The Decline & Fall Of The Wine & Dine Half Marathon

No, of course there’s nothing wrong with Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend! It is a worthy entry in the runDisney race weekend pantheon, no worse than any other and arguably – by some metrics – better.

And yet… once upon a time Wine & Dine was gloriously unique. I was there when the deeper magic was written, and I do not forget. Let me tell you the tale of how Wine & Dine Marathon Weekend went from my MUST DO list to just one of the options.

WINE & DINE ORIGINS: NIGHT RACE

Once upon a time, the Wine & Dine Half Marathon was a nighttime race. It’s true! Gun time was 10pm. By the time you crossed the finish line the after party was already in full swing, and you were free to head straight into Epcot to party until 4am.

This did of course mean that if you wanted to change out of your running gear, you’d need to either head back to your resort (thus wasting valuable party time) or check a bag and change in the bathrooms. You’d also be lugging your medal, snack box, etc. around with you. On the other hand, your post-race swag included a free single serve beer or wine of your choice. You could drink it there or take it home with you!

In addition to the advantages and value-adds I’ll be outlining in the below section, I’d like to highlight one random thing I loved about this format: it was comparatively low anxiety. I’m on documented record about my pre-race panic attacks, one of the triggers for which is sleeping through my alarm and missing the race. No worries with a night race! As long as I didn’t go to bed I was good to go.

Now about those advantages and value-adds…

MORE PARTY & MORE MONEY

In its current incarnation, the Wine & Dine Half Marathon begins at 5am, as all runDisney races presently do (minus the Marathon, which kicks off at 4:30am). The after party is now a completely separate event, occurring that night beginning at 10pm and raging into the wee hour of 1am.

While there are a couple hours worth of mix-in period where after party ticket holders can enter Epcot before the party officially commences, official party time clocks in at three hours. With the night race straight into the party, you had whenever you finished until 4am.

Now, depending on how fast you are, you might wind up with the same three hours – or possibly even a bit less – of party time. But if you were a bit faster back in the day, you could have four or more hours of Epcot fun ahead of you.

Oh, and you know how you presently get a $15 Disney gift certificate theoretically for use at the Food & Wine Festival food booths? It used to be $20. Sure, $5 isn’t a lot, but it also isn’t nothing considering the race cost – and believe me, we’ll get to that.

THE BEST COURSE runDISNEY EVER OFFERED

Much like Disney parks themselves, runDisney race courses are ever-evolving. While courses may stick for years, they all change eventually, whether slowly or all at once. Wine & Dine’s course changed slowly, although it did start out with a bang.

In its night race iteration, the entire thing obviously took place in the dark. This meant that nighttime sights were given special priority; for example, I remember Main Street Electrical Parade floats being offered as course photo ops. But the biggest attraction, without a doubt, was The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

That’s right, kids: we ran THROUGH the Osborne Lights! And to say it was a highlight is an understatement. If you experienced the Osborne Lights while they graced Hollywood Studios’ Streets of America, I don’t have to tell you how glorious it was to be surrounded by them with every step. And if you didn’t, well, imagine running through the best Christmas light display you’ve ever seen times a million. Now that was some runDisney magic.

And that’s not all – this course went through THREE parks. We hit up Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios as expected, but we ALSO ran through Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I don’t think there’s a single runDisney enthusiast who would argue that running through the parks is better than anywhere else on property, so score one for the OG Wine & Dine course for sure.

THE EROSION BEGINS

Alas, as Gene Roddenberry once taught us, all good things must come to an end. Wine & Dine Weekend began to lose its inimitable sparkle.

Part of it was inevitable as soon as we heard the news that the Osborne Lights would be leaving Walt Disney World, as the Streets of America would soon be razed in favor of the planet of Batuu. (I still think Disney could’ve moved them somewhere else but I digress.)

With that came the big twist. A mere couple weeks before race registration, runDisney announced that Wine & Dine would no longer be a night race. Gun time would switch to 5am to align with all the other half marathons in runDisney’s stable, and the party would now occur later that night as presently stands.

