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

[Kerry1957]

So I guess they’re going to use a virtual queue for the expo for W&D, through the app, and you have to add people to your shopping group. I’m not super excited for this. Hopefully the fact that they’re planning on using this means that they have PLENTY of merch, but I’m not holding my breath.

I’ll be very interested to see how this goes for all of you so we can get some tips for MW.

Thanks for the news!

Here's the link.. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/virtual-queue/#drawer-card-drawerRunDisney

First day, November 3 only. It will be interesting to see how this works. My flight gets in at 11:00 so I will try to join the virtual queue when I get to MCO since you have to be within 45 miles to join.

Edit to add... @fatmanatee was quicker than I was.

 

[1lilspark]

Driving in Thursday Thankfully we just make the cut off of being under 45 miles away…. Now to just hope that there are no accidents on I4 that morning as it can take anywhere from 45 mins to 2 hours to get to properly

 

[jpeterson]

Full details on the queue situation:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/virtual-queue/#drawer-card-drawerRunDisney

This bit of info is relevant for club runDisney members:
"Gold and Platinum Club runDisney Members do not need to join the virtual queue to access their early shopping windows during the first day of the Expo."

 

[Kerry1957]

I'm not sure what problem the new merchandise queue is designed to solve. I believe (but have no evidence) that the crazy lines on day one are from the ebay resellers. They not only add to the physical line, but scare/force many runners into arriving early to try to beat the resellers.

I would much prefer needing to show your bib to gain entrance to the merchandise area, and limiting the number of the same item you can buy to one or two. I understand the counter argument that some resellers will buy a bib and not use it, but the bib cost should deter many.

 

[The Expert]

Interesting! I guess they were tired of managing that huge line that started pre-dawn. I hope it works well for people.

 

[PrincessV]

The no standby queue at ALL on Day 1 thing is irritating. I don’t arrive early, I don’t buy much merch, and I’m sick of spending so much time on my phone at WDW. I’ve yet to wait in a line with my later in the day arrival. Obviously, I’m no loss to rD/WDW, but I’ll just skip the merch entirely if I ever need to do my expo-in on Day 1 if this is the new way of doing things. I’m not arriving until Sat. For W&D, though, so won’t be an issue this time.

 

[1lilspark]

I'm not sure what problem the new merchandise queue is designed to solve. I believe (but have no evidence) that the crazy lines on day one are from the ebay resellers. They not only add to the physical line, but scare/force many runners into arriving early to try to beat the resellers.

I would much prefer needing to show your bib to gain entrance to the merchandise area, and limiting the number of the same item you can buy to one or two. I understand the counter argument that some resellers will buy a bib and not use it, but the bib cost should deter many.

The limits definitely would help… I think limit is 10 which is ridiculous and practically hands resellers an invitation

Interesting! I guess they were tired of managing that huge line that started pre-dawn. I hope it works well for people.

I know with springtime surprise people were gloating about ubering over after yoga

 

[The Expert]

The no standby queue at ALL on Day 1 thing is irritating. I don’t arrive early, I don’t buy much merch, and I’m sick of spending so much time on my phone at WDW. I’ve yet to wait in a line with my later in the day arrival. Obviously, I’m no loss to rD/WDW, but I’ll just skip the merch entirely if I ever need to do my expo-in on Day 1 if this is the new way of doing things. I’m not arriving until Sat. For W&D, though, so won’t be an issue this time.

I can see this, but I'm also willing to bet that there will be virtual queue spots still available -- and possibly with a very short wait -- by that time of day.

 

[PrincessV]

I can see this, but I'm also willing to bet that there will be virtual queue spots still available -- and possibly with a very short wait -- by that time of day.

I would hope so, but you never know with Disney. I just think it’s stupid to have to jump through hoops for something that’s never been an issue before. If they want to do it to manage the early crowds, I get it, but there has never, in all my years of running at WDW, been a problem with merch lines at 3pm!

 

[1lilspark]

Now what would of been real nice is if they didn’t announce the VQ on every single blog site thus informing the resellers to still snag the earlier slots and just inform runners

 

[Herding_Cats]

I'm just irritated that I can't make a plan for that day now (during MW) because I have no idea what sort of time slot we might get. That means no ADR for lunch at Sanaa, which I was planning, unless I can snag one in the morning after we get in the queue.

