Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend 2023 (Nov. 2-5, 2023)

[rockpiece]

Whoops replied to wrong post, character list in post below.

 

[rockpiece]

Is there an event brochure for the event tonight that lists characters that are out?

 

[rich_84]

A quick q on the photos - is it really $15 an image or $75 for photos from the day?

 

[1lilspark]

A quick q on the photos - is it really $15 an image or $75 for photos from the day?

I believe so that’s why I invest in spending for the add on with my AP as if I take no other photopass pictures in the park just doing one race weekend pays for itself

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

Two questions:

1) If you drive to the race in the morning, can you leave your car there all day until the after party is over? Or do they expect you to clear out your car right after the race?

2) To those that ran last year, how did this route experience compare to last year?

 

[Isabelle12345]

Has anyone gotten their pics with Robin Hood and Little John for the 10k race?
They were on a break and we waited 3-4 minutes for them and we dont have the pictures on our accounts (we have all the other pics but that one is the one we were most excited about!)
So I am worried something went wrong since we were the first in line after their break and the picture didn’t register…

 

[1lilspark]

Has anyone gotten their pics with Robin Hood and Little John for the 10k race?
They were on a break and we waited 3-4 minutes for them and we dont have the pictures on our accounts (we have all the other pics but that one is the one we were most excited about!)
So I am worried something went wrong since we were the first in line after their break and the picture didn’t register…

They were our first 10k pics to load
For the 5k my pre-race Encanto pics didn’t pop up till I was in the coral for the 10k

 

[DisneyParrothead]

Has anyone gotten their pics with Robin Hood and Little John for the 10k race?
They were on a break and we waited 3-4 minutes for them and we dont have the pictures on our accounts (we have all the other pics but that one is the one we were most excited about!)
So I am worried something went wrong since we were the first in line after their break and the picture didn’t register…

The break shouldn't matter, but after a few days you can reach out about missing pictures. The pictures are tagged by hand so it could take some time. I'd say if by the end of Wednesday you haven't seen, then reach out. You need to give them as many details as possible like what you were wearing, roughly what time of day you got the picture taken, the characters, etc, because your bib may not be fully shown or shown at all.

 

[RadioFr33Europe]

2) To those that ran last year, how did this route experience compare to last year?

Similar, but not the same.

The walk to the corrals from the pre-race staging was nearly a mile last year.

I liked this year better, but the temperature played a big part. Last year was hot and humid.

 

[Bree]

Two questions:

1) If you drive to the race in the morning, can you leave your car there all day until the after party is over? Or do they expect you to clear out your car right after the race?

2) To those that ran last year, how did this route experience compare to last year?

1. Yes.

2. I thought miles 6-11 would be a slog, but I didn’t think it was bad at all. It was way better than that horrible never ending out and back last year. Entertainment did a good job with character stops (4 of them), a Latin band, a mariachi band, music and I think two other dj’s.

I just counted and during the half I stopped for 20 characters, a selfie with Rey and 3 other PhotoPass spots (spot over by Rise, TOT and 100th sign in Epcot). I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many characters on a half course. This is usually what I get during the marathon!

 

[RuntheMouse]

The break shouldn't matter, but after a few days you can reach out about missing pictures. The pictures are tagged by hand so it could take some time. I'd say if by the end of Wednesday you haven't seen, then reach out. You need to give them as many details as possible like what you were wearing, roughly what time of day you got the picture taken, the characters, etc, because your bib may not be fully shown or shown at all.

I just wanted to add that I had a great experience with photopass locating a missing pic from last year (not rundisney). If you do need to contact them for assistance they may ask for another pic of you to compare to so be ready with another race pic to make that effortless. They asked in a follow up email for us.

 

[marty3d]

1. Yes.

2. I thought miles 6-11 would be a slog, but I didn’t think it was bad at all. It was way better than that horrible never ending out and back last year. Entertainment did a good job with character stops (4 of them), a Latin band, a mariachi band, music and I think two other dj’s.

