Marathon Weekend 2021

[Z-Knight]

Unless they implemented things differently for different race weekends, I’m sure the policy was changed before last Sunday. I was late to the TA party for W&D registration and was told that the pool had sold out for the challenge and 5k but that the TAs were expecting RunDisney to allocate them additional bibs (they did). They were also very clear that committing to them was time critical as the TAs had to call RunDisney and pay for the bibs in order to guarantee them and that there was a risk of other TAs calling in an order and depleting the supply before they could get yours booked.

The allocation of the bib pool is also consistent with what the TAs wanted after the debacle a couple of years ago when races weren’t selling out as quickly. TAs were required to purchase their bib allotment individually from RunDisney. When the races (mostly MW and SWRR) didn’t sell well, the TAs were forced into fire sales to recoup what they could as the race weekends approached and took pretty significant financial hits. The bib pool approach protected them from that risk while still allowing rD to sell packages through them. Any unsold TA bibs could just go into the general registration pool.

Very odd that different TAs are telling different stories on this.

ETA: I did my MW and W&D bookings through different TAs and there have also been multiple TAs on FB reporting that there is a pool, so once one TA is out, they’re all out. So it’s not just one rogue report.

that sounds reasonable...I think I was never close to being affected by it because I literally told my TA that I want to sign up for Dopey for the next 20+ years - every year...so I plan on going with her or whoever exists.

I don't like the stress of signing up myself and have used a travel agent ever since my first race in 2015 Disneyland Half...I believe the Dopey that year had sold out in under 2 hours and that was before the queuing system and using the old ACTIVE site. I knew I would not be able to handle the stress of trying for races after that so I always chose a TA - it helps that I have to travel anyway and I want to stay on-site, so booking with TA works out for me.

 

[Disneyslowrunner]

Yeah, I’m still of the opinion that the least likely scenario is that the Weekend will go on with only registrations so far. It will either be safe (and they will open up more spots later) or it won’t (and they will cancel the Weekend). If the Marathon isn’t safe for 20,000 I can’t see how they will justify that it’s safe for 10,000 or 5000 or 1000.

I completely understand rD getting some registration done and having the income available from those registrations as a business plan.

I think there are several possibilities:
If they fill up the race, such a the marathon with 25,000 people, refunding or deferring registration becomes a bigger problem if they have to cancel.

Another possibility is that all of the parks may or may not even all be open yet...or if they are, it could still be at a drastically reduced capacity. Then the marathon weekend crowd + non-marathon weekend crowd becomes a bigger number that could push the parks past capacity and a regular vacationer might be likely to spend more.

I think the most likely scenario is that they just don’t know how the landscape will look 8 months from now. Better to at least have a smaller race planned and cancel, than simply cancel. They have a good brand, but if they completely cancel, it may take time to rebuild the brand.

 

[UNCBear24]

Winners get a mickey statue trophy. Any age group placements get a small-medium sized plaque with the race, age group, and place in that age group on it.

They look like this.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I registered today for my first full! Ahh!

 

[StarGirl11]

Well something changed that’s for sure. Because not even 12 hours after the debacle that was me and the registration I’ve got a Dopey Bib thanks to a TA. Just paid for the deposit. Registration proper will come in about a month according to her thanks to the backlog from people being off to the virus.

And with it comes a new experience. Never stayed at Coronado before. But I’ve heard great things about their pool. Looks like I’m going to have to set aside a couple of hours this trip to check it out.

Side note yes there are bibs but they are going like hot cakes. I had a lovely conversation with the office going over how all this works (only third time using a TA, second with Disney, so I had a lot of questions). And she was saying they had been swarmed by emails all day. And that I had been allocated their last Dopey bib.

So in other words if your trying to find a bib. Do not wait. Anything that’s still left will probably be gone by end of tomorrow. And Google is your friend here.

Guess someone out there wants me to get the last hurrah in before my probable graduation date later that year.

 

[Barca33Runner]

I think the most likely scenario is that they just don’t know how the landscape will look 8 months from now. Better to at least have a smaller race planned and cancel, than simply cancel.

