Marathon Weekend 2019

[CDKG]

Hotel reservations (check)
Dining reservations (check)
Next up: Race registration!!!

 

[SarahDisney]

My dining window opens tomorrow. I'm trying to decide if I want to make any ADRs ... I'm not a huge ADR person in general so I dunno.

 

[Princess KP]

I am also weighing in on the side of going to the parks after the marathon. It really helps me to keep moving around and if I didn't have a park visit planned, I'd probably fall asleep and then wake up barely able to move. If it seems a waste of paying for a park day, maybe at least going to Disney Springs or something that would also get you walking around.

I have epic RBF and strangers rarely talk to me. Of course, my husband is super friendly so that ruins it

I feel way behind, I haven't booked anything yet! I better start looking into hotels and stuff.

I heard Jock Lindsey's in Disney Springs has good nachos!

 

[PCFriar80]

My dining window opens tomorrow. I'm trying to decide if I want to make any ADRs ... I'm not a huge ADR person in general so I dunno.

Make them and then if you decide you don't want to go closer to the actual date then just cancel [within the 24 hour cancellation window that is].

 

[camaker]

Make them and then if you decide you don't want to go closer to the actual date then just cancel [within the 24 hour cancellation window that is].

Please don't do this. I know I'm probably in a minority here, but this is a pet peeve. By booking up speculative ADRs with the potential intent of cancelling later, you are blocking people who actually want to eat at a restaurant from making a reservation.

 

[Bree]

My dining window opens tomorrow. I'm trying to decide if I want to make any ADRs ... I'm not a huge ADR person in general so I dunno.

I'm not a huge ADR person either unless it's a special occasion. I usually just see what's available when I get hungry and want to sit in a/c. It was so stinkin' hot at Hollywood Studios last night that I opened the app and got a last minute ADR for Hollywood Brown Derby just to sit in some A/C for awhile.

 

[Barca33Runner]

Please don't do this. I know I'm probably in a minority here, but this is a pet peeve. By booking up speculative ADRs with the potential intent of cancelling later, you are blocking people who actually want to eat at a restaurant from making a reservation.

I like that Disney offers the ability for forward planning, it is very practical for someone like me who enjoys having a baseline of activities each day to blend with the beautiful chaos of a day at WDW; but I think their systems for both ADRs and FP+ get abused and make the experience more difficult for a lot of people. I really like that they have the 24-hour cancellation window, it provides meaningful insurance for unforeseen circumstances, but the downside of the system are self-evident. I don't think there's a great solution to the issue, but the more people who only book the ADRs and FP+ they 100%(or somewhere close) intend to use, the better.

ETA: This was particularly on my mind because I have a short trip planned for September with my niece and nephew. We are doing MNSSHP and then going to Hollywood Studios for Toy Story Land the next day. We only had 60+1 for FP+ to HS and were unable to get Slinky Dog (the ride they are, of course, enamored with). I don't think we'll have too much problem getting on in stand-by and I'm sure we will have a lot of fun regardless, but I think we would have been able to get a FP+ if the system wasn't flooded with speculators.

 

[SarahDisney]

One of these days I will (just by accident) say something that is completely uncontroversial (although the "should you make ADRs you may not keep" isnt even the biggest controversy we've had here this week...)

 

[Barca33Runner]

One of these days I will (just by accident) say something that is completely uncontroversial (although the "should you make ADRs you may not keep" isnt even the biggest controversy we've had here this week...)

I don't think you drummed up controversy. The system has it's flaws and everyone knows them. I know I got a little idealistic in my post, but the reality is it's a very small number of restaurants and rides that are affected. I'm sure I oversold the impact on FP+ because I'm a little salty about my situation.

 

[PCFriar80]

One of these days I will (just by accident) say something that is completely uncontroversial (although the "should you make ADRs you may not keep" isnt even the biggest controversy we've had here this week...)

Not controversial at all. Different strokes for different folks. Any process will be subject to some "abuse". The 180 days lets planners plan and no one knows what they will feel like doing when the actual date come round. I still stand by my suggestion as a planning tool for those who want, and if things change closer to the actual date then there's a process in place to make that adjustment.

ETA: Not sure why the last sentence got lined out but I think I fixed it!

