Wine and Dine 2015

[wilkeliza]

For DVC members, it is not always that simple. We are blocked from booking outside our resort until 7 months out from the date of check in. At 7 months out during F&W? Forget about getting a room at a host resort. And considering what I pay in dues every year? I'm not blowing the money on a room simply for a bus. However, that said? I rented a car. So I was never a drain on the system one way or another.

Now, for something like the big marathon weekend in Jan or Princess in Feb? Nearly all the DVC resorts are host resorts so it does not matter. But in the case of W/D? If you don't own there your chances were slim and none of getting a room at Boardwalk. And the Poly is so new and uber point intensive that it is also not conducive to a stay for everyone either. Which I believe left only Old Key West- and I couldn't get a room there either. So I stayed at home- BLT.

But I want to stress two things- I never was a drain on the system because I rented a car and the concept of if you want transportation stay at a host resort is not always as simple as it is to say.

Saratoga Springs was also a host resort. Did that one book up? I know my friends just booked SSR on DVC points for Thanksgiving weekend.

 

[sperkins921]

Saratoga Springs was also a host resort. Did that one book up? I know my friends just booked SSR on DVC points for Thanksgiving weekend.

Don't know as it didn't matter to me one way or another, like I said I rented a car. It's been well over 4 or so years since I've gone to Disney and not had one. I don't really care for SSR, so I never looked there seriously, but I remember that Friday and Saturday was hard to find in the system. With us being in a use 'em or lose 'em situation I had to get the most bang for our buck and if given the choice between BLT and SSR, I was staying at home. Like it more and wouldn't have as many points left over.

Again, I said what I said more to inform than anything else.

 

[sperkins921]

I wish I knew!! I would have been all about saying hi. They just seem like a happy positive family. I can get behind that and their message. Also woof at my typing. I'm on my phone and this is just not going well.

@sperkins921 I had NO clue it was like that for DVC members. That's good info to have. Thank you!

No worries! That's what made this thread so awesome, we could share with each other. If you're not DVC, you wouldn't know all the nuances of the different resorts and about booking windows and such.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

I think she was shorter, maybe between 5'2" and 5'5" at the most. Brown hair in a ponytail. I feel like she wasn't in costume? Maybe black bottoms white top? Gosh, wish I could remember exactly where it was. I just know I felt like an @$$ because I didn't want to be *that* person you know? I started in H, so around 11:30ish. This would have been around midnight to no worse than half past.

It would be small world indeed if I'd run into you- literally- on the course! HAHAHAHA

Sounds like a very accurate description of me up until the maybe black bottoms and white top. I am shorter (about 5'4"), have brown hair that was in a ponytail, and was not wearing a costume. I was in Corral G - so if your pace was faster than mine you could have been about where I was.

 

[Rattpack]

Back home from my Wine & Dine half half adventure. Don't want to echo everyone too much, but quickly:

• Disney probably did best they could in situation. Clear communication would have been preferred
• Keeping medal, shirts but they're more likely to be "normal" items in the collection than something special
• Need to be smarter about costume choice. Too much time worrying about that distracted me from enjoying the race that we got. Will do something simple next time
• Could have finished 13.1, but 6.7 was enough for me on that night
• Not sure when, but I will do a runDisney redemption trip someday

Topic that's been on my mind that I haven't seen much chatter on:

Is it "normal" for there to be no refund of any sort if a race is shortened or canceled? Started doing races this year, so lots of things are new to me. Just seems odd to not get what you pay for, kinda.

Not knocking down Mickey's door for my money, but this has been a thought in the back of my mind since Saturday. And not to be melodramatic, but it does make me a little nervous to sign up for events -- especially destination races -- going forward.

Like I said, still a newbie, so it's one more learning experience.

 

[wilkeliza]

Is it "normal" for there to be no refund of any sort if a race is shortened or canceled? Started doing races this year, so lots of things are new to me. Just seems odd to not get what you pay for, kinda.

.

Pretty standard. Almost all runing organizations have a waiver that says the course may be shortened or cancelled at anytime and there will be no refunds.

After the 2012 NYC Marathon it took them almost 2 months to announce there would be a restitution program. You could either take a refund and lose your chance at the NYC marathon or you could take a guarenteed spot over the next 3 years. The kicker on the guarenteed spot was you had to pay the new fee! So basically they got your money double.

Just want to add people complain about runDisney's choice which was truely last minute due to nature but NYRR had a week before the run to announce it's cancellation due to Sandy and they waited until 2 days before and had even previously announced it was going on even though the storm devestated part of the course. People were pissed that they flew their families to NYC amd paid insane hotel prices to come for something that could have bee cancelled before they arrived and saved serious dough.

 

[flatlandcycle]

One scary thing I noticed during the race was in the dark backstage area in Studios... I think near the car thing? The backstage area before we came back into the lights. A girl totally faceplanted... it was very scary. She seemed quite injured, I'm not sure if she hit her face because she didn't have time to put her arms out or if she hurt her arms. I saw someone in the after party with their elbow wrapped up in a huge ice wrap... I wondered if that was her, because my mom broke her elbow in exactly the same way (faceplanted after tripping on a water sprinkler).

