Disneyland Half Marathon 2024

[SarahDisney]

When we took our medals to Disneyland & DCA on Sunday the 2 PPP we had barely knew it was race weekend. They helped us with some good shots, but afterwards I found out that a lot of runners got Mickey & Minnie runners magic shot so I was disappointed to not have that. I sent a message to PP asking if they could add it into one of my photos, but it's been 2 weeks with no response.

We had one PPP tell us that they would only do the runDisney magic shot if you specifically asked for it (my sister had seen it on marathon weekend pictures so she knew to ask). But we also had photographers who gave it to us without asking so I'm not sure if that was actually true.

We had a bit of a mixed bag with photographers. On Friday none of the photographers did anything with the medals. Later in the trip we had some photographers that were good with the medals, but not all of them were. What I think probably happened is that runners were telling the photographers what to do so by the end of the weekend, some of them knew what runners were expecting, but not all of them picked up on it.

I haven't counted our race pictures but it's also not very many, and none from the expo.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Finally finished my recap if you want to relive a first timer's trip to Disneyland (link).



All in all, G and I had a disappointing 5k, I finished 30th in the 10k, 125th in the HM, and 18th in Dumbo. The highlight of the trip was definitely the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, and G is definitely convinced she wants to live in LA and be in the entertainment business.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

Finally finished my recap if you want to relive a first timer's trip to Disneyland (link).

View attachment 829591

All in all, G and I had a disappointing 5k, I finished 30th in the 10k, 125th in the HM, and 18th in Dumbo. The highlight of the trip was definitely the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, and G is definitely convinced she wants to live in LA and be in the entertainment business.

My cousin's brother in law is a cinematographer in LA and lives in a duplex with roommates because the rent is $4,300 a month

 

[DopeyBadger]

My cousin's brother in law is a cinematographer in LA and lives in a duplex with roommates because the rent is $4,300 a month

 

[The Expert]

Just remind her @DopeyBadger that she doesn't have to be in LA to work in the industry, but she can always move there once she's in demand!

A ton of filming and production is done in Atlanta, Vancouver, NYC and Utah. Most of those places are not only more affordable to live in, but easier to break into the industry. Start as a set assistant or an entry-level job doing tech, building sets, doing publicity...all doors in with far less competition. I have a friend who has been a working actor for the last 35 years who started as a runner for Hallmark and Disney Channel movie shoots in Salt Lake. He still lives in Utah and most of his work is there, though he occasionally flies out somewhere for a project.

 

[The Expert]

Expo: Thursday 5:30pm 0 photos (0 total, 0 unique)
10k: Saturday started in C, finished in 57 minutes, 5 photos at finish line (5 total, 1 unique)
Half Marathon: Sunday started in B finished in 2:05, 1 photo in DCA, 2 photos at castle, 8 photos at finish line (11 total, 3 unique)

Expo: Thursday, noon. 0 photos. The only backdrops I saw were for cell phone shots or selfies.
5K: Friday, started in B, 11 photos all on course that look pretty much the same. 0 finish shots, 0 characters.
10K: Saturday, started in B, finished in 90 minutes, 3 course photos, 2 duplicate (terrible) finish line shots, 0 characters.
Half: Sunday, started in B, finished in 3 hours, 5 course photos (2 are decent), 4 finish line (3 mostly blocked by other runners), 0 characters.

I think the most disappointing thing for me was the only character shots I got were with my own phone, and there weren't even CMs there to help with those. The one security guy who helped take pics in Fantasyland got my favorite shot! I tried to wait for three different characters only to be told the line was already closed. And I started in B!

We had one PPP tell us that they would only do the runDisney magic shot if you specifically asked for it (my sister had seen it on marathon weekend pictures so she knew to ask). But we also had photographers who gave it to us without asking so I'm not sure if that was actually true.

I got my castle medal photos on Sunday afternoon (after waiting about an hour in line) and did not know about a magic shot, so I did not ask. One showed up with my photos about a day after the rest of the pics.

 

[StarGirl11]

@StarGirl11 I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to educate about and advocate for rollDisney. You are providing a unique perspective from an experience that is different from mine, and I appreciate the additional awareness it gives me.

Your welcome.

Thought I would post in here as well but if anyone is curious what it looks like to do a race from a chairs perspective marathon the Grandmas course video is filmed from the perspective of a wheelchair. A much faster wheelchair than me (they can do a 2:21 marathon) but a wheelchair none the less:

(looks like their camera is either on their helmet or the front part of the chair because I can just see their front wheel bobbing in and out of frame occasionalyl)

 

[marty3d]

Expo: 0 Photos
Half: Started in B
9 on course photos - 3 pretty good including one coming through the castle though only 1 turret
8 Finish Line
1 Character - Daisy & Donald

I could have sworn I had the magic shot of Mickey and Minnie and could not find it … until I did … except it was at Hollywood Studios

 

[DopeyBadger]

Just remind her @DopeyBadger that she doesn't have to be in LA to work in the industry, but she can always move there once she's in demand!

