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

[azrivest]

Agreed. Honestly I think there were just too many runners this year. I also think they should put an additional cap on attendance at the post race party. It was just too crowded all around. In terms of the course, I thought the one last year was perfect-and it probably helped that there weren't as many runners.

Based on numbers I've seen (posted by Teetz on Facebook), it was about 18 500 runners for the Half (Half + Challenge participants). So about pre-pandemic numbers. In practice, they aren't squeezing in more runners than before times.

 

[Jillfo]

Little things keep changing in what looks to me like they want the race cleared out as soon as possible which on one hand I understand that it impacts those not racing, however it is a ‘race weekend’ that comes at a high price so the focus should be on the runners. If people pay for a particular Disney party (Xmas,Halloween) they get the experience all about them, so any race weekend should be the same even if it means closing more roads to have a better course and spreading corals out like they used to.

It's my understanding that RunDisney is separate from park operations. Therefore, park operations may not feel the need to focus on the runners. Tolerated but not celebrated, so to speak. Whereas the parties are a function of park operations so those attendees do get an all-about-them experience.

 

[flav]

Did anyone experience transportation problems this year?

After the 10k, I had to wait at the bus line nearly 45min for the return busses to start running.
After the half, I sat on the bus for 30 minutes before it was allowed to leave.
My wife went with me to the half and was there at the finish. My son was going to take a shuttle from the hotel to see me finish as he has the last couple of years. He was told the finish line busses wouldn't leave until 7:45, and I was finished by then and on the way back.

That is some information that I was looking for, thanks. So the bus left the finish area to go to the resorts at about 6:45AM-7AM?

 

[RadioFr33Europe]

I think I remember there used to be corals up to M or so! Adding corals would allow them to still give a bump to the rundisney club members without affecting the rest of the field. See you next year!

That's correct. Before Covid, there were many more corals.

 

[RadioFr33Europe]

That is some information that I was looking for, thanks. So the bus left the finish area to go to the resorts at about 6:45AM-7AM?

On Saturday, that sounds about right.
On Sunday, it was probably 7:30-7:45.

 

[flav]

On Saturday, that sounds about right.
On Sunday, it was probably 7:30-7:45.

Thank you, it really helps!

I have even priced out a car (including parking) at this point because of these delays.

I am thinking
5k: Bus to BWI or Swan, walk/boat to HS for rope drop Chances are that the course will be contained to one park.
10k: Walk to Epcot main entrance thus avoiding the boardwalk area.
Longer races: Go back to resort first, or, if we really want to, bus to Contemporary and walk to MK.

 

[The Expert]

That is some information that I was looking for, thanks. So the bus left the finish area to go to the resorts at about 6:45AM-7AM?

On Saturday, that sounds about right.
On Sunday, it was probably 7:30-7:45.

This information will be in the event guide, under the Transportation section for each race.

For W&D 10K, this was the info posted there:
Saturday, November 5th
3:00am - 5:00am runDisney event transportation will be provided to/from all Walt Disney World® Resorts, Shades of Green, and the Swan and Dolphin Resorts.
6:30am - 9:00am runDisney event transportation will be provided to/from all Walt Disney World® Resorts, Shades of Green, and the Swan and Dolphin Resorts.


For W&D Half, this was the info:
Sunday, November 6th
2:30am - 5:00am runDisney event transportation will be provided to/from all Walt Disney World® Resorts, Shades of Green, and the Swan and Dolphin Resorts.
7:30am - 10:30am runDisney event transportation will be provided to/from all Walt Disney World® Resorts, Shades of Green, and the Swan and Dolphin Resorts.

This is what it looks like on the digital expo guide screen on my laptop:



You'll see that gap in bus times reflects the period where no buses are running. And as I mentioned above, if there are any delays in the start or it takes longer to get everyone past certain points on the course, they may delay starting the buses back up.

 

[flav]

This information will be in the event guide, under the Transportation section for each race.

Thank you, that is why I was asking now while the information is fresh and accessible

 

[mackabee77]

We've run two Wine and Dine halfs [2018 and 2022] and I kind of liked the new course. Running through the parks early rather than later made the first 6 miles fly by. Start/Finish in same location worked for me too. I probably won't run a third - it was just too hot and humid for me, 5 am is too early and I'm getting too old. (Several medical staffers asked me if I was OK after the finish...I was fine but probably a sign I should switch over to the 10k).

I made sure to post a time over the summer and we were in Corral B (SIL and daughter were A but graciously ran with me). We almost mistimed the start walk out and arrived like 8 minutes before the gun. Crowds were slightly tighter than 2018 - maybe from the twists and turns early on.

Characters seemed fewer and far less interesting than 2018. Maybe the rain shut some of them down but we were underwhelmed.

I thought they did a great job with the water/gatorade stations given the heat and humidity. I was two fisted at each.

