Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend 2021 (April 15-18, 2021) - Now Virtual Only

[MilesMouse]

I just converted my Saratoga Springs 1Br DVC reservation to Riviera for race weekend. Psyched to try out a new resort. Just about all resorts are available at the 7-month mark.

Nice! We just switched from CCV to Riviera. Excited to actually stay there after eating at Toppolino's on our last trip. The resort overall looks awesome. Interested to see how Riviera compares to a couple others we've stayed at for a race weekend.

 

[FanforDisney]

Marathon weekend and Princess weekend just went Virtual..... Full year of no races....As expected I guess. Hopefully Star Wars Weekend happens!!!

 

[Guidman]

Went from being in the hole, to being up at bat so to speak. We'll see what happens.

 

[Krandor]

Marathon weekend and Princess weekend just went Virtual..... Full year of no races....As expected I guess. Hopefully Star Wars Weekend happens!!!

I think Star Wars has a good chance (barring a second wave or aliens invading the earth which is possible for 2020). Signs seems to point toward WDW wating to try to start returning to normal in March/April timeframe which would fit. Also gives time for other races to happen and see how they do. I think April time frame is very possible to happen.

 

[fatmanatee]

Definitely possible to still have SW happen and I'm not *that* surprised that Princess was cancelled but man that's a grim outlook on how things will look in February when they're cancelling this far in advance. Could have a vaccine, could have cheap, rapid testing, but this is a sign that they don't think things are going to be looking good at that point, for whatever reason.

 

[camaker]

Definitely possible to still have SW happen and I'm not *that* surprised that Princess was cancelled but man that's a grim outlook on how things will look in February when they're cancelling this far in advance. Could have a vaccine, could have cheap, rapid testing, but this is a sign that they don't think things are going to be looking good at that point, for whatever reason.

A vaccine could well be available this year, but in January and February, we’ll most likely be in an initial limited supply capacity situation with priority still being given to healthcare workers and other high risk groups. Hopefully by April vaccination will be much more widespread.

 

[Krandor]

Definitely possible to still have SW happen and I'm not *that* surprised that Princess was cancelled but man that's a grim outlook on how things will look in February when they're cancelling this far in advance. Could have a vaccine, could have cheap, rapid testing, but this is a sign that they don't think things are going to be looking good at that point, for whatever reason.

I think it is that plus I don't think from an optics standpoint disney wants to be one of the first big races during the pandemic and with all the big 2020 races done there were not many. Space Coast is about it. By Februrary there still likely won't be many. April gives more a chance for more races to be run successfully in the pandemic and I think from a disney optics standpint it's a big considertion. Also disney seems to be looking at march/april for several things. They have indicated march as the earliest for water parks to re-open so if they are looking to start opening more things in march/april that increases the chance of this race happening.

Star Wars is now "A New Hope"

 

[Guidman]

CIM is still scheduled as of now (update to come on Friday) but that's about it. Houston is probably the first large one on the board for 2021 now.

 

[fatmanatee]

A vaccine could well be available this year, but in January and February, we’ll most likely be in an initial limited supply capacity situation with priority still being given to healthcare workers and other high risk groups. Hopefully by April vaccination will be much more widespread.

Oh I know, and I'm not expecting to get a vaccine by April at this point, but it's something that could improve things a bit by February (personally I was REALLY hoping that rapid testing would help bring things back to normal but that hasn't happened yet).

 

[Krandor]

Oh I know, and I'm not expecting to get a vaccine by April at this point, but it's something that could improve things a bit by February (personally I was REALLY hoping that rapid testing would help bring things back to normal but that hasn't happened yet).

Rapid testing is helping some things but I don't think we're at the point of testing a few thousand amateur runners before a race. It is helping in a lot of areas though.

 

[Z-Knight]

I only wish the Pounds (of weight) I gained were also virtual for this year....sigh!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I think Star Wars has a good chance (barring a second wave or aliens invading the earth which is possible for 2020). Signs seems to point toward WDW wating to try to start returning to normal in March/April timeframe which would fit. Also gives time for other races to happen and see how they do. I think April time frame is very possible to happen.

I still hold some optimism. Let's assume the optimistic projections for the vaccine hold and we do have it in November/December. That time frame is not enough for runDisney to see how things look for races coming in January/February, but it might be enough to see how things look for races coming in April. I think it's possible that they might try and hold off on making Star Wars virtual until they absolutely have to.

Definitely possible to still have SW happen and I'm not *that* surprised that Princess was cancelled but man that's a grim outlook on how things will look in February when they're cancelling this far in advance. Could have a vaccine, could have cheap, rapid testing, but this is a sign that they don't think things are going to be looking good at that point, for whatever reason.

I tell myself that they cancelled Princess now because it's too early to project February, but if the vaccine comes later this year, there's time to see how everything unfolds to allow an April race to occur live. Hope is not lost yet, but I have also accepted that Star Wars too may have to go virtual.

