Official 2018 Star Wars Dark Side Weekend

[JBinORL]

Agree on the humidity. I lived in Memphis for six years before moving to Orlando last September, and yesterday morning I was in rough shape at the start and knew I couldn't hold my pace for long. The two character stops between miles 2 and 3 (ewoks and R2D2) saved me. After that, it was generally smooth sailing and finished in a respectable time for me. Also, no fireworks for corral B?

Another thing I learned: If you even want to SEE all available merchandise, don't show up on Saturday. The official merchandise shop was a ghost land. All I wanted was a pin (which I got), but damn.

 

[fatmanatee]

From the travel package booth, SWDS dates for next year are April 4-7 2019, apologies if this was already posted

Was going to ask about this. Are they still calling it the Dark Side weekend? I would think that if they don't do the Light Side weekend in DL next year, they should just call it the Star Wars half.

 

[jaxonp]

Was going to ask about this. Are they still calling it the Dark Side weekend? I would think that if they don't do the Light Side weekend in DL next year, they should just call it the Star Wars half.

I was thinking the same thing unless the true long term plan is to bring light side back to DLR

 

[furiated]

Was going to ask about this. Are they still calling it the Dark Side weekend? I would think that if they don't do the Light Side weekend in DL next year, they should just call it the Star Wars half.

I checked the photo I took of the calendar the travel package folks had, and it's still listed as Dark Side for 2019

 

[maw]

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We finished the challenge. I always have a tough time switching from Michigan winter running to Florida OMG it's humid here running. I'm so glad the rain didn't pan out the way it was looking. I hope the meet-up was fun!

We were on a bus to the expo on Friday with a driver who nearly ran into two cars. Was singing, yelling at traffic, and was also on her phone playing with apps on her phone (my husband saw her in one of the mirrors). That was our only bus story from this year.

Did anyone see the armadillo outside of AK?

Already planning next year's adventure, at least I think I am. I think I need to take a break from running for a little bit. Such a bummer to be home - the weekend went by in a flash.

 

[Keels]

So - did anyone taking busses from the Finish Area notice Disney Springs Hotels/Good Neighbor Hotel busses? Walking out to the parking lot (I drove, obvi), there were signs all over the place saying that Taxis and Good Neighbor Hotel shuttles were back under the Blue Balloon - I didn't see a Blue Balloon where I was, so I was curious if now the Good Neighbor hotels are offering race day transportation ... that's a game-changer for sure.

 

[jaxonp]

So - did anyone taking busses from the Finish Area notice Disney Springs Hotels/Good Neighbor Hotel busses? Walking out to the parking lot (I drove, obvi), there were signs all over the place saying that Taxis and Good Neighbor Hotel shuttles were back under the Blue Balloon - I didn't see a Blue Balloon where I was, so I was curious if now the Good Neighbor hotels are offering race day transportation ... that's a game-changer for sure.

Ohhh I wonder.

 

[Jsciv]

Was going to ask about this. Are they still calling it the Dark Side weekend? I would think that if they don't do the Light Side weekend in DL next year, they should just call it the Star Wars half.

The rumor I heard from two separate runners (one before the race and one after) is that they're going to move Light Side to WDW for now in order to continue offering the Kessel Run. Dunno how true that is, but that could be a reason they're keeping the Dark Side name...

 

[jaxonp]

The rumor I heard from two separate runners (one before the race and one after) is that they're going to move Light Side to WDW for now in order to continue offering the Kessel Run. Dunno how true that is, but that could be a reason they're keeping the Dark Side name...

They sure made an easy 80 bucks for every sucker that payed it, including myself, that did the virtual and Kessel medal challenge without having the expense of an extra weekend. Where the messed up was by not having merchandise for the Kessel.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The rumor I heard from two separate runners (one before the race and one after) is that they're going to move Light Side to WDW for now in order to continue offering the Kessel Run. Dunno how true that is, but that could be a reason they're keeping the Dark Side name...

I doubt they would do that as there really isn't another good weekend for them to do a race weekend. It also would get bad push back for people in California that wanted to maintain their legacy status. I expect that they will keep the virtual race until Disneyland hosts races again.

