What is your favorite Run Disney half-marathon?

[Hannahinwonderland]

Hello everyone!

As I've posted in a couple threads, I am just now getting into running and plan to do my first ever half-marathon at Disney! This will likely either be in Fall 2018 or Spring 2019, although it is possible I will push it up by a season.

However, I am very torn on which race to do and so I want to hear about all of your favorites! I've been lurking on the threads and getting a bit of info about each one..but they all seem to have pros and cons. Everyone on this board seems to have a wealth of experience and information on these events. I am open to both Florida and Cali, although this would be my first Disneyland trip, so not sure if that would be too overwhelming..

So in your opinion, what is the best/ most-fun half marathon that Run Disney offers? Sell me on your favorite! Thanks everyone.

 

[croach]

I've done the half during WDW marathon weekend and I've done the Disneyland half. I don't know that I would grade one as being a favorite because I like them both for different reasons. The thing to consider about doing a half in Florida though is you stay in the Disney bubble for the whole race. At DL you spend a lot of time outside Disney property which means less Disney entertainment. May or may not be important to you but can be something to consider. So that doesn't necessarily answer you question but may help you narrow it to a coast.

 

[camaker]

Hello everyone!

As I've posted in a couple threads, I am just now getting into running and plan to do my first ever half-marathon at Disney! This will likely either be in Fall 2018 or Spring 2019, although it is possible I will push it up by a season.

However, I am very torn on which race to do and so I want to hear about all of your favorites! I've been lurking on the threads and getting a bit of info about each one..but they all seem to have pros and cons. Everyone on this board seems to have a wealth of experience and information on these events. I am open to both Florida and Cali, although this would be my first Disneyland trip, so not sure if that would be too overwhelming..

So in your opinion, what is the best/ most-fun half marathon that Run Disney offers? Sell me on your favorite! Thanks everyone.

For a first half marathon at either Disney, I'd have to go with the Donald during Marathon Weekend. The classic character theming is a plus and running through the Magic Kingdom is special. Turning the corner to go down Main Street with the castle still all lit up for the holidays and then to run through it on the back side (as we were going to this year despite the map to the contrary), well, there's a good reason they have cast members holding boxes of Kleenex for the runners.

As a runner up, I'd say the Disneyland Half. Still classic theming and good park time, but it just didn't hold that emotional impact for me. I will say running through Angels Stadium with a cheering crowd provides a very nice energy boost at Mile 9.

I don't think you can really go wrong with any of the Disney halfs, but these are my top 2.

 

[Lola_Stark42]

Avengers!! I love the whole super hero theming of the whole weekend. It's just so much fun.
Otherwise I've enjoyed Tinkerbell and the Disneyland half. It's weird because I've loved WDW for so long, and I find myself leaning more heavily towards Disneyland now.

 

[Barca33Runner]

I've only run at Disney during Marathon Weekend. The Half was my first race and got me hooked, but in the intervening years it has become my least favorite course of the Weekend. The course runs through MK, and that is awesome, but it only makes a slight entrance into Epcot leaving the vast majority of the mileage on highways. They do a good job of having entertainment, but I can't help but feel they could improve the course a little.

I guess it's hard to convey my enthusiasm for the race when I am emphasizing one of its few flaws, but I would guess all of them would make for a great first half marathon. I think looking at your schedule and preference of theming (would a Star Wars/ Marvel/ Tinkerbell/ Princess theme add to your enjoyment?) would be good things to consider.

I will add that Marathon Weekend can be either intimidating or motivating (and probably a little of both for most people) because of the longer races and challenges. I was a little put off in my first year hearing talk of people doing "just" the marathon (I was "just" doing the Half) but I knew, in almost every case, any disrespect was unintended. Knowing that I had even bigger challenges I could tackle in the future helped get me hooked.

 

[DVCFan1994]

I thought I'd be alone on the Avengers, I never see it get much love. I've done Princess 3x and Avengers once. @croach is right, at WDW you have the magic Disney bubble the whole way. I always figured I'd like that best. But, I really loved Avengers. There's plenty of park time early on, and then it's out into Anaheim. There was so much crowd support though, it was amazing. Tons of high school bands, Cosplayers, a 40s military costumed group, Angels stadium. There was never a boring part. I was happily surprised how much I loved that race. I like Avengers, so the theming worked for me. November is a good travel month for me too. If I were to plan a half or half challenge weekend I think I would now lean towards DL. I've only done Avengers out there, but the various DL courses have lots of similarities with a few differences, so I think I'd like to do another out there.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Princess, obviously, or I wouldn't have done it three times as part of GSC. But you asked for favorites, and Avengers beat Princess for me. I'm guessing it's because I liked the DL course better. The long return on the highway from MK to Epcot is just so long and boring.

