Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend 2022 (Nov. 3-6, 2022)

[jpeterson]

I’m excited because this is my first W&D weekend. I really enjoyed Princess and Springtime, but this one has an after party! I love after hours events because I’m a night owl.

I'm a morning person and I'm going to try to stay awake for the after party.

 

[1lilspark]

Going through all the motions… hoping my costumes fall into place in time… coming up with various touring plan scenarios like….okay maybe I WILL book park passes for Thursday and if merch lines are crazy at expo than my sister can bale and head to Epcot & I can take the bus to our hotel… and if my brother in law doesn’t get passes maybe we meet in the middle of Epcot/pop and skyline to cbr’s food court for dinner…and what if Fantasmic isn’t back AND Harmonious is replaced with Epcot Forever till the new show

 

[azrivest]

How's everyone feeling?

Excited, both for the races and for the after-race party. I'm just planning on running these races for fun so no stress at all.

 

[GollyGadget]

I'm all 3 as well. Excited, since this is my first wine and dine and my first half marathon. Nervous because while I have done the half distance many times before never after also running 5K and 10Ks the days before. Unsure if I made the right decision signing up for all 3...

Just take the 5k and 10k easy and the half will be no problem! You got this!

Very excited! Have decided to enjoy the challenge this time around. Last year I ran the 10k and it was my first runDisney event and first race actually. I was so worked up over it and I took it was too seriously. So this year bring on the character stops and Food & Wine for the week before!

We are racing the Richmond half the week after and that will be my A race. Disney is for FUN!

It will be so much better this year now that you know it isn't so scary. Plus maybe we'll have better weather

I’m excited because this is my first W&D weekend. I really enjoyed Princess and Springtime, but this one has an after party! I love after hours events because I’m a night owl.

I'm also super pumped for the after party! It's the primary reason I'm running the half!

I'm a morning person and I'm going to try to stay awake for the after party.

Same. Same. I'll try to take a nap but that race day adrenaline usually prevents any napping.

Going through all the motions… hoping my costumes fall into place in time… coming up with various touring plan scenarios like….okay maybe I WILL book park passes for Thursday and if merch lines are crazy at expo than my sister can bale and head to Epcot & I can take the bus to our hotel… and if my brother in law doesn’t get passes maybe we meet in the middle of Epcot/pop and skyline to cbr’s food court for dinner…and what if Fantasmic isn’t back AND Harmonious is replaced with Epcot Forever till the new show

Oh my word. That is a lot of what ifs. How do you ever sleep at night?

 

[Dopey 2020]

Always very excited for both Disney and the races but even more excited this trip as we’ll be renting a car to pick up DD for the weekend. It will be the first seeing her since dropping her at school in August, this trial run at being empty nesters is tough.

 

[GreatLakes]

Less than 6 weeks to go!!!
How's everyone feeling? Excited? Nervous? Unsure?

Excited. Just like Marathon weekend the plan was for this to be a family vacation and just like marathon weekend it looks like it might morph to a quick solo trip with the family vacation pushed to later in the year. For marathon weekend that mean to a busy Easter week and for this race it looks like the family trip will be over Christmas.

On a side note if that does happen I'll have 2 party tickets we bought that I'll need to offload if anyone wants one. I'll still use my free one but we bought the other two.

ETA: Still no new course on the USATF site. They are either a little later than last year or are reusing one of the non-expired courses.

 

[jenhelgren]

The wine and dine will be our very first mother/daughter Run Disney weekend to celebrate a milestone birthday and I am excited but we have just moved across the country and I have had no time to plan! We will be staying at Riviera Wednesday through Saturday and are other wise completely clueless. Is it possible to get on a ride or two in Epcot before things get crazy on Friday morning? This will be our first trip without FP so its going to be interesting. If anyone has any time to share any advice or coaching it would be much appreciated!!

 

[1lilspark]

The wine and dine will be our very first mother/daughter Run Disney weekend to celebrate a milestone birthday and I am excited but we have just moved across the country and I have had no time to plan! We will be staying at Riviera Wednesday through Saturday and are other wise completely clueless. Is it possible to get on a ride or two in Epcot before things get crazy on Friday morning? This will be our first trip without FP so its going to be interesting. If anyone has any time to share any advice or coaching it would be much appreciated!!

What distances are you planning to run & what are your other park days aside from Epcot on Friday

Personally my Friday plan is 5K, back to room to shower, head to Animal Kingdom, dinner reservations at 4pm in park, head back to resort for second shower than rest for 10k (just doing 5&10k)

 

[GollyGadget]

The wine and dine will be our very first mother/daughter Run Disney weekend to celebrate a milestone birthday and I am excited but we have just moved across the country and I have had no time to plan! We will be staying at Riviera Wednesday through Saturday and are other wise completely clueless. Is it possible to get on a ride or two in Epcot before things get crazy on Friday morning? This will be our first trip without FP so its going to be interesting. If anyone has any time to share any advice or coaching it would be much appreciated!!

What do mean before things get crazy? The park opens at 9am and with early entry you can get in at 8:30am which will give you time for a few rides before most other guests arrive for the day.

ETA: Still no new course on the USATF site. They are either a little later than last year or are reusing one of the non-expired courses.

I must admit that I've checked almost every single day since you mentioned it oh well. We're just a few weeks away from the event guide now

 

[Sara W]

The wine and dine will be our very first mother/daughter Run Disney weekend to celebrate a milestone birthday and I am excited but we have just moved across the country and I have had no time to plan! We will be staying at Riviera Wednesday through Saturday and are other wise completely clueless. Is it possible to get on a ride or two in Epcot before things get crazy on Friday morning? This will be our first trip without FP so its going to be interesting. If anyone has any time to share any advice or coaching it would be much appreciated!!

If you mean to ride something at the end of the race- the finish is outside of the park in the parking lot. You will not be able to get into the park after the finish until the park opens for early entry (and with a park ticket). For example, if you wanted to take the skyliner back to your hotel after the race and the park isn't open/you don't have a ticket, you wouldn't be able to do that. You'd have to take the bus back to Riviera.

 

[jenhelgren]

What distances are you planning to run & what are your other park days aside from Epcot on Friday

Personally my Friday plan is 5K, back to room to shower, head to Animal Kingdom, dinner reservations at 4pm in park, head back to resort for second shower than rest for 10k (just doing 5&10k)

We are only participating in the 5K on Friday and will be leaving on Saturday. The plan right now is MK on Wednesday, AK Thursday after ESPN and Epcot for Friday. We do have annual passes but are blocked out on weekends so Friday would be our last park day opportunity.

 

[jenhelgren]

Ju

What do mean before things get crazy? The park opens at 9am and with early entry you can get in at 8:30am which will give you time for a few rides before most other guests arrive for the day.

Just before lines get too long since it is a Friday and a race weekend, we were preparing for larger crowds than we are used to and we have not been on any of the newer rides at Epcot yet like GotG or Ratatouille. We are not professional runners by any means and have no expectations to finish near the front of the pack. What time would we expect to be done by? Just trying to figure out if we will have time to go back to Riviera by bus and be back for early morning hours or should just find a spot to rest and get in line to be one of the first let in for the day and then plan to rest midday and head back for evening. Is there a Joffreys cart or anywhere open to grab coffee and a snack after the race prior to park open time?

 

[1lilspark]

We are only participating in the 5K on Friday and will be leaving on Saturday. The plan right now is MK on Wednesday, AK Thursday after ESPN and Epcot for Friday. We do have annual passes but are blocked out on weekends so Friday would be our last park day opportunity.

Okay… my two cents would be run the 5K… if you are a slower runner try to see if a non running member of your party/someone at home can log into your mde account to get you a boarding group or ILL for GoTG if needed

Then depending on your needs either bus to Rivera shower than skyliner back to Epcot or pack a gear check bag with a change of cloths/shoes, deodorant…. And head toward the main gate and you should get in at or shortly after rope drop

Edit as I saw your other reply in 2019 I crossed the start 5:42 coral B (corals A-C) second or third wave ran the 5k in 75 mins (waited 20 mins for one character stop than baled as I still had ways to go than did two later stops) was taking selfies at hotel at 7:52

 

[GollyGadget]

Ju

Just before lines get too long since it is a Friday and a race weekend, we were preparing for larger crowds than we are used to and we have not been on any of the newer rides at Epcot yet like GotG or Ratatouille. We are not professional runners by any means and have no expectations to finish near the front of the pack. What time would we expect to be done by? Just trying to figure out if we will have time to go back to Riviera by bus and be back for early morning hours or should just find a spot to rest and get in line to be one of the first let in for the day and then plan to rest midday and head back for evening. Is there a Joffreys cart or anywhere open to grab coffee and a snack after the race prior to park open time?

