Official 2017 Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend!

[VickiHD]

I'm so with you on the over-planning thing. I keep sort of panicking at certain moments thinking I'm forgetting to do something for the trip and it's only 2 1/2 months away.

Well....is it to soon to start packing??

 

[courtneybeth]

Once I do laundry from this weekend, I'm going to throw my running outfits in ziplock bags so they're ready for the next races. So maaaaybe I am packing a little early

 

[VickiHD]

Once I do laundry from this weekend, I'm going to throw my running outfits in ziplock bags so they're ready for the next races. So maaaaybe I am packing a little early

You're just being efficient.

 

[klmcleod]

Nope, I'm with you all! Certainly not too early to begin packing, thinking of packing, making that packing list, or pulling out a suitcase to check the size. Oh my gosh this is the hardest wait!!! I come in on the Tuesday of that week, with park time before. Now my focusing is on possible reservations. Dessert party for WOC is at the top of our list!

 

[Davidg83]

I found myself really missing the Red Hat Ladies this weekend. Can't wait to see them again at Tink. WDW races are a lot of fun, but they make me really appreciate the course motivation from the residents in Anaheim.

Totally agree! While I love running at WDW there were tons of points along the highways where I kept thinking to myself that there would be spectators here cheering if we were on the streets of Anaheim.

 

[ZellyB]

It's possible I have a trip schedule built in an excel spreadsheet.

 

[FFigawi]

It's possible I have a trip schedule built in an excel spreadsheet.

@DopeyBadger will be proud of you

 

[DopeyBadger]

@DopeyBadger will be proud of you

@ZellyB Hooray!!!

 

[Ariel484]

It's possible I have a trip schedule built in an excel spreadsheet.

I would expect nothing less.

 

[VickiHD]

Totally agree! While I love running at WDW there were tons of points along the highways where I kept thinking to myself that there would be spectators here cheering if we were on the streets of Anaheim.

I'll take the streets of Anaheim with the neighborhoods and crowd support any day over WDW courses.

 

[SueInBoston]

I'll take the streets of Anaheim with the neighborhoods and crowd support any day over WDW courses.

I love the community support of the DL races.

 

[PSofiasMama]

I am a planner typically and am beside myself right now because I do not have a hotel booked for this race yet (or flights - ugh!). There are 2 reasons for this: 1 - my mom was planning on travelling with me for this race but that is up in the air due to some health concerns with my father. If she does, I would like to stay on property (or a nice place very close by) since she has not been to DL in many many years. 2- in my adult years I have only stayed on property (just twice)- last trip at Grand California and now I am totally spoiled! Plus I have not runDisney at DL and am not familiar with the set-up. I have searched all of the DL forums and am still a bit unclear.
So my questions:
1- what area is the best place to stay off property for easy, quick walking access to the race and parks. Harbor? Katella? I am struggling to wrap my head around walking distances and race corrals. Any specific hotel recommendations?
2- do prices for on property rooms ever go down as we get closer to race weekend? Is one of the 3 better or worse than the others during a race weekend?

For reference, I am running the half and my daughter will be participating in the kid race.

Any other bits of information would be greatly appreciated as well.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

 

[ZellyB]

I've never been to DL before and stayed in a hotel (only a day trip many moons ago) - so take my recommendation with a grain of salt...

We booked the Residence Inn at the Convention Center.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/snaar-residence-inn-at-anaheim-resort-convention-center/

It sits right near the intersection of Harbor and Katella. So, looks pretty easily walkable. It's a pretty new hotel and looked very nice. The rooms have small kitchens as well, which we often enjoy having. I've done some looking at on-site options for hotel and last time I looked there was very limited availability and crazy prices.

 

[The Expert]

I'm in the same area as @ZellyB and also new to DL races, so I'll be curious which direction is best for us to walk. I'm thinking up the "back" of CA and into the corrals that way, if they'll let us enter from that direction.

 

[roxymama]

I chose a resort (the Tropicana) on Harbor right across from the esplanade walkway entrance. So I will have a little trek to the expo and the corrals (gotta walk past the parks and through Downtown disney), but a tiny trek to the actual parks. This was because my mom is also coming along with us and she's not worried about getting to the races...so I'm making the park walk easier on us all.
If I didn't care about expenses on this trip I would've booked the Disneyland Hotel. I actually think my walk to the park is shorter than staying there...but the expo and corral would be so close!

This sounds silly, but there are youtubes of people walking from different hotels to the main gates at DL. You just have to kind of search around youtube for them. They are a bit boring to watch but give you the most accurate sense of timing.

 

[courtneybeth]

Tinkerbell typically takes off towards the backside of Disneyland, so it may be better to come from the California Adventure side.


It's hard to discuss hotels since we drive in... Mickey and Friends is close to the start

 

[JediLeia]

So my questions:
1- what area is the best place to stay off property for easy, quick walking access to the race and parks. Harbor? Katella? I am struggling to wrap my head around walking distances and race corrals. Any specific hotel recommendations?
2- do prices for on property rooms ever go down as we get closer to race weekend? Is one of the 3 better or worse than the others during a race weekend?

