Disneyland Half Marathon 2024

[nekonekoneko]

Oh, and eat the churros. All of them.

I was heading to RnRC in DHS, ready to cash in a G+ pass, and I saw a CM bringing a pan of something over to the snack cart in front of the ride. So I made a right turn to said cart to get one of whatever was in the pan. It turned out to be churros. I bought one.

No bueno.

Either 1) I don't like churros, 2) Disney World can't make good churros, or 3) these were already stale by the time they got to the cart.

 

[AJruns]

WAFDL: I don’t quite remember the exact questions, but I’m loving hearing about all the differences/what to look forward to. I know I went to DL once as a kid 25+ years ago, but definitely don’t remember anything. I’m a little nervous about how much WDW is built up in my mind that DL won’t live up to it (I particularly like the immersion), but I will have just come from MW so I’ll still get that experience. A friend and her 4yo will be joining me at DL, so already I need to adjust my expectations from my usual solo flexibility to something totally different.

I am particularly interested in the dining options and made a list of every restaurant by category and checked the all the menus to narrow down my planning choices (maybe that will be a future question?). I also want to explore the three hotels and Downtown Disney.

 

[AZMermaid]

WAFFLE:

Things I’d say are must do’s….

1. Carsland- this is just really well done. Try to hit it night too to see all the neon. Flo‘s is a solid food choice with lots of seating and the Cozy Cones are fun for snacking.

2. Matterhorn if you can handle jerky coasters. It’s old and different!

3. Storybookland Canal Boats- so sweet and nostalgic fun. You sail through Monstro and then around miniature movie sets. When I was like 4, I remember being terrified Monstro was closing his mouth because he was blinking. Like terrified. And its the tamest ride

4. Canoes if you want to hate all your life decisions and every child in the boat with you. It will kill your arms. Good times.

 

[AZMermaid]

2) For the people who are new to DL: what activities interest you in and around Disneyland?
I am looking for good food options. I just feel there is less good sit down restaurants in Disneyland.

If you can get in…. Lamplight Lounge is great! Carnation Cafe is simple but pretty good- especially for breakfast.

The quick service inside the Grand is a hidden gem. It’s just steps from the private park exit to DCA so it’s easy to pop in. But it sometimes takes forever….

 

[Bree]

I was heading to RnRC in DHS, ready to cash in a G+ pass, and I saw a CM bringing a pan of something over to the snack cart in front of the ride. So I made a right turn to said cart to get one of whatever was in the pan. It turned out to be churros. I bought one.

No bueno.

Either 1) I don't like churros, 2) Disney World can't make good churros, or 3) these were already stale by the time they got to the cart.

WDW has awful churros. I think the cardboard box they come in would be tastier and fresher

 

[nekonekoneko]

Doing the 1/2 and C2C non MW route

Just saw you sneak that in. Added you to the first page!

 

[AZMermaid]

Just saw you sneak that in. Added you to the first page!

Can you add me in for Dumbo? Thanks!

 

[nekonekoneko]

Can you add me in for Dumbo? Thanks!

Done!

 

[Marebear_runs]

WAFDL: I don’t know where to start! What I love about it is the size and how easy it is to walk between parks and downtown Disney and the hotels. Some of my favorites:

Space Mountain: especially when they do the Star Wars overlay. It’s less painful and more enjoyable than the jerky small cars in DW.

GOTG: I love how the ride starts at the bottom and shoots up instead.

Incredicoaster: make sure you inhale in the tunnel at the end because it smells like cookies.

Pixar Pals Ferris Wheel—swinging car. For some reason this is fairly scary to me in a fun way

I also generally think most of the rides with DW counterpart are better in DL. Pirates and Big Thunder are both better at DL, IMO.

 

[Novatrix]

WAFDL:

1) For the people who have been to both DL and WDW: what should WDW vets who are DL newbies be looking out for? What can we do differently than someone going to any Disney park for the first time?

2) For the people who are new to DL: what activities interest you in and around Disneyland?

1.) Thinking the DL races would never come back, I finally broke down and visited Disneyland last June. So now I'm qualified to answer this question. In contrast, I've probably spent over a year at Disney World hotels over the decades, so my knowledge base is definitely still lopsided.

One big thing for the DL newbies to look out for is dining reservations do NOT all drop at a consistent time 60 days out. Trader Sam's can be even later than that. Especially when planning for what I thought was going to be my one and only trip, that was quite nerve wracking.

Bengal BBQ was quite good. The Mint Julep Bar with their beignets was addiction inducing (future pre-race, post-race, if I could wrangle it mid-race snack). Didn't have a chance to try Blue Bayou as it was under refurbishment so I can't judge, but I'd say most Disneyland restaurants were just okay and I tried a lot of the other big names. It could be I'm just more knowledgeable about WDW, but I prefer both quick service and restaurant options available at the World.

DL's Webslingers ride, Guardians of the Galaxy mission breakout, and version of Space Mountain were all a ton of fun.

I'm not usually a fan of parades or fireworks, but I really enjoyed Disneyland's Electrical Parade and World of Color. Their version of Fantasmic is also much better than WDW's.

 

[furiated]

I'm really scratching my head that some people prefer a dead thread with months between posts to an active, engaged thread with runners discussing the event, DL and running topics to stay involved and build a sense of community and excitement for the races.

Seriously, if all you want are relevant updates to the specifics of the race weekend, just follow RunDisney on Twitter, Insta or Facebook to get the news directly when it's released rather than waiting for it to show up here secondhand.

<<deleted>>

I feel like it's not a big ask wanting the discussion in the MW thread to be relevant to MW

 

[DopeyRunner486]

As I've stated before, it's not the actual SAFD discussion that's the issue. I love Disney stuff, I can get behind pretty much any and all Disney discussion. But it veers off topic from MW so much, that I just don't understand why there's so much pushback to making a dedicated SAFD thread.

