Registration Tips and Tricks

Want to Wine & Dine? It’s Registration Time!

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If you want to run in this year’s Wine & Dine races, grab your lucky registration shirt because the menu has been set!

General registration is this coming Tuesday, March 21 at 10:00 a.m. ET

This year’s themes all focus around dining, and I think they really nailed it!

5K – The Mad Tea Party

This Alice in Wonderland theme set off a bit of a frenzy at my house!

November 3, 2023 at 5 a.m.

$108

10K – Be Our Guest

This Beauty and the Beast theme feels slightly redundant since Belle was featured at Princess weekend, but hey I can get some more milage (pun intended) out of my Belle costume.

November 4, 2023 at 5 a.m.

$151

Half Marathon – Encanto

“Isabella, your boyfriend’s here! Time for dinner!” Who can forget the incredibly awkward dinner scene from Encanto? We’ll have 13.1 miles of Encanto-themed fun that is guaranteed to have us talking about Bruno all day.

November 5, 2023 at 5 a.m.

$235

Two-Course Challenge – Figment

I’m not going to lie, the Challenge might sell out faster than the virtual queue for Cosmic Rewind. Everyone will be clamoring for the medal featuring Epcot’s own “Figment and his topsy turvy kitchen”

November 4-5, 2023 at 5 a.m.

$389

Afterparty

Don’t forget that Wine & Dine weekend features the afterparty on Sunday night. The afterparty is a private event at Epcot that hypothetically offers short wait times for attractions and rare character meet and greets. Half marathon and challenge participants get free tickets to the afterparty, and you can purchase tickets for friends and family during registration for $105 each. Last year, the party sold out and tickets were hard to come by.

Virtual Races

Virtual races will be offered as well, registration for these starts on March 24. Prices are slightly less expensive. But please don’t ask me why the longer distances are more expensive than the shorter ones. It’s not like runDisney needs to close roads and find volunteers!

  • 5K – $85
  • 10K – $106
  • Half Marathon – $126
  • Two Course Challenge – $270

I’m not planning on missing a minute of the weekend events! Drop a comment and let me know which ones you’re excited for. If you need help with registration, you can prep by reading this post. Good luck!

Disneyland Half Weekend Registration Udpate

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There hasn’t been a runDisney race at Disneyland in California in 5 years. That feels like a very long time. West Coast runDisney enthusiasts have been forced to go the extra (2,000) miles to get to races in Florida. That’s all about to change! As of this writing we are less than 2 days away from general registration, and since it’s been a minute, it’s worth reviewing the process.

I’m lucky enough to be in Club runDisney, so I registered myself for Dumbo Double Dare this week, but to attempt to get my family into the 5K, I’ll be joining the Thunderdome/Hunger Games event with the rest of you on Tuesday.

So let’s go over the basics:

  • Registration starts at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, February 14, 2023
  • Plan on being on the runDisney site, logged into your account about 15 min early (it’s import to be on sometime before the clock strikes the hour)
  • Navigate to the events page
  • Sometime before 7 PT/ 10 ET the “Registration Opening Soon” link will change to “Register”
  • Click “Register” as soon as you see it
  • This places you in the virtual waiting room. DO NOT hit refresh
  • The waiting room is like a lottery. At exactly 10 a.m. you’ll pe placed on the queue page based on the results of the lottery
  • ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY DO NOT REFRESH
  • As much as runDisney hates it, it’s beneficial to do this on multiple devices. They tell you not to, I’m sure because of the server load, but every device is essentially another free lottery ticket, so you do the math

Registration FAQs

Can I register more than one person?

Sure, but you can only use one form of payment. Try to keep your wits about you and be careful about who you’re registering for what. The process can feel a bit panicky… breathe deep and focus.

Can I register for more than one event?

Yes, but see above note about keeping your cool. Basically you’re building a shopping cart for one checkout – and you need to do it all at once. If you try to get through the queue more than once, you will most likely leave empty handed.

Are there dicounts for Passholders or DVC members?

Nope. Everyone pays full price. Womp, womp.

What other info do I need?

T-shirt size, emergency contact info. These can be changed later, worst case you swap your shirt at the expo. Don’t let these questions slow you down.

Can I pre-order merchandise?

