Marathon Weekend 2026

[accm]

Hypothetically, if one were to want to register for multiple races but NOT a challenge, what is the plan of attack these days? Aim for the one you want most first, pay and see if the other/s is/are still open? Do the one most likely to sell out fast first? Do them all in one swoop?

I’m registering myself for Dopey and my son for the 5k.

Like @Herding_Cats said, if it’s early enough in, I’ll do everything in one go. If it’s past the half hour mark, I’ll register myself first for Dopey and then my son for the 5k. My reasoning is that it’s a lot less fundraising to sign up for a 5k versus dopey through a charity.

 

[PrincessV]

yes.






Ok. My real answer is that if you get "in" within the first 30min of registration opening, do it all in 1 transaction. If you get in past the 45min mark, get the one you want the most, pay, then go back for the others.

Well, I’ve yet to get in to ANY registrations on my own the past few years and have been totally dependent on gift links here, so yeah - we should assume I’m not getting in early lol! It’s almost as if the Universe is telling me something…

 

[sandam1]

Question for all the Dopey experts...am I going to feel like death if I bring my 5 year old with me and run Dopey? My mom will also be with us for backup, but I am a bit unsure if we should all go or if I should just go solo. I have done the full and several half marathons at Disney before and brought them, but I have not done a challenge since he was born.

Caveat - I'm not a parent. That being said, for me to be successful at Dopey, I've found that I have to be a little bit selfish. I need to prioritize my needs (recovery, sleep, food) over others on race weekend. I'm thinking that that might be hard with a little kid (heck, it's hard with an independent, grown adult companion). You know your family dynamics best, but I would think that it would be "easier" solo.

 

[KCO5988]

Question for all the Dopey experts...am I going to feel like death if I bring my 5 year old with me and run Dopey? My mom will also be with us for backup, but I am a bit unsure if we should all go or if I should just go solo. I have done the full and several half marathons at Disney before and brought them, but I have not done a challenge since he was born.

Not a Dopey expert, but I just did all the Princess races and all the W&D races. W&D I had the whole family with me (kids 5 & 2) and Princess was just me and DH. Princess was so much less stressful not having the kids there, worrying about if I will wake them up. Dopey will be a solo trip for me. A mom-cation. I plan on doing 1/2-day park days after the 10k and half and then just want to be able to lay in my hotel bed, watching a movie and carb-loading in the afternoon with no responsibility other than myself.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

So after a snafu with the charity I ran with last year not having me on their list for Goofy this year and already being sold out for that challenge, I made to hard decision to register for Dopey through them instead .

Was quite scary how quickly my thinking went from (1) anger at the mix up (small chaity so I do get it, but still upsetting) to (2) contentment to just let the registration gods decide my fate in a couple of weeks to (3) thinking through the logistics/cost of maybe just doing Dopey instead to (4) hitting the register button for Dopey!

 

[jrsharp21]

Well, I’ve yet to get in to ANY registrations on my own the past few years and have been totally dependent on gift links here, so yeah - we should assume I’m not getting in early lol! It’s almost as if the Universe is telling me something…

Same here. If it wasn't for our wonderful Disboard crew, I wouldn't have gotten in for Dopey the last three years.

 

[Herding_Cats]

So after a snafu with the charity I ran with last year not having me on their list for Goofy this year and already being sold out for that challenge, I made to hard decision to register for Dopey through them instead .

Was quite scary how quickly my thinking went from (1) anger at the mix up (small chaity so I do get it, but still upsetting) to (2) contentment to just let the registration gods decide my fate in a couple of weeks to (3) thinking through the logistics/cost of maybe just doing Dopey instead to (4) hitting the register button for Dopey!

 

[KSellers88]

I think this is going to be a solid "it depends" kind of thing. How do you operate with less sleep? Are you going to be dealing with any kind of serious (3+hr) time-zone changes for this trip? How will potentially early bedtimes impact the people you are traveling with? Will you be tempted to 'hit the parks hard' with your 5yo being there? Rope-drop to fireworks kind of park days? How involved is your mom willing to be with bedtimes or possibly keeping DS out of the room (if you are a nap person)? If your kiddo is really dependent on you for bedtimes or in the mornings (my DD has to be touching me most of the time still) that could be tricky for you too.

We are planning on bringing DD with us for the first time since 2022 and she will be 6 when we make the trip. I'm not planning on Dopey this time, but if I were I would be staying in a minimum of a 1br (have kiddo and other adult sleep in the bedroom) if I could afford it. Just Friday and Saturday night if it's not affordable for the whole time, so I'm not waking them up in the morning every day. For me, DD would be 50/50 if she would go back to sleep and that would make for a horrific day for the rest of us. Especially when the marathon *starts* at 4:30 now and I get up a 1:45am to get ready.

