Whats up with the Delays for Marathon Weekend??

This is just what they do when it comes to big changes...

Wine & Dine night to day/adding the 10K - they announced registration delay the day AP holders/DVC members were due to register early
Disneyland race cancellations - they let returning Light Side runners register and then it was just radio silence for months before finally confirming that the races were just gone
Wine & Dine this year - same thing that is holding up 2018 and 2019 registrations??

They put on great races, but they don't seem very organized in some areas. :confused3

"some" :lmao:
 
In the past it seems like some have not appreciated posts that were...critical of rD, so I was trying to be nice! :teeth: :angel:
That said I do think sometimes we can be a little hard on runDisney. They have done plenty of good things. That’s why we are all here after all. They definitely have issues though.
 
That said I do think sometimes we can be a little hard on runDisney. They have done plenty of good things. That’s why we are all here after all. They definitely have issues though.
Maybe, but it's impossible for me to not expect/want more from them when 1.) We're paying premium prices for registrations, and 2.) I know how things have changed from my first race with them in 2011. :confused3

In the end, though, I criticize because I love (same with WDW!). :teeth:
 


That said I do think sometimes we can be a little hard on runDisney. They have done plenty of good things. That’s why we are all here after all. They definitely have issues though.

Doing plenty of good things does not get them off the hook for fumbling registrations, holding onto people's money for months before cancelling a race, misspelling words on medals, just to name a few. As @Ariel484 said, we're paying more and more for a product which seems to lower in quality as time passes. They certainly deserve to be criticized and held accountable for that.
 
This makes me so nervous. RD is already terrible at communication... good luck everybody.
 


Doing plenty of good things does not get them off the hook for fumbling registrations, holding onto people's money for months before cancelling a race, misspelling words on medals, just to name a few. As @Ariel484 said, we're paying more and more for a product which seems to lower in quality as time passes. They certainly deserve to be criticized and held accountable for that.
Oh I know. I have many criticisms for runDisney and Disney as a whole but we wouldn’t keep doing the races if they weren’t decent events.
 
Aside from the registration issues, I've been mostly happy with RunDisney events. Things like first-day merchandise issues don't really affect me, but I recognize that could've been handled better in the past. I've certainly heard of or experienced worse races. When the Rock and Roll series first took over the DC marathon, several runner buddies told me about water stops being undermanned, and some had no volunteers at all - just water jugs and cups to fill your own! The Marine Corps Marathon still lets 30,000 runners "self-corral" themselves, which is an epic disaster when everyone thinks they're all sub-3 hour runners, apparently. I get that they want to be "The People's Marathon", but that start is a mess. It takes nearly half the race for the pack to thin out. I'd never run that race for time.

Maybe, but it's impossible for me to not expect/want more from them when 1.) We're paying premium prices for registrations, and 2.) I know how things have changed from my first race with them in 2011. :confused3

For what we pay for RD events, it's absolutely fair to expect things to run smoothly. I'm curious about what changes (better and worse) you've noticed between 2011 and now.
 
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This makes me so nervous. RD is already terrible at communication... good luck everybody.
I wouldn't be nervous at all. I'm sure it will spread like wild fires once registration dates are announced. I'm sure it will be posted here quickly as well, we're a pretty on the ball group I must say :) Races aren't getting cancelled, Remain calm & just run & wait....

What if? What if? What if? So many questions, curiouser & curiouser we are.....I'm just waiting for the wild speculations & informants of my bus driver said that....
 
For what we pay for RD events, it's absolutely fair to expect things to run smoothly. I'm curious about what changes (better and worse) you've noticed between 2011 and now.
- The biggest change has been how freaking crowded the races are now. My first race was Princess in 2011 and there were something like 12,000-14,000 runners. I just did Princess again in 2017 and I think that the field has almost doubled between then and now
- I also think the on-course entertainment has gone downhill a bit
- I don't like things like pushing the expo start time to later to allow people with early access to get in first - I just feel like that made things harder for everyone else (expo was more crowded around noon, sort of really eats into the day). I get that upcharge events are just what Disney does now, but this one leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I feel like it does negatively affect people who don't pay for it
- The unique races (Expedition Everest Challenge, ToT 10-miler, Wine & Dine at night) are gone
- Less swag in the race bags, but I think it's like that with every race now, not just runDisney
- And of course as @FFigawi said - the recent registration screw-ups/cancellations, misspellings, etc. It just makes them seem very disorganized, when I KNOW in some ways they aren't, because they successfully put on these huge events multiple times per year

The corral changes they have made, I think, have been up and down...I liked that the went to the "many smaller corrals" setup for the start (my first few races had 6 big corrals), and for awhile they were having people submit PoT up to a 3:15 half, which I thought was great. Now they have gone back to "fewer larger corrals with one giant corral at the end" and a 2:45 cut-off for PoT, so in some ways I feel like they took a step back. :confused3

To be fair, I do think they have made some great changes...
- 5K medals are metal now, that was a great one
- Their finisher medals and participant shirts are consistently pretty great, IMO
- Love that runDisney does the on-course photos now instead of MarathonFoto
- Women's cut shirts at races other than Princess/Tink!! Now they just need to get that for the 5Ks
- First Princess expo I went to was in ONE building at WWoS - bib pick-up AND the vendor booths. Spreading the expos out to 2 buildings was a very welcome change!

And the on-course support from volunteers, medical, etc. has always been great, and I have been lucky to have never had a problem with race day transportation.

