Springtime Surprise Weekend (April 13-16, 2023)

[amazingact21]

but I would never go to WDW for less than 2 races. I don't feel so bad spending so much money (with the bad exchange rate) and travelling far when it's spread out over more than 1 race.

This was my train of thought for why I signed up for the Challenge. I live in England, and I figured if I was making the long flight over to Orlando for a week, I might as well make it worth my time.
(Now, ask me again Sunday night after the 10-miler if I still feel the same way.)

 

[Baloo in MI]

Contemplating the 10 miler as it's the only one that is still open.

Thinking very hard about whether it's worth flying almost halfway around the world for a 10 miler (plus a few days of Disney) - sadly I live really far away from WDW! I did do W&D in 2019 and really enjoyed it, and was at WDW last week and feeling really sad that I wasn't doing W&D, so kind of really want to do another runDisney event.

The alternative would be maybe marathon weekend 2024... Can't do W&D 2023 because of dates...

Call me the Spring Surprise enabler if you like… I thought it was a really nice event last year and just different than other runDisney weekends. It is a little more low key but still lots of fun. And the opportunity to run different courses will keep me coming back; doing year two of the Challenge.

 

[sky13]

Wow I'm impressed.

I'm not far (Quebec), but I would never go to WDW for less than 2 races. I don't feel so bad spending so much money (with the bad exchange rate) and travelling far when it's spread out over more than 1 race.

Yes I'd much prefer going and doing a few races/challenge!

Call me the Spring Surprise enabler if you like… I thought it was a really nice event last year and just different than other runDisney weekends. It is a little more low key but still lots of fun. And the opportunity to run different courses will keep me coming back; doing year two of the Challenge.

I've only done 2 runDisney events (Disneyland Paris, and a Wine and Dine weekend) so any runDisney race route is still pretty new and exciting to me!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Well, i never thought I would be able to join a Disney race so late in the game, but we are in for the 10miler!!!
This afternoon, I received an email with a crazy good deal for Black Friday for flights to Orlando, and I suggested to DH that we register for the Springtime surprise 10 miler in April… we just came back from Wine and Dine and did the half, and we LOOOOOVED it!
And well, two hours later… flights are booked, registration is done and the room is booked for April!
My parents will be tagging along to babysit the kids while we run around like little kids - they got into the craziness and booked their flights too
So excited!!!

 

[fatmanatee]

Big rumor for people making parks plans for this weekend: Tron ride might open first week of April, would imagine we get an opening date pretty soon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1596170715102937089

 

[Baloo in MI]

Big rumor for people making parks plans for this weekend: Tron ride might open first week of April, would imagine we get an opening date pretty soon.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1596170715102937089

That would be awesome!

 

[DisneyParrothead]

I finally sprung for my airfare. I had credits with United and I was rather hoping there'd be a Cyber Monday deal, but no such luck. Now that I used up all those credits, I'm no longer tied to United. Denver is a huge hub and it's either United or Southwest for non-stops to Orlando.

 

[jmasgat]

I finally sprung for my airfare. I had credits with United and I was rather hoping there'd be a Cyber Monday deal, but no such luck. Now that I used up all those credits, I'm no longer tied to United. Denver is a huge hub and it's either United or Southwest for non-stops to Orlando.

Are you a Costco member? They have Southwest $500 giftcards for $450. Not just Black Friday, but pretty much all the time.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Quick question for those who attended RD events in the past:
We will be going in April with my two kids and my parents, DH and I will be running the 10-mile. They are hoping to come cheer us at the finish line. We will be staying at AoA, no car.
We are hoping to finish at a pace of around 5 min per Km (8 min per mile), so around 6:15-6:30
Are buses going to be running that early for spectators? if not, could they uber to the finish line?
Also, could our kids join us for character pictures at the end (we ran the half at Wine and Dine in October, and Stitch and Sebastian had almost no line when we finished so we went for it; I know our kids would be thrilled to take character pics but is that even possible and/or frowned upon? I obviously don't want to take other runners time but they would just come with us for a quick pic so not any longer than it would take otherwise)
Thanks for your help!

Edited to correct: 5min/km and not 5min/mile ; so 8 min/mile
I certainly wish I was that fast!!!

