Official 2016 Dopey Challenge Thread

Planning on continuing with Dopey for our 3rd time (2014, 2015), already made our reservations at Polynesian DVC! We didn't fly out to California to become Dopey Rebels (doing Star Wars the weekend after) and we were a lot more depressed that we didn't so that in 2016 we are hoping to do both.
 
I'm now thinking of giving up the Dopey streak and taking part in the DLP inaugural half. Still pondering and checking the books.
 
We are contemplating another trip down to see the Mouse, and after some running friends said that they will be going down for the Dopey, I am thinking of either Dopey or the Goofy. I was envious of all the Dopey runners at our last trip where I ONLY did the marathon, and I did Goofy in '12. I'm not sure how I feel about four mornings of getting up at 3. When I did Goofy, I felt like I was in that movie Groundhog Day with the early bus rides and hanging out at the start. The extra $190 is another consideration. First I need to get through the Boston Marathon and then I will have seven days to decide....
 
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I'm hoping to go Dopey with my running partner in 2016. Right now, we're more nervous about registration than anything, the way rD races have been selling out. Crazy!
 


I just remembered something from last years Boston Marathon Expo: Run Disney was there & offering early registration for the races. Anyone in the Boston area worried about not getting into the race could go to the expo, which is free & open to the public, and sign up early. If I decide to run the Dopey or Goofy I may sign up then.
 
I just remembered something from last years Boston Marathon Expo: Run Disney was there & offering early registration for the races. Anyone in the Boston area worried about not getting into the race could go to the expo, which is free & open to the public, and sign up early. If I decide to run the Dopey or Goofy I may sign up then.
I'm not running Boston, and don't live near there--but I have family members that live there (and will be running Boston!) They can't register for me, right? It would have to be me, in person?
 


I'm not running Boston, and don't live near there--but I have family members that live there (and will be running Boston!) They can't register for me, right? It would have to be me, in person?

As long as they put all your information down correctly, no. Just as you don't need to be the one to register yourself online. And they don't care whose name is on the credit card, as long as it goes through.
 
DH is more than thinking about it-he's already training for it. Ever since he did the F&W half marathon a few years ago, he's on the mailing list. But considering how fast the F&W half sold out this year, he's pretty nervous about getting in. Since we have APs and are DVC, what are the dates for that registration? He's 64 yo, so he sees this as a once and done experience.
 
regular registration is april 28th so I believe ap and dvc opens a week or two before that...not sure as neither is an option for me ill be in with the masses on the 28th hopefully everything goes well....W&D did freak me out with how fast it went but Marathon Weekend does have a bit higher capacity and I think there were a number of factors that contributed to W&D being ultra fast this year (no ToT, last years soak fest, only night race, only race after February @ Disneyworld)
 
regular registration is april 28th so I believe ap and dvc opens a week or two before that...not sure as neither is an option for me ill be in with the masses on the 28th hopefully everything goes well....W&D did freak me out with how fast it went but Marathon Weekend does have a bit higher capacity and I think there were a number of factors that contributed to W&D being ultra fast this year (no ToT, last years soak fest, only night race, only race after February @ Disneyworld)

And it doesn't close the Food & Wine Festival this year, so you can do a run-cation and have the race at the beginning and still have a nightly bacchanalia around world showcase without it screwing with your race.

I expect Dopey to go in under 2 days of regular registration, faster if there is any validity to the 'this is the last year' rumors.
 
regular registration is april 28th so I believe ap and dvc opens a week or two before that...not sure as neither is an option for me ill be in with the masses on the 28th hopefully everything goes well....W&D did freak me out with how fast it went but Marathon Weekend does have a bit higher capacity and I think there were a number of factors that contributed to W&D being ultra fast this year (no ToT, last years soak fest, only night race, only race after February @ Disneyworld)

Avenger's early registration began yesterday and regular registration begins April 7th - so two weeks in advance. The same was true for W&D. So I would think that early registration will be two weeks before regular for Dopey. And of course I have a mandatory meeting scheduled for that day! Argh!!!
 
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I'm in for dopey again this year - food poisoning ended it for me last year. I did do star wars though after that. Not sure if I'm going to do it again. It was a fun time but idk.
 
