Marathon Weekend 2022

[GreatLakes]

Not sure if this is a rhetorical question, but I'm a total geek and an IT professional, so I can't resist answering, in two ways:

1) It's really easy for a system to end up apparently losing registrations. There's a database that stores all the info in the system, and the fields which are storing the registration info are all very much intact. But for whatever reason, the pages designed to call up that registration and allow you to view/edit it aren't working properly. Maybe it's a web design issue. Maybe it's something wrong with the query which searches for the registration. But this happens all the time when we're developing and testing new systems. It's just that we're supposed to find these issues and fix them in the development/test systems before the systems are actually being used for their intended purpose.

2) It's completely ludicrous and unnecessary that Disney is (apparently) losing registrations. There's no reason for this to happen if they'd just follow good practices for software development and ongoing support. And my guess is they don't have adequate quality assurance practices.

I'll take a stab at this as well. I deal quite a bit the eDocuments, the department that manages ours reports through me, and based only on the anecdotal information I've gleaned here I think it has to do with signors.

When I got my digital documents I poked around a bit to see if I could tell from the page source if Disney rolled their own for this or leveraged one of the known eDocument providers. I couldn't tell but I'm also not a developer.

It appears that all, or a significant majority, of the issue are with people that didn't use their own account to sign up. That tells me that the eDocument solution is looking for a UUID that isn't compatible with one account registering multiple people. This could be a coding issues, using the wrong UUID, or simply trying to hammer a round peg into a square hole. Them losing already signed documents that were there originally but are now gone could be a downstream effect from this as the UUID becomes the Index that the imaged document uses. This is most likely the case if all, or most, of the disappearing documents are ones that had to be forced through due to the error above.

If Disney is using a commercial eDoc solution or a white label version of one they added development to keep in mind these are designed for legally binding transactions where you need to know reasonably believe the person signing the document is the person you are intending to sign the document. That is why sharing email addresses or letting person A set up person B becomes problematic.

My suggestion for everyone is to only register yourself and your minor children. If you and a spouse are running have each of you register using your own account. If 30 of you are trying to run together, and all 30 are adults, all 30 of you should be registering yourself.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Does anyone have an estimate on how much the tank top might cost? My friend will be at the expo tomorrow and I am contemplating giving her money to buy it in case it sells out.

At W&D, the generic RunDisney tank was stupid expensive, in my opinion. I think over $60.

 

[ZellyB]

My suggestion for everyone is to only register yourself and your minor children. If you and a spouse are running have each of you register using your own account. If 30 of you are trying to run together, and all 30 are adults, all 30 of you should be registering yourself.

I'd agree with that except for the sometimes very limited opportunity to get registered before races sell out and that they typically go on sale during many peoples' scheduled work hours. So, I was able to work from home and get my DH and his friend registered. No great solution honestly. I'd personally rather risk having to fix things at the Expo than risk not getting the race I wanted.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Disney's IT is absolutely terrible. It's ridiculous that a company of that size can't (or won't) do better. But it's been this way for as long as I've been going to Disney and rD events, so I don't think a change is coming anytime soon.

 

[GreatLakes]

I can't log into MDE, and I just saw somebody on Facebook say the same.

Have I mentioned I'm not a fan of Disney's IT department?? (now that question was definitely rhetorical)

I was just able to log into MDE directly and through the RunDisney redirect so either it is back or the outage is intermittent.

I'd agree with that except for the sometimes very limited opportunity to get registered before races sell out and that they typically go on sale during many peoples' scheduled work hours. So, I was able to work from home and get my DH and his friend registered. No great solution honestly. I'd personally rather risk having to fix things at the Expo than risk not getting the race I wanted.

If it is a spouse or someone you trust I'd give them my credentials and then change them after if you wanted to make sure they didn't have ongoing access. Since no one reuses passwords, right!!!, it shouldn't get them into anything else.

