Future of west coast runDisney

[bumbershoot]

They definitely changed it - I got a park ticket last year for course monitoring the Jingle Jungle 5K.

Ugh. I mean, good for you, but it wasn't the case for January 2015 freezing 5k. (But not as freezing as I hear princess 5k got)

 

[Figment1990]

Interesting la times article today... could this be the reason for rundisney?

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-disney-anaheim-deals/

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-disney-anaheim-campaign-finance/

Thanks for posting this. I found it really interesting. And though I'm sure there are lots and lots of possible reasons for them not announcing anything but given that the courses run through Anaheim and there seems to be a lot of push back right now from Anaheim towards Disney (balance of the council shifting away from 'Disney supporters') it is possible that there's something to the theory that it's "Anaheim" holding things up. (Coupled with Star Wars construction, new temp workers situation and a host of other things of course).

 

[jessicaknarr]

When do they normally announce the Disneyland Half ? I was thinking in January..... Running WDW marathon in January and have already booked my package for September to get my Coast to Coast. Want to know when to expect either an announcement that is happening or not happening. If it doesn't happen guess I will move my vacation to October and hit the West Coast parks for Halloween (silver lining to not earning that coast to coast )

 

[Anisum]

When do they normally announce the Disneyland Half ? I was thinking in January..... Running WDW marathon in January and have already booked my package for September to get my Coast to Coast. Want to know when to expect either an announcement that is happening or not happening. If it doesn't happen guess I will move my vacation to October and hit the West Coast parks for Halloween (silver lining to not earning that coast to coast )

Under normal circumstances the runDisney schedule for the next year is released in the fall. Last year it was released in November, the year before October. That schedule runs from Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend of the upcoming year (in this case 2018) to Tinker Bell Weekend of the following year (in this case 2019). That being said, given the current state of the races that were released with last year's schedule (Light Side, Tink) I think we can expect the schedule to be delayed until such a time as runDisney works out what they plan to do.

 

[jennamfeo]

I told myself I wasn't going to run a Disney race next year (after running at least one for the past 3 years) and if they take away all the California races, I will be forced to limit myself because I live on the west coast and flying to FL isn't convenient. Boo.

 

[jessicaknarr]

Under normal circumstances the runDisney schedule for the next year is released in the fall. Last year it was released in November, the year before October. That schedule runs from Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend of the upcoming year (in this case 2018) to Tinker Bell Weekend of the following year (in this case 2019). That being said, given the current state of the races that were released with last year's schedule (Light Side, Tink) I think we can expect the schedule to be delayed until such a time as runDisney works out what they plan to do.

Thanks for the great info! I am sure Run Disney will wait till the last possible minute...

 

[Anisum]

Thanks for the great info! I am sure Run Disney will wait till the last possible minute...

Pretty much. I would assume you'll know before you have to get on the plane to go to Disneyland.

 

[fairestoneofall]

Apropos of nothing, but if anyone was curious how RunDisney does volunteer "compensation" on the East Coast and how they used to do it on the West Coast:

* If you work a race shift (medals, corrals, water stations, etc.), you get a t-shirt, a snack box OR breakfast box and upon completion of your shift, you'll scan out and receive a one-day, one-park ticket in the mail 4-6 weeks later (they just don't hand out tickets when you're walking away)

Was this true for DL? The year I volunteered a 5K at DL, I got nothing but the snack box and t-shirt, which is perfectly fine as I wasn't expecting more. However, DD and I volunteered at the Dark Side 5k this year and we both received one-day WDW tickets.

 

[fatmanatee]

Thanks for posting this. I found it really interesting. And though I'm sure there are lots and lots of possible reasons for them not announcing anything but given that the courses run through Anaheim and there seems to be a lot of push back right now from Anaheim towards Disney (balance of the council shifting away from 'Disney supporters') it is possible that there's something to the theory that it's "Anaheim" holding things up. (Coupled with Star Wars construction, new temp workers situation and a host of other things of course).

Just saw this thread and yeah I absolutely buy into the idea that Anaheim is pushing back. Not giving permits for these races is a simple way to assert yourself in this battle and Disney ends up being the one catching all the heat.

 

[Kender]

Just saw this thread and yeah I absolutely buy into the idea that Anaheim is pushing back. Not giving permits for these races is a simple way to assert yourself in this battle and Disney ends up being the one catching all the heat.

Except some of the research done by others has indicated that runDisney does not even file those permits until 30 days prior to a race.

I haven't seen further follow up, but someone posted an investigation that was done actually contacting officials with the city of Anaheim and they seemed to not know what the hold up was (it was far more in depth than I'm describing, but hopefully the idea comes across; I'll try to find the post with the information). But who knows what the truth is at this point since we've all been in the dark for months waiting for a sliver of official information.

 

[fatmanatee]

Except some of the research done by others has indicated that runDisney does not even file those permits until 30 days prior to a race.

I haven't seen further follow up, but someone posted an investigation that was done actually contacting officials with the city of Anaheim and they seemed to not know what the hold up was (it was far more in depth than I'm describing, but hopefully the idea comes across; I'll try to find the post with the information). But who knows what the truth is at this point since we've all been in the dark for months waiting for a sliver of official information.

Yes and there's obviously going to be some dialogue now between the city and Disney about the aforementioned permits. If Anaheim isn't budging on these races, Disney isn't going to get a positive response after submitting permits in December.

I know there's a lot of gossip involved here and it's unavoidable but I thought there were two possibilities here: that the city is annoyed or the races aren't worth the headache to Disney, and it's sounding more like the former. I have no idea what else it could be.