 

[quandrea]

My daughter is making noises about the Princess weekend. Here we go again.....

 

[jaxonp]

I doubt they would do that as there really isn't another good weekend for them to do a race weekend. It also would get bad push back for people in California that wanted to maintain their legacy status. I expect that they will keep the virtual race until Disneyland hosts races again.

Let’s hope not. That’s Disneyland’s best race!

 

[1lilspark]

My daughter is making noises about the Princess weekend. Here we go again.....

TBH I'd love to do Princess and I have a few co-workers considering it if only it wasn't the same weekend as the Gaspirialla Distance Classic in Tampa

 

[Dis_Yoda]

My daughter is making noises about the Princess weekend. Here we go again.....

Do both!

 

[BikeFan]

Congratulations to everyone running this past weekend. Despite the humidity, my daughter, my brother-in-law, and I all finished and had a great time. It was also great to meet so many of you at the meet-up on Saturday. Can't wait for Wine & Dine 2018!

 

[cel_disney]

From the travel package booth, SWDS dates for next year are April 4-7 2019, apologies if this was already posted

We saw this a few weeks ago and I used it as a justification for upgrading to annual
Passes! I’m sure that they had to move it to a weekend that is part of the Florida Resident/DVC annual pass and not blocked out...

We will see how the year plays out and whether we will be able to go!!

 

[PrincessV]

CONGRATS to all who ran the Dark Side this year, and I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

I had an epic string of weird Bad Things happen over the course of four days, and the races were the only things that went 100% right, which was odd but nice, lol!

Expo: I arrived around 3:30pm Thursday and it was a lovely experience - no crowds, no lines, ample time to stroll and take it all in and just enjoy being a Star Wars geek. Bib and Kessel pickup was a breeze, as was shirt pickup and the merch arena. Same experience arriving late afternoon for marathon weekend, so that's it for me: I'll plan to do that for all future races.

5K: Didn't register for it this year and was afraid I'd be super sad... nope! I enjoyed sleeping late and a relaxed morning.

10K: So. much. FUN!!! Ran with friends and took a million pics. Couldn't understand how we kept winding up behind the Balloon Ladies from mile 4 through the finish when we'd started near the front of C... until I looked at my split times: mile 4 was almost a 40-minute mile. Ooooooh. It never felt like we waited in lines very long, so I must have been having such a good time, the actual time seemed to pass quickly, lol!

Half-Marathon: So. much. FUN. Again!!! Went to bed around 7pm the night before, not knowing if the race might be canceled due to the thunderstorms in the forecast, but too tired to stay up and find out, so it was with joy that I checked the weather when my alarm went off at 2am and saw no storms for many hours. I found the weather to be near-perfection: I thrive in high humidity and the cloud cover kept the sun from roasting me. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, a nice drizzle fell while heading into AK... bliss! (Yes, I'm serious - though I know I'm in the minority!) SO many opportunities to interact and take pics with he 501st - that's what makes the DS races so special to me. ♥ I stopped for as many as I could and watched the Balloon Ladies go by while waiting in line for the final 501st lineup just before the turn to the finish. Started in wave 4 or 5 of F and felt like things spread out pretty easily, as it did last year. MUCH better than my experience at Princess. When a pace group converged upon me and they were doing different intervals than I, I just walked a little extra and let them pass by, then went back to my intervals. Overall, another fantastic race weekend and a great way to end my season!

 

[cel_disney]

How is everyone doing with respect to photos being loaded?

We have our 5k photos but my daughters kid race photos don’t seem to be loaded yet? Are others? If not - I won’t worry yet but if they are, I will try to link/email rundisney to look for some!

 

[kywyldcat03]

Was anyone able to get one of the men's Han Solo or Chewbacca costume shirts? I am looking everywhere online and no luck. Just wondering if there is somewhere we can find these online?

 

[Bree]

We saw this a few weeks ago and I used it as a justification for upgrading to annual
Passes! I’m sure that they had to move it to a weekend that is part of the Florida Resident/DVC annual pass and not blocked out...

We will see how the year plays out and whether we will be able to go!!

Easter Sunday is 4/21 next year. That’s probably why they changed the date.