 

[lhermiston]

Disney's IT is absolutely terrible. It's ridiculous that a company of that size can't (or won't) do better. But it's been this way for as long as I've been going to Disney and rD events, so I don't think a change is coming anytime soon.

This has been my worst experience with both Disney and RunDisney. Not to be overly dramatic, but I was planning on a lengthy Disney hiatus before all of this and recent hassles have solidified those plans. Disney and runDisney are no longer worth the cost and inconvenience to me.

 

[sandam1]

So I finally got the booster and flu vaccine yesterday and I feel awful right now. I had insomnia all night and then woke up at like 11 am (slept 5 am - 11 am ish). I feel like a train ran me over. Ugh.
I was supposed to get the booster a few weeks ago but they cancelled my appointment last minute and this was the earliest I could get it. I just got some water with nuun and took Excedrin. I’m eating applesauce which is all I can stomach. We leave Thursday super early, and I really need to submit this dissertation chapter before then… hopefully I feel better ASAP!

Push water! Lots and lots and lots of water! Actually you should do that with any vaccine, but I know that it was emphasized to me with the COVID vaccine.

 

[ZellyB]

This has been my worst experience with both Disney and RunDisney. Not to be overly dramatic, but I was planning on a lengthy Disney hiatus before all of this and recent hassles have solidified those plans. Disney and runDisney are no longer worth the cost and inconvenience to me.

I understand. It's hard to keep the love these days. I just hope the trip ends up being a good one for you!

 

[Kitty-chan]

Them losing already signed documents that were there originally but are now gone could be a downstream effect from this as the UUID becomes the Index that the imaged document uses. This is most likely the case if all, or most, of the disappearing documents are ones that had to be forced through due to the error above.

IT geeks are IN THE HOUSE.

Yes -- sometimes systems genuinely lose records, in that the unique identifier for that record has somehow become unavailable or corrupted.

Also, I would be not at all surprised if Disney developed their own document system, and is now dealing with a tangle of legacy code that isn't well-enough documented. So they have to add on features without being able to fully predict the impact of these features on other existing functionality. Not that I have EVER EVER seen that in my professional life as an IT project manager.

I was just able to log into MDE directly and through the RunDisney redirect so either it is back or the outage is intermittent.

I just got back into the site too.

 

[camaker]

Disney not only (seemingly) lost my race registration and POT, but my entire account no longer exists on MDE.

Frantic email to travel agent has been sent.

Mess with Mary Poppins during DATW and you end up cancelled!

 

[lhermiston]

I understand. It's hard to keep the love these days. I just hope the trip ends up being a good one for you!

Thank you. I need to suck it up and remember how fortunate I am to even be able to do this. The hiatus is real, but I’m sure this will still be a good trip once race stuff is sorted out.

Mess with Mary Poppins during DATW and you end up cancelled!

My name is probably on a list somewhere.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Also, I would be not at all surprised if Disney developed their own document system, and is now dealing with a tangle of legacy code that isn't well-enough documented.

... or outsourced the development of said system. That never goes badly either.

 

[Kitty-chan]

... or outsourced the development of said system. That never goes badly either.

. . . or both.

And to be clear, my sympathies are very much with the IT staff who are no doubt having their lives turned upside down every time something breaks. The person scrambling to fix the problem isn't usually the person whose mistake caused it. Especially when the real problem is inadequate time/money for design, development, and testing, in which case the problem is far above their pay grade.

 

[camaker]

A heads up for anyone staying at CBR: they decided to “refurbish” the central island and bridges, so the only way to get to the rooms on the other side of the lake from the food court area is to either take an internal bus or walk the perimeter of the resort. Not ideal.

 

[jmasgat]

Don't laugh at me. I finally got my printer issue fixed, and printed all of the things, most important of which was my packing list. And then I unpacked everything I packed on Sunday.

And then I re-packed from the list. I was SURE I had missed something, and I was right. Nothing super crucial, but I was missing tank tops and non-running sock. We decided against doing the suitcase-inside-the-suitcase because it was just getting too stressful to try to get everything into the smaller suitcase and it wasn't worth saving the $30.

