Official 2011 Princess Half Marathon Thread - Link to new thread Post 3703!

[Lexxie&Nicky]

Hi all, first time poster, long time follower. I am registered and CBR booked for the Princess half in 2011! I just wanted to say that this thread is awesome, so much useful information. I am learning a lot.

Welcome Twnkedee!

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Okay well I wasn't planning to walk to EPCOT but now I definately know I won't be doing that. I guess my real question was - are the resorts that I am hearing are not showing availability due to the race rate being full or that the entire resort is full?

I have not traveled to WDW during this time before so I am not familiar with how full the resorts are going to be.
Thanks for any info.

I think it is just a case of availability not being opened up yet. Sneaky Revenue Management on Disney's part. Most people don't book out so far and this may be Disney's way of filling up certain resorts first - maybe the value first and then leaving the highest rates for last...not sure but it would maximize revenue. We left at 4:15 a.m. and got parked by 4:30 a.m. I agree with Kat, you aren't going to get any sleep regardless the night before so just make sure you do a couple days before. There are plenty of rooms at Disney...so I wouldn't worry about the resort selling out. Although this weekend will be busier than last (since they have other events going on), February is still not busy at WDW.

 

[Lexxie&Nicky]

Thanks! I appreicate your help.

 

[Benducci]

Hi all, first time poster, long time follower. I am registered and CBR booked for the Princess half in 2011! I just wanted to say that this thread is awesome, so much useful information. I am learning a lot.

I am the same- thisis my first half and I am very excited- learning alot from this board!
I am a dvc member so we booked at Animal Kingdom since that is one of the race resorts. Wish we could have stayed at OKW but this will be fun. There are 8 of us going & we are looking to do it as cheap as possible! We were able to get a great air fare- $158 R/T arriving riday & departing Tuesday. We are booking the Dining plan and plan to spend Saturday by the pool! Yeah baby!
Fun for us since it is a girls only trip! I am a little sad that my family will not be there to see my first half but this is a great group to do this with so I cannot pass it up. I am planning to come back next October with the family & do the Wine & Dine half.
Keep the great info coming!

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

The end of September usually is when the gear starts to come out. Just FYI - It is Champion brand and if unfamiliar with it, it isn't the highest of quality. I got it for this year and was pretty unimpressed. For the amount of money they charge for the shirts and running skirt, I would expect the same quality as my Nike running gear...it isn't even close. I wish Disney would pair up with Nike...

Thanks for the info. Sadly, I will most likely buy one anyway since I think it will be fun to wear for some of my training runs, but at least now I better know what to expect.

Another mom of 4!!! I have three sons and one daughter - thank god!! I dont know if I could handle 3 princess

LoL I am the opposite. Before I had ds I would see other people's little boys jumping off walls and I was so thankful to have my tame girls

I am a mom of 4 too. 3 sons and one daughter. But...my baby is 21. I Couldn't imagine 3 princesses.

It is not too bad with 3 girls, yet. Now when I have 3 teenage girls

I don't think that's it... it may be because it's President's Day, and many, many people have off that week.

I sure hope this is not the case. I most likely will not be able to book until next month and if all the resorts are going to be booked solid it sure doesn't sound like a very fun time.

I plan on enjoying the parks a bit while I am there but to save $$ I may upgrade my ticket to an AP while I am there in Oct especially since I will be back in May.

I am going to pay OOP for my meals as it is just me and I think I will do mostly counter service anyway.

This is pretty much my plan too. If we do end up going on our Dec trip I will probably just upgrade to an annual pass and use that for the Princess weekend.

what days are everyone flying in on. I was initially thinking friday since the winter weather here is so unpredictable. I have this fear that if we book a sat morning departure and a big snow storm comes I wont get there in time to pick up my package. Any thoughts?

I plan on coming in Friday so I can go to the expo that day and have Sat. to myself to just relax and maybe shop a little, but keep it really low key. Probably fly out Tues or Wed depending on dh work schedule and who will be watching the kids.

Hi all, first time poster, long time follower. I am registered and CBR booked for the Princess half in 2011! I just wanted to say that this thread is awesome, so much useful information. I am learning a lot.

Welcome!!

 

[mikmouse]

I will second this. However, we left the resort around 4:10-4:15 and got to the Epcot parking lot by 4:30 or so.

Based on last year, you have to be in your corral by 5:30, and with gear check, the inevitable port-a-potty stop, and the 20 min walk to the corral, I would shoot to be there no later than about 4:45.

If you wait to leave until 5, you run the risk of not making it in time.

Thank you for the good information. We will be staying at the BWV so I will drive my daughter at 4 am and we shouldn't have a problem. I'll just check with the desk on the best route. Last time from OKW we drove in circles for quite awhile and was not fun.

 

[swim-mom]

Haha! No problem.

I know that it sounds really, really early (and I am NOT a morning person), but believe me, you won't sleep much the night before anyhow.

The advice that I got from my running club is that it's not the sleep that you get the night before the race that is important - the two nights before it matter more.