Yes, but see above note about keeping your cool. Merchandise orders can be added later. Don’t spend time trying to decide which pins you want and miss out on your race.

But… Just in case you want to see what they’re offering and for how much, I did grab some screenshots when I registered. No merchandise pics yet. I imagine they’re still working on it. Sorry these aren’t edited into a pretty collage, but you get what you pay for 🙂

Pre-order merchandise offerings

With that, I’m going to turn my attention to Princess packing. And may the odds be ever in your favor.

2024 Disneyland Race Details are Unveiled!

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Grab your bobby socks and horn-rimmed glasses, the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend is rolling the vibes back to opening day!

It’s been years since runDisney hosted a race at Disneland Resort in Anaheim, California, and no one knew when or if ever they would be back. Rejoice, because at last we know! In some news that seems too good to be true … it’s all back, including the Kids Races! Read on to find out about events, registration and themes!

EventEvent Time / LocationRegistration TimeThemePrice – In personPrice – Virtual
ExpoJan 11-13 / TBDn/an/an/an/a
Kids RacesJan 13 / TBDFeb 14, 10 am ET/7 am PTChip and Dale$35n/a
YogaJan 11 / TBDFeb 14, 10 am ET/7 am PTGoofy$109n/a
5KJan 12 / TBDClub runDisney Gold and Platinum:
Feb 7, 10 am ET/7 am PT
General Registration:
Feb 14, 10 am ET/7 am PT		Pluto$109$85
10KJan 13Club runDisney Gold and Platinum:
Feb 7, 10 am ET/7 am PT
General Registration:
Feb 14, 10 am ET/7 am PT		Donald & Daisy$149$106
Half MarathonJan 14Club runDisney Gold and Platinum:
Feb 7, 10 am ET/7 am PT
General Registration:
Feb 14, 10 am ET/7 am PT		Mickey & Minnie$235$126
Dumbo Double DareJan 13-14Club runDisney Gold and Platinum:
Feb 7, 10 am ET/7 am PT
General Registration:
Feb 14, 10 am ET/7 am PT		Dumbo$389$270

There will be lots more to say about this, because registration will be starting for Club runDisney members next week. Mark your calendars, fire up the laptop, desktop, phone, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

It’s Back! Coast to Coast Challenge Returns in 2024!

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I know I am not the only one who is excited to finally have the opportunity to not only run a race at Disneyland, California, but to get the coveted Coast to Coast medal! These were discontinued several years ago when Disneyland races were put on pause. I’m really hoping to add “all the medals” to my wall, and this is a giant leap forward!.

So what is Coast to Coast?

Simply put, Coast to Coast is a medal runDisney runners earn if they run a long race (10 mi+) at both Disneyland and Disney World in the same calendar year.

Runners do NOT have to register for the challenge; it’s automatic. (What’s that… no separate fee? Like really? Disney passed on a money-grab opportunity? Huzzah!)

So besides money, why is this tricky?

There are two factors (other than OMG I’m running races two weeks in a row?????) that look really important to consider right now:

  • Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend (Florida) and Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend (California) races are back-to-back in January, 2024. Yup Florida is January 3-7 and California is January 11-14. If you want to do both, you’d better be able to have 2 weeks in the bank or be willing to accept a really chaotic remote work schedule.
  • Registration for the Disneyland races is soon… SOON! Club runDisney members start their registration on Feb 7; general registration is on Feb 14. No time for general registration has been announced yet. I’m presuming it won’t be 10 a.m. ET just since they should be catering to the Pacific Time audience, but that is only my opinion. I’ll post more when I know it.
    • Keep in mind that it has been years since there has been a Disneyland race. If you thought Dopey 2023 registration was bad… you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. I predict instant bloodbath.

So what else do I need to know?

  • There will be two different versions of the C2C medal offered. One for those who complete a race during Marathon Weekend first, and one for those who complete a race at Disneyland first. Do we know the difference? No. Did runDisney make it clear that the medal for those who complete the Marathon Weekend first (thus doing back-to-back weekends) is special to 2024 ? Yes. Is that the money grab? To get marathoners to sign up for Disneyland one week later? Maybe.
  • You can only get one C2C medal per year. If you run Marathon Weekend then Disneyland, there’s your medal. No double-dipping if you head back to Florida for Princess.
  • Virtual races will not qualify. This makes perfect sense to me. The point of the medal is to go to California and then go to Florida. If you do it all on your treadmill, where’s the challenge in that?

