2023 RunDisney Solo Trip Report: My First Dopey Challenge (FINALLY completed 11/7: Magic Kingdom After Hours)

[Disneyhanna]

Cold and running??? Yup - no way. I HATED the last part of training for Princess in Missouri when it was so cold outside. And Florida cold is cold to your bones.

It's funny because I trained in MN all winter, but was woefully underdressed (not sure what I was thinking) and froze in FL. To think I ran in sub-zero temps this winter and was warmer than during the WDW Half Marathon

You're making me cold!

Your smile is great and you look like you're having a blast.

Awww thank you! Smiling on the outside

 

[Disneyhanna]

Genie was somewhere around mile 9, to be honest I'm one of those weirdos that loves Disney but hasn't seen that many of the movies, Aladdin included. I know, I know! So while I wouldn't normally stop, there was a very short line and my legs were so tired of running. I waited about two minutes.

Finally the light at the end of the tunnel, you can see it was getting much lighter, the sun would be up soon! I distinctly remember asking Siri "can you get hypothermia in 45 degree weather" because I couldn't type it out, my hands were numb. My forearms were a bit cold but my legs and core were fine, so if I had worn gloves or kept my hand warmers or even had long sleeves I think I would have enjoyed myself much more. You live and learn!

I was definitely fading a bit, I had not stopped to walk yet at this point but there were several freeway overpasses between mile 10 and the end that I ended up walking up. No shame, needed to conserve strength for the marathon! While 95% of the course is flat, the overpasses are pretty long and the slant in the road really hurts my joints.

At some point I paused my watch for about a quarter mile on accident when I was running with my hands in my armpits Luckily I always run further than the race distance (photos, poor tangents, weaving around people) so I still got my 13.1 miles for my watch to count it as a half marathon.

The sun rose around 7:30 and I could have cried, I knew it would start warming up finally. I had just over two miles to go at that point.

Mushu was meeting again near the entrance to Epcot, I was getting close to the finish! The line was maybe five people long so I hardly waited at all, compared to the huge line Mushu had during the 5k!

Mushu was sooooo small. You can't really tell but I'm literally crouching in this picture because Mushu was so small, I'd guess like 4'8, I felt like a giant

Prior to the races I had read that the character lines tend to get shorter and shorter during the half/full because people just want to finish, or start getting anxious about the balloon ladies. I found this very true!

Shortly after Mushu was Lotso, I wrote "pink bear" in my notes because I had no clue who this was. Big and fluffy!

Again only a few people in line. I think my smile was looking a bit forced at this point!

And right after Lotso was Meeko, they really pack in the characters at the end around Epcot! There were maybe a dozen people waiting, so only waited a minute or two.

I was feeling so much better at this point, now that the sun had been up for a mile. It was a night and day difference!

Finally I finished the half marathon around 8AM! My arms were up because I was praising everything that I was done and could go somewhere warm, LOL!

They get all the angles, runDisney does great at taking so many photos. I don't get even half as good of photos at local races.

And the true savior of the day, Mylar blankets! There was some chatter that runDisney had not gotten their order due to shipment issues since the 10k was a bit chilly and there were no blankets, but thankfully they had them this day.

Just look at that bright sun, where was it most of my race? Smiling because I was DONE!

I think the half marathon is the hardest part of Dopey. You've now had no sleep for three days, it's a long enough race that you can't just walk and jog a bit for fun like you usually can for the 5k/10k, and the course is a mental test since there's 5 miles of road running, park, 6 miles of road running. It was by far my least favorite run of the weekend (okay maybe the weather played a major factor in my decision, just maybe).

It's also where the most self-doubt creeps in. You think, that was so hard running 13.1 miles, and now tomorrow I gotta do that twice?

Anyways, my head was pretty empty post-race and I decided to go find the parking lot photos which I had skipped (unintentionally) the prior days. They are by the stage/bleachers. There are the same characters before and after the races, and the lines are crazy long in the mornings so I recommend just doing them after, or doing one photo before the race and the rest after.

Flick only had five people in line so of course I stopped! I love A Bug's Life!

