Marathon Weekend 2027

[LatebloomerultraF3]

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.

YES!!!!

 

[Barca33Runner]

Despite the overwhelming demand for Marathon Weekend, Princess Weekend, Wine and Dine Weekend, and, recently, Springtime Surprise I can’t really picture Disney adding more race weekends as a solution to that demand. Even if they were guaranteed to sell out (which, at least for the time being, they would be) I don’t think they want any new weekends.

Anecdotally, I don’t think other departments within WDW are fond of the weekends. Even though it appears most individual CMs are enthusiastic, I don’t think the people overseeing park operations are happy about all the extra work that has to be done and accommodations that have to be made for a RunDisney Weekend to go off smoothly. This is mostly speculation on my part, but it is hard for me to imagine there is universal positive sentiment about rD within the company as a whole.

Non-anecdotally, customers who are not participating in rD seem to hate rD weekends. I have seen many sources, both informational and influencer, that seem pretty rational and level-headed about most things discuss rD Weekends as though a plague of locusts descends on Orlando. They are regularly listed as the worst times to go to the parks, along with Christmas, Spring Break and select holiday weekends. That type of vitriol is certain to make its way into the feedback Disney is collecting at all times.

On the more practical side, the temperatures make them pretty locked into the late-October-April time frame. Four race weekends in that time period is a pretty full slate. If they could safely run a race in the summer, I think they would add one; but even at night the temps and humidity can be dangerous.

 

[jpholic]

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.

My arm could be twisted to run a Disney ultra...

 

[sandam1]

We had a very interesting conversation last night during our Customized Training group call about the concept of a "reverse Dopey" and almost everyone thought that it was a good idea. Now, admittedly, we are all Galloway runners so we would argue that our recoveries tend to be quicker, but by this completely non-scientific sample, there could be a market for it.

If Disney could figure out the logistics (again, a BIG if), could they have a traditional Dopey and a reverse Dopey on the same weekend? So both a marathon and a 5K on Thursday, Friday and Saturday being a 10K and half, and then Sunday being another marathon and 5K. Obviously courses probably have to change so that they aren't log-jamming the entire property, but I'm willing to bet that it could be accomplished. It would essentially double the capacity of the races.

Do I think that Disney would ever do something like this? No. I don't have that much faith in their willingness to think outside of the box. But it's an interesting mental exercise.

(P.S. Also, coming from the CTP call, I'm mildly interested in exploring what it would look like to add the reverse Dopey concept to my long runs for Chicago. But we'll see about that)

 

[StarGirl11]

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.

Yeah having to deal with this system for ComicCon which only allows you to buy 4 badges. If they want to lock it down that’s on the rD side of things not QueueIt.

Which means coding which we all know Disney IT isn’t the best at for some reason.

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.

Yeah I remember the time I was able to register for Princess right after I DNFed the Marathon. Which would have been a month apart.

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.

I kinda doubt we’ll go back to that. While we’re a minority of the racers we are still a part of the logistics they have to keep in mind. And at this point they’ve got are whole situation down pat. They’ve got an area for us and then we move down into the chute without interrupting or needing extra help.

If we move back to the road start that takes all of that way. And we could go back to just using the AWD tent at the finish but if they wanted to just use that all around then they wouldn’t have put up an area for us near the start chutes

We like our independence and I’m pretty sure rD likes not having to help 30 plus wheels get over the grass when a chunk of them can’t walk first thing in the morning.

 

[nancipants]

Summer used to be one of the busiest times of the year, but lately it's been one of the least, because people have realized that other times of the year are better weather-wise or want to come for festivals, etc. It's one of the reasons they've been doing Cool Kid Summer.

Since runDisney historically chose race weekends during less busy times of the year, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch for them to consider a summer race. But, like was said above, it's not really the safest time to run a race. HOWEVER, given how early the races start, it wouldn't be crazy to consider a 5k or maybe even a 10k. I've done a 10k at the end of the September which is basically the same temp as July or August, and the race started after sunrise. Halfs would get iffy.

