So.. the dust from yesterday’s Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon registration is hopefully settling a bit. Congrats to those who got the races they wanted. If you were one of the many who were disappointed, I feel you, and I am so sorry. I’ve been there. If you’re up for fundraising, I’ll offer up some fundraising options the week after Princess. But today’s task at hand is… PRINCESS!
The maps have been released, so I’ll share them here, with my very brief commentary. In general I have one over-arching comment. Other than January’s impromptu “half of a half”, I don’t think I’ve ever seen less park time during a challenge that doesn’t include the 5K.
5K
This is pretty standard 5K stuff. What’s new lately is a diversion through the newly-reopened center of World Celebration and a photo op with the “Dreamer’s Point” statue of Walt. There’s also a quick jog past the queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. That’s just a tease of course. Getting a virtual queue for that is as hard as getting a registration for this race.
10K
I have to be honest here. I’ve done plenty of 10Ks at Disney World where we have hit two parks, but unless I have early onset alzheimer’s, I am pretty sure there was way more park time than this.
From the start line the first 3 miles are all highway until we get to the “Studios.” I put that in quotes because if you happen to sneeze while running down Sunset Boulevard, you might miss the whole thing. That’s it. “Rockin’ Roller Coaster on your right, Tower of Terror on your left, Photopass, Photopass, please exit, buh-bye!”
Then it’s the Narrows of Death to the Boardwalk, and not even a loop of the World Showcase (WTF??), a drive-by of United Kingdom and Canada, and a very fast exit out the usual way…
Sorry, just feeling a little empty here…
Half Marathon
So first of all, I apologize these images are so small. This is all that runDisney makes available. The huge posters will be on view at the expo. For now, you’re stuck with my memory, or alternatively, you can use Google maps, which could potentially be more accurate…
Anyway. We are launched from the start in the darkness into lots and lots and lots (6 miles) of highway running.
We have a euphoric 10-20 minutes in Magic Kingdom.
We return to highway running for 6 miles.
We do not run the World Showcase Lagoon.
We get some medals.
The end.
I’ll be honest, of all the runDinsey races I have run, this one has my head scratching the most. Disclaimer: I never ran Princess Half before, but I have run many runDisney races. I don’t have time to go and research all the past courses. Maybe this is normal. But I’m already feeling a little gypped looking at the courses. I’m not sure if that’s coming from being a veteran runner. I am trying to put myself in the sneakers of someone who has never done this before: that princess/prince is probably excited no matter what they see. I, on the other hand am mapping out every square inch of park time and calculating my value per registration dollar. Probably not the right approach for someone who loves this as much as I do.
*New* Tips
OK, I’ve been ranting about the courses. I apologize. I do have a couple of new tips to share. Hoping someone finds them useful:
- Driving in? Stay to the left as you enter Epcot. As left as you can. This gives you the best chance of parking in the lots on the left. Your feet will thank you after the race.
- Get there EARLY for great photos there will be Photopass ops with major characters before the race, but the lines will be impossible by 4:15 or so. if you want a really great photo, get there earlier than that and score.
- Want to be interviewed on the big screen? Do you have a great costume, story or just want to say hello to the whole runDisney community? Stay to the far right of the corral. I mean farrrrr right, and hug the barrier. No guarantees, of course, but if you’re on the other side, they’ll never see you.
OK, that’s all my pre-Princess wisdom. With a foot of snow surrounding me, I really can’t wait to get to Orlando next week. Please drop a comment if you’ll be there!
Disney Park Runner 