Darkling Duck was out again but I skipped since I had gotten a great photo the day prior. That line was definitely longer!

Timon had about five people in line as well. Okay I'm looking pretty rough here and the lighting is bad, maybe do take your photos before the race

Pain and Panic had a longer line, probably two dozen people. They looked so funny and I didn't even know who they were, so I had to stop of course. I only waited about five minutes!

I headed onto the bus back to AKL a little after 8:30, it was maybe 1/3 full. I didn't stretch at all because I'm bad about doing that, so I was definitely worried my legs would lock up on the bus. We departed from the parking lot at 8:41 and were back to Jambo house at 9:25...now what took 45 minutes, you ask?

There are a lot of road closures for the half and so I expected some detours, however our driver must have thought he was going to Wilderness Lodge because we ended up at the TTC before turning back in the right direction.

The ladies behind me were being so rude though, loudly berating the driver and saying things like "I can't believe they'll hire just anyone to be a bus driver these days." I wanted to say something but just kept quiet, but I couldn't believe how awful they were being. Funny how they were complaining probably loud enough for the driver to hear but didn't get up and ask what was going on!

My chip time was a little under three hours, about 20 minutes was stopping for photos. Since I got over 10 photos on the course the lines were obviously way shorter for the half! My running pace (when I was not stopped) averaged a little over 11 minutes per mile, which was probably a little faster than I should have been going, oh well! Had to stay warm!

The medal was very cute, Donald and Daisy slide along it! The medals do chip quite terribly, but mine are sitting in a box under my bed so who's lookin!

I got back to my room and immediately took a shower followed by a long soak in the bathtub. I wanted my legs nice and loose for the marathon, and the bath felt amazing.

I couldn't soak for too long because I had an 11:30 reservation for breakfast at 'Ohana! So, I cleaned up and left my room at 10:20 to take a bus to MK. My legs were fine, the bath was definitely a good idea as I had to speed walk to make it to the bus in time as it left promptly at 10:26, just made it.

We were dropped off at MK at 10:41, no issues with traffic since all the roads reopened by 10AM.

I hopped onto the resort monorail at 10:48, we had a bit of a holdup at the Contemporary but I made it to Poly by 11:08.

I noticed Genie was only $17 that day, so "cheap" compared to the $29 holiday pricing I paid days prior!

Several others from my running group joined me for breakfast, so we had a really fun time since we had all run the half that morning!

Waffle irons galore! This was my first time at 'Ohana, it's never been super high on my list but I thought it'd be a fun birthday breakfast. Plus, who doesn't want to load up on carbs after a long run (and before an even longer run)?

We loaded up on waffles and pineapple bread, I will say the food at 'Ohana is really no different than a bounty platter (except no bacon, boo) so you are definitely paying for the characters. We saw Stitch, Mickey, Lilo, and Pluto. It was really fun with the group but I would not go rushing back, especially since it is the same price as Topolino's which has much better food!

After brunch we headed to the Poly lawn to hang out with our running group which was having a big meetup. We did some Disney trivia and had a blast, other guests kept coming up and thinking it was an official resort activity! It was nice to sit and lounge in the sun, definitely good to stay off your feet this day when you are doing Dopey.

Some of us went back to MK with the intention of riding the train since it had just reopened two weeks prior. We did end up waiting about half an hour in a very long line, which wasn't great on the feet!

We caught the end of the parade while waiting!

We finally made it onto the train and it took over half an hour for a round trip, if that says anything about how popular and slowly loading it was that day!

It was really fun to ride the train, we got off around 4:30 and I decided to head back to AKL to have an early dinner and try to get at least four hours of sleep. There was an AKL bus sitting there and I didn't run to it and it stayed, my lucky day! It was about 15 minutes to Kidani and 5 more to drop off at Jambo.

Even though you are supposed to get towel service on the fourth day for a DVC room, I never did get any new towels, or TP (which I ran out of and had to grab from a cart). Thankfully they took the trash daily.

It was dinner time on the savannah!

