Marathon Weekend 2023

[HangWithMerida]

Who's getting nervous just generally??

I had my first Dopey dream last night. I don’t usually get nervous about races until like the night before, so I am definitely more nervous than usual. In my dream I somehow missed the 5k. Like, forgot it was happening and slept in. Then of course I’m panicking because once you miss the 5k, you can’t actually do Dopey.

I’m flying United, and really glad I’m not in the SW mix right now though I feel bad for all of you that are. Luckily I am close enough that if something that major happened I could just drive. It‘s a 22 hr drive or so. Not fun, but doable if my airline were falling apart.

 

[sandam1]

In my dream I somehow missed the 5k. Like, forgot it was happening and slept in. Then of course I’m panicking because once you miss the 5k, you can’t actually do Dopey.

I had the same dream before last year's races!

 

[MissLiss279]

A bit! I fly out on Saturday, the 31st. I haven’t received an email. I had a friend who was flying home on Christmas Day, and they’re luggage was lost. I’ve been trying to see if I can find any AirTags - because now I’m a little worried about luggage too!

Now I’m thinking maybe I will go ahead and switch to Delta.

 

[GollyGadget]

We booked SW flights but later decided that we would drive so we could bring the pups. It’s a 20 hour drive which makes me question our sanity a bit but we’ve done it a few times before and right now I’m thankful to not have the flight stress.

On the local news last night they were saying that those with canceled flights would not be rebooked until Friday! That’s a massive delay. Really hoping they get this sorted out for all of you by the weekend. I don’t have any insider information but I would think that whatever the issue is, they have the resources to get their business up and running again in a week.

 

[AJruns]

Anyone else nervous about their Southwest flight? A Reddit post reveals that the massive cancellations are due to an internal scheduling malfunction, and I got an email that flights thru Jan 2 (when I’m flying) can be rescheduled.

omg I did not know about this… yesterday a friend said something about SW issues and I listed all the reasons I would be fine (time of day, weather forecast, direct, etc) I fly on the 3rd so fingers crossed. I’m definitely team Southwest generally, but will add worrying about this to my usual pre-MW anxiety. I had my first race stress dreams a couple weeks ago, but there’s always time for more

ETA just booked a refundable flight on American later in the day. Was surprised at how many options there were with good fares.

 

[jrsharp21]

We are scheduled to fly out the morning of the 3rd on SW. But wondering if we shouldn't switch over to United. I checked already and they have several open flights going out Tuesday morning that I can book with points. My wife wants me to wait and see how things go with SW. But I am more OCD and would rather have more reliable flights in place.

Funny enough, my wife actually is part of the staff that SW is hiring because they are lacking in airline attendants. She is supposed to be running Dopey but has to cut her trip short to fly home early and head to SW training.

 

[PrincessV]

The great thing about living within 100 miles of WDW is no flight delay issues!

Of course, the not-great thing about living 100 from WDW is that I-4 is the only route available to get there.

Nerves… not so much at my end. More head in the sand, haven’t prepped more than a 10K outfit. But I’m off work next week and will have plenty of time to do laundry and pack. Do I know looking at the weather forecast now is relatively pointless? Yes. Am I looking anyway? Also yes.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Do I know looking at the weather forecast now is relatively pointless? Yes. Am I looking anyway? Also yes.

Oh yes...but I would totally take this weather for the marathon!

 

[opusone]

My Southwest experience from yesterday: we had a 1:25p flight from Chicago to Sarasota to visit my step mother. When I woke up at 7am, there was a text (sent at 6:20am) saying that our flight was cancelled. I immediately clicked on the rebooking link they texted me, and there were no options for the next three days (we were scheduled to return on Friday, so I didn’t look any further). I then checked for any Southwest flights going into Tampa or Fort Meyers (even with connections), and every single one had no availability for the next three days. I then looked at American and United with no luck for the next day or so.

