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

[Naomeri]

I love the heroes and villains theme to the medals, and I really wish I were doing this weekend

 

[Herding_Cats]

This is the problem with Princess -- those dates are popular with travelers already! Tough to get rooms if you haven't booked pretty far out. This is where my new situation is going to be dangerous. My mom is moving to Celebration in a few weeks, so I'll always have a guest room available for random race weekends! Maybe I can convince her to run an underground Airbnb room for DISers??

My husband was all "Well see if your friend Kim is going to be there. You could probably just stay with her."

Which is a big deal since he is very slow to trust.

And all of this planning was under the guise of somehow getting a registration.

 

[nancipants]

I have a guest room and couches. Will rent a room to the highest bidder.

 

[The Expert]

Which is a big deal since he is very slow to trust.

I feel honored! If I were doing Princess, I would 100% offer for you to crash with me.

 

[hockeydad21]

So…I may have messed up () by booking our WDW vacation from feb 20th -27th not knowing that was the weekend of the Disney princess half marathon.

How bad are the crowds? Is it worth rebooking a few days later to avoid the crowds? Note that my vacation days and schedule are 100% flexible, so we can really go anytime February - March.

 

[The running raven]

I’m so happy with the medals! Not fond of the 10k, but I love the 5k and half. Also really like the challenge medal, kind of wishing I was doing it, but i don’t even know if I’ll be able to finish the half

 

[Disneyhanna]

So…I may have messed up () by booking our WDW vacation from feb 20th -27th not knowing that was the weekend of the Disney princess half marathon.

How bad are the crowds? Is it worth rebooking a few days later to avoid the crowds? Note that my vacation days and schedule are 100% flexible, so we can really go anytime February - March.

I probably maybe consider shifting it a bit later, while I don’t find the races make the parks overcrowded by any means, it dumps a lot of experienced park goers into one weekend. Looking at crowd calendars the first week of March looks quieter, the calm before the spring break storm. I would think most Princess people will be gone by Tuesday the 25th if they’re like me and just taking a long weekend. That said, festival of the arts only goes through the 24th and that’s my personal favorite festival. RunDisney race weekends are less crowded than holidays imo (presidents weekend is usually a mess in comparison) but busier than if there was no race weekend, certainly.

If you’re willing to do nights and early mornings, you may see significantly lighter crowds from Thursday to Sunday as runners are going to bed early and cleaning up after the early morning races.

 

[Naomeri]

So…I may have messed up () by booking our WDW vacation from feb 20th -27th not knowing that was the weekend of the Disney princess half marathon.

How bad are the crowds? Is it worth rebooking a few days later to avoid the crowds? Note that my vacation days and schedule are 100% flexible, so we can really go anytime February - March.

Aside from the crowds, the half marathon (and the 10K to a lesser extent) can cause some traffic issues. Especially the half, since it goes from Epcot to MK. Since you're totally flexible, I would move your dates.

 

[hockeydad21]

I probably maybe consider shifting it a bit later, while I don’t find the races make the parks overcrowded by any means, it dumps a lot of experienced park goers into one weekend. Looking at crowd calendars the first week of March looks quieter, the calm before the spring break storm. I would think most Princess people will be gone by Tuesday the 25th if they’re like me and just taking a long weekend. That said, festival of the arts only goes through the 24th and that’s my personal favorite festival. RunDisney race weekends are less crowded than holidays imo (presidents weekend is usually a mess in comparison) but busier than if there was no race weekend, certainly.

If you’re willing to do nights and early mornings, you may see significantly lighter crowds from Thursday to Sunday as runners are going to bed early and cleaning up after the early morning races.

Me and my wife are bringing our 3 kids under the age of 4, and then my parents (70 each), so will likely be heading back for midday naps anyway, but unlikely staying out late past fireworks. May try to move it to Feb 23rd - March 2nd pending poly tower availability

 

[hockeydad21]

Aside from the crowds, the half marathon (and the 10K to a lesser extent) can cause some traffic issues. Especially the half, since it goes from Epcot to MK. Since you're totally flexible, I would move your dates.

not too concerned about traffic because our reservation is a split between grand floridian and the polynesian.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

The medals are beautiful! I love the shapes and borders. Very distinctive look. Wish I was doing this weekend too!