 

[escriven75]

It is nice that they gave runners plenty of notice! It is disappointing sure, but at least you don't invest your time and money and find out last minute that it is cancelled / virtual. If this race also become virtual, we want to refund and register for Wine and Dine 2021 and just keep training till then!!

 

[kbenson13]

I have to say I'm a little nervous. Do I think there will be a vaccine later this year/early next year? Yes I do. Do I think we'll be completely over this pandemic by next April (at least to the point where the world goes back to the "old normal")? Again, yes. Will there be enough visibility on this for RD to be comfortable moving forward before their perceived deadline to cancel the race? Here's where I'm nervous. If they feel the need to cancel races approximately 4-5 months or so ahead of time, that means they will be making the call in November-December. I'm really unsure where the world will be in November. It will certainly be an interesting month politically.... Same for December honestly. Sheesh!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

If they feel the need to cancel races approximately 4-5 months or so ahead of time, that means they will be making the call in November-December.

I think they may have a slightly longer timeframe before sending Star Wars to complete virtual depending on the vaccine. Right now in September, there are reports that we could have a vaccine in November/December. If these reports are accurate, that gives Disney anywhere from two months or so to mere days to determine whether or not they can safely hold Marathon weekend live. So that makes sense. Princess in February gives them maybe another month or so at best depending on when the vaccine is available to decide if they can safely hold Princess weekend live. So I can once again understand their reasoning here.

But if we get the vaccine in December, Disney could conceivably have two to three months worth of data before having to make the final decision about Star Wars as late as early March. With no vaccine yet, I think they are being more cautious which is not a bad thing. But with a vaccine, they may be able to wait a little bit longer before making the final call. No matter what there will be disappointment if they cancel it. But if they decide to push the final decision date on Star Wars back to give them more time to see what things look like with the vaccine, I would be fine with that. Even if the end decision is disappointing.

 

[Krandor]

I have to say I'm a little nervous. Do I think there will be a vaccine later this year/early next year? Yes I do. Do I think we'll be completely over this pandemic by next April (at least to the point where the world goes back to the "old normal")? Again, yes. Will there be enough visibility on this for RD to be comfortable moving forward before their perceived deadline to cancel the race? Here's where I'm nervous. If they feel the need to cancel races approximately 4-5 months or so ahead of time, that means they will be making the call in November-December. I'm really unsure where the world will be in November. It will certainly be an interesting month politically.... Same for December honestly. Sheesh!

The main point of hope is rundisney could have wiped out the entire winter/spring calendar and focused on W&D as the next race but they didn't do that. So it looks like they think it is at least possible to hold it.

 

[PrincessV]

Without getting too deep into the science weeds, everything I've seen from the experts says that availability of a vaccine is not going to make everything back to "normal" for a long time. My understanding is that it would take at least a year after a safe, effective vaccine is rolled out before we approach a point of mostly safe to resume pre-COVID activities, and masks + social distancing aren't going anywhere for a while. And even that assumes enough people get the vaccine to make it happen. I am, admittedly, something of a cynic, and if I'm logical about it, I'm not at all sure this race happens. But I'm an oddly hopeful cynic, so I'm not ruling it out, either! I actually think rD could hold a race pretty safely right now - but I also don't think they will because of the optics. How do you tell Guests they can't be ANYWHERE outside their rooms without a mask, but allow 5,000, 10,000 runners to not wear them and not have that look bad? Perception is everything right now... later? IDK.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

But I'm an oddly hopeful cynic, so I'm not ruling it out, either!

I've made my peace with a virtual Star Wars if it comes to that. If it does, I will very likely move my planned vacation back a few weeks just to make work life easier as work is very insane in April, but I make special sacrifices for Star Wars that I would not do for any other race. And honestly, if it does go virtual, I am glad that there will be an option this year to run it virtually and receive the shirts/medals.

 

[kbenson13]

I haven't made peace and I remain hopeful. But if the races go virtual, I'm most likely going to cancel my vacation and try again in 2022. The race weekend more or less coincides with my wedding anniversary and my wife is not really a Disney fan (yet...I'm trying to work on that). If there are no races to justify the trip, my guess is we'll pivot to a beach vacay for 2021...

 

[Z-Knight]

If this damn flu shuts us down again, I'm gonna go crazy. In all honesty I worry about catching it and what it could do to me - but I'm also at the point where, if this continues, I don't think our mental health can survive nor can we live in fear. The few joys we have in life are being pushed further out and it sucks....please get that darn vaccine made!!! I've been to the parks a week ago and it was actually awesome. The crowds were low (most days) and I rode more rides in one day than I could do previously in 2 or 3 days with fast passes. Disney was doing a good job with social distancing and precautions so I hope they just get confident that they can extend that to races (and the sooner, the better).