This is the main point I’ve been poorly making. They needed to start planning something, but they don’t exactly know what they will be able to plan for next January. I think they’ve chosen whatever number of registrations they’ve chosen to make it easier to cancel if that is what conditions dictate but they can also expand if conditions allow it. I don’t think their plan is to go through with the number of registrations done today; it was just their best guess at an incredibly difficult and fluid situation.

 

[SchuSchu]

Well something changed that’s for sure. Because not even 12 hours after the debacle that was me and the registration I’ve got a Dopey Bib thanks to a TA. Just paid for the deposit. Registration proper will come in about a month according to her thanks to the backlog from people being off to the virus.

And with it comes a new experience. Never stayed at Coronado before. But I’ve heard great things about their pool. Looks like I’m going to have to set aside a couple of hours this trip to check it out.

Side note yes there are bibs but they are going like hot cakes. I had a lovely conversation with the office going over how all this works (only third time using a TA, second with Disney, so I had a lot of questions). And she was saying they had been swarmed by emails all day. And that I had been allocated their last Dopey bib.

So in other words if your trying to find a bib. Do not wait. Anything that’s still left will probably be gone by end of tomorrow. And Google is your friend here.

Guess someone out there wants me to get the last hurrah in before my probable graduation date later that year.

I’m super glad it worked out for you! I know today was so stressful and everything went so quick.

 

[Krandor]

This is the main point I’ve been poorly making. They needed to start planning something, but they don’t exactly know what they will be able to plan for next January. I think they’ve chosen whatever number of registrations they’ve chosen to make it easier to cancel if that is what conditions dictate but they can also expand if conditions allow it. I don’t think their plan is to go through with the number of registrations done today; it was just their best guess at an incredibly difficult and fluid situation.

Agree. They want the race to happen so better right now to plan for a smaller number and add later when information becomes more clear.

I expect the number today is whatever number they have as the minimum to make the race break-even or slightly profitable.

I do expect whatever number does run in January is going to be smaller then normal and that there are going to be some changes in things like corrals, water stations and the like. But again just way too early to know.

 

[andrea0407]

In for my first marathon! Grateful to have a spot—acknowledging that some things might be changed/cancelled, but mostly excited to keep chasing this dream.
Congrats to all who registered, and I hope that those who didn’t get in today find a way to make it happen in the near future!

 

[Grumpy_42K]

Does anyone know if RunDisney will hold to this schedule?

Tier 1: May 7 – July 20, 2020: $190.00
Tier 2: July 21 – October 12, 2020: $200.00
Tier 3: October 13 – December 28, 2020: $210.00

If so, new bibs will be available July 21st, then October 13th.

 

[lovingeire]

Does anyone know if RunDisney will hold to this schedule?

Tier 1: May 7 – July 20, 2020: $190.00
Tier 2: July 21 – October 12, 2020: $200.00
Tier 3: October 13 – December 28, 2020: $210.00

If so, new bibs will be available July 21st, then October 13th.

I think this only applies to bibs that were left/not sold during tier 1. For example, Wine & Dine sold out and no additional bibs were released when it entered "tier 2" status.

 

[rteetz]

I think this only applies to bibs that were left/not sold during tier 1. For example, Wine & Dine sold out and no additional bibs were released when it entered "tier 2" status.

Correct.

 

[StarGirl11]

Does anyone know if RunDisney will hold to this schedule?

Tier 1: May 7 – July 20, 2020: $190.00
Tier 2: July 21 – October 12, 2020: $200.00
Tier 3: October 13 – December 28, 2020: $210.00

If so, new bibs will be available July 21st, then October 13th.

As others have said thats not how Tier Pricing works. Tier pricing is to motivate to people to register early nothing more nothing less. Other races do it all the time. Increase in price does not equal a release of bibs.

 

[DIS-OH]

My guess is that runDisney has plans A-Z ready. Plan A world be races as usual, Plans B thru Y are modified races with decreasing # of participants, and Plan Z is the whole weekend is cancelled.

Who knows what plan we will actually see!

(We have this scenario for High School Marching Band in the fall...Plan A is full blown competition show with all the props and equipment, Plans B-Y are modified shows, and Plan Z is no marching band at all.)

