Marathon Weekend 2023

[Naomeri]

I read all the threads even if I’m not participating in a race but I also have a bit of an obsessive personality.

Same. You never know what kind of useful tidbits will pop up in the various rD threads.

 

[SarahDisney]

For what it's worth, there's no requirement that you be running MW to participate in the thread or SAFD questions.

Yeah, I haven't done MW in a bit and have no specific plans of doing it in 2023 but I still participate in the threads because I strangely seem to like some of you people. Which is weird since I hate all people. But there are usually people on the thread who are cheering from home and not joining the in-person festivities.

 

[garneska]

You'll need to remind me

I am sure plenty of us will tag you when its time

 

[luv2cheer92]

SAFD:

Ohhh, totally forgot my big one! August 2020 I drove down to Orlando last minute by myself. On the way down, something was off about my car. I took it to the car care center on property about halfway through my trip when I realized it was getting worse. Well my car needed a pretty major repair (engine mount broke, which is terrifying). They had to order a part that wouldn't be there for a couple days, which meant I needed to add a night to my stay at Pop. I went down to the front desk to add a night. She said something along the lines of "having too much fun", and I brought up that my car broke and was getting fixed, and she gave me the extra night for free!!

 

[Jillfo]

I read all the threads even if I’m not participating in a race but I also have a bit of an obsessive personality.

Me too. My racing days are pretty much over (mostly because I don't want any more shirts or medals) yet here I am reading all the active running threads multiple times per day.

 

[Baloo in MI]

Been traveling today, so trying to catch up on the thread when I could. There is not much I can add that has not been said already around the conversation about SAFD. Clearly I like it or I would not have volunteered to facilitate this year. I do believe it benefits the thread. But is true that SAFD fill up large portions of the thread, especially when runDisney news is slow.

Maybe we can be sure to “title” our replies with SAFD so that those who are not interested can simply skim past. I will only send out a question on Sunday mornings and will start it with “Good Morning runDusney All-Stars, today’s SAFD is…. Hopefully this helps those not interested to pass it right up. But I do hope many of you do respond. Have a good week all.

 

[ZellyB]

SAFD:

For the few who aren't fans of SAFD in this thread, I do think it's fair that we try to label our responses as such, so I'll do my best to use SAFD when responding to those questions...

We got some pixie dust on this last MW trip. As we were pulling into the MK parking lot gate to pay for parking, the CM told us the van in front of us had neglected to take their parking receipt and as such, he was gifting us with their receipt and we didn't need to pay. We were very happy about that and thanked him effusively! That's $25 worth of pixie dust!!

 

[Kerry1957]

SAFD:

I hate to be the Debbie Downer on this question, but during Marathon Weekend I had two anti-pixie dust encounters with cast members.

Worst one was my daughter's birthday dinner. We ordered Saana to go and received the notice to pick it up. On the way in to AK we told the app we were there, but the guard would not let us in. No amount of logic or my daughter's tears would persuade her and she was nasty and belligerent. We were, of course, charged for the dinners we could not pick up. We returned to AK the next day to eat at Saana and the manager apologized and admitted the guard was wrong. It then took long interactions with two other CMs before they agreed to refund the previous nights uneaten dinner. The server during the dine in experience was wonderful so that helped a bit.

Our family has been APs for years and I think that up until covid times the CMs were absolutely wonderful. Disney hired great people, trained them well, and gave them the ability and the authorization to spread around some pixie dust. Unfortunately now they seem to hire whoever comes in the door and then throw them into the mix with little training. The magic still lives because there are still a bunch of terrific "old-timers", but I definitely can tell that times have changed.

 

[xjillianpaige]

is it weird that I'm already thinking about costumes for four races I might not even sign up for?

something representing each of the four parks for each race (AK 5k, HS 10k, Epcot ½, MK Full)
DCOM movies (I just want to dress like zenon girl of the 21st century or wear a team pup 'n suds shirt)
Jenna said we could go as Isabella and Lizzie (hey now hey nowwwww this is what dreams are made of) for a race

this is maybe more fun than training (it's definitely more fun than training)

 

[Herding_Cats]

Not weird. I'm hanging onto one of my race skirts (that i'm pretty sure I could sell for a profit right now) because it will be perfect for a figment costume *next time* I run MW (unless SIL doesn't commit to a pairs costume for SS, then I'll use it for that race.)

 

[marty3d]

SAFD:

For the few who aren't fans of SAFD in this thread, I do think it's fair that we try to label our responses as such, so I'll do my best to use SAFD when responding to those questions...

We got some pixie dust on this last MW trip. As we were pulling into the MK parking lot gate to pay for parking, the CM told us the van in front of us had neglected to take their parking receipt and as such, he was gifting us with their receipt and we didn't need to pay. We were very happy about that and thanked him effusively! That's $25 worth of pixie dust!!

SAFD:

Had a similar experience many years back. My son was sitting in the passenger seat when we pulled up wearing a Red Sox cap and shirt. Cast Member says "Go Boston" and tells my son that as a Red Sox fan he gets to park for free that day. Years later he still talks about that as one of his favourite Disney memories.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

is it weird that I'm already thinking about costumes for four races I might not even sign up for?

Nope! And I am also thinking about the DCOM movie trend… can I be cartoon Lizzie with you? Haha. Right now my thought is: Lizzie McGuire movie (cartoon Lizzie or performance), Cadet Kelly, Zenon, and a HSM Wildcats outfit for the marathon! But all of this might change— the only one I am “married” to is the HSM idea.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

SAFD:
Describe a time you experienced, or saw someone experience, a pixie dust moment in the parks.

We gave our mickey balloon to another family checking in as we were heading out of the parks. I loove creating pixie dust just as much receiving it. The little boy was soo happy.