I just counted and during the half I stopped for 20 characters, a selfie with Rey and 3 other PhotoPass spots (spot over by Rise, TOT and 100th sign in Epcot). I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many characters on a half course. This is usually what I get during the marathon!

I agree. I didn’t find the roads a slog at all and rD did a great job with entertainment and photo ops. I didn’t stop at as many as you but still managed more photo ops than even in the full the last 2 years. Such a great race yesterday.

 

[RadioFr33Europe]

The Latin band was a fantastic add.

My favorites are always the choir they put at the end. I got to hear “How Far I’ll Go” at the end of my race yesterday.

 

[Zutroy]

2) To those that ran last year, how did this route experience compare to last year?

It was better than last year, but still nowhere near as good as the previous course. To me there was no better way to finish a half than entering the international gateway, running around world showcase, and finishing by running under spaceship earth. Doing world showcase at mile 2 feels wrong, and I don’t like front loading all the parks. The new loop around Blizzard Beach helps add variety, but it can’t compare to running through Pandora. I also feel like they have been cheaping out on on-course entertainment. Oh boy—another high school band! Or the fourth DJ! I don’t care about character photos—I’d rather have Disney-level entertainment than a picture of me standing next to Duffy.

 

[RadioFr33Europe]

It was better than last year, but still nowhere near as good as the previous course. To me there was no better way to finish a half than entering the international gateway, running around world showcase, and finishing by running under spaceship earth. Doing world showcase at mile 2 feels wrong, and I don’t like front loading all the parks. The new loop around Blizzard Beach helps add variety, but it can’t compare to running through Pandora. I also feel like they have been cheaping out on on-course entertainment. Oh boy—another high school band! Or the fourth DJ! I don’t care about character photos—I’d rather have Disney-level entertainment than a picture of me standing next to Duffy.

Yeah, the older courses with 3 parks (running through Pandora in the dark) was way better.

They used to have screens playing “Be Our Guest” with smoke cannons shooting over the race course when the champagne pops open. I miss that.

The course this year and last year also seems to be way worse for traffic. It took our bus 1.5hr to get from Wilderness Lodge to EPCOT yesterday. Last year was tons of traffic too. In previous years, I don’t remember traffic being too bad.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I agree. I didn’t find the roads a slog at all and rD did a great job with entertainment and photo ops.

Agreed. I actually liked them better because I had room to move and didn’t have to weave as much as an interval run/walker. Plus I loveddd the NBC music!

 

[iheartglaciers]

Anyone going to Disney Springs tonight and would be willing to pick up a challenge magnet from the Marketplace Co-Op? I heard they restocked them. I tried to get one from MK on Saturday, but they sold out. These are the D-Tech/Made ones, not the Mickey shaped ones from the Expo.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Hey everyone! I was so busy with the races, parks, and hanging with friends this weekend that I didn't get on here at all. Just catching up and recovering from a great weekend. My observations from the weekend:

1) The lack of Figment stuff and medal replica pins at the expo was so disheartening. I was in group 60 and got in around noon and every single medal replica pin was gone from the shelves. I managed to snag three of the four by checking return bins and scanning random flat surfaces around the merch area, so I consider myself lucky but I reeaaaalllllyyyy wanted that Figment medal replica pin and I'm having a really hard time bringing myself to pay a stupid reseller double the price for it.

2) I echo whomever said that the 10K course was frustrating because we didn't enter a park until almost mile 4. I forgot to check the route beforehand and I was like "we have to hit a park eventually, right?"

3) The half marathon course should have been done in reverse. I hated that the parks were front-loaded and then we just ran on highway until mile 11. I still enjoyed the course a lot, but I wish they could have figured out a way to do it backwards (I'm sure the traffic situation and park opening make this difficult). I would have loved to run World Showcase at the end instead of the beginning. Running through Galaxy's Edge was so cool though!

