Marathon Weekend Expo. What If I can't pick up my bib in time?

[roxymama]

Thank you to the OP for this post; I was needing the same info. (And thanks to the Disers for your candid answers.)

I'm wanting to run the January 2020 half marathon (because we'll be coming during that time and it would be a way for me to finally get to run one without making a separate trip, and money is a factor for us). I wanted my DH to run with me (as I'm frankly very intimidated by going through this by myself--all the unknowns, etc.), but he cannot take an extra day of vacation to arrive on the Friday, and we thought there must be a way, but now I see there actually isn't--you just need to view/accept the bib pickup as part of the race whole. I'm disappointed with the answer, but I get it.

Now to convince myself that I can indeed do this (more concerned with all the prerace logistics than the actual run!)

My response is for @BurleyGirl who has a vacation day issue for 2020. One possible solution is to pick a disney half marathon that is not on marathon weekend. The other race weekends hold the half marathons on Sunday since they are the longest distance. Marathon weekend is the only one with Saturday HM.
You could technically fly in early AM on Sat, go to the expo, and race Sunday morning. Fly out that evening or late afternoon. It's a whirlwind, but do-able.

 

[ScooterScott44]

This thread is a little weird. So is the OP really going to arrive at MCO at 9 and expect to be doing the race. Even if you get your bib I would say don’t expect to be in bed before 11. If you are heading to get the bibs at 3 am, are you getting up at 2 or so. All that after a full day of work and travel. That doesn’t sound like a real magical time.

I know that the world will stop spinning and all the kiddos will likely vanish into thin air if you are not at work but it sounds like the race is going to be more hassle than it is worth. Have you considered cutting your losses at the race entry fee. Just get flight and hotel refunds and have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. If you do make it good luck but again it may not be your most pleasant experience.

 

[Krandor]

I’m confused. What does Kayak have to do with flight schedules? They’re a flight aggregation and comparison tool, not an airline. The airlines set the flight schedules and control their on time performance. Am I missing something?

Some aggregation places overbook abd then cancel/change st last minute. I know a few friend who have gotten hotels cancelled last minute and hotels say that’s common with that aggregator. Not sure about kyack itself but some of those places do shady things.

 

[camaker]

Some aggregation places overbook abd then cancel/change st last minute. I know a few friend who have gotten hotels cancelled last minute and hotels say that’s common with that aggregator. Not sure about kyack itself but some of those places do shady things.

Aggregation sites can't change the flight schedules for the airlines, though, which is what was being suggested in this case.

 

[Krandor]

Aggregation sites can't change the flight schedules for the airlines, though, which is what was being suggested in this case.

If the airline changed the flight then agree. Hard to rule out the site may have moved them to another flight. Did they verify with the airline website that specify flight was changed or just what kayak told them?

 

[camaker]

If the airline changed the flight then agree. Hard to rule out the site may have moved them to another flight. Did they verify with the airline website that specify flight was changed or just what kayak told them?

There was no mention in any of the poster's messages about the actual flights/flight numbers being changed. They just relayed that the times of their flight had been changed.

 

[DLgal]

This thread is a little weird. So is the OP really going to arrive at MCO at 9 and expect to be doing the race. Even if you get your bib I would say don’t expect to be in bed before 11. If you are heading to get the bibs at 3 am, are you getting up at 2 or so. All that after a full day of work and travel. That doesn’t sound like a real magical time.
.

Ha! Who needs sleep? I've run several Disney races and have literally been up all night before each one of them. I have terrible stress and travel induced insomnia and NEVER sleep at all the first 2 nights in a hotel, no matter what. I also can't sleep the night before a flight, or a big event. I ran in Disneyland races 15 minutes from my house, and I still didn't sleep the nights before, even in my own bed. Adrenaline made me run faster than any of my training runs. I just took naps later in the day.

Just saying, I suspect that MANY runners barely sleep before races. It's not uncommon. If I was arriving at MCO at 9pm, I wouldn't even bother going to bed. I'd get myself a big coffee around midnight and just power through.

 

[ScooterScott44]

Ha! Who needs sleep? ... ...If I was arriving at MCO at 9pm, I wouldn't even bother going to bed. I'd get myself a big coffee around midnight and just power through.

Agree, missing one nights sleep is not ideal but not uncommon before races. I’m looking at the whole picture. Loss of sleep coupled with work, and the big item of travel. The OP was flying and since I travel usually over 100 flights a year for work, I was thinking of the dehydration factor of flying coupled with extended sitting on the plane and extra walking thru airports. Add some likely standing in lines and in the corral and the legs are probably not going to feel the freshest. That is just the race.

More important than that the Disney races are not real races and much more about the overall experience. So you lose Friday to travel, Saturday morning to the race. The rest of Saturday is shot due to the events of the last 24 hours. My guess is the OP is traveling back on Sunday since they can’t miss Monday so that day is gone too. Sounds like a wonderful Disney experience. (Please note the sarcasm in that last statement.). With the cost of a Disney trip, it just sounds like they could change to a different event later if running a Disney race is the goal or some other Disney trip all together.

 

[DLgal]

Agree, missing one nights sleep is not ideal but not uncommon before races. I’m looking at the whole picture. Loss of sleep coupled with work, and the big item of travel. The OP was flying and since I travel usually over 100 flights a year for work, I was thinking of the dehydration factor of flying coupled with extended sitting on the plane and extra walking thru airports. Add some likely standing in lines and in the corral and the legs are probably not going to feel the freshest. That is just the race.