I like the idea of multiple summer 5ks, especially if they could do different parks.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Even if they did nighttime summer 5k races, you still couldn't get me to go to Florida that time of year.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

I read somewhere else someone suggest they bring a virtual option back. While I doubt it would make a huge impact, I do think it would be somewhat of a help by removing those who just register to get the medals to sell on Ebay (I would guess a small number) and also could lessen the sting for those that got shutout of the in-person race. Given they had this for a few years coming out of COVID and then decided to get rid of virtuals tied to the actual in-person races I suspect RD already determined it was not worth the cost and effort on their side, but seems like another option that might make it a bit better and make the Mouse more $ too.

 

[fatmanatee]

I read somewhere else someone suggest they bring a virtual option back. While I doubt it would make a huge impact, I do think it would be somewhat of a help by removing those who just register to get the medals to sell on Ebay (I would guess a small number) and also could lessen the sting for those that got shutout of the in-person race. Given they had this for a few years coming out of COVID and then decided to get rid of virtuals tied to the actual in-person races I suspect RD already determined it was not worth the cost and effort on their side, but seems like another option that might make it a bit better and make the Mouse more $ too.

I don't think they liked managing the virtual and in person at the same time, they seemed to struggle a lot with getting medals out on time. They were charging a ridiculous premium for those IIRC and the fact that they gave up on that meant they definitely thought it wasn't worth the trouble.

 

[Goofed98]

I understand trying to make sure the races are open to everyone, but what about a points system for early registration, or guaranteed entry?

Points for each runDisney weekend/ race you start
Points for AP
Points for DVC

Something along those lines, so you don't get a guarantee just for an AP or DVC, but if you have a history of supporting Disney and the races, maybe you get a boost?

 

[Herding_Cats]

I understand trying to make sure the races are open to everyone, but what about a points system for early registration, or guaranteed entry?

Points for each runDisney weekend/ race you start
Points for AP
Points for DVC

Something along those lines, so you don't get a guarantee just for an AP or DVC, but if you have a history of supporting Disney and the races, maybe you get a boost?

what if rundisney is the *reason* you bought dvc

 

[Goofed98]

what if rundisney is the *reason* you bought dvc

Bonus multiplier!

 

[Disneyhanna]

what if rundisney is the *reason* you bought dvc

I did a DVC tour (for the gift card) and the first thing they do is price out all of your trips from the last year in DVC points, to get an idea of how big of a contract to buy. I think mine was like 700 points if I had stayed DVC for all of the nights (thanks to so many rD trips)

The agent was like, we wouldn't normally recommend buying a contract that large to start, maybe 300 points would be more reasonable.

And I'm sitting there like, so you think I've got the money to buy a 300 point contract outright, eh?

 

[Novatrix]

Even if they did nighttime summer 5k races, you still couldn't get me to go to Florida that time of year.

I'll be the counter. If they had a series of 11pm/midnight 5k/10ks in July/August, it would be the first time since childhood I'd go back to Disney in summer and I'd be happy to do it.

I will say, if they wanted to make a nighttime Villains race in September, I wouldn't be opposed to that either.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I did a DVC tour (for the gift card) and the first thing they do is price out all of your trips from the last year in DVC points, to get an idea of how big of a contract to buy. I think mine was like 700 points if I had stayed DVC for all of the nights (thanks to so many rD trips)

The agent was like, we wouldn't normally recommend buying a contract that large to start, maybe 300 points would be more reasonable.

And I'm sitting there like, so you think I've got the money to buy a 300 point contract outright, eh?

NOOOOOOO! 3 100pt contracts OR 2 150pt contracts.

