Princess Weekend 2022

[SheHulk]

We were at Jambo house. No bus issues, we got out at 2:45 and got on the 1st bus right before it left. We chatted with bus driver on 10k run. Our bus group for AK both jambo and kadani were all from the same bus group in New York. So they all new each other and work together to make sure there was someone always there. We loved our 10k bus driver. He was soo friendly. Then mom started talking to the greeter in the front of Akl this morning about how there was bus issues at other resorts like beach club and she said they had 12 bus in the back and they were actively managing the busses to make sure there was always a bus for the run in the morning. So akl is on top of it. Also she said that disney did sweep early beacuse the run started later and they had to open the road. I think that is unfair, it is not their fault that disney started the run late. If they were keeping pace they paid a lot of money to be able complete it. We learned a lot waiting for our driver to the airport.

I had a great race. I want to do a more detail report later but this was everything I could have dreamed had the best of time and got to stop for characters. I loooved it soo much and this was the perfect half marathon for my first one and I cannot wait to try my first marathon at Disney in 2023! Basically this was my dream weekend I cried soo many happy tears this weekend.

Flying back home today

Your costumes were top-notch! Tell your mom hi! I don't know if she told you but she was on Main Street when I ran by and she recognized me and shouted me out! So nice to have a friendly face in that crowd.

That bit about sweeping people early is horrendous and if I was an exec I'd have that greeter's head for telling people that, if what she said is true. Sweeping people earlier than the long-posted pace is definitely something a) you shouldn't do, but b) if you do it, shouldn't be spread around, that is just begging for trouble.

 

[Sleepy425]

It was so nice meeting some of you at HH. We missed the meetup for the half because my husband had to stop for an egg and cheese pizza cone from the food truck (so then he could complain what a poor choice that was for the next 6 miles. Which was an improvement from Wine and Dine when he had the sausage egg and cheese pizza cone and complained the entire 13.1 miles).
We were fortunate that All Star Movies wasn't involved in the awful bus situation, so we didn't have that stress Sunday morning. My biggest complaint was the lack of Port-O-Pots early in the race and the fact that the port o pots weren't accessible from the chute once you were led from corrals like they were in past RunDisney races.
Hoping to see some of you at Spring Suprise, I'm excited that the long race is only 10 miles!

 

[SheHulk]

This is what I hate the most about Genie+ and wish they would add the $15 to the cost of ticket (which they will do anyways). If it is crowded, you can't get your choices so you feel like you wasted your money buying it and if it is not crowded you feel like you wasted your money because you didn't need it. Where as if Genie+ was "free" you would simply be happy to be in a relatively empty park and if it was crowded you would be glad you were able to at least grab a few LL's. Total negative mindset the way it is now.

NOT worth it today, let's just say that. MK was very crowded and choices got swept up pretty quickly.

Also I kept choosing options for a given time, but then after I finalized the choice, the time was for a completely different window than I had originally chosen! Frustrating! We wound up just not riding many rides, for the second day of this 4 day trip. Thankfully we've seen/done it all already. But I don't know what the options are. Even if you buy the pass, you just don't get to do even close to everything? Maybe there are tricks I didn't bother to look up, but I"m not sure I'm ready to invest yet another few dozens of hours into learning a system when I have already done so for multiple systems in the past. I'm just fatigued with it. I'm sure complaining about Genie+ belongs on another board but those are my 2 cents.

 

[bumbershoot]

That bit about sweeping people early is horrendous

I doubt if it was true, or if true it wasn’t done like the truly wrong early sweep several years ago at Disneyland. I was not at pace. No one on the bus had been at pace.

Of course, I wasn’t at pace for the 10k, or most Disney events I’ve done, but I’ve never even seen a balloon lady or sweepers on the course before.

And she was saying things about AK that didn’t match what others on FB said about the later bus situation there.

if I was an exec I'd have that greeter's head for telling people that, if what she said is true.

Agreed.
________________
My cousin, who was ahead but not thaaaat far ahead, said that the scuttlebutt on the course was that someone had collapsed at mile 9 and cpr was being performed by other runners. It’s possible they stopped us just before getting to that situation. Which I can understand. We weren’t at pace, so it’s allowed (even if it generally isn’t done), and the idea of us going past a possibly dying or dead person would have felt intensely disrespectful. I was at a (non-Disney) race where a young man died, and I don’t begrudge them stopping people from interfering with lifesaving efforts.

When my cousin went over the overpass where you can see back to 9ish, shortly after I sent her the text that we had been stopped, she said she saw emergency vehicle lights. So it’s possibly true.

 

[azrivest]

Does anyone know what was near the overpass at the Car Care Center (after MK)? When I passed, all I could see was a carriage with no character

 

[Sleepy425]

Does anyone know what was near the overpass at the Car Care Center (after MK)? When I passed, all I could see was a carriage with no character

Ohhh I forgot about this. I'm curious, too.

 

[Herding_Cats]

My cousin, who was ahead but not thaaaat far ahead, said that the scuttlebutt on the course was that someone had collapsed at mile 9 and cpr was being performed by other runners. It’s possible they stopped us just before getting to that situation. Which I can understand. We weren’t at pace, so it’s allowed (even if it generally isn’t done), and the idea of us going past a possibly dying or dead person would have felt intensely disrespectful. I was at a (non-Disney) race where a young man died, and I don’t begrudge them stopping people from interfering with lifesaving efforts.

