Dopey Shenanigans! A Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend TR (Completed-videos added)

I can't wait to read more about your trip, and maybe it will inspire me to write my own report. It's always fun to relive Disney through other trip reports.

Your room looks great, and I envy the convenience of walking to Magic Kingdom. I've stayed at Poly, and really wish I could justify the cost to stay there again.

I barely got 2 hours of sleep before my early flight. I always wonder why I do that to myself, but I do enjoy having a full day to enjoy there. I was also disappointed in the weather, but kept trying to remind myself it was warmer than at home, and green, not blah!
Thanks for joining in!

I feel ya about the weather and lack of sleep.
 
Following along! :wave2:

Congrats on the AP!

I could so get used to that view! I really want to stay at the Poly, that's my dream resort, but BLT is a close second.
 
Following along! :wave2:

Congrats on the AP!

I could so get used to that view! I really want to stay at the Poly, that's my dream resort, but BLT is a close second.
Thanks for joining in!

I could get used to any of the MK resorts.
 
Our party stayed at BLT in a 1 bedroom also. Great room and we loved being able to walk to Magic Kingdom! My nephew loved it that he could make his own bacon in the room, too!
 


The Expo from (insert bad language)

After checking into our room my friend Wendy (who was running the 5K) and I would head to the expo. The expo buses at the Contemporary shared with Ft. Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge. Contemporary was the last stop on the way to the expo. The bus picked up by the resort convention center which wasn't too far but not exactly close either.

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The Contemporary Christmas tree was in full view though! It was stunning at night.

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After about 10ish minutes we were on a bus to the expo with already printed waivers in hand.

Upon arriving I had been following along on Facebook and Twitter that the expo had been pretty busy and that merchandise lines were long. I wasn't too worried yet though as the expo opened at Noon and the initial rush usually has some long lines. By the time we arrived at the expo is was about 2:00PM.

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The expo is kind of a fun beginning to the weekend usually... This was my fourth consecutive WDW Marathon weekend and previously I had never had an issue getting through the expo in an hour or two even when New Balance was still there and I was buying shoes. Apparently these looks were deceiving upon walking in. Dopey pick up was separate this year from other bib pick ups and merchandise was all in one location.

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My friend Wendy had the 5K bib pick up in Champion Stadium so we separated at that point. The line to get into Dopey bib pick up was out the door and wrapped around... Something I had never seen before for bib pick up.

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Once inside it was very quick. Got my bibs and shirts. My friend Wendy was already done of course and decided to head back. I went to check out the merchandise line which was a reported 1-2 hours. I looked and thought eh, what the heck I doubt it would actually take that long. Oh was I wrong... While in line I was seeing reports on social media of Dopey merchandise sold out already within two hours of the expo being open to the public... I was getting upset at that point. The unfortunate part to these expos is personal shoppers and eBay buyers swoop in and buy boat loads of stuff to sell online. While us actual runners miss out on stuff to commemorate our races. Pictures online showed those shoppers with baskets full of stuff. Then when looking at eBay items like a $10 magnet are going for $90-$100 which is insane. Disney needs to either only let runners in the first day of the expo or put major limits on things like only 5 per person.

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That was the outdoor line which took me over an hour to wait in. Once inside there was another line...

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This took 30-40 minutes. So in total I waited roughly 2 hours in line to give Disney more money. Am I a sucker or what?

Finally I got in.

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I looked around lot. I ended up buying a 25th marathon zip up sweatshirt since the Dopey ones were all gone unless you were a 2XL. I also got a Dopey and Marathon magnet and pins for each of the races and challenges. In total I spent about $200 but thankfully I had a lot of gift cards to cover that. I tweeted both at Disney and runDisney voicing my frustrations about the expo. The line was still about 2 hours long after I got out of it and left around 5PM. I originally wanted to go check out the other building that had the vendors in but after spending so much time in line I just wanted to leave. This was by far my worst expo experience in the four years I have done this weekend.

Continued in next post...
 
The Expo from (insert bad language)

On the way out I stopped at the banners for some quick selfies.

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While waiting for the bus I knew I would miss my first FP of the trip Space Mountain. I told my friends to go without my and that I would meet them for the next one after I got to MK. While waiting for the bus back to the resort a woman was on the phone with runDisney and got disconnected after being on hold for 40 minutes. I felt for her. Disney and communication aren't exactly great.

Finally by about 6PM I was heading into the Magic Kingdom. Walking to MK was such a time saver and an incredible perk to staying at BLT.

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It was decently crowded. I would meet up with my friends at Pirates of the Caribbean for our second FP of the night. And that is where I will leave you for now...

Up Next: A chilly end to the first night
 


That expo experience definitely seemed rough. I haven't experienced a Run Disney event before, so I had no idea that the "expo" area is setup that way. As I was reading your post, it made me think a lot about the D23 Expo in many ways (bad communication, crowds, lines, etc.).

Your pictures of MK are making me miss it already!
 
