Marathon Weekend 2020

[michigandergirl]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

For me for 2020, it's simply a matter of vacation days. I don't think I can spare more than two days this time around - I am running the Chicago Marathon in October and taking 2-3 days for that, which I don't normally use in the fall, plus a possible girls trip next March, which I'll also need 2 days for.

So if I can swing it, I'll either be doing the marathon alone or possibly Goofy for MW 2020.

I would love to run Dopey every year, but it's always either a matter of money or vacation days.

 

[Bree]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

Time and family and guilt are my reasons. Goofy lets me get to WDW Friday afternoon, run Saturday & Sunday, hang with my Dis friends at Epcot on Monday and go home Tuesday morning. I love my DH, but he is not the most attentive caretaker of the kids, pets and house. I’m also taking off in April for 9 days for a mother/daughter cruise, October for a race weekend and again in November for Wine & Dine weekend.

 

[steph0808]

DW and I have a general rule where we don't fly in the winter months, if we can avoid it. It just seems like 1 storm can paralyze air traffic for days. (though we usually cruise during hurricane season) We've had some very light discussions about doing MW at least once, after hearing it is an experience beyond all other rD events.

It feels like the WDW marathon would be a good first marathon experience. But I know I (at least) would be drawn to Goofy, or possibly Dopey. We'd likely get DopeyBadger training plans for whatever we do. I think finish in the upright position would be the goal.

Thoughts or things to consider?
Thanks!
DH

From your screen name, I am guessing you live in PA.

I do, as well. On the southwest side. I have done marathon weekend three times - 2013, 2018, and 2019.

2013, no delays anywhere. In 2018 and 2019, the plane needed to be de-iced, but we still landed at MCO on time. This year, we were delayed going home, but that is because our crew was delayed from another flight.

The weather hasn't been an issue for us yet.

 

[YawningDodo]

DW and I have a general rule where we don't fly in the winter months, if we can avoid it. It just seems like 1 storm can paralyze air traffic for days. (though we usually cruise during hurricane season) We've had some very light discussions about doing MW at least once, after hearing it is an experience beyond all other rD events.

It feels like the WDW marathon would be a good first marathon experience. But I know I (at least) would be drawn to Goofy, or possibly Dopey. We'd likely get DopeyBadger training plans for whatever we do. I think finish in the upright position would be the goal.

Thoughts or things to consider?
Thanks!
DH

I share this fear, but I still fly in winter at least once every year (visiting family at Christmas), and I often schedule my big trips in winter as well. I just pick the earliest morning flights I can get for the trip down since they're less likely to be delayed (and more likely to be able to make up the time if they are). Depending on the urgency of arriving at a particular time I might set it back a day earlier and just live with using an extra vacation day on the front end of the trip. Getting to Miami for my first cruise in January 2018 was a nightmare; my itinerary had me set up to get there close to midnight the night before embarkation, but my first flight was extremely delayed and I ended up getting on a red eye connection by the skin of my teeth--very easily could have missed the cruise. Never again. My plan for Marathon Weekend 2020 is to take an early flight on Friday that'll get me there by late afternoon, and have all of Saturday as a buffer/time to pick up my packet before the marathon. Even that makes me a little nervous, but I would hope that Disney being Disney they'd accommodate me if I got delayed until Saturday and didn't get in until after the expo closed.

It's going to be my first marathon, and I've decided no to Dopey and Goofy because I want to focus on the marathon by itself (and have more energy for the parks). Dopey can be a future trip.

 

[kirstie101]

Sooooo I just found a flight on American for $300 RT that would get me to Orlando by 11 am on Wednesday. One of the main reasons I was leaning away from Dopey was the fact that I didn’t want to fly out on Tuesday. The price is hard for me to say no to. Maybe this is a sign...

 

[ZellyB]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

We did Dopey in 2018 and the opted to do the 10k and marathon this year. A few reasons

1. A perfect Dopey experience left me satisfied and thinking one and done was likely fine.
2. We wanted to sleep more.
3. I wanted to spectate the half - we failed at this
4. I don't love the half course and am not especially drawn to that race
5. The medal appeal is not what it once was since I've run several races now.

