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Submitted by wcorlyf
January 20, 2014
Review
This is the best Run Disney Race I have done so far. My first one was Disneyland’s Half Marathon in 2012 and this race left it in the dust. I don’t know if it was because this was my 7th half marathon I’ve ran. It was easy to drop off my bag before and pick up after the race. Everyone was very friendly and encouraging. This year I did feel that a few places could have been better lighting since we did start running at 5 am and the sun doesn’t come out till 6:30 or so. It was cool seeing the lights on on the Castle, Small World and the World of Color going during our run. This shows how dark it was. “:O) The Cast members were very helpful and cheered us on as we ran by. Many of them were doing hi five’s with Mickey hands. Got to see a lot of behind the scenes area’s. It’s funny how you notice all the hills Disneyland has when you are running through it vs. when you are there visiting the park. I want to thank all the volunteers and the cast members who got up early to help with this race and make it a fun run for me. Even though I didn’t PR in this race, I did have a blast getting pictures taken with Disney Characters, horses and train of Disney. Thanks Cast Members for taking my photos with my cell phone during the race. So far, this is my favorite Half Marathon I have run so far. Next month that might change when I run the Princess Half in FL at WDW. I would do this race again.
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Submitted by MeashLL
June 5, 2013
Review
One of the best Events I’ve participated in. Extremely organized for such a large scale event spanning three days (Expos, kid races, family 5k). Started right on time. Lots of fun at the start (Star Spangled Banner and fireworks) and throughout the course (characters in the parks and cheer squads in the city). Lots of water and Powerade along the way. The timing chip is cool too because it’s attached to your bib, you don’ t have to worry about losing it or attaching it to your shoe properly.
It does have a super early start but that also gets you done before the weather warms up. Don’t let the January date fool you. I’ve run this event the last two years and both years have been warm after the race.
Even though the course gets crowded through the parks, safety first with Disney. They have loudspeakers announcing narrowing of the course or sharp turns. They also have cast members cheering you on and keeping you on course throughout the parks. Nice touch! Don’t expect a PR if you plan to stop for pictures, the lines can get long. Also, the fast is relatively flat (except for a couple of under/overpasses/bridges) so it is a relatively fast course.
Having run the first two years of the course, I have to say I like the original course better because you started in Disnyeland, ran through the neighborhoods, back through California Adventure and then out to the finish behind Paradise Pier Hotel. I understand why they changed the route this year but I hope they go back to the original route next year. This year’s route made the last few miles tough…finishing through California Adventure made the last few miles go faster.
I’ve completed 5 Half Marathons (including the Princess Half in Orlando) and this is my favorite by far!
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Submitted by sdevore
May 31, 2013
Review
Love Disney races. They are very organized. Packet pick-up/health expo is fun and full of great race merch. Get there early if you are looking for something specific. I wanted cliff gel and they were all sold out so I had to buy GU. On course, plenty of water stations – more than you need in my opinion, but if you don’t need a drink then just run right through and wait for the next station. Cliff gel is handed out around the 9th or 10th mile (it’s also listed in the route map). Medal is heavy and big – a great addition to your collection. The text message time updates can be wrong. Mine said the first 5k leg took me 50 minutes. The text messages can’t be trusted. Best to check the final posted times online. On course entertainment is great. I don’t use my ipod during this race because they provide enough music and bands, but there are sections (on average a mile and a half stretch) with no music. Post race, they give you a pretty awesome snack box and take a photo. Not really much to do after the race. No seating in the post-race area or any booths. But they do have music.
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Submitted by Katie Fields
April 7, 2013
Review
Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust!!! Run Disney puts on a great event. Pricey for registration, but the packet pick up is seamless! Love that you do not have to pay for parking at the Disneyland Hotel for packet pick up. Fun course with lots of characters and many water stations and great finish chute with snacks. Beautiful medals!
Love Run Disney races.
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Submitted by ckshubin
February 4, 2013
Review
This was my first Disney race but my 10th race since May 2012 (10 races in 8 months). That being the case I’ve done a lot of expos, a lot of packet pick ups and a lot of courses.
Parking – Disney provides free shuttles from the local hotels to both the expo and the race. Your given a ticket when you use it for packet pick up and you must hold onto it for race day. However, I cannot rate how the shuttles worked as I used the parking on the annual pass and parked in the Mickey & Friends structure. The Mickey & Friends parking structure was an easy walk to both the expo and race day start corrals. Without the parking on the pass I would easily spend the $15 and park in the Mickey & Friends parking structure on race day just for the ease of it.
Pre Race – Probably one of the easiest packet pick up experiences I’ve had in all my races. The line was kept well organized and small groups of people were let in at a time so the volunteers handing out bibs were never overwhelmed and the lines were short and moved quickly. I really liked the timer chip check area so you were assured that the chip on your bib was working. It really was kind of fun to run or walk across and have the “cast members” from Disney cheer your name!
