Princess Weekend 2020

[staceyrose55]

We are doing the 5K next month! I've heard that driving to EP is not a bad idea and you can leave your hotel later than if you had to catch a bus although Disney tries to encourage everyone to take the bus...anyone have experience one this?

 

[Mollie Roque]

We are doing the 5K next month! I've heard that driving to EP is not a bad idea and you can leave your hotel later than if you had to catch a bus although Disney tries to encourage everyone to take the bus...anyone have experience one this?

I stay off resort and Uber in. I schedule the Uber ahead of time so I don't have to worry about not getting one, but had no issues one time I had to change the time

 

[alexce]

We are doing the 5K next month! I've heard that driving to EP is not a bad idea and you can leave your hotel later than if you had to catch a bus although Disney tries to encourage everyone to take the bus...anyone have experience one this?

We have always driven to the 5K from a resort for the handful of weekends we've done. The traffic has been fine - smaller field than the bigger races. But we do try to follow what the guide says, re: time to get into the corrals. Not sure how much time it saves, but we don't feel so rushed / uncertain. That said, we take the buses for the other races and those are fine. I think it's just personal preference.

 

[camaker]

What do people use to protect it?

What do people do to protect the bib in the 2 runs?

There’s no real need to do anything to protect it. It’s made of a tough Tyvek type paper. Just don’t fold it. You can damage the tracking chip if you do that. I’ve never had an issue with a challenge bib getting damaged between races.

 

[CassieRuns]

There’s no real need to do anything to protect it. It’s made of a tough Tyvek type paper. Just don’t fold it. You can damage the tracking chip if you do that. I’ve never had an issue with a challenge bib getting damaged between races.

It's true! The worst that happened last year was that my costume literally melted onto the bib... but the bib still survived. It was just very, VERY pink but it was princess so I just went with it.

A couple times during the intense heat I couldn't control my arms and I still didn't and couldn't rip the paper. Despite the bib getting caught on my apple watch. It's very sturdy.

 

[oopsadaisy]

Any suggestions for this schedule would be appreciated. Doing the 10K Princess race. Would like to get to Animal Kingdom as early as possible after the race to take advantage of Extra Magic Hour 8-9 and get in line for Flight of Passage. Will there be buses from Epcot to Animal Kingdom that early in the morning? I'm thinking no. Should we try for a Minnie Van? Staying at All Star so could take bus back there and then to AK but looking for quickest option.

 

[sandam1]

I've heard that driving to EP is not a bad idea and you can leave your hotel later than if you had to catch a bus although Disney tries to encourage everyone to take the bus...anyone have experience one this?

We stayed off-site at Universal for last year's Marathon weekend and drove to Epcot for the 5K and half. It was super simple and we hit very little traffic. The biggest benefits were having a comfortable place to hang out before the race (the morning of the 5K was COLD so the heat was appreciated) and having a guaranteed place to sit afterward (i.e. not standing on a bus back to your hotel). It was also great to be able to bring any recovery tool that we might need (food, drink, foam roller, sweatshirt, shoes, etc.) and not have to deal with gear check.

If you choose to drive, a couple words of warning:

1. Listen to what time Disney wants you in the parking lot and be there by then. They do pad their times a bit, but pad your travel time even more. Better off waiting in your comfy car than panicking on the road.

2. It is a hike from the parking lot to the runner's area. It is an even longer hike to the start of the half. Don't cut your times too tight!

I know that Disney wants people on their buses, but as the queen of the catastrophic Disney transportation failure, I avoid them at all costs.

 

[Kimmcarr81]

I bet most of us have just over 5 weeks until we are traveling to Princess! I'm finally making some progress on costumes. I have a tutu for the 10k and I've never run in a tutu before so I want to do a test of it all together. How's it going for everyone else??

 

[softball chick]

I bet most of us have just over 5 weeks until we are traveling to Princess! I'm finally making some progress on costumes. I have a tutu for the 10k and I've never run in a tutu before so I want to do a test of it all together. How's it going for everyone else??

5K is set - I've got a Bo Peep (ala Toy Story 4) Halloween costume that I'm going to wear. Only thing I may add is a different bow for my hair.
For the half, I have my top and skirt - all I still need is to find an apron and a hair bow and then I'm set there too.
Pretty sure this is the earliest I've ever been this prepared for my costumes! I'm usually scrambling last minute.

 

[SarahDisney]

Dont ask me about costumes.
Or plane tickets. I haven't booked those yet either.

 

[princess_jamie]

Dont ask me about costumes.
Or plane tickets. I haven't booked those yet either.

Ditto. I'm not a huge costume person.. but I would like something. Maybe I'll make a shirt or something. Flights I'm stressed about.. haven't booked yet and they are getting expensive, but I may have to stay in Orlando for work for a few days longer than my original plans and I'm anxiously waiting for confirmation on that.

 

[ReginaMBK]

Or plane tickets. I haven't booked those yet either.

Sameee! For some reason they're stupidly expensive right now.

 

[Kimmcarr81]

Sameee! For some reason they're stupidly expensive right now.

I bought mine back in October and they were crazy expensive then too. For some reason its just a lot that weekend!

 

[softball chick]

I bought mine back in October and they were crazy expensive then too. For some reason its just a lot that weekend!

My issue was cost and availability! I had to book a different airline than I usually fly because of how few flights there were the day that I needed to go. It was just a rough weekend overall for flying.

 

[Kimmcarr81]

My issue was cost and availability! I had to book a different airline than I usually fly because of how few flights there were the day that I needed to go. It was just a rough weekend overall for flying.

Yeah, I had been hoping to do SW but they no longer have any direct flights to Orlando from where I live so I had to do United. Which really is fine because I have some status there and get free checked bags. But I was hoping to score a good SW deal that so many others were saying they were finding. But no deal for me!

 

[softball chick]

Yeah, I had been hoping to do SW but they no longer have any direct flights to Orlando from where I live so I had to do United. Which really is fine because I have some status there and get free checked bags. But I was hoping to score a good SW deal that so many others were saying they were finding. But no deal for me!

That's my issue - we still have some direct for SW but it's only like 2 or 3 a day, and all of them were too early for a teacher to make on a school day

 

[sunshine girl]

Hi all! I am doing the half and am very excited... I haven't done Princess since 2010!! The Princess race timing usually conflicts with my work schedule, but this year things changed so I was able to sign up!

And I agree on the flight prices. I just booked mine and it was the most expensive flight for a runDisney weekend that I've booked in years. Yikes!!

 

[CassieRuns]

I bet most of us have just over 5 weeks until we are traveling to Princess! I'm finally making some progress on costumes. I have a tutu for the 10k and I've never run in a tutu before so I want to do a test of it all together. How's it going for everyone else??

I'm doing Belle for the 5KM, Snow White (I live in Germany so it seems appropriate) for the 10KM and Cinderella for the Half. My sister is crazy talented; she is making the tutu's.

 

[FinnsMom7]

Hearing all the flight price issues I am glad I went ahead and made my trip W-W instead of Th-T as I originally intended. I ended up taking the later flight on Wed so not arriving until 9:30 but grabbed a nice 116 pp rdtp price. Will be more relaxed having Thursday without any travel.

 

[1lilspark]

Hearing all the flight price issues I am glad I went ahead and made my trip W-W instead of Th-T as I originally intended. I ended up taking the later flight on Wed so not arriving until 9:30 but grabbed a nice 116 pp rdtp price. Will be more relaxed having Thursday without any travel.

Plus you can get a jump on merchandise at the expo Thursday so that’s a plus