Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend 2021 (April 15-18, 2021) - Now Virtual Only

[Z-Knight]

i can't believe we were 2 weeks away from being able to go do the 2020 race and then that sugar honey iced tea covid destroyed it.. and now we have to wait 2 dang years, and possibly not even have a star wars weekend... dang, i hate 2020 andi will likely hate 2021.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I haven’t made a final decision on the trip itself, though. I desperately feel the need for a Disney trip. This year will be the first missed Marathon Weekend since I started running and that hurts. It was enough for me to go virtual Dopey to at least feel like I was there for the weekend in spirit. It’s hard to justify the cost, though, with so many of my favorite experiences and restaurants closed. Hopefully some of them will return as we get closer to April and it will be worthwhile to keep the trip.

I'm having the same quandary. I think I'm going to keep my room for now, but I'll have to decide by the end of January (DVC points) to bank the points if necessary. I'm with you in that with so many things changed and the dining different, a trip doesn't have the same appeal. If things change for the better by January, and vaccinations continue to roll out, we may keep the trip.

 

[guslopez]

I would be really surprised if this was runDisney's last Star Wars race. Would seem strange to announce 3 new Star Wars films and 8 new Star Wars series on Thursday following the success of the hit series Mandalorian only to cancel Star Wars themed runDisney events on Friday. My guess is that if they were intending to cancel Star Wars race they would be more explicit, so I believe they will switch to a different Star Wars theme based on the newly-announced upcoming movies/series.

 

[YohoAPiratesLife4Me]

“Get ready to run through a galaxy of your own choosing while celebrating many of the Star Wars saga’s greatest icons in the epic fifth and final running of the race weekend,” makes it sound like Star Wars is a done deal. I need more coffee...

I wouldn’t blame runDisney if they changed this weekend to a rotating theme. I can see how limiting it to the same theme every year would eventually run out of options for medals, races, etc. Do you suppose if they do a rotating theme we could see race weekends centered around attractions, flower and garden, an occasional Star Wars/Mando weekend, Pixar (someone already mentioned that one) or any other themes they can think of?

 

[fatmanatee]

While we're on the topic of medals, think my favorite that they've done is their take on the Yavin medal, which they thankfully repeated in 2016 when I did it, wouldn't have been opposed if they did that as a repeat for next year. Honorable mention to the BB-8 spinner in 2017.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-nevada-corporation-finisher-medals-revealed/

 

[Sleepless Knight]

One last question (for now) - how fast have the races been selling out when they go virtual? (Specifically I'm looking at the Rival Run challenge + Kessel Run) I'm leaning seriously towards getting a refund and re-registering, but I don't want to gamble too much with getting shut out. If I recall correctly, this race stayed open for quite a while with on the original registration day.

First off, what happened in the past does not guarantee the same results in the future. But I can share what I observed with the 3 previous race weekends converted to virtual.

2020 Wine & Dine virtual did not sell out immediately. I gave some thought to the virtual race especially after a positive virtual race experience Labor Day weekend. As of then the race was still available. I decided against Wine & Dine since I didn't really love any of the movies enough to justify the cost. It would eventually sell out.

2021 Marathon and Princess Weekend went on sale for the virtual option at the same time. I registered for Princess first as that was my priority and got both races I wanted with ease. I was then able to add all the marathon weekend races I wanted with no issues. While both race weekends have since sold out, they did not sell out immediately and Princess sold out first.

 

[Violetspider]

Question, I've decided to try and register for the Kessel Run. I'm already registered for the Virtual, so do I just call to cancel the original Virtual once I've secured the Kessel? Or do I call to try and upgrade from the Virtual to the Kessel?

 

[fatmanatee]

“Get ready to run through a galaxy of your own choosing while celebrating many of the Star Wars saga’s greatest icons in the epic fifth and final running of the race weekend,” makes it sound like Star Wars is a done deal. I need more coffee...

I wouldn’t blame runDisney if they changed this weekend to a rotating theme. I can see how limiting it to the same theme every year would eventually run out of options for medals, races, etc. Do you suppose if they do a rotating theme we could see race weekends centered around attractions, flower and garden, an occasional Star Wars/Mando weekend, Pixar (someone already mentioned that one) or any other themes they can think of?

They'd have a lot of flexibility. Theming Wine and Dine around Halloween/villains (as opposed to anything that has to do with wining or dining) might be a hint for where they plan on going. I don't know, maybe instead of specifically SW they can do something space themed? You can integrate a bit of Epcot that way, including Guardians, and maybe still do something with SW. Could also create themes around specific parks.

Even though I've only done SW races I can understand why they'd want to expand their horizons.