4) This was my first W&D weekend so it was my first after party, and I hate to say that I was really disappointed. Lines for food and drink were longer than the regular park day, the rides were mobbed, and I just did not have a great time overall. I almost left after I walked over to meet the Beast because the line was decently short and waited for a few minutes before a CM walked up and arbitrarily drew a line right in front of me and said "the line ends here. If you want to meet Beast, you can come back at 11:00." It was 10:15 and he was not apologetic at all. I literally just looked him in the eye and said "this is the worst party ever" and walked away. I did manage to sneak in a few rides on GotG, but that was mainly because we had a DAS member in our group and only had to wait like 25 minutes each time.

Overall, I had a great time. I have to reel myself in on park time for Dopey in January to save my legs (my mileage on Sunday ended up being 26.75 miles), but I'm feeling more confident that I can complete Dopey now. I already miss Disney so much as I type this at my desk at work.

 

[LottiesMommy]

Hey everyone! I was so busy with the races, parks, and hanging with friends this weekend that I didn't get on here at all. Just catching up and recovering from a great weekend. My observations from the weekend:

1) The lack of Figment stuff and medal replica pins at the expo was so disheartening. I was in group 60 and got in around noon and every single medal replica pin was gone from the shelves. I managed to snag three of the four by checking return bins and scanning random flat surfaces around the merch area, so I consider myself lucky but I reeaaaalllllyyyy wanted that Figment medal replica pin and I'm having a really hard time bringing myself to pay a stupid reseller double the price for it.

2) I echo whomever said that the 10K course was frustrating because we didn't enter a park until almost mile 4. I forgot to check the route beforehand and I was like "we have to hit a park eventually, right?"

3) The half marathon course should have been done in reverse. I hated that the parks were front-loaded and then we just ran on highway until mile 11. I still enjoyed the course a lot, but I wish they could have figured out a way to do it backwards (I'm sure the traffic situation and park opening make this difficult). I would have loved to run World Showcase at the end instead of the beginning. Running through Galaxy's Edge was so cool though!

4) This was my first W&D weekend so it was my first after party, and I hate to say that I was really disappointed. Lines for food and drink were longer than the regular park day, the rides were mobbed, and I just did not have a great time overall. I almost left after I walked over to meet the Beast because the line was decently short and waited for a few minutes before a CM walked up and arbitrarily drew a line right in front of me and said "the line ends here. If you want to meet Beast, you can come back at 11:00." It was 10:15 and he was not apologetic at all. I literally just looked him in the eye and said "this is the worst party ever" and walked away. I did manage to sneak in a few rides on GotG, but that was mainly because we had a DAS member in our group and only had to wait like 25 minutes each time.

Overall, I had a great time. I have to reel myself in on park time for Dopey in January to save my legs (my mileage on Sunday ended up being 26.75 miles), but I'm feeling more confident that I can complete Dopey now. I already miss Disney so much as I type this at my desk at work.

I totally agree with your comments on the merch. I entered a little after you in group 63. I ended up loving the shirt and leggings I picked up but it felt very picked over and I am not sure I would bother trying to shop first day again. I think my next race I will just enjoy my included t shirts and call it a day.

I think I am in the minority that loved the 10k course. I liked having so much room early in the race because of all the road miles and the parks being on the back end gave me something to look forward to at the end.

 

[RadioFr33Europe]

4) This was my first W&D weekend so it was my first after party, and I hate to say that I was really disappointed. Lines for food and drink were longer than the regular park day, the rides were mobbed, and I just did not have a great time overall. I almost left after I walked over to meet the Beast because the line was decently short and waited for a few minutes before a CM walked up and arbitrarily drew a line right in front of me and said "the line ends here. If you want to meet Beast, you can come back at 11:00." It was 10:15 and he was not apologetic at all. I literally just looked him in the eye and said "this is the worst party ever" and walked away. I did manage to sneak in a few rides on GotG, but that was mainly because we had a DAS member in our group and only had to wait like 25 minutes each time.

I’ve been running W&D since 2016 and for some reason, the after party used to be less crowded. I can’t imagine the race has gotten any bigger. But I echo that lines are now longer than they are during the day. We used to close the night down. Now, we’re leaving by 11 because the lines for rides are so long.