Also as far as rumors go - it makes literally no sense to cancel the Dopey Challenge. Not only do they charge a premium over the cost of all 4 races individually, it is also the first to sell out. The one at risk in my mind would be the goofy. The addition of the 10k added a reasonably large number of non runners aspiring to do their first race - very few people are willing to travel for a 5k, but will have no issue doing one if they're already travelling for someone else. Prior to Dopey the 5k's were small and very low key. The vast majority of people I meet running the 5k's are Dopey's. The 10k is a bit more balanced, and the half and full you get your good mix of goofy's and single race runners.

I don't think the logistics of Dopey are that much harder than that of goofy minus the vast increase in the size of the 5k. And yes I will admit being a corral A runner we finished before hte last corrals even started in the 5k and 10k, so waiting for those buses was a little chilly - world's smallest violin right here. Note to self pack sweatshirt. But that was it. Hung out in the handicapped tent to stay out of the wind and ended up helping racers switch out of their wheel chairs, it was actually a really fun ending to the 5k.

So for people afraid this is Dopey's last year - I really wouldn't sweat it. Its making disney plenty extra in race entry fees. In addition its causing you to stay 2 days longer than you would have (at minimum) if you were going for Goofy - so there's even more $$. The challenges have been the biggest change disney implemented over the last year giving basically every race a challenge component which sells out faster than the individual races. I see Dopey sticking around for a while. The one I would worry about however, is Goofy...because running wise its not really any harder than the goofy challenge - so most people who would be willing to sign up for goofy, would sign up for Dopey. The killer is waking up 3am. Every. Single. Morning (Groundhog Day anyone?) And personally I love the Goofy challenge far more - the shirts are way better. I'm just a bright orange person. Really you had to see me skipping to get the bright orange shirt.
 
Also as far as rumors go - it makes literally no sense to cancel the Dopey Challenge. Not only do they charge a premium over the cost of all 4 races individually, it is also the first to sell out. The one at risk in my mind would be the goofy. The addition of the 10k added a reasonably large number of non runners aspiring to do their first race - very few people are willing to travel for a 5k, but will have no issue doing one if they're already travelling for someone else. Prior to Dopey the 5k's were small and very low key. The vast majority of people I meet running the 5k's are Dopey's. The 10k is a bit more balanced, and the half and full you get your good mix of goofy's and single race runners.

I don't think the logistics of Dopey are that much harder than that of goofy minus the vast increase in the size of the 5k. And yes I will admit being a corral A runner we finished before hte last corrals even started in the 5k and 10k, so waiting for those buses was a little chilly - world's smallest violin right here. Note to self pack sweatshirt. But that was it. Hung out in the handicapped tent to stay out of the wind and ended up helping racers switch out of their wheel chairs, it was actually a really fun ending to the 5k.

So for people afraid this is Dopey's last year - I really wouldn't sweat it. Its making disney plenty extra in race entry fees. In addition its causing you to stay 2 days longer than you would have (at minimum) if you were going for Goofy - so there's even more $$. The challenges have been the biggest change disney implemented over the last year giving basically every race a challenge component which sells out faster than the individual races. I see Dopey sticking around for a while. The one I would worry about however, is Goofy...because running wise its not really any harder than the goofy challenge - so most people who would be willing to sign up for goofy, would sign up for Dopey. The killer is waking up 3am. Every. Single. Morning (Groundhog Day anyone?) And personally I love the Goofy challenge far more - the shirts are way better. I'm just a bright orange person. Really you had to see me skipping to get the bright orange shirt.

I'm in complete agreement with you about the Dopey Challenge rumors. I simply don't understand what would be the reasons for discontinuation. There are a finite number of runners who can compete in the four races over the weekend and I can't really see them increasing or decreasing those numbers (I assume they appreciate the profits over any logistical concerns); and if they aren't interested in increasing or decreasing the number of runners in each individual race, I don't really understand why they would care whether the entrants for the 5K and 10K were mostly Dopey participants or runners signing up for individual events.

