The sad sad thread of lost Champion gear days

[Princess_Nikki]

So I really felt like a thread was needed for us to lament & cry over our lost champion gear! And also perhaps a good place to let others know how this new gear fits. I noticed with I want to say princess 2018 that the jackets we’re not champion brand. The two I did buy didn’t fit as well and we’re a bit itchy. Although most of the gear was no longer champion brand, at least the tech shirts given to us for each race were. I heard that this past princess race the shirts are no longer champion. Can anyone else confirm this?

I am devastated. lol. Like seriously....I’m signing up for the Wine & Dine Challenge 2020 and really upset that the tech shirts may not be Champion.
I am very aware of the fact that deals with Disney expire eventually, but other than turning a greater profit for Disney parks branded gear, I really wish I knew what DISNEY was thinking when choosing a cheap company to make their “active gear”. I’ve been doing Run Disney races since 2016 and I do remember even back then a lot of the items were Disney park branded, but they still offered namebrand gear as well.

Whatever companies they are using now, I feel like are mostly dreadful.

Since I want to hope for the best sizing when choosing my gear, can someone give me an idea of how the jackets and tech shirts have fit this past year? I heard the pre-order princess jacket ran super Duper small. Since I plan on ordering the pre-order jacket for wine and dine I’d like to have an idea and hope for the best.

 

[SarahDisney]

Princess stuff was not Champion. The race shirts fit about as expected for me (I got a medium, which is also what I got in last year's marathon weekend shirts). The jackets, though ...
I didn't get the pre-order jacket, so I can't comment on that. I tried on two things at the expo - the purple "Princess Half Marathon" jacket and the red hooded half marathon jacket. Tried on the weekend jacket first - started with my normal size (medium) and it was tiny. Then tried a large, and it fit but was a bit tighter than I expected (still was the best option for me - the xl would have been too big). My sister, who is always a large, fit into the xl. We then tried on the red half marathon jacket, and that one was actually fairly true to size. I bought it in medium and it fits me pretty much exactly how all of my other medium clothing fits. So I don't know if they're using different manufacturers now or just picking sizes out of a hat.

To be completely honest ... in the new era of runDisney, I wouldn't pre-order a jacket. I don't trust the sizing to be accurate and I don't know how easy it is to trade sizes on those things.

 

[1lilspark]

They started the in house brand free shirts with last years Wine and Dine plus side 5K is a tech shirt now

material was much stiffer then champion.... sizing I got XL shirts the 5K shirt just fit (a bit to snug to run in ... okay to wear out day to day) and I couldn’t size up.... 10K shirt didn’t even pull down over my chest thankfully I was able to size up

this year I’m ordering a xxl as I’d rather they be too big and take them in then too tight

 

[pluto377]

I was able to switch from medium to large marathon weekend. Yes, the material is not as soft, but I've found the shirts comfortable to run in despite that.

No experience with the jackets

 

[disneygirlsng]

I've loved all of my gear from W&D 2019 and Princess 2020 weekends. Not one single complaint whether included with registration or purchased. Everything I have fit just as expected.

 

[rteetz]

I've loved all of my gear from W&D 2019 and Princess 2020 weekends. Not one single complaint whether included with registration or purchased. Everything I have fit just as expected.

Honestly this is the first positive reaction I have seen to the new shirts. I will say mine fit fine but the quality to me is far less than the champion shirts. These shirts I am not choosing over the older champion ones I have to wear right now. It especially sucks because I love the designs from Dopey this year but the quality just is very poor for how much we pay for these races.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

I've loved all of my gear from W&D 2019 and Princess 2020 weekends. Not one single complaint whether included with registration or purchased. Everything I have fit just as expected.

You’re literally the first person in the history of Run Disney races I’ve heard say that with a positive review. Lol.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Honestly this is the first positive reaction I have seen to the new shirts. I will say mine fit fine but the quality to me is far less than the champion shirts. These shirts I am not choosing over the older champion ones I have to wear right now. It especially sucks because I love the designs from Dopey this year but the quality just is very poor for how much we pay for these races.

Interesting. While I've definitely seen some negative, I've seen just as much positive responses in facebook groups and such.

 

[disneygirlsng]

In some ways I actually prefer the newer shirts. The champion shirts I have are very slippery and slide up to my waist any time I run (probably big hips/small waist problems though haha). The newer shirts aren't as slippery and stay in place much better.

 

[disneygirlsng]

You’re literally the first person in the history of Run Disney races I’ve heard say that with a positive review. Lol.

Haha, it's been about a 50/50 response in the Facebook groups I'm in.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

Haha, it's been about a 50/50 response in the Facebook groups I'm in.

It seems to be SO hit or miss. A handful of tanks I have (Disney Parks brand) fit good and are fine but the other ones not so much. One jacket is ok that I have but I super prefer my Champion ones. I was just amazed how many runners complained about the pre-order Princess 2020 jackets this year!!

 

[camaker]

I've loved all of my gear from W&D 2019 and Princess 2020 weekends. Not one single complaint whether included with registration or purchased. Everything I have fit just as expected.

You’re literally the first person in the history of Run Disney races I’ve heard say that with a positive review. Lol.

Haha, it's been about a 50/50 response in the Facebook groups I'm in.