I can’t confirm this, but I’ve heard claims from multiple sources that runDisney killed night races for two primary reasons: increased liability due to low visibility and the higher likelihood of thunderstorms in the evening. I don’t think the first claim holds much water as many current races are over before sunrise anyway. But to be fair, Florida does love its late-day storms. Indeed, the 2015 half was delayed and curtailed thanks to lightning.

COURSE BOREDOM SETS IN

Depending on how you feel about night races – and I know not everyone is a fan – you may be unimpressed by my argument that the switch to a morning race disrupts Wine & Dine’s cache. However and unfortunately for everyone, that wasn’t the only element to change.

Another thing that made the Wine & Dine special to me was the course itself (see historical course maps here). The Princess Half and Walt Disney World Half use more or less the same course, which is Epcot to Magic Kingdom and back to Epcot. Adding not only the Studios but Disney’s Animal Kingdom as well enhanced the experience enormously. It was great knowing you didn’t have MILES of roads ahead of you before the next park moment.

In 2021, running through DAK’s Pandora was touted as a great feature of the race. In 2022, our DAK time was GONE. We ran from Epcot to the Studios and back again. Admittedly this is at least unique compared to the others, but that three-park trifecta was a major draw to me.

That’s not all they took for us – as is the case for many if not all runDisney races now, the course formerly traveled through the entirety of World Showcase in the last couple miles. Miss you, World Showcase.

BUT HAS WINE & DINE HELD ITS VALUE?

Now for my favorite blog post feature: the part where we talk about how value is subjective. Whether or not any runDisney event is worth it to you is a personal assessment. But that won’t stop me from indulging in a little price analysis all the same.

Click here if you’d like a more detailed breakdown of how Wine & Dine Half registration costs have increased over the years. For now I’ll just hit you with the conclusion:

“The 2024 Wine & Dine Half cost $240. From 2014, that’s a price increase of 21.5%. From 2015/2016, that’s a price increase of 18.32%, and from 2021/2022, an increase of 4.72%.”

As the post above itself attests, ALL runDisney races have increased similarly over the years. What is unusual about Wine & Dine is that they have, in conjunction, also offered quantifiably less.

Fewer parks. Shorter party. A $15 gift card instead of $20. Even the free drink, which is somewhat standard across even smaller, local races, has gone the way of the dinosaurs. (Or, if you’d prefer something Disney-specific, the way that Dinosaur will soon go. RIP in advance, Dr. Seeker.)

WHAT IS WINE & DINE TO ME NOW?

As is inherently the case with criticism, everything I wrote above is negative. I certainly don’t mean to upset anyone who’s a Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend fan. It remains a perfectly serviceable runDisney weekend, where by “perfectly serviceable” I mean “a major highlight of my year if not my life.” It’s not like I’m boycotting Wine & Dine or anything crazy like that. I’m so much of a runDisney enthusiast I write a blog about the subject! Who even writes blog posts anymore?!

I only mean to point out that Wine & Dine used to be special even among an already exemplary set of runDisney races. There was a time when I considered it unskippable regardless of theme, because I already knew the half boasted details no other race could offer.

Now I consider it, well, what it is: a runDisney race weekend I may or may not choose to register for depending on circumstances, including but not limited to finances, themes, and whether friends want to go. When the Wine & Dine course had three parks, it was my priority. In the present landscape, I’m more like to select Princess Half Marathon Weekend because I know I’ll have friends who are in.

runDISNEY RACE COURSES WILL NEVER BE COMPLETE

Then again, who knows what the future will hold? As I myself admit early in this post, runDisney race courses are always changing. Perhaps someday runDisney will return the Wine & Dine Half to its original three-park glory… or become a night race again…? Okay, probably not that last one. But a girl can dream.

I’m still a loyal runDisney runner. It’s just that I liked it when the different race weekends had a specific flavor that went beyond which characters would appear on the medal that year. Yet I must admit that having simpler or even the same course makes the runDisney team’s life easier. And that, in turn, cuts costs – so we’re not likely to see a return to bespoke race courses any time soon.

Of course, this is an instance where I’d love to be wrong! Let’s see, let’s see, realistic requests. I got it. Dear runDisney: can we PLEASE get a full World Showcase finish back on the map for ANY race next season? I promise I’d be there for that!!!

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