Time for my dinner, I mobile ordered the pasta from the Mara around 6. Every resort does a basic marinara pasta the night before runDisney races, it's a nice option. I also got a kid's chicken strip meal because that sounded good! It took over 15 minutes for my food, so definitely click the I'm here button early for the Mara if you're going during a busy meal time.

For whatever reason I decided to take another shower and long bath before eating my dinner, the hot bath is seriously key to surviving Dopey. It made me feel good as new!

The chicken tenders were excellent, lots of chicken and not too much breading. The pasta did the job, nothing special but nice and filling. The roll was so good, I wish I had asked for butter though! Having a microwave was great since I had to reheat these a bit.

Finally, I got all of my stuff ready for the marathon. I brought my hydration vest but decided against it, I figured I would use my handheld water bottle and refill it at water stations. My bottle has a little zip pocket so I packed three individual electrolyte servings of Nuun Endurance as well three packs of Honey Stinger chews which I put in a sandwich baggie to save space. I also fit in one applesauce pouch.

The vest would have been nice for extra storage but it gets warm on my back and to be honest I thought photos would look better without it!

The marathon weather was supposed to be a little warmer and much more humid, they actually gave the race yellow flags because of the humidity even though the temperature looked mild. I packed my hand warmers and decided I could not throw them away until the sun was up

I was into bed by 9:30PM and set my alarm to 2:15AM, my neighbors of course chose that time to come back from the parks and start cooking dinner

At 10PM they started playing games or something, having arguments, just ugh. Finally I fell asleep!

About 38k steps for this day!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Congrats on finishing the half! (Even with the cold!)
I was so sore after the W&D half I can’t believe you ran a FULL marathon the next day!
Can’t wait to see how it went!!

 

[Disneyhanna]

Congrats on finishing the half! (Even with the cold!)
I was so sore after the W&D half I can’t believe you ran a FULL marathon the next day!
Can’t wait to see how it went!!

Thank you! Yes, the half was the first time during Dopey I thought what the heck did I sign up for

 

[jjeanms]

Joining in thanks for wri

 

[Disneyhanna]

Joining in thanks for wri

Thanks for joining in, update coming right up!

 

[Disneyhanna]

January 8th, 2023 - Dopey Day 4: Marathon​

Time for the main event, and final race of the Dopey Challenge: the marathon!

Highlights of the course included Magic Kingdom around mile 10, Animal Kingdom around mile 17, and Hollywood Studios around mile 23.

I slept well enough all things considered, no tossing and turning which I am thankful for. I am terrible at sleeping early but the cumulative miles and hours in the sun make it easier to sleep I think! (I think averaging 4 hours a night of sleep makes it easier to sleep too, HA!)

I woke up to my 2:15 alarm, again, not too groggy. It was hard to feel tired with all of the excitement and little bit of nervousness. I will say, this is where having already ran my first marathon in October made such a big difference. I wasn't really nervous about finishing at all, just nervous about how my body would react to a marathon on such tired legs.

I got out of bed at 2:20 and quickly dressed and was leaving my room by 2:48. Laying your stuff out the night before is so key!

I used the stowaway backpack I brought to pack my race medals so I could take pictures with them in the finish area. I wrapped them up in a big towel, many people pack stuff like a change of shoes in their gear check bags.

We drove from AKL to Swan and were leaving Swan by 3:06. The parking entry area was much busier this morning, people definitely get there earliest for the marathon (since there is a long walk to the corrals). We were parked by 3:15 in the front row though, so still ahead of most of the crowds I'm sure.

Driving stresses me out but for anyone not stressed about driving a car on vacation, I highly recommend driving to the races (and getting there early to avoid long lines to park). It was so easy, the roads are very quiet before 3:15 and it was so nice not waiting around for a bus.

We had to double back to the car to grab something we forgot but made it to the staging area by 3:40. Lots of walking ahead of these races! I went to gear check right away and dropped my bag at truck 7, my lucky number. You have to label your bag with your bib # and they have sharpies there, but definitely recommend labeling it ahead of time to avoid waiting for a marker. They give you a sticker to put on the back of your bib that tells them where they hang your bag in the truck so it's easy for them to find later. Only took me a few minutes to drop off.

