2019 Princess Half Marathon Weekend

[Princess_Nikki]

Is anyone just doing the 10K?

I had the most fun during the 10K!

 

[MarBee]

You have to take the bus to the race start. You cannot walk or take the boats from the Epcot Resorts. This is the course map. The park will not be open for spectators.

View attachment 334726

Thank you so much!

Where does everyone’s family’s wait? At the finish line? Just wondering where to tell the kids to go...?

 

[bumbershoot]

Is anyone just doing the 10K?

I had the most fun during the 10K!

If (a big if) I'm able to go in 2019, I think my cousin and I will limit ourselves to the 10K. Especially because this year I'll be newly single (but the sole owner of our DVC), I'll want to open up our normal "girls' weekend" to the rest of her family (but make sure they understand that THEY are in charge of the kids until AFTER our run), and doing one race makes it easier to do that.

Plus, it's enough of a run to make a seasoned runner or walker (or interval-er like me) feel accomplished, but not so long that a slower (but still seasoned) runner is feeling like death at the end if it's hot again. Perfect big&little distance. (actually 10 miles might be closer to perfect, but they'll never bring back TOT 10 miler...)

 

[acbshada]

I know a lot of this is course-dependent, but I have another newbie question for our veterans.

I'm traveling with my husband who mentioned he'd like to be a spectator during the race. I know that Disney sells ChEAR Squad Packages, but what other types of options do we have and what works best for most people? It seems that some folks are actually inside the Magic Kingdom. Are those just ChEAR Squard participators, or is that option available to anyone? I wasn't certain if that would require a ticket or not given the park isn't officially "open" yet.

Any info you can provide would be helpful to our plan. Thank you!

 

[Fire14]

I know a lot of this is course-dependent, but I have another newbie question for our veterans.

I'm traveling with my husband who mentioned he'd like to be a spectator during the race. I know that Disney sells ChEAR Squad Packages, but what other types of options do we have and what works best for most people? It seems that some folks are actually inside the Magic Kingdom. Are those just ChEAR Squard participators, or is that option available to anyone? I wasn't certain if that would require a ticket or not given the park isn't officially "open" yet.

Any info you can provide would be helpful to our plan. Thank you!

Anyone can get into mk to watch, Cheer squad pkgs get special roped off area. the TTC is also a good area.

 

[FFigawi]

I know a lot of this is course-dependent, but I have another newbie question for our veterans.

I'm traveling with my husband who mentioned he'd like to be a spectator during the race. I know that Disney sells ChEAR Squad Packages, but what other types of options do we have and what works best for most people? It seems that some folks are actually inside the Magic Kingdom. Are those just ChEAR Squard participators, or is that option available to anyone? I wasn't certain if that would require a ticket or not given the park isn't officially "open" yet.

Any info you can provide would be helpful to our plan. Thank you!

I think the best place for spectators to see you is at the TTC. Once you pass by, they can walk over to Poly/Grand Floridian and see you on your way back down Floridian Way.

 

[Bree]

I know a lot of this is course-dependent, but I have another newbie question for our veterans.

I'm traveling with my husband who mentioned he'd like to be a spectator during the race. I know that Disney sells ChEAR Squad Packages, but what other types of options do we have and what works best for most people? It seems that some folks are actually inside the Magic Kingdom. Are those just ChEAR Squard participators, or is that option available to anyone? I wasn't certain if that would require a ticket or not given the park isn't officially "open" yet.

Any info you can provide would be helpful to our plan. Thank you!

Which race? ChEar Squad is sold for half marathons and the marathon. You don’t need a ticket to spectate in MK. Here’s a link with info from Marathon weekend. The 5K, 10K & half courses are the same for Princess weekend so it’s relevant. https://www.disneylists.com/2016/01/disney_world_marathon_p6/

I think it’s a waste of money, but my DH likes ChEar Squad. He likes having an “assigned” spot to sit and wait.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

If (a big if) I'm able to go in 2019, I think my cousin and I will limit ourselves to the 10K. Especially because this year I'll be newly single (but the sole owner of our DVC), I'll want to open up our normal "girls' weekend" to the rest of her family (but make sure they understand that THEY are in charge of the kids until AFTER our run), and doing one race makes it easier to do that.

Plus, it's enough of a run to make a seasoned runner feel accomplished, but not so long that a slower (but still seasoned) runner is feeling like death at the end if it's hot again. Perfect little distance. (actually 10 miles might be closer to perfect, but they'll never bring back TOT 10 miler...)

