Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend 2022 (Nov. 3-6, 2022)

[EPCOT-O.G.]

Now it has the Genie saying “I did it!’ right above “19.3 MILFS.”

“Genie, for my first wish…I wish to have your powers!”

 

[DisneyGamer11]

Is the photopass code 2022-WINE-HLF-#### (bib)? It is not working for me - shouldn't it be 16 characters?

Edit Got it: it's 2022-WINE-HLF0-####

 

[NileNellie]

Congrats to all of my fellow runners! This was my first challenge and despite the humidity it was a blast. Only stopped for a couple of characters that had lines of less than a minute.

Getting into the after party was a struggle, with really long lines, but they moved fairly quickly. Looking at the app it showed a 90 minute wait for Remy around 7:20pm. We happened to head over that way to use the restroom, and saw that they outside queue wasn't full at all, despite the wait time still posted at 90 minutes. Took a chance and waited 25. I know it's better to under promise and over deliver, but honestly if we hadn't walked by we never would have even tried to ride.

Once the party started we got in line for TT and waited around 15 minutes. Rode again via single rider with a less than 5 minute wait. The Guardians queue was insane. I'm not sure if it was poor planning or what, but they knew the party was sold out and should have figured out some way to make an extended queue. There was a cast member out front who was trying his best, but I'm sure was overwhelmed with trying to keep everyone organized in the disorganized queue. None of the CMs were able to even quote us on a time-one said "I have absolutely no idea, I've never seen it like this before". We ended up bailing but after hearing reports here I guess we should have just waited-that shows you how much of a difference having the lightning lane open adds to the standby wait, I guess.

Overall it was a great weekend and I'm already looking forward to next year!

 

[Naomeri]

Ok I'm a little upset, the CM told us it was a 75 minute wait at 11 pm

Did anyone get pictures with the special party characters?

I did Remy and Emile, Genie (which was a bummer, since I got him on the course, I was hoping Jasmine and/or Aladdin wouldn’t be on break), and Mulan. I was waiting on Miguel for a while, but when he took a break at midnight and I wasn’t even half way through the line, I bailed because standing still was killing me.

So I went and danced I front of the DJ until the party ended. I didn’t do any rides. I did drink 2 Rhapsody in Purple, which was DELICIOUS.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Ok I'm a little upset, the CM told us it was a 75 minute wait at 11 pm

Did anyone get pictures with the special party characters?

No character pics for us. At about 10 pm we got in line for Miguel, but bailed after 5 minutes. It was a huge line that looked to be well over an hour, maybe 2. Instead we just walked and drank around world showcase. We enjoyed the live music in Mexico and American Pavilion. All characters had SUPER long lines.

We rode Ratatouille at about 11:15 pm. 45 min posted wait, but we were done in less than 30. When we exited the ride, there was noone in the outside queue, so I'd bet it was a 10 min wait or less. After more eating and drinking we got in line for Guardians at about 12:15 pm. Posted wait of 110 mins. It would have been about 30 minutes, but we were held in a preshow room for about 20 mins due to a custodial situation (someone probably puked!). We exited the park at about 1:15 am. It was a fun party!

 

[XoxoAmy]

Congrats runners!! This was my first W&D too and first HM at Disney. I did the challenge, and felt great for the first 5 miles during the half (even with the rain) but I was dragging in the last 2-3 miles. Super happy to finish and I love the medals.

I'm not a person who typically waits in character lines (during races or in the parks) but M&M were too good to pass up as a memento for my first half, so I waited for them and it was only 8 minutes! This was at 7:04am.

Spent all day at the pool and took an hour nap. We headed to epcot from YC a little before 6 - had ADR at Le Cellier at 6:15, and there was a decent line for party guests at international. But hearing what it was like earlier, I'm not sorry we didn't leave earlier.

I pulled over during the race at 7am and got an ILL for GOTG so we did that around 8pm, then we went back right when fireworks started, got in line at 9:15 and we waited 40 min total. I wanted to go back towards the end of the right for a 3rd time, but the walking was killing me.