Here was the character list, it wasn't perfectly accurate but it was very close.

I headed to the corrals at 4:00, and turned my watch on to see actually how long the walk was. It was about 0.67 miles and took me 13 minutes to walk to the first set of corrals, and I had to go further to get to A/B. Luckily they learned from the wet grass the day prior and had rearranged the cones so we could walk on the road instead of the wet grass!

They had yellow flags for the weather that morning due to humidity, but the temperature was quite low so it likely wouldn't be an issue until the last couple of hours and I hoped to be done before then. At 4AM it was about 52 degrees and 92% humidity but it felt quite pleasant since it was cool. Not as cold as the morning before thankfully!

I figured I'd finish somewhere around 11AM and it was supposed to be 73 degrees and sunny, with 67% humidity. Can't complain about that, other WDW marathons have been in the high 80s which sounds dreadful! If it had been like the 5k weather where it was over 70 and like 100% humidity at 4AM I would have been an absolute struggle to finish.

As I walked by Corral C it was absolutely massive, it is the first corral you can be in without a proof of time. You would definitely need to be there early to be near the front.

There was a set of port a potties by Corrals A/B again, that alone is worth getting a proof of time for, as the lines were maybe 3-4 people deep only.

I headed into Corral B at 4:25, and made the mistake of standing a bit too close to a speaker. I was probably in the middle of the corral but then spotted some people I knew and moved back, thankfully away from the speaker.

Everyone started moving up in the corral at 4:41 and they brought tape behind us to mark a new start wave (they release only part of each corral at a time in waves).

The first few miles were pretty uneventful, I think we even went through Epcot but I don't remember it at all! I was pretty focused on getting to MK around mile 10, it was mostly freeway miles til then and I wanted to just get in the zone and power through those first 10 miles. Since I was undertrained I was hoping to run the first 10 miles and then take walking breaks as needed. Once I start walking I have trouble stopping, so I wanted to try to make it through 10 miles first.

Around mile 4 you actually run by the start line, including the huge wall of port a potties. I had to stop (probably the worst idea since those were SO used) but it actually wasn't bad at all, just so dark. I think that was the only non-park restroom stop I had to do in all four races. There was no line at least since there are so many!

There's quite a bit of running by sections you've already gone past during the marathon, so you pass by runners who are behind you. It's a bummer going by people who are ahead of you but it is nice when you're on the other side and going by runners behind you!

Belle was out early in the race and I skipped her, but Pocahontas had swapped for her when we ran by her on the other side of the road and so that was my first photo stop of the race about an hour in. The line was not bad at all, maybe 15-20 people and only took a minute.

A bit later I stopped for Ooogie Boogie and almost immediately after he stepped away, so I bailed on that line since I was not at the front.

Flick and Atta were out together so I had to stop, again only 15-20 people so took about two minutes.

The line for Pooh and friends at mile 8 was definitely the longest line yet, but I will always stop for Pooh no matter the wait. There were probably 30-40 people and it moved pretty slowly, but they didn't take any breaks thankfully so I was done in only four minutes. The line seemed to have doubled behind me!

I saw a few people I knew cheering at the TTC, which was a great energy boost.

This was the downhill section under a bridge before MK that was SO dark the day prior, it was much nicer running in the daylight.

Finally, it was almost time for Magic Kingdom! I was excited to see it in the light since it had been dark during the half marathon.

So much fun running down Main Street, it was slightly more crowded than the day before since I was running a bit slower but still not congested at all.

I used the Star Traders bathroom again since it's basically on course, no lines and it was still very clean. Definitely try to use the park bathrooms if you can time it right!

The Beast was out and I had to stop of course, I wanted to stop for all new characters. Maybe 20 people in line and about two minutes again. I was loving these shorter lines, even though I was running a bit slower that day. I think this picture is SO funny for some reason.

Looking at my splits from that race, my moving pace the first 10 miles (aka not including photo stops) was about 11.5 minute miles, so it's not like I was running super fast or anything, that's all the Corral A/B advantage.

