Official Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend 2020

[huskies90]

Refunds for us. Just way too high a price tag for the challenge. Although for those going anyway, how cool would it be to walk around the resort with your shirts and medals?

We have expired 2018 banked DVC points we had planned to use in March that have been extended thru Nov so assuming things are at least a little better by Nov, we are planning to still go. Of course, we all know that unfortunately, things could get worse by then so who knows.

 

[PrincessV]

rD is going to open registrations for the Virtual W&D: https://www.rundisney.com/events/disneyworld/wine-and-dine-half-marathon-weekend/

Has anyone who requested a refund gotten one yet? I know they said many weeks, so I'm not anxious, just curious.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Requested the refund when we got the email. No refund to my credit card yet. IIRC, Star Wars took a couple weeks as well.

 

[Spikester]

I'm going to try for the 10K and my sister will try for the 1/2.

 

[camaker]

rD is going to open registrations for the Virtual W&D: https://www.rundisney.com/events/disneyworld/wine-and-dine-half-marathon-weekend/

Has anyone who requested a refund gotten one yet? I know they said many weeks, so I'm not anxious, just curious.

No real surprise that they’re opening it up after they have a good idea how many registered runners are going to convert over. The bigger issue for me is still the pricing. Understandably, they’re keeping it at the live race registration cost minus the gift card refund. That still means a $79 5k and $118 half virtual race. I think we can probably kiss the days of $40 summer 5ks and $59 Star Wars Virtual Halfs goodbye. Yes, there’s a shirt included, but that costs RunDisney a fraction of the cost that they’ve doubled.

I also think there’s a very real possibility that if this sells well RunDisney could look at this and conclude that they are undervaluing their live race experience. Who wants to pay $1,000 (or more) for Dopey 2022?

 

[Capang]

I just went for the refund for my daughter and I. I'm so bummed.

 

[jeanigor]

I know I am probably in the minority, but I switched to virtual. I already budgeted the money and I would somehow feel incomplete if I had all the medals and then suddenly didn't have the 2020 set. I still plan on going that weekend so if they have been mailed out, I will wear the bling. If not, I'll imagine that I was.

 

[smctopia]

So now that the Wine and Dine races will be virtual, will you need to submit proof of time or will it be at your own pace like the other virtuals?

 

[rteetz]

So now that the Wine and Dine races will be virtual, will you need to submit proof of time or will it be at your own pace like the other virtuals?

No submitting needed.

 

[1lilspark]

So now that the Wine and Dine races will be virtual, will you need to submit proof of time or will it be at your own pace like the other virtuals?

No submission though I kind of wish that for the 10/half/challenge which is timed they did things like a race I run in Feb outlined they would do if things didn’t happen live
You could opt in to do it virtual submit a time and get medals/finishers towels
Or opt out and you would still be sent your participant shirt(s), tote and windbreaker if you were signed up for a challenge

 

[kirstie101]

I think I’m gonna try for the 10k. Love the medal and it’s my only chance to do anything W&D.

 

[ef22]

I just checked the Run Disney site and for the Wine & Dine virtual races it says "Registration Opening Soon". I know it's a lot of money for just a medal and shirt, but I love the medals!
I just saw that someone else has already posted this - sorry for the duplication. Is anyone thinking of registering just for the virtual?

 

[hotblooded]

I love the medals but I have so many sitting in boxes already. My only justification for signing up would be to subsidize run disney so that they still exist when the world is ready for races again.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Is the half marathon medal a spinner?

 

[rteetz]

Is the half marathon medal a spinner?

We don’t know for sure but it looks like it.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

We don’t know for sure but it looks like it.

Thanks - That medal looks very nice and I might be in for the virtual.

 

[smctopia]

I was on the fence about registering for the half due to the metal design but now I'm curious if it is a spinner and what the other side is. EDIT: On closer inspection, I don't think it is a spinner.

 

[Nina0126]

rD is going to open registrations for the Virtual W&D: https://www.rundisney.com/events/disneyworld/wine-and-dine-half-marathon-weekend/

This is crazy. Aside from the challenge, all three races are offering the exact same thing: 1 shirt + 1 medal. There is ZERO reason why they should not all be the same price. I love runDisney and am all for trying to support them, but that is absolutely ridiculous.

If they had done this with Star Wars in April, it would have been very, very, VERY hard for me to do, but I would have chosen the refund.

I think we can probably kiss the days of $40 summer 5ks and $59 Star Wars Virtual Halfs goodbye. Yes, there’s a shirt included, but that costs RunDisney a fraction of the cost that they’ve doubled.

Exactly this. I'm speaking more to new registrations here (vs conversions for a race you were going to do anyway), but the fact that people will willingly sign up for these at those crazy tiered prices is almost guaranteed to ruin all future runDisney virtual races for the rest of us. Because it will tell rD we are okay with spending that kind of money for entirely virtual experiences and they will have absolutely no incentive to change it.

Maybe its a bit naive, but I have always believed that the runDisney virtual experience was a way to bring a bit of the Disney magic to people who couldn't otherwise afford to do it in person. So to see them do this makes me sad on so many levels because you can't help but see the writing on the wall.

 

[TheHamm]

For those who have cancelled, has anyone requested a check as a refund? The option for a refund via check is clearly offered by the statement If a Guest no longer has their original form of payment used when registering, they may contact runDisney by August 5, 2020 to receive a refund via check or a Disney Gift Card .

I am rather irritated that I did email and request a refund not on the now disposed of gift card I used for registration but via check. The reply was basically "nope, gift card."

 

[Novatrix]

Because it will tell rD we are okay with spending that kind of money for entirely virtual experiences and they will have absolutely no incentive to change it.

To be fair, we don't know ultimately how many people will choose to sign up for these virtual races. It may be that Disney doesn't get enough registrations initially to help them recoup costs so they'll reduce prices in future. It may be massively popular and in future Disney will offer a virtual version of the race in addition to the in person races. How many people do you think have gotten injured during training/had a work trip suddenly come up/other changes in life circumstances who would've been thrilled to have been able to transfer to a virtual option and still get the shirt and medal based on their training efforts?

Ultimately, Disney is a company and holds these races for a purpose, which is mainly to bring customers to the parks during historically low times to make more money. They're going to do what's best for them. Personally, I would never spend that much for a virtual race, but if there is enough demand out there I don't begrudge the fact that other people will.