Spring Surprise (March 31-April 3rd 2022)

[furiated]

"Surprise! We got a few boxes of each medal! The first people to finish each race get medals!" Watch the resulting carnage...

 

[furiated]

In all seriousness, it would be nice if they did something for Medal Monday people. Like, take the demo medals from the expo (you know they probably have a couple sets) and have dedicated PhotoPass folks in front of the castle where you can pose with their medals. I know the lines would be huge, but it would be something.

 

[GreatLakes]

I'm definitely no runDisney apologist but I think this one really is a supply chain issue. I'm not going to pretend to know exactly all of the logistics around the medals but I assume they come from Asia and we have problems getting exactly the type of stuff that is produced in the same manner.

Or they made a mistake and aren't owning it but I don't think so.

I do hope they have the foresight to have medals for the post race photographers to use so at least everyone gets a pro photo in the finish area with one. That is assuming they have more than the few replicas and proofs.

 

[Goofy2015]

I’m disappointed with the medal thing because I went through hell and high water to get my 5k registration. ( like I literally only got it last week) and it’s still not “offfical” because the charity had issues, had running buddy drop out due to shingles, and a bunch of other fun stuff. I’m not too worried though because they have to have some medals, so maybe I’ll cross the finish line before they run out!

If they do not have enough medals to give out to everyone that 'could' finish, I do not think think they will give out any medals because trying to keep track of everyone that did not receive a medal is a logistical nightmare.

 

[Kitty-chan]

If they do not have enough medals to give out to everyone that 'could' finish, I do not think think they will give out any medals because trying to keep track of everyone that did not receive a medal is a logistical nightmare.

Agreed. Unless it's by race (ie, they have all the 10k medals, but none of the 10 mile medals, so they know which ones they need to ship to the runners).

And honestly, Disney doesn't want to have to ship medals to us. It's expensive and inconvenient, by comparison with just handing them to people at the finish line. (The volunteers must be super sad about this too; I've handed out medals at a Disney 5k and it was truly a joyful experience.)

 

[Goofy2015]

I'm definitely no runDisney apologist but I think this one really is a supply chain issue. I'm not going to pretend to know exactly all of the logistics around the medals but I assume they come from Asia and we have problems getting exactly the type of stuff that is produced in the same manner.

Or they made a mistake and aren't owning it but I don't think so.

I do hope they have the foresight to have medals for the post race photographers to use so at least everyone gets a pro photo in the finish area with one. That is assuming they have more than the few replicas and proofs.

Supply chain is absolutely the issue. However, I think the planning for the shipping date is the problem that I have with Disney. They know the final count even before registration. They show medals on display at expos and social media before the event (so the physical medal exists well in advance). They should plan to have these medals shipped and delivered months in advance. Maybe that is the case. However, I can see it being a small cost saving for them to wait to ship for a later date even with global supply chain shortages and take that risk. That risk being having to pay for shipping, labor cost organizing medals, and the opportunity cost for disappointing customers.

It is overall frustrating because with Disney you don't really get the true story anymore from anything that they send out in official communications. Everything is never their problem.

Even if it they over order from a final head count, which is for sure determined months ago. They can always open back up registrations for the live or virtual event for the extra medals.

I am just saying I hope Disney learns from this mistake and plans ahead for the next few races. The registration dates are even further back giving more time to have the orders sent to their supplier and the medals hangout in one of their many areas around the resort.

 

[Baloo in MI]

I suggest that everyone infuriated by this turn of events send RunDisney a strong message by boycotting registration for the Dopey Challenge.

I’m sensing ulterior motives!

 

[lilmc]

In all seriousness, it would be nice if they did something for Medal Monday people. Like, take the demo medals from the expo (you know they probably have a couple sets) and have dedicated PhotoPass folks in front of the castle where you can pose with their medals. I know the lines would be huge, but it would be something.

Sounds great in theory, but thousands of runners placing those around their necks sounds so gross to me, I vote new Magic Shot!

 

[furiated]

Sounds great in theory, but thousands of runners placing those around their necks sounds so gross to me, I vote new Magic Shot!

True. You could also do the alternate pose some folks do where you have them all hanging in a vertical row. That way you're just holding a strap and not putting them on you.

 

[PrincessV]

Sally Shine? Please explain. I loved the Adventurer's Club maid costume.

Sally Shine is the little girl in TOT’s intro video.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/d..._tower5.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130421055701

 

[PrincessV]

I truly don’t care about medals anyway, and would gladly tell rD to keep mine if they’d give me a $25 gift card instead. I’m planning to bring my 2012 TOT medal for post-race photos!

 

[kps7795]

Sally Shine is the little girl in TOT’s intro video.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/d..._tower5.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130421055701

I never knew that the little girl actually was given a name. Will you run with a stuffed Mickey Mouse just like Sally though?

 

[fatmanatee]

Have to note one thing that hasn't been mentioned here in relation to this but probably should be: Springtime Surprise registration was in December, WAY later than usual, and was delayed from I believe September. At the time, my hunch was that RD was trying to catch up after COVID shutdowns and was busy managing three other registration efforts in a shortened timeframe along with prepping for the first weekend back (Wine and Dine 2021). We're not going to know anything about how RD plans certain aspects of these events, and that includes how they handle ordering product, but it's possible that they were delayed on that end too. They probably still expected things to be delivered on time, based on their experience in the past, but then the supply chain crisis started.

That's not a consolation to anyone who's upset about this but it's something I just remembered.

 

[Kitty-chan]

I truly don’t care about medals anyway, and would gladly tell rD to keep mine if they’d give me a $25 gift card instead. I’m planning to bring my 2012 TOT medal for post-race photos!

I sent an email to runDisney, suggesting they give us all gift cards if we don't get medals on site.

 

[1lilspark]

On one of the fan Instagrams I follow they said to “celebrate yestermorrow” by showing off an older medal to wear in the parks since I’m doing Everest & pondering if I should bring something park based (virtual leota) or animal kingdom vibes (virtual lion king or virtual black Panther) thoughts…

 

[Naomeri]

On one of the fan Instagrams I follow they said to “celebrate yestermorrow” by showing off an older medal to wear in the parks since I’m doing Everest & pondering if I should bring something park based (virtual leota) or animal kingdom vibes (virtual lion king or virtual black Panther) thoughts…

I totally would have brought my virtual W&D medals, if only they’d warned us sooner. But I didn’t get the email until I was already in Disney World

 

[fatmanatee]

On one of the fan Instagrams I follow they said to “celebrate yestermorrow” by showing off an older medal to wear in the parks since I’m doing Everest & pondering if I should bring something park based (virtual leota) or animal kingdom vibes (virtual lion king or virtual black Panther) thoughts…

I'd go with Lion King, it's a better fit for AK and they have the statue if you decide to take photos there.

 

[MissLiss279]

Medals have arrived!!

 

[Naomeri]

Yay for medals!!!

 

[jaxonp]

Magic made