Marathon Weekend 2027

[StarGirl11]

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.

I mean admittedly this is a limited sample size. But we do know apparently from NYC that 1% of over 200,000 applicants who applied got in via lottery. Also NYC related I doubt they allow the multiple emails thing since I know they go through the applicants. Since otherwise I wouldn't have gotten emails in the past saying 'Hey your registered under this. Are you sure you meant to mark that?' So they definitely check before the draw. And if there checking that then they are definitely catching other things would be my guess. IDK about the others but NYC is at least thorough in that regard.

 

[marty3d]

what if rundisney is the *reason* you bought dvc

That's not unreasonable.

I did the math on what I've spent on hotels in cash or the opportunity cost of using my Marriott Bonvoy points in the last 5 years and I would have been way ahead had I bought DVC in 2022 (and I'm not even including W&D or MW27 in that calculation). And each one of those trips was rD related. Honestly a little surprising.

 

[DianaMB333]

I agree and support the solutions that create more rD events…

(Although I don't need more excuses to go frequently, nowadays running it is a more fulfilling way to spend the money at WDW)

 

[mtnmjd]

As we brainstorm amongst ourselves on how to fix the RunDisney sign up issue. I am certain rD knows how to fix it. We are also well aware of how Disney in general (as well as most corporations) controls supply and demand.
Increasing the price until demand begins to slow. This is especially easy with race registrations...bump prices 10% and see if it takes longer than a few hours to sell out....bump another 10% and notice that races don't sell out for a few days....etc....etc....etc

We know they aren't adding races for all the reasons Mr. Incredible stated earlier.
They may increase sizes of the races, but fastest way to control demand is to increase price. They can always temporarily control offers and discounts if it demands drifts too far the other direction.

 

[PrincessV]

>> 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.

+1. File this along with WWOS in the marathon course under Things I Thought I Disliked Until I Experienced the Alternative. Aside from one race in which the grass we had to traverse at some point was a foot deep of wet mud, I much preferred the old walkout and staging over what we have now.

BUT…

They also had security screening much closer to the race start than now. I wouldn’t like the long walk from car to EP security plus the old walkout.

 

[KCO5988]

I don't think Disney wants to fix that these races sell out in under 90 minutes. If the instant sell out started slowing down, people wouldn't feel the need to be registering right away like pre-covid. The way it is now, rundisney gets all their money from us on registration day and doesn't have to worry about the race not selling out. It stinks for us, but they know what they're doing.

 

[D-Trick]

Looked at the finish results for the MW half marathon

2018: 20817 finishers
2026: 16281 finishers

The number of entries and field has indeed gotten smaller. Didn't check other races/years.

 

[fatmanatee]

I'm not sure I have a problem with a smaller field for the half/full at the moment, given how tight the bottleneck is on the way to MK, but once they get things settled with construction maybe that's something to look into.

 

[Psymonds]

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.

This was effectively what FIFA did for world cup tickets, required preregistration, assigned a random window over 2 weeks and you got what was available. Tickets were spendy but basically the same as an NFL game for what I got. Of course if you want to buy a $$$uite... over this way $$$ir...

 

[Zutroy]

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.

While I hated the walk out to start, once there it was far superior to the current set up. (1) portapotties were spaced for each corral. Being in corral A, that meant having no lines and a 10 foot walk to use the bathroom. (2) no early choke points. Right now there is a narrow road into a 180 degree right turn at the start. Even in the first wave of A there is a lot of crowding until a half mile in. (3) there was a whole road next to the corrals for warming up. (4) no awkward shuffle to the start line, since it was just one big line down the road, and all the other corrals just moved forward once the previous corral cleared out.

 

[rick1zoo2]

I've been looking at the numbers too thanks to this website:

https://teamrundis.com/rundisney-runner-totals


This is from the 2026 WDW Marathon Weekend, and the numbers are very similar for the past 3 years.



It does give a sense of what a person's odds may be when trying for a challenge or a specific race, for example, I was surprised by how few Goofy Challenge bibs there are.