 

[Naomeri]

Quick question for those who attended RD events in the past:
We will be going in April with my two kids and my parents, DH and I will be running the 10-mile. They are hoping to come cheer us at the finish line. We will be staying at AoA, no car.
We are hoping to finish at a pace of around 5 min per mile, so around 6:15-6:30
Are buses going to be running that early for spectators? if not, could they uber to the finish line?
Also, could our kids join us for character pictures at the end (we ran the half at Wine and Dine in October, and Stitch and Sebastian had almost no line when we finished so we went for it; I know our kids would be thrilled to take character pics but is that even possible and/or frowned upon? I obviously don't want to take other runners time but they would just come with us for a quick pic so not any longer than it would take otherwise)
Thanks for your help!

If you’re going to be finishing that early, the kids should probably just come with you and hang out in the finish area. They can definitely get pictures with the characters in the start/finish area, I saw lots of non-runners doing it at W&D

 

[erbam06]

For the 10 miler last year, the website said they would have busses to the finish starting at 6, so the plan was for my mom to do that and meet me at the finish line around 6:30ish when I finished. The buses actually were not running to the finish line at that time, so the front desk staff at Caribbean Beach did an amazing job and helped her get a cab to the finish so she could see me there. We're not really trusting that there will be transportation that early to the finish, so for this year, she's just planning on coming with me to the start and hanging out until I leave and then heading to the finish from there. That's definitely what I would recommend if you think you'll be finishing around that time

 

[DopeyBadger]

Quick question for those who attended RD events in the past:
We will be going in April with my two kids and my parents, DH and I will be running the 10-mile. They are hoping to come cheer us at the finish line. We will be staying at AoA, no car.
We are hoping to finish at a pace of around 5 min per mile, so around 6:15-6:30
Are buses going to be running that early for spectators? if not, could they uber to the finish line?
Also, could our kids join us for character pictures at the end (we ran the half at Wine and Dine in October, and Stitch and Sebastian had almost no line when we finished so we went for it; I know our kids would be thrilled to take character pics but is that even possible and/or frowned upon? I obviously don't want to take other runners time but they would just come with us for a quick pic so not any longer than it would take otherwise)
Thanks for your help!

As a side note, the male winner of the 2021 race finished in 53 min and the female winner in 66 min. So if the two of you plan to run around 5 min/mile pace you both have a good chance to win overall. At those paces I’d highly suggest making sure you get to the front of corral A/s1. You’ll likely have a better experience. You can also have much much quicker photo stops if you choose to do so. Fair warning though that sometimes the character stops aren’t prepared for you to stop when you’re a front pack runner and sometimes the characters aren’t quite out yet. If you all win, take into consideration that pre-pandemic they would do an award ceremony for top 3 overall male and female. That might add some time to the after race experience. As far as the picture, no one will have an issue with you and your non-racing kids being in post race character pics together. I have many pics of me and my daughter post race with characters.

 

[Kerry1957]

We are hoping to finish at a pace of around 5 min per mile, so around 6:15-6:30

Do you have a typo in this sentence? The race starts at 5:00 so at a 5 min per mile you would finish at 5:50 assuming you will be either in the front of A/s1 or in the elite group. Finishing at 6:15 would be a 7:30 min per mile pace and finishing at 6:30 would be a 9:00 min per mile pace.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Do you have a typo in this sentence? The race starts at 5:00 so at a 5 min per mile you would finish at 5:50 assuming you will be either in the front of A/s1 or in the elite group. Finishing at 6:15 would be a 7:30 min per mile pace and finishing at 6:30 would be a 9:00 min per mile pace.

Haha not 5 min per mile but 5 min per km (I am Canadian so not used to pace per mile!)
We are definitely not that fast!!! and definitely not planning on being top 3 either
I will correct my previous post - thanks for noticing
And thanks for all the good advice about finish line and post race character pics!

 

[MissLiss279]

Medals!
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-medals-for-surprise-springtime-weekend-2023/

ETA:

 

[sandam1]

LOVE THEM!!!!!

 

[Herding_Cats]

wow those are cute. the monsters inc one is very clever.

 

[Bree]

I love the medals!!!! Very creative!!! It looks like the 5K and challenge medals are spinners.

 

[jpeterson]

None of them say "I did it" it those pictures. That should make a lot of people happy.

 

[Kerry1957]

None of them say "I did it" it those pictures. That should make a lot of people happy.

It makes me happy and I am not even running that weekend.