2019 Princess Half Marathon Weekend

[KaitlynJ]

Any time! I’ve gotten a lot of invaluable advice here on the boards, so I try to pay it back whenever I can!

Check out the prices of the value resorts, as well as the others to compare. Also know that you can book a room, and if a promotional discount comes up after the fact, you can call and have it applied to your reservation. As I said before, we liked the convenience of the transportation. The resort was close to ESPN where the expo is, which was great because we totally underestimated how long we would spend there! We were offered the option to turn down housekeeping services at the resort, and received a Disney gift card for it, which was a nice additional savings if you don’t mind forgoing daily housekeeping.

Good luck with your search!

Piggybacking on this, I found the value resorts to be much more affordable than I expected. We stayed at the All Star Music resort, and we exclusively used the Disney transportation all weekend. Once you factor in the cost of rental cars/ubers/taxis/etc., it would have probably been MORE expensive to stay off-property, and definitely less convenient. Right now All Star Music is only $169/night for Princess weekend.

 

[bumbershoot]

This is helpful and I was thinking about staying on the resort for peace of mind as well because I’m nervous that it will be so crowded which will cause me to stress.

What are you worried about being crowded? I got lost there somewhere.

I wanted to link it to my account and purchase some of the commerative items (since you are only able to do so during the actual registration online).

As others have said, you'll get a link fairly soon.

But it sounds like you're anticipating only being able to buy the items during your initial registration; you can go back in and order as long as the items are available. At least you could with active. I'm REALLY not into blind-ordering, so I've only pre-ordered pins a couple times, and I was able to go back in and purchase later. (but pre-ordering does end, and it ends without notice, so don't wait TOO long).

 

[quandrea]

The fact that challenge bibs are still available also makes me wonder if they might eventually split some of those up and offer more 10K bibs?

IM hoping

 

[1mena7]

DID ANYONE HERE RUN THE HALF LAST YEAR????
If so, were Jack and Sally there? I remember running the half a few (3 or 4) years ago and they were there but I didn't stop for a pic bc it was my first half and I was terrified about not finishing!! I've regretted that decision every day since then..... lol They're my favorite!!!

 

[KaitlynJ]

DID ANYONE HERE RUN THE HALF LAST YEAR????
If so, were Jack and Sally there? I remember running the half a few (3 or 4) years ago and they were there but I didn't stop for a pic bc it was my first half and I was terrified about not finishing!! I've regretted that decision every day since then..... lol They're my favorite!!!

I ran the half in 2018, I didn’t see them. I don’t think they were there. I know the characters can change from year to year.

 

[Fire14]

i didn't see or hear of them being there

 

[lovingeire]

Made my ADR's for Princess weekend today!

 

[KaitlynJ]

@jaclyn341 - FYI, I just got my registration link from my TA today. So you should probably be getting yours soon.

 

[AZMermaid]

Made my ADR's for Princess weekend today!

Jealous! I can't till Sunday!

@jaclyn341 - FYI, I just got my registration link from my TA today. So you should probably be getting yours soon.

Me too!

 

[Livelovedance]

I emailed runDisney the other day asking about the preorder merchandise. I wanted to see if they would tell me which items were preorder only, and which would be available for purchase at the expo. I really only wanted to know about the AP pin, but I figured if I asked about all of the merchandise I'd have more information to share here. Below is the slightly vague response I received:

Thank you for your message regarding the merchandise available for the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend. All of the commemorative items available for preorder are only available online in a preorder capacity. There will be additional merchandise available at the runDisney Health & Fitness Expo, possibly in different designs, but those items are not guaranteed. Please know that all items available at the expo are subject to availability.

I'm a little disappointed in the response. Why sell an AP pin marketed to passholders as an online only item, when those customers have a discount that can't be used online? I have a strong feeling that if I preorder it, it will show up in the expo anyway and I'll be really annoyed lol.

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

Made my ADR's for Princess weekend today!

Yay! What did you get? I'm making mine tonight and I'm hoping for:
Thursday: fly in that night - eat at the resort (All Star Movies)
Friday- Expo in the morning, then Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Brown Derby late lunch/early dinner
Saturday: 10K, quick nap and shower, then Epcot
Via Napoli early dinner
Sunday: Half marathon, nap and shower, then Magic Kingdom
dinner at Artist Point (which would be new to me!) or Be Our Guest because I never seem to get through a WDW trip without a stop there (I sure love that atmosphere).
I don't have too many opportunities for meals since, after Princess, we are going to be focused on Universal Studios, but I'm excited!

