Princess Half Marathon Weekend 2025 (Feb 20-24 2025)

[DWVol]

We get to stay at shades of green. On race day we are able to ride the bus and poly/floridian people typically ride the monorail over. It's pretty convenient, except for the year they forgot to send a bus to the hotel, but they also had to hold the race due to late buses.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Welp, despite my best efforts to not register, I just managed to snag the challenge for this weekend from a Telegram notification. And then decided I might as well grab a 5K charity bib. So, I guess I'll see y'all in February. Don't tell my job.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

Ok, so did anyone else know or have any idea that the products offered at registration could “sell out”? I always thought it was a preorder that would stay open for a certain amount of time. So imagine my surprise and frustration when I went back on last night to look and saw that some of the items were already gone. This is incredibly irritating because there seems to be no way to get certain merchandise anymore unless you order it right away at registration or have Club RunDisney early shopping. All I really want is a half marathon pin.

 

[KCO5988]

Ok, so did anyone else know or have any idea that the products offered at registration could “sell out”? I always thought it was a preorder that would stay open for a certain amount of time. So imagine my surprise and frustration when I went back on last night to look and saw that some of the items were already gone. This is incredibly irritating because there seems to be no way to get certain merchandise anymore unless you order it right away at registration or have Club RunDisney early shopping. All I really want is a half marathon pin.

What sold out? Nothing says sold out on the main page for me

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

What sold out? Nothing says sold out on the main page for me

There was a pin bundle for each event, and now I only see 10K and challenge. There was also originally a bundle that had a water bottle and some other things. It doesn’t say sold out, the things just aren’t there anymore.

 

[bumbershoot]

except for the year they forgot to send a bus to the hotel, but they also had to hold the race due to late buses.

2022? That morning was rotten. Also the morning of my DNF since I couldn't get my heart rate down from the nerves of waiting and waiting and waiting at Boardwalk for a bus, it was so hot, and I was at mile 9 with many others when we were fully stopped. Fun!

Welp, despite my best efforts to not register, I just managed to snag the challenge for this weekend from a Telegram notification. And then decided I might as well grab a 5K charity bib. So, I guess I'll see y'all in February. Don't tell my job.

Relatable.

Ok, so did anyone else know or have any idea that the products offered at registration could “sell out”?

I have a strong feeling it's one of those patented Disney mess-ups. 85% certain they'll pop back up. 40 minutes into signups I saw them all there, then when I checked out and went back to look, it was a wasteland of missing items. Didn't make sense.

What sold out? Nothing says sold out on the main page for me

A bunch is missing from what there should have been. The yoga sweatshirt for instance. Just gone.
There has also been an issue where people simply can't check out once they've chosen items.

 

[DWVol]

2022? That morning was rotten. Also the morning of my DNF since I couldn't get my heart rate down from the nerves of waiting and waiting and waiting at Boardwalk for a bus, it was so hot, and I was at mile 9 with many others when we were fully stopped. Fun!

Yes, it was a pretty rough race and I struggled as well. The past 2 years have been much better at shades of green, but there were a lot of people getting really nervous about making the race in time. That was our first year to run it and probably would have been out last if we hadn't gotten on the bus when we did.

 

[Zutroy]

2022? That morning was rotten. Also the morning of my DNF since I couldn't get my heart rate down from the nerves of waiting and waiting and waiting at Boardwalk for a bus, it was so hot, and I was at mile 9 with many others when we were fully stopped. Fun!

I don’t remember the race being that hot. It was 63 degrees around starting time, dropped to 61, and then rose to 66 at sunrise. I just remember the race being really humid, which the weather reports list at 99%. My experience also was completely different. No bus issues, and this ended up being one of my best races ever, where I placed 2nd in my division for the 10k, top 20 overall, and 3rd in my division in the half.

 

[morgsmagic]

We have a 1-Bedroom Villa at Saratoga Springs for Princess Weekend. I was looking at the resort map and curious what the bus route looks like for picking up runners. Is there a preferred location people suggest for being close to where the bus picks up? Do they make multiple stops for the one resort?

 

[Herding_Cats]

We have a 1-Bedroom Villa at Saratoga Springs for Princess Weekend. I was looking at the resort map and curious what the bus route looks like for picking up runners. Is there a preferred location people suggest for being close to where the bus picks up? Do they make multiple stops for the one resort?

