Official Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend - The Dark Side 2017

[ars0525]

Thanks.

I got the big stuff, I guess I meant on the website when I'm registering so in the heat of the moment I'm not paying lots of extras I didn't know about & it ends up being like double the entry fee

 

[opusone]

...I guess I meant on the website when I'm registering so in the heat of the moment I'm not paying lots of extras I didn't know about & it ends up being like double the entry fee

Okay... besides the active.com fee that I mentioned, I think the only other way to spend $$$ during registration is on certain items that you can pre-purchase. I haven't ever bought these items, so I leave it to others to list the typical items (jackets, shirts, etc).

 

[C_leen]

So I got into Light Side this week. We'd like to do the Dark Side as well. What hotel should we consider? When i look at Travelocity, a lot of places appear booked already. This is concerning. Has anyone had an ok time with Bonnet Creek for a rundisney event? I might not get park tickets, and was thinking the pools looked awful nice. But they were already booked for a Friday arrival!

 

[PrincessV]

So I got into Light Side this week. We'd like to do the Dark Side as well. What hotel should we consider? When i look at Travelocity, a lot of places appear booked already. This is concerning. Has anyone had an ok time with Bonnet Creek for a rundisney event? I might not get park tickets, and was thinking the pools looked awful nice. But they were already booked for a Friday arrival!

Disney won't release April room discounts for a while, so don't feel like you need to book something right away. Which Bonnet Creek resort are you considering? I've stayed at both Wyndham Bonnet Creek (WBC) (the timeshare) and Hilton Bonnet Creek (HBC) for rD weekends. Both are very nice, with my preference being WBC - better price, full kitchen, free parking. WBC doesn't offer race transportation, though, so you'd need a car or to use taxis/Uber. HBC has "Marathon Weekend" packages that include race transportation, but I believe they limit that to half-marathons and marathon distance; they don't provide transport to the expo and I think not to the 5Ks and 10Ks.

 

[C_leen]

Thanks PrincessV, I was looking at Hilton BC since they had transport to the runs. I figured out that the 2017 dates release 6/21 with WDW online. I started up a text chat with my run buddy and I think we agree onsite is just technically a lot easier when dealing with WDW. We fly in and I think we both enjoy not having to drive to work or drive kids around for a few days! So we might reserve a room tomorrow and then not worry about things until we hopefully get into the challenge officially in August.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

My travel agent gave me rates for Dark Side 1/2 Weekend today. Tentative plan is to stay at Art of Animation, especially if prices don't go down. Now that I'm in the process of booking a Disney World trip, I'm really getting excited. Next up comes the hard part. Actually getting registered for the race.

 

[C_leen]

Well, we reserved POFQ yesterday. With all of the bad food reviews, we figured we could take the boat to the Springs area. We stayed here for Princess and I liked the small feel of this area yet you could walk over to POR for some variety. I guess I haven't stayed during this price point period. It was very pricey for a moderate $278 on the first night of the ressie. I just reserved a family room in Anaheim with 2 Q and - set of bunk beds within a mile of DL for $265 a night. But I guess discounts come out much later.

I clearly do crazy things for RunDisney medals. So now I need to go work out and wait for August registration.

Steady training everyone!

 

[camaker]

Well, we reserved POFQ yesterday. With all of the bad food reviews, we figured we could take the boat to the Springs area. We stayed here for Princess and I liked the small feel of this area yet you could walk over to POR for some variety. I guess I haven't stayed during this price point period. It was very pricey for a moderate $278 on the first night of the ressie. I just reserved a family room in Anaheim with 2 Q and - set of bunk beds within a mile of DL for $265 a night. But I guess discounts come out much later.

I clearly do crazy things for RunDisney medals. So now I need to go work out and wait for August registration.

Steady training everyone!

