Official 2018 Star Wars Dark Side Weekend

This is very true and they offer a lot of different characters also. Last year I got a photo with Rey over by the boardwalk and an Imperial TIE Fighter pilot near Epcot among others. Keep in mind though that the 501st characters probably will not have a photographer with them so make sure to bring your own camera. It's also possible that 501st characters will not be the same as the characters Disney has at the staging area before the start who then move to the finish line.

Thank you for letting me know that the characters at the start are also at the end of the race. I will definitely be bringing a camera or extra cellphone with me.
 


I keep hearing horror stories from other race weekends about the expo and other things.... is wine and dine really that much smaller then marathon, princess and dark side?

FWIW 2016 got to expo around 2pm Friday maybe a 3-5 min wait to get into building with shirts/official merchandise/expo and maybe a 5 min check out wait.... first bus out of ASMo and at race start got through 1/4 character lines (Emile sans Remmy) post race did two others (Lumiere and Goofy/Donald)

Last year got to expo around 11am ish Thursday I don’t recall a wait to get physically into either building and maybe a 10-15 min check out wait first bus out of ASMo again did Chip/Dale and Donald pre race opted to not try for the other queues post as we met chef Mickey at the expo and figured we would just meet Goofy and Minnie in park later
 
I keep hearing horror stories from other race weekends about the expo and other things.... is wine and dine really that much smaller then marathon, princess and dark side?

FWIW 2016 got to expo around 2pm Friday maybe a 3-5 min wait to get into building with shirts/official merchandise/expo and maybe a 5 min check out wait.... first bus out of ASMo and at race start got through 1/4 character lines (Emile sans Remmy) post race did two others (Lumiere and Goofy/Donald)

Last year got to expo around 11am ish Thursday I don’t recall a wait to get physically into either building and maybe a 10-15 min check out wait first bus out of ASMo again did Chip/Dale and Donald pre race opted to not try for the other queues post as we met chef Mickey at the expo and figured we would just meet Goofy and Minnie in park later

In FL I've only done the Darkside and nothing has ever been a "horror". Always gone on Thursday and never right away but never any issues during other times of the day.
 
In FL I've only done the Darkside and nothing has ever been a "horror". Always gone on Thursday and never right away but never any issues during other times of the day.
Phew cause granted marathon and princess are anniversary years the thought of waiting an hour plus just to get inside is insane

I mean I get the pre race characters being closed off early cause aside from race weekend and hard tickets you don’t see them meet much
 


Nope... they have a lot already. Star Wars fireworks, launch bay, and first order March. They might do some special cupcakes or something but that’s about it.
There's also a show called A Galaxy Far, Far Away and they offer a Star Wars Guided Tour and Star Wars dessert party with reserved viewing for the Star Wars Galactic Spectacular fireworks show. Younglings under age 12 can sign up for the Jedi Training Academy and Launch Bay offers opportunities to meet Chewbacca, Kylo Ren, and BB-8. Star Tours is still there too. And like @rteetz mentioned, all of those things are available year round.

I will do the VR experience, but I visit Disneyland often enough that I may just wait and experience at Disneyland.
 
We land at MCO at 5 on Thursday. What are the chances we can get our rental, drive straight to expo to get the race packet, then make it to MK to active our APs and see the fireworks on time? Any help on making this as quick as possible is appreciated!
 
We land at MCO at 5 on Thursday. What are the chances we can get our rental, drive straight to expo to get the race packet, then make it to MK to active our APs and see the fireworks on time? Any help on making this as quick as possible is appreciated!

You're going to cut it pretty tight. Flight arrives at 5, but you probably won't get out of the airport til closer to 5:30 at the earliest. Expo closes at 8. And you're probably going to be dealing with rush hour traffic getting to the parks.
 
I remember problems with one of the past Dark Side races in the area of the pathway from Hollywood Studios to Epcot.

I was looking at race recaps but haven't found the details. IIRC it was the 10K.

Can anybody give a quick recap on the problem and the year? I think it was 2016 and given my inability to find more details, I'm guessing the problem was addressed...I just wanted to confirm. It looks like we might be doing the Dark Side this year!

Thanks!
 
I remember problems with one of the past Dark Side races in the area of the pathway from Hollywood Studios to Epcot.

I was looking at race recaps but haven't found the details. IIRC it was the 10K.

Can anybody give a quick recap on the problem and the year? I think it was 2016 and given my inability to find more details, I'm guessing the problem was addressed...I just wanted to confirm. It looks like we might be doing the Dark Side this year!

Thanks!
I know 2017 wine and dine 10k was the same as that years dark Side and the path from studios to boardwalk was a bottleneck of walking
 
I remember problems with one of the past Dark Side races in the area of the pathway from Hollywood Studios to Epcot.

I was looking at race recaps but haven't found the details. IIRC it was the 10K.

Can anybody give a quick recap on the problem and the year? I think it was 2016 and given my inability to find more details, I'm guessing the problem was addressed...I just wanted to confirm. It looks like we might be doing the Dark Side this year!

Thanks!

Based on our walk from Boardwalk to HS this Saturday - they very well may be changing the route as the construction for the Skyliner will create a lot of problems using the route at this time. It bottlenecks as the path isn't very wide but I could see it being way worse thanks to the Skyliner.
 
Found it...the 2016 10K started in Epcot and within a couple of miles, the runners hit the pathway going from Epcot to Hollywood Studios.

Last year, rD started the 10K at the Transportation Ctr and it looks like the reversed the direction of running on the pathway (to the same direction as the marathon course).

I guess it worked out better in 2017...I haven't seen any negative reviews yet.
 
Aside from very little park time, I like both the 2017 10K and Half courses. They did provide a lot of great entertainment when not in the parks.

Congratulations to anyone here who ran any of the Princess races this past weekend. The conclusion of Princess race weekend means only one thing.

Dark Side, We Are Up Next!
 
Aside from very little park time, I like both the 2017 10K and Half courses. They did provide a lot of great entertainment when not in the parks.

Congratulations to anyone here who ran any of the Princess races this past weekend. The conclusion of Princess race weekend means only one thing.

Dark Side, We Are Up Next!

I'm a little nervous about how the courses might change. When my husband and I walked along the Boardwalk to Hollywood Studio Path - it was heavily boarded and more narrow than normal. You also have to go into former bus lanes in order to get back on the path. It will create problems.
 

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