Marathon Weekend 2023

[Barca33Runner]

As long as I get my SAFD fix I don’t care where it is. Also, I like the random non-weekend related Disney questions just as much (probably a little more ) as the running focused.

 

[BigEeyore]

Took a little break from the Dis after MW and suddenly this thread is up to 18 pages, with two SAFD! All caught up now...

SAFD #1 - doing the Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 in May and Chicago marathon in October. Need to get a half in sometime this spring for a new PoT for MW - probably something local (I'm near Atlanta), Will probably do an Olympic distance tri over the summer if my schedule allows.

SAFD #2 - My biggest pixie dust moment was not at WDW but at Disney's Hilton Head Island resort (DVC). We have gone nearly every summer since 2008 when we joined DVC and love it there - summer of 2020 we had our vacation booked (11 months in advance) for the first week of June. Well, thanks to Covid they hadn't opened the resort back up yet by the time our vacation was coming up. I emailed Disney, trying to find out if they were going to reopen the resort in time for our vacation, because if not we had to make other plans. The manager of the resort, Jerome, called me and we ended up talking for almost 30 minutes - he was as frustrated as I was about the delayed reopening, and very kind and helpful. We ended up rescheduling to a shorter getaway later in the summer, and when we arrived I found that we had been given the best view on property, and there was a gift waiting for us in our room with a sweet note from Jerome!

 

[Herding_Cats]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?

 

[runningDisneygirl]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?

Ran Dopey this year. Below are costs for just ME
-Registration cost: Around $600 I think?
-Expo/souvenir costs: $160 on a pullover, mug and magnet from the Expo. That was after my discount for being a Disney Visa cardholder. I didn't purchase any other souvenirs that week, but I already own a lot of Disney parks swag!
-Lodging: I split a room with my sister Wednesday to Saturday at Coronado Springs, and then stayed at the Wilderness Lodge in a room with my husband Saturday to Wednesday. Total $2,454 is what I paid on rooms for 7 nights
-Food: I would estimate an average of $50 a day. Most mornings ate oatmeal in the room that we bought ahead of time. Would grab a $10 breakfast/early lunch at quick service in our resort. and then one big meal a day. There were a few higher dollar days where we did Boma or somewhere nice for a meal. In total that was around $400 for the week.
-Parks: We did 4 park days so around $500 for tickets
All in all, it is definitely pricey to do Dopey! The race registration alone is a lot. The next time I do it, I will probably only stay 5 nights, and just do one park. I will also stay somewhere a little less expensive than the Wilderness Lodge. But I would still say it was worth every penny!!!

 

[camaker]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?

Here are some numbers from this year's MW solo trip for me:

-Registration cost: $640
-Expo/souvenir costs: $100-150
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC): ~$1890 (CBR standard rm)
-Food costs: $40-60/day (I bring my own bars for breakfast and eat counter service lunch and dinner)
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?: Can't think of anything major. If you fly in and stay on-site, though, Mears Connect was essentially the same as DME and cost $32 round trip.

ETA: park tickets, maybe? I'm an AP right now, so that didn't immediately occur to me.

 

[pluto377]

I did a solo trip this year- 2 nights at ASMo and 3 nights at Beach Club (dedicated DVC rental reservation).

-Registration cost- $600 before fees
-Expo/souvenir costs- none because I returned my $50 Dopey i did it shirt
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)- approx $1200, as much as I love renting points and staying deluxe next time I think I'd stick with a value to save money
-Food costs- $230- I went to publix and got breakfast food. I only ate sit down at Beaches & Cream. I ate a couple of dinners in the room (microwave pizza)
-Park ticket- $380- 3day non hopper with genie+ (which I totally did not need, but wanted to try out)
-Memory maker- $169- gotta have all those photos if you're doing dopey!

If you do need to fly make sure to budget in parking costs at your home airport. I was not too pleased that mine were $100. I could have avoided this by taking an earlier flight home Monday and having DH pick me up, but I really wanted park time.

All in the weekend cost me over $3000 and that was with flying free b/c I had southwest points. Not included above are my rental car, misc transport (tolls, gas), airport food, souvenirs for my kids/DH, and Cirque ticket. I definitely need to make cutbacks if I go next year. I'm also thinking of doing "Just" the 5/10/half next year so I think there's nothing wrong with that at all!

 

[Herding_Cats]

I did a solo trip this year- 2 nights at ASMo and 3 nights at Beach Club (dedicated DVC rental reservation).

-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)- approx $1200, as much as I love renting points and staying deluxe next time I think I'd stick with a value to save money

Make sure you price it out. I have made a spreadsheet with various length stays and cost per point and it's been eye-opening for sure.

 

[shellott-hill]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?