When my cousin went over the overpass where you can see back to 9ish, shortly after I sent her the text that we had been stopped, she said she saw emergency vehicle lights. So it’s possibly true.

There was commentary about this (someone collapsing and cpr happening) in a FB group today, or maybe yesterday, and allegedly someone’s sister in that group was one of the people who was giving cpr. And that he was breathing when he was taken by the first responders.

 

[furiated]

My biggest complaint was the lack of Port-O-Pots early in the race and the fact that the port o pots weren't accessible from the chute once you were led from corrals like they were in past RunDisney races.

That's definitely first on my feedback list if I get a survey. In all 3 races this weekend I was uncomfortably waiting to reach the first batch of them and wondering how long it would be.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Your costumes were top-notch! Tell your mom hi! I don't know if she told you but she was on Main Street when I ran by and she recognized me and shouted me out! So nice to have a friendly face in that crowd.

That bit about sweeping people early is horrendous and if I was an exec I'd have that greeter's head for telling people that, if what she said is true. Sweeping people earlier than the long-posted pace is definitely something a) you shouldn't do, but b) if you do it, shouldn't be spread around, that is just begging for trouble.

Mom said mentioned it and loved having another person she new to cheer for. Yeah not sure on sweeping thing hence why I said how we heard about it.

 

[opusone]

I didn't have issues during MW either, but i was at Wilderness Lodge that trip.

I already have a theory. I think it was primarily the Epcot resorts that had issues (as I've heard similar stories from Boardwalk and Swan and Dolphin), and Beach Club's issue was exacerbated by sharing a bus with Yacht Club.

For MW, I was at Beach Club, and I think they were slightly disorganized (in that Yacht Club received more than their fair share of the seats), but I still only waited about 10-15 minutes for a bus with enough room for me. That sounded brutal for you @Novatrix!

 

[1lilspark]

Does anyone know what was near the overpass at the Car Care Center (after MK)? When I passed, all I could see was a carriage with no character

Wasn't running but from pictures on socials A&E were with a sleigh

 

[furiated]

Wasn't running but from pictures on socials A&E were with a sleigh

If I remember right, during the Half A&E were around cone alley on a sleigh. This was a weird empty carriage just before merging back onto World Drive. I was also wondering what/who it was supposed to be.

 

[SheHulk]

All I know is, I was on that stretch of road somewhere between mile 8-10 when an ambulance came driving down the race course, sirens blaring. Everybody got to the left to let them get through and I just thought, That can't be good.
Edited to add that I finished in 3:04:something even though I started in the first start group if that gives you a sense of about what time it was: Maybe about 7:30AM, give or take 20 minutes?

As for the carriage past MK, do you mean the sleigh just past cone alley? Anna (no Elsa) was in it when @azrivest and I were there.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Is this the carriage you guys are talking about?

 

[SheHulk]

Is this the carriage you guys are talking about? View attachment 650952

Oh, THAT!!! Yeah that was empty when I went past too. Was not clear whether that was manned by a PhotoPass photographer when I went by.

 

[corn princess]

Home from our long Disney weekend and my first run Disney event! I had an absolute blast doing it! This was not my fastest HM. but that wasn't my goal and I'm happy with my finish time. I started inS3 and ended at 2:19. I hadn't fueled properly with some good carbs pre race so I started the race slightly hungry. I also had some GI issues around mild 8 so that led to another stop. I got my castle pic, stopped to take pics of a lot of the characters and took it in! Mile 8-12 were definitely hard especially as it started warming up. My Midwestern self has not run in humidity like that in a while!


Some things I learned for next time, even if I don't think I need to before I head into the corrals, I need to use the portapoties because I didn't and by the 1.5 mile portapotty stop, I had to stop!
Getting to the bus stop at 230 is worth it to cut down on anxiety. I got to the stop at OKW at 230 and was on the first bus to leave and had no wait.
I also need to get the runners grab and go box earlier next time because they were out the night before when I went to go get one. So I made do with the breakfast stuff we had in our room.

I met my husband and daughters afterwards at the Beach Club where they had been eating breakfast because it was just too early for them to go and watch and headed to Epcot to ride Remy and Frozen! Both were done with minimal waits. Then we finally went back to OKW for some pool/hot tub time!

I am definitely already planning on my next run Disney event!

 

[azrivest]

Is this the carriage you guys are talking about?

Yes that's the one I meant. As SheHulk wrote, we saw Anna coming out of MK.

I'm assuming there was a princess at some point there? I thought this might be Cinderella? Oh well

 

[bumbershoot]

I started inS3 and ended at 2:19.

Wow! With photos and bathroom? I’m impressd!!!

Getting to the bus stop at 230 is worth it to cut down on anxiety.

Agreed. You made a great choice in that.

Would have changed at least the start to my Half. My HR is always high, I was sick in January, and starting the morning with my HR stupidly elevated while sweating like crazy even before starting didn’t help my performance in any way. Not sure what happened that we decided to go later, since we were telling others to get on the first or second bus, but…

 

[Sleepy425]

Yes that's the one I meant. As SheHulk wrote, we saw Anna coming out of MK.

I'm assuming there was a princess at some point there? I thought this might be Cinderella? Oh well ☺

We saw Cinderella and her Prince at a gazebo. Same gazebo also had Tiana and Naveen for some people.

 

[Herding_Cats]

rD website is updated with the 2023 Princess Dates already! And while you *can* click on the races (too see the theme for each race, although MW isn't linked yet) it takes you to a "Stitch" page. Which means you can't see the theme/Princesses yet.