runDisney Race Registration Has NOT Been A Nightmare?!

runDisney logo

Back in 2020, when runDisney was still operating as though races would continue in the coming year, the 2021 WDW Marathon (RIP) sold out in record time. How fast, you ask? My race buddy was thirty minutes behind registration opening and the marathon was already sold out. And that’s the full marathon, which historically has been a waltz. Yikes!

Mind you, that was with alleged COVID-induced registration caps and such, and anyway the race ended up cancelled. But when runDisney relaunched the race season, I was scared. With pent up demand for an already popular race, how hard would it be to get a Wine & Dine Half Marathon bib?

NOT MUCH ADO ABOUT runDISNEY

I remember registration morning, sitting on the floor with my work computer, my personal computer, and my cellphone fanned out around me, my heart pounding as three queue load screens spun and spun. Initially I was told I’d be waiting for over an hour. My anxious little heart went pitter-pat.

Of course you know what happened: I got a bib. Just about everyone got a bib. If I remember correctly, only the 10K sold out the first day, and you could get a bib for most other races a week later.

A couple weeks after that, I registered for the 2022 WDW Marathon with even less trouble – my wait time was much lower. And yesterday, registering for the Princess Half Marathon, I waited even less time than that. This surprised me, as Princess has been another quick sellout in the past.

runDisney Princess Half Marathon

Even now, more than eight hours later, the runDisney site shows registration open for every Princess Weekend race including the challenge. The WDW Marathon, Goofy Challenge, and Dopey Challenge are all still available. Heck, the Wine & Dine Half and associated challenge are there for the taking too, and that’s been up for months.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

Is it the Delta variant? That thought has occurred to me, but the races are pretty far away and thus far Disney has issued complete refunds in the event of a cancellation.

Is it the price? Yeah, Disney charges a premium, but they’ve been charging a premium. runDisney race registration has been gently falling for awhile now, but this is quite the precipitous drop.

Is it the fact that Disney can’t guarantee what on-course entertainment is going to look like? I dunno. I like to think that’s just them hedging their bets. If – and this is a big but hopeful if – COVID cases are down and things are feeling safe at race time, I bet we’ll hardly notice the changes.

Maybe people are still mad about Club runDisney? I must confess I never saw the point to this particular upcharge, except of course when they took away our Annual Pass pre-registration. They had me worried, but as the thesis of this post proves, I needn’t have.

I’m still signing up, so clearly I don’t know. Got any other theories?

OH, RIGHT, I’M A PRINCESS

I hadn’t initially planned to register for Princess, but ultimately did for three reasons: a) gotta make that Annual Pass work; b) my In Case Of COVID race registration strategy still feels prudent; c) they themed the half to Mulan and she’s the best princess, full stop. I will not be entertaining arguments over this point. BELIEVE IT.

Li Shang

Will I be signing up for this new Spring Surprise weekend too? Well, that depends – when are you gonna tell us the surprise, runDisney? 🤪

Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.comSee ya real soon!

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