 

[KaitlynJ]

Yay! What did you get? I'm making mine tonight and I'm hoping for:
Thursday: fly in that night - eat at the resort (All Star Movies)
Friday- Expo in the morning, then Hollywood Studios
Hollywood Brown Derby late lunch/early dinner
Saturday: 10K, quick nap and shower, then Epcot
Via Napoli early dinner
Sunday: Half marathon, nap and shower, then Magic Kingdom
dinner at Artist Point (which would be new to me!) or Be Our Guest because I never seem to get through a WDW trip without a stop there (I sure love that atmosphere).
I don't have too many opportunities for meals since, after Princess, we are going to be focused on Universal Studios, but I'm excited!

I haven't been to Artist Point for like 7 years, but last time I was there it was sooooooooooo good! We're going this year.

Our plans are:
Thursday - fly in midday, expo in the afternoon, no plans for dinner yet but somewhere not in the parks because we won't activate our park passes until Friday
Friday - 5K (just me), dinner at Jiko
Saturday - 10K (me and DH), dinner at Artist Point
Sunday - half (me and BFF), dinner at Be Our Guest

 

[cmarsh31]

We get back from our 4 day cruise on Thurs am. Race Expo, some time at AK,
Thurs - dinner at Sanaa (we're staying at AKV so it will be a nice early night) or Homecomin' if we meet up with friends
Fri - 5k for me, lunch at Sci-Fi? or at Sanaa, depending on Friday
Sat - BOG or something for lunch
Home Sunday

 

[lovingeire]

Yay! What did you get?

Wed: Arrival & DAK. I think we're just going to do Satuli Canteen this day, but not 100% sure.
Thurs: Expo, MK, Skipper Canteen (this would be new to us to try. It's the only MK restaurant I haven't eaten at, but I might change it...)
Fri: Epcot, Akershus (I needed some Princesses for this weekend! )
Sat: 10K & DHS. Have Trattoria al Forno booked for dinner, but might switch to Boatwrights at Riverside so we can just have an early night after dinner. I'm just waiting for military discounts to confirm where we're staying.
Sun: Half and brunch at Raglan Road
Mon: MK and dinner at BOG
Tues: Depart

dinner at Artist Point (which would be new to me!) or Be Our Guest because I never seem to get through a WDW trip without a stop there (I sure love that atmosphere).

I love Artist Point! So good! I loved BOG and am unsure about the new menu and whether it's worth the two credits on the DDP, which we are using, but I figure we'll only know if we try and it was BFF's one dining request so we are giving it a go!

dinner at Jiko

Jiko is on my Disney bucket list!

 

[AZMermaid]

Anyone remember how much the race magnets are?

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm a little disappointed in the response. Why sell an AP pin marketed to passholders as an online only item, when those customers have a discount that can't be used online? I have a strong feeling that if I preorder it, it will show up in the expo anyway and I'll be really annoyed lol.

Why have an ap pin that anyone can buy?

They aren’t going to tell you the truth about the merchandise. Or maybe they just don’t know.

There’s a huge resale market for preorder stuff, so if you buy ahead then they have it for sale you can alway sell the more expensive one after.

 

[KaitlynJ]

Disaster! Our TA was making our dining reservations this morning and discovered that Artist Point is closed the entire week of Princess. She said she suspects its for scheduled maintenance. What a bummer.

Any other suggestions for dinner close to Wilderness Lodge for Saturday night?

 

[cmarsh31]

The Wave at the Contemporary? Just a boat ride!

 

[Livelovedance]

Why have an ap pin that anyone can buy?

They aren’t going to tell you the truth about the merchandise. Or maybe they just don’t know.

There’s a huge resale market for preorder stuff, so if you buy ahead then they have it for sale you can alway sell the more expensive one after.

I didn’t even think about that lol. It just seems so silly to sell an AP pin online when the passholders can’t use their discount for it. They probably don’t know, because the response was pretty vague. They don’t want to say anything that they can get in trouble for later!

 

[Fire14]

My chow plans:
Wed. arrive ak, Yak and Yeti
Thurs. Expo, MK delux burger
Fri. 5k, Epcot, garden grill
Sat, 10k HS, Hollywood and Vine lunch
Sun, Cheer on half, Crystal palace brfst
Mon HS no idea on food
Tues, home