The predominant trend that I’ve seen in groups talking about the shirts has been that runners new to RunDisney tend to be positive about them while runners who have run multiple race weekends and have the Champion to compare to tend to dislike them. They’re essentially unusable to me as training shirts. I love my RunDisney Champion shirts, especially the longer sleeve ones, as cooler weather training shirts. The new shirts have been relegated to low intensity disc golf shirts, so they’re at least not going to waste.

There is no comparison in quality head to head for me. The new ones are scratchy and uncomfortable. As a couple of empirical data points, I wore one of this year’s MW shirts for an easy 4 mile run. I ended up chafed bloody on two “high points” on my torso. This Saturday, I went for a 10 mile run in one of the Champion shirts and forgot to cap my “high points”. Had no discomfort whatsoever with the Champion shirt.

In addition to the performance aspect, the fit has been squirrelly. 5 of the 6 shirts in my Dopey pack fit just fine. The 5k fit was a size too small. Try swapping one shirt out of a Dopey pack! It took a trip to the single shirt exchange portion of the Expo where they initially refused, but were eventually convinced to exchange for a larger size. The randomness of the sizing combined with the policy of only swapping out entire packs of shirts for challenges makes their quality even more problematic.

 

[disneygirlsng]

The predominant trend that I’ve seen in groups talking about the shirts has been that runners new to RunDisney tend to be positive about them while runners who have run multiple race weekends and have the Champion to compare to tend to dislike them. They’re essentially unusable to me as training shirts. I love my RunDisney Champion shirts, especially the longer sleeve ones, as cooler weather training shirts. The new shirts have been relegated to low intensity disc golf shirts, so they’re at least not going to waste.

There is no comparison in quality head to head for me. The new ones are scratchy and uncomfortable. As a couple of empirical data points, I wore one of this year’s MW shirts for an easy 4 mile run. I ended up chafed bloody on two “high points” on my torso. This Saturday, I went for a 10 mile run in one of the Champion shirts and forgot to cap my “high points”. Had no discomfort whatsoever with the Champion shirt.

In addition to the performance aspect, the fit has been squirrelly. 5 of the 6 shirts in my Dopey pack fit just fine. The 5k fit was a size too small. Try swapping one shirt out of a Dopey pack! It took a trip to the single shirt exchange portion of the Expo where they initially refused, but were eventually convinced to exchange for a larger size. The randomness of the sizing combined with the policy of only swapping out entire packs of shirts for challenges makes their quality even more problematic.

I've been running at Disney since 2014 and have lots of Champion shirts. While yes, they are very different, I dont necessarily feel one is better than the other.

 

[rteetz]

The predominant trend that I’ve seen in groups talking about the shirts has been that runners new to RunDisney tend to be positive about them while runners who have run multiple race weekends and have the Champion to compare to tend to dislike them.

I would agree with this. All of the complaints I have seen and many very vocal ones have been from runDisney veterans. Its turning some away too (obviously not only this but this doesn't help). I run in my champion runDisney shirts all the time. I have no desire to run in these newer ones because they just aren't the same due to that IMO poorer quality.

 

[huskies90]

Interesting. While I've definitely seen some negative, I've seen just as much positive responses in facebook groups and such.

Agree. I’ve seen just as many people on social media say they like the new ones better who say they don’t.

I can’t say I like the new ones better. But they are no worse - it’s not like the Champion ones were that great. All of my Champion Star Wars shirts badly frayed from wearing my medals in the parks for one day. I have so many tech shirts, I pretty much wear these shirts in the parks after a race and then occasionally around the house. I don’t run in them. It’s a free shirt. I care more about the design.

 

[GreatLakes]

I think the quality of the 2018 W&D shirts is pretty low. They are about the same quality as some local 5Ks that offer cheap tech shirts. I did think the Champion shirts were very good quality. There are a lot of really good tech shirt brands out there but the current rD shirts are pretty bad.

 

[FFigawi]

I think the quality of the 2018 W&D shirts is pretty low. They are about the same quality as some local 5Ks that offer cheap tech shirts. I did think the Champion shirts were very good quality. There are a lot of really good tech shirt brands out there but the current rD shirts are pretty bad.

The older Champion ones were very good shirts. I still have a few floating around in a drawer somewhere. This year's shirts I'm sending to Mr. @PaDisneyCouple the next time I'm in the US. He'll make better use of them than I will.

 

[Disney at Heart]

I’ll just add that one of my new style W&D shirts last year didn’t have the park icons printed on the sleeve. I kept it because i didn’t want to go back to the expo after I realized it. Sizes vary, too. Women’s M all fit somewhat, but some are tighter than others. So I don’t care for the fabric and don’t think the company’s quality control is very good.

My first runDisney shirt was the 2013 ToT 10 miler. It was the old Champion “double dry” waffle style. By MW 2014, they had changed to the “slinky” style Champion shirt we’ve become accustomed to, so that style lasted less than 6 years. BTW DH’s first shirt was all cotton -1994 Marathon.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I would love to see rD switch over to New Balance for their merchandise. The stuff at the NYC Marathon was absolutely incredible - far and away the best merchandise I have ever seen at an event.

 

[SarahDisney]

I would love to see rD switch over to New Balance for their merchandise. The stuff at the NYC Marathon was absolutely incredible - far and away the best merchandise I have ever seen at an event.

... but ran pretty small.

I definitely agree with you on NB - I have a lot of New Balance stuff and I think the quality is fantastic. But I also find that sometimes the sizing is not super consistent. So there's that.