I could not agree more - this year I flew in on Friday night on the 9pm flight while my friend flew in on the 8 am flight on Sat. We ate at Kona and then did the expo all day - YES ALL DAY and spent a lovely amount ((FYI-bring cash and cards-))

Then we had dinner at Calif. Grill and then back to hotel and bed by 11:45pm. The plan was to sleep, but it was my first half and I was having nightmares of missing the alarm not finishing - bottom line every horrible thing I dreamed about!!!

We got up at 3:15am and planned to catch the bus at 3:30am -- which keep in mind there was a line to even get on the BUS!! So by 4am(ish) we caught the bus and then had to wait for the food stand to open at 5am for coffee and walked to the corrals.

My friend was in A, and she almost missed it - as she just made it. I was in C, but in the back.........which was not a good thing.

So for me personally, I will get in my corral earlier and also move to the front or close to it as I can to be able to run. Last year I did alot of zig zagging which I did not enjoy.

I felt wonderful and being sleep deprived never played a part because I was so excited...........NOW at mile 10 I questioned whose Idea it was to do the half.....SADLY IT WAS MINE, ALL MY IDEA

AT THE very end, I was proud to have done it and will be back every year to do it again

Being in the most magical place on earth - truly does make everything possible!!!

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

For those of you who are reporting resorts sold out are you talking about a discounted rate? I was just on the website and out of the resorts I checked (AS-movie, CBR, POR & AKL) the only one that looked like it has an issue was AKL, and it would only quote me the rooms that are $500+ a night (Arusha View) for rooms at rack rate.
Also are the chances of a PIN or GP code pretty low for this weekend? Will it probably be blacked out? I am still trying to decide what I am going to do but I want to make up my mind quickly to get a room booked so at least I know I have a room.

 

[Lexxie&Nicky]

For those of you who are reporting resorts sold out are you talking about a discounted rate? I was just on the website and out of the resorts I checked (AS-movie, CBR, POR & AKL) the only one that looked like it has an issue was AKL, and it would only quote me the rooms that are $500+ a night (Arusha View) for rooms at rack rate.
Also are the chances of a PIN or GP code pretty low for this weekend? Will it probably be blacked out? I am still trying to decide what I am going to do but I want to make up my mind quickly to get a room booked so at least I know I have a room.

That was my question too and I think it must be that the race rate is what is selling out.
I am more concerned about getting a room than getting the race rate as I think there will be other options there - PIN or AP rate.

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

That was my question too and I think it must be that the race rate is what is selling out.
I am more concerned about getting a room than getting the race rate as I think there will be other options there - PIN or AP rate.

That is pretty much my feeling too. Plus when I was looking at the site the race rate is only giving you $25 off the rack rate price for the Mods, so while $25 a night is helpful we are not talking about a huge discount. I am planning on staying 3 or 4 nights at POR so for me it would only be a $100 difference, at most.

 

[buckeyecinderella]

For those of you who are reporting resorts sold out are you talking about a discounted rate? I was just on the website and out of the resorts I checked (AS-movie, CBR, POR & AKL) the only one that looked like it has an issue was AKL, and it would only quote me the rooms that are $500+ a night (Arusha View) for rooms at rack rate.
Also are the chances of a PIN or GP code pretty low for this weekend? Will it probably be blacked out? I am still trying to decide what I am going to do but I want to make up my mind quickly to get a room booked so at least I know I have a room.

A few weeks ago, I booked a standard room for myself and DH at the race rate at AKL. A friend committed to running and I went back to book a second room for her and her DH. I could not get the last night booked at the race rate. CRO told me that they need to open up more rooms at that rate. They did, and booked the last night at the race rate for us a few days later. So, hopefully, that will be the case for those trying to find rooms. WDW just needs to open up more rooms at that rate. However, I would still try to book something to make sure you have a room, and then check back for the room type and rate you want over the next few months.

 

[tmanaster]

Tricia, we are staying at POR also! Woot!

Love it there! Aren't you excited?? Nothing like a trip to Disney to get me motivated!

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

Love it there! Aren't you excited?? Nothing like a trip to Disney to get me motivated!

We used to stay there when it was Dixie Lanfings when our two kids were the the early teenage years. We have so many wonderful memories at POR especially when our DD was in the Disney college program and we met her there. So. Much. Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[disneyaway]

For those that went last year, is there still good stuff to buy at the expo on Saturday? We are flying in Friday but will probably hit the expo on Saturday since DD will be running the kids race. I wanted to get a princess shirt and maybe a little crown. Or would you recommend going on Friday?

 

[swim-mom]

For those that went last year, is there still good stuff to buy at the expo on Saturday? We are flying in Friday but will probably hit the expo on Saturday since DD will be running the kids race. I wanted to get a princess shirt and maybe a little crown. Or would you recommend going on Friday?

Stuff on Sat????????

Their is so MUCH stuff, you need to bring a stack of hundreds and also your credit card!!!