 

[furiated]

Right now there's a huge lull in Marathon Weekend content as we wait for information like registration dates and it will be 8-9 months before we get to see medals/themes and longer than that to any real race info like the event guide. This thread would likely be near inactive 90% of the year if we were to take SAFD content out of it and would fall out of use and far down the threads list, likely resulting in new threads being opened rather than having one compiled thread.

I vote that we keep the current format.

That's definitely true that there's a lull this far out from the race weekend. But it's just adding a non-related topic to a thread to bump up the activity. Like if I decided the Princess Weekend thread wasn't active enough so every Saturday I went in and asked people what their favorite Metallica song is (and your answer better not be post-Black album BTW ). Or going into a discussion on the upcoming Tron coaster (another thing with large gaps in activity, thanks Chapek!) and doing weekly discussions on favorite pizza toppings. None of those are necessarily bad discussions, just in the wrong place. I guess I don't see the point in adding lots of non-MW discussion to the MW discussion thread.

SAFD is a tradition. It needs to stay

The worst reason to keep doing something is because "that's the way we've always done it"

I think most of us who are regulars on this thread very much enjoy SAFD. It helps us get to know each other and form bonds that translate into fun conversations and encounters on MW. If you are strictly interested in information about the event, there are other places to look, such as the rD site itself. This thread is populated by a community of folks who enjoy talking about Disney to others who also enjoy Disney, and by runners who encourage and support one another. SAFD also serves the purpose of getting newbies into the conversation and into the group. Thank you, @Baloo in MI for making sure it continues.

Oh I know what the community is like here, despite being a lurker, I've been here for years and years. And if you met me out in the real world and started talking Disney Parks, I'd talk your ear off. I'm not trying to shut down any Disney discussion on here, it just seems like SAFD is currently in an odd place.

Well, I am with you and agree it should be it's own thread for all the reasons you state. Also, making a separate thread opens it up to other runners who may not be running MW but would want to join in. The SAFD information is great and fun, but I agree it is a pain sifting through it all to find discussion about marathon weekend. I made the same suggestion as you 2 years ago when Lee asked if we should continue SAFD...Like you said, we are the minority here, so, oh well...

https://www.disboards.com/threads/marathon-weekend-2021.3786394/post-62344824

Insert Tobias.GIF "There are dozens of us! DOZENS!"

Anyways, I knew I was in the minority but thought some people might like the idea of opening it up to more views by making it it's own thread. I do appreciate the thoughtful discussion on it.

Back to lurker mode [until I'm sitting in a corral at 4am waiting for the race to start]. Carry on.

 

[SarahDisney]

But it's just adding a non-related topic to a thread to bump up the activity.

So ... disagree. While some of the SAFD questions are more general Disney than specific race-related, there are usually questions about race weekend as well. There's usually a question about goals, training check-ins, questions about celebration plans. So not something that everyone's answers are relevant to all runners, but a good way for us to keep each other accountable and also maybe to find people who have similar plans or paces to help with planning meetups or find race buddies.
And ultimately we're all here to talk Disney in general. That's why these boards exist. So while I understand that SAFD is not for everyone, I think calling it a "non-related topic" is a bit of a stretch.

 

[furiated]

So ... disagree. While some of the SAFD questions are more general Disney than specific race-related, there are usually questions about race weekend as well. There's usually a question about goals, training check-ins, questions about celebration plans. So not something that everyone's answers are relevant to all runners, but a good way for us to keep each other accountable and also maybe to find people who have similar plans or paces to help with planning meetups or find race buddies.
And ultimately we're all here to talk Disney in general. That's why these boards exist. So while I understand that SAFD is not for everyone, I think calling it a "non-related topic" is a bit of a stretch.

Fair, some of them are event related, and those I have no problem with. But it feels like the off topic ones way outnumber the on topic ones. Like, look at the recent one about pixie dust moments. If that had been something like Share a moment when you saw a runner help another runner during a race, that would be way more on topic. IMHO anyway.

 

[twincitytexan]

Did my first marathon this year and my first runDisney race was the 5k that same weekend. Since then Dopey or Goofy is definitely my next goal but may need to do some saving before I can afford it. I don't think I'll do the parks to try to make up for the price. (not saying it's too expensive just not exactly in a steady financial place right now). When does registration historically start? Still kind of a newbie to runDisney, but doing the marathon definitely was something I'll never forget as someone who has been a huge Disney fan since I was a toddler and has been running since middle school.

 

[camaker]

Did my first marathon this year and my first runDisney race was the 5k that same weekend. Since then Dopey or Goofy is definitely my next goal but may need to do some saving before I can afford it. I don't think I'll do the parks to try to make up for the price. (not saying it's too expensive just not exactly in a steady financial place right now). When does registration historically start? Still kind of a newbie to runDisney, but doing the marathon definitely was something I'll never forget as someone who has been a huge Disney fan since I was a toddler and has been running since middle school.

Registration has most often been in April since I started running MW in 2016, but it has also ranged from February to July in that timeframe, as well. If I had to guess, I'd expect Wine & Dine registration to be held in March, followed by MW registration in April/May.

 

[jrsharp21]

I want to say that registration for MW 2022 opened in July 2021. Possibly different timing last year for obvious reasons? I remember sitting at my sons baseball game when we remembered that registration had opened that morning. My wife got into the half marathon. When I was trying to register it said sold out. So I said here goes nothing and signed up for Dopey.

 

[sandam1]

Registration for Marathon Weekend 2019 was also in July. I was waiting in the hospital while my mom had her knee replaced and it actually took less time for her surgery to be done than it did for me to register for the half marathon. Ah, gotta love Disney IT!