That's all I've got off the top of my head. :confused3
 
- I also think the on-course entertainment has gone downhill a bit
- I don't like things like pushing the expo start time to later to allow people with early access to get in first - I just feel like that made things harder for everyone else (expo was more crowded around noon, sort of really eats into the day). UI get that upcharge events are just what Disney does now, but this one leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I feel like it does negatively affect people who don't pay for it
- The unique races (Expedition Everest Challenge, ToT 10-miler, Wine & Dine at night) are gone
- Less swag in the race bags, but I think it's like that with every race now, not just runDisney
- And of course as @FFigawi said - the recent registration screw-ups/cancellations, misspellings, etc. It just makes them seem very disorganized, when I KNOW in some ways they aren't, because they successfully put on these huge events multiple times per year
I agree with most of this. I started a bit later than you in 2015. I definitely don't like the expo start time thing. Race size has never been an issue for me.

I would have loved to have gotten the chance to do one of the unique races. I never experienced more swag in bags but it would be nice since many cheaper local races give you more.
 
Do we know if they've bought any race registration technology companies recently??

Also ... not related ... but ... I applied for a job at BAMTECH. But it seemed like they were in the process of transitioning over to the Disney Careers site, so my application may have gotten lost in the shuffle. That or I wasnt qualified. One of the two.
 
Do we know if they've bought any race registration technology companies recently??

Also ... not related ... but ... I applied for a job at BAMTECH. But it seemed like they were in the process of transitioning over to the Disney Careers site, so my application may have gotten lost in the shuffle. That or I wasnt qualified. One of the two.
Not that I have seen but I feel thats not a major news story for Disney.

That would have been cool had you got it. You could have been our streaming insider!
 
Ok, so I don't have to be an Active member to have an active account? I think they snuck that one by me as well. Can I cancel the membership without losing my account (and registrations?)
 
Ok, so I don't have to be an Active member to have an active account? I think they snuck that one by me as well. Can I cancel the membership without losing my account (and registrations?)
You do not need to be an Active Advantage member to still have an Active account. If you just recenly registered for something and missed that and they charged you, call them and explain and they should cancel it and not charge you for it. We did that on accident a couple years ago and got it canceled easily by phone. You won't loose your regular plain account.
 
I don’t know if I consider the move from February to April a delay. April was always the registration time before they moved it up for 2017.

True. And not having the email sent out to register early isn't a big huge change; it's just ending something that happened, what, ONE year?

Maybe, but it's impossible for me to not expect/want more from them when 1.) We're paying premium prices for registrations, and 2.) I know how things have changed from my first race with them in 2011.

SO true.

we wouldn’t keep doing the races if they weren’t decent events.

Meh. I do them because I seem to be addicted. But I'm just sooooo over the whole thing now. Maybe. Unless my cousin begs me to do Princess again AND I don't lose DVC in the freakin' divorce I've been surprised with AND if I have the money to do it. (at home wife/mom since 2003 here)

The Marine Corps Marathon still lets 30,000 runners "self-corral" themselves, which is an epic disaster when everyone things they're all sub-3 hour runners, apparently.

Whoa I did not know that.

- Their finisher medals and participant shirts are consistently pretty great, IMO

Shirts need to get consistent sizing. When I can put my 2016 SMALL princess shirt next to my 2017 MEDIUM and they are the exact same size, there's something wrong.

I never experienced more swag in bags but it would be nice since many cheaper local races give you more.

All I've seen change is that there was a mini Luna bar then a mini Clif bar now NO bar.

Ok, so I don't have to be an Active member to have an active account? I think they snuck that one by me as well. Can I cancel the membership without losing my account (and registrations?)

You won't lose account or registrations, but look at the benefits of the membership and think of your plans before cancelling.
 
- The biggest change has been how freaking crowded the races are now. My first race was Princess in 2011 and there were something like 12,000-14,000 runners. I just did Princess again in 2017 and I think that the field has almost doubled between then and now
- I also think the on-course entertainment has gone downhill a bit
- I don't like things like pushing the expo start time to later to allow people with early access to get in first - I just feel like that made things harder for everyone else (expo was more crowded around noon, sort of really eats into the day). I get that upcharge events are just what Disney does now, but this one leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I feel like it does negatively affect people who don't pay for it
- The unique races (Expedition Everest Challenge, ToT 10-miler, Wine & Dine at night) are gone
- Less swag in the race bags, but I think it's like that with every race now, not just runDisney
- And of course as @FFigawi said - the recent registration screw-ups/cancellations, misspellings, etc. It just makes them seem very disorganized, when I KNOW in some ways they aren't, because they successfully put on these huge events multiple times per year

The corral changes they have made, I think, have been up and down...I liked that the went to the "many smaller corrals" setup for the start (my first few races had 6 big corrals), and for awhile they were having people submit PoT up to a 3:15 half, which I thought was great. Now they have gone back to "fewer larger corrals with one giant corral at the end" and a 2:45 cut-off for PoT, so in some ways I feel like they took a step back. :confused3

To be fair, I do think they have made some great changes...
- 5K medals are metal now, that was a great one
- Their finisher medals and participant shirts are consistently pretty great, IMO
- Love that runDisney does the on-course photos now instead of MarathonFoto
- Women's cut shirts at races other than Princess/Tink!! Now they just need to get that for the 5Ks
- First Princess expo I went to was in ONE building at WWoS - bib pick-up AND the vendor booths. Spreading the expos out to 2 buildings was a very welcome change!

And the on-course support from volunteers, medical, etc. has always been great, and I have been lucky to have never had a problem with race day transportation.

That's all I've got off the top of my head. :confused3
My first race was 2011 and I'd agree with all of this. To me the crowds thing extends beyond the races. When I look back at some of my earlier Marathon weekend trips the parks were much less crowded too. I miss the swag as well. I think the virtual swag bag and the online program are poor substitutes for the actual stuff in your registration bag and the printed program guide.
 

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