So which races qualify?

  • Per the runDisney site, challenge or 10 mile races will qualify you in 2024. You must have a Florida and a California race/challenge:
    • Walt Disney World Half Marathon (FL)
    • Walt Disney World Marathon (FL)
    • Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge (FL)
    • Dopey Challenge (FL)
    • Disneyland Half Marathon (CA)
    • Dumbo Double Dare Challenge (CA)
    • Princess Half Marathon (FL)
    • Fairy Tale Challenge (FL)
    • Springtime Surprise 10-Miler (FL)
    • Springtime Surprise Challenge (FL)
    • Wine and Dine Half Marathon (FL)
    • Two-Course Challenge (FL)

I personally am beyond exited. Can I pay for this? No clue. I’ll have to make some choices and beg my boss for a lot of time off. But I am ready to charge forward.

Is it bad that I am simultameously thinking “Castle to Chateau????”

The week that was: 2023-2024 Dates announced and the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 2023 is in the books!

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Wow! So much happened last week it’s hard to know where to start. Of course the biggest news was the 2023 Marathon Weekend was a smash success, but that story deserves its own post, so we’ll get to that later. Somewhere between my late-night flight and my rush to get early access to the Expo, the dates for the 2023-2024 season were announced!

Of course, the biggest news is the return of Disneyland races. I am particularly excited about this (along with most of the west coast, I am sure) since I’ve not had the opportunity to race there yet. About the time in my life when I thought I had the resources to travel cross-country to run a race was exactly the time runDisney discontinued them. I’d given up on the idea, and the thought of the coveted “Coast to Coast” medal was just a wistful regret.

To be clear there will be only one Disneyland race weekend next year (there used to be more), and it’s the weekend immediately following Walt Disney World Marathon weekend. I’m pretty sure I’ll be passing on Marathon weekend / Dopey to finally get the Disneyland Half under my belt, but I want to be perfectly clear that registration for these races will be brutal, cutthroat, and possibly just not nice. They will sell out in seconds. You’ve been warned.

The other Disneyland race point I want to highlight is that the Florida race registrations are the usual 9-months ahead of time. The Disneyland registrations are scheduled earlier. The races are in January, 2024 but registration is just a few weeks away in February, 2023. This is an 11-month lead time. If participating in this reboot is important to you, you need to get these dates on your calendar now.

In keeping with recent schedules, registration for most races starts about 9 months before race day. Club runDisney members get access one week ahead of general registration. Those who want to run virtually get access about 3 days after general registration. As a reminder, registration starts at 10:00 a.m. ET, and it’s a very very good idea to be online at least 15 minutes early, on as many devices as you own / have access to.

So here is the official breakdown:

So mark your calendars, friends! These dates are important.

Check back soon for the full recap on Marathon Weekend!

Save the Dates! 2023-2024 Walt Disney World race weekends have been announced

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While we’re all eagerly awaiting the return of Disneyland races, we can start planning for Florida Races for next season.

  • November 2-5, 2023 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend
  • January 3-7, 2024 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend
  • February 22-25, 2024 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend
  • April 18-21, runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend

Demand is down for Springtime Surprise races

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Only the 5K is sold out as of 3pm on Registration Day

Maybe it’s because runners are traumatized from Marathon Weekend registration, maybe it’s because people are broke after registering for Marathon Weekend and Princess Half Marathon weekends, maybe it’s because airfares are (pun intended) sky-high during the school vacation week, or maybe it’s because some annual passes are in a blackout period, but the Springtime Surprise weekend was not an instant sell-out.

As of 3pm on on registration day (August 23, 2022) only the 5K is sold out. The rest of the races are still available and up for grabs – including the 3-race Surprise Challenge! That’s great news for anyone who is on the fence or likes to sleep late. No doubt the races will eventually sell out, but it looks like everyone gets a chance at the fun this time!

