Dopey Shenanigans! A Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend TR (Completed-videos added)

Yeah, the expo was really a cluster and the bad weather around noon didn’t help them get organized any better to open. We got there about 40 minutes prior to opening. After standing in line for Dopey bibs for about 10 minutes they announced they were starting a separate merch line and lemme tell- that split second decision to jump into that line made all the difference for us!

Glad you were still able to find some things you liked! Let the racing begin!
 
Yeah, the expo was really a cluster and the bad weather around noon didn’t help them get organized any better to open. We got there about 40 minutes prior to opening. After standing in line for Dopey bibs for about 10 minutes they announced they were starting a separate merch line and lemme tell- that split second decision to jump into that line made all the difference for us!

Glad you were still able to find some things you liked! Let the racing begin!
Glad you had a better expo experience. I wish I would’ve gotten there earlier but it is what it is. The racing was definitely more fun!
 
Wow. I show up one day late and I'm 5 pages behind. This is craziness...

Yay Annual Pass! That's one exciting piece of plastic!

That view from your hotel is awesome! So much theme park!
(Also ... I really love the Space Mountain canvas in the room ... I think I have to stay at BLT so that I can steal that and take it home with me)

Holy cow there are a lot of people in those expo pictures. That's insane. I've never seen it like that before (especially not once the expo's been open for a few hours) ... that's out of control. Even for an anniversary year.

At least you had some MK time afterwards to make up for the awful expo!
 
Ugh, that expo! I thought maybe since it was our first Dopey and thus the first time we'd gone to the expo on Wednesday that it was normal, but talking with others in the bib pickup line, it became clear that this one was just really poor.

I couldn't believe that merchandise line and no way I was getting in that thing, so kudos to you for sticking it out. I'm sorry you weren't able to get more of the items that you were hoping for.
 


Wow. I show up one day late and I'm 5 pages behind. This is craziness...

Yay Annual Pass! That's one exciting piece of plastic!

That view from your hotel is awesome! So much theme park!
(Also ... I really love the Space Mountain canvas in the room ... I think I have to stay at BLT so that I can steal that and take it home with me)

Holy cow there are a lot of people in those expo pictures. That's insane. I've never seen it like that before (especially not once the expo's been open for a few hours) ... that's out of control. Even for an anniversary year.

At least you had some MK time afterwards to make up for the awful expo!
Gotta stay on top of things Sarah! Lol welcome to the craziness!

I would totally buy that canvas if they sold it.

Yeah the expo was not fun. People everywhere...

MK time made up for it!
 
Ugh, that expo! I thought maybe since it was our first Dopey and thus the first time we'd gone to the expo on Wednesday that it was normal, but talking with others in the bib pickup line, it became clear that this one was just really poor.

I couldn't believe that merchandise line and no way I was getting in that thing, so kudos to you for sticking it out. I'm sorry you weren't able to get more of the items that you were hoping for.
Yes this one was definitely poor and I was really surprised by that.

I didn't get everything I wanted but thats okay. I saved some money for a Spring Break trip that I may or may not have booked today...
 
Sadly I can see some personal shoppers and eBay sellers buying a 5K bib just to get into the merchandise area, but it would still help.
 


Yes so much quicker to walk than take the monorail.

Great reporting.

So happy you enjoyed BLT-we have a founding tile. Was going to mention the outside "C" rooms are quite a bit larger for the LR sleeping etc as they widen, but I think the inside rooms gain more storage etc but then narrow down. Never stayed inside rooms yet.

And yes that walk to MK is why we don't really care about the monorail (if it's time is up) anymore, as we split stays with BLT and BWV/BCV for EPCOT/DHS.

Fitbit's have gotten us into walking more than ever so we aim for 20,000 steps a day anyway at WDW.

Congrats on the Marathons, and the AP as well-makes going in just for a couple FP and HEA an easy decision (and future extra trips of course).
 
Great reporting.

So happy you enjoyed BLT-we have a founding tile. Was going to mention the outside "C" rooms are quite a bit larger for the LR sleeping etc as they widen, but I think the inside rooms gain more storage etc but then narrow down. Never stayed inside rooms yet.