More important than that the Disney races are not real races and much more about the overall experience. So you lose Friday to travel, Saturday morning to the race. The rest of Saturday is shot due to the events of the last 24 hours. My guess is the OP is traveling back on Sunday since they can’t miss Monday so that day is gone too. Sounds like a wonderful Disney experience. (Please note the sarcasm in that last statement.). With the cost of a Disney trip, it just sounds like they could change to a different event later if running a Disney race is the goal or some other Disney trip all together.

I mean, I can't disagree with you. Personally, it sounds like a nightmare of an experience, but what's the use of projecting our opinions here? It's not going to be our experience, so as long as the OP is okay with it, wish them well. I don't know how old OP is, but I would have (and did) do a lot of crazy things in my 20s, before I had kids and was tired all the time. LOL. I'm 40 now and wouldn't choose to run a race if I was so time crunched, but my tolerance for that kind of thing is basically gone at this point.

 

[Krandor]

There was no mention in any of the poster's messages about the actual flights/flight numbers being changed. They just relayed that the times of their flight had been changed.

Not really something I wanted to argue about but they are just using what kayak told them. If it’s me I verify with airline I’m getting the right info. Just had issue with a lot of those aggregators. Verification never hurts.

 

[BurleyGirl]

My response is for @BurleyGirl who has a vacation day issue for 2020. One possible solution is to pick a disney half marathon that is not on marathon weekend. The other race weekends hold the half marathons on Sunday since they are the longest distance. Marathon weekend is the only one with Saturday HM.
You could technically fly in early AM on Sat, go to the expo, and race Sunday morning. Fly out that evening or late afternoon. It's a whirlwind, but do-able.

Thanks Roxymama for your suggestion. I wish I could change it to a different race (my choice would be the Princess Half!), but the reason for this January 2020 trip is to celebrate my son's graduation from collage, and his girlfriend will be attending (he's planning on proposing, actually, on this trip), and as she will have one more semester at the same college, she will have to be back from Disney in time to start classes. And since they want a summer 2020 wedding (prior to both of them starting grad school in the fall of 2020), then he wants to propose as quickly as possible to give them a good five-six months for planning purposes, so pushing the trip back to say Spring Break is not good timing. It's really all based upon the timing of this proposal, and his desire to make it a Disney proposal. So, since we were going to be on this family trip in January, I decided to take advantage of already being there and not having to pay for an additional trip just to run a half-marathon. (Sorry for the long explanation!)
Again, I appreciate the suggestion. (I think I have convinced myself that I'll fly out a day early ahead of my crew and run the half myself. Even though the OP has pointed out we could pick up the bib morning of, I don't think I want the added stress of doing so, or of being there at 3AM!)

 

[bumbershoot]

So is the OP really going to arrive at MCO at 9 and expect to be doing the race. Even if you get your bib I would say don’t expect to be in bed before 11. If you are heading to get the bibs at 3 am, are you getting up at 2 or so. All that after a full day of work and travel. That doesn’t sound like a real magical time.

Did you know that there are those of us who fly from the west coast to get to races that start right around bedtime for night owls like me? Making it worse for me is that it takes at least a week for me to deal with jet lag, no matter what I do. Disneyworld races aren't a awesome fun wonderful experience for me. Now, Tower of Terror 2013 and Wine and Dine 2014 (ah, splash and dash, how I miss your cold soggyness), those were good, because they started not too terribly long after I was usually training, since I trained late afternoon pacific time. Good times...

anyway. Not everyone goes to a rundisney event and has birds chirping and glorious times all around.

I mean, I can't disagree with you. Personally, it sounds like a nightmare of an experience, but what's the use of projecting our opinions here? It's not going to be our experience, so as long as the OP is okay with it, wish them well.

Agreed.

I don't know how old OP is, but I would have (and did) do a lot of crazy things in my 20s

oh yeah. My 36 hour trip to New Orleans comes to mind...

Not really something I wanted to argue about but they are just using what kayak told them. If it’s me I verify with airline I’m getting the right info. Just had issue with a lot of those aggregators. Verification never hurts.

Kayak is an info-giver. It's not like expedia. For flights it's a click through to the airline's site place. Period.

the reason for this January 2020 trip is to celebrate my son's graduation from collage, and his girlfriend will be attending (he's planning on proposing, actually, on this trip)

UNSOLICITED THOUGHTS incoming.... He's planning to propose a year from now? Just sayin'...the ONE guy I know who had a plan like that ended up getting dumped about 6 months from his plans because she never thought he was going to propose. His reason for delay was that he was waiting for a graduation to make it "special". She wanted to BE engaged at graduation. You said he wants 5 months to plan. Why not...a year and 5 months? If he knows and feels that she knows...why not earlier? OK. Unsolicited thoughts are done now. Carry on.

 

[BurleyGirl]

UNSOLICITED THOUGHTS incoming.... He's planning to propose a year from now? Just sayin'...the ONE guy I know who had a plan like that ended up getting dumped about 6 months from his plans because she never thought he was going to propose. His reason for delay was that he was waiting for a graduation to make it "special". She wanted to BE engaged at graduation. You said he wants 5 months to plan. Why not...a year and 5 months? If he knows and feels that she knows...why not earlier? OK. Unsolicited thoughts are done now. Carry on.

I do appreciate your insights, bumbershoot! Yes, I know lots can happen over the course of this coming year; it could end up just being the three of us, or he could end up changing his mind and as you say proposing earlier, but this is what we're going with right now 'cause it works for him/them. I don't think she's the type to dump him because she doesn't think he'll ever propose...they are both planners and I think they feel they are on the right track/plan. I think she knows it will come, but not knowing when is what makes it special (and exciting).