There was no wait for the castle photo again, I was just as confused and overwhelmed by the chaos as the day before!

It was fully light outside at that point (around 7:20AM) so I was hoping for a better picture and I got one!

All the photopass photographers are in the parks not on the freeways so make sure to look for them and smile in the parks!

Jack Sparrow was out so again, had to stop. Only a few people in line so I was done in a minute. I will say, Jogging Jack Sparrow gave this guy a run for his money!

Time to leave MK, no more park time for over five miles. As you leave MK you enter the infamous "Cone Alley" where the road is narrowed by a wall of cones. It can fit maybe three people across. As you can see in my picture, it was empty enough that I had no trouble running, but it gets very congested later on.

I had no idea who this was (now I know it's Monterey Jack from Rescue Rangers) but he had such a short line and I needed to catch my breath.

Since they link photos by bib numbers and not magic bands, it's definitely important to wear your bib so that the number is visible. I accidentally covered my number in this photo but they took another, but I got this one too because the number is also listed vertically on the left side of your bib!

Chip and Dale were out and I would have taken another picture but they went on break immediately so I bailed on that line as well.

Around Mile 12 I filled my handheld water bottle with three cups of water, and dumped another electrolyte packet in.

Daisy had a short line about a minute wait.

Powerline was supposed to be there but unfortunately wasn't, they still had the stage set up which was cool. The line was again super short, a minute tops. The lines were definitely getting shorter.

Even though I already had a picture with Mushu I got in line because there were like five people in line. It's funny, the line for Mushu for the 5k was probably half an hour at times but here during the marathon I had basically no wait! Again, soooo smol!

There was no one in line for Rafiki so again I stopped. If anything, the character photos were a great chance to take a break from running.

I was still feeling really good at this point, everyone was warning me about how awful the stretch from MK to AK is (almost 6 miles) but since I started so early, the temperature was still cool maybe high 50s and the sun was still behind all the trees. I didn't even break a sweat in those first 17 miles and I am the type of person to think 70 is way too hot for running! I was still able to run without stopping (other than for photos) so I was taking advantage of that as long as I could.

At some point there was a banana stop, which was awesome.

Finally around mile 16.5 it was time for Animal Kingdom! I was most excited for this part as it was my #1 goal to ride Expedition Everest during there race! I was a little nervous since the park opened at 8 and there was also early entry, so I wasn't sure if there would be a line or not.

There were maybe a dozen people in line for the photo with Everest in the background so I stopped and apparently was channeling Vanna White.

I made it to Everest at 8:43 and CMs were ushering runners into the single rider line, right onto the ride. They were holding the regular line so I think they were alternating cars of regular line, then single rider line composed of just runners.

It was so awesome to literally run right onto the ride! The wait was still listed at 5 minutes so the line couldn't have been long anyways.

We were all cheering, the people in the regular line were clapping for us, the guy I rode with took a selfie of us so of course I took one too. I love roller coasters but Everest was never anything that special to me, but let me tell you there was nothing more thrilling than riding it around mile 17 of the marathon!

It had never been more fast, thrilling, and fun before to me! The cool air felt magnificent and we all had our arms up and were screaming our heads off.

I was off the ride by 8:49, so it only took me 6 minutes total. It was an absolute core memory and highlight of the race weekend for sure!

I saw someone I knew cheering right after getting off the ride so that was fun!

It is interesting running through the parks while they are open. The regular guests have to walk behind cones, so it feels like the runners are definitely prioritized. I think that's part of why the Everest line was so short, it was probably a bit hard to access as a regular guest!

Now, it was starting to warm up a bit and I knew I was in for the toughest miles ahead.

I left AK at 8:56 and stepped off the course to douse myself in the travel spray sunscreen I brought. Definitely pack a small sunscreen as you will be out there for hours in the sun.

There was no line for Timon, I think this wins my worst race character photo award.

Around mile 18 I was finally starting to feel a bit warm. Not awful yet, but definitely not cool and breezy like the miles prior.

They had sponges in cold water but I wasn't feeling sticky/salty enough yet to grab one. I could have used it a few miles later though!