This is the 2026 Princess Weekend:



My theory is that there are several factors that determine the numbers per race. One is time - how long the course can be open and that is probably constrained by park operations and road closures, Disney would want both of those to be as short as possible. Another factor is course capacity - how many runners can be on the course at the same time - a longer course means more runners on the course at the same time. If you take those two factors together as a formula (someone smarter than me might be able to figure that out) it probably would solve to the number of runners per race. I wish the 5k numbers were there too, my guess is that it's fewer than the 10k. And we would know how the new multiple start group format would affect that - basically they will do multiple 5k races with staggered starts, increasing the capacity.

The other factor, which a previous post alluded to, is price elasticity of demand, which for runDisney races (as well as a lot of other Disney World things) is very inelastic - meaning that the demand is so strong, they could keep raising the prices and they will still sell out. High prices may keep some customers away, but there plenty more to take their place. In this way, reducing the numbers post-2020 while raising prices would result in same or more revenue - fewer runners may equate to lower operating costs (i.e. fewer port-a-potties) and shorter course open times. Also, Club runDisney is a way to generate more revenue from selling the same thing, but offering an advantage for a fee (think Lightning Lanes).

The numbers look similar for Princess and Marathon weekend, but are lower for Wine and Dine and Springtime Surprise, which I the only reason I can think of is based on the slower sell out times meaning historical demand for them was lower?

Wow, I can't believe I typed all that out. I may be incorrect about any or all of that, but I do think a lot about the business side of Disney World and I find it fascinating.

 

[nancipants]

I never did the walk out to the main road, and am not a huge fan of more walking, but if it allows all the other corrals to STAY SEATED until its their corral's turn to start, I'm for it. It's so annoying when everyone in the later corrals STAND UP before the race even starts because they see people from Corrals B and C walking past them toward the start chute and think they'll be moving soon. Also if they have porta potties right next to each corral.

 

[PrincessV]

I don't think Disney wants to fix that these races sell out in under 90 minutes. If the instant sell out started slowing down, people wouldn't feel the need to be registering right away like pre-covid. The way it is now, rundisney gets all their money from us on registration day and doesn't have to worry about the race not selling out. It stinks for us, but they know what they're doing.

Exactly this. But also… why on earth is rD hyping the events if they sell out quickly?

Looked at the finish results for the MW half marathon

2018: 20817 finishers
2026: 16281 finishers

The number of entries and field has indeed gotten smaller. Didn't check other races/years.

And yet, we have as much or more course congestion. I know the why behind that is much more than total number of participants, but goes to show that they can add capacity and not increase congestion - because they’ve done it before.

While I hated the walk out to start, once there it was far superior to the current set up. (1) portapotties were spaced for each corral. Being in corral A, that meant having no lines and a 10 foot walk to use the bathroom. (2) no early choke points. Right now there is a narrow road into a 180 degree right turn at the start. Even in the first wave of A there is a lot of crowding until a half mile in. (3) there was a whole road next to the corrals for warming up. (4) no awkward shuffle to the start line, since it was just one big line down the road, and all the other corrals just moved forward once the previous corral cleared out.

View attachment 1057171

Yep, all of that was great, in retrospect.

I never did the walk out to the main road, and am not a huge fan of more walking, but if it allows all the other corrals to STAY SEATED until its their corral's turn to start, I'm for it. It's so annoying when everyone in the later corrals STAND UP before the race even starts because they see people from Corrals B and C walking past them toward the start chute and think they'll be moving soon. Also if they have porta potties right next to each corral.

It honestly wasn’t a ton more distance and was kind of a nice way to stretch the legs and mentally shift from hanging around with the DJ and characters to getting into race mode. Corrals did move forward as each one started, but it was only forward: no stupid sharp left turn followed by a sharp right turn nonsense to bunch everyone up. They had a number of different corral configurations over the years - one PHM corrals went to D, another they went as high as P, I think - but relatively easy access in and out to get to an ample supply of potties staggered all around the corrals. The only major downside (and this could be a security concern maybe?) was much less light, and a lot of uneven ground/grass. I used a couple potties over the years that legit felt like they might tip over because the ground under them was so angled. And as a Floridian, I do not like to stand still in grass waiting for a potty where I can’t see fire ant mounds. But overall, I preferred that over what we have now.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I never did the walk out to the main road, and am not a huge fan of more walking, but if it allows all the other corrals to STAY SEATED until its their corral's turn to start, I'm for it. It's so annoying when everyone in the later corrals STAND UP before the race even starts because they see people from Corrals B and C walking past them toward the start chute and think they'll be moving soon. Also if they have porta potties right next to each corral.

Spoiler alert: it didn't make a difference.

In fact, one of my biggest early memories of rundisney races was in 2022 when The Expert and I watch a guy pass out about 30ft in front of us in D corral. We had been standing for at least 30min at that point (probably longer) because they were getting ready to sign the anthem and start A corral. It took at least 5 min to get someone up to a person who could alert medical that someone needed help.

 

[pluto377]

I also miss the road start. There was something soothing about the long trek in the pre-dawn darkness with 16,000 of your closest runner friends.

I know they would never remove the on course character photos, but I think that as stopping for these has become more popular through social media it's definitely impacting the congested feel by mixing up all the different paces. It makes Disney unique in a good way in that the races have that fun element, but also in a bad way in that it's a nightmare for pacing and seeding.

I hated the registration stress yesterday and almost missed out on the weekend completely, but I can't see why rD would have any incentive to change anything. Thousands of race spots sold out in about 90 minutes. From their perspective why would that be a problem?

I am intrigued by an evening summer 5K series and that's probably the only way you could convince me to ever go to Florida in July or August again.

 

[smrt1]

I enjoyed the old walk-out to the start line. It made the race feel much bigger than in its current state. For the half, especially, I remember it being just a sea of people as far as I could see. I remember years ago there was an old Jungle Cruise boat just sitting on the side of the road as we walked toward the start. The current setup seems a bit cramped. I really don’t know why they allow fewer runners now. On a side note, yesterday my wife and I were discussing my brother’s misfortune of not obtaining a bib for MW. Since 2013 I have done every race at every MW and I believe he has missed two years, not because he couldn’t get in, he just wasn’t able to make it happen for whatever reason. There were a few years, especially when my kids were very young that it was a major hassle for me to get there, but being OCD and doing it every year I didn’t give myself the option. Anyhow, my wife (for the first time) told me that it was smart of me to run Dopey every year just for the fact that it removes all the stress and disappointment that lots of others are feeling right now. I appreciated that, because leaving her alone with young twins at the time definitely created a bit of friction, so I was glad to hear that. I’m not saying this to “rub it in” that I was able to register and others could not. Couldn’t be further from that. I just figured there may be some here that have maybe gotten some flack from their families for their rD addiction. Running is a huge part of my life, and it’s not something that I did when my wife and I met back in ‘98, so once I got the bug it took awhile to understand the importance it has to me. I will be doing this until my body can no longer move.

 

[dobball23]

I liked the road start so I could hop the fence, use the trees as a pre-race bathroom spot and then hop back into the corral. I can do the 5K, 10K and typically the half without going to the bathroom after getting in the corral, but it's a bit tougher for the marathon.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I have not run a WDW race since they changed from Epcot Center Drive - in fact, just learned about that in this thread. I hated the long walk out there one year, when it was freezing cold and very windy. But other years I thought it was fine. I cannot imagine how they squeeze so many thousands of runners into corrals in the Epcot parking lot.

 

[camaker]

Exactly this. But also… why on earth is rD hyping the events if they sell out quickly?

I think it's an outgrowth of their current park strategy of encouraging/attracting new visitors preferentially over recurring visitors. They want new runners discovering and attending the events because they’re likely to spend more than returning runners who’ve been there, done that, especially with the merchandise situation. They’re very comfortable with everything selling out, they just want to shift the needle towards new visitors by reaching out through previously unused channels.

 

[Barca33Runner]

why on earth is rD hyping the events if they sell out quickly?

This has also somewhat baffled me but, ultimately, I think they’ve deemed it easier (and better business) to build and maintain an audience while it is hot rather than waiting for popularity to fade and then trying to build it back up.

ETA: And what was noted by @camaker