Questions about RunDisney/Wine & Dine

We are traveling to WDW so my GF can run in the W&D half marathon and I had a few questions…

Has anyone been a spectator for their friend or loved one and seen them on the course twice? Once during and then at the finish? I am not sure this is possible because of road closures or if I am better meeting her at the finish.

Also, what would be a cute idea to do at the end of the race for her?

One last question - has anyone attended the after party? I guess it would mainly be from 2016 since it was switched to the evening. What can we expect? I want to plan to be in the park right when we can and possibly see Illuminations. Crowd levels? Wait times? etc

Thanks!

All depends on where you are staying, where you want to see her (and if you have tickets with or without parkhoppers), how you are going to get there, what corral she is in, and how fast she plans to run (with character stops or not). But yes, it can be done. :smiley:

Here is the course map: http://cdn.instantmagazine.com/upload/2425/wd17_half_course_map.14314adf9f35.pdf

An easy place would probably be the parking lot as they come out of HS. The park has 8am EMH that morning, so you could drive or bus over there, then drive or Uber to Epcot for the finish. If you are staying at one of the Crescent Lake Hotel, you could just roll out of bed to a spot by YC/BC, then book it to the front of Epcot (if you Uber or drive). You may not get to see her actually cross the finish line, but the finish line area is pretty crowded (and I am personally “in the zone” too much by that point to see anyone in the crowd, I am just laser focused on the finish). There will be a long runners only area where she will get snacks, pick up her bag, and get a picture with her medal, so you should be able to get to the family reunion area in plenty of time. Although AK is “midway,” I doubt you could get there with the road closures.

As for end of the race, she will have a shiny new medal, so idk what you could do to top that. :laughing: Maybe flowers? An idea if you see her on the course is to surprise her by making a special sign.

I have asked here a couple of times if anyone went to the party last year, but no one ever answered! I read reports that there were logistical issues in clearing the park for non-party guests, but if you can last until after midnight, the lines will be minimal.

We are staying at AoA (first time there). In the leaked map the other week it showed they would be running right by the hotel but thats not the case now, as I could have walked out to the road and then grabbed an Uber. I was wondering if I could get to the mile 8 food and water area before they head up into HS and then grab an Uber/Lyft to the finish line. I hope this can work and wondered if anyone has done anything similar before.

I will have a park hopper but I plan to use it when she goes to bed on Saturday night (I can’t go to bed early too haha) and then on Monday so we can go to MK with all her bling! We won’t know what corral she will be in until she picks up her bib. She has however done 2-3 other RunDisney half marathons in CA.

I thought a sign might be a cute idea. I would need something giant and some markers and not have her see it in the room.

Are there grandstands set up at the end? Is it easy for people to watch other people finish? It somewhat is in CA at those races.

I did read about some of the issues last year too and I hope to get there early so we don’t encounter them. Plus making sure she has her party ticket and/or linked to her magicband as I heard that was an issue for runners too.

In April I was staying at Pop for the Star Wars Dark Side races. I only ran the 10K but my friend ran the 1/2. I met her at DHS with snacks, a cooling towel, and an energy drink. I was standing outside of DHS, where bus stops 8-10 are, with lots of other people cheering on the runners. That was a really good spot. I had my car so I drove to DHS when she texted me what time she thought she would be runnning by.

Race waivers are up so she can figure out her corral! I got into corral C - so excited! :heart_eyes:

The problem is I won’t have a car. If it will be too hard to watch her on the course then I’ll just wait at the finish for her. I think getting to HS and then getting to the finish will be cutting it too close

Awesome! She got corral F… she’s not thrilled about it but it is what it is. Maybe I can sleep in a little longer then :slight_smile: