After the completion of my recent Dopey Challenge, I put together a little blog post tallying my costs. I thought it might valuable to those trying to determine whether the arguable crown jewel of runDisney is right for them. As much as I wish it wasn’t, the price can be a factor as to whether one (including me) feels ready to commit.
While Princess Half Marathon Weekend isn’t quite the major production of WDW Marathon Weekend, all runDisney race weekends require at least a bit of fiscal maneuvering for the larger majority of us. With that in mind, I thought it might be worthwhile to break down my Princess budget as a Fairy Tale Challenge finisher. People love money diaries, right? C’mon, let’s go check my wallet for moths!
THE runDISNEY BUDGET RULES
We’ll start by laying out my parameters regarding what is included in my Princess Weekend tally. I’ll be largely repeating myself here, so if you already read my Dopey budget post, feel free to skip ahead to the next section.
I will be exploring my Fairy Tale Challenge costs through a couple of lenses. First, my actual costs: that is to say, what I in fact paid out, noting but not adding things like using points for free flights or having friends who can get me an Annual Pass discount. That done, I will also adjust that tally for if I didn’t have these discounts/mitigators available.
I will also divide these costs into two categories: musts vs. extras. You are going to need a bib, a hotel, a flight (theoretically you could drive but most won’t), and food. You don’t need souvenirs or expo buys or race costumes, but making such purchases is common.
I’ve combed through my Disney Visa records to ensure that I’ve caught everything I bought to get to or while in Walt Disney World. Not all of it will be relevant to everyone, but I hope it will give others an idea of what kind of bill you can expect to field.
Incidentally, I’m counting anything I bought expressly for or during my runDisney trip. For example: my red running skirt, no, because I already owned it. My rag doll running skirt, yes, because I bought it specifically for my Princess Half Marathon race costume.
Please note to that all my numbers are for a single person. While I did have trip buddies, none of us are tied together financially. Couples and families will necessarily have different final financial hits.
With these qualifiers in mind, we’ll begin with…
FAIRY TALE CHALLENGE NEEDS
Race bib. No two ways about it: if you want to runDisney, you’ll need to buy that bib. (Or run for a charity but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.) The Fairy Tale Challenge bib combines the costs of the Princess 10K and Half Marathon – no discount or upcharge. For 2025, I paid $412. Hey, cheaper’n Dopey! I have a post tackling runDisney pricing, but for now, we’ll just take that for what it is and move on.
Hotel. I was privileged to tag along with Becky for this race trip, and as a DVC owner, she was able to lock down a Fort Wilderness cabin for our use. Using DVC-points-to-real-money alchemy, I paid out $520. I also tagged along with her to Universal; my share of our Cabana Bay room was $126.
Flight. A small subsection of runners may prefer to drive for various reasons, but for most of us, the best way to get to Orlando is to fly. I used Rapid Rewards flights to secure a seat with Southwest for free. I did choose to shell out $50 for Early Bird seating assignments. Southwest didn’t charge for checked bags at the time, nor do they charge for carry-ons. My total spent in this section stays at $50.
Ride to/from the airport. I elected to use the Mears bus service to my resort upon arrival, which came to $17.60 after fees. For most individuals flying solo, this is your most cost effective option.
I don’t like to use Mears for my return trip, as for some unknown reason Mears classifies Puerto Rico as international (which is very embarrassing for a travel company) and tries to make me get on a bus four hours before my flight.
I was on Universal property on my last day, and while I think Mears does service Universal, for my return trip to the airport I still opted for an Uber. After tip that choice ran me $32.94. Obviously that’s a lot more expensive than Mears, but it does come with comparative autonomy.
Category total: $1,158.54
TO runDISNEY, YOU MUST eatDISNEY
Food is such an inescapable need that I have elected to give it its own section. One way or another, you’ll have to spend some money on food.
As with most of my runDisney outings, I try to approach food down the middle. I’m not completely frugal, but neither am I wanton. I enjoy some table services meals and cocktails balanced by some counter service meals and leftovers. You might as well enjoy yourself so long as you’re not overextending!
In this case, I received a tremendous boon in the form of a Disney gift card, a thank you from my job for ten years of service. This gift card was technically intended expressly for food, so I made sure to only use it for food in good faith. Over the course of my two days, I use this card for all my Festival of the Arts food booth purchases, and thus shelled out less than a five spot for food on both days. Can’t wait for my next ten year gift!
With that in mind, here’s what I spent on food over the course of the week.
Wine Bar George: $17.71
Trattoria al Forno: $53.13
Crockett’s Tavern: $40.95
Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue: $156 [I also bought Erika’s ticket to square up elsewhere]
Festival of the Arts Food: $4.18
Hot Butterbeer: $10.57
Bayliner Diner: $22.37
Hogs Head Pub: $20.06
Strong Water Tavern: $60.06
Wicked-Themed Breakfast: $46.84
Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream: $7.98
Greenleaf at MCO: $13.23
[Note: I also bought a pretzel and sandwich with the gift card.]
Category total: $453.08 ($64.72/day)
FAIRY TALE EXTRAS
Unlike my Dopey trip, I went to a Disney park twice. As I don’t currently have an Annual Pass, I had to drop some money on a two-day park ticket. Epcot being my only target, the one park a day base price was fine. Total cost for my dates was $359.54… but I used a bank of Disney Visa points, after which I paid $80.99 out of pocket.