Plenty of people bring their kids for race weekends, and it's definitely doable.

Thankfully we are in the same time zone and we can drive. We are also neither rope drop or fireworks people and we go in October anyway, so could potentially make the days shorter. The one bedroom is a great idea. We normally do a suite at AOA when both my parents go, so we may just need to stick with that. I appreciate the input!

I’ve done Dopey twice with my kids. The first year we also had family that doesn’t come often, so wanted to enjoy the parks. I was dead. I almost talked myself out of waking up for the half, and then spent the majority of that day in bed (my extended family went to universal)
The second year it was just my husband and my two kids. We go often enough that we can take the weekend pretty easy. That made a huge difference.

So I guess it depends on what you want to do outside of the races. If you’re not planning on hitting the parks hard, and your kid is ok with relying on your mom, you should be ok

Thank you!!

Caveat - I'm not a parent. That being said, for me to be successful at Dopey, I've found that I have to be a little bit selfish. I need to prioritize my needs (recovery, sleep, food) over others on race weekend. I'm thinking that that might be hard with a little kid (heck, it's hard with an independent, grown adult companion). You know your family dynamics best, but I would think that it would be "easier" solo.

Yeahhhhh the rest is what I am most worried about, also his tendency to eat my food. LOL Thank you!!

Not a Dopey expert, but I just did all the Princess races and all the W&D races. W&D I had the whole family with me (kids 5 & 2) and Princess was just me and DH. Princess was so much less stressful not having the kids there, worrying about if I will wake them up. Dopey will be a solo trip for me. A mom-cation. I plan on doing 1/2-day park days after the 10k and half and then just want to be able to lay in my hotel bed, watching a movie and carb-loading in the afternoon with no responsibility other than myself.

The mom-cation sounds absolutely fabulous. My family seem to think if I go anywhere alone I will instantly be kidnapped for some reason, so I will have to work to convince them I should just go alone. LOL

 

[The Expert]

Thankfully we are in the same time zone and we can drive. We are also neither rope drop or fireworks people and we go in October anyway, so could potentially make the days shorter. The one bedroom is a great idea. We normally do a suite at AOA when both my parents go, so we may just need to stick with that. I appreciate the input!


Thank you!!


Yeahhhhh the rest is what I am most worried about, also his tendency to eat my food. LOL Thank you!!


The mom-cation sounds absolutely fabulous. My family seem to think if I go anywhere alone I will instantly be kidnapped for some reason, so I will have to work to convince them I should just go alone. LOL

LOTS of us do solo runDisney trips. You are among a community of friends and we get together every race morning and for a few other outings (mini golf, pool bar) over the course of Marathon Weekend. You'll have plenty of folks looking out for you!

 

[KSellers88]

LOTS of us do solo runDisney trips. You are among a community of friends and we get together every race morning and for a few other outings (mini golf, pool bar) over the course of Marathon Weekend. You'll have plenty of folks looking out for you!

My family is the definition of a helicopter family. LOL I am 36 and have a 4 year old and they act like I am 10. I guess I should be glad they care, but it is a bit much.

 

[nancipants]

Yeahhhhh the rest is what I am most worried about, also his tendency to eat my food. LOL Thank you!!

I'm local, and my husband and son met me at reunion area after the marathon. I deliberately packed my own post-race food in my gear bag because I knew my son would want to take the snack box. I did give him a hard no on the banana, though.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

LOTS of us do solo runDisney trips. You are among a community of friends and we get together every race morning and for a few other outings (mini golf, pool bar) over the course of Marathon Weekend. You'll have plenty of folks looking out for you!

Dittos on this. My DW isn't big on Disney, plus she doesn't want to take PTO right after all the Dec PTO, plus kids heading back to school, so most of my rD trips have been solo. If I can find someone who wants to also spend some time in the parks, I do; if not, then I go solo and have fun. Ditto on eating. And I do make sure to go to the meetups. I'm definitely someone who was nervous about my first meetup, but now I look forward to seeing in person the people I spend <way too much> time "talking" to about Disney and running.

 

[KSellers88]

I'm local, and my husband and son met me at reunion area after the marathon. I deliberately packed my own post-race food in my gear bag because I knew my son would want to take the snack box. I did give him a hard no on the banana, though.

I can have any type of food and he will want it. Then he will take a bite, not like it and throw it away...meanwhile I would've eaten it.

 

[FFigawi]

Question for all the Dopey experts...am I going to feel like death if I bring my 5 year old with me and run Dopey? My mom will also be with us for backup, but I am a bit unsure if we should all go or if I should just go solo. I have done the full and several half marathons at Disney before and brought them, but I have not done a challenge since he was born.

With Dopey, you're going to feel like death anyway, so why not make it a trip with him?

