Hello everyone!

The 2026 wine and dine was my second rundisney event. I previously did the 5 and 10 during 2026 marathon weekend. However, I was lucky enough to get a challenge bib and the 5k for W&D….the half was the first half I’d ever done and was very happy to do it!

Training was difficult of course, and had to stop mid way through for an injury….but I finished well so I’d say the training worked. I am starting training this weekend for Dopey….or I should probably say continuing training but with bigger distances increasing each week.

I know there are a lot that don’t want someone’s first marathon to be at marathon weekend, and I understand that completely. I’m fairly confident (right now!) but I do have one question.

During the half, I sweat more than I’d ever sweat before in my life lol. I drank two waters at each water stop and one Powerade at the stops that had them. I still don’t feel like that was enough. I don’t have anyone that would meet me somewhere on course with a water bottle or something….so for those that do these frequently….what is your strategy or advice on how to get more fluids in? (I do take a gel every 3 miles as that seems to help energy levels)

Thanks in advance and great job everyone!!

Hi there!

I trained for the Springtime Surprise 10 miler last year and had a BLAST. Went from no running to 10 miles, fell in love with training. Was lucky enough to grab a spot for the half marathon in January - what felt like a natural progression - but I had some nerve damage in my foot & peroneals due to over-supination in my gait and too narrow shoes. Lots of rest and PT later, there’s no way I can straight up run the 13 miles. I’ve been training to powerwalk at a 16/minute mile, or perhaps jog every 20 seconds of each minute, if I can take the impact. It feels pretty pathetic compared to where I was last year, and there’s still a pretty decent chance I’ll get swept. There seems to be some anger on here towards people who secure a slot and then get swept. But, I also see stories of people who still participate even though injured, and still have a great time. Does anyone have stories of this to share? I’m still so excited, even though I’m trying to remain pain-free for the parks in the days after!!

Did anyone see the leaks for next year’s Wine & Dine themes? I wasn’t sure if I could post them or if people wanted to discuss but the Challenge theme looks awesome!

Hi! My mom and I are racing the springtime surprise 5k in this coming April. She’s very nervous and excited but we had a few questions. We are unsure what to dress as anyone has theirs picked out yet? Also do we know in advanced what characters are on the path to take pictures with? Also any tips? Thank you! 🙏🏻

I just completed my first Run Disney event (W&D 1/2) this past weekend, and while I overall grade it a solid "A" event, I do have one complaint that I'd not encountered in other races (3rd half, numerous other events). To the person trying to be an influencer and intentionally starting with the Balloon Ladies in the last corral and then trying to see how many people they could pass... Why? I could go through a list of reasons but ultimately, having someone who is relatively fast barging their way through overly crowded pathways (here's looking at you, walkway behind Boardwalk...) makes everyone's experience worse. I believe I encountered a few folks trying this on the race, and a few instagram posts confirming. Sure, it's cool you did your "thing" and passed 11,000+ runners for your dozens of followers but thanks for reminding other (big/slow/out-of-shape/older/injured) runners that running is only inclusive in your mind if you're a sub-7:30 miler. Sometimes race organizers know best when putting you in a corral.

OK. Gripe over. Hope you all had a fabulous race weekend.

What was with the after-hours party? This was my first run Disney event and I was shocked at how awful the event was. There were so many people. We kept waiting for ride times to go down… but they NEVER did 😞 what a waste of money. There was no exclusivity to this event. It goes hand in hand with the races.

The race was so crowded. There was hardly any room to run because of all the walkers. I understand that movement is movement and I’m proud of them. But if we’re saying that we can’t be running or walking two people across, then we probably should limit the walking to only three people across. Most of the race, it was dodging people because it was five people walking across

It feels like they are just money-grabbing and trying to get as many people in as possible to make the most amount of money at all times. Love Disney but was disappointed this event really didn’t have many perks.

I know there’s a mega thread but it doesn’t seem like it’s been updated in a while, is just signing up for the emails enough to be notified about the brooks shoes if they drop online? Or is there a text notification you can sign up for?

I know this will upset some people. But let me explain. On FB I have seen people say that they only intend on doing the first 2 miles of the half marathon. They never intended on doing the full event. They’re not injured or anything - just no intention on doing the full challenge that they signed up for

So so so many people would kill for the opportunity to do the challenge. I have only successfully signed up for two run Disney races in the last three years despite trying for each one. I would have killed to do the challenge this time.

If you’re not going to even try do to the challenge, why take that place away from someone else?

No - this is not the Boston marathon. Nor should it be. But if you have ZERO intent on doing the event you’ve signed up for, why sign up for it?

So I been doing the Run Disney races since 2012 but I haven’t competed in the wine and dine half since 2023 and I found today to be brutal. I was in corral E but I can’t ever remember the bottle necks being this often and consistent throughout the entire race.