And yes that walk to MK is why we don't really care about the monorail (if it's time is up) anymore, as we split stays with BLT and BWV/BCV for EPCOT/DHS.

Fitbit's have gotten us into walking more than ever so we aim for 20,000 steps a day anyway at WDW.

Congrats on the Marathons, and the AP as well-makes going in just for a couple FP and HEA an easy decision (and future extra trips of course).
Thanks for joining in!

The location of BLT is fantastic and the room was great.
 
Everyone is so fast with their Dopey trip reports. I've barely gotten the laundry done from ours. I also agree the expo was a mess and the merch line was beyond nuts. Pretty soon it will be like D23 expo where you have to camp out the night before for any shot at the good stuff.
 
This was my first expo, but I found it all exhausting as well. I got in line for merchandise around 12:45 and thankfully it took less than 1 hour to get in. It looked to me like the line got worse after I got in line and out of the expo. The line to check out was also crazy. I had no energy left to visit the other building after that. I wish I would have picked up my pre-ordered merch first so I knew what I was getting. I missed out on the half and full medal pins, and now have 2 sets of Goofy Challenge pins. I had no idea what I was pre-ordering!
 
Yeah, I'll echo what others have said, the whole expo experience was disappointing. I never actually made it in to the rD merchandise area until Friday night, prior to that the lines just weren't worth it to me. At that point I was only able to get a 26.2 magnet (when I really wanted Dopey) and a Dopey pin.
 
All of my opinions on the expo have already been shared by others... so let me just congratulate you on surviving the craziness!
 
Everyone is so fast with their Dopey trip reports. I've barely gotten the laundry done from ours. I also agree the expo was a mess and the merch line was beyond nuts. Pretty soon it will be like D23 expo where you have to camp out the night before for any shot at the good stuff.

Well I decided to be quick with this report since I have another trip coming up in March...

If it comes down to camping out that will be the end for me.

This was my first expo, but I found it all exhausting as well. I got in line for merchandise around 12:45 and thankfully it took less than 1 hour to get in. It looked to me like the line got worse after I got in line and out of the expo. The line to check out was also crazy. I had no energy left to visit the other building after that. I wish I would have picked up my pre-ordered merch first so I knew what I was getting. I missed out on the half and full medal pins, and now have 2 sets of Goofy Challenge pins. I had no idea what I was pre-ordering!

Yeah I wanted to go to the other building too but after waiting in that I was done.

Yeah, I'll echo what others have said, the whole expo experience was disappointing. I never actually made it in to the rD merchandise area until Friday night, prior to that the lines just weren't worth it to me. At that point I was only able to get a 26.2 magnet (when I really wanted Dopey) and a Dopey pin.

There were abut five Dopey magnets left when I got mine. They really need to work on that.

All of my opinions on the expo have already been shared by others... so let me just congratulate you on surviving the craziness!

Thanks!
 
I do have a random question that has nothing to do with your expo experience, but you're basically a rD expert... do you know how quickly the coffee mugs sold out?
 
I do have a random question that has nothing to do with your expo experience, but you're basically a rD expert... do you know how quickly the coffee mugs sold out?
It seemed the coffee mugs did not go very quickly and were well stocked. Typically the wine glasses are more popular than coffee mugs.
 
Yikes! That expo experience does sound pretty rough. Hopefully all the concerns from runners were heard and they make it better for upcoming races.

Sucks that you missed your first FP, but glad you were finally about to get into MK (after a nice walk!) and meet up with your friends to enjoy some time.
 
Yikes! That expo experience does sound pretty rough. Hopefully all the concerns from runners were heard and they make it better for upcoming races.

Sucks that you missed your first FP, but glad you were finally about to get into MK (after a nice walk!) and meet up with your friends to enjoy some time.
The funny thing is the changes this year were supposed to help and make the expo better but it was probably worse.

The FP didn't worry my too much. It wouldn't be the only time I missed a FP either. This trip for me wasn't so much about rides as it was running.
 

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