I think if they did better with the merch lineup (not making it so you have to be there weds at open for some things) then it can be ok. We went weds last year at 5pm and it was fine. Same as any non-rundisney expo I had ever been to.
I’m doing the 10k and won’t even consider the expo that first day. The first day has gotten crazier and crazier.
How does the D23 rate look? We aren’t D23 members but have considered it.
I guess the Resorts side would be in favor of that, since it would mean that people who want to get to the expo on Day 1 would have to get there yet another day earlier.
They may take a page from DLR’s book and be much more strict on people getting through the course quickly.
I got to the expo just after 6pm the first day, and I swear it was perfect. No lines for anything. The only thing is some key merchandise was sold out (like most Dopey merch, most passholder merch, the women's paid marathon shirt), but it was a worthy trade-off to not deal with the earlier chaos.
If you have Disney+, you can get D23 gold for free (normally $50/year). I find it's around $50/night cheaper than the AP rate and it is the same pool of room availability.
That’s plenty of time for parking lot beers after running the course a second or third time
Oh good to know! Thank you!!!
The return transportation is one of the areas that rD falls short. I waited well over an hour after the MW 5K. I was in A corral and started in third or fourth wave. I was joking with my wife that start to finish it took me about 4 hours to run for 25 minutes. The 10K wasn’t much better, and I seem to recall the 10K not being a problem in the past. They had a schedule that they were sticking to as far as departure times. After the marathon my bus left with me literally 10 feet away from it and I was told by a cast member it would be about 5 minutes for the next one. While true, the bus arrived in 5 minutes, I had to wait for over 20 minutes before it was allowed to leave. I get it, but it is a bit of an annoyance. Had no issues with transportation to the races this year. In years past we’ve gotten stuck in traffic and been down to the wire as far as time.
I just tried to find the info for this, and it looks like that offer expired 12/31/25. Dang.
This is why I drive myself to the races. No waiting for buses. For the 5k, I was back in my room before 6am. The walk back to the parking lot does suck after the longer races, but I will take the walk over standing and waiting for a bus.
I'm not a marketing guy but how much does the FOMO effect of that opening Wednesday really increase sales? Probably more than I think, but if they did something radical like, say, make all the merch also available online and in sufficient quantities (crazy talk, I know) would they not sell similar numbers over the course of the weekend? And still sell out of everything they normally sell out of? Maybe this is just my reaction to this year's merch being underwhelming and not commensurate with the virtual queue nonsense a lot of us went through, but even if the VQ worked perfectly I find myself wondering what's really the point?
The bus seems so much like part of the experience, though. Especially for Dopey. Getting up and riding the bus four mornings in a row, I enjoy it for the most part, except for the aforementioned issues of course.
I feel like from a course crowding and character lines perspective, it'd be better to just evenly distribute everyone over the 3hrs. Having been at the end of the pack for the marathon this year, it takes a lot of resources to clear the course. I can't see them wanting to do that twice.
I doubt they'd do that. Way too much risk that someone is missed and they end up with an accident.