Events and themes are as follows:

  • runDisney Springtime Surprise Yoga – (Thursday, April 13 at 5 am) this time it will be held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
  • Disney Pixar Cars 5K (Friday, April 14 at 5 am) start at EPCOT
  • Disney Pixar Monsters 10K (Saturday, April 15 at 5 am) start at EPCOT
  • Disney Pixar Toy Story 10-miler (Sunday, April 16 5 am) start at EPCOT

Of course there is a challenge option!

  • runDisney Springtime Surprise Challenge all 3 races! The theme is Finding Nemo and you’ll get all 3 medals plus the special Finding Nemo challenge medal for 19.3 combined miles!

Having not fully recovered from the Marathon Weekend registration fiasco myself, I hopped into the registration queue this morning, as so many Disney runners do, on multiple devices. The first device to get into registration was my phone, so I breezed through the form (or so I thought). I missed the T-shirt size field on the form (like I always do) and had to scroll back. Then I got distracted / tripped up by the merchandise that is available at registration for the first time in a while:

I might have scrolled through the form a few times while trying to make up my mind…. but anyway I got my registration in with a sigh of relief, and only a bit of adrenaline in my veins. Then I got the confirmation screen and realized, somehow, that I had registered my daughter instead of myself. (Insert shriek of terror here.)

I’ve heard of varying degrees of success attempting to contact support for runDisney. I guess I’ll be finding out about the process first hand now. There’s a contact form on the runDisney site. I tried filling it out about 4 times on my phone and 3 times on my computer, and got an error message every time. Most annoying is that you can’t copy and paste anything into the form. After typing my sob story to the support team 7 times, I gave up.

There is support phone number listed on the runDisney site. I called, sat on hold for a few minutes and then got a message saying that there were no agents available, and to please leave a message. So – we’ll see how this goes. I’ll update this post with the results as soon as I hear something.

Update: August 25 – After a short game of phone tag with the runDisney technical support team, everything is resolved!

In the meantime, I have 3 new costumes to sort out!

FOMO Disney – It’s a Real Thing

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Anyone who has attempted to register for a runDisney race in recent memory knows that registration is a more competitive sport than the races themselves. You can count on the races filling up in under an hour (or much quicker) like you can count on death and taxes. We have seen races re-open periodically, and then fill up once again within minutes. Word of race openings tends to circulate pretty fast on Facebook, and there is a Twitter account that announces when races open up (@runDisRegStatus or https://mobile.twitter.com/rundisregstatus)

Usually when this happens there are a bunch of people that finally got the race they’ve been stalking, and a bunch of people that still didn’t get it. Either way there’s a mini shock wave of energy that spreads through the runDisney universe. As a participant in these runDisney social groups it’s so hard not to get caught up in the madness.

There’s something about being able to get your hands on a product or experience that’s hard to get, whether you need it or not that’s pretty addictive, and Disney sure knows how to generate the buzz and demand.

Case in point: I’m running all of the Wine and Dine and Marathon Weekend races this year. I made the conscious decision not to do all of the Princess weekend races. I’m *only* running the 10K that weekend. I don’t live local to Disney, and planning 4 (or more!) Disney trips for race weekends is really a budget buster. I’ve gotten pretty adept at managing airline credit card offers, low cost airlines, and travel club promotions. It’s a game to be won – but if I slip up I know I’ll spend my weekends delivering for Grub Hub instead of training. There are stakes involved (hopefully not steaks).

Airfares to sunny spots, particularly Orlando, can double or triple in the winter when schools are on vacation. Some days of the week are better to fly than others. Always try to fly (and also buy your plane ticket) on a Tuesday or Wednesday. But since that’s not always possible with work and school schedules, sometimes you just need to be smarter in your planning process. The one time of week I always avoid flying is on a Sunday – usually the most expensive day of the week to take to the air. A February Sunday flight out of Orlando might set you back as much as a flight to Europe, so plan wisely!

So… back to my story, I already decided not to run the Princess Half, which happens on a February Sunday. Assuming I needed to get home immediately after (which I would) might cause me to miss a mortgage payment. And yet… one day I see that the Fairy Tale Challenge (10K plus Half Marathon) is open. My irrational FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) takes over. The calculating planner in me gets body-slammed by the adrenaline junkie that sees the green “register” button available on the runDisney site.

Now in previous years, it seems that people were permitted to edit existing race registrations and upgrade to a Challenge if the Challenge was available. People who have done this reported that they had to email runDisney, maybe a few times, but minus a processing fee, they would be refunded for the original race and get the Challenge upgrade.