That said I'm considering Goofy this year since it's an anniversary year and I'm weirdly drawn to those. I love the 10k race as well though and if I'm running those I'd likely just add on the 5k for dopey.

 

[IamTrike]

Sooooo I just found a flight on American for $300 RT that would get me to Orlando by 11 am on Wednesday. One of the main reasons I was leaning away from Dopey was the fact that I didn’t want to fly out on Tuesday. The price is hard for me to say no to. Maybe this is a sign...

Well if the airlines are conspiring to get you to run Dopey I don’t know how you can argue with that.

 

[lhermiston]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

Cost, time commitment and four early mornings are all valid concerns, but my biggest issue is just refusing to sacrificing the rest of my vacation for Dopey. This year, I ran Dopey while hitting the parks and hitting them hard. Early mornings, late nights, commando touring (my favorite way to do Disney), plus pretty legitimately racing ... something had to give. That ended up being my stamina around Mile 18 of the marathon.

I know I can do both (vacation and race), but I don’t feel the need to. For this year (assuming it happens), Goofy just feels like a far better balance. Ultimately, I’ll probably do Dopey again, but I don’t feel a strong desire to make it an annual thing when I have other races I want to run. Kudos to those that do it every year, though.

 

[IamTrike]

I did the first five Dopeys. Knew the streak needed to end eventually because I couldn't forsee pulling off Dopey and Boston Marathon (in April, of which I have still yet to actually qualify for) so close together (financial and training reasons). So I opted out of Dopey 2019 (decided on Chicago 2018 instead) which ended up being the right choice for me. Now I'm planning to come back in 2020 and have decided to run the marathon as a stand-alone event. Not because I don't enjoy Dopey because I loved the challenge of it. Finished 20th in 2018 and still need to nail that Sextuple PR. But because I've turned my focus to my "A" goal of getting a BQ. In the past, I've tried to do that at an October marathon and follow that up with Dopey in Jan. But this time, I'm seeing if trying for the BQ at Disney will work in my favor (like the training conditions in late Nov/Dec over late Aug/Sep). But I truly loved Dopey and plan to do it again sometime, but not every year like I had been doing.

I hope you get your BQ. Getting that at Disney would be pretty Epic.

y. This year, I ran Dopey while hitting the parks and hitting them hard. Early mornings, late nights, commando touring (my favorite way to do Disney), plus pretty legitimately racing ... something had to give. That ended up being my stamina around Mile 18 of the marathon.
.

That sounds really brutal. We usually do the parks during Dopey but I wouldn't say we go completely commando.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Sooooo I just found a flight on American for $300 RT that would get me to Orlando by 11 am on Wednesday. One of the main reasons I was leaning away from Dopey was the fact that I didn’t want to fly out on Tuesday. The price is hard for me to say no to. Maybe this is a sign...

Somehow my mind thinks you're on the west coast, so if you are make sure that you'll arrive with enough time to get to the expo.

That said I'm considering Goofy this year since it's an anniversary year and I'm weirdly drawn to those. I love the 10k race as well though and if I'm running those I'd likely just add on the 5k for dopey.

That's part of why I ended up doing Dopey as part of my first marathon. At the time, it could have been a one and done. For a variety of reasons, marathon weekend is not feasible every year and may only have a short window in which I can run it. With that in mind, I realized that if I enjoyed the marathon, I would some day want to run Goofy. And if I could run Goofy, why not Dopey? But since I understood that marathon weekend might have a one year window, why not go for Dopey?

Cost, time commitment and four early mornings are all valid concerns, but my biggest issue is just refusing to sacrificing the rest of my vacation for Dopey. This year, I ran Dopey while hitting the parks and hitting them hard. Early mornings, late nights, commando touring (my favorite way to do Disney), plus pretty legitimately racing ... something had to give. That ended up being my stamina around Mile 18 of the marathon.