The race bus at Saratoga only picks up/drops off by the Carriage House. It does not make stops around the resort like resorts such as CBR does. “The Springs” is a preferred section/category and will be the closest. Grandstand is probably your next-closest, then Paddock (depending on which building you end up in), then Carousel and Congress Park (which is closest to Disney Springs.)

 

[morgsmagic]

The race bus at Saratoga only picks up/drops off by the Carriage House. It does not make stops around the resort like resorts such as CBR does.

Thank you, that is helpful to know!

 

[Tbella]

I am a DVC member and booked Baylake and the Grand Floridian for the princess half and was hoping I would get in. So happy I was able to register and now deciding which reservation to keep. Which one would you keep and why? BTW, Baylake is going to be going through a referb, but I would be up for the races before the construction nose began for the day awyway.

 

[Amyunder]

I am a DVC member and booked Baylake and the Grand Floridian for the princess half and was hoping I would get in. So happy I was able to register and now deciding which reservation to keep. Which one would you keep and why? BTW, Baylake is going to be going through a referb, but I would be up for the races before the construction nose began for the day awyway.

Depends on the room..... studio VGF one bed bay lake all day.

 

[DWVol]

I don’t remember the race being that hot. It was 63 degrees around starting time, dropped to 61, and then rose to 66 at sunrise. I just remember the race being really humid, which the weather reports list at 99%. My experience also was completely different. No bus issues, and this ended up being one of my best races ever, where I placed 2nd in my division for the 10k, top 20 overall, and 3rd in my division in the half.

I think the added humidity along with temperatures that I wasn't used to, coming from Tennessee, made it a more difficult race for me. The temperatures at home had been in the 20's and 30's before we left.
That was also the year that my wife and I moved into our new house the week before the race week. That also made things a little more interesting.

 

[Tbella]

Depends on the room..... studio VGF one bed bay lake all day.

Should of said, studio.

 

[pld5]

Well, with absolutely no intention until maybe last month to do so, I'm doing Princess again. My cousin knows what she's doing by just staying quiet but really kind so I want to vacation with her again.

We are in for what we're calling Chall-oga. The Challenge and yoga. I also thought I retired from the Half distance in 2023, but eh, I know I can walk it if need be.

We plan to volunteer for the 5K like we did for the Half this year.

I am also in for the Chall-oga. And I shall be calling it from now on. Did three Princess Weekends - 2016, 2017 and 2018, but only one half marathon which was in 2017. I said never again but guess I changed my mind.

I ran the 5K and 10K during Springtime Surprise Weekend earlier this year and I love all of the positive energy at a RunDisney race.

 

[LilyJC]

Which one would you keep and why?

How many guests/runners are in your party?

We typically stay at BLT for Princess Weekend. I personally love the kitchenette with all that space to store snacks. And the sky bridge makes it so convenient to catch the monorail for the half as well as grab food at Contempo/fill our waters. I will say we had the worst bus trauma we’ve ever had for the 10k this past February leaving from the Contemporary.

VGF is another fine choice depending on whether you have a deluxe studio booked or a resort studio? The deluxe studios have the extra shower which helps if you have multiple runners. I don’t like the kitchenette as much in the deluxe studios and the resort studios only have a beverage cooler instead of fridge if that matters to you. Our bus experience from VGF for shorter races has overall been better…

All that said, we’ve opted to bank our BLT points and avoid staying there during the refurb. We’ll be at one of our other WDW home resorts for Princess 2025. Between VGF and BLT though, I would likely still choose BLT as it’s my preferred of the two. Good luck with your decision!

 

[softballpooh]

Code is QWH. As long as you are not checking in until Thursday of race week, rates are super cheap. We are doing a split stay as we are arriving before then.

Thank you for sharing this! I was able to go ahead and reserve our room at a great rate!

 

[FanforDisney]

Thank you for sharing this! I was able to go ahead and reserve our room at a great rate!

I assume if you use that rate, they will verify that you are a Disney passholder when you check in. Is that correct?

 

[Jillfo]

I assume if you use that rate, they will verify that you are a Disney passholder when you check in. Is that correct?

I've had them ask to see my AP once out of several stays so odds are they won't ask but you can't be certain.