Official Wine and Dine 2016 thread

[KateP85]

Should I assume that if a photo hasn't hit my account yet (from the 10k), it isn't there? I know I had photos taken crossing the finish line, but there's nothing in my account. Wondering if I should give up hope that it might show up.

 

[Ariel484]

Should I assume that if a photo hasn't hit my account yet (from the 10k), it isn't there? I know I had photos taken crossing the finish line, but there's nothing in my account. Wondering if I should give up hope that it might show up.

Not sure. I still had new 5K photos showing up yesterday so you never know. Maybe give them a few days.

One interesting thing - a photo showed up in my account where neither me nor my husband are in it. I couldn't figure out why it was there and then realized that the main subject's bib number was xxx41...where my husband's number was xxx14 (first 3 numbers were the same). Makes me wonder if there are other photos of us out there with the numbers switched like that!

 

[Ariel484]

And that stinks that the party sounds like a bust. I didn't have it in me to make it out that late.

 

[madduck]

"They either didn't start or didn't finish."
3000 people not starting or finishing seems like a very high percentage. Are we sure 12,000 was the actual number?

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

"They either didn't start or didn't finish."
3000 people not starting or finishing seems like a very high percentage. Are we sure 12,000 was the actual number?

In the volunteer packet it said 10,000 runners for the 10k. The morning of the half they told us that the half had 14,000 registered 13,500 picked up packets as of Saturday night and it looks like 12,651 finished.

 

[Keels]

Our volunteer presentation said there were only 10,000 registered participants for the 10K, not 12,000. That includes Challenge participants.

With no deferrals, 9K finishers doesn't surprise me or sound odd.

 

[jubjubrsx]

i must say i was excited to do this race, as this will be my 11th disney race. but all the experiences such as lack of planning (on the disney side) lack of communication (to the runners) i can say i dont think i'll be doing this one again.

I didnt get my gift card card, nor even my post party admission i had to go back and get it at guest relations. didnt get the 10k pin, lined up 45 minutes before for a portapotty (coral A) ended up leaving with coral G, the post party seemed to lack any real energy since everyone was mostly exhausted from a early race and a late party.

not sure if it was me but i really thought the on course meet and greets were super lame (except for darkwiing & launchpad) and what was up with that plane.... no thunderquack or ratcatcher, lame......most of the characters out you can see everywhere. to me being a wine and dine (ratitouille themed) or lumiere's challenge theme there should be more B&B or even ratitouille characters?

overall i think i will chalk this up to my least favorite race and sadly i think disney dropped the ball on it if i was to grade/rate it probably be a 4/10.. how would you all rate it?

#endrant

 

[Sailormoon2]

I also got a lot of photos for a bib that was xxx07 the same first 3 numbers as my xxx01. The 7 looks a lot like a "fancy" 1 so I can see that confusion. I wonder if this lady got a bunch of my photos?? I was also way too exhausted to manage the party, got a medals photo in front of Spaceship Earth and rode Test Track single rider and headed back to the hotel. I had an amazing time at my first RunDisney event!!! So blessed for all the information and question answering of everyone on this forum!!

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

My RunDisney redemption is complete! I had a great time this weekend and cannot express how proud and happy I feel over finishing the challenge. Reaching mile 13 and crossing that finish line yesterday was definitely a moment I'll never forget.

Congratulations to everyone else who participated, whether your race/races went as planned or not. If you were out there at all, you're a winner in my eyes!

 

[Ariel484]

Thanks for the inside info @MommaoffherRocker @Keels! And THANK YOU for volunteering!! <3

 

[Keels]

Thanks for the inside info @MommaoffherRocker @Keels! And THANK YOU for volunteering!! <3

I LOVED volunteering!! I'll put together a post about Volunteering (I was both at the Expo and then on-course) - I learned a GREAT deal about how RunDisney works from that side of things ... and definitely learned how everything works when it comes to the Expo!

 

[Ariel484]

I LOVED volunteering!! I'll put together a post about Volunteering (I was both at the Expo and then on-course) - I learned a GREAT deal about how RunDisney works from that side of things ... and definitely learned how everything works when it comes to the Expo!

Awesome, looking forward to it!

 

[camaker]

I LOVED volunteering!! I'll put together a post about Volunteering (I was both at the Expo and then on-course) - I learned a GREAT deal about how RunDisney works from that side of things ... and definitely learned how everything works when it comes to the Expo!

So now that you've lived life on the other side, are we too harsh on RunDisney in some of our criticisms, is it a mixed bag, or are they really as disorganized as it sometimes seems from the outside?

 

[Keels]

So now that you've lived life on the other side, are we too harsh on RunDisney in some of our criticisms, is it a mixed bag, or are they really as disorganized as it sometimes seems from the outside?

Frankly, I think all four factions do the best they can to execute an event without one real "dictating" voice on what should be done and what the party line/hard line is for things.

The four "factions", the way I see it:
1. Registration (Active.com)
2. Race Weekend Logistics (Track Shack)
3. Sports Enthusiast (Volunteers)
4. RunDisney/Disney (all else - merch, marketing, park operations, transportation, etc.)

RD/Disney was definitely the weakest of the four this weekend.

 

[Chasing Dopey]

Frankly, I think all four factions do the best they can to execute an event without one real "dictating" voice on what should be done and what the party line/hard line is for things.

The four "factions", the way I see it:
1. Registration (Active.com)
2. Race Weekend Logistics (Track Shack)
3. Sports Enthusiast (Volunteers)
4. RunDisney/Disney (all else - merch, marketing, park operations, transportation, etc.)

RD/Disney was definitely the weakest of the four this weekend.

