Marathon Weekend 2019

[wdvak]

SAFD: To complete Dopey and my first marathon.

 

[DopeyBadger]

That's really helpful, thanks! I was just curious as I am having fun with the 10k training and am pondering doing another round of shorter distances rather than stepping up to half marathon (unless two speed-focused cycles in a row would be problematic). I will see how I feel after this race though.

Switching it up can be beneficial because then you'll challenge other aspects of the running spectrum. But, at the end of the day, you've got to choose what pacing you like most. There are two different paths to a HM. An endurance route and a speed route. So if you enjoy the speed work you're doing now, then we can incorporate that into a HM plan. It may or may not be what helps you improve the quickest, but 99% of what we do is training and thus we need to find some route that we enjoy.

 

[a-mad]

SAFD:

Sorry I always tend to be late on these... (lately it's been TAFD - Tuesdays are for Disney )

Boy, this is a good one. It will be 6(!) years since our last WDW trip, so there will be a ton of firsts. Here's a few:

• First WDW race (Dopey)
• First stay in a Deluxe resort (BCV)
• Frozen Ever After
• Toy Story Land
• Pandora (REALLY looking forward to this one... I closely followed progress on this since the day it was announced, and was always excited for it)
• A few new restaurants including (hopefully) California Grill, Via Napoli and Boma

Speaking of restaurants... a couple more questions for all you WDW experts:

• What are your favorite "high-concept" restaurants (like Prime-Time 50's or Sci-Fi Dine-In, etc?) I've been to a few of them, but it's been years.
• Is it worth getting a Fantasmic! dining option at DHS to avoid crowds and securing a good seat?
• Have any of you tried D-Luxe Burgers at DS? A co-worker said it was pretty darn good.

And finally - the whole Mayochup topic. It's quite a big (but funny) deal out here in Utah since we've had Fry Sauce (same recipe) as a normal condiment at nearly every restaurant for literally my whole lifetime. During the 2002 Olympics there was actually a fry sauce pin that was one of the first pins to sell out!

 

[lhermiston]

What are your favorite "high-concept" restaurants (like Prime-Time 50's or Sci-Fi Dine-In, etc?) I've been to a few of them, but it's been years.

We really enjoyed Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater when we went a few years ago. The food was fine, not amazing, but not bad by any means. The theming is really cool and fun.

On the other end of the spectrum, I'm of the opinion the BoG is grossly overrated.

I think we're going to do Prime-Time over marathon weekend.

Is it worth getting a Fantasmic! dining option at DHS to avoid crowds and securing a good seat?

My recollection is doing the Fantasmic dining option one day, getting good seats and then getting rained out. We attempted it a second time, without the Fantastmic dining option and got perfectly good seats (see photo below). I recall the Fantastmic dining option not adding any cost to our meals, so if you're already planning on doing one of those restaurants and doing Fantastmic, it can't really hurt, but I don't think it's necessary when crowds aren't bad.

DSC_9975 by Lee Hermiston, on Flickr

 

[rteetz]

Speaking of restaurants... a couple more questions for all you WDW experts:

• What are your favorite "high-concept" restaurants (like Prime-Time 50's or Sci-Fi Dine-In, etc?) I've been to a few of them, but it's been years.
• Is it worth getting a Fantasmic! dining option at DHS to avoid crowds and securing a good seat?
• Have any of you tried D-Luxe Burgers at DS? A co-worker said it was pretty darn good.

And finally - the whole Mayochup topic. It's quite a big (but funny) deal out here in Utah since we've had Fry Sauce (same recipe) as a normal condiment at nearly every restaurant for literally my whole lifetime. During the 2002 Olympics there was actually a fry sauce pin that was one of the first pins to sell out!

50s Prime Time all the way.

I’ve never done the dining package and never had a problem but I haven’t seen fantasmic in years now. The WDW is kind of stale. I watch the Star Wars fireworks instead.

I enjoy D-Luxe burger!

 

[AFwifelife]

• What are your favorite "high-concept" restaurants (like Prime-Time 50's or Sci-Fi Dine-In, etc?) I've been to a few of them, but it's been years

We like both 50s and Sci Fi. Sci Fi has been a staple for us recently because my kids love sitting in the cars and watching movies while eating. 50s has decent food and the portions are on the larger side. I haven’t been there but I’ve heard Whispering Canyon Cafe in WL is tons of fun.

 

[JeffW]

This whole registration date change now has us in a quandary. We have hotel reservations in Hawaii for the 1st-9th of June, so we'll be on an airplane for most of the 1st and the 9th. Now debating the probability that Disney chooses one of the days we are on a plane to hold registration. Guess we'll find out how good in-flight wifi over the Pacific is if runDisney chooses to say "Surprise, it is June 1st, registration is open!"

