Princess Weekend 2022

[RunningProf]

I'm really excited about the themes. This will be my first (and possibly only) Princess and I am doing the challenge. Based on the order of the princesses on the banner I was bummed I was going to miss Mulan (can't run the 5k) but now I'm excited I will get to run Tiana, Mulan, and Moana. The themes also convinced my wife to run all three races (she did them all virtually last year) so this will be her first time running through the castle.

 

[bumbershoot]

And I'm obviously speculating on all of this.

If it's hot and you are right, that's going to be miserable for slowpokes like me.

Do they perhaps expect Princess to be busier than the earlier runs, and that's why they are changing it up like that?

 

[GrandAdmiralStrife]

ugh, I really like those princess choices. I have a full marathon set for February 20th, maybe I should sign up for the virtual and turn it into a February Dopey Challenge....

 

[patty22407]

If it truly means staggered arrival/start times for the groups then I wonder if they might flip the order? I know in previous years, the faster folks went first to not trip over us slowpokes. But now...maybe they'd start the slower ones first?

 

[Spikester]

I wonder if they are staggering the start instead of having corrals? So, you'd be in group 1 which would have been corral A/B and you line up at 430am. Then group 2 would start to line up at 445am? They can't delay things too long between the groups, and it looks like they are doing it for all of the races. And how would they clear the race between groups? With people stopping for pictures and stuff, they'd have to have buses everywhere.
By the way, I do love the themes and that it is "different yet popular" princesses this year, why does it seem that RunDisney just kind of phoned in the artwork this year? Moana is pretty much the same as the 2020 race, and Tiana is the same as 2021. That being said, I'm of course going to be there. Working out my schedule since I signed up for a race in New Orleans on Feb 6th.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I wonder if they are staggering the start instead of having corrals? So, you'd be in group 1 which would have been corral A/B and you line up at 430am. Then group 2 would start to line up at 445am? They can't delay things too long between the groups, and it looks like they are doing it for all of the races. And how would they clear the race between groups? With people stopping for pictures and stuff, they'd have to have buses everywhere.

After thinking about it last night, this is probably the most likely explanation. Because if the HM is included that makes for a whole mess of logistical issues with a staggered start time for each group like I proposed earlier. Looks like MK is opening at 9am right now. In a normal situation, the Balloon ladies would start around 6am with a 5am gun time. At around 6 miles to the exit of MK, you're looking at around 7:40am exit for the Balloon ladies. So there isn't much wiggle room in staggering the start time much further than say 6:30am instead of 6:00am for the last group.

The other potential hiccup with my staggered start time of the 5k/10k is the location of bus exit back to the hotels.



The 5k route runs right where the buses exit back to the hotels. So in the past we would have to wait until the last person passed that area before the buses would start running again. Based on my notes, that was usually around an hour after the start time. So with a 5am start, the buses would start to run again around 6-6:15am. But if they did a staggered start of 5am, 6am, 7am, and 8am, then they couldn't realistically have the buses in the same location or release them until 8:30ish am. No way that's going to happen. So either a course change or a bus location change. That's what further leads me to believe that my original idea is likely wrong. With the inclusion of the HM and the issues with course design as it relates to buses, I think that @Spikester 's proposition is more likely the case.

They used to have a recommend arrival time in the event guide. Something like 4am for a 5am start time. So maybe this is just a small thing were they're saying hey we recognize that Corral H won't leave until 6am therefore you don't have to be here until 5:00am instead. But why make this change for Princess and not the other two weekends? And why not just retroactively make the change to those other weekends webpages as well, because it's not like that's a huge change. That leads me to the idea of calling out four groups specifically because the language for "groups" is all over the Wine and Dine and MW pages without calling out "four" specifically.