 

[Baloo in MI]

Question for all the Dopey experts...am I going to feel like death if I bring my 5 year old with me and run Dopey? My mom will also be with us for backup, but I am a bit unsure if we should all go or if I should just go solo. I have done the full and several half marathons at Disney before and brought them, but I have not done a challenge since he was born.

My kids are much older now, but when I started doing Marathon Weekend my youngest was 4 and oldest 8. They have been with us for every MW since. It is doable with kids, but there has to be compromise in terms of vacation and running. Our agreements are that I get back from the 5k and 10k as quickly as I can and we go straight to the parks after I clean up and eat. Over time we have used the variations of Fast Pass, Genie and Lightning Lane Multi Pass to prioritize the things we want to do together. Earlier dinner and then back to hotel. From end of race until after dinner I would stay focused on being a dad on a Disney Vacation, but after dinner the family let me be a runner getting ready for next race. They would watch a movie or go to the pool and I would get ready for the morning and get to bed. Most years after the Half we would either go really light or just have a resort day. And after the Marathon I was expected to suck it up and play with the family until fireworks - that got a little rough…

Honestly though it has worked out pretty well. As my girls got older one became my running partner and does the 5k,10k and Half with me. And now that they are older they often stay at the parks much later than my wife or me anyway. We still prioritize time as a family from late morning until early evening. Walking around the parks between races has been really helpful for my legs and as long as I don’t over do it I have found it to be really beneficial. I think it can work.

 

[accm]

I'm local, and my husband and son met me at reunion area after the marathon. I deliberately packed my own post-race food in my gear bag because I knew my son would want to take the snack box. I did give him a hard no on the banana, though.

After finishing my first Dopey, my husband got me a grilled cheese from one of the food trucks. As soon as I picked it up, my kids were asking if they could have some. Sure tiny humans, why don't you eat this, it's not like I just finished my first marathon or anything

I will say though, I ALWAYS get the banana for my youngest. I'm pretty sure he's more excited for his post race banana than seeing his mom

 

[nancipants]

After finishing my first Dopey, my husband got me a grilled cheese from one of the food trucks. As soon as I picked it up, my kids were asking if they could have some. Sure tiny humans, why don't you eat this, it's not like I just finished my first marathon or anything

I will say though, I ALWAYS get the banana for my youngest. I'm pretty sure he's more excited for his post race banana than seeing his mom

That's my son with Powerade. I don't like it, so he got mine after the marathon. After Princess I brought him home my bottles and he was SO excited.

 

[LSUlakes]

That's my son with Powerade. I don't like it, so he got mine after the marathon. After Princess I brought him home my bottles and he was SO excited.

You know... with kids it really is the little things that matter to them lol. Look at these cool new thing that came in the mail today! 10 minutes later, kids playing with the box the toy came in lol. My youngest is almost out of that stage, and whats in the box is becoming more interesting. I think I am gonna miss the little version of them, but also enjoying them growing up. Alright.... thats enough sentimental stuff for Friday.

 

[KSellers88]

With Dopey, you're going to feel like death anyway, so why not make it a trip with him?

oh good, can't wait to try and sign up lol October will be his 5th trip right after he turns five, so if I do go solo I won't feel too horrible about leaving him behind.

My kids are much older now, but when I started doing Marathon Weekend my youngest was 4 and oldest 8. They have been with us for every MW since. It is doable with kids, but there has to be compromise in terms of vacation and running. Our agreements are that I get back from the 5k and 10k as quickly as I can and we go straight to the parks after I clean up and eat. Over time we have used the variations of Fast Pass, Genie and Lightning Lane Multi Pass to prioritize the things we want to do together. Earlier dinner and then back to hotel. From end of race until after dinner I would stay focused on being a dad on a Disney Vacation, but after dinner the family let me be a runner getting ready for next race. They would watch a movie or go to the pool and I would get ready for the morning and get to bed. Most years after the Half we would either go really light or just have a resort day. And after the Marathon I was expected to suck it up and play with the family until fireworks - that got a little rough…

Honestly though it has worked out pretty well. As my girls got older one became my running partner and does the 5k,10k and Half with me. And now that they are older they often stay at the parks much later than my wife or me anyway. We still prioritize time as a family from late morning until early evening. Walking around the parks between races has been really helpful for my legs and as long as I don’t over do it I have found it to be really beneficial. I think it can work.

I love that one of them runs with you now, how sweet! Thank you so much for the tips and encouragement!

 

[Barca33Runner]

After finishing my first Dopey, my husband got me a grilled cheese from one of the food trucks. As soon as I picked it up, my kids were asking if they could have some. Sure tiny humans, why don't you eat this, it's not like I just finished my first marathon or anything

Ummm, pretty sure that anything you do didn’t actually happen unless they see it. As far as they’re concerned you just ran 100 yards to cross a finish line. Light work .