Springtime Surprise Weekend 2024 (April 18-21)

[DanaVonSchweet]

A part of me wants to go more springy for Dapper however at the same time I have a black dress I feel I can plus up and accessorize

Decisions, decisions... You can definitely spring up a black dress with some pastel or floral accessories!

 

[flav]

Even without Dapper days, I was planning on Epcot after the 10k, and MK for medals’ pictures after the 10M and before the flight home. Plus, I always wear a dress in the parks. I will try to accessorize in consequence. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[sunshine girl]

I booked my flight a while back when prices were quite high because I had some expiring Delta e-credits. I live 20 minutes from a Delta hub (DTW) so I always fly Delta.

Just rebooked for $279 which is almost exactly half my original price! Direct Delta flights, I depart a few hours later, but same return flight. And now I have a new Delta e-credit that is enough to cover another flight to Disney. Disney math... money saved = money spent on the next trip!

 

[flav]

I booked my flight a while back when prices were quite high because I had some expiring Delta e-credits. I live 20 minutes from a Delta hub (DTW) so I always fly Delta.

Just rebooked for $279 which is almost exactly half my original price! Direct Delta flights, I depart a few hours later, but same return flight. And now I have a new Delta e-credit that is enough to cover another flight to Disney. Disney math... money saved = money spent on the next trip!

I agree with your Disney math

Cancelling and rebooking flights doesn’t seem to be a thing in Canada… If anyone does this with Air Canada, please let me know how. I could totally use more money on another trip

 

[sunshine girl]

I agree with your Disney math

Cancelling and rebooking flights doesn’t seem to be a thing in Canada… If anyone does this with Air Canada, please let me know how. I could totally use more money on another trip

On Delta one has to book specific fare types (Main Cabin or higher, I believe) in order to be able to cancel and get a full e-credit for the original booking. It costs a little more but it's usually reasonable and provides peace of mind, since I'm never afraid to just go ahead and book a flight. Delta's post-pandemic ticket flexibility has been really helpful!

 

[jwblane]

Apologies if this has been addressed somewhere else (please point me to it if it has), but I need to understand more about logistics around transportation to and from the races.

We are staying onsite and have a rental vehicle. Trying to decide if it will be more advantageous to drive myself to the race and just leave my stuff in the car rather than use bag check. I can also use the car to relax and have a few minutes to myself prior to jumping in the corrals. How hard is it getting out of there after the race if I am in the car?

Other side of this, how often do the buses run from the resorts to the race before hand and again after?

 

[The Expert]

Apologies if this has been addressed somewhere else (please point me to it if it has), but I need to understand more about logistics around transportation to and from the races.

We are staying onsite and have a rental vehicle. Trying to decide if it will be more advantageous to drive myself to the race and just leave my stuff in the car rather than use bag check. I can also use the car to relax and have a few minutes to myself prior to jumping in the corrals. How hard is it getting out of there after the race if I am in the car?

Other side of this, how often do the buses run from the resorts to the race before hand and again after?

I have driven and taken transportation, and both are easy. Buses will usually be waiting and leave right at the time indicated in the event guide. They pretty much run continuously before and after the race during the available window. Note that if you are a faster runner in an earlier corral, you may have to wait for the course to clear for return buses to start up again. Buses drop off a little closer to security than the parking area, and they pick up right behind the reunion zone past the finish line. Very convenient.

If you drive, there will be maps in the guide and well-signed roadways to guide you around any closures and detours. The parking gates aren't manned but CMs will be there directing you to the open parking area. You'll need to walk all the way up to the Epcot entrance to go through security, then back to the staging area. And this year, after the race, they had us walk pretty far up toward Epcot before we could double back to parking. So just know it's a bit more walking when you drive than taking a bus. You will want to leave yourself plenty of time -- I usually leave when the first buses start -- but you can hang out in the car and eat, nap, stay warm/dry, etc before time to make the journey to the staging area.

Barring any issues (like a huge accident causing road closures during the marathon this year), getting out is not usually difficult at all.

 

[jwblane]

I have driven and taken transportation, and both are easy. Buses will usually be waiting and leave right at the time indicated in the event guide. They pretty much run continuously before and after the race during the available window. Note that if you are a faster runner in an earlier corral, you may have to wait for the course to clear for return buses to start up again. Buses drop off a little closer to security than the parking area, and they pick up right behind the reunion zone past the finish line. Very convenient.

If you drive, there will be maps in the guide and well-signed roadways to guide you around any closures and detours. The parking gates aren't manned but CMs will be there directing you to the open parking area. You'll need to walk all the way up to the Epcot entrance to go through security, then back to the staging area. And this year, after the race, they had us walk pretty far up toward Epcot before we could double back to parking. So just know it's a bit more walking when you drive than taking a bus. You will want to leave yourself plenty of time -- I usually leave when the first buses start -- but you can hang out in the car and eat, nap, stay warm/dry, etc before time to make the journey to the staging area.

Barring any issues (like a huge accident causing road closures during the marathon this year), getting out is not usually difficult at all.

Thank you!

I haven’t participated in a rD event at WDW since 2015. Just did the DLHM a couple weeks ago and it was a cluster and a half. I figured that WDW would have their stuff together. I am leaning towards taking the car just because I need some quiet time and can relax in the car.

Do we think that the routes will be close to, if not exactly like, the routes for WDWMW?