The fact that they call out "four groups" is interesting. Maybe they've decided to simplify the "groupings" to:
POT
Club runDisney
first half non-POT
and second half non-POT

The only place I see the word "corral" used on the runDisney page is in reference to Club runDisney and the perk of moving up corrals, or staying in a higher corral if qualified. So maybe in addition to saying hey 4th group you can show up at 5am instead of 4am, is it possible that Princess weekend will represent the first time they kind of do away with corrals and just do 4 groups with mini-waves included for the HM (they kind of already do that for the 5k/10k)? It's an interesting proposition. I don't know how I'd feel about it if I were someone who just missed the 2 hour POT cutoff. You'd have something like 40% of the field now guaranteed to be in your 3rd group (first half non-POT). Will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few months as we'll learn more when the event guide comes out. So that leads to when is the event guide usually released:

2020 - 1/31/20
2019 - 1/31/19
2018 - 1/26/18
2017 - 1/27/18

 

[Spikester]

Yes, very interesting @DopeyBadger. I forgot about the 5k running right by the buses. As someone who was in a later corral as I went by the bus area, there were already people done with the race cheering us on as they waited for the bus.

 

[kat_lh]

I’ve never done a Disney race before so newbie question - when do race course maps usually come out?

 

[DopeyBadger]

I’ve never done a Disney race before so newbie question - when do race course maps usually come out?

These days, not usually until the event guide comes out. So around the end of January based on the last few years. But the HM hasn't changed dramatically in over a decade (link). The 5k/10k have had some small changes over the years.



This website has a big collection of old race courses (link).

 

[SheHulk]

If it truly means staggered arrival/start times for the groups then I wonder if they might flip the order? I know in previous years, the faster folks went first to not trip over us slowpokes. But now...maybe they'd start the slower ones first?

You would have to *really* space out the starts for the fast people not to be held up by slower folks. Especially near the finish where the slower folks tend to slow *way* down ( not knocking slow folks, I'm one of them, and have been even slower when I started running distance). I have run a half marathon that had a full marathon on the same course: The half marathoners started at the 13.1 point of the full marathon course. So the fastest full marathoners would be blazing through (this was a big Boston qualifier race) while slower runners would be finishing up their halfs. I never saw a collision but I did see a lot of near-misses.

 

[SheHulk]

Do they perhaps expect Princess to be busier than the earlier runs, and that's why they are changing it up like that?

again, just my assumption, but I was thinking the opposite: Maybe they expect this field to be smaller so it's a better opportunity to try something new.

 

[Nessats]

Am I alone in wondering how having four start groups with staggered arrival times will impact busing from the resorts and pre-race entertainment? Such as, if I am in group 3, I can't board one of the earliest buses and will have to wait to be bused at a certain time? Not sure how the logistics of all this is going to work. Lots of people like to arrive early for the pre-race photo ops, but is that now going to be a thing of the past? So many questions.

 

[azrivest]

I don't know how I'd feel about it if I were someone who just missed the 2 hour POT cutoff. You'd have something like 40% of the field now guaranteed to be in your 3rd group (first half non-POT).

That would be me. At 2:14, I can't realistically aim for <2:00 before end of October, but I'll still be faster than most of the non-POT field. I didn't mind not submitting a POT if it just meant starting a bit later. If it means I have to run in full-blown Orlando heat though...

As @flav said, I'll just need to go with the race flow and enjoy the slow pace.

 

[DopeyBadger]

If it means I have to run in full-blown Orlando heat though...

I think our latest guess as to what this news means is that there will be little to no difference in the actual start time. So the 5000th runner whether they're in Corral E in the 2020 corrals or the 3rd group in the 2021 setup would still be starting at the same time of day. Just that those former corrals are grouped together, and they're saying you can show up to the staging area a little later. But that's speculation based on what we think we know at this time.

As for sunrise timing:

5:35am is Astronomical Sunrise
6:02am is Nautical Sunrise
6:29am is Civil Twilight
6:53am is Actual Sunrise



Take about 20-30 min off the times above in relation to the pictures. So the 3rd picture (6:48am) is like 6:29am at Princess Weekend.

 

[HangWithMerida]

That would be me. At 2:14, I can't realistically aim for <2:00 before end of October, but I'll still be faster than most of the non-POT field. I didn't mind not submitting a POT if it just meant starting a bit later. If it means I have to run in full-blown Orlando heat though...