POFQ is a great choice for race weekends. I stayed there for WDWMW and SWDS this year and have already reserved it for WDWMW next year. The food is not great, but it is by no means bad. It's food court food. If you want better food or selection, as you say, you can just hop the boat to DS or walk up the path to POR. POFQ is a very small resort, which is a big plus for runDisney events. You are never far away from buses or food, regardless of which building you end up staying in. I do recommend requesting Building 4, though, it's very close to both the bus stop and the food court. Also, even though it shares race buses with POR, the buses stop at POFQ first. Hope you enjoy it!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Put a deposit down on Art of Animation. Prices have me once again considering a 3rd consecutive stay at All Star Sports. I like the resort just fine, but really want to try someplace else this time. And the price difference would essentially pay for the shadowbox I'm planning on getting for the Kessel Run. Decisions, decisions. . .

 

[Disneymoon09]

Considering doing this race instead of PHM weekend. I HATE having to book and decide so far out (first world problem, I know)

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Considering doing this race instead of PHM weekend. I HATE having to book and decide so far out (first world problem, I know)

Have you done PHM weekend before? It is a long time out but atleast it gives you plenty of time to train

 

[Disneymoon09]

Have you done PHM weekend before? It is a long time out but atleast it gives you plenty of time to train

I did PHM this year!

 

[lovingeire]

Considering doing this race instead of PHM weekend. I HATE having to book and decide so far out (first world problem, I know)

I'm foregoing Princess Haf weekend for Light Side...Dark Side...and the Kessel Run! Might be back next year, but might do marathon weekend as well.

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

@Disneymoon09 I liked Darkside much better than PHM weekend. I thought the runners were much friendlier and the pre race photo ops were awesome.

 

[DisSconnie]

So I'm a runDisney newbie but am committed to doing the Dark Side this year! I've been talking about running the Wine & Dine for years but things kept popping up (moved, got pregnant) that kept it from happening. Now since they moved it to a morning race, I had no real draw to it so I decided to embrace my Star Wars fandom and run the Dark Side! I'm so excited. It will be my son's first Disney trip (18 months old when we go). We're looking at renting DVC and staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Is this an okay place to stay for a race weekend?

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

So I'm a runDisney newbie but am committed to doing the Dark Side this year! I've been talking about running the Wine & Dine for years but things kept popping up (moved, got pregnant) that kept it from happening. Now since they moved it to a morning race, I had no real draw to it so I decided to embrace my Star Wars fandom and run the Dark Side! I'm so excited. It will be my son's first Disney trip (18 months old when we go). We're looking at renting DVC and staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Is this an okay place to stay for a race weekend?

I stayed at Jambo House for Darkside this year and we had a great time. I'm not sure how they are going to do the course next year (I really hope they do something different with the buses if they keep it the same) but after the half we walked right on the bus and it left 5 minutes later.

 

[wehrengrizz]

I'm tentatively in, thanks to @MommaoffherRocker and her persuasive ways haha!You know I'm getting serious when I start searching for threads on here related to the trip
Hoping DS10 will keep being a rockstar in school so he can miss some, and DH will be happy to ship us down to FL for a few days! I realized it's right after the Easter break for their school, so why not do like Tuesday through Saturday? haha I'm going to be looking to stay at maybe Pop or AoA potentially...unless I get some magical UOC! Has there ever been free dining in this timeframe? that would be neat since we typically don't eat at TS restaurants !

Anyway long story short I'm definitely following along on another awesome MommaoffherRocker thread!

 

[SuperRob]

My wife and I just booked the Villas at the Grand Floridian (we're DVC members there) for the Dark Side Half in April. Should we consider switching to another resort at the 7-mo window if we can? We booked a week, and we'd prefer to stay at VGF overall, but if it would be more convenient to be somewhere else, please let me know. It's our first runDisney event, and I want my wife to have a great experience (she's the runner). We're really confused about how transportation works for both the 10K and the half.

 

[opusone]

My wife and I just booked the Villas at the Grand Floridian (we're DVC members there) for the Dark Side Half in April. Should we consider switching to another resort at the 7-mo window if we can? We booked a week, and we'd prefer to stay at VGF overall, but if it would be more convenient to be somewhere else, please let me know. It's our first runDisney event, and I want my wife to have a great experience (she's the runner). We're really confused about how transportation works for both the 10K and the half.

There are buses to the start line and from the finish line for every resort, so you will be fine.

 

[SuperRob]

There are buses to the start line and from the finish line for every resort, so you will be fine.

Even for the 10K? I've heard there aren't always busses from each resort for that one?