Yes!! Perfect distance...the 5K feel way to quick & short to me for me to justify the cost. 10 miler would for sure be my preferred race, I regret never doing the TOT or the Everest races.

 

[*DisneyDreamer]

I think the best place for spectators to see you is at the TTC. Once you pass by, they can walk over to Poly/Grand Floridian and see you on your way back down Floridian Way.

This. This is exactly what my dad did for the half marathon during Marathon Weekend (which has the exact same course as Princess). He was originally going to go to Magic Kingdom, but we decided last minute that the TTC would probably be easier and less busy. After I passed him there, he was able to go to the Polynesian to get something to eat, and I sent him a few messages on my progress (I stopped for a couple character photos in MK). Once he knew I was getting close again, he went back outside and saw me as I went past the Polynesian. It was great for him and he enjoyed it!

 

[bumbershoot]

My cousin's husband, their oldest son, and the husband's brother in law spectated for my cousin's first half at this year's Princess. They met us with perfect timing as we got up to the security area before the pre-race area, stayed with us for awhile. As we headed towards the corrals, they went off towards the monorail area. Although I actually never saw them, I know they had a great spot at MK, I think they were at TTC, and even somewhere else. They did it all using the event guide info (and their knowledge of WDW...my cousin and her husband basically courted as teenagers at WDW). And they were there to see my cousin cross the finish line. I *know* they didn't research it online ahead of time.

 

[acbshada]

Which race? ChEar Squad is sold for half marathons and the marathon. You don’t need a ticket to spectate in MK. Here’s a link with info from Marathon weekend. The 5K, 10K & half courses are the same for Princess weekend so it’s relevant. https://www.disneylists.com/2016/01/disney_world_marathon_p6/

I should have specified Princess Half Marathon, but all of the info I received here is very helpful. I've been passing it along to my husband, and I'll let him decide what works best for him. Thank you, all!

 

[spacecanada]

Just poking around the runDisney website today and clicked on the Wine and Dine registration just for fun, to see if it linked to the new registration system -- and it did! It brought me to a new registration page run through my Disney account. It looks very quick and easy to complete, and it auto-filled my information for everything, though adding personal information for a second participant will take some extra time since it doesn't auto-fill from your Disney profile like it does for the primary account holder. I hope the system will be strong enough to support thousands of people registering simultaneously. The big test will be next week.

 

[Princess KP]

Someone on the FB rD group posted that 2019 would be the last year for Princess weekend. Any truth to it? If it is, I'm going to have to sign up!

 

[rteetz]

Someone on the FB rD group posted that 2019 would be the last year for Princess weekend. Any truth to it? If it is, I'm going to have to sign up!

Not sure why it would be. Princess still routinely sells out.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

Someone on the FB rD group posted that 2019 would be the last year for Princess weekend. Any truth to it? If it is, I'm going to have to sign up!

I feel like IF this is true, we would see more mods chiming in with rumors and more threads on the matter. Or a DIS podcast mentioning it. Princess weekend is wicked popular, and draws a huge turnout. I could see RD maybe modifying it, like they did by changing the challenge name from Glass Slipper Challenge to Fairytale Challenge.

However, The Tinkerbell Half Marathon in DL was discontinued like a thief in the night and I was super sad to have missed out on the race. But Tink weekend didn’t have the turnout Princess does.

I say run in 2019 if you can - anything can happen! I’ve learned when it comes to Disney, do anything as soon as you can. Lol.

 

[Keels]

The last WDW race that RunDisney canned was Expedition Everest and they made sure to get a good run out of saying it's going away.

If Princess or Marathon weekend goes away, that means RunDisney as a whole is going away.

 

[Bree]

Someone on the FB rD group posted that 2019 would be the last year for Princess weekend. Any truth to it? If it is, I'm going to have to sign up!

I wouldn’t think it’s the last year. It always sells out quickly. That rumor has been flying around that FB group all year.

 

[bumbershoot]

Someone on the FB rD group posted that 2019 would be the last year for Princess weekend. Any truth to it? If it is, I'm going to have to sign up!

An admin of a fan rundisney page was saying 2018 was the end. So...

 

[Princess KP]

This is what was posted. I checked rD’s Twitter account and could not find the same post. I guess people have nothing better to do than to make stuff up.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yep, that's the one the admin kept talking about. Same admin that does the "how many kills" things, counting how many (mainly female, of course) runners he passes when he starts from the back and calling them "kills".