It seems they may have changed the rules because I didn’t have any edit/change race option available in my profile, and when I tried to register for the Fairy Tale Challenge, I got an error message and couldn’t proceed. I heard the “Womp-womp” buzzer in my head and the same time Gandalf scolded me, “You shall not pass!”

Thankfully, rational me took over again and took this as a sign from the running and financial gods that I needed to let this one go. It’s not just the race fee that I saved, it was significant extra travel expense, too. It was HARD, but I’ve made peace with it. I won’t call it a decision, because the runDisney website decided for me, but really, if I want to make it to Orlando for Springtime Surprise it’s for the best.

So what are our take-aways here?

  1. Fear Of Missing Out is real. It is expensive. You can overcome it.
  2. runDisney races DO re-open from time to time. Follow social media or the Twitter account to find out when races re-open.
  3. Make sure you have a plan in place for how to handle the race re-opening announcements. Don’t let the FOMO win.
  4. Don’t try to fly out of Orlando on a Sunday in February

runDisney Race Registration

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Do you know that feeling you get when you’re trying to score an individual Lightning Lane pass for Rise of the Resistance at 7 a.m., knowing they’ll be gone for the day by 7:02? (Only a very slight exaggeration there.) Well then you know what it feels like to register for Race Weekend events.

Registration generally opens about 9 months ahead of any Race Weekend, and some of the races will sell out in minutes. Do not hit the snooze button on your alarm this day. You will miss out. Generally the shorter races sell out first. If you’re looking for one of the longer races or a challenge, you might have a little more time, but I recommend clearing your calendar for an hour or so on registration morning, for finding someone who can do it for you if there’s no way you can do it yourself.

In most cases, registration becomes available at 10 a.m. ET on a Tuesday. You can find the link to the form from the event page on the runDisney site.

sample of race tiles before registration opens

About 10-15 minutes before 10 a.m. the tiles for each race will update (you will want to refresh your browser until you see the links change). As soon as the links change, click “Register Now”

sample of race tiles after registration opens

From then until 10 a.m. you’ll be placed into a waiting room, along with several thousand of your best running buddies. At 10 a.m. you’ll be assigned a position in the queue for registration. There will be an estimated wait timer to help you gauge how closely you need to pay attention. The site will play a chime when it’s your turn to register. If you don’t start your registration within a few minutes you will lose your place in line and have to start over.

There’s a few pieces of information you should make sure you have handy while you’re waiting. This is especially important if you’re registering another participant. You don’t want to get half way through the form and realize you don’t have an essential piece of information.

Make sure you have the following information ready:

  • runDisney login
  • personal details (Name, address, phone number, etc)
  • credit card number
  • emergency contact information (can be added later)
  • T-shirt size
  • They will also ask you if you are in the military, Disney Vacation Club or Passholder, or a cast member, and if you have run a Disney race before

As I mentioned before these races sell out fast! If you are registering for multiple races or are registering for more than one person, you will want to do it all on one form. If you submit a registration and need to do another, you will have to go back into the queue, and risk missing out if the race sells out in the meantime.

Another thing – even if a race is in your shopping cart, you are not registered until you get a confirmation email. Sometimes races can sell out even while an event is in your shopping cart. SPEED COUNTS.

How easy is the form? The last time I registered, I registered multiple people for different races in a flurry of adrenaline. I made some mistakes and I ended up overwriting the same registration 4 times. I was lucky I got all the races I wanted. Here are a couple of screenshots to help you avoid the pitfall that got me.

When you complete the registration for one person, you’ll see a button to select a registration for another person. After you click that button, the page refresh is very subtle. Make sure you scroll all the way up to the top of the page to select your new race for your second registration.

Select the race again for each subsequent registration
Make sure you remember to change the “I am registering” selector to “Someone else” if you are registering other people

What happens if your race sells out? Well, there are a few options requiring either patience, flexibility, or more money.

  1. You can wait and check back later. There may be cancellations an a spot could open up
  2. You can run for one of the race’s designated charities. Details can be found on the runDisney site.
  3. You can run the virtual race. Not the same, I know, but if you’re itching for that medal, the virtual medals are just as pretty!