My brother and his family were supposed to meet us there (they were flying Southwest from Dallas to Sarasota yesterday), so I called him to tell him we wouldn’t be making it. He informed me that he had the same thing happen (text from Southwest at 4:20am for him). Since he was in the south, I thought his flights might be better, but it is definitely a system-wide problem.

In the end, we both had to cancel our entire trips this week since there were no alternative ways to get there within a few days.

Bottom line: I am a frequent traveler, and Southwest is currently an absolute mess. A Wall Street Journal article last night mentioned that Southwest has already said that they are cancelling a similar number of flights (60-70%) today and tomorrow as well. They will eventually get it all figured out, but it will be probably be 3-4 days at a minimum, and I imagine it could affect them for up to a week or so. I know that many of you will be traveling in the 4-8 day range, so I would definitely look at other airlines to see if you could book a refundable ticket (just to ensure you have a backup if driving is not an option). I am very glad that I booked American next week for MW.

 

[PrincessV]

Oh yes...but I would totally take this weather for the marathon!
View attachment 727838

Right?! I figure one of two things will happen:

1. My autoimmune garbage will prevent me from finishing the full, thereby ensuring PERFECT conditions for everyone else, or…

2. My autoimmune garbage will take a break and allow me to complete the whole marathon, ensuring unseasonably hot or cold conditions.

I genuinely do not know whether I’ll be “you’re welcome!”ing or apologizing lol!

 

[jrsharp21]

Decided I don't want to deal with possible SW drama. Booked us on United for Tuesday morning. Now I am trying to cancel our SW flight on the website and keep getting the "sorry, we found some errors" message when trying to cancel. Seems like they are a mess in all aspects.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I know that many of you will be traveling in the 4-8 day range, so I would definitely look at other airlines to see if you could book a refundable ticket (just to ensure you have a backup if driving is not an options). I am very glad that I booked American next week for MW.

I was doing that this morning. I found backup flights from Delta that are fully refundable, so that's my plan B. Spirit would've gotten us there sooner, but they don't offer fully refundable tickets.

 

[Herding_Cats]

random question:
has disney transitioned to new soap/bodywash in the resorts yet? since H20 was shutting down and all.....

 

[Barca33Runner]

I’m worried about my 1/3 Southwest flight ruining my vacation. My race weekend was already pretty much ruined by another year of procrastination and laziness (I’d like to call it something friendlier, or at least less critical, to myself but that would be dishonest).

I’d pretty much opted out from posting and became a lurker the past couple months because I’ve mucked things up again so badly. This will be the last rD event I’m signing up for until/unless I’ve made the changes I want to make for myself. Things were going well and I thought I was on track earlier this year when registration came and I signed up aspirationally. But life, and my own bad habits, happened and before I knew it it was November and work was busy and I was having panic attacks about not being ready to run.

I had to get some peace of mind about things to stop those panic attacks so I made a plan that has helped on that front. I’m going to have fun and make it as far as I can. Hoping to make it through the Half and maybe even give the Full the best shot I’ve got; but if I don’t feel good at any time I’m just going to pack it in and enjoy my time with my family.

I still really enjoy the Weekend and will continue to attend as long as my sister is still perfectly Dopey, but I’m going to forgo registering for anything more than maybe the 5k or 10k until I am back in fighting shape. I still have a great desire to run the Marathon and run Dopey again but signing up and expecting to get myself into shape isn’t working.

And, yes, I realize this is all deja vu of deja vu of deja vu for my last few years and I feel awful about theoretically taking a registration spot from someone who would have taken much better advantage of it. I’m just throwing stuff against the wall to try to make the changes I want to see for myself; going back to the one thing that, once upon a time, had worked for me always seems like a good plan. But I’m tired of the cycle I’ve been in the last few years and I’m ready to take off some training pressure that has turned to training paralysis and see if a different tact might have a positive outcome. I know that I’ve had a very hard time wanting to train when I felt like I had to train; I need to find out what brings that desire back for me again.