A ton of filming and production is done in Atlanta, Vancouver, NYC and Utah. Most of those places are not only more affordable to live in, but easier to break into the industry. Start as a set assistant or an entry-level job doing tech, building sets, doing publicity...all doors in with far less competition. I have a friend who has been a working actor for the last 35 years who started as a runner for Hallmark and Disney Channel movie shoots in Salt Lake. He still lives in Utah and most of his work is there, though he occasionally flies out somewhere for a project.

Oh for sure! We'll see what happens over the next decade or so, but there's lots of paths we envision on how she could reach her ultimate goal. I mean even here in WI she still books a few jobs a year, and her agency is big in the Chicago market. So she'll definitely keep her options open.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I just finished my race/trip recap for Disneyland! You can find the first post here.

 

[pluto377]

Photo discussion-
DL:
Expo- 0, but I got some really nice ones taken by regular Cast Members
Half- 11 finish, none of which are great, but I finished at a crowded time; 2 castle, 1 is a great photo, but it's a close up so it's hard to tell it's the castle behind me; 2 on course
10K- 10 finish, 1 is really good, the rest are ok (too many other people in the shot), 6 on course, several of which are really nice!, 1 character (launchpad and friends)

For comparison
DW:
Expo- 7 (Mickey/Minnie, RunDisney sign)
Half- 2 finish, 7 on course; the rain hit just as I was coming into Epcot so unfortunately most of the photogs were packed up or in the process of packing up when I came through
10K- 4 finish, 19 on course, 2 characters (Epcot ball and Sleeping Beauty)

 

[The Expert]

I like the comparison @pluto377 -- going to add mine as well. I started mid-B for all races.

DL
Expo: Thursday, noon. 0 photos. The only backdrops I saw were for cell phone shots or selfies.
5K: Friday, started in B, 11 photos all on course that look pretty much the same. 0 finish shots, 0 characters.
10K: Saturday, started in B, finished in 90 minutes, 3 course photos, 2 duplicate (terrible) finish line shots, 0 characters.
Half: Sunday, started in B, finished in 3 hours, 5 course photos (2 are decent), 4 finish line (3 mostly blocked by other runners), 0 characters.

WDW
Expo: Didn't stick around for any.
5K: 10 photos, 8 finish line and 3 characters (one pre-race). Only 3 throw-aways.
10K: 2 course photos, 8 finish line (it was crowded), 0 characters (but I don't recall stopping for any). Of these, 4 were in crowds or far away.
Half (of a half): 12 photos, 0 finish line (they had pulled for the rain), 1 character stop (the only one I stopped for)

Quantity
5K DL: 11
5K WDW: 21 -- nearly twice as many

10K DL: 5
10K WDW: 18 -- more than 3 times as many

Half DL: 9
Half of a Half WDW: 13 -- with half the miles and rain that caused them to pull photographers

Quality
Roughly 50-60% of the DL photos are bad -- dark, poorly framed, blurry -- only a few are due to being blocked by other runners.

Only about 10% of the WDW photos are bad, all due to being blocked by other runners.

 

[TarynM]

Here is my photopass photo breakdown, no half for me though:

Expo: Thursday, 0 photos. We did take phone photos, though.
5K: Friday, started in C, 11 total photos, 7 finish, 4 course. Didn't stop for any characters since the lines were so long.
10K: Saturday, started in E, 17 total photos, 4 course photos, 12 finish, 1 character.

I did send an email requesting them to look through photopass photos for the 5k and they found 1 additional shot of me in the background of a photo. So generally, they just weren't great with these runs.

 

[jennamfeo]

My only good photos were my finish line photos. Like good enough that I am considering paying $30 for two of them but still haven't pulled the trigger. I think this is my first finish line photo with my husband and I really want it. But I have given Disney so much of my money already. Ugh.

 

[LorrieAnn5]

My only good photos were my finish line photos. Like good enough that I am considering paying $30 for two of them but still haven't pulled the trigger. I think this is my first finish line photo with my husband and I really want it. But I have given Disney so much of my money already. Ugh.

Do you want me to try to add your bib number to my account? I'm not sure if it's too late, but I only entered my bib and my husband's bib and we each race on different days.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I've started the 2025 thread here.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/disneyland-half-marathon-weekend-2025.3939681

As for my sudden disappearance in this thread: my right eye went absolutely haywire in Orlando, and almost shut down in Anaheim. The best I could do there was to get an eyepatch at the Walgreens on Katella and figure what happened when I got home. My ophthalmologist is still wondering what my eye did. Hopefully I'll be back and not running into things!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

If anyone is interested, finished my trip report from the run here
Trip report

 

[Deisell78]

Anyone signing up tomorrow for the Halloween run?

 

[LorrieAnn5]

Anyone signing up tomorrow for the Halloween run?

No. I had a great time, but my husband (who ran the 10k) now wants to go for the Marathon in WDW so we're going to be trying for that in April.

Plus, training wise, I wouldn't want the bulk of my training to be in the heat & humidity of summer so the September race weekend doesn't work for me.

 

[Deisell78]

I think I am going to try for the 5k, mostly for my 2 boys to get the experience and my wife, and I will run it with them. This will be a good way to kind of introduce them into running and have them work up to 3 miles, plus we like Halloweentime at Disney- although it is early September. The half was such a fun experience I thought it would be nice for them to enjoy it as well.