 

[croach]

I thought I'd be alone on the Avengers, I never see it get much love. I've done Princess 3x and Avengers once. @croach is right, at WDW you have the magic Disney bubble the whole way. I always figured I'd like that best. But, I really loved Avengers. There's plenty of park time early on, and then it's out into Anaheim. There was so much crowd support though, it was amazing. Tons of high school bands, Cosplayers, a 40s military costumed group, Angels stadium. There was never a boring part. I was happily surprised how much I loved that race. I like Avengers, so the theming worked for me. November is a good travel month for me too. If I were to plan a half or half challenge weekend I think I would now lean towards DL. I've only done Avengers out there, but the various DL courses have lots of similarities with a few differences, so I think I'd like to do another out there.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Princess, obviously, or I wouldn't have done it three times as part of GSC. But you asked for favorites, and Avengers beat Princess for me. I'm guessing it's because I liked the DL course better. The long return on the highway from MK to Epcot is just so long and boring.

Good to hear about Avengers. It's the DL one I would like to do next. And I'd finally get to ride Haunted Mansion!

 

[Ariel484]

good question!

I guess when you're picking a half, you want to think of, like others have said - Florida or California? Do you want the experience of running in the Magic Kingdom if you pick a Florida race?

I've done WDW Half, Princess Half, Wine & Dine and the Disneyland Half. Wine & Dine doesn't have the Magic Kingdom portion (same with Star Wars at WDW). Disneyland has the last 9ish miles in Anaheim, which was tough for me (I like my Disney bubble). I don't like the new Wine & Dine course very much.

So I guess I'd rank them:
1. WDW Half
2. Disneyland
3. Princess
4. Wine & Dine

 

[opusone]

I've only done the Dark Side half marathon, so I can't compare to others, but the one thing I really liked about the Dark Side 2016 was that you got to run through three theme parks (Epcot, DHS, & AK) plus ESPN WWoS. For many of the WDW half marathons, you only get to go through two theme parks. However, they are changing the route this year, and we don't know the exact route yet. We know the half will start on Floridian Way and end at Epcot. It will likely go through DHS before the boardwalk and Epcot since that is what the 10k route is. My dream is that it will go through MK first since that is the one park we missed during the Dark Side half last year, but again, we just don't know at this point.

 

[Anisum]

I've only done Princess and Tink and I would say I enjoyed Tink more. I'm from the northeast so for me I found Princess to be hot and humid which, while being conditions I trained in over the summer were not something my body was conditioned to by the time February rolled around. That combined with early start times made me appreciate DL much more since it was closer to my normal hours. Additionally, WDW is much bigger than DL so when we did the parks we often put in a lot more miles which isn't always the most beneficial when running. I also think the course is a bit tougher because they take you on the roads by the park which include the fun of highway overpasses. By comparison Cali is flat. That being said, magic wise, I think WDW has DL beat. For Tink only the first few miles were really on property and while support and entertainment through the city of Anaheim was wonderful it wasn't the same as that Disney feel you get running in Florida. From what I've heard here on the boards and from my friends you'll find these points to be true for just about every race in WDW and DL.

I think that none of the races are "bad" though. I would say pick the race that appeals to you most or that is most convenient. No matter what you'll have a magical time.

 

[Mad Stitch]

Don't forget about the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon.That may be my favorite runDisney race. The course twisted its way its was through both parks maximizing your time within them. When you left property there were no ugly commercial districts to run through, just beautiful French countryside. Returning to property for a strong ending through the DLP resorts. It's a must do for runDisney fans.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

Don't forget about the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon.That may be my favorite runDisney race. The course twisted its way its was through both parks maximizing your time within them. When you left property there were no ugly commercial districts to run through, just beautiful French countryside. Returning to property for a strong ending through the DLP resorts. It's a must do for runDisney fans.

I would love to do a race in Paris. I've never been to Paris Disneyland despite spending 3 weeks in Paris! I feel like for that one, though, I may feel intimidated! I picture European runners to be extremely fit and physically attractive lol!

 

[IamTrike]

Would you do a challenge or only the half. I really liked the 10 k with the Disneyland Half.

So far I've done Marathon Weekend for the last 7 years, I've also run the Princess and the Dumbo Challenge.