 

[DopeyRunner486]

Bottom line: I am a frequent traveler, and Southwest is currently an absolute mess. A Wall Street Journal article last night mentioned that Southwest has already said that they are cancelling a similar number of flights (60-70%) today and tomorrow as well. They will eventually get it all figured out, but it will be probably be 3-4 days at a minimum, and I imagine it could affect them for up to a week or so. I know that many of you will be traveling in the 4-8 day range, so I would definitely look at other airlines to see if you could book a refundable ticket (just to ensure you have a backup if driving is not an option). I am very glad that I booked American next week for MW.

Yeah I believe they are up to 2500 flights canceled today so far. I am watching two backup flights right now.

 

[The Expert]

This seems like a good time to re-share this, since we also dealt with a massive storm leading up to MW '22.

Thanks for digging up my old post! I stand by all the advice there -- still relevant.

I thought I was being smart this year, opting for Southwest instead of Spirit, and now this.

Still the smart move. Spirit sucks.

Same thread (I think) was also mentioning that things might stabilize once the main Dallas office reopens this morning. I'm hopeful. I'm going Austin to Orlando, so weather isn't a huge issue generally, but it all depends on the flights getting into Austin that are going to take me to Orlando!

Exactly -- it's a giant domino effect and could literally affect any airport in the network at any time.

A bit! I fly out on Saturday, the 31st. I haven’t received an email. I had a friend who was flying home on Christmas Day, and they’re luggage was lost. I’ve been trying to see if I can find any AirTags - because now I’m a little worried about luggage too!

Ultimately if you're on a direct flight, you SHOULD be okay to check luggage. For security, your bags must fly on the same plane you are on, which is in part what is causing a lot of this mess. And backlogs of bags due to delays are messing with moving them from one flight to another -- ie connections. (You could also ship items to yourself at your hotel, but UPS and FedEx have their own issues going on right now.)

Bottom line: I am a frequent traveler, and Southwest is currently an absolute mess. A Wall Street Journal article last night mentioned that Southwest has already said that they are cancelling a similar number of flights (60-70%) today and tomorrow as well. They will eventually get it all figured out, but it will be probably be 3-4 days at a minimum, and I imagine it could affect them for up to a week or so. I know that many of you will be traveling in the 4-8 day range, so I would definitely look at other airlines to see if you could book a refundable ticket (just to ensure you have a backup if driving is not an option). I am very glad that I booked American next week for MW.

Sorry your trip got caught up in all of this. You're exactly right -- at this point it's such a tangled mess that getting crews and planes where they need to be is super complicated. Just working around staffing and rest periods is going to take several days, and that's if they fly no flights at all. I would fully expect it to take a week or more to get things straightened out, and that's counting on no additional weather issues at any of their main hubs. I would 100% jump to another airline if you're flying in before next Thursday.

random question:
has disney transitioned to new soap/bodywash in the resorts yet? since H20 was shutting down and all.....

As of October, at some resorts, yes. At AK they had transitioned, but when we moved to BWV they had not yet. It could have changed since then.

 

[DopeyRunner486]

random question:
has disney transitioned to new soap/bodywash in the resorts yet? since H20 was shutting down and all.....

Not yet.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I’m going to have fun and make it as far as I can. Hoping to make it through the Half and maybe even give the Full the best shot I’ve got; but if I don’t feel good at any time I’m just going to pack it in and enjoy my time with my family.

This is what I did last year and it was still a good time. And DNFing the full actually helped me figure out what I needed to change in my life so I’m glad it happened.

Sending love your way. I hope you have a good trip. We are always doing our best.

 

[jrsharp21]

A SW employee posted on Reddit that they think this is going to take at least a week to get unraveled. Here is a link to the post that was posted here in the transportation forum.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/southwests-mass-cancellation-today.3904661/post-64501457

 

[lookingforsunshine]

I bought a refundable Delta ticket as a back up. Ugh.