I know I can do both (vacation and race), but I don’t feel the need to. For this year (assuming it happens), Goofy just feels like a far better balance. Ultimately, I’ll probably do Dopey again, but I don’t feel a strong desire to make it an annual thing when I have other races I want to run. Kudos to those that do it every year, though.

I completely understand this line of thinking. If I had not spent as much time at Disney World for Star Wars races in 2017 and 2018, I probably would have run Goofy only in 2019. And I try to go to bed no later than 9:00pm before a race so I aim to be back at my resort by 7:00pm. Because honestly, something does have to give. I chose to reduce park time and skip a lot of rides because Dopey was the reason for the visit. It was still difficult reducing park time.

 

[lhermiston]

That sounds really brutal. We usually do the parks during Dopey but I wouldn't say we go completely commando.

That’s just the way I do Disney and not something I really want to give up since Disney is not a regular thing for us, so I try to cram in as much as possible. My day before the marathon went something like: up by 3, half marathon, parks by 10, rides, lunch, more rides, pool time, dinner at 5, back to the parks, more rides, home by 10:30-11, up again at 3 for the full.

Brutal? Maybe. Ill-advised? Probably. But it’s a family vacation first, race weekend second, so I do both.

I completely understand this line of thinking. If I had not spent as much time at Disney World for Star Wars races in 2017 and 2018, I probably would have run Goofy only in 2019. And I try to go to bed no later than 9:00pm before a race so I aim to be back at my resort by 7:00pm. Because honestly, something does have to give. I chose to reduce park time and skip a lot of rides because Dopey was the reason for the visit. It was still difficult reducing park time.

Again, I’m just not willing to reduce park time all that much. Park time is family time. Park time is my time. I’ll rest when I’m in Iowa.

 

[kirstie101]

Well if the airlines are conspiring to get you to run Dopey I don’t know how you can argue with that.

That’s kinda what I’m thinking!

That’s just the way I do Disney and not something I really want to give up since Disney is not a regular thing for us, so I try to cram in as much as possible. My day before the marathon went something like: up by 3, half marathon, parks by 10, rides, lunch, more rides, pool time, dinner at 5, back to the parks, more rides, home by 10:30-11, up again at 3 for the full.

Brutal? Maybe. Ill-advised? Probably. But it’s a family vacation first, race weekend second, so I do both.



Again, I’m just not willing to reduce park time all that much. Park time is family time. Park time is my time. I’ll rest when I’m in Iowa.

I’m amazed for the record! Did you completely crash when you got home? I understand your philosophy on it....it’s Disney...sleep later!

 

[lhermiston]

I’m amazed for the record! Did you completely crash when you got home? I understand your philosophy on it....it’s Disney...sleep later!

Nah. The next couple days (DATW and Universal) were at a much easier pace. Plus, no more early mornings.

 

[pluto377]

I decided against dopey again because I have three small boys and it’s a lot for my dh. The training also takes up a lot of family time. I’d like to do it again sometime when my kids are older.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I hope you get your BQ. Getting that at Disney would be pretty Epic.

Thanks! I'm giving my heart and soul into this year long training plan. I'm treating the 2020 Disney Marathon as if it were an Ironman. So we'll see if taking my training to the extreme will work.

 

[huskies90]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

It feels like the WDW marathon would be a good first marathon experience. But I know I (at least) would be drawn to Goofy, or possibly Dopey.

Here are my thoughts on Dopey vs. Goofy: I did Goofy for my first marathon this year. I did Goofy instead of Dopey because to me, the real running challenge is doing a half and full back to back where in my opinion Dopey is more of a sleep challenge. I figured I would probably walk the 5K and the 10K would just be a warm up run. It didn’t seem worth the extra expense both in $$ and sleep. I had a great weekend but I agree with other folks who have said that the weekend is very Dopey-centric. I actually feel like I cheated by "only" doing Goofy. Walking around on Sunday with my Goofy medal I was asked many times "what is that medal for??" because so many more people had Dopey medals. I am most likely doing Dopey in 2020 and I think more to say I did it. But we will see how it goes.

