When will we be back at resort

princess lovers mom

take me home....
Joined
Dec 31, 2002
kids are doing the half marathon in January - wondering if the race starts at 530am and they have no proof of time so will be starting towards the back and want to stop
For photos - what time could I expect them to be back to the beach club- they want breakfast reservations! Is 10am safe? Also Can they walk through Epcot to get back or do they have to take the bus
 
The last corral may start some time around 6:30, so when they're finished would depend on when they complete the race. Also, make sure they know that time spent in line for pictures counts towards your total race time so if they're slow, pictures could cause them to be swept.

If there are characters after the race and they want to get photos there, that will also impact when they arrive back at the resort. Runners can walk through Epcot afterwards, but they must have park admission to do so. Which means that if you are not planning on the parks after the race, they cannot walk back to the resort without using a park day. And if you have a 1 park per day ticket, that would lock them into Epcot for that day. Depending on where you're staying, there may be a bus from the finish line to your resort. Keep in mind that you may sit on that bus for 10-15 minutes before it leaves for the resort. And if the bus shares (Port Orleans for instance) there may be other stops before you get back to your resort.

I think a 10:00am ADR could be difficult. I finished the 2018 Dark Side 5K in just over 90 minutes from the last corral. My little sister and I made our 9:40 ADR at Be Our Guest with about 10 minutes to spare and that only happened because we didn't have to wait too long for the Magic Kingdom bus.
 
The last corral may start some time around 6:30, so when they're finished would depend on when they complete the race. Also, make sure they know that time spent in line for pictures counts towards your total race time so if they're slow, pictures could cause them to be swept.

If there are characters after the race and they want to get photos there, that will also impact when they arrive back at the resort. Runners can walk through Epcot afterwards, but they must have park admission to do so. Which means that if you are not planning on the parks after the race, they cannot walk back to the resort without using a park day. And if you have a 1 park per day ticket, that would lock them into Epcot for that day. Depending on where you're staying, there may be a bus from the finish line to your resort. Keep in mind that you may sit on that bus for 10-15 minutes before it leaves for the resort. And if the bus shares (Port Orleans for instance) there may be other stops before you get back to your resort.

I think a 10:00am ADR could be difficult. I finished the 2018 Dark Side 5K in just over 90 minutes from the last corral. My little sister and I made our 9:40 ADR at Be Our Guest with about 10 minutes to spare and that only happened because we didn't have to wait too long for the Magic Kingdom bus.
 


they have no proof of time so will be starting towards the back

The key is the estimate they'll enter when registering for the race. If they anticipate a finish time of 2 hours 45 minutes or shorter, then they have to have a proof of time (if you enter a 2:45 or shorter and do NOT enter POT, then you go to the back corrals).

If they anticipate a finish time 2 hours 50 minutes or longer, they don't need POT. I always have great faith in my current and future training, and have entered that time estimate (2:50-3 hours) a few times now, and I'm ALWAYS put in the middle of the pack of corrals. Alas, my training, or rather my rate of injury, has caused that to not be an accurate estimate. Sigh. But when I register I'm always sure that I won't be injured yet again...
 
Perfect info! Thank you so much
While you didn't ask this, if they want a special celebratory meal for accomplishing their goal, I would schedule such a meal either late afternoon or early evening or possibly even the next day if possible. Scheduling this later allows the runners time to clean up and relax if they need to without mandating that they must be at a certain place at a certain time.

What I feel like eating after finishing a half has varied significantly over different races. Some times I feel like frequently snacking throughout the afternoon and evening. Other times I feel like a nice sit down meal. I ate dinner at Le Cellier after the 2017 Dark Side half and should have scheduled that meal for another time. This year I scheduled Le Cellier for a few days after the half and enjoyed it so much more.
 
kids are doing the half marathon in January - wondering if the race starts at 530am and they have no proof of time so will be starting towards the back and want to stop
For photos - what time could I expect them to be back to the beach club- they want breakfast reservations! Is 10am safe? Also Can they walk through Epcot to get back or do they have to take the bus

Sleepless Knight is correct that the first wave of the last corral starts at 6:30, I was in wave two in that corral last year. I finished at 9:30, was on a bus by 10, back at Beach Club just before 10:30 and then rushed to shower and check out by 11. Not ideal. Walking back via Epcot may not save them time as they will have to cross the race route which might will be a solid moving wall of people by that point.