Now all I have to do today is make it through coaching a 90min basketball practice with 4th grade boys, and then we are off to Detroit to catch our flight early tomorrow!

I will send good vibes from 25 miles away from DTW that the morning flurries stay away til your flight has taken off!

 

[avondale]

And straight up denial received from RunDisney. No offer for refund to gift card. I got the too bad so sad form letter.

We hope there will be a way for you to participate in the event you are registered for but understand if this is not possible. As a reminder, race registrations are non-refundable and cannot be transferred to another individual or another weekend. Please accept our sincere apologies for any disappointment.

I had a feeling it was coming so I packed all my race gear this morning. I know I can easily get through the 5K and probably the 10K. I’ll make the call when to tap out for the 1/2 and full once I’m on the course.

ETA: Took 10 days to get a response.

Thanks for posting this. I only sent my email refund request a few days ago. I was expecting this response and had my fingers crossed. I even said that we rescheduled our trip for March - but obviously the marathon isn't happening then.

Honestly, I'm not sure why they don't give refunds in gift cards - after they make you jump through hoops so it's not easy. That way, they get the money no matter what and it would be good PR.

 

[juju]

Sorry if this has been posted. We had to cancel due to flight cancellations and Covid issues. We are 2 old people. Our registrations and waivers disappeared also and I emailed Run Disney before we decided to cancel. Last week however I sent another email to let them know I didn’t expect a refund but could we at least get our shirts. Never heard back but does that ever happen? Otherwise, what would they do they do with the ones that are never picked up?

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm about to share some super hot takes here so I'm glad I'm not gonna be at marathon weekend so nobody can throw things at me...

As someone who has worked in the tech department of a company that isn't a tech company (in my case, a brick-and-mortar fashion retailer that also has an ecommerce site), I can tell you that for companies whose primary product is not their technology, they sometimes invest less in tech than maybe they should. For better or for worse. But a company like Amazon, who started online and only moved into physical experiences later is going to have a much larger and more mature tech org than a company like Disney who started with physical experiences and built in the tech later.
Disney as a company is probably going to invest more heavily in things other than their website and app technology because they want to spend their money where they make the money.

I'm not saying there isn't a lot of room for improvement with Disney's technology, because certainly there is (and I actually have a theory that they're working on a major update to the website so hopefully if I'm right that will help), but I think a lot of people don't understand (and I certainly didn't before I started working in the industry) A) how fragile even the best tested tech is, and B) how little of a priority tech can be for large non-tech companies.

Anyway, I'm going to just leave this flaming hot take here and disappear for a while.

(But also, seriously, I hope everyone has a good weekend despite any tech difficulties!)

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Not sure if this is a rhetorical question, but I'm a total geek and an IT professional, so I can't resist answering, in two ways:

1) It's really easy for a system to end up apparently losing registrations. There's a database that stores all the info in the system, and the fields which are storing the registration info are all very much intact. But for whatever reason, the pages designed to call up that registration and allow you to view/edit it aren't working properly. Maybe it's a web design issue. Maybe it's something wrong with the query which searches for the registration. But this happens all the time when we're developing and testing new systems. It's just that we're supposed to find these issues and fix them in the development/test systems before the systems are actually being used for their intended purpose.

2) It's completely ludicrous and unnecessary that Disney is (apparently) losing registrations. There's no reason for this to happen if they'd just follow good practices for software development and ongoing support. And my guess is they don't have adequate quality assurance practices.

Two good answers there, especially response #2. They should have their [stuff] together by now.
This isn't rocket surgery.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Thanks for posting this. I only sent my email refund request a few days ago. I was expecting this response and had my fingers crossed. I even said that we rescheduled our trip for March - but obviously the marathon isn't happening then.

Honestly, I'm not sure why they don't give refunds in gift cards - after they make you jump through hoops so it's not easy. That way, they get the money no matter what and it would be good PR.

But as it is they already have your money anyway. The mouse is a very greedy mouse.