 

[TheHamm]

Question: Has anyone registered for races using the new interface on a phone browser? I realize they just changed it and probably not, but I realized I have a business trip next week and the time change puts me in a meeting without internet access at noon eastern. #timechangefail

Not controversial at all. Different strokes for different folks. Any process will be subject to some "abuse". The 180 days lets planners plan and no one knows what they will feel like doing when the actual date come around. I still stand by my suggestion as a planning tool for those who want, and if things change closer to the actual date then there's a process in place to make that adjustment.

This. If dining reservations were 30 days out, or 5 days, I might have a better feel, but planning for when a child will nap 6 months in advance is lunacy. Add in the additional stimulus of the park and I do assume 50% of my reservations will be unusable. I have great plans! Last trip I booked things I really wanted to do, but by day 2 of our trip it was clear the 4yos were in charge. I feel the same way about marathon weekend. I have no idea how I will feel after the race, but I do know I will not feel like waiting over an hour for food anywhere.

 

[SarahDisney]

I don't think you drummed up controversy. The system has it's flaws and everyone knows them. I know I got a little idealistic in my post, but the reality is it's a very small number of restaurants and rides that are affected. I'm sure I oversold the impact on FP+ because I'm a little salty about my situation.

Not controversial at all. Different strokes for different folks. Any process will be subject to some "abuse". The 180 days lets planners plan and no one knows what they will feel like doing when the actual date come around. I still stand by my suggestion as a planning tool for those who want, and if things change closer to the actual date then there's a process in place to make that adjustment.

So today is the day I say something non-controversial? Cool!

For the record, I see both sides. I get that it's hard to know in advance what you want to do (but you don't want to miss out), but as someone who only books runDisney trips 180 days in advance, it's sometimes frustrating when you want something and you can't book it because everyone else booked it because they might want it.
What I meant was more that I usually am not a big sit-down meal person at the parks, but I don't know if I will want to do things differently because of the race weekend. I don't know if I want to book dining if it's not something I'm really into. I have a few hours to decide .

 

[Nole95]

Any news on how registration is going to work next week? I figured RD would send an email that outlines the new process.

 

[rteetz]

Any news on how registration is going to work next week? I figured RD would send an email that outlines the new process.

We got a glimpse from wine and dine. You register using your Disney account on the runDisney website. You are able to choose which races, merchandise, and if you want to register others all at once.

You can use Disney gift cards as a payment option but apparently have to have only one form of payment so if you do gift card that has to be the entire cost.

It seemed pretty user friendly. The question is whether it crashes or not on its first big registration day.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I just realize AP registration next week is during my business meeting. Hopefully it is still available after the 10 hour long meeting.

 

[TheHamm]

I just realize AP registration next week is during my business meeting. Hopefully it is still available after the 10 hour long meeting.

This is my problem as well. I fully plan on excusing myself to the restroom at 11am central and hoping to be able to register on my phone.

And if it sells out, I will cry (I'll already be in the restroom!) and try again on Thursday.

Good luck!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

This is my problem as well. I fully plan on excusing myself to the restroom at 11am central and hoping to be able to register on my phone.

And if it sells out, I will cry (I'll already be in the restroom!) and try again on Thursday.

Good luck!

As it is a design review - I don't think I'm going to be able to excuse myself. Oh well!

 

[CDKG]

We got a glimpse from wine and dine. You register using your Disney account on the runDisney website. You are able to choose which races, merchandise, and if you want to register others all at once.

You can use Disney gift cards as a payment option but apparently have to have only one form of payment so if you do gift card that has to be the entire cost.

It seemed pretty user friendly. The question is whether it crashes or not on its first big registration day.

Did we confirm that you can register for multiple races at once? There was only one open for W&D when I tested it, so I wasn’t sure.

 

[rteetz]

Did we confirm that you can register for multiple races at once? There was only one open for W&D when I tested it, so I wasn’t sure.

Yes good point. I don't believe we were able to confirm that yet. You can for sure register multiple people at one time though as well as add on merchandise.

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm not actually going to use AP registration (yay travel agent), but I might check it out to see what it looks like. It should be easy to find from the AP page, right? I've never done this AP thing before.