Marathon Weekend 2027

[GuinnessRunner]

Hoenstly as much as I would love to have advanced AP registration again. And honestly would be a smart choice for Disney since that would definitely encourage AP sales arguably. I feel like eventually we would just reach so many people with APs doing both registrations that it doesn't even make a difference.

This happened back when they offered this option. The number of early registration spots was limited so you had a lot of AP holders (me included one year) who were frustrated because they were shut out of the early registration. While I would still love for it to come back, I think it would just expand the time people are upset rather than reduce the overall number (and of course as you said would potentially reduce the benefit of paying for CRD which we know they don't want either).

The one thing I think they could consider, and I know would not be super popular with some, would be to limit how many people you can register at one time under any queue ID to something like 4 people. It would not cover all families, which would suck, but I also know of several groups that would have someone who got through register 6-8 people. Limiting it to something like 4 would in theory increase the number of queue IDs that get a chance. Definately will not solve all the problems (and upset those wanting to do it as a large family group) as demand is just so high now (like it is for all the majors that experienced record lottery entries this year) but might help a little.

 

[Barca33Runner]

This happened back when they offered this option. The number of early registration spots was limited so you had a lot of AP holders (me included one year) who were frustrated because they were shut out of the early registration. While I would still love for it to come back, I think it would just expand the time people are upset rather than reduce the overall number (and of course as you said would potentially reduce the benefit of paying for CRD which we know they don't want either).

The one thing I think they could consider, and I know would not be super popular with some, would be to limit how many people you can register at one time under any queue ID to something like 4 people. It would not cover all families, which would suck, but I also know of several groups that would have someone who got through register 6-8 people. Limiting it to something like 4 would in theory increase the number of queue IDs that get a chance. Definately will not solve all the problems (and upset those wanting to do it as a large family group) as demand is just so high now (like it is for all the majors that experienced record lottery entries this year) but might help a little.

Limiting queue IDs to a set number of registrations definitely crossed my mind today. As I said in my initial post-registration post, I registered 8 different people for a total of 9 races. It felt ridiculous as I was doing it but, if my whole group wanted to get in, it was our only option. I somewhat expected it to say my queue had reached the limit on registrations at some point.

My sister-in-law actually made the last 3 5k registrations for the group when she finally had a queue go live after about 55 minutes. In all we have 11 people entered for races. I think we still would have gotten all of the races we wanted if some sort of queue limit was in place; it just would have happened as my sister and SIL had queues open up earlier as others reached their quotas, rather than having myself enter the lion share of the group.

Any system will lead to frustration when there are people getting shut out, but some sort of registration limit per queue could be a solution to so many people getting signed up by someone other than themselves.

 

[PrincessV]

I agree. There were thousands more finishers in the half and the full in the past than there are now. They seem to be comfortable with about 13,000 to 15,000 people now. Until those numbers go back up to the 20,000+ they had before, I think registration will continue to be challenging.

I thought the big ones - MW half and PHM - were back up to the 20,000 range, no?

 

[fatmanatee]

No idea how this compares to the past but FWIW, rough poll of the success rate with registration on reddit:

 

[PrincessV]

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned here is that with DLR races gone (again), plus increased rD popularity, there’s almost certainly more demand on WDW races than when registrations were spread across more race weekends. Clearly, the solution is to add more race weekends at WDW!

A reverse Dopey is intriguing, but what I’d really love to see is a Disney ultra. Wouldn’t be hard to extend the marathon course into a 50K. I’ve never been to Disney’s nature preserve on WDW land so I don’t know if there’s any kind of trail network there, but I’d be all over it if they could manage a trail - or even partial trail - race.

 

[Naomeri]

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned here is that with DLR races gone (again), plus increased rD popularity, there’s almost certainly more demand on WDW races than when registrations were spread across more race weekends. Clearly, the solution is to add more race weekends at WDW!

A reverse Dopey is intriguing, but what I’d really love to see is a Disney ultra. Wouldn’t be hard to extend the marathon course into a 50K. I’ve never been to Disney’s nature preserve on WDW land so I don’t know if there’s any kind of trail network there, but I’d be all over it if they could manage a trail - or even partial trail - race.

I think a series of nighttime 5Ks would be an interesting possibility for a summer race weekend. 4 parks, 4 different races

 

[GuinnessRunner]

Any system will lead to frustration when there are people getting shut out, but some sort of registration limit per queue could be a solution to so many people getting signed up by someone other than themselves.

Yep. If there was an easy button, I think they would have pushed it. Anything they do (like their attempts to limit sharing queue IDs) will help some and make others unhappy.