The expo is amazing, I was their for 5 hours and LOVED IT!!!

Now I will not even consider an half without an EXPO that is how much I loved it!!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

good morning everyone!

i just completed a 5k (by myself) and have my sights set on doing the princess half marathon. i am a SLOW runner and am still huffing and puffing even just to complete one mile.

the half is 6 months away and i really want to do it. i haven't signed up yet. i may have to do it all on my own too. my husband won't really be able to take any time off and i can't bring my one year old with me while i run! i'm a little nervous about that so i'm hoping that maybe i can find some online support through all of this.

i have to go back and read everything on this thread but i wanted to say hello first and introduce myself. i'm nancy and i want to run this for ME. i'll be 30 in october, i have a one year old boy, and i want to run this to prove to myself that i can do anything i put my mind to! i'm also looking for any advice on training and gear for a biggish gal!

 

[Jeter02]

When I get done with a run the first thing I want to do is drink some water and the second thing I want to do is take a shower. But ... every time I take a shower soon after running I come out of the shower still sweating. I have made the water somewhat colder and still - I come out sweating. Any advice? Now I end up sitting around for 30 minutes until my body cools off and am wasting the morning away. And... once school starts back up I will not have time in the morning to wait for my body to cool down - I'll need to get ready for work! Thanks for any advice - I am new the running game and have lots of questions.

Being a school teacher, and not so much of a fan of waking up beyond super early....I decided when the school year starts up, I am going to go ahead just do those weekday runs (only 2) in the evening, in hopes it doesn't rain.
Otherwise it is to much a time crunch and a rush.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

Stuff on Sat????????

Their is so MUCH stuff, you need to bring a stack of hundreds and also your credit card!!!

The expo is amazing, I was their for 5 hours and LOVED IT!!!

Now I will not even consider an half without an EXPO that is how much I loved it!!

There is a lot of stuff, but if you are interested in clothing and want smaller sizes, you will have a hard time finding anything. Oh well, in the end it worked out great for my budget because the running skirts they had were too large, (I tend to wear small and that size was pretty much non-existent. We ended up going on Saturday but for the Disneyland Half, I will go first thing on Friday and I am sure it will be much different. But, they did have plenty of the tiaras, and hats, and ears. But, if anyone is interested in a tiara, I would advise you to not purchase one and wait for the race to start. Tiaras, and tutus are the first thing to get dropped for a lot of the runners - maybe because they aren't comfortable? Regardless, a lot of people ended up scoring free tiaras. It was funny to watch as well as surprising. Those suckers were expensive.

 

[Benducci]

good morning everyone!

i just completed a 5k (by myself) and have my sights set on doing the princess half marathon. i am a SLOW runner and am still huffing and puffing even just to complete one mile.

the half is 6 months away and i really want to do it. i haven't signed up yet. i may have to do it all on my own too. my husband won't really be able to take any time off and i can't bring my one year old with me while i run! i'm a little nervous about that so i'm hoping that maybe i can find some online support through all of this.

i have to go back and read everything on this thread but i wanted to say hello first and introduce myself. i'm nancy and i want to run this for ME. i'll be 30 in october, i have a one year old boy, and i want to run this to prove to myself that i can do anything i put my mind to! i'm also looking for any advice on training and gear for a biggish gal!

xo- you are dong it for the best reasons! For yourself! That is why I am doing it - I have never done anything like this before but I felt I needed to do it for ME! Kudos to you for wanting to do it! I still huff & puff also but I figure by the time the race comes, I will be ready and so will yo! I signed up for a 5K next month and looking for a 10 K also. You can do it! that is our motto! If you need extra inspiration, feel free to pm me! xo

 

[MamaCrush]

good morning everyone!

i just completed a 5k (by myself) and have my sights set on doing the princess half marathon. i am a SLOW runner and am still huffing and puffing even just to complete one mile.

the half is 6 months away and i really want to do it. i haven't signed up yet. i may have to do it all on my own too. my husband won't really be able to take any time off and i can't bring my one year old with me while i run! i'm a little nervous about that so i'm hoping that maybe i can find some online support through all of this.

i have to go back and read everything on this thread but i wanted to say hello first and introduce myself. i'm nancy and i want to run this for ME. i'll be 30 in october, i have a one year old boy, and i want to run this to prove to myself that i can do anything i put my mind to! i'm also looking for any advice on training and gear for a biggish gal!

Welcome, Nancy! I too am a "Biggish" Girl and will be running my first 5K at Disney during the Food & Wine Half Marathon weekend. I only started training at the end of June-- starting from a base of ZERO fitness. I too have my sights set on the Princess Half. I'll be one month away from 51 years old when I do the 5K.

I love how doing this makes me feel-- and not just physically. I feel empowered in other areas of my life because I'm tackling this goal I've set for myself. None of my friends even know I'm doing this! Only my DH and my two kids-- and that's just because they live with me!

These boards are a tremendous resource for both information and encouragement. We can SO do this!