I could also mean people milling around the expo for longer waiting for their timeslot.

This is really making me wish they had pre-orders available because we've started collecting race/weekend pins.

 

[ErinC]

As someone who is not a club member, and who got to the Springtime Surprise Expo at 7:30 a.m. last spring, I kind of like the virtual que. I would have gotten up early and been one of the ones sitting around waiting. My husband will not go, he'll come get his bib, but he does not want to shop. We'll see how it goes. I'll be at Fort Wilderness, so we will have a vehicle to drive over to the expo as well. All I really care about is the shoe ornament. Other than that, I get to the expo and buy all kinds of things that I'll probably regret later. I think if you arrive later, the que should go quickly. I think they are just trying to limit the number of humans in line. I wish they would limit the merchandise to people with bibs only. At least the first day anyway.

Did anyone else get an email from RunDisney with corrections to their letter that came with their Epcot party card? I wasn't home to compare with the original letter. What was the discrepancy?

 

[Herding_Cats]

REQUEST!

Can someone do screenshots of the queue pages/screens that morning? IDK if anyone with an internet connection can try, so maybe someone who doesn't "do" the merch building or someone who is club rundisney could do it since they won't be trying to get through as fast as possible? I've done a lot of things at Disney, but I haven't had to navigate a virtual queue at this point.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Interesting change with the virtual queue. I hope its not a complete disaster. Our flight lands around 1 pm on Thursday and we were planning to head to expo after checking into French Quarter. I wonder what the virtual queue will be like that time of day.

 

[The Expert]

REQUEST!

Can someone do screenshots of the queue pages/screens that morning? IDK if anyone with an internet connection can try, so maybe someone who doesn't "do" the merch building or someone who is club rundisney could do it since they won't be trying to get through as fast as possible? I've done a lot of things at Disney, but I haven't had to navigate a virtual queue at this point.

I will try to remember to do this! I have early access, so I won't be in a rush to grab a spot.

 

[PrincessOfAllDisneys]

Since they make reference to "if spots remain in the virtual queue" it will be interesting to see if spots run out.

When they had dooneys I used to line up early to get mine and was usually in the first 5 people in the line. I will say most of the people around me weren't even running the races they were just local folks buying stuff to resell.

After standing in line last year for Princess and Springtime Surprise only to find lots of stuff picked over with people sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by huge piles of merch it was a little disenchanting. I agree that I would love to see the first round go to those with bibs even if it is limited to 2 each.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Now what would of been real nice is if they didn’t announce the VQ on every single blog site thus informing the resellers to still snag the earlier slots and just inform runners

Ugh, I agree.

It'd be interesting if they take their list of registered runners and compare it to list of virtual queue members. Wonder what % of virtual queue parties have no runners.

 

[The Expert]

Ugh, I agree.

It'd be interesting if they take their list of registered runners and compare it to list of virtual queue members. Wonder what % of virtual queue parties have no runners.

This is an interesting thought. On the surface, Disney doesn't seem to care who buys the merch as it's selling out either way. But there is definitely a customer experience issue they are trying to solve for with this queue. By using VQ, they are able to manage the line, but they are also able to see WHO is in line. With that data, this could possibly be step one to improving the runner experience with expo merch. I certainly hope so!

 

[Kerry1957]

This is an interesting thought. On the surface, Disney doesn't seem to care who buys the merch as it's selling out either way. But there is definitely a customer experience issue they are trying to solve for with this queue. By using VQ, they are able to manage the line, but they are also able to see WHO is in line. With that data, this could possibly be step one to improving the runner experience with expo merch. I certainly hope so!

I would love for you to be correct; we can only hope rD thinks like you do!

 

[andremo]

My experience is that as long as you're placed in the appropriate corral, the character lines are nearly nonexistent at those paces. The first couple may have lines of a dozen or so but it quickly drops off to 0-3. I usually set myself a rule that if it's less than 5, I'll stop and I always end up with way more character stops than I intended. You can certainly still go the selfie route, but it won't take noticably longer to have someone take a proper photo.

Thank you for the great info.

You can always add memory maker AFTER the races, right?