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

[1lilspark]

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?

I’ve stayed at FQ last year and didn’t have any of this (though it did just reopen from pandemic closure maybe a week prior if even)

I’ve only stayed in pop/AoA/all stars during other weekends

 

[The Expert]

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?

That's so cool! I've stayed mostly at BWV (and once at GFV) for races and have never seen anything like this at either one.

 

[Herding_Cats]

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?

They had something similar to this at OKW at marathon weekend. It was at the feature pool, over by the hot tub/lighthouse. They had foam rollers, a few yoga mats, bottled water, bananas, oranges (I think), and some frames/paddles to do pics with. And there was a CM over there the whole time we were at the pool that day. I was really hoping they had it at WL (we transferred resorts on Sunday) so I could get a pic of myself and DH together with all our medals and the signs that said "I did it" and "They made me do it" but DH couldn't find it anywhere. I will totally be going over there for that pic during MW if they don't have the stuff at Saratoga.

 

[fatmanatee]

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.

There’s no way around it, it’s a lot of road time, and the stretch from AK to HS is particularly bad, mainly because it can get hot and it’s VERY quiet. But… you’re doing it for the good parts. For me it’s the park time, and you do get quite a bit of character stops outside the parks (although I know at least one dropped out due to the heat this year). It’s fun but you def have to be ready for the long non-park stretches.

As for this years Wine and Dine course, I def think they need to return to the old map, it’s a great one. If they can’t include a nice stretch in HS then so be it, that’s likely covered with the 10 Miler map next year.

 

[Livelovedance]

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?

I didn't do W&D, but this past February they had a sign up for something similar at Saratoga for Princess Weekend. The sign advertised:
Welcome Back Greeting - Each race morning behind the Performance Hall
VIP Runner's Lounge - High Rock Springs Pool Deck 10am-10pm
Signature Offerings - Race crafts offered in the Community Hall 10am-10pm

There was a similar sign at OKW in April for Springtime Surprise:
Send-Off Event - Thursday evening in the Porte-cochere front entrance
Welcome Back Event - Saturday and Sunday morning in the Porte-cochere front entrance
VIP Runner's Lounge - Sandcastle Pool Deck 10am-6pm
Signature Offerings - Race crafts offered in the Community Hall 10am-10pm
Share your experience with us on social media using: #OKWcelebrates

I didn't attend any of these events, but I did get a photo in front of the OKW backdrop in April. They had a sign on each side of the backdrop (one said "I Did It!" and the other said "Congratulations! Welcome Home!), and there was a photo frame for you to hold that said runDisney on the top and the name of the resort on the bottom.

 

[Naomeri]

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?

You were just a couple minutes behind me in that M&M line, I got in at 7:01. I was so happy it was short and fast

 

[Naomeri]

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.

I was fine at the start being at the front of B, but then I kept stopping for characters and gradually ended up with the D and E runners and those highway ramps were a killer! I was trying to run on the left hand stripe and still had to dodge into the grass with a somewhat pointed “on your left” to whomever I was dodging. By the time I got into Epcot, I mostly stopped trying to run because it was just exhausting to be that frustrated all the time.

They really need to go back to reminding about course etiquette before the races, in addition to the constant (and important) reminders about hydrating. I don’t think I heard them mention “walkers on the right” once. I did see quite a few people signaling their slowdowns (though that only helps if you also look before you suddenly slow down)

 

[camaker]

I was fine at the start being at the front of B, but then I kept stopping for characters and gradually ended up with the D and E runners and those highway ramps were a killer! I was trying to run on the left hand stripe and still had to dodge into the grass with a somewhat pointed “on your left” to whomever I was dodging. By the time I got into Epcot, I mostly stopped trying to run because it was just exhausting to be that frustrated all the time.

They really need to go back to reminding about course etiquette before the races, in addition to the constant (and important) reminders about hydrating. I don’t think I heard them mention “walkers on the right” once. I did see quite a few people signaling their slowdowns (though that only helps if you also look before you suddenly slow down)

When they've given etiquette guidelines at the races I've attended, RunDisney generally goes with "walkers to the sides", not "walkers to the right".

 

[Naomeri]

When they've given etiquette guidelines at the races I've attended, RunDisney generally goes with "walkers to the sides", not "walkers to the right".

Well, I didn’t even hear that much. But walkers to the sides is terrible in practice in the narrow areas anyway

 

[PrincessV]

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.