DW and I have a general rule where we don't fly in the winter months, if we can avoid it. It just seems like 1 storm can paralyze air traffic for days.

Typically a storm results in one day’s worth of cancelations but it impacts several days of travel. This is because everyone that got canceled on that day’s flights has to scramble to find another flight. With the airlines greatly reducing capacity recently just about every flight is full. So when a storm knocks out a day’s worth of flights it can take days to get on another flight. This happened to us during marathon weekend 2018. Our flight and all the flights from our airport (Hartford) and all the surrounding airports from Boston to Baltimore were canceled. This was on Thursday and the next flight I could get was not until Sunday afternoon which of course would have been too late to make the race (I was only doing the half in 2018). I ended up renting a car and leaving Wednesday night before the storm hit and got to DC where I was able to get a flight to Orlando the next morning.

For 2019, I booked multiple flights on different days on Southwest knowing I could cancel the back up flights and get refunds if we had no issues with our preferred flights. When flying to an event that happens whether you make it there or not, this turned out to be a good way to purchase some piece of mind even though I did not need it this time.

 

[cavepig]

For those of you that have done Dopey already and are now considering something other than Dopey, why are you not doing Dopey again?

I did Marathon only 2015, Dopey 2016, Marathon only 2018 & Goofy 2019.

I'll do Dopey again one day, when? I don't know. But, I loved doing Goofy or even "just" the marathon. Honestly, I thought I would feel I was missing out on all the Dopey-ness, but I didn't. I wanted to save a little money on registration, but also just didn't want to do all 4 races. I still got a Challenge in Goofy. Early wakeups don't bother me so that didn't factor in. I could be more flexible with dates going down (although I did fly in Wednesday this year because I volunteered for the 5k, but that just worked out that way). If I was Dopey I would want to go out no later than Tuesday due to winter storms.

I could finally get a Goofy bib and buy Goofy merchandise. I know I could have bought Goofy when I did Dopey, but I didn't. I didn't feel Goofy when I did Dopey. Now Doing Goofy this time I was more like duh I can buy stuff for all the races not just the main thing I'm doing. When I did 'just' the marathon in 2018 it was great actually only having the big one to concentrate on. I didn't have to worry about messing myself up in one race before for that one. I felt fresh.

If I go in 2020 I'm leaning Goofy again because the 15th, otherwise I would easily 'just' do the marathon again as I felt completely satisfied with just it even after doing Dopey ( as well as other weekends where I did all 3 races). Everyone's is different though on how they feel when missing out.

 

[bananabean]

DW and I have a general rule where we don't fly in the winter months, if we can avoid it. It just seems like 1 storm can paralyze air traffic for days. (though we usually cruise during hurricane season) We've had some very light discussions about doing MW at least once, after hearing it is an experience beyond all other rD events.

I wouldn't let the risk of flight delays stop you from having fun at Marathon Weekend. I fly from Philly to Orlando a lot in the winter, and while I have delays allll the time because I often fly American , it is very rare that the delays are due to weather. Just personal experience, but the only FL flight cancellations I've had have been due to hurricanes.

 

[kirstie101]

Well I couldn't pass up the price on the flight so I booked it last night! I'll be getting into Orlando before 11:00am on Wednesday so plenty of time to hit the expo! 80% sure I'll register for Dopey when April rolls around. If I don't do Dopey I'll have a nice park day on Thursday. Flying from Sacramento we really don't deal with flight cancellations much. We get fog delays in the winter so thats about all I'm worried about for weather.

 

[jennamfeo]

Time and family and guilt are my reasons. Goofy lets me get to WDW Friday afternoon, run Saturday & Sunday, hang with my Dis friends at Epcot on Monday and go home Tuesday morning. I love my DH, but he is not the most attentive caretaker of the kids, pets and house. I’m also taking off in April for 9 days for a mother/daughter cruise, October for a race weekend and again in November for Wine & Dine weekend.

I'll miss you during the 5k and 10k.