Buzz and Jessie had a line of about 20 people and it took about two minutes, I really needed those two minutes as I was starting to get tired finally.

Shortly after was Woody and Bo Peep, again about the same length of line for them.

I could tell people around me were really losing steam as the full sun was starting to beat down so hard. As you enter and leave AK you run along the same section for a few miles and so I could see everyone heading towards AK after I was already a mile past. It looked so much more congested, like people were struggling to find room to run.

I'm about at my photo limit so I will finish off the marathon day in my next post, thanks for reading!

 

[vamassey1]

Wow! There is no way I could ever do this.

What a great experience and achievement.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Wow! There is no way I could ever do this.

What a great experience and achievement.

I’m not sure how I did it! And I hope to do it again next year! Thanks for reading!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

The half nearly killed me when I did it. I can't imagine doing the full. And doing ALL????? You are a rock star!!!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

I am so impressed! And seriously HOW COOL to run onto Everest with people cheering you on! I absolutely would have been clapping for you all. Love your selfie race buddy on the ride

 

[KEK1]

What a great TR and wow amazing job!

 

[Disneyhanna]

The half nearly killed me when I did it. I can't imagine doing the full. And doing ALL????? You are a rock star!!!

To be fair the half nearly killed me too Thank you!!

 

[Disneyhanna]

I am so impressed! And seriously HOW COOL to run onto Everest with people cheering you on! I absolutely would have been clapping for you all. Love your selfie race buddy on the ride

The regular park guests who had no clue what they were getting into were the best sports! Lots of clapping and cheering, it was great! The guy I rode with was so funny, total stranger and just went right for the selfie, we were all in cloud 9 at that moment (probably from getting to sit down )

What a great TR and wow amazing job!

Thank you so much! I feel a bit of main character energy writing this but there aren’t a lot of Dopey TRs so I thought I’d just go all in on the experience to convince others to try it (or to not try it)

 

[Isabelle12345]

Ok that's it, you definitely convinced me! Now I have FOMO and want to do Dopey as well!
I can't believe you were able to run that much after 3 days of races though... it sounds crazy!
Your race pics are AMAZING! You don't even look like you were having a hard time
Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[Disneyhanna]

Ok that's it, you definitely convinced me! Now I have FOMO and want to do Dopey as well!
I can't believe you were able to run that much after 3 days of races though... it sounds crazy!
Your race pics are AMAZING! You don't even look like you were having a hard time
Thanks for sharing your experience!

Yes!!!! Mission accomplished! There must be something in the Marathon Weekend air, or maybe it's beginner's luck! I was so happy with the race pictures. I am not photogenic in real life and my regular photopass photos are never very good. But the race photos turned out so well, they did such a great job! Thank you!!

 

[Counting Stars]

Love this trip report! Great pictures and just wow on the ride on Everest! Even though your trip is over its like we are there with you cheering you on Talk about an accomplishment! Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Love this trip report! Great pictures and just wow on the ride on Everest! Even though your trip is over its like we are there with you cheering you on Talk about an accomplishment! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Thank you, I’m so glad people are finding it fun to read!! It’s been fun writing this and somewhat reliving the experience. It was such a blur but I took quick notes during the races on my phone and some of them are so funny. Like how the announcers on marathon day were telling men not to step off the road to do their business because people could see from the monorail

I met a perfect marathoner (30 WDW marathons!!!) and saw a few perfect Dopeys (10 years!!!) and it was really inspiring. I sure hope I’m still running decades from now!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Love reading along! The character meets are awesome! It looks like you were doing fantastic with your running!
Riding EE during the marathon would definitely be a highlight! I’m afraid of that ride so even if I could run a marathon lol I wouldn’t ride it!

 

[Disneyhanna]

Love reading along! The character meets are awesome! It looks like you were doing fantastic with your running!
Riding EE during the marathon would definitely be a highlight! I’m afraid of that ride so even if I could run a marathon lol I wouldn’t ride it!

It is hard to wait in line in the parks for characters now! I was worried it would be hard to get out of the seat after but adrenaline is something else!