I also purchased a three-day park hopper Universal Studios ticket, which I was very lucky to get at a discount price through Becky‘s magical travel agent powers. (If you need a magical travel agent, she is available!) I only used two days but it was still cheaper than the rack rate. That ticket ran me $200.49.
In my usual fashion, I hit up Gideon’s Bakehouse twice – once for post-race treats (cake!!!) and once for cookies to bring home. Bills were $47.28 and $56.23 respectively.
Although an internal bus is available, we rented a golf cart to provide greater ease of movement during our time in a Fort Wilderness cabin. My cut was around $90.
I somehow managed to get out of the expo without buying anything, but I did make one race clothing purchase. Anticipating a chilly race morning, I went to Uniqlo at Disney Springs on Thursday and picked up a heat-trapping white long sleeved shirt for $21.19, which I wore during the 10K (see below).
I also bought a Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue shirt for $26 after borrowing Becky’s AP discount.
And lastly, I spent $8 on airplane wifi so I could work on my way down to Orlando.
Category total: $530.18
RACE COSTUMES
Race costumes are popular at runDisney events, but they are by no means required. You can wear your normal running clothes and you’ll fit in fine. On the other hand, I find that costumes make everything more fun, and subsequently worth it. Here’s what I spent on mine.
I’m not counting kinesio tape, my knee strap, or race fuel, as these items are part of my regular running and race kits. You may choose to add them to your budget if you so desire.
For the 10K, I was part of a spectacular group costume: the ladies of the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue. My costume is the red and white one on the far right.
I already owned the red Sparkle skirt, and the red compression socks I purchased at the WDW Marathon Weekend expo. My white base shirt from Uniqlo I account in my extras section above. The white jacket, plaid headband, gingham bandana, and white hair bows I purchased through Amazon using the gift cards I earned through my workplace’s health initiative app. Thus my total for this costume was $0.
For the half, I plussed my race costume for The Nightmare Before Christmas‘s Sally. The shirt and socks I already had from previous Sally attempts. The tiara, stitch choker, and stitch arm warmers (which I forgot to include in my flat lay, blerg) were all paid for with the aforementioned Amazon gift cards. The spider was from my Mayor costume, and while I ultimately didn’t use the flower it’s something I already owned. The only thing I bought outright was the Sally Sparkle skirt, for which I paid $29 with my Sparkle Squad discount.
Category total: $29
THE TOTALS
So after all that, what did I ultimately spend on my Princess Half Marathon Weekend Fairy Tale Challenge trip?
Necessities (bib, flight, hotel, airport transport): $1,158.54
Food: $453.08
Extras: $530.18
Costumes: $29
Grand total: $2,170.80
Okay, not cheap, but not awful for a full week in Orlando with two races, no? Mind you, this does begin to illustrate why I don’t participate in every runDisney race weekend. Although I surely would like to. Would anyone care to sponsor the world’s average-est athlete?
If you mean to use this budget as a blueprint, make sure you take note of the mitigators I’ve mentioned throughout this post. Disney Visa points and gift cards, for example, played a role in keeping costs down.
Speaking of which…
CAN YOU TRIM ANY runDISNEY FAT?
Most of the best ways to save some money were covered in depth in my last runDisney budget post – and are probably fairly obvious besides. Stay the minimum number of nights at the cheapest possible room. Take the Mears bus and free Disney transportation instead of ride sharing services. Use rewards points and gift cards for anything you can. Don’t purchase race costume elements or buy souvenirs. Deep six park tickets. Don’t drink alcohol. Bring your own food. Certainly don’t tack an extra couple days at Universal onto your trip. 
Keep in mind, however, that just because something is technically an “extra” doesn’t mean you can’t move it to the “need” category to suit your personal circumstances. During this particular trip, I would’ve saved $90 had I chosen to rely on Fort Wilderness’s internal bus service instead of renting a golf cart.
I considered this ninety dollars VERY WELL spent. Should your nerves of steel be open to the challenge of factoring the wait for the internal bus into your prerace timeline, I salute you – but I refuse to be a part of it. Get the golf cart or stay somewhere else for runDisney race weekend, I beg you!
So don’t hack and slash at random. Consider the consequences first – upon reflection, you may find value in what on the surface appears a superfluous line item. Is the stress worth the savings? One man’s must is another man’s no need, and vice versa. Only you can say.
IS THE FAIRY TALE CHALLENGE WORTH IT?
Which is the perfect segue to the finale of this grand and miraculous example of my rallying cry: value is subjective!
Two thousand dollars is by no means not a lot of dollars. That’s basically a rent check. Looking at it purely on the surface, you could justifiably call me a fiscal fool.
That’s of course where the subjectivity comes in. I could have a nicer car or a house instead… but neither a house (what, and mow my own lawn?) nor a fancy car (what, and pay higher insurance premiums?) would bring me the joy runDisney trips consistently do. Your valuation may differ.
What I have enjoyed about writing these trip budget posts is that they cause me to think critically about both the flat costs and the value those costs provide. Without getting too far into it, I acknowledge as I write this that we live in economically uncertain times. I hope that they don’t interfere with runDisney for those who enjoy the hobby. Only time will tell.
Regardless, looking back at my runDisney expenditures encourages me to think about what I spent, what deserved every penny, what I could modify or approach differently, and what I could cut, none of which is a bad idea no matter your tax bracket. I hope you are inspired to do the same!
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Threads @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!