100% recommend trying a Run Disney event if you're thinking about trying one on. *Favorite moment - Captain Jack stumbling the wrong way thru the walk-out crowd. After race party is kind of a bumble mess but did get on Ratatouille in 25 minutes. Thumbs up on that.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Well I guess DH and I just had too much fun at Wine and Dine… we received an email with a crazy good deal for flights to Orlando for Black Friday, and I said: how about we register for the Springtime surprise 10 miler in April? And just like that, flights are booked, registration is done and the room is booked for April!
So excited!!!

 

[XoxoAmy]

YOU GUYS! I was initially disappointed with my photopass pics during the W&D half, because I know I took a ton of them and only 3-4 not great ones showed up in my account. I didn’t even get the Mickey & Minnie pic I waited in line for! (The one line I waiting in! Thank god for my phone). So as a Hail Mary I emailed runD right after the race and asked if they could find any of my pics.

Yesterday I get an email saying they located my pics and put them in my account! Amazing!! I’m so happy!! Here are a few of the recovered:

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

YOU GUYS! I was initially disappointed with my photopass pics during the W&D half, because I know I took a ton of them and only 3-4 not great ones showed up in my account. I didn’t even get the Mickey & Minnie pic I waited in line for! (The one line I waiting in! Thank god for my phone). So as a Hail Mary I emailed runD right after the race and asked if they could find any of my pics.

Yesterday I get an email saying they located my pics and put them in my account! Amazing!! I’m so happy!! Here are a few of the recovered:

Awesome pics! That's so great they were able to find them even though your bib number wasn't visible!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Has anyone been to the expo on a Saturday? We are looking at flights for a race weekend (doing the 10-miler in April) and the flights are much much cheaper on Friday evening than morning.
We aren't really willing to buy any specific merchandise but was there still something available? Were characters even present on Saturday? it's hard to find the information on what the expo looks like post covid and all the reports I've seen are from people who were there Thursday - Friday ...
Thanks!

 

[Kazrak]

Has anyone been to the expo on a Saturday? We are looking at flights for a race weekend (doing the 10-miler in April) and the flights are much much cheaper on Friday evening than morning.
We aren't really willing to buy any specific merchandise but was there still something available? Were characters even present on Saturday? it's hard to find the information on what the expo looks like post covid and all the reports I've seen are from people who were there Thursday - Friday ...
Thanks!

There should be some merchandise left - there's always a bit left over that goes to the on-site tent for after the race, so I'd assume that the half-marathon merchandise is still at the expo on Saturday.

I'd be less optimistic on characters, though.

 

[kps7795]

Did they have you stand in a particular spot to take pictures with the characters? If not, were people spending more time than usual hugging and playing with the characters? I'm looking to get as many character pictures as I can during the HM and FM, so I'm curious about the wait times compared to last year when you had to stand on the specified circle.

 

[jpeterson]

Did they have you stand in a particular spot to take pictures with the characters? If not, were people spending more time than usual hugging and playing with the characters? I'm looking to get as many character pictures as I can during the HM and FM, so I'm curious about the wait times compared to last year when you had to stand on the specified circle.

During W&D they were not distanced but most people were all business. Get your shot and get going!

 

[kps7795]

During W&D they were not distanced but most people were all business. Get your shot and get going!

That's what I'm hoping will happen. Have your picture taken and get back on the course.

 

[Tiggerette]

Did anyone go to the expo and get the amazon gift card for trying out the energy gel gummy? I just tried to redeem mine today (I was told it was $10) and the amazon website said the redemption code was deactivated. I would have to reach out to the gummy people to resolve it. I also tried activating the code a different way, though my account, and it also said the code was not working. I didn't realize I'd have to redeem the gift card within a certain timeframe. Hmmmm....

 

[Herding_Cats]

Did anyone go to the expo and get the amazon gift card for trying out the energy gel gummy? I just tried to redeem mine today (I was told it was $10) and the amazon website said the redemption code was deactivated. I would have to reach out to the gummy people to resolve it. I also tried activating the code a different way, though my account, and it also said the code was not working. I didn't realize I'd have to redeem the gift card within a certain timeframe. Hmmmm....

I remember seeing some discussion about this (maybe in a fb group, or it was in here) and the consensus was that it didn't work for anyone. People were contacting rundisney about it since that's scammy behavior from a vendor AT the expo.

 

[Tiggerette]

I remember seeing some discussion about this (maybe in a fb group, or it was in here) and the consensus was that it didn't work for anyone. People were contacting rundisney about it since that's scammy behavior from a vendor AT the expo.

Oh! I don't do Facebook, so I certainly missed the discussion there. If there was a common way people handled it, I'd love to know and even though it's a little over month later, I'll follow-up using the same way they did.

PS Now I'm REALLY glad I didn't give it away as a gift as I had planned. That would have been very embarrassing.