 

[Goofy2015]

My Personal 2024-25 runDisney Season Update - 11/21

After seeing a couple of podiatrists, I have been cleared to run. Getting over this plantar fasciitis will still be quite the challenge. It is still nowhere as bad as it was in September after the Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon weekend.

My first training run for Princess / Springtime Surprise was on 10/31. Just ran a mile and had no pain. I really didn't have any pain on any of my runs. So far, I have only been doing 1-2 miles for any given run. We did have our Food & Wine Festival trip to WDW in November. The daily grind of walking around the parks did get to my foot and I was in mild pain for some of the first few days. We have another trip in December for a family Christmas, I am hoping that walking around the park won't feel as bad.

Coming up, I am going to be bumping up my mileage for weekend runs to 3 miles. I may attempt a Turkey Trot 5K dependent on the weather.

Thanks for following along.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Finally chiming in on the medals. I love them! This is my first Princess weekend (mainly doing it to complete a perfect runDisney season) and it looks like I picked a good one.

 

[DisneyDad0315]

My daughter and I will be at the Swan for the Princess Half Marathon and we made some "Medals" for ourselves!

 

[MamaBear12]

Love the medals! This will be my first runDisney event (5K) and I can't wait! How much time will we need for the Expo and can our kiddos (who won't be running) come with us to the Expo? We want to hang out a a park that Thursday, so just trying to figure out what time we'll need to leave the park and if we'll need to drop the kids off at the hotel or if they can come with us.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Love the medals! This will be my first runDisney event (5K) and I can't wait! How much time will we need for the Expo and can our kiddos (who won't be running) come with us to the Expo? We want to hang out a a park that Thursday, so just trying to figure out what time we'll need to leave the park and if we'll need to drop the kids off at the hotel or if they can come with us.

Your kids can come with you. Be sure to include them in your party if you want to do the VQ for the runDisney merch as they will only let in the number of people in your party on the VQ. Otherwise, they can go anywhere at the expo with you with no hassle.

 

[MamaBear12]

Your kids can come with you. Be sure to include them in your party if you want to do the VQ for the runDisney merch as they will only let in the number of people in your party on the VQ. Otherwise, they can go anywhere at the expo with you with no hassle.

Thanks! Ball park on how much time should we expect to spend at the expo? Not sure if we'll do the VQ for merch, but I'll be sure to include them if we do.

 

[nancipants]

Thanks! Ball park on how much time should we expect to spend at the expo? Not sure if we'll do the VQ for merch, but I'll be sure to include them if we do.

It really depends on what time you go and how much you want to do there. In addition to the stuff you "have" to do, there are characters, photo ops, and shopping at the Expo and the official merch. Since you're going on the first day, there will be lines to pick up your bib and shirt, so I'd budget at least an hour for that.

 

[1lilspark]

Thanks! Ball park on how much time should we expect to spend at the expo? Not sure if we'll do the VQ for merch, but I'll be sure to include them if we do.

For Wine & Dine it took us about 3 hours which is about average as we like to poke around at merchandise and wait for characters

 

[PirateSnowmen]

Love the medals! This will be my first runDisney event (5K) and I can't wait! How much time will we need for the Expo and can our kiddos (who won't be running) come with us to the Expo? We want to hang out a a park that Thursday, so just trying to figure out what time we'll need to leave the park and if we'll need to drop the kids off at the hotel or if they can come with us.

As others have said, your kids can come with you! If this is your first RunDisney event, I'm assuming you've never been to an expo before. When you arrive you'll need to go to one building to pick up your bib. Then you'll head to another building to pick up your race shirt. This is done on the main expo floor, so you can walk around and browse all of the booths from outside companies (lots to look at and lots to purchase!). After all of that, if you want any of the race-exclusive merch, you'll have to head to another building (if you go earlier in the day, this will require a spot in the VQ).

From my experience, the expo is much more crowded in the morning when it opens than in the afternoon just before closing. In the morning there are lots of lines (lines to pick up bibs, lines for characters, waiting for the VQ for merch, then lines in the building once your VQ is called), which obviously takes more time. The times I've gone in the evening, I've been able to walk right in to pick up my bib with minimal waiting. If you want race-exclusive merch, I'd recommend joining the VQ since that merch tends to go quickly on day 1.

If you just want to run in & quickly pick up your bib, that can be achieved in less than an hour (if you go in the evening). If you truly want to take your time and browse, I'd say up to 3 hours.