kylo at his ship (good!) and Moon Knight on the balcony (eh). Not a lot of optimism that they’ll have a closer Marvel character photo op at this point. Nice to hear that they've made significant improvements across the board though, I figured a lot of this was just them working out the kinks of being back for the first time in awhile but I think they took a lot of complaints to heart.

I will say, re the 5k water stop... it's a tough situation. I think the one stop is their standard for 5ks, probably to reduce the chances of bottlenecks, and something I've noticed across the board is that race orgs really underestimate how much water gets consumed when temps are higher, people take more and they just don't have enough supply. Same thing happened with me at the NYC Marathon a couple of years ago, they ran out of cups at two consecutive stops midway through the race, I think bc a lot of people were doubling and tripling up with the cups (they did have water, they were just filling whatever containers people had or pouring pitchers directly into runners hands and mouths). I ended up grabbing a plastic cup from a bar on the route and carried it with me for a few miles. You'd think NYRR would be as prepared as any org handling this stuff, but it still happens. Was really not happy about that though.

I think with both SW and Marvel they’re concerned if they bring them closer the lines will get too long even with Photopase. Because they’ve certainly had that problem with the former before

And one stop is typical for the 5ks. Not even for rD really. I’ve seen that usually with a lot of 5ks

 

[LilyJC]

Very curious how they’ll handle tomorrow We just got an air quality alert in addition to the excessive heat.

Be careful out there everyone! My youngest and her bestie just saw someone removed from DCA on a stretcher. It’s pretty brutal.

 

[fatmanatee]

I think with both SW and Marvel they’re concerned if they bring them closer the lines will get too long even with Photopase. Because they’ve certainly had that problem with the former before

Yeah at this point I think it's fair to say that they're worried about the crowding, at least they had something going on this time. IMO when I was running past in January it *seemed* like you could pull it off but I'll defer to them here.

 

[ShoeCello]

For those driving, what time did you arrive at Toy Story Lot? How were security lines?

 

[dweibel]

One more question about tomorrow for those that did the 5 or 10k. Are there any character photos in the pre-race area like Florida? We are trying to decide how early to get to the race as our hotel is a block down the street from the start. (I have been watching youtube videos from the 10k this morning and didn't spot any.)

 

[StarGirl11]

For those driving, what time did you arrive at Toy Story Lot? How were security lines?

Can’t answer the Toy Story question. But the lines were non existent at the Clementine entrance when I showed up at 3:45. That seems to be figured out at least.

Yeah at this point I think it's fair to say that they're worried about the crowding, at least they had something going on this time. IMO when I was running past in January it *seemed* like you could pull it off but I'll defer to them here.

Honestly I would like non selfie stops but I also appreciate the thought into not making it packed as well.

One more question about tomorrow for those that did the 5 or 10k. Are there any character photos in the pre-race area like Florida? We are trying to decide how early to get to the race as our hotel is a block down the street from the start. (I have been watching youtube videos from the 10k this morning and didn't spot any.)

Nope never been a thing and probably never will. We simply don’t have the room FL does for it.

Though admittedly the 5k is a diff beast and not a good gage because we start physically in the park

 

[DianaMB333]

One more question about tomorrow for those that did the 5 or 10k. Are there any character photos in the pre-race area like Florida? We are trying to decide how early to get to the race as our hotel is a block down the street from the start. (I have been watching youtube videos from the 10k this morning and didn't spot any.)

I didn’t see any characters pre-race. However they amped up the entertainment pre-race, it was very good both days.. but you kind of need to be there early so that you are ahead in the corral.
My experiences were awesome - I got there 315-330; but other people felt that number of screens behind and the audio wasn’t that good.

 

[dis_or_dat]

For those driving, what time did you arrive at Toy Story Lot? How were security lines?

security line 5 seconds

i got to toy story lot (went to the wrong parking structure first) around 4:30, used the potties twice and still got into Corral A with time to spare (literally 5 min). Please don't cut it close like me. I've barely made it into corrals for other races, it's very stressful.

@dweibel - no pre-race, but there's some fun post race photos (no characters tho)

@StarGirl11 - I think I saw you when you got stuck! hope the rest of your race went smoothly!

Did anyone get photos with madame leota and jack and sally? Bummed I didn't see them!

