Disney Races? (Read 755 times)

Given that they've decided to utilize the same course as the regular Disney half held in January... expect an out-and-back course that will give you a nice tour of the monorail transportation center, Magic Kingdom (very fun), and Epcot (somewhat fun). Just be aware that only 4ish miles are actually in the parks... 8-9 miles of this race are on the highway, and these miles aren't terribly memorable. However, I would assume that the disney characters will make an appearance at random places (mostly in the two parks, but a few as you exit magic kingdom too) to root you on. This is fun, and most will have handlers that will take a picture of you with the character(s). Key point - you have to take your own camera for this. And, of course, stopping may or may not be disruptive to your race. It depends. The January races are all over the place regarding weather. Princess is more likely to be hot-n-humid, but who knows. Enjoy it. I like the full marathon in January much more because you also get to visit animal kingdom and whatever they call MGM these days. Not in the half. If they manage it like the January races, they will expect you to be at the start staging area looooooong before the races actually start. And then the walk from that area to the actual start is about a mile. So, be prepared to get up very early. And when you decide to head from the staging area to the start, be ready for a hike with a whole bunch of other sleepy folks.

How early should we plan to get there?

The website should tell you. As I've not done princess (heh), I dunno how bad the traffic will be. But they DO want you there early.

Wow, running through the Animal Kingdom should be fun. I did the half marathon 2 x-mas's ago. If you've never run a BIG race before you will be shocked at how many people they get. The sleep march to the start in total darkness is unique. If you have kids and will be hitting the park after definitely consider taking it easy. I ran it with a digital camera as do many other runners. Each of the characters would have a handler (or 3) with them and they'll take your picture. I have 2 dozen of the most memorable race pictures ever, including one of me high-fiving Pluto just a few feet short of the finish line! Where else would you stop to socialize rather than sprint (hobble?) through the tape?

Depending on how many days you'll have there, you may want to copy my approach. I find the best (only?) time that you can easily get around the parks is first thing in the morning, especially when they have the extra magic hour. By 11:00 the parks slow down from a sprint to a shuffle. So, right after my half when I found my wife & son we sprinted to the monorail and hit the Magic Kingdom. Walking around the park kept me nice and loose and we were able to do most of the rides that we wanted (Pirates, Haunted Mansion, small world, Mickey's Philharmagic, ++) then we stopped for Brunch at the Crystal Palace for a character buffet at 10:45 (or whenever the last seating is). I excused myself to the washroom where I finally washed up and changed clothes, before sitting down to a well earned meal. After that we went back to the hotel and napped the little guy &/or relaxed by the pool. Then we'd go out to a park at night again. Even without the marathon we basically repeated that routine this year to survive the parks. Can do all the best rides in one day if you're there at the right time.

Ooooh...I should add that there's a coast-to-coast challenge medal if you also do the half at Disneyland this September. It's a SWEET looking medal! http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/IYxV6ZJE-cKKVP17TaeYsw?select=2RGFXMdb2xyTzGxX0_w3qQ

go to Disney dot com website and look for their sports/endurance section. There is a Minnie's Mini but I'm not sure if that is for the ladies only. Next HM is in Jan 2010.