I only have limited experience, but I ran the Tinkerbell 10K last year and the Star Wars 10K this year. I stayed at the Grand Californian for Tink and it was very convenient for both the race and the parks of course. For Star Wars, I stayed at a Best Western on Katella. It was a close walk straight up Disneyland Dr. but after going through security, it seemed like it was still quite a walk to the corrals. Granted I was in the last corral! I ended up somewhere near a parking garage. The Star Wars race went the opposite direction on Disneyland Dr. from last year's Tink so that might have been a factor.

One nice thing about the off-property hotel was the shuttle transportation to the park. I got a free pass at the expo and used it all weekend. It runs about every 20 minutes, stopped in front of my hotel and drops you off near the entrance to the parks.

I'm doing the Tink half this time and my mom and I are splurging and staying at the Grand for a fun mother's day weekend. I booked it some time last fall and I noticed it was more expensive for 2017 than 2016. I was a bit peeved after I found out that they are doing construction on the hotel! Maybe that will make the prices come down!

 

[Warm Hugs]

Tinkerbell typically takes off towards the backside of Disneyland, so it may be better to come from the California Adventure side.


It's hard to discuss hotels since we drive in... Mickey and Friends is close to the start

I would like add a potential change. Star Wars and Tink typically goes toward Disneyland, while Avengers and Disneyland take off toward California Adventure. However, this year Star Wars took off toward California Adventure. Therefore, it is possible that Tink will take off toward California Adventure too. This could be due to the Star Wars Land construction.

 

[PSofiasMama]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all of the information and insight.

I've never been to DL before and stayed in a hotel (only a day trip many moons ago) - so take my recommendation with a grain of salt...

We booked the Residence Inn at the Convention Center.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/snaar-residence-inn-at-anaheim-resort-convention-center/

It sits right near the intersection of Harbor and Katella. So, looks pretty easily walkable. It's a pretty new hotel and looked very nice. The rooms have small kitchens as well, which we often enjoy having. I've done some looking at on-site options for hotel and last time I looked there was very limited availability and crazy prices.

Crazy prices is right! The Residence Inn looks really nice! Thanks for the suggestion.

I chose a resort (the Tropicana) on Harbor right across from the esplanade walkway entrance. So I will have a little trek to the expo and the corrals (gotta walk past the parks and through Downtown disney), but a tiny trek to the actual parks. This was because my mom is also coming along with us and she's not worried about getting to the races...so I'm making the park walk easier on us all.
If I didn't care about expenses on this trip I would've booked the Disneyland Hotel. I actually think my walk to the park is shorter than staying there...but the expo and corral would be so close!

This sounds silly, but there are youtubes of people walking from different hotels to the main gates at DL. You just have to kind of search around youtube for them. They are a bit boring to watch but give you the most accurate sense of timing.

YouTube here I come. Thanks

I only have limited experience, but I ran the Tinkerbell 10K last year and the Star Wars 10K this year. I stayed at the Grand Californian for Tink and it was very convenient for both the race and the parks of course. For Star Wars, I stayed at a Best Western on Katella. It was a close walk straight up Disneyland Dr. but after going through security, it seemed like it was still quite a walk to the corrals. Granted I was in the last corral! I ended up somewhere near a parking garage. The Star Wars race went the opposite direction on Disneyland Dr. from last year's Tink so that might have been a factor.

One nice thing about the off-property hotel was the shuttle transportation to the park. I got a free pass at the expo and used it all weekend. It runs about every 20 minutes, stopped in front of my hotel and drops you off near the entrance to the parks.

I'm doing the Tink half this time and my mom and I are splurging and staying at the Grand for a fun mother's day weekend. I booked it some time last fall and I noticed it was more expensive for 2017 than 2016. I was a bit peeved after I found out that they are doing construction on the hotel! Maybe that will make the prices come down!

One can only hope. The Grand is ideal but hard to justify the $! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[Ariel484]

It's Fairy Friday!

In which I blatantly steal the "Sundays Are For Disney"/"QOTD" ideas from other threads here in the runDisney section!

We are 10 Fridays away from Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend, so to keep us chatting/sharing ideas, I thought I'd post a question each Friday that we can discuss! Questions are about Disneyland Resort and/or the Tinker Bell Races!

10 weeks to go, Pixies...Happy Fairy Friday!

Question of the Week: What are you most looking forward to during Tink weekend...race-wise or otherwise?

--------------------------------------

My answer: SO MANY THINGS! I love Disneyland, so I'm excited to go back, and I really loved the 10K last year, so I'm looking forward to running that race again. And I'm excited to do the half marathon for the first time since I had to defer it last year due to injury. But most of all, I am excited to get 2 Coast-to-Coast medals at the end of the half - the pink (with GSC) and the 10th anniversary blue edition (with Dopey)!