 

[StarGirl11]

security line 5 seconds

i got to toy story lot (went to the wrong parking structure first) around 4:30, used the potties twice and still got into Corral A with time to spare (literally 5 min). Please don't cut it close like me. I've barely made it into corrals for other races, it's very stressful.

@dweibel - no pre-race, but there's some fun post race photos (no characters tho)

@StarGirl11 - I think I saw you when you got stuck! hope the rest of your race went smoothly!

Did anyone get photos with madame leota and jack and sally? Bummed I didn't see them!

My steering column got turned to the side shortly After so I got to spend the remaining three miles turning slightly right. Not fun,

First PR in the half in 9 years. Shaved 17 minutes off my old time. Not only that but I negative splitted the final 5k.

 

[Blue Caterpillar]

Finished! Since I was undertrained and not use to the heat, I didn't plan on stopping for any characters, get as much running in the dark as I could. But they had Black panther in avengers! And his line was pretty short too. They also had Groot out, but I skipped him.

I hope everyone had fun and didn't get to hot!

 

[dis_or_dat]

Great job @StarGirl11 !!!

I think this race was so much better run than the inaugural half weekend. Lots of cool character stops and different for each race. So happy that the photos were included. Spoke to a race official after the half and he said they still want to iron out some kinks.

Love that we got to run through Angels stadium and the Anaheim ducks showed up!

Not sure if they added more hydration stations with this heat but I felt it was ok from corral A standpoint.

Etiquette was on point with runners raising their hands and moving to the side when they were stopping.

On a personal note, wasn’t sure if I would DNS the half having not run since my accident and surgery in April. I only just started doing a few 3 mile runs last week. Really proud of myself for completing the 5k, 10k and half.

I made lots of mistakes having not run for so long. I forgot to bring any gels (gobbled the sports beans provided at mile 8) and didn’t even fuel this morning. The parking lot situation was terrible and I only made it to corral A with mere seconds to spare and didn’t even get to use the porta potties.

Somehow I had a pretty OK time with all the photo stops and walking through the hydration stations!

 

[hotblooded]

Happy to report that I finished. It was my first half marathon since Marathon Weekend 2020 (not counting the 7.1 miles in January) and I was full of doubts because of the heat, despite getting to 13 miles in training. Looking forward to hitting the parks after resting up!

 

[fatmanatee]

Here’s the character map for the half!

 

[StarGirl11]

So I’m guessing the wheels start for the 10k is going to end up somewhere on the runDisney site. Or at least has a good chance of it, Because I was checking my photos and saw a tag I had never seen before. RunDisney 10k marketing.

 

[StarGirl11]

Here’s the character map for the half!

View attachment 892802

I absolutely loved the attention to detail of having the Dora Milaje out with the Black Panther.

Also interesting to see who I missed because they hadn’t come out yet (Buzz and Pinocchio)

 

[Blue Caterpillar]

I

Here’s the character map for the half!

View attachment 892802

I think it easier to miss character stops than wdw They seem more off the course. I saw characters from UP,maybe around grizzly?

 

[StarGirl11]

I

I think it easier to miss character stops than wdw They seem more off the course. I saw characters from UP,maybe around grizzly?

They were over at Redwood Creek Trail. There were definitely some that were more tucked back (Jungle Book). But looking at my vid some were simply not out yet at least for me

 

[StarGirl11]

Also interesting reality vs expectation. Thought they would try to get everyone out faster with the heat. But it took 50 minutes for the balloons to start. Where they had said they were trying to clear the start in 30

 

[ShoeCello]

I was impressed by their organization for the HM! Parking took a few minutes to get in, but then security was a breeze and the corrals were organized well. I didn't see all the characters on the map above but it seems like some only came out later. Post-race festival was great too, though I wish had been more signage back to Toy Story (we ended up walking the long way back on Harbor, following our phones). Overall, great experience! (Slowest half for me, but particularly with the heat and taking a spill. Those darn reflectors on the road!)

 

[Bree]

Weather reminded me of the 2020 marathon! I took it slow today and stopped for everything inside the parks and it was dog petting heaven on the streets of Anaheim I think this was my longest Disney half for mileage and time (13.82 in 3:12), but I was having a blast.

This race was again so much better than January. I’m not sure I’ll make it back to DL in 2025, but I’m so happy I gave DL races another chance!