Couldn’t really get into a good running stride for a majority of the run without getting bottlenecked and I feel like for 70% of the race I didn’t even try because of the stop and go from left to right.

Has it been like this since they changed the wine and dine route or did we just get a bad day?

It almost makes me never want to do a RunDisney half again.

Anyone know where the finish line videos for the first place winners of the W&D half are posted?

Turns out I know one of them and wanted to see their win (I was half a course behind them when it happened).

I know there’s strong opinions on this, but I feel if a proof of time was required for every distance- but no limit on time length, it would help with the sorting for the corrals. I feel like every year it gets more and more dangerous with people of very different paces in the corrals and people getting boxed in, etc. not to mention I’m sure for the 5K and 10k there are people who pick the fastest pace so they can ideally get up in the early corrals and have more time for characters etc

Is there an event guide for the post-race party that lists character photo spots, etc?

I’m a little late but have fun and be safe out there with the wet roads. Listen to your body and just go have a blast.

Do they ever sell leftover merch (such as finisher shirts) at the Post-Race Party? I was too dazed after finishing today, I forgot to go to the merch tent!

Also, any knowledge or speculation on which characters might be at the party?

I need to know if anyone else experienced the absolute chaos that was the bus transportation at Wine & Dine this year, particularly for the 10K.

For context, I’ve been running runDisney races for years now across various race weekends, and this was my 4th Wine & Dine weekend. I’ve seen my fair share of race-day logistics, but I genuinely cannot remember transportation ever being this much of a mess.

I ran the 10K in Corral B, and my mom was planning to meet me at the finish line. We were staying at AofA, and she headed out a little after 5:30 a.m., only to discover that apparently spectator buses don’t run between 5:30 and 7 a.m.?! She scrambled to get an Uber to EPCOT, but even after arriving, she was directed all over the place by different volunteers and Cast Members trying to find the finish line.
What made it even more frustrating was that multiple volunteers told her it was their first day and they didn’t really know where to send her. I completely understand that everyone has to start somewhere, but shouldn’t the people directing thousands of spectators know where the finish line is?!
Unfortunately, she ended up missing me crossing the finish line entirely.

But the chaos didn’t stop there!! After finishing the race and finally meeting back up with my mom, we headed toward the resort buses, where there seemed to be ZERO organization. Volunteers were giving conflicting instructions about how to form the lines. First we were supposed to snake through, then form straight lines, then NOT snake through. Nobody seemed to be on the same page.

We ended up standing in line for over 45 minutes waiting for the buses to start moving. Apparently, the buses couldn’t depart until the start line area cleared?! I’ve never experienced anything like that at a runDisney event and my legs were dead by that point!

And can we talk about how unpleasant (and frankly unhealthy) it is to have thousands of runners standing around after a 10K, exhausted and sweaty, inhaling bus exhaust fumes for nearly an hour?!!

I absolutely LOVE runDisney. I’ve kept coming back for all these years because these weekends are usually so well organized and such a special experience. And that’s what made this year so disappointing. For an organization that has been putting on these races for decades, I really expected better.

Did anyone else experience this level of transportation chaos during the 10K or any of the other Wine & Dine races? Was this just an unfortunate experience at our resort, or was the entire bus system a mess this year?

I’m genuinely curious because this felt so far below the standard I’ve come to expect from runDisney. And honestly if this was my first runDisney race I wouldn’t come back.

I normally run in leggings due to compression shorts riding up when I run. For the upcoming Princess Half Marathon I would love to wear a skirt or shorts. What do you recommend? #thickthighlife

When signing up for any of the RunDisney events, i can see that all of the events are sold out very quickly.

I am seriously thinking of signing up for the half marathon in the January 2028 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend.

From what i can tell, the signup usually starts in mid-March the year before.

I want to be sure that I am able to sign up for the Half/Marathon before It's sold out.

Should i just signup at midnight on the morning of the 1st day of the general signup?

Any advise is appreciated.

I have experienced long waits for photos in the past but it seems that everyone and their mother already have their pics from the 10k and a bunch of the half too!! Pretty sure my bib was clear should I be worried tho? 😭

How have people not from the US found getting tickets to run the Disney marathon? I want it to be my first marathon but I’ve heard it’s quite difficult getting entries if not from the US?

Can anyone cut/paste the character list from the discord chat here if available? Please and thank you.

We did awesome!! I’m proud of all of us. We did a hard thing. It doesn’t matter what mile you got swept. Whether it was injury or illness or something else. You did awesome. I know we got this our next race!!

Signed
Writing this from the bus back from the post race party

(I got swept this morning just before mile two because my chronic illness reared its ugly head during the 10k but I fought through, but couldn’t finish this morning)

Any idea when the half marathon photo pass photos will be uploaded today? Thanks!