PiP will be 5 this year. Wow, that in itself is hard to believe. As background, we have attended the PiP 2 of the 4 years (2010 and 2012). We were attempting 2013 but had 9 other runnerss arriving on the day we wanted to attend and had to be at the villa to welcome them into the resort.
Here are my thoughts
1) If one is value driven, the meal will appear to be outrageously priced. For those who will be attending a park on the day they attend PiP or have season passes, it is not a good value at all as a large chunk of the PiP admission is for the park pass. On the other hand, if you are not attending a park that day, the meal costs are not all that outrageous considering that you have 3+ hours in Epcot to enjoy the park.
2) The PiP will get you into Epcot starting at 6PM (may change). You have the remainder of the evening to enjoy your meal and he park. At 9, you have a special viewing area for Illuminations.
3) The meal is a nice buffet. Selections are rather limited by Disney buffet standards, but we found the food to be lightly seasoned - not so bad as to cause sleep or GI issues the following day if running.
4) The PiP includes a great DJ. He is a highly sought after DJ in the area. For those who have run in the past couple years, he is the guys with the big Mickey gloves on the water bridge as we pass under Seven Seas Lagoon.
5) I would suggest attending Thursday if running the half. No need to stay up late the night before the half or goofy.
6) For me, I really like to have a meal with other runners. The pre-race banquet is a part of the marathon that has started to die off through the years. I have made friends at these meals who I keep in touch with many years later. I do find that the Disney mentality, since the days of the big tent meal have past, is for families to not want to share the banquet table with others. I literally saw a group of 4 place belongings on a table in such a way to prevent others from joining. We try to make friends in line and then keep the group together for the meal.
All this to say that we plan on attending again on Thursday, assuming Thursday is still a day in the offering.