Pro's for west coast races.
1. Much easier logistically.
a) You can walk to the expo from the most of the nearby hotels
b) You can walk to/from the expo
c) the Staging area pre-race is much closer to the start. I think you could probably sleep and hour or 2 later at Dland and still make it to the start line.

Cons:
The entertainment off Disney property is not Disney Themed so it seemed like fewer character stops overall


Pro's for East coast races
1. It's a bigger event so there are a lot more runners there
2. the whole race is on Disney property so there are Disney characters through out. For the Marathon I think there were about 28/29 photo spots, but they are still concentrated in the parks.

Con's
Transportation can be crazy.
Logistics mean it's a long time on race morning between waking up and actually starting to run.


I don't think anyone can answer what's "best" for you we can only describe them for you. It's like asking what's the best flavor of ice cream.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I've done 1 race at DL and 2 at WDW.
My preference is racing at DL, and we're leaving tomorrow to run the Star Wars half this weekend.

The DL course has great park time early, then it moves to the streets. The streets are lined with bands, cheerleading squads, thousands of people, but not many characters. WDW has the character stops, a few small areas of spectators, a DJ here and there, but very loooong stretches of trees and blacktop.

We also like the cooler temps and lower humidity of the west coast.

I also like the compactness of the DL area-with the hotels, expo, DTD all within steps of each other and the start/finish lines.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

Would you do a challenge or only the half. I really liked the 10 k with the Disneyland Half.


I don't think anyone can answer what's "best" for you we can only describe them for you. It's like asking what's the best flavor of ice cream.

Only a half! A challenge might be in the future but "only the half" sounds like a VERY TALL ORDER at the moment.

And yes, I totally agree, I was just wondering what everyone's favorite is! I would love to experience all the race weekends at some point.

 

[Keels]

1. Tinker Bell
2. WDW Half
3. Disneyland Half
4. Defunct Wine & Dine course
5. Princess

Most of my assessments are based on weather and weekend experience. The WDW and Princess courses are the same, but I greatly prefer the participants and overall feel of Marathon Weekend to Princess.

Frankly, Tink is almost a perfect half course if you're looking for a serious RD PR, between the May weather in California, the flat course and the participants that run the race.

 

[mrsg00fy]

I did all of them within my 50th birthday year. (Except the Paris race).

Absolute favorite half course is the no longer wine and dine that went through three parks. I would follow this with any of the west coast courses. Despite the limited park time, the overall theming, vibe, support and the addition of Angel Stadium and near ideal weather conditions are awesome. Did I mention Angels Stadium?

Next up would be Star Wars Dark Side. Least favorites would be the course that is run on Princess and Marathon Weekend (with Princess being the WORST).

It all comes down to personal preference. I liked them all but liked some much more than others.

iMHO the best course overall is the Marathon course.

 

[bevcgg]

While I enjoy the on property aspects of WDW- I noticed a real decrease in the amount of entertainment at PHM last year compared to 2011.
That was disappointing- I notice many other people commenting on it as well, so it seem to be a recent change.

I really liked Tinkerbell (15,000) and Avengers (9,000) for their smaller size- esp compared to the 26,000 at Princess. It made the expo and everything else race related much more pleasant. I find the DL races to be much more relaxed than the craziness that was Princess esp last year. (When I did that race in 2011- it was 15,000 people and much more relaxed than now.) I don't think I will be doing PHM again. I love DL Half Weekends and all those races too they are just a bit larger.

All the DL races (5K, 10K and Half) run through the castle. But MY favorite park to run is California Adventure- Carsland and the World of Color with Mickey's Big Wheel- is just amazing every time!- especially as the sun comes up.

When you leave the DL parks- the support along the streets is just AMAZING! Cos-players, bands, cheerleaders, candy from strangers, cold sponges, red hat ladies, girl/boy scouts- I have come to love all that even more than the extra characters at WDW.

I too as others mentioned- love being able to walk to the corrals and after the race- much nicer that the bus system that is needed at WDW.

Either way you will have a blast!

 

[Davidg83]

Even though it doesn't usually get a lot of love my favorite west coast race is Avengers. It's amazing to run through the parks with everything decorated for Christmas and to see It's A Small World lit up as the sun is coming up is great.

For the east coast I love the overall vibe during marathon weekend. I did the full so I can't speak to the half course but I felt that there was the great energy surrounding you during the entire weekend. I can't wait to get experience that weekend again next year.

 

[JohnFilipoff]

Wine and Dine....but back when they ran it at night. Love the food and wine festival.