 

[PrincessV]

On the AP/DVC/rD vets loyalty topic, here’s the thing some may not know: it was Disney and rD that pushed loyalty - for many years. I can only speak for myself, but when I say I miss early AP registration and/or recognition for veteran rD participants it’s because that was something rD once gave and has since taken away - it’s not something new I wish they’d bring. Early registration, discounted race registrations, legacy status: that was part of the brand and encouraging runners to keep coming back was a large part of rD’s marketing. I understand that someone decided getting rid of that was good for business (though I’d really love to see how, exactly), but it never feels good to have perks taken away.

 

[FFigawi]

I thought the big ones - MW half and PHM - were back up to the 20,000 range, no?

MW half had 16,000 this year, with Princess at 16,600. There seems to be a limit rD and/or the Parks teams have aligned on that works for them, if not for all the people who want to enter the races.

 

[The Expert]

Struck out today.

Oh no! Wish I'd known and could have helped.

And don’t even get me started on Club RunDisney and how it further limits access to everyday people who can’t dump $900 a year on something like that. But I feel like pretty soon, the club will be the only way to get in. So much for being inclusive.

As one of the resident early adopter CrD members, I feel the need to address this. I absolutely HEAR YOU and honestly, I struggled with this even as I joined. However, I don't think the membership is having much of an impact on registration difficulty, because...

RunDisney has been pretty measured with the Club rD memberships.

Most estimates are that there are 2000-2500 Club members TOTAL. Silver level gets no registration benefits. Gold level gets one race/challenge registration for the member only. Platinum level gets two race/challenge registrations for the member only. It's anyone's guess what percentage those top two tiers make up, but not all Club members do every race or every weekend. It also is not clear that rD carved out Club registrations from the larger pool.

I agree. There were thousands more finishers in the half and the full in the past than there are now. They seem to be comfortable with about 13,000 to 15,000 people now. Until those numbers go back up to the 20,000+ they had before, I think registration will continue to be challenging.

I actually think the 5K changes are a way to experiment with opening more of the races to more people without just adding bibs and crowding the course. I suspect a lot of the folks trying to get into an rD race right now are newbies looking at 5K and 10K. The staggered start could work for both and still allow for on-time park openings if they can figure it out. I also think they were playing with this a bit at MW with the longer times between waves within each corral.

 

[marty3d]

MW half had 16,000 this year, with Princess at 16,600. There seems to be a limit rD and/or the Parks teams have aligned on that works for them, if not for all the people who want to enter the races.

The increase in 5k capacity could also be a test for this season to see if they feel they can do something similar for the other distances. They'd at least be able to get data from W&D and MW27 before the 2027-2028 season registrations start.

 

[The Expert]

The increase in 5k capacity could also be a test for this season to see if they feel they can do something similar for the other distances. They'd at least be able to get data from W&D and MW27 before the 2027-2028 season registrations start.

Jinx!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

On the AP/DVC/rD vets loyalty topic, here’s the thing some may not know: it was Disney and rD that pushed loyalty - for many years. I can only speak for myself, but when I say I miss early AP registration and/or recognition for veteran rD participants it’s because that was something rD once gave and has since taken away - it’s not something new I wish they’d bring. Early registration, discounted race registrations, legacy status: that was part of the brand and encouraging runners to keep coming back was a large part of rD’s marketing. I understand that someone decided getting rid of that was good for business (though I’d really love to see how, exactly), but it never feels good to have perks taken away.

I remember when I could wait days or weeks to decide whether or not I wanted to run the WDW Marathon. The harsh reality is that these events are now a lot more popular, so Disney no longer has to try to retain those with long-standing interest. They are a given. These races are all guaranteed sell outs.

At some point these races might lose popularity, but I suspect that it will take a recession, which is not something that I would ever hope for.

Running everywhere is very popular right now. Per an AI search, running participation is experiencing a massive, record-setting boom, with more people running in races than ever before, driven by a 39% increase in participation from 2023 to 2024 and a 57% growth in race participation over the past decade. The surge is particularly strong among younger runners (Gen Z), with over 50% of participants in some events being first-timers, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

 

[KCO5988]

I am so so curious to see how the expanded 5k is going to work with the different start times. Especially with bigger groups that want to run together (not that I fall into that category as I'm usually solo but just generally curious)

 

[JediKnightXan]

Just my morning ramblings...

I was trying to think of any "better" system for registration and anything I can come up with is at best equivalent to what we have. Also a part of this conversation is anything that Disney would have to spend resources on to change this would only be if they thought they would recoup those costs in extra revenue (so probably not in our favor at least monetarily).