Going from the disco tunnel into a relatively unlit area is a pretty dangerous setup. I found that I was keeping one eye shut in an attempt to preserve night vision. There were two areas where I felt blinded, once at the police car strobe on World Drive before the ramp to Buena Vista Drive and there in the disco tunnel. Quite a bit of the lighting should have been pointed at the ground, not into the eyes of the runners.

 

[sperkins921]

Sounds like a very accurate description of me up until the maybe black bottoms and white top. I am shorter (about 5'4"), have brown hair that was in a ponytail, and was not wearing a costume. I was in Corral G - so if your pace was faster than mine you could have been about where I was.

Still might have been you, based on the timing, if you started more at the end of G because I was at the front of H. I didn't slow down my crazy aggressive pace until we had crossed backstage into EPCOT. I'm not 100% sure on the clothes as I only made that split second of eye contact, but I remember for sure no costume and her overall build because of close we all were packed in in that one spot.

 

[Pleglech]

For DVC members, it is not always that simple. We are blocked from booking outside our resort until 7 months out from the date of check in. At 7 months out during F&W? Forget about getting a room at a host resort. And considering what I pay in dues every year? I'm not blowing the money on a room simply for a bus. However, that said? I rented a car. So I was never a drain on the system one way or another.

I booked the Poly at seven months. There definitely were rooms at SSR available at that point.

Is it "normal" for there to be no refund of any sort if a race is shortened or canceled? Started doing races this year, so lots of things are new to me. Just seems odd to not get what you pay for, kinda.

It's completely normal. You won't be getting a cent back. The best you might hope for is priority registration for next year, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that.

Regarding the busing situation: Something happened around 7:30. The guy in charge of the buses at the Poly said it was due to traffic, which may have been due to road closures because Biden was in the park that day. In any case, the race buses AND park buses stopped arriving for a while right around then, which supports the idea that this wasn't an issue specific to RunDisney ... rather, the right hand may not have known what the left hand was doing in respect to the VP's visit.

 

[MaMa3Princess]

I booked the Poly at seven months. There definitely were rooms at SSR available at that point.


It's completely normal. You won't be getting a cent back. The best you might hope for is priority registration for next year, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that.

Regarding the busing situation: Something happened around 7:30. The guy in charge of the buses at the Poly said it was due to traffic, which may have been due to road closures because Biden was in the park that day. In any case, the race buses AND park buses stopped arriving for a while right around then, which supports the idea that this wasn't an issue specific to RunDisney ... rather, the right hand may not have known what the left hand was doing in respect to the VP's visit.

Exactly, us who did not stay at host resorts were told to go to AllStar Sport and catch a bus. My DH was trying to
Drop me off at Epcot but a volunteer around 7:45 told us to divert to AllStar or either Pop. I caught a bus at Pop. There was not a long wait. So I didn't want to take anyone's host transportation but Disney told us too.
It is so easy to assume people are cheating the system when sometimes they are not. This is not to the person I quoted. Just FYI to ones thinking that people just started taking Disney Trsnsportation. I know in my group there were taxi and uber people being dropped off along with myself

 

[sperkins921]

I booked the Poly at seven months. There definitely were rooms at SSR available at that point.

That's great! Like said, I wasn't interested in either resort. I wanted a 1BR and the Poly is studio only. SSR would have left me wasting about 75 points. I chose what worked with me.

 

[pigletliz]

Is it "normal" for there to be no refund of any sort if a race is shortened or canceled? Started doing races this year, so lots of things are new to me. Just seems odd to not get what you pay for, kinda.

Weather

Disney had the weather addressed on their website. Basically every runner agreed to this when they purchased a bib, so technically people were forewarned. Weather policies are definitely not uncommon.

From the website FAQ:

"Will the race be cancelled or postponed due to weather? All runDisney races will be held rain or shine, except in the case of lightning. For the Walt Disney World® Lightning Policy, please see the "Safety" information on the Runners Information page of the event you are interested in."

Safety Policy: Weather:

"The race will be held rain or shine. If there is lightning in the area, the race will either have a delayed start or, depending on the intensity of the weather, be cancelled. The determination will be made by the Event Management staff.

As a reminder, the registration fees are non-refundable."


The Walt Disney World® Resort Lightning Policy

"Event operations will shut down when lightning is 10 miles out from the event areas. Event operations will not resume until the lightning is 10 miles out moving away from the event areas. The Sports Manager will determine this using the Flash to Bang Rule* and weather radar. The Sports Manager will consult with Walt Disney World® Resort Management on a course of action to utilize the operational rain plan, delay the event, or cancel the event.