 

[AFwifelife]

This whole registration date change now has us in a quandary. We have hotel reservations in Hawaii for the 1st-9th of June, so we'll be on an airplane for most of the 1st and the 9th. Now debating the probability that Disney chooses one of the days we are on a plane to hold registration. Guess we'll find out how good in-flight wifi over the Pacific is if runDisney chooses to say "Surprise, it is June 1st, registration is open!"

June 1st is a Friday so if they go by the “traditional” sign up days, I would say that AP/DVC early registration would be the following Thursday, June 7th and regular Tuesday, June 12th

 

[SarahDisney]

Um ... I might be making this up, but I have a vague memory of Wine & Dine AP/DVC signup being on a Monday, with general registration being the next day.
Am I making things up? Or is that how they did W&D registration?

 

[Barca33Runner]

Is it worth getting a Fantasmic! dining option at DHS to avoid crowds and securing a good seat?

I think this is dependent on it being a very busy day at HS. It’s neither a tremendously great nor terrible deal from a value perspective on the meal (particularly as the last I saw they removed the appetizer and only decreased the price by a couple dollars).

We used it last Marathon Weekend and were very happy. During Marathon Weekend 2017 we arrived 45 minutes early for a show, earlier than they recommend arriving, and were placed in a standing room only line and were only able to get seats because a couple members of our party arrived even earlier and managed to save enough space for my sister and nephew to squeeze next to them. We didn’t want to repeat that.

In 2018 the parks were crazy crowded again and it seemed that over 50% of the seats were roped off for dining packages, dessert party, and FP+ with dining and dessert party having the most central seats. It worked really well for us but I can imagine that during less crowded times it will feel less necessary. Because next Marathon Weekend is going to be later I’m not anticipating doing the dining package again during that trip.

 

[AFwifelife]

Um ... I might be making this up, but I have a vague memory of Wine & Dine AP/DVC signup being on a Monday, with general registration being the next day.
Am I making things up? Or is that how they did W&D registration?

Yea that’s how it ended up because they delayed with no real explanation then I think rushed to just get registration open because people were freaking

 

[rteetz]

Um ... I might be making this up, but I have a vague memory of Wine & Dine AP/DVC signup being on a Monday, with general registration being the next day.
Am I making things up? Or is that how they did W&D registration?

Yep with the delay that’s how they did it but normally it’s been the Thursday before. RunDisney isn’t normal though...

 

[Krandor]

This whole registration date change now has us in a quandary. We have hotel reservations in Hawaii for the 1st-9th of June, so we'll be on an airplane for most of the 1st and the 9th. Now debating the probability that Disney chooses one of the days we are on a plane to hold registration. Guess we'll find out how good in-flight wifi over the Pacific is if runDisney chooses to say "Surprise, it is June 1st, registration is open!"

The 1st is only when they are going to announce registation dates (or give more info on them) so that is very unlikely to be the date registration will start so you are fine ther. June 9th is a saturday and they have never opened registration on a saturday. So I think you'll be fine.

 

[JM735]

Speaking of restaurants... a couple more questions for all you WDW experts:

• What are your favorite "high-concept" restaurants (like Prime-Time 50's or Sci-Fi Dine-In, etc?) I've been to a few of them, but it's been years.
• Is it worth getting a Fantasmic! dining option at DHS to avoid crowds and securing a good seat?
• Have any of you tried D-Luxe Burgers at DS? A co-worker said it was pretty darn good.

I'm love 50's Prime Time. I think it offers the balance of good food, great theming and fun interaction with cast members.

I haven't tried the dining package for Fantasmic, but I'd guess others are correct that the crowd levels don't require it. We used the dining package for Rivers of Light and I thought that worked well.

D-Luxe Burgers is on my list to try as I've heard only good things. I was hoping to try it this weekend, but that may not fit in the schedule.

 

[SarahDisney]

So, people, do we have a name for the 5K/10K/Marathon combo? I've been calling it Dopey minus the half, but I feel like there has to be something shorter and snappier.

 

[rteetz]

So, people, do we have a name for the 5K/10K/Marathon combo? I've been calling it Dopey minus the half, but I feel like there has to be something shorter and snappier.

*Cough* Grumpy *Cough*

 

[SarahDisney]

*Cough* Grumpy *Cough*

Isnt Grumpy when the half is cancelled? I feel like there should be a separate name for when someone does not intend to do the half at all.

 

[camaker]

So, people, do we have a name for the 5K/10K/Marathon combo? I've been calling it Dopey minus the half, but I feel like there has to be something shorter and snappier.

As @rteetz indicated, that race combination was dubbed the Grumpy Challenge after the half was cancelled in 2017.

 

[rteetz]

Isnt Grumpy when the half is cancelled? I feel like there should be a separate name for when someone does not intend to do the half at all.

You said shorter and snappier. I feel Grumpy fits the criteria

 

[camaker]

Isnt Grumpy when the half is cancelled? I feel like there should be a separate name for when someone does not intend to do the half at all.

Grumpy still works. You’ll be plenty Grumpy getting up super early and running all those miles without the fanfare or extra bling of Goofy or Dopey.