Interesting. Should we be surprised that #4 was the weak link, or not? Which would be more disappointing?

I don't think anyone else has mentioned it, so maybe it's just me, but the 'digital' program was almost completely useless once I arrived. If this hadn't been my third rD race, I would have been lost. I hope they go back to paper. The per unit savings on this (considering the cost of programming to replace it) is too tiny to inconvenience people to this degree.

 

[Ariel484]

Considering all of the changes they made to this weekend, I hope they send out a survey.

 

[camaker]

Interesting. Should we be surprised that #4 was the weak link, or not? Which would be more disappointing?

I don't think anyone else has mentioned it, so maybe it's just me, but the 'digital' program was almost completely useless once I arrived. If this hadn't been my third rD race, I would have been lost. I hope they go back to paper. The per unit savings on this (considering the cost of programming to replace it) is too tiny to inconvenience people to this degree.

I don't really understand all of the negativity surrounding the digital program. In today's age of smart phones and digital devices, it makes sense on many fronts to go digital. Why make people carry around an additional awkwardly sized booklet when you can deliver the content to a device they are going to have with them at all times, anyway? It also saves a lot of paper when you consider the number of participants, so it is more environmentally friendly. I went to the DLH this year that also used the digital program exclusively. It was my first visit to DL ever, not just to race, and I found it to contain the information that I needed.

I think the cost savings are also being underestimated, too. The paper programs have to be digitally designed and set for printing, so I don't think the up front design cost is going to be significantly different between prepping the guide for printing and prepping it for digital delivery. It is a different style of content delivery, though, and the transition to that new style may be throwing some people off. I lost count of how many posts there were on here from people wanting to know how to link their bibs to PhotoPass. That information was both on the back of the bib and in the digital event guide (I was able to find it just pulling up the event guide as a non-participant). Any time there's a change there's going to be an adjustment period to it. I think we're just in the middle of that and if I were a betting man, I'd put a lot of money down that the electronic guides are here to stay. Hopefully they will continue to improve their usability going forward, though.

 

[rteetz]

I don't really understand all of the negativity surrounding the digital program. In today's age of smart phones and digital devices, it makes sense on many fronts to go digital. Why make people carry around an additional awkwardly sized booklet when you can deliver the content to a device they are going to have with them at all times, anyway? It also saves a lot of paper when you consider the number of participants, so it is more environmentally friendly. I went to the DLH this year that also used the digital program exclusively. It was my first visit to DL ever, not just to race, and I found it to contain the information that I needed.

I think the cost savings are also being underestimated, too. The paper programs have to be digitally designed and set for printing, so I don't think the up front design cost is going to be significantly different between prepping the guide for printing and prepping it for digital delivery. It is a different style of content delivery, though, and the transition to that new style may be throwing some people off. I lost count of how many posts there were on here from people wanting to know how to link their bibs to PhotoPass. That information was both on the back of the bib and in the digital event guide (I was able to find it just pulling up the event guide as a non-participant). Any time there's a change there's going to be an adjustment period to it. I think we're just in the middle of that and if I were a betting man, I'd put a lot of money down that the electronic guides are here to stay. Hopefully they will continue to improve their usability going forward, though.

I agree but not everyone has a smartphone. I think if they printed say a set amount maybe a few hundred or something and for those that wanted a printed one they could go ask.

 

[camaker]

I agree but not everyone has a smartphone. I think if they printed say a set amount maybe a few hundred or something and for those that wanted a printed one they could go ask.

That's a tough one. On the surface it sounds like a good transitional plan. But then when everyone asks for one because it's what they are comfortable with right now they run out and you can imagine the trashing that they would get when "Disney didn't even print enough guides for the race" gets blasted all over everywhere? I don't have a good alternate solution for the transition, but I can see why it made sense to go digital and why they chose to "rip the band aid" off instead of going halfway with the idea.

 

[Chasing Dopey]

I don't really understand all of the negativity surrounding the digital program. In today's age of smart phones and digital devices, it makes sense on many fronts to go digital. Why make people carry around an additional awkwardly sized booklet when you can deliver the content to a device they are going to have with them at all times, anyway? It also saves a lot of paper when you consider the number of participants, so it is more environmentally friendly. I went to the DLH this year that also used the digital program exclusively. It was my first visit to DL ever, not just to race, and I found it to contain the information that I needed.

I think the cost savings are also being underestimated, too. The paper programs have to be digitally designed and set for printing, so I don't think the up front design cost is going to be significantly different between prepping the guide for printing and prepping it for digital delivery. It is a different style of content delivery, though, and the transition to that new style may be throwing some people off. I lost count of how many posts there were on here from people wanting to know how to link their bibs to PhotoPass. That information was both on the back of the bib and in the digital event guide (I was able to find it just pulling up the event guide as a non-participant). Any time there's a change there's going to be an adjustment period to it. I think we're just in the middle of that and if I were a betting man, I'd put a lot of money down that the electronic guides are here to stay. Hopefully they will continue to improve their usability going forward, though.

Programming for the digital version is far more complicated and costly than print layout publishing (having done both). And for me, the biggest problem is when I needed it, it didn't work. We couldn't get it to load while actually at the expo for layout and kids race info. We gave up and left the expo to try outside, but the zoom didn't work so the layout was unreadable. Navigating something like that on a cel phone isn't a pleasant experience for a lot of people, especially with a mass of people all trying to get to it at once. People are nervous already trying to make sure they do everything right. Online phone access to that information adds a level of stress that's just unnecessary.

I know that meeting apps are all the rage right now, and our clients are asking for them. But we are finding that if it isn't printed out, a lot more people aren't getting the info.