*Flash to Bang Rule* is applied by measuring the time (in seconds) between a visual lightning "Flash" and hearing the resulting "Bang". This time is then divided by a factor of "5" to obtain distance in miles. For example, 50 seconds between "Flash" and "Bang" divided by "5" equals 10 miles"

 

[sperkins921]

Exactly, us who did not stay at host resorts were told to go to AllStar Sport and catch a bus. My DH was trying to
Drop me off at Epcot but a volunteer around 7:45 told us to divert to AllStar or either Pop. I caught a bus at Pop. There was not a long wait. So I didn't want to take anyone's host transportation but Disney told us too.
It is so easy to assume people are cheating the system when sometimes they are not. This is not to the person I quoted. Just FYI to ones thinking that people just started taking Disney Trsnsportation. I know in my group there were taxi and uber people being dropped off along with myself

This.
Esp given there were nearly 15k people who registered for this race; the idea that all 15k were going to fit completely within only the host resorts is I think impossible. I don't think there are that many rooms (assuming double occupancy gives us 7k) in all the host resorts together. I'd have to do the research, but I think overflow was definitely going to happen. And honestly? It's not like someone stayed at the Days Inn offsite and then parked on site. At least we were on Disney property.

 

[Ariel484]

Is it "normal" for there to be no refund of any sort if a race is shortened or canceled? Started doing races this year, so lots of things are new to me. Just seems odd to not get what you pay for, kinda.

As others have said, yes. It's part of what you agreed to when you signed the waiver you turned in when you were picking up your race bib - the RD can shorten or cancel the course and there will no refunds.

I belong to a runDisney Facebook group and the administrator was corresponding with Jeff Galloway over email (I think they do e-coaching?) and Galloway himself said that "in over 1000 races he has run, this [Wine & Dine] was the first time he has ever experienced a race shortened before the start of the race." So I totally get what you're saying about being nervous to sign up for another destination race, but at the same time, this seems to have been a super-rare thing that happened, and the first that I have heard of it happening during a Disney race.

 

[ExportedMolson]

It has been suggested in various threads about doing just this same thing. More so about those staying at the Swan and Dolphin and using the Epcot resorts. I think scanning the bands is a great idea.

I stayed at the Swan and had planned on using the Resort transport, but then had a change of heart. I inquired with runDisney at the Expo if I was wearing my bib, but not the yellow wrist band (I hate to run with anything other than my watch) if I could walk through EPCOT to get to the buses. Their answer, why not just go to the BW or YC.

 

[Miranda]

This.
Esp given there were nearly 15k people who registered for this race; the idea that all 15k were going to fit completely within only the host resorts is I think impossible. I don't think there are that many rooms (assuming double occupancy gives us 7k) in all the host resorts together. I'd have to do the research, but I think overflow was definitely going to happen. And honestly? It's not like someone stayed at the Days Inn offsite and then parked on site. At least we were on Disney property.

I think there probably were some people who were staying off site and ended up on the resort buses simply because of a situation like @MaMa3Princess described. People from offsite were supposed to park at Epcot and bus from there, but I saw an alert on either Twitter or FB while we were stuck in the traffic going to WWoS that the Epcot parking lot was full and people should divert to MK and the timestamp on it was 8 hours earlier (so that would have been like noon ). I think it was just a general alert for the parks, not specifically the race, but people arriving for the race from offsite may have been diverted to All-Stars or Pop due to that. And I guess maybe that could have been what caused some overflow at the Poly, too, if people had gotten the alert to divert to MK.

 

[JDisRunner]

The dates are up for the Wine and Dine 2016 and unless it's an error the $15 gift cards are not included now.

I hope they still give them, that was a free country experience! Two if you count my wifes too! I think we used ours in Hawaii and Greece!

 

[JDisRunner]

Going from the disco tunnel into a relatively unlit area is a pretty dangerous setup. I found that I was keeping one eye shut in an attempt to preserve night vision. There were two areas where I felt blinded, once at the police car strobe on World Drive before the ramp to Buena Vista Drive and there in the disco tunnel. Quite a bit of the lighting should have been pointed at the ground, not into the eyes of the runners.

Yea - the police strobes were killing me as well! On the disco tunnel - so many people hopped up on the raised sections (where the cables / electrical were) just to get around some people .... i was a nervous wreck watching them thinking they were going to cause an even bigger accident getting off the road

 

[opusone]

Is it "normal" for there to be no refund of any sort if a race is shortened or canceled? Started doing races this year, so lots of things are new to me. Just seems odd to not get what you pay for, kinda.

To be fair, by the day of the race, rD is already out all the money to put on the race (course setup, security, cast members salaries, food, drink, medals, shirts, etc). They don't get refunds as well.

And not to be melodramatic, but it does make me a little nervous to sign up for events -- especially destination races -- going forward.

So I totally get what you're saying about being nervous to sign up for another destination race, but at the same time, this seems to have been a super-rare thing that happened, and the first that I have heard of it happening during a Disney race.

I have been a runner/triathlete since about 1988, and I have never been to a race were the course was shortened at the last minute (and I think only one race I can remember was cancelled a few days prior), so what @Ariel484 said is correct, this is an extremely rare occurrence. Yes, it is always a risk, especially on a destination race, but in my opinion a risk definitely worth taking, and over time, a risk that may only happen once or twice. Plus, if you schedule more than just the race during your visit, not all is lost... you can still have a great vacation.

 

[MaMa3Princess]

It was not unique to Disney. The wild weather affected the Rock n roll Savannah marathon. From my understanding people were mid
Or near the end found out the course was shortened. So Wine and Dine was not the only racr effected by weather change.