Me too...2:08. So close and yet, so far!
Edit to add: I'm not so much worried about the heat as I think @DopeyBadger is right that start times will still be early. I don't mind dodging run/walkers once things spread out a little bit, early on in the race being stuck in a clump with a lot of people walking can be kind of annoying. Being able to put in a POT for an earlier corral would have meant being more likely to actually be able to run for the first couple miles.

 

[bumbershoot]

If it truly means staggered arrival/start times for the groups then I wonder if they might flip the order? I know in previous years, the faster folks went first to not trip over us slowpokes. But now...maybe they'd start the slower ones first?

That's hard to do. I have done the former Vancouver Rock and Roll Half when they put those of us assigned to the last corral up before the elites. We started half an hour before the elites (with NO fanfair whatsoever).

IT was all great for half an hour. Then the trucks drove up and told us all to get to the side. 5 minutes later the elites blasted through. It was AMAZING. The elites had been behind us in the corrals; they knew what was going on, and we didn't bother them.

It was the rest of the runners that had issues with us. Some of the issues were purely their fault for not reading all of the information pre-race. The info wasn't buried, they could have easily seen it. Many of them were total jerks, even to those of us hugging the right side of the course (right side for walkers was part of the rules of that race).

And some of the issues were on the slower people with no race etiquette. Since rundisney races, and IMO especially Princess, struggle with race etiquette, this could result in NOT good things. They would have to have lots of volunteers out for the slower people like me, to make sure we didn't clump up, get lazy in our intervals or walking or slow running, and cause a bottleneck.

again, just my assumption, but I was thinking the opposite: Maybe they expect this field to be smaller so it's a better opportunity to try something new.

Maybe.

As @flav said, I'll just need to go with the race flow and enjoy the slow pace.

Although I despise the group for the most part, there is a FB group of people who start "dead last" every year to "prove" that anyone can have a good race even without a good start position. They do it by having atrocious race etiquette, putting slower people in danger from flailing elbows (the men and taller women, at least), and having shirts toting up "kills" (aka people they pass), but they do it.

Anyway, you can be that person, just without the flailing elbows and anger at us slower people. Get to your corral or starting area so you're starting among the first to go, and you'll be golden.

 

[azrivest]

Although I despise the group for the most part, there is a FB group of people who start "dead last" every year to "prove" that anyone can have a good race even without a good start position. They do it by having atrocious race etiquette, putting slower people in danger from flailing elbows (the men and taller women, at least), and having shirts toting up "kills" (aka people they pass), but they do it.

Anyway, you can be that person, just without the flailing elbows and anger at us slower people. Get to your corral or starting area so you're starting among the first to go, and you'll be golden.

That's just awful. Especially at rD, which is all about making running accessible for everyone. Ugh.

Don't worry about me, I am always very respectful of other racers. I'm happy and proud to be part of the running community. I won't be that person!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Just got my outfit for the the Princess Challenge and is Vannallepe Von Sweet's princess dress!! I do not have it tied or pin down so not the full effect and need to take it in a bit, yeah losing weight. I was not sure on sizing but sooo happy!!! Got it from tutu factory! This is the most perfect princess dress it is soo pink and fluffy!!! And I have a cape!!

 

[HangWithMerida]

@DisneyMountainWoman That dress is amazing!!

 

[Livelovedance]

Very interesting speculations! Since characters are listed as "character sightings" now, I wonder if they're going to even have character meets pre-race. I've always enjoyed getting pre-race photos, and I'm not really sure what I'd do to fill time before entering the corrals lol.

I wouldn't mind a staggered arrival time/start if it meant less time standing around pre-race. Knowing myself though, I'd still want to be on one of the first buses for peace of mind. If they did a staggered start, do we think they'd attempt to stagger who gets on a bus in a certain time frame? I feel like that'd be almost impossible to manage, but all of this certainly has me wondering...