I am a fan of highway miles: I love having that space for the crowd to stretch out get some breathing room. So for me, the highway part wasn’t the issue - it was how the highway + parks were put together.

I’ve always felt like the marathon puts the pieces together pretty well, under the several iterations of course I’ve experienced. There’s plenty of highway miles, but you get a chunk of highway, some park, highway, park, highway, park. It breaks it all up nicely, IMO.

 

[PrincessV]

Here’s my beef: why should a pleasant, not insanely and dangerously crowded race experience only be available to the fastest runners who submit PoT? If a race is going to welcome all of us who aren’t that fast but fast enough to be under the required 16:00/mile, then I expect the race org to create a course, cap the number of participants, and release corrals in such a way that we ALL get to enjoy our time out there. That is exactly what rD managed to do all last season (though i didn’t do PHM, so I can’t speak to that one), so it clearly can be done. Other local races manage to do it. We all pay an extraordinary amount of money for these races - why shouldn’t we ALL expect to be able to run them at our own paces? It’s just bananas to me that because I start in C, I should just have to accept that it’ll be too crowded to actually run for huge chunks of my race.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

They really need to go back to reminding about course etiquette before the races, in addition to the constant (and important) reminders about hydrating. I don’t think I heard them mention “walkers on the right” once.

They also used to post etiquette reminders on social media, but I didn’t see any this time around.

and release corrals in such a way that we ALL get to enjoy our time out there. That is exactly what rD managed to do all last season

I had the same experience @Naomeri did with EPCOT during the half at MW— I walked basically the bridge to the finish line it felt like because it was so so congested. I do agree that it would be nice for it to be limited somehow so we have more room— but they’re not going to cut numbers or do what it takes for this (keep parks closed longer or super spread out start times like NYC) bc Disney is all about money.

 

[azrivest]

View attachment 717129

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 D

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.

I am a fan of highway miles: I love having that space for the crowd to stretch out get some breathing room. So for me, the highway part wasn’t the issue - it was how the highway + parks were put together.

I’ve always felt like the marathon puts the pieces together pretty well, under the several iterations of course I’ve experienced. There’s plenty of highway miles, but you get a chunk of highway, some park, highway, park, highway, park. It breaks it all up nicely, IMO.

Yeah that's fine and that's what I'd be looking for. You have to put those 26 miles somewhere and of course highway makes sense.

It just seemed this race was half parks/resort, then half highway.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Completely agree about the highway miles and the breathing room on them during the full. I enjoy the in-park time (and it's part of what make these races so awesome) but I really appreciate being able to spread out over 4 lanes of highway for longer stretches.

 

[jpeterson]

My challenge medal did not survive the trip home I had it wrapped up in my carryon but when I went to hang it up this morning one of the two sides was completely broken off. Looks like they were only attached at one small point.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

I'm coming someone who is driving in, and keeps insisting we can "leave at 4am because we're 15 min away". I'm really nervous about that plan, and I may have to get my own taxi because I don't want to get stuck on the road and miss the race start.

@Tiggerette - Did the person you were coming with make it before race start? I was at the front of corral B and when we were running back by the pre-race area, we saw people just arriving!

 

[PrincessV]

They also used to post etiquette reminders on social media, but I didn’t see any this time around.

I had the same experience @Naomeri did with EPCOT during the half at MW— I walked basically the bridge to the finish line it felt like because it was so so congested. I do agree that it would be nice for it to be limited somehow so we have more room— but they’re not going to cut numbers or do what it takes for this (keep parks closed longer or super spread out start times like NYC) bc Disney is all about money.

Oh, I’ve totally had that experience in other races, too - but not for the ENTIRE race. I can deal with in narrow stretches and even for a mile or so at the end. But this was literally start to finish, NO ability to run-walk my own pace. I’ve never had that happen before outside of the 5 or 10Ks.

 

[RadioFr33Europe]

Can anyone please share the photo link code from the back of your bib for the half? Mine has rubbed off and the ones I guessed aren't working.

2022 WINE HALF only gives you 4 digits for bib.
2022 WINE HAL doesn't work.

 

[Naomeri]

Can anyone please share the photo link code from the back of your bib for the half? Mine has rubbed off and the ones I guessed aren't working.

2022 WINE HALF only gives you 4 digits for bib.
2022 WINE HAL doesn't work.

2022 WINE HLF# ####

 

[RadioFr33Europe]

2022 WINE HLF# ####

Thank you! This year's bibs seemed more fragile than previous year's.