Marathon Weekend 2026

[Blue Caterpillar]

They still check your bags with mobile checkout and could verify then. I wonder how much stuff they’ll have to take away from people

Especially if you are just buying stuff and not registered for the races, you may not even know that it is a rule

 

[pluto377]

Oooh, interesting about the shopping. This has me wondering if I should change my flight back to Wednesday. Half the reason I was coming in on Tuesday was so that I could get to the expo early...

 

[3princesandaprincess]

Very excited to see the merch limitations! I’m sure it will still sell fast!

 

[Smooth_Whiskey]

Great news for you Dopey Challengers. Hope everyone is able to get the gear they want this year! Hope it lasts til I'm back in '28

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Just got the email from rD that Dopey merchandise will be limited on day one to only Dopey Challenge participants. You have to show your check in pass or bib, and photo ID. Items are limited to one per type per participant! I guess rD does listen sometimes.

Excellent! Four years too late for me, but glad they've finally addressed this.

Somewhat related: Did Brooks release a MW shoe other than Stitch? Did I miss that, or is it still forthcoming?

 

[KellyKateri]

I kinda thought they’d have a separate section within the merch for dopey. Like to get in, you’d have to show that you have a bib / expo pass and check out there too. Kinda like the brooks set up.

 

[WDW 4 ME]

Excellent! Four years too late for me, but glad they've finally addressed this.

Somewhat related: Did Brooks release a MW shoe other than Stitch? Did I miss that, or is it still forthcoming?

I haven’t seen anything. I’ve been watching too.

Just got the email from rD that Dopey merchandise will be limited on day one to only Dopey Challenge participants. You have to show your check in pass or bib, and photo ID. Items are limited to one per type per participant! I guess rD does listen sometimes.

This is amazing! Seriously, why are non-runners, other than friends and family of runners of course, allowed in at all? Especially on day 1? This is a step in the right direction.

 

[JediKnightXan]

I'm getting in late Wed so probably wont make it to the expo till Thursday afternoon (AK in the morning). Coffee cup is the only thing I'm really hoping to grab so fingers crossed that makes it a day.

That Marathon Hoodie does look kinda interesting. I preorded the Jacket so I absolutely do not need the hoodie, so if that wasn't there by the time I can get there that maybe for the best .

The Dopy news does sounds like a very good idea given how quick things sell out. Would be nice if that reduced the demand for resale market now that people will hopefully have a chance, and then reduced the over all shortages on everything.

 

[fatmanatee]

Excellent! Four years too late for me, but glad they've finally addressed this.

Somewhat related: Did Brooks release a MW shoe other than Stitch? Did I miss that, or is it still forthcoming?

Should come later. I will note, and I did not discover this myself, but in the video there is a Chip (or Dale, I can't tell, don't throw tomatoes at me) plushie stowed away behind the Stitch sneaker. We shall see if that was a hint as to what's to come.

 

[sandam1]

Seriously, why are non-runners, other than friends and family of runners of course, allowed in at all? Especially on day 1?

I'm going to answer this question - how are you going to police this? More importantly why would Disney invest resources (staff time, money and/or computer resources) in policing this?

I regularly travel with non-running friends who humor me when I drag them to the Expo. To then tell them "oh, I'm going to go into this area, but you can't" would be a total deal-breaker. I like where they are going to with the Dopey merch (although honestly, just ordering enough of this merch to satisfy the reasonable demand would be better), but I think that this could be a slippery slope.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I'm going to answer this question - how are you going to police this? More importantly why would Disney invest resources (staff time, money and/or computer resources) in policing this?

I regularly travel with non-running friends who humor me when I drag them to the Expo. To then tell them "oh, I'm going to go into this area, but you can't" would be a total deal-breaker. I like where they are going to with the Dopey merch (although honestly, just ordering enough of this merch to satisfy the reasonable demand would be better), but I think that this could be a slippery slope.

Except when I was there with my son this past spring, he wasn't allow into the merch building. Fortunately he was old enough to leave him outside, but they wouldn't let him in on Thursday.
As it was, I had to stand around for 20 minutes waiting to get in at my queue time, never mind that I didn't want any of the Brooks shoes...

 

[The Expert]

I was just seeing this!
I wonder if that means mobile checkout won’t work for that merchandise??

I kinda thought they’d have a separate section within the merch for dopey. Like to get in, you’d have to show that you have a bib / expo pass and check out there too. Kinda like the brooks set up.

I'm guessing they will run it like the Club merch at W&D. I suspect that setup was a bit of a trial run for this. We had a separate queue kind of like the pre-purchased pick-up, with one line and several stations for checking out. The person looked up your membership, checked ID, then you told them what items you wanted in what sizes (if applicable). You checked out then and there and got a bag/receipt for just those items. There are a LOT more people running Dopey than are in Club rD, so I suspect this could be a LONG line. It's also only for day one, so we'll see how it works.

 

[sandam1]

Except when I was there with my son this past spring, he wasn't allow into the merch building. Fortunately he was old enough to leave him outside, but they wouldn't let him in on Thursday.

Did you have a virtual queue spot for him? And it wasn't during the Club runDisney time? If so, I'm shocked. Those are the only two reasons that I could see him not being allowed in.

As it was, I had to stand around for 20 minutes waiting to get in at my queue time, never mind that I didn't want any of the Brooks shoes...

I've always waited in a secondary line inside the building before actually being allowed inside the merch area. The lines with the virtual queue are a LOT shorter - and move a lot faster - than they were before they started the VQ, but they are still there on Day 1.

 

[Naomeri]

I'm guessing they will run it like the Club merch at W&D. I suspect that setup was a bit of a trial run for this. We had a separate queue kind of like the pre-purchased pick-up, with one line and several stations for checking out. The person looked up your membership, checked ID, then you told them what items you wanted in what sizes (if applicable). You checked out then and there and got a bag/receipt for just those items. There are a LOT more people running Dopey than are in Club rD, so I suspect this could be a LONG line. It's also only for day one, so we'll see how it works.

I feel like the smarter way to do it would be more like the way they do CrD early entry: check your info before you get into the merch area and give you a wristband or something. I mean, there's all that time people are stuck waiting to get into the merch area, there ought to be a good spot to have a registration check that doesn't leave it for when people already have all their stuff ready to check out.

 

[The Expert]

I feel like the smarter way to do it would be more like the way they do CrD early entry: check your info before you get into the merch area and give you a wristband or something. I mean, there's all that time people are stuck waiting to get into the merch area, there ought to be a good spot to have a registration check that doesn't leave it for when people already have all their stuff ready to check out.

That would be way more efficient. I hope you're right!

 

[Disneyhanna]

I would love a wristband situation and the Dopey merch in the regular area. Cut people's wristbands when they check out! I really don't want it to be like the AP merch and having to wait in a huge line. There are WAY too many people doing Dopey and buying merch to do that. I'd also hate for it to be a totally separate area where you get stuck in line and then non-Dopey merch sells out while you're in line, or having to buy Dopey merch after the regular merch area. I like to see all of my options before I decide what to buy!