Talk to the kids and find out what their expectations are for the race in terms of finish time without pictures and have them look at their training plan to make sure both the time and the plan are reasonable. Have them estimate the total time they want to spend on pictures. Once they factor everything in, including 90 minutes to get back to the hotel and get cleaned up, they will see that a 10 am breakfast is unrealistic. Pick a later time of day to celebrate.

Depending on how fast they think they will finish, find a 10k and have them race it for a proof of time to submit (unscientificly, my 10k time was half of my half marathon time, so that gives you an estimated non photo stop finish time).
 


I second trying to get a POT. They have until the beginning of October to run a local 10K. There are often many cheap options for this. This will give them more time to stop for characters also, and more cushion from the balloon ladies.

10AM is cutting it way to close. Consider brunch/ lunch at 12:30-1 ish or a nice dinner instead.
 
The last corral may start some time around 6:30, so when they're finished would depend on when they complete the race. Also, make sure they know that time spent in line for pictures counts towards your total race time so if they're slow, pictures could cause them to be swept.

If there are characters after the race and they want to get photos there, that will also impact when they arrive back at the resort. Runners can walk through Epcot afterwards, but they must have park admission to do so. Which means that if you are not planning on the parks after the race, they cannot walk back to the resort without using a park day. And if you have a 1 park per day ticket, that would lock them into Epcot for that day. Depending on where you're staying, there may be a bus from the finish line to your resort. Keep in mind that you may sit on that bus for 10-15 minutes before it leaves for the resort. And if the bus shares (Port Orleans for instance) there may be other stops before you get back to your resort.

I think a 10:00am ADR could be difficult. I finished the 2018 Dark Side 5K in just over 90 minutes from the last corral. My little sister and I made our 9:40 ADR at Be Our Guest with about 10 minutes to spare and that only happened because we didn't have to wait too long for the Magic Kingdom bus.
You already got very good advice regarding POT and timing of a race/post-race morning. I just wanted to add that my runDisney time are my absolute worst and by far (even starting in early corrals) because of photos. And, also, after a long run, I am never really hungry (I also force myself to eat part of the provided snack box to refuel within the first half hour) so an early breakfast ADR would be a bit of a waste.
 
You already got very good advice regarding POT and timing of a race/post-race morning. I just wanted to add that my runDisney time are my absolute worst and by far (even starting in early corrals) because of photos. And, also, after a long run, I am never really hungry (I also force myself to eat part of the provided snack box to refuel within the first half hour) so an early breakfast ADR would be a bit of a waste.
I love this because we each respond differently. I snack on various things to refuel right after a race because I'm hungry and my body will accept it because it wants something, but I do not know for sure until anywhere from 1-3 hours later what I feel like for a larger meal. It's very easy to think today that a certain food or restaurant sounds wonderful after a race, but on race day that same meal may not appeal.

Speaking for myself, I have found that I really enjoy having a nice breakfast the day before a half in the parks. That's become a new tradition for me, but I only started it they day of my first multi race challenge.
 
My 16yo ran his qualifying 10 mile race today and thought for sure he'd be up for breakfast after, but all he really wanted after was a shower. He really wasn't hungry, and that's not like him after his usual 5Ks. That confirmed my decision that if we do a table service meal that day, it won't be a fixed price meal. Not sure if your kids have run half marathons before, but it's something to consider!
 
It took us way longer to get back than expected. We were in I think the second or third wave of the last corral and started around 6:45am. We took longer than expected to finish (it was my friend's first race and she was really struggling), we finished at about 9:15am. We went straight to the buses but had to wait about 30 minutes for a bus back to our hotel (the line was LONG). Even if we had gone straight to breakfast, we wouldn't have made it anywhere before 10:30am at the earliest. And honestly, we were desperate for a shower anyway. I wouldn't make any plans before 11 or 11:30 if at all possible.
 

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