I usually put my head in the sand and just eat the costs. Exposing what I spend may put future runDisney events in Jeopardy.

Registration:
Dopey registration = $600 + tax = $639.60
Half Marathon registration = $195 + tax = $207.87
5k registration = $95 + tax = $101.27

Expo/Souvenir Costs:
Approx $120. Purchased two pairs of sunglasses and a few gels/gummies for fuelling. We did not pre-purchase any memorabilia.
Shirts, Hats, Knick-knacks, etc = approx $500

Lodging:
Stayed 7 nights.
4 nights on Hotel points = $0
3 nights at Pop = $641.26

Food Costs:
Table Service meal every night = approx $1500 over 7 meals with 3 people each meal.
Other meals/snacks = approx $40 per person per day = approx $840

Park Tickets:
7 day park hoppers for 3 people = $1788.37

Lyft:
approx $150.
To/from airport + anytime we needed a lyft in the bubble.

Grand totals :
for 3 people = $6488.37 or $6,500
per person = $2162.79
for just the Dopey dude = approx $2980

 

[MissLiss279]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?

Solo trip in BLT lake view studio for 7 nights with an AP
-Registration cost: Dopey $640
-Expo/souvenir costs: ~$300 (includes runDisney, expo vendors, and 1 Disney puzzle)
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC): ~$1600 (DVC, I estimate my SSR points are worth ~$12.50 this year, and I used 128)
-Food costs: ~$480 (Incudes purchasing most breakfast items and some snacks at Walmart)

 

[Novatrix]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?

You're going to get a really wide range of answers based on a lot of factors (how long before/after the races people stay, DVC, park ticket type, spending habits, number of other travellers). I admit, I've always been curious what the variation was amongst attendees.



4 night/5 full day Goofy trip in 2022:
If I had done Dopey this year it would have been an extra +$727 to total. (add $224 to registration cost, add $40 to park tickets, add $200 total to food cost, add 2 nights at $263 total to lodging, souvenirs and ubers would've remained unchanged)

-Registration cost : Goofy $416
-Expo/souvenir costs: $63 (Expo souvenirs +Refillable mug)
-Lodging: 4 nights - $502 (long time DVC, so I only multiply points used by current year dues to determine lodging cost. =57*$8.8063)
-Park Tickets: 5 days at $135. Includes Memory Maker. (Gold annual passholder before the system changed, figured out the cost of using the pass to be $27/day in the park based on the number of days I'll use the pass)
-Food/Alcohol costs: $531 <- Most expensive day by a long shot was DATW day, otherwise 1 table service meal, the rest quick service/lounges
-Uber between resorts/airport/ect: $157 (I'm getting too impatient in my old age to use Disney transport to go from resort to resort)
-Tipping not included in food/uber totals: $36 (housekeeping, bell services)
Total Not Including Flights/Parking at Airport: $1,840.

 

[PrincessV]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?

I'm cheap and on a very limited budget...

Solo trip, AP holder, 100-mile drive away: so no additional cost for tickets, and no airfare involved.

Dopey 2022 Registration: $639.60
Expo/souvenir costs: $0 - I did buy a mug and a magnet, but used Disney Visa Rewards dollars to pay for them. With AP discount I think they were $30.
Lodging: Wyndham Bonnet Creek 2- bedroom rental $565 ($715 minus $150 from a friend who used the 2nd bedroom a couple nights)
Food: $150ish in groceries for 7 days; $25 for lunch at my resort; the couple times I ate counter serve at WDW parks I used Disney Visa Rewards, so $0 actually spent, but cost was maybe $40.

Total actually spent: $1379.60

BUT, I sold my W&D medals for $300 total, so with that offset, my real OOP for MW was $1079.60.

 

[xjillianpaige]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?

I haven't run Dopey, but considering it and this is what I'm estimating the cost will be for 2023 based on my marathon spending from this past year.

Registration: $650-$700
Expo: $200 (estimated cost of 3 pins, 2 magnets, 1 jacket, -20% Disney Visa discount)
Lodging: (off property time share split between 4-6 friends for 11 nights) $200-$300
Food costs: (kitchen/kitchenette at hotel to reduce breakfast costs + quick service and an occasional sit down) $500
Other: Split a rental car for the 12 days, $100; Park tickets,. $350 (right now I only want to do two days and would park hop - not really itching to go back to Disney TBH but things could change by then)

Total: $2500 (rounding up and adding extra in case I wasn't conservative enough in an estimate or something unexpected came up, other souvenirs, etc.)

ETA: this doesn't include flights (I would hope to use some JetBlue points to save costs there) and gift cards/Disney Visa points on all Disney purchases under $50)

 

[Baloo in MI]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?