I did see, in my eyes, a negative ramification from the Dopey Challenge. I think the fields have condensed backwards, with many able-bodied runners willing to put in far less than a full effort in portions of or all of the 5K, 10K, and Half. I certainly understand this strategy in light of the Challenge, but just from year 1 to year 2 this seemed to get worse. I felt like this may have caused worse crowding issues in the latter half of the field. I don't know if there is a fix to this phenomenon or if it was anything that runDisney also noted or even cared about if they did, just my 2 cents.

Hopefully you're right about the Dopey not being in trouble. I was certainly flummoxed when I heard about the rumors and still can't really picture what would be achieved through it's cancellation. I tend to think the Goofy isn't in trouble either. There is clearly a large amount of entrant cannibalism with the addition of the Dopey, but the Goofy has it's 10-year history and a clear relevance for runners who can't take off the extra 2-3 days of work. They can continue to free up half and full marathon spaces at a later date if it is not selling out quickly enough, they didn't seem to have much problem selling the spots when they did that this past year.
 
Also as far as rumors go - it makes literally no sense to cancel the Dopey Challenge... The addition of the 10k added a reasonably large number of non runners aspiring to do their first race... Prior to Dopey the 5k's were small and very low key. The vast majority of people I meet running the 5k's are Dopey's.
I would also take rumors of Dopey being discontinued any time soon with a grain of salt, but I think you actually highlight a possible rationale for discontinuing it rather than Goofy.

Sales in general have been increasing over the past couple years, with other 5ks outside of Marathon Weekend selling quicker and quicker without being part of a challenge. Dopey runners are likely to run Disney races anyway -- people were running Dopey before it was officially recognized -- but the 5k and 10k races are more welcoming races to new runners and non-runners, which seems to be runDisney's niche market. Dopey sold 7,737 bibs which necessarily limits the number of individual 5k and 10k slots. That's thousands fewer individuals buying merchandise*, park tickets** and hotel reservations, not to mention thousands fewer getting hooked on the runDisney brand in the long run.

Again, I'd take the rumors with a grain of salt, but I don't think Dopey is necessarily superior in terms of financial benefits to runDisney or Disney Parks & Resorts, which clearly has a say in some of runDisney's operational decisions.


*Dopey runners eating up 5k and 10k slots means fewer people buying individual shirts and other merchandise for those events since Dopey's can cover those events and the half/full marathons with one Dopey shirt/mug/etc.
**Remember, park tickets are less $/day the longer your stay, so there's a benefit to selling the same number of days for smaller packages. Not to mention individual 5k and 10k entrants could make a vacation of it, potentially leading to more days being sold.
 
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They can continue to free up half and full marathon spaces at a later date if it is not selling out quickly enough, they didn't seem to have much problem selling the spots when they did that this past year.
From watching the site, I actually think they didn't manage to sell all of the spots back for the full/Goofy after splitting it back out. They waited so long (mid-September) that many people either already had a marathon on the schedule or couldn't/wouldn't spend the premium (the full, last tier price) to train "last minute". They definitely won't want to do that again, although they can tweak the number of entries to different events rather than necessarily eliminating anything.
 
From watching the site, I actually think they didn't manage to sell all of the spots back for the full/Goofy after splitting it back out. They waited so long (mid-September) that many people either already had a marathon on the schedule or couldn't/wouldn't spend the premium (the full, last tier price) to train "last minute". They definitely won't want to do that again, although they can tweak the number of entries to different events rather than necessarily eliminating anything.

Fair enough, I didn't follow it that closely. I would certainly think there is a better solution than cancelling the challenge (i.e your suggestion of tweaking entry #'s, possibly splitting the spots out earlier, etc.).
 
I'm hoping to do my first Dopey in 2016 and I'm fairly confident if I get there on the first day, I'll be good to go. My concern is hotels and making sure I get a decent price on hotels. Have they posted the dates for next year's marathon weekend already for booking rooms?
 
I think it could be possible to do two 5K's if the number of entrants is an issue. One at 5:30 (same time for four mornings instead of 6:15 and then 5:30 three times...) for Dopey Challenge and one at a later time for everyone else? Thus eliminating some of the overcrowding. If a Dopey challenger had family to do the 5K with, they could do the later time.
 

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