 

[luv2cheer92]

Apologies if this has been addressed somewhere else (please point me to it if it has), but I need to understand more about logistics around transportation to and from the races.

We are staying onsite and have a rental vehicle. Trying to decide if it will be more advantageous to drive myself to the race and just leave my stuff in the car rather than use bag check. I can also use the car to relax and have a few minutes to myself prior to jumping in the corrals. How hard is it getting out of there after the race if I am in the car?

Other side of this, how often do the buses run from the resorts to the race before hand and again after?

I find driving to be a lot better than taking the buses.

 

[The Expert]

Do we think that the routes will be close to, if not exactly like, the routes for WDWMW?

We won't know for sure until the courses come out much closer to the race. The 10 Miler will likely be very different from the marathon weekend HM (or what it was supposed to be before they shortened it). Historically only MW and Princess HMs go through MK and the castle. The 5K has been the most consistent course, though there's a chance they could do it at AK instead of Epcot.

 

[1lilspark]

We won't know for sure until the courses come out much closer to the race. The 10 Miler will likely be very different from the marathon weekend HM (or what it was supposed to be before they shortened it). Historically only MW and Princess HMs go through MK and the castle. The 5K has been the most consistent course, though there's a chance they could do it at AK instead of Epcot.

I’d love the 5k to do that though that is the least likely of the three individual race themes to do that

 

[luv2cheer92]

I know it is highly unlikely, but I would love for the 5K to be through MK

 

[_shiny_side_up_]

I find driving to be a lot better than taking the buses.

Ditto

The main drawback to the buses are when they leave to go back to the resorts.

If the 5k race starts at 0500 and you can run a 30 minute 5k, you're done by 0530(45ish with starting waves and getting the medal and plastic cheese) but the buses won't start heading back until 0630.

For this, whether I'm staying on property or not, I drive. I can be back at POP, showered and having eaten breakfast before the buses start running.

 

[MissLiss279]

For driving - I think it is worth it for the 5k like several people have mentioned. I don’t like waiting for about an hour for the course to clear and the buses to leave. For the 10k it is a toss up. I usually finish about the time the buses leave - I think. For the longer races, I usually take the bus because they are closer to the finish, and it is easier for me to eat the food in the snack box.
I don’t think I rented a car for Springtime races last year. I got an Uber back to the resort, which took some time, but not as long as waiting for a bus.
Sometimes when leaving, you may have to drive an alternate route back to the resort, but I haven’t had too many issues with that. I use Google Maps or Apple Maps, and it will route me appropriately.

 

[1lilspark]

We mostly bus I say mostly because post 2022 Wine & Dine 5K my brother in law drove from home so he drove us back to pop

 

[flav]

Like in everything, different perspectives will be presented, only you know what you prefer.

I prefer to be driven and haven’t rented a car on my last five Florida trips. I like the runDisney bus experience with the half-asleep yet excited runners, the pre-race DIS meetup, the long wait due to being way too early and the possibility of going to a different resort after the Expo or after a race.

Since we talked about the 5k, I looked at my timeline from StS 2023:
5:26 pass the finish line
5:36 picture with Tow Mater
5:39 picture with BoPeep
6:09 last picture with Wall-E, we had to wait for the rain to stop for him to come out
We then hopped on the Crescent lake resort bus and disembarked at the YC. We washed up and changed there, I obviously don’t have pictures of that but I know…
7:00 booked ILL while walking the path towards HS
7:50 We are in Toy Story land

 

[1lilspark]

Like in everything, different perspectives will be presented, only you know what you prefer.

I prefer to be driven and haven’t rented a car on my last five Florida trips. I like the runDisney bus experience with the half-asleep yet excited runners, the pre-race DIS meetup, the long wait due to being way too early and the possibility of going to a different resort after the Expo or after a race.

Since we talked about the 5k, I looked at my timeline from StS 2023:
5:26 pass the finish line
5:36 picture with Tow Mater
5:39 picture with BoPeep
6:09 last picture with Wall-E, we had to wait for the rain to stop for him to come out
We then hopped on the Crescent lake resort bus and disembarked at the YC. We washed up and changed there, I obviously don’t have pictures of that but I know…
7:00 booked ILL while walking the path towards HS
7:50 We are in Toy Story land

As a slower mid-packer 526 I was still in the start shoot lol

 

[jwblane]

I will likely be in the back of the last corral just like for all 3 races in DL. lol

 

[PrincessV]

I drive to all races, regardless of where I’m staying. The only potential hitch with driving is that depending on when you finish, what road closures look like, and whether or not they’re trying to rush people out of the finish area due to weather (hello January half of a half), you might be stuck sitting in traffic waiting to get out. Despite being slow, I apparently finished W&D at exactly the wrong time, when traffic was backed up waiting for roads to reopen, but 10ish minutes before they actually reopened, and wound up taking an hour-long scenic tour of Vista Way to get to All Stars. Had I just waited another 10 minutes, the road I needed would have been open and I’d have been on my way. After the January “half” it took a long time of waiting to get out of the parking lot because everyone was trying to leave at the same time. That is not the norm, though - I’m usually out right away and back to my resort much faster than a bus would take! But I always keep snacks in my car just in case things to do get backed up.

 

[jwblane]

The only thing that makes me want to take the bus on the 10 miler morning is that the monorail may be running by the time that I finished and I could take that back to BLT.