 

[StarGirl11]

I think a lot is going to depend on how some of the big fall races go. Like I said a few weeks ago I don't think rundisney is going to set a trend but follow what places like BAA, ATC, NYCRR do. So I think they are going to see how boston marathon, New york marathon, obviously their own W&D, and the peachtree road race go and what changes are made to those and then make decisions from there. So makes sense to cap it for now and watch in the fall and go from there. There are still no guarantees boston, new york, etc. are going to happen.

Oh they better not use Boston as a barometer for marathon weekend. We have almost zero percent chance of happening right now. All events up until the week before Boston are now cancelled. NYC and ATC would be a much better choice in barometer.

NYC and Peachtree have a higher chance since they are in a couple of months longer. Boston lost most of its chance when MA made the announcement last week.

At this point its not a matter of if we get the email announcing the cancellation its a matter of when. There's no way the MA governor is going to go full 360 from no events to one of the biggest events in the state in seven days.

I mean it would be nice if we could. But I just can't see a situation where were allowed to go forward with Boston right now.

Still have no idea what changed with the TA bib number. Though if I remember right this isn't the first time I've heard of TA's giving different stories on whether they have bibs or not...That being said am I going to probably be nervous until I register? Yes. But that wouldn't be a problem exclusive to this TA either.

 

[rsimon]

I diagree. Fewer people and you can have more corrals and maybe larger spacing between corrals and be able to spread people out more. If you took 10000 and released them in the same total time they normally do 20-25000 they will be spread out a good bit more then normal which makes a difference.

Spacing in corals is one thing, but there is no way to guarantee spacing on the course. Too many people with different paces, tight places, its just not possible to have a race of any size at Disney that still makes financial sense and keep any kind of distance throughout the race. The marathon week is always in the middle of the flu season, we have all taken the risk before and ran with the flu and other Disney crud being passed around. We need to either accept the risk, or don’t go because there is no way to ensure you will not get sick.

 

[BikeFan]

As others have said thats not how Tier Pricing works. Tier pricing is to motivate to people to register early nothing more nothing less. Other races do it all the time. Increase in price does not equal a release of bibs.

A cynical side of me wouldn't be surprised if Disney held some bibs back to inflate demand, and then plans to release them in the later tiers, to make more $$. If I'm remembering correctly (and I may not be!), I don't think they bothered with tiered pricing the last few years for marathon weekend, and they even released some discount codes later in the year to help push numbers for that race weekend. Two of my friends didn't register for Dopey 2020 until November 2019, and they got a discount code at the Chicago Marathon expo.

 

[SheHulk]

A cynical side of me wouldn't be surprised if Disney held some bibs back to inflate demand, and then plans to release them in the later tiers, to make more $$. If I'm remembering correctly (and I may not be!), I don't think they bothered with tiered pricing the last few years for marathon weekend, and they even released some discount codes later in the year to help push numbers for that race weekend. Two of my friends didn't register for Dopey 2020 until November 2019, and they got a discount code at the Chicago Marathon expo.

Better yet: Raise the price and *then* give a discount, people feel like they got a bargain for paying the same price they would have paid a few months earlier
Seriously though I think with all the FB groups of super fans (and us) who are in the know about pricing, and were shut out early on, there would be a revolt if they tried that.

 

[BikeFan]

Better yet: Raise the price and *then* give a discount, people feel like they got a bargain for paying the same price they would have paid a few months earlier
Seriously though I think with all the FB groups of super fans (and us) who are in the know about pricing, and were shut out early on, there would be a revolt if they tried that.

They've got a legitimate way to spin this though - they could merely say that due to the coronavirus (presumably) being under control, they were able to release more bibs. I think we all agree they're operating at a smaller capacity than this year, and I think they've said as much behind the scenes. The next pricing tier starts July 21, and we all should know a lot more by then where we are in the infection curve. Rundisney could decide they can safely expand the races and release more bibs at a higher price point, and if those don't sell, there's plenty of time to drop some discount codes in the fall at all the big expos.

 

[TeeKo]

I registered today for my first full! Ahh!

As a successful registrant (congrats!) can you tell me what are all the questions that need to be addressed to complete the registration?
POT which could be added later
Shirt size?
Do you have to order your merch during registration? Like the pins and jackets or can you come back after you are registered?
Thanks for any insight! Going to Princess half registration next month