Many have pointed out the reason. There is such a long time between signing up and actually running that it can get very dead in the threads while we wait. People want interaction and discussion. This does that. Sure maybe it could be a little more runDisney focused in terms of the questions but most of us frequent posters are past the basic questions. This subforum doesn't get a ton of newbies like the others either.

 

[furiated]

WAFDL:

I'm not usually a fan of parades or fireworks, but I really enjoyed Disneyland's Electrical Parade and World of Color. Their version of Fantasmic is also much better than WDW's.

Oh my god yes! IMO the DL version of Fantasmic puts the WDW to shame. Years ago I made the mistake of seeing the DL version before ever seeing the WDW version. I thought Man, WDW has a dedicated purpose built theater for F! so it's going to be amazing! Sad trombone. I don't know how WDW can continue to bring out that paper mache head on a stick excuse for a dragon after seeing how awesome Murphy is at DL (that's the dragon's nickname, he's not the most reliable )

The whole F! setup is different at DL. No dedicated seating, just some temp chairs for some dining packages, and mostly standing areas. Though some up front viewing areas I think they make you sit in the ground. Not sure if they still do that. I remember on previous trips, sone areas were sitting only. On my recent trip I sat, as did folks around me, but I'm not sure if CMs were asking people to stay seated or not. Maybe someone that has been there recently can weigh in there.

 

[furiated]

Many have pointed out the reason. There is such a long time between signing up and actually running that it can get very dead in the threads while we wait. People want interaction and discussion. This does that. Sure maybe it could be a little more runDisney focused in terms of the questions but most of us frequent posters are past the basic questions. This subforum doesn't get a ton of newbies like the others either.

But why would you want random discussion that has nothing to do with the thread? If this thread dies down, it's cool to start a random conversation about my favorite death metal songs, just to get some posts in the thread?

 

[fatmanatee]

Fundamentally these things turn into community threads. Happened in the news forum, where they have a group that posts news but often veers off topic, I imagine it happens elsewhere on the forums as well. There have been complaints about the news thread in the past (and yes, attempts to create a *separate* thread), but ultimately the more frequent posters win out.

 

[DopeyRunner486]

But why would you want random discussion that has nothing to do with the thread? If this thread dies down, it's cool to start a random conversation about my favorite death metal songs, just to get some posts in the thread?

I mean I can't say I have seen people ask for death metal songs in SAFD but maybe I missed that day. That said I don't think a question like what is your favaorite song to run to is out of the question.

 

[furiated]

Fundamentally these things turn into community threads. Happened in the news forum, where they have a group that posts news but often veers off topic, I imagine it happens elsewhere on the forums as well. There have been complaints about the news thread in the past (and yes, attempts to create a *separate* thread), but ultimately the more frequent posters win out.

Which I understand. Inevitably, discussion threads tend to veer off topic from time to time. I guess I just don't get the obsession with having a planned/scheduled event driving people off topic every week.

And again, I'm not against the one we have going here since it seems to be on topic. I enjoyed reading all the Waffle posts so far

 

[nekonekoneko]

After hearing the arguments on both sides about why to have discussions, (SAFD, WAFDL, whatever you will), I think the idea of having a community outweighs trying to keep this thread so laser focused, it's mostly dead. Now the one thread in N&R gets so off topic, that is actually gets really really annoying.

I think the difference, though, between that thread and this one is the way the meat of the threads operate. In the N&R thread, which @fatmanatee just mentioned, news and rumours happen all the time. So trying to find the wheat from the chaff gets very very annoying.

Here, though, we know the drill. Dates get announced, registration dates get announced, registration opens. People ask for charity bibs. Then we get the merch reveal, the medals reveal, and then it's race weekend. We know the basic drill, at least most of us do. But between those times, like right now, we're between registration and the reveals, what is there to do? If the rD patterns hold, we'll have practically 0 news for the weekend between now and September-November. So do we keep the thread basically dead for 6-8 months?

 

[furiated]

I mean I can't say I have seen people ask for death metal songs in SAFD but maybe I missed that day. That said I don't think a question like what is your favaorite song to run to is out of the question.

Agreed, I could see something like that being totally on topic. Maybe I'm jaded by being here so long and wading through so many SAFD posts over the years. But it was annoying that it was SAF Disney not SAF runDisney (even though we're in the runDisney sub forum). If you just want general Disney chat, this site has a ton of that going on in other threads.

 

[furiated]

After hearing the arguments on both sides about why to have discussions, (SAFD, WAFDL, whatever you will), I think the idea of having a community outweighs trying to keep this thread so laser focused, it's mostly dead. Now the one thread in N&R gets so off topic, that is actually gets really really annoying.

I think the difference, though, between that thread and this one is the way the meat of the threads operate. In the N&R thread, which @fatmanatee just mentioned, news and rumours happen all the time. So trying to find the wheat from the chaff gets very very annoying.

Here, though, we know the drill. Dates get announced, registration dates get announced, registration opens. People ask for charity bibs. Then we get the merch reveal, the medals reveal, and then it's race weekend. We know the basic drill, at least most of us do. But between those times, like right now, we're between registration and the reveals, what is there to do? If the rD patterns hold, we'll have practically 0 news for the weekend between now and September-November. So do we keep the thread basically dead for 6-8 months?

Which I get. Where I get lost is, why would people want off topic discussion in this thread, just to keep it active? If there no relevant discussion in here for a while, that's okay. When there's something relevant, whether it's news, or a question, or just talking through something about race weekend, the thread will be active again.