We tried to do the tour-for-giftcards. DH signed us up for it while I was running the HM because he'd gotten an email. And then I made him call them back and ask if we were eligible for the gc since we already owned (resale) contracts. And when they said "No" we decided to do something else with our time. LOL

 

[Naomeri]

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

This is also the argument I use when people decide to blame early course crowding on Platinum CrD people. As if A) there’s enough of us in any given race to make a big course clog, B) everyone with Platinum is too slow to be in B on their own merit, and C) everyone in A and B on their own merit is definitely running their POT pace at Disney

 

[BradleyCB]

Like many of you, I have spent too much time over the past 24 hours trying to come up with a better registration for rD events. I don't think there is a perfect solution out there.

I have to think rD's current process of allowing and encouraging all of us to have multiple computers, phones, tablets, etc. is not helping matters. It grossly inflates the size of the queue. Some people seemed to have luck across multiple devices, hence the queue ID sharing and/or signing up other participants. Others never made it below the one hour mark (don't cry for me!).

What could be done differently there? I agree that a lottery system won't help all that much. If the marathon majors studied their data and released findings, I suspect they would find many instances of people using multiple accounts/email addresses to enter the lottery to increase their chances of getting into the race. Maybe that would not be as bad of a problem if rD continues the rule that you cannot transfer your race registration.

Would it help if before joining the registration queue rD forced you to log into your Disney account and then had controls behind the scenes preventing a Disney account from being in the queue more than once? I think that would solve quite a few problems and lead to more fairness.

The other thing I would add to this is to limit the number of people you can register once you get in. What I would recommend is you can register yourself, one additional adult, and up to four people under the age of 18. I believe names and DOBs cannot be changed after registration right now, so that helps eliminate gaming that part of the system.

That's the best I have come up with.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

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.

I am proud and happy to be part of the problem. The good part of the problem, that is...

>> 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.

This!!! I am totally down with going back to extending down Epcot Way. Not only was there more room, but it was quieter and easier to do pre-race chilling (for want of a better term). Yes, a bit of a walk, but I considered it my warm-up.

What @Novatrix said:
>>. This is also the argument I use when people decide to blame early course crowding on Platinum CrD people. As if A) there’s enough of us in any given race to make a big course clog

What I heard: "I am part of the problem".

 

[fatmanatee]

Would it help if before joining the registration queue rD forced you to log into your Disney account and then had controls behind the scenes preventing a Disney account from being in the queue more than once? I think that would solve quite a few problems and lead to more fairness.

The other thing I would add to this is to limit the number of people you can register once you get in. What I would recommend is you can register yourself, one additional adult, and up to four people under the age of 18. I believe names and DOBs cannot be changed after registration right now, so that helps eliminate gaming that part of the system.

That's the best I have come up with.

I'm a bit surprised that they haven't forced log-ins before joining the queue because my understanding is that they do this for other high demand events. They literally had to postpone a registration a few years back because we crashed the servers. It's been a few years since but given how these things are getting more chaotic it's always a risk.

The people limit is interesting. This was the first time I heard complaints from folks who were annoyed that people would chain-sign whole groups of people. I only associated it with families but there seems to be some annoyance about it being more pervasive. I have no idea how much it happens though.

 

[Psymonds]

I am proud and happy to be part of the problem. The good part of the problem, that is...

>> 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.

This!!! I am totally down with going back to extending down Epcot Way. Not only was there more room, but it was quieter and easier to do pre-race chilling (for want of a better term). Yes, a bit of a walk, but I considered it my warm-up.

What @Novatrix said:
>>. This is also the argument I use when people decide to blame early course crowding on Platinum CrD people. As if A) there’s enough of us in any given race to make a big course clog

What I heard: "I am part of the problem".

ultimately they also need a wide path the whole way. most disney courses end up in a constriction down to 15-18 feet or maybe even one lane when going backstage.

Bay to breakers at it's heyday with 40-50k runners (100k in the 80s?!?) was 4-6 lanes for the first 4 miles and 3-4 lanes through to the finish, and it was crowded until the hill if you were in one of the back corrals.

ultimately to add runners, they need to take a look at the courses and see if they can make them wider, OR, spread out the start times more to get more hours of X runners per hour.