McCoy
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 565
Earlier today I said "the Disneyland Half was too expensive, I don't think I'm doing any more Disney runs after that one".
And then the Wine&Dine popped into my head.
I wonder how it differs from the TOT? Can anyone sell me on it? Maybe I'd be willing to do this one.
Hmmm, I don't know about sell you on it, other than I have done the last couple of Tower of Terror's, and last year's Wine & Dine, and I intend to do each every year for the foreseeable future. Being an evening person and therefore preferring evening races, I actually think Wine & Dine is my favorite of all the WDW races.
Here is the list of similarities and differences I can think of off the top of my head, hopefully others can add anything else relevant:
Similarities:
- both are evening races starting at 10 PM
- both have post-race parties in a theme park until 3-4 AM
Differences:
- Tower of Terror is a 10-mile race, Wine & Dine is a half-marathon
- post-race party for Tower of Terror is at Hollywood Studios, party for Wine & Dine is at Epcot (during Food & Wine Festival with all booths open during the party)
- Course:
--- Tower of Terror starts at Hollywood Studio's parking lot, does a sort of out and back to Animal Kingdom (does not go into Animal Kingdom at all), proceeds through a small dirt trail into the ESPN sports complex, runs through the baseball stadium around the field, and then proceeds to and through Hollywood Studios, where the finish line is backstage near the Tower of Terror.
--- Wine & Dine starts at the ESPN sports complex, does a sort of out and back to Animal Kingdom (but actually goes through Animal Kingdom itself as well), then proceeds to and through Hollywood Studios (with Osborne lights up and running), then to and around the Boardwalk, and then through Epcot to the finish line in the Epcot parking lot.
- Shirt: Tower of Terror gets a short sleeve, Wine & Dine now gets a long sleeve
- Expo: in my view, the expos were comparable.
- Weather: the two Tower of Terror 10-Milers have been very hot, and while I seem to recall that some people thought Wine & Dine was hot as well, it didn't seem nearly as hot to me, and with it being a month later there is certainly a much better chance for more moderate weather.
- Dates: I believe Wine & Dine typically falls on the last weekend of the Food & Wine Festival, in conjunction with being Veteran's Day weekend, which leads to higher crowds during the day, I believe. Tower of Terror is not on a holiday weekend.
I personally really enjoyed the Wine & Dine course - one of the biggest complaints, I think, about Tower of Terror is the rather boring course, which they tried to make better last year by adding more entertainment along the route, but Wine & Dine still wins out in that regard for me. Running through the Osborne lights is a cool experience (so long as the lights continue to be around, despite rumors to the contrary), and there is simply more park time through the three parks, rather than what feels like just a lot of empty road running in Tower of Terror (even though both have the same sort of out and back on Osceola). I think the Wine & Dine after-party is also preferable, with more to do in Epcot open and available after the race than the 5-6 attractions or so available in Hollywood Studios after the Tower of Terror Race.
If I was forced to choose one, based on just the course and after-party, I personally would go with Wine & Dine. But, like I said, I enjoy both of them and intend to be doing both for the foreseeable future.
Hope this helps!
That sounds like WAY more fun than the TOT last year. I truly do not remember what I did other than change clothes very slowly and try to eat. DS and DH had fun *before* I finished running, which is good.
, but as long as you can get a decent nap in, or at least relax for a few hours that afternoon, you'll be fine. Between all the energy and adrenaline, I was pumped until 4am 
(the time we finally got back to our hotel!)