The "most fair" system that doesn't match what we have that I have so far come up with so far is. A lottery that gives you a starting registration time. so 1000 folks can register starting at 10 then another 1000 at 11 and so on, and if things are sold out when your time slot comes up then your out of luck. The problem there is everyone I know with a Disney account would be entering in the lottery for me to get an extra draw. I don't think this is actually better than the scrum we have.

I can get wanting to tie registration to other Disney products (AP DVC) but I bet that actually doesn't help RunD any so would be surprised if they go that way ever again,as they can't claim any of the revenue from those which is why RunD is kinda genius on their part tons of revenue that they get to wholly claim and probably not a ton of expense to manage.

 

[MissLiss279]

MW half had 16,000 this year, with Princess at 16,600. There seems to be a limit rD and/or the Parks teams have aligned on that works for them, if not for all the people who want to enter the races.

The way they start the races now (from the parking lot), it may be more difficult to add more capacity without really extending how long it takes to start corrals.
I know for me this year, for the half, from corral B, it was very difficult to run pretty early in the race when it necked down to one lane so soon after the start; however, part of my problem could have been that I ended up being right next to a pace group in that area.

 

[The Expert]

Running everywhere is very popular right now. Per an AI search, running participation is experiencing a massive, record-setting boom, with more people running in races than ever before, driven by a 39% increase in participation from 2023 to 2024 and a 57% growth in race participation over the past decade. The surge is particularly strong among younger runners (Gen Z), with over 50% of participants in some events being first-timers, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

A few days ago @Mr_Incr3dible posted an interesting article about this, and the demographics. And yes, Gen Z is the largest group entering marathons, but participation among people older than 60 has gone up 150% and older than 75(iirc) has gone up 250%! The hypothesis was that these folks have seen recreational running since it really began, and people are trying to stay active later into their lives.

 

[The Expert]

The way they start the races now (from the parking lot), it may be more difficult to add more capacity without really extending how long it takes to start corrals.

They could always go back to staging on the road with that mile+ walkout. Not a great solution but it does allow for a lot more people.

 

[PrincessV]

I remember when I could wait days or weeks to decide whether or not I wanted to run the WDW Marathon. The harsh reality is that these events are now a lot more popular, so Disney no longer has to try to retain those with long-standing interest. They are a given. These races are all guaranteed sell outs.

At some point these races might lose popularity, but I suspect that it will take a recession, which is not something that I would ever hope for.

Running everywhere is very popular right now. Per an AI search, running participation is experiencing a massive, record-setting boom, with more people running in races than ever before, driven by a 39% increase in participation from 2023 to 2024 and a 57% growth in race participation over the past decade. The surge is particularly strong among younger runners (Gen Z), with over 50% of participants in some events being first-timers, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Absolutely, and like I said - I understand the logic of it all. But it still doesn’t feel good to keep paying more when benefits are rescinded. It’s a larger issue than just losing rD perks, but rD is one part of it.

 

[Psymonds]

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned here is that with DLR races gone (again), plus increased rD popularity, there’s almost certainly more demand on WDW races than when registrations were spread across more race weekends. Clearly, the solution is to add more race weekends at WDW!

A reverse Dopey is intriguing, but what I’d really love to see is a Disney ultra. Wouldn’t be hard to extend the marathon course into a 50K. I’ve never been to Disney’s nature preserve on WDW land so I don’t know if there’s any kind of trail network there, but I’d be all over it if they could manage a trail - or even partial trail - race.

I think that's true.

In general:

• Disney offers a unique experience that crosses over running and brings in interest from outside running spheres
• Dopey, specifically, is a unique offering (most races can't get permits to operate more than 1 day, but since Disney controls the property, they can run 4 races over 4 days)
• All running is more popular
• They haven't substantially increased their offerings in years

So there's a natural supply/demand crunch.

The thing is, Disney operates this way a lot: there aren't enough spots on Tron for everyone in the park to ride that wants to ride, they use lines, virtual queues and lightning lanes to decide who gets to ride and when, and are counting on people saying at the end of the day "I'm ok with skipping that because of the line, I'll do it next time" It works well there, because people who really want it can wait and get it and those who don't want it as much will pass.

Doesn't work as well here. However the do offer the pay to guarantee options with cRD (although honestly I don't know how many years I'd have to wait to get enough of a guarantee) and Charities, but for the rest of us it's much more random. Certainly we try to do as much as we can as a community here to help each other prepare and optimize our chances, but at some point most everyone will be doing that.

The question becomes, who else do they give an advantage and why?