This last trip was with my family, so for four of us.
- Registration: 1 Dopey, 1Half & 3 5K’s = approx 1100$
- Expo/Souvenirs: approx 500$ (a trip to Disney Springs left a mark!)
- Lodging: DVC stay at Wilderness Lodge
- Tickets: AP’s
- Meals: approximately $1500 (we ate in the hotel for most breakfasts and a couple dinners but also splurged at several restaurants.

Was our first stay as new DVC Members, so much too painful to think about what it just cost us to buy into the program. But after years of never thinking we would do DVC, we absolutely loved it! And I am so happy we finally took the plunge. Outside DVC and AP costs we spent about 3100$ for the trip.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Agreed. SAFD is part of what makes this thread and marathon weekend what it is.

SAFD and the old question of the day on The Running Thread really helped me feel a part of this community and made it much easier for me to feel a part of the festivities at DATW in 2020 and my brief appearance this year. It also helps me learn from more experienced runners than myself because there are times when I learn that a successful strategy in the past needs to change in order to see success in the future, especially with the marathon distance.
If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?
[/QUOTE]In many cases, I long ago forgot what I spent on some of these costs, but I wanted to point out some possible expenses that Dopey brings that you're not thinking of.

In my case, Dopey #1 was also marathon #1. So I often picked up items such as the I did it shirt for both the marathon itself and for Dopey. I like to get pins for each race as well. In 2019 (first) and 2022 (WDW 50th), I spent more than usual because of the special occasions and/or really liking the 2022 merchandise. So if it's a first Dopey or marathon or anniversary year for whatever reason, keep that in mind.

Lodging varies, but just know that you may need to arrive on Tuesday just to be safe (I'm on the west coast so Wednesday cannot work for Dopey) and then how much longer do you want/can you stay after the races?

While overall I really like Memory Maker, I cannot say enough about its value for races. So you should include that cost as well. In multiple cases for me, the Disney photo taken during the marathon is better than the ones taken with my own camera, including things like looking at the camera.

 

[accm]

SAFD:

We had to cancel our trip last year due to COVID, and being DVC members, I had paid for 24 one time use points (almost $500), which are non refundable. I called to see if maybe they’d make an exception and let me at least bank the points. MSs was so kind and immediately offered to refund my money. I was so sad that my second son wouldn’t be able to spend his first birthday at Disney like his big brother, and that small act from MS made the cancelling sting a little less.

 

[accm]

I’m choosing to not think about how much Dopey will cost next year. We’re DVC members, so at least lodging will be free (or at least that’s what I tell myself whenever I book a DVC stay ).

my husband will also want to run some of the races, and my 4 year old is already excited for the 5k. We’ll have family from Brazil coming with us, which means lots of table service meals, so, ya, definitely not thinking about it until it’s too late to change my mind (after registration)

 

[flav]

If you have run Dopey in the past, can you give a quick breakdown/approximation of your overall spending MINUS getting to/from WDW? (As in, leave out the flights, gas, overnight drive hotel stop costs.) Or if you make a budget for the trip what your estimations are?
Some thing like
-Registration cost
-Expo/souvenir costs
-Lodging (I know some of you are DVC)
-Food costs
-Other significant category I'm forgetting?

Leaving transportation cost out (Taxi, Flight, Luggage checkin, free DME), I arrived and left Tuesday in 2020.

6 nights at Pop Century: 824$
1 add-on night at AsMo that got upgraded to CSR: 111$
Hotel tips: 50$

Activities
Dopey registration: 630$
7 day park tickets w/ PH+: 465$

Souvenirs
Race shirts, medals and ears included in registration: 0$
Custom MB purchase with resort reservations: 30$
Memory Maker: 185$
Photo/Autograph book of the year: 23$
Luggage with a rebate (on other trips, I have bought purse, dress or Pandora bead): 112$

Food (estimated by looking at my receipts because I shared most meals and snacks):
Groceries at the resort: 20$
T-Rex: 25$
Trattoria al Forno: 25$
Storybook Dining at AP: 80$
Other QS and snacks: 200$

Total: 985$+1095$+250$+350$=2680$ for one person

 

[princesspirateandrunner]

Are all of you other InknBurn fans as disappointed as I am? Check your email for the newsletter—they are going away! I can’t believe it!

 

[camaker]

Are all of you other InknBurn fans as disappointed as I am? Check your email for the newsletter—they are going away! I can’t believe it!

Definitely disappointed. They're my favorite shirts to run in. Fortunately I've got enough to keep me running in style for the foreseeable future.

 

[gosalyn_mallard]

On the budget topic and memory maker...
If you are doing multiple races weekends, you can time it right to only pay once for memory maker.

I bought memory maker in October. We went for W&D in November. I activated memory maker in mid December and downloaded the W&D pics. We went for MW while memory maker was still active and downloaded those too.