 

[fatmanatee]

Question, I've decided to try and register for the Kessel Run. I'm already registered for the Virtual, so do I just call to cancel the original Virtual once I've secured the Kessel? Or do I call to try and upgrade from the Virtual to the Kessel?

When you say that you're going to call I'm guessing you had dealt with a travel agent? Doesn't hurt to try but I think they would cancel your existing registration first before signing up for Kessel.

 

[Violetspider]

When you say that you're going to call I'm guessing you had dealt with a travel agent? Doesn't hurt to try but I think they would cancel your existing registration first before signing up for Kessel.

Not a TA, I was referring to runDisney. There's a phone number listed in the help section on the website.

 

[fatmanatee]

Not a TA, I was referring to runDisney. There's a phone number listed in the help section on the website.

Ah ok. Worth a shot, the one time I tried to upgrade (back in normal times) they said it wasn't possible but things are different now and they don't use the registration system I had to deal with anymore.

 

[Violetspider]

Ah ok. Worth a shot, the one time I tried to upgrade (back in normal times) they said it wasn't possible but things are different now and they don't use the registration system I had to deal with anymore.

Is it easy to cancel? As long as I get into the Kessel Run, I don't have a problem turning around and cancelling the original Virtual registration. I just don't know what the procedure for that would even be.

 

[fatmanatee]

Is it easy to cancel? As long as I get into the Kessel Run, I don't have a problem turning around and cancelling the original Virtual registration. I just don't know what the procedure for that would even be.

Yeah, I just clicked on the email offering options and went down to the bottom to cancel. The only weird thing is that they don’t send you a confirmation email to confirm your choice.

Also thinking about signing up for Kessel on the off-chance that the virtual medal ends up being nice (had signed up for the full challenge).

 

[Violetspider]

Yeah, I just clicked on the email offering options and went down to the bottom to cancel. The only weird thing is that they don’t send you a confirmation email to confirm your choice.

Also thinking about signing up for Kessel on the off-chance that the virtual medal ends up being nice (had signed up for the full challenge).

They don't send out the option to cancel emails for the Virtual races.

 

[fatmanatee]

They don't send out the option to cancel emails for the Virtual races.

Ah. Yeah this is a weird situation, I’d just call them.

 

[softballpooh]

.

 

[Nina0126]

Reading over everything rD has posted about this race - especially calling it "our final run" - just makes me sad. This race weekend being Star Wars is what started me running in the first place; to see it go will be hard.

So if this really is the last Star Wars race ever - and it certainly sounds that way - I'm going to try and register on Tuesday for the Kessel Run Challenge (RR Challenge edition). Not sure if I want to sweep the medals by adding the 5K. Either way I'm going to see what I can get before refunding my current 10K registration.

Also seriously considering the challenge shirt. Did anyone here do W&D? If so, how was the shirt?

I'm in a weird spot because I signed up for the Virtual Half already. Does anyone know if upgrades are possible with Virtual race weekends? Fees?

 

[Nina0126]

Yeah I wouldn’t be thrilled if I was “perfect” and didn’t get the chance at that status in year five. I think that they aren’t continuing the status shows this is a full retheme or change of the weekend.

What year five? lol

They are not treating 2021 as an anniversary year, even though I'm pretty sure they said they would. Nowhere on the promo materials, shirts or medals does it say "5 Years Running" (as it did for W&D). It bothers me a lot that they didn't have the decency to celebrate this as an anniversary year after all the crap SW runners have been through, especially if this is the last SW race.

Sad for all the Perfects out there. And I agree; that's sort of the nail in the coffin.

Makes me wonder if they will bother keeping the virtual half after this, since that was made just for the sake of continuing the Kessel medal and/or as a placeholder for DLR races.

I go back and forth about the new Kessel Run medal. It will never top the original which remains my very favorite runDisney medal ever, but it is iconic Star Wars.

I got my Falcon medal last year. Love it. I had been on the fence about spending the extra money on it at the time, but ultimately decided to just go for it as part of my first half experience. With this turn of events, I'm so glad I did. ^^'

 

[Nina0126]

I'm registered for the virtual half. I am a HUGE SW fan and want to do the virtual kessel challenge but I already paid for the virtual half and there are no refunds. Anyone have any idea if they could do something (refund the half if I register for the challenge, etc.)? I want those medals soooo badly but I refuse to pay twice for the virtual I'm already signed up for.

Question, I've decided to try and register for the Kessel Run. I'm already registered for the Virtual, so do I just call to cancel the original Virtual once I've secured the Kessel? Or do I call to try and upgrade from the Virtual to the Kessel?

In the same boat as the two of you. Did either of you reach out or hear back from rD?

 

[Violetspider]

In the same boat as the two of you. Did either of you reach out or hear back from rD?

Not yet, I was waiting to try to call tomorrow. Maybe @rteetz has some insight?