 

[bumbershoot]

Except some of the research done by others has indicated that runDisney does not even file those permits until 30 days prior to a race.

I haven't seen further follow up, but someone posted an investigation that was done actually contacting officials with the city of Anaheim and they seemed to not know what the hold up was (it was far more in depth than I'm describing, but hopefully the idea comes across; I'll try to find the post with the information). But who knows what the truth is at this point since we've all been in the dark for months waiting for a sliver of official information.

It was @Keels who investigated.

 

[Kender]

It was @Keels who investigated.

Thanks! Couldn't remember off the top of my head who had done that since it's been awhile since that posting.

If I recall, it was originally pulled from a running FB group, yeah?

 

[Kender]

Yes and there's obviously going to be some dialogue now between the city and Disney about the aforementioned permits. If Anaheim isn't budging on these races, Disney isn't going to get a positive response after submitting permits in December.

I know there's a lot of gossip involved here and it's unavoidable but I thought there were two possibilities here: that the city is annoyed or the races aren't worth the headache to Disney, and it's sounding more like the former. I have no idea what else it could be.

It could also be a bit all of the above or a yet unnamed issue outside all of those options. We just don't know. I don't know about you, but that's definitely my biggest frustration is the stringing along with no update.

The investigation Keels posted (thanks for reminding me who posted it, bumbershoot! That helped more with locating her post) said that nothing had even been discussed at all with them:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/o...-11th-14th-2018.3572881/page-20#post-57957375

But this is also from July 25. A lot could have changed since then. But I don't feel there's enough information to lean in either direction to place more blame on runDisney or on Anaheim. Beyond speculation because of hotel availability and the fact that Raw Threads was willing to refund people their registrations, I don't recall any significant new information that could sway one direction or the other.

 

[ZellyB]

I've got nothing much to add really, but I'm at least hopeful that they keep the DL weekend. I'm using it as a bribe to get my teenagers to run the 10K with us.

 

[Ariel484]

I too have nothing else to add, except that
1. Light Side is due to start in 99 days, and
2. Proof of Time for the Light Side events is due 1 week from today

I really don't know how much longer they can put off announcing something for that race weekend, one way or the other.

 

[ZellyB]

And, I guess I do have something else to add which is that after finally doing a DL race (Tink) and enjoying the DL parks, I was really hoping to do another race weekend on the West Coast, so I hope they get their stuff figured out!

 

[Anisum]

I really don't know how much longer they can put off announcing something for that race weekend, one way or the other.

You would think that but I never underestimate how poorly prepared runDisney can be. The longer they hold off the more I think it will be moved or cancelled. Either way PoT deadlines can be moved. TrackShack won't mind, right?

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I too have nothing else to add, except that
1. Light Side is due to start in 99 days, and
2. Proof of Time for the Light Side events is due 1 week from today

I really don't know how much longer they can put off announcing something for that race weekend, one way or the other.

I'll let everyone know how much of a refund I get once I receive the check. That may give some insight.

 

[Ariel484]

You would think that but I never underestimate how poorly prepared runDisney can be. The longer they hold off the more I think it will be moved or cancelled. Either way PoT deadlines can be moved. TrackShack won't mind, right?

True! At first I thought it would be the 6-month mark, then in time to start the Galloway plan, and they sure have proved me wrong so far!

As much as I hate to say it, I've been thinking for awhile now that it'll be canceled, but that they aren't 100% sure yet and don't want to make an announcement until they are totally sure (which is infuriating for those waiting, but I get it - just don't get what it is what they're waiting for to be 100% sure that it's a no-go). Because once they DO make the announcement it'll be a total sh*tstorm of (valid) complaints (what's happening with the other West Coast races? What about people who have already signed up for Light Side? No more Coast-to-Coast/Pink Coast-to-Coast/Kessel Run? What about people who have already booked flights or non-refundable hotels - we know international runners need to plan pretty far in advance? Etc.). I have thought that their customer service is already non-existent (exception: WDW Half cancellation, I was impressed with how they handled that), so we'll see what they do.

Mostly I am curious to see how they handle refunds, if the weekend is canceled, for Light Side runners that did the early registrations. I don't think they (runDisney) are on the hook for flight or hotel refunds (lesson learned - runDisney races are NEVER set in stone, so never book anything that isn't refundable!)...but they need to compensate in some way for the race registrations. I can't see them giving a full refund back to credit cards (I'm not saying that I don't think that's what SHOULD happen, I just don't think that's what WILL happen) because they have never done that before. I'm going purely off of what they did when they canceled the Tower of Terror 10-miler: people that had deferred from the previous year (what was the last year, but no one knew it at the time) didn't get refunds, they got the offer to transfer to another race weekend. This situation wouldn't be quite the same since it was 1.) deferrals, and 2.) assuming that if Light Side goes, all West Coast races will go, but that is my guess as to what they will do - transfer or refund in the form of a Disney gift card. Again, I am not saying that I think that this is what they should do (I hope they do full refunds to original payment forms - that's what happened for me when a local race was canceled), but I cannot recall a time where they have ever done full refunds, and not in the form of a transfer or gift card. The partial check option they initially gave @Dis_Yoda is interesting, and I hope that I'm wrong and that they do full refunds by check or to original payment forms...

I'll let everyone know how much of a refund I get once I receive the check. That may give some insight.

I missed that you were taking the refund. I'm glad you're getting (hopefully all/most) of your money back and I hope they do right by you!