That expo experience definitely seemed rough. I haven't experienced a Run Disney event before, so I had no idea that the "expo" area is setup that way. As I was reading your post, it made me think a lot about the D23 Expo in many ways (bad communication, crowds, lines, etc.).

Your posts of MK are making me miss it already!
D23 is a bit bigger than this but yeah lines and communication were definitely an issue. You'd think maybe after 25 years of doing this they could figure it out but I guess not.
 
Pictures online showed those shoppers with baskets full of stuff. Then when looking at eBay items like a $10 magnet are going for $90-$100 which is insane. Disney needs to either only let runners in the first day of the expo or put major limits on things like only 5 per person.

As @AMusicLifeForMe indicated, this reminds me of D23 as well. I tried to avoid the shopping at D23 due to the lines. While walking around, I would see people with loads of bags just sitting there in line waiting to get into the next store. I know that D23 did limit the # of items on some things. But I don't know if they limited everything.
 
You should’ve gotten a medal for surviving the expo! I agree with you, something should be done about the personal shoppers. That’s just not fair to those running.
 
As @AMusicLifeForMe indicated, this reminds me of D23 as well. I tried to avoid the shopping at D23 due to the lines. While walking around, I would see people with loads of bags just sitting there in line waiting to get into the next store. I know that D23 did limit the # of items on some things. But I don't know if they limited everything.
Disney needs to limit this type of stuff in some ways. It just isn't fair to people who pay for these events.
 
You should’ve gotten a medal for surviving the expo! I agree with you, something should be done about the personal shoppers. That’s just not fair to those running.
Several people mentioned that while in line. We definitely needed a medal for surviving the expo.
 
I heard the expo was brutal! Ugh! I still never got a marathon magnet but saw it on eBay for a whopping $40 bones!

Love the convenience of walking to MK! It’s a major perk!! Looking forward to the ease of going in and out!
 
Love the walk to MK from BLT (especially since the resort monorail has to go 4 stops to get to MK).

I honestly couldn't figure out why the Dopey bib pickup line was so long/slow. Once inside, the lines at any given station were no more than 2 or 3 people long and it took all of 5 minutes. Were they metering for fire code? :confused3

This is where I admit that I probably broke the rules at the Expo, because as you said, that line for merchandise was stupid long. As I was exiting the second floor after getting my Dopey bibs, a person was directing people who wanted to purchase merchandise down the sidewalk to the insanely long line (which my wife was waiting in).

Then he said "If you have pre-purchased merchandise, turn left". I had pins to pick up, so I went in this back door, where I waited in line for about 5 minutes to get my pins. And while waiting I noticed the separator between the pre-purchase area and the main merchandise area was just a rope...So yes, I admit it, I ducked the rope into the main part of the merchandise area :sad2: There was no one patrolling or saying we couldn't do it...:confused:

They really do need some kind of requirement on the first day that only people with bibs can purchase, and some kind of item limit.
 
I heard the expo was brutal! Ugh! I still never got a marathon magnet but saw it on eBay for a whopping $40 bones!

Love the convenience of walking to MK! It’s a major perk!! Looking forward to the ease of going in and out!

There are Dopey magnets going for $90 now! Just crazy.

It was so nice walking in and out!

Love the walk to MK from BLT (especially since the resort monorail has to go 4 stops to get to MK).

I honestly couldn't figure out why the Dopey bib pickup line was so long/slow. Once inside, the lines at any given station were no more than 2 or 3 people long and it took all of 5 minutes. Were they metering for fire code? :confused3

This is where I admit that I probably broke the rules at the Expo, because as you said, that line for merchandise was stupid long. As I was exiting the second floor after getting my Dopey bibs, a person was directing people who wanted to purchase merchandise down the sidewalk to the insanely long line (which my wife was waiting in).

Then he said "If you have pre-purchased merchandise, turn left". I had pins to pick up, so I went in this back door, where I waited in line for about 5 minutes to get my pins. And while waiting I noticed the separator between the pre-purchase area and the main merchandise area was just a rope...So yes, I admit it, I ducked the rope into the main part of the merchandise area :sad2: There was no one patrolling or saying we couldn't do it...:confused:

They really do need some kind of requirement on the first day that only people with bibs can purchase, and some kind of item limit.

Yes so much quicker to walk than take the monorail.

Yeah the Dopey line was incredibly weird. I couldn’t figure out why it was long either.

I don’t blame you for ducking under that rope. Waiting 2 hours was probably not worth it but I did it.
 
They usually have a better handle on the expo's, but nothing brings out the eBay shoppers like an inaugural race or an anniversary race. And to be fair, there were probably more runners being the anniversary too. The DLH 10th anniversary year was insane also.
 
They usually have a better handle on the expo's, but nothing brings out the eBay shoppers like an inaugural race or an anniversary race. And to be fair, there were probably more runners being the anniversary too. The DLH 10th anniversary year was insane also.
Yeah I have never been to an anniversary year so it was definitely more crazy with that but this was just crazier than I have ever seen it.
 

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