My first half marathon experience - and my take on the Disney Princess Half Marathon

After waiting for over six years for a chance to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon I had pretty big hopes and dreams for what it would be like. Here is my brutally honest thoughts and my own race recap.

The Build-Up Hype

Okay, so this race sells out sometimes the same day that the tickets go on sale. Mind you, this is not a $35 local race…the entry fees for 2016 were $180 for the half marathon alone! Add to that the fact that they go on sale SEVEN MONTHS in advance and cannot be sold or transferred, you are pretty invested long before the race weekend.

Hotels start booking up for the race weekend just as far in advance and it can become a struggle just to find a place to stay. There are lots of moving components that go into this planning stage and it can be stressful.

RunDisney starts sending e-mails to pump you up and offer you additional things to purchase in case you might not have spent enough yet. Knowing Disney well after many, many trips, I knew what to expect, but if this is your first time, it can seem like a slimy used car salesman is pushing everything they can at you. Don’t fall into it…only purchase what you want or need. Trust me, the offers are not great deals anyway.

The Training

Oh, the training. Running is not my thing. I am a lover of the gym, but a hater of the treadmill. I slacked and really only trained for about three months prior to the race. I was worried, but to be honest, a huge portion of the participants are walking the entire thing. My hubs and I came up with a game plan that we would not stop for any photos until we reached the castle (which is about mile 6) and then we would play it by ear. I can guarantee you, if you are comfortable running six miles, you’ll have this race in the bag without any trouble.

The Expo

Wow, the race weekend expo is a madhouse. There is no way around it though as you have to pick up your packet in person. Because we had just returned from a cruise (we drove from Miami to Orlando as soon as we got off the boat!) on the last day of the expo, it was jam packed with last minute pickups and the booths were picked almost clean. I have heard from many sources that the locals often come to “shop” and buy tons of the merchandise to then sell online. Not sure if this is really accurate or not, but I will say that if you are looking for any sizes other than large and up, don’t hold your breath unless you are at the expo on the first day. At least you’re enjoying the beautiful Wide World of Sports.

The good news for us though was that we didn’t have a line at all to get our packets.

There was a separate area to pick up the race t-shirt, and that too was very short. As is almost always the case with Disney, they have done this before and had a great system in place.

There was a super fun red carpet to walk and some of Cinderella’s footmen to greet you.

But once inside, you see this:

A little overwhelming, right? My suggestion would be to bypass most of these booths. There was a lot to see, but the vast majority was not licensed and had big markups. If there is something that you like, get the name and look it up on your phone. If the price is different, just order it online. I almost purchased a shirt that was more than double the price from their online store. Yowza!

There is a section in the back that is all Disney licensed items (See that blue square in the back? That is it.), but as I mentioned, it was pretty cleared out. I spent awhile walking around, but the only thing that I purchased from the entire expo was a Disney coffee mug.

Race Day

The wake up call sure comes early on race day. You’ve got to be at EPOCT ready to rock and roll well before the sun comes up! My hubby and I set our alarm for 0300, and that got us there just in time. Mind you, this is without a shower, without breakfast (although there was a quick stop at a Starbucks along the way to get some caffeine going) and only about 10 minutes to get dressed. We were staying off property, so we drove ourselves. If you find yourself in a similar situation, leave earlier than you think is remotely necessary because there will be a ridiculous amount of traffic when you get anywhere near EPCOT. Ridiculous.

Hang in there, ignore the portable toilets once you get to the gathering area unless it is a dire emergency. There are super long lines here and countless toilets throughout the course. Also, be prepared to walk a ways to get to your corral. We walked for about 20 minutes from the parking lot to our corral.

Bring a jacket or sweatshirt that you don’t care too much about and plan on ditching it once you start running. Remember that you’ll be standing in line waiting for quite some time and it is pretty cold in February before the sun has risen, even in Florida. We were outside for about an hour and a half in 50* weather. Fear not though, that sweatshirt will be put to good use. Disney collects all of them and donates them.

Disney goes out of its way to make sure that every runner feels special. It matters not which corral you are in, you will get the same starting fireworks, the same cheers from the hundreds upon hundreds of volunteers and the same amazing finish line as the elite runners. It is fantastic!

The one and only real disappointment for me was the entertainment. Again, I had built this race up to epic proportions in my mind and I was expecting there to be some great entertainment at each and every mile. I guess it all comes down to what you would consider great. For me, a hot air balloon wasn’t that exciting. There was something to see often though, and a lot of it was awesome, and it does keep you distracted from the whole running thing.

There were tons of opportunities for character photos, but be warned that if you see them on the left side, you will see them again as you make your way back to the finish line. No need to try to stand in a long line for a photo in the dark. Most character lines were pretty quick, but I got caught up in getting a photo with Belle and ended up in line for almost 45 minutes! I will not make that mistake again because it was incredibly hard to get going again after that long of a break. Worst part? The picture wasn’t very good. Where was I looking?!

There are a couple of slight hills on the mostly flat course, but when you hit them there will be a bottleneck as the huge majority walk at these points. Work some hills into your training plan and you’ll be good to go.

The Costumes

You guys, I was a hot mess about costumes. I had gotten so entirely busy with life that I had forgotten about costumes until a week before the race. I whipped ours up (and on the cheap too), but was a little nervous about how they might hold up compared to some of the other racers. Let me tell you, whatever you wear, don’t worry. There are so many different levels of costuming from those wearing just everyday shorts and t-shirts to a guy who dressed as Prince Charming and carried a shoe on pillow the entire way. Yeah, that’s dedication. Long story short (or long, as the case may be) you’ll fit in no matter what you wear.

The Cheering

I have never in my life seen so many amazing volunteers! They lined up by the tens all over the course and would cheer and yell and blow noise makers…anything to encourage you and let you know they were proud of you. Because the race bibs have the runner’s name printed on them, I was encouraged personally by name countless times. All of this helped me and I found myself rushing to get to the next group cheering me on. The volunteers also man the water and Powerade stations and are great at making sure you have every opportunity to rehydrate yourself. And although I didn’t take advantage of them, there are also medical tents all along the route, just in case. My personal favorites though, were the volunteers (come to think of it, they might have been Cast Members) who offer tissues as you approach the castle!

The Castle!

Which brings us to the Castle! If you have been to Disney World, you understand the power that Main Street U.S.A. has on a person. There is just such an emotional connection for me that as soon as we rounded a corner and turned onto Main Street that the tears started. You can see the castle as you approach, there are hundreds of people lined up all along either side of the rope just cheering for you and it is a once in a lifetime feeling. I am honestly crying a little as I write this because it was that great. The tears were flowing from almost every runner around. I was so glad that I was able to share that moment with my best bud, my hubs, because it will be a memory that I’ll cherish forever.

Final Thoughts

If you have made it this far, you can probably surmise that I had a pretty great time. There were some things that didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped (princess picture line!!!) and some things that were so much better than anything that I could have dreamed (hello, Castle!). It is not an inexpensive weekend, but I would, without a moment’s hesitation, sign up for each and every single RunDisney race that I could! It was so wonderfully put together, incredibly staffed and filled with such love and encouragement from each and every person I met that it is night and day different from any other race I have ever been a part of.