We did Sorin around 10m, and wait time said 35 min, but line was not moving and it took over an hour. Sorta killed our night. Then we walked over to Frozen and that was only 20 min. Our plan was to walk around the world to check out Ratatouille line (this was after 11:30 and crowds had really thinned out), but while we were leaving Frozen I realized I left my challenge medal in the basket at Sorin (!), so we walked back that to get it. I was so spent after that, we called it a night.

Fun party, but it was hard to be up so late and walk/stand so much after running 19.3. Kind wish the party was on the Monday after the races.

Also - I'm really disappointed with my photopass pics from the half. I only have 5, none of them are great, and 2 of them are just a piece of my leg or arm. I know I specifically ran in front of TONS of photographers, and I had a clear shot at the finish line (but no finish line pic ). Is there a chance I will see more, or are they usually all there by now? I really wanted one or 2 good ones from this race, and so many other people had AMAZING pics this year. Anyhting I can do?

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

I left my challenge medal in the basket at Sorin (!), so we walked back that to get it. I was so spent after that, we called it a night.

Omg, so glad you got it back!

A few photos may still trickle in. If you know about when you finished, you could always call too and see if they can find them.

 

[PrincessV]

Congrats to everyone who participated this weekend! And extra congrats to all who had a really enjoyable race/s! Because I definitely did not.

That goes down as one of the most unpleasant half’s I’ve run. Some reasons were out of Disney’s control - my health issues causing immense joint and muscle pain and the weather. But if I separate those out, it still wasn’t an enjoyable experience for me, in SHARP contrast to last year. The theme just did not translate and it all felt rather forced and loosely stitched together. I’m a huge jazz fan and thought the on course musicians were superb! But I’d rather have sat at a table with a cocktail to enjoy a full set then run past them in a race, if that makes sense. The course felt physically really uncomfortable on my body, but that could be attributable to my own health issues, IDK.

The worst for me was the crowding and congestion. I started around the mid point of C and never once had open space to run my pace. Never. I don’t think that has ever happened to me in a long Disney race before! I’m slower than maybe half the field, and faster than maybe half the field, and past Disney half’s and fulls (the 5 and 10Ks are another story) have had sections of congestion that I’ve hit, but if I just rolled with the prevailing pace through them for a few minutes, they always released and spread back out. Not so this time. IDK if that’s a matter of too many runners, a course with too few wide open sections, or both and more. But I sure hope rD looks at this and comes up with a better plan.

Every darned year I do W&D I say to myself, “Self, you are too old for the after-party skip it next year.” And every darned year I try to do it, anyway. This year was no exception lol! All I wanted was an Adventurers Club reunion, and they weren’t there. GOTG could have made up for it, but not with the long waits - very glad I rode it twice Sat. With a VQ + ILL.

I think I’m maybe done with this race now. I adore MW, and though I was crushed when Springtime Sureprise usurped my beloved SW races, I had a tremendous amount of fun at it this year, so maybe just those two next time. We’ll see. I’m told that there was a very recent shakeup in rD leadership and that some new blood should result in a very good things moving forward - here’s hoping!

 

[Herding_Cats]

. I’m told that there was a very recent shakeup in rD leadership and that some new blood should result in a very good things moving forward - here’s hoping!

ooooh do tell.

 

[PrincessV]

ooooh do tell.

I honestly don’t know much more and the little extra more I do know I’m not comfortable sharing. But I learned of this after the race and it made a lot of sense out of some of the weirdness and logistical snafus that went on this weekend. I feel like the change could be really good for us down the road, but was so recent that it kind of left a mess to clean up on aisle W&D, if that makes sense.

 

[Herding_Cats]

But I learned of this after the race and it made a lot of sense out of some of the weirdness and logistical snafus that went on this weekend.

logistics like....
crowding with people at the expo waiting for their VQ?
no early expo transportation for Club rD?
all of the busses that got lost on Saturday (according to fb?)
no electrolytes at the 10k?
transpo for epcot area resorts for the party?

trying to think of other stuff i read about......

 

[azrivest]

That goes down as one of the most unpleasant half’s I’ve run.

Same. The weather is, well, Florida but those 7 miles on open highway were not funny. How is it for the marathon, fellow DISers? Is there as much consecutive highway time? After the race, I told my husband that if Marathon Weekend resembles anything close to yesterday's Half, I am never doing it.

Also agree for the congestion. I don't understand how people try to PR at Disney, unless they're in corrals A/B. I was constantly having to weave.

 

[jeremy1002]

Worst rundisney experience I’ve had out of 15 or so. As others have said, some factors were acts of god (the weather), but I ran marathon 2020 when they had to shorten due to heat so that ain’t it. The course was, frankly, shameful. I can’t claim to understand what park op and road closure constraints they operated under, but they need to do better. Also agree that Soul, while a fine movie, is an awful on course entertainment centerpiece.

 

[jpeterson]

Also agree for the congestion. I don't understand how people try to PR at Disney, unless they're in corrals A/B. I was constantly having to weave.

Maybe the corral matters. I was in early B and didn't feel very congested. I had plenty of room to do my thing and I run/walk so I didn't have any issues with that either, aside from a couple chokepoints.

 

[Zutroy]

I ran the first Wine and Dine in 2011, which had most of the miles comprised of running from WWOS to Animal Kingdom and back, and I thought that was a better course map than this one. I think the traditional Wine and Dine course of starting in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, taking the backroads to Animal Kingdom, going through the Studios, and then finishing around World Showcase and under Spaceship Earth is a million times better. There were times during this race that I thought about getting on a parade bus and calling it quits just to end the monotony.

 

[The Expert]

How is it for the marathon, fellow DISers? Is there as much consecutive highway time? After the race, I told my husband that if Marathon Weekend resembles anything close to yesterday's Half, I am never doing it.

I mean, it's 26.2 so yes there are highway miles but I feel like it's broken up pretty well. The worst part is between AK and Studios, with only the parking lot of BB to look forward to, but that's also the toughest mileage stretch (roughly 19-23). The stretch from MK to AK is a bit long but the course isn't all just straight road miles on wide highway.

 

[DopeyBadger]

How is it for the marathon, fellow DISers? Is there as much consecutive highway time? After the race, I told my husband that if Marathon Weekend resembles anything close to yesterday's Half, I am never doing it.

Consecutive Highway (non-park and not resort paths) Miles:

0 to 2 (outside EPCOT)
3.5 to 10 (Exiting EPCOT and running to MK)
11.25 to 16.75 (Exiting MK and running to AK)
17 to 22.9 (Exiting AK and running to DHS)

From 22.9 to Finish you are in DHS, on DHS path to Boardwalk, on the Boardwalk paths, and then in EPCOT.

There is a reasonable amount of entertainment along the way. The hard parts are probably the stretch from 13.2 to 16.75 and from 17 to 22.9.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

Comment/Question for those who also stayed at a Disney resort this weekend...
We stayed at French Quarter for the first time and they had some special things for runners that I haven't seen at other resorts in the past.

They had a welcome back table for us when we got off the bus after the race. Mardi Gras beads and bubbles, plus photo frames for pictures. Also, they had a "runners lounge" at the pool with cold waters, bananas, foam rollers and mats.

It's not often that Disney adds something for free, so while it was a small thing, I really appreciated the gesture.

Wondering if it's a Port Orleans thing or if they did it at other resorts?

 

[Tiggerette]

I'll chime in on the corrals. I employed a strategy of getting a reasonable proof of time submitted to be placed in corral 2/B. That turned out to be helpful because of the sun angle and I never found it congested after mile 2. I did stop for photos and kept about 9:30-9:55 pace whenever I wasn't at a photo stop or walking at the water stop. I did not stop for Hook/Smee at the start, nor the Genie and because of the rain I missed out on the Monsters and Modal Nodes (Both Cantina band). So that may impact course congestion. I was glad to have been in corral B and if I ever did a future runDisney race, I would train up to have a good proof of time for a good corral placement.

 

[jpeterson]

Comment/Question for those who also stayed at a Disney resort this weekend...
We stayed at French Quarter for the first time and they had some special things for runners that I haven't seen at other resorts in the past.

They had a welcome back table for us when we got off the bus after the race. Mardi Gras beads and bubbles, plus photo frames for pictures. Also, they had a "runners lounge" at the pool with cold waters, bananas, foam rollers and mats.

It's not often that Disney adds something for free, so while it was a small thing, I really appreciated the gesture.

Wondering if it's a Port Orleans thing or if they did it at other resorts?

None of that at Pop Century