Lines being too long is really subjective but I think you'll be fine if you arrive for the early entry.

Good advice from @1lilspark on GotG. It's possible you're done running by 7a, but if not it'll be easier if a non runner can grab the vq or ill.

With the 5am start, all runners should start by 6am. If you kept the minimum required pace of 16mm, you'd finish before 7am. Plenty of time to go back to the Riviera, shower, and take the skyliner to Epcot before 8:30. In January, I completed the HM just before 7a, took the bus back to CBR, showered, ate a snack, and still made it back to Epcot via skyliner in time for the 8:30 early entry. My photos indicate I was on the skyliner before 8 .

It's my understanding that the time limits are very generous with the 5k so you could finish later than 7. If you think that may be the case, check a gear bag with a change of clothes, shoes, and wet wipes. There will be food trucks at the finish area for you to grab a coffee and a snack in addition to the finishers snack box that you'll get when you cross the finish line.

 

[jenhelgren]

check a gear bag with a change of clothes, shoes, and wet wipes. There will be food trucks at the finish area for you to grab a coffee and a snack in addition to the finishers snack box that you'll get when you cross the finish line.

If anyone has time to explain how/where to check a gear bag or point me in the direction to research myself--that would be great!! This last minute planning is driving me crazy!!

Are the options plentiful at the food trucks? My daughter is a picky eater so I'm thinking that some breakfast or protein bars may be the way to go for us. Does the snack box change from race to race or is it fairly standard so we would know what to expect?

I apologize for overflowing the thread will all my questions and thank all that are helping! We are now unpacking in hurricane protocol and having quite a month so far!

 

[1lilspark]

If anyone has time to explain how/where to check a gear bag or point me in the direction to research myself--that would be great!! This last minute planning is driving me crazy!!

Are the options plentiful at the food trucks? My daughter is a picky eater so I'm thinking that some breakfast or protein bars may be the way to go for us. Does the snack box change from race to race or is it fairly standard so we would know what to expect?

I apologize for overflowing the thread will all my questions and thank all that are helping! We are now unpacking in hurricane protocol and having quite a month so far!

As it gets closer event guides will be released showing where gear check will be located…I’ve not personally checked items though plan to for April’s 10 miler

Idk about the food truck options but post race snacks normally consist of bananas + a box historically with chips or pretzels with flip top cheese, apple sauce, some form of dried fruit and/or nut, some cookie/cracker

Pre race food courts will usually offer runners boxes the night before with a bagel, peanut butter, cuties… again I’ve never done this but will normally bring bagels with individual cups of peanut butter or granola bars to consume in line for the bus

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

If anyone has time to explain how/where to check a gear bag or point me in the direction to research myself--that would be great!! This last minute planning is driving me crazy!!

I usually always do gear check. You have to use the clear bag they'll give you at the Expo. Lines are usually very short. It's quick and easy. They put a sticker with a number on the back of your bib and then a matching sticker on your bag. Or sometimes, they write your bib number on your bag.

I wouldn't call the food truck options plentiful.

 

[Naomeri]

If anyone has time to explain how/where to check a gear bag or point me in the direction to research myself--that would be great!! This last minute planning is driving me crazy!!

Are the options plentiful at the food trucks? My daughter is a picky eater so I'm thinking that some breakfast or protein bars may be the way to go for us. Does the snack box change from race to race or is it fairly standard so we would know what to expect?

I apologize for overflowing the thread will all my questions and thank all that are helping! We are now unpacking in hurricane protocol and having quite a month so far!

I’m a picky eater and I packed my own snacks in my gear bag—tortilla chips and an uncrustable sandwich, with a bottle of water (runDisney provides bottles of water at the finish, but Dasani makes me a little sick for some reason) and a bottle of soda.

Also in my gear bag is a change of shoes. The best feeling after being in your running shoes for hours on end is to take them off!

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Also in my gear bag is a change of shoes. The best feeling after being in your running shoes for hours on end is to take them off!

Totally agree! We also often check an extra shirt or hoodie if the weather might be chilly.

 

[escriven75]

How many of you get a cheap toss-away sweatshirt for the wait in the morning before a race and how many just tough it out and keep moving to keep warm? This is a shorter trip and we're trying to carry-on luggage only if possible.