I participated in Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend for the first time this year (2019). What made me want to register was seeing the medals from the past year (2018) and wishing I had participated then as the medals were so lovely. After seeing the 2018 medals I just assumed that all their medals would be just as awesome. 2018 was an anniversary year so I guess that’s why Disney went all out. 2019 medals were nowhere as good looking as 2018 medals. By the time I saw the medals, it was too late, I had already signed up for the half marathon.

My fiancé and I booked a room at the Dolphin resort since that it was walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. My 4 year old niece came along too as she was running the kid race on Saturday. Since the half wasn’t until Sunday we didn’t get in town and to the expo until Friday, which was day 2 of the expo. Although we got there first thing in the morning on Friday, most of everything in a size small was already sold out. I had pre-ordered a jacket and mickey ears for my niece, which I picked up in the merchandise counter. We did score a “I did it magnet” surprisingly. The expo has beer and if you buy the reusable cup then you can get a refill for half the price at the end of the race if you pack it into your drop bag. The race shirts that were given for the half were very nice and it was a neutral color, blue so I’m sure the guys enjoyed the shirts too. I was kind of surprised that neither the half marathon nor the challenge had sold out as this race was so hyped up on social media about how fast it sells out normally.

Sunday Morning we woke up and got ready and made it to the bus stop in front of our hotel (Dolphin resort) at 3:35 am. As soon as we came out of the front door of the resort, we saw a huge long line of runners waiting on the race bus. It didn’t become alarming until 4:15am hit with no buses yet as the bus line to the race grew and grew. Staff kept walking around letting runners and spectators know that more buses were called and they would be here any minute. My fiancé got on the bus at 5:15 am. This was only the 2nd bus to come since we had been waiting since 3:35am. We had already knew we were going to miss the start, which we did! We were assigned to corral C, which we missed and had to start in the last corral (H). Being a runner and having to swerve around walkers is torture and can be dangerous. We started an hour after corral A had already taken off. The sun had already started to come up and the heat had begun. The entire race was so humid.

There were plenty of portable potties on the course and plenty of character stops. I didn’t really see a lot of princess character stops, I guess they were saving those for after the finish line. We stopped for photos with Goofy and Pluto along the course.

Once you cross the finish line you are given your medal, PowerAde, a green banana, and a snack box. There is also a backdrop to take a “I did it photo” with one of the photo-pass photographers. After the finish line there were 4 characters out for photos including Princess Aurora, Princess Tiana, Princess Jasmine, and Frozen. The hotel bus was waiting and we were able to hop right on after we finished.
Overall, I can see why women like this event. I saw so many people dressed as beautiful princesses and really just enjoying themselves. There was a lot of positive energy coming from mostly everyone I had came into contact with. I plan to give it another try during the next anniversary of this race.