Princess vs Dark Side weekends

[stephenmacrx]

Hello running guys and gals. I am looking for your thoughts experiences on these 2 races as well as the weather crowds and other Disney information for that time of year. We are looking to go down to Disney and do a run as part of our honeymoon so will be in Orlando for 7-10 days for the trip. We have been multiple times usually in the Fall and ran the Wine and Dine half marathon last year. We live in Nova Scotia so traveling to Disneyland requires a lot of time zone changes, but if anyone thinks a trip and race there would be better then feel free to toss that out also.

Any reports, info, tips or opinions you want to share are greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot my runDisney friends

 

[bcarey2k]

If you're a Star Wars buff, you have got to do the Star Wars weekend. It's fun. It seemed a bit disorganized this past year, but hopefully that gets worked out.

I enjoy the Princess weeked as well because it's cooer (thankfully) and you get to run through the Magic Kingdom.

You can't go wrong with either one!

Brian

 

[stephenmacrx]

Oh good point, I never thought to look at the routes for each race.

 

[Ariel484]

I think it's hard to compare both weekends right now because Dark Side was new this year and had its share of issues. I would expect year 2 to go better, but then again, with all of the weekends runDisney puts on I was really surprised to hear of the mistakes they made with the first Dark Side weekend...anyway...

As @bcarey2k said, the biggest differences are weather (April in Florida will be significantly warmer), theme (which impacts the on-course entertainment, race shirts, medals, etc.) and the courses. Both weekends offer a 5K, 10K, half marathon and challenge, so that's a wash.

Does February vs. April work better for you schedule-wise? I think the other think to remember with Dark Side is that it's close to Easter, so it's possible that it will be a more crowded weekend.

 

[alexce]

I remember lots of chatter before Dark Side weekend about the potential for a very warm and humid race. The weather wasn't too bad - a humid 10K and a little warm for those of us finishing in a later corral in the half. I know the weather is probably always a question mark, but I think February is less likely to bring serious heat overall. That said, no pool time for us over Princess weekend, whereas we were able to do that in April.

My hubs was a champ about the vibe of Princess weekend, but he no doubt enjoyed the SW atmosphere much more. We didn't feel like the parks were crazy crowded.

I like the Princess course - hitting the castle at the mid-point really worked for me in terms of breaking up the race into chunks. Loved going into Animal Kingdom for the DS half, but I swear the concrete parking lot heading into it went on forever. I also wasn't a big fan of the trail running at the tail end. YMMV, of course.

 

[tigger536]

I've done both as well and enjoyed them. Princess is very female centric as would be expected (the expo doesn't even have much guys race merch). February at 5AM was a liitttttle chilly (but once running felt good). As SWDS it got a little warm towards the end. Either one you do, submit a proof of time. I was in H both times (kind of middle of pack) and it was crowded there. Even farther back I can't even imagine. Running through the castle was great! But so was running through AK.

SWDS had bad bottlenecks (BC to DHS, path out of AK, WWOS path). Hopefully they fix these! Princess had the looooong stretch of road after GF leading back to Epcot which is super boring. So both are going to have bad spots. BBut you can't go wrong with either. I'm doing both again this year hopefully.

 

[stephenmacrx]

Thanks for the replies. The Wine and Dine last year was shortened and it had a lot of crowding on the course, especially the boardwalk and path from DHS to Epcot. We were in corral E I think and it was too far back for us, haha, had to run in the grass for the first mile to get by the crowds and walkers. Our proof of time was our only 10 k that we ran early so it wasn't the fastest. I was thinking the princess might be more girly, haha.. did see some pics of guys as princes though, so I could handle a costume like that.

What are the chances of waterparks and pool time in February, keep in mind that I am use to swimming in the ocean with water temperatures of 16-18C (60-64F). I prefer to go with lower crowds as I am not one for lines haha

 

[bcarey2k]

Thanks for the replies. The Wine and Dine last year was shortened and it had a lot of crowding on the course, especially the boardwalk and path from DHS to Epcot. We were in corral E I think and it was too far back for us, haha, had to run in the grass for the first mile to get by the crowds and walkers. Our proof of time was our only 10 k that we ran early so it wasn't the fastest. I was thinking the princess might be more girly, haha.. did see some pics of guys as princes though, so I could handle a costume like that.

What are the chances of waterparks and pool time in February, keep in mind that I am use to swimming in the ocean with water temperatures of 16-18C (60-64F). I prefer to go with lower crowds as I am not one for lines haha

Many of the resort pools are heated (I'd asume the water parks are too .. which could be incredibly wrong) ... which is to say that the nip is taken away, but it is not hot by any extreme.

Yes, last year's W&D never had a chance to spread out .. and they shortened the time in between corrals to beat the storms. I am hoping for a better outcome this year!

 

[opusone]

What are the chances of waterparks and pool time in February, keep in mind that I am use to swimming in the ocean with water temperatures of 16-18C (60-64F).

Many of the resort pools are heated (I'd asume the water parks are too .. which could be incredibly wrong) ... which is to say that the nip is taken away, but it is not hot by any extreme.

I've read somewhere that all resort pools as well as the water parks are maintained at 80°F. In February 2017, Typhoon Lagoon will be closed for maintenance (as they do every year). Blizzard Beach will be open. So, I guess that's another decision point, if you want to visit Typhoon Lagoon, you should pick Dark Side instead of Princess.