The Expo itself however was disappointing as well as small. Stand after stand of sparkle skirts, tutu/wings and no-slip headbands and other races to sign up for yet a couple of big names were missing such as GoBelt, BIC Bands, 5 Hour Energy, and any coconut water company to name a few. There was one stand to buy GU gels but the price wasn’t discounted so no reason to buy them here. Maybe being Disney I expected an expo that would rival at least those of the OC Marathon, Long Beach International or Surf City. Instead those expo’s were outstanding in comparison.
Race Day – starts really, really early! So be prepared to be up before the sun and the birds and in line ready to start. While I at first cringed at the thought of a 5am start looking back I now love it. The fact that I can run a half marathon and be home by 9am (I live local) or go to breakfast and be home by 10am and have my whole day ahead of me was great. This year it was nicer because we were having some really warm weather so we were able to beat the heat.
The course was one of the best I have run. The first 5.5-6 miles is all in the park and is different from it’s inaugural course due to Cars Land now being finished. The course takes you behind the scenes (where no pics are allowed) and also through the main portions of both Disneyland and California Adventure. During the behind the scenes part they had floats from their parade lit up with music and moving parts going, drum lines, high school bands and cast members. Within the parks all the lights were on on the rides, World of Color fountains with lighting and music and the Mickey Ferris Wheel were lit up. Only part that I felt unsafe running was by the water ride/Grand Californian – this part was extremely dark and could benefit from more ambient lighting. Several people pulled out their cell phones and used their flashlight apps it was so dark. In Disneyland Main Street, Small World and all the areas you ran through were lit up with characters cheering you on. Watch main street with the trolley tracks. Saw a couple of people go down and their race ended there, so watch where you put your feet during the Main Street portion. There are also photo op stops but those can get lined up and cost you a lot of time if you do them all and in doing so you chance getting picked up by the sweepers or taken straight to the finish line with a DNF. Best to pick maybe one or two favorite characters to take a photo with and move on. Living here I did not see a need to get a photo with any of them so I skipped them. Once you leave the park it’s hard to imagine that you already ran almost 6 miles and are about halfway done because you are so entertained you don’t even notice the miles. The course entertainment does not end once you leave Disneyland and hit the streets of Anaheim. The Red Hat Society ladies had to be one of the most fun to run by! These ladies were there setting up getting their spots at a most ungodly hour and had energy galore giving high fives to the runners. They made me laugh and I loved it! Though there were portions without course entertainment there were bands, cheer teams, dance teams keeping you pumped and running in various places. I seriously don’t think I stopped smiling the entire 13.26 miles I ran because it was just that fun.
Water/Powerade stations were extremely plentiful, well spaced out, fully staffed and prepared for the amount of runners coming through. I never came across a water/Powerade station that was struggling to keep up – which is a feat in itself. The volunteers were cheerful even at that early hour and did an amazing job. Even more amazing was the amount of first aid stations along the course. In all my races I’ve never seen so many aid stations spaced so well on a course. Other race directors would do well to copy them in this regard. Running by I could tell they were well staffed and well stocked and ready to help with whatever was needed.
The finishers medal is huge. It’s beautiful. But know that Disney doesn’t change their medals from year to year (I believe every 5 years) but they only change the ribbon and year/engraving on the front. Basically you will get the same medal every year – just a new ribbon. This bothers some people (not me) but yet they don’t complain when the race course stays the same year after year. So if different medals for same races are important to you this race can be a “one and done” unless you run it the 4th year and then the 5th year.
The finishers chute was smooth with volunteers handing out foil blankets, water, Powerade then pre-boxed post race food (all of which was gluten free – not a worry of mine but know many appreciated it) with a banana and a small handled bag in which to put it all in. These were done on both the left and the right sides so you moved along pretty quickly with few bottlenecks. You were then shuffled through a photo op with your medal but there was also an area for you to go if you didn’t want to do the photo. Disney cast members were everywhere helping you through, finding the shorter photo op lines. After the photo you filed into a large area where you can pick up your bag if you did the bag check. You then left this area and were close to Downtown Disney and the sidewalks that led you back to the Mickey & Friends parking structure.
Exiting the park here is the only negative thing I have to say. With Disney traffic coming in and race traffic filing out it caused a huge backup trying to leave as everyone was trying to turn left onto Ball Rd. but the intersection would get blocked with cars from the incoming park traffic. After sitting for awhile I was able to move over to the far right lane where it was completely empty to go straight and hit the 5 fwy. The backup was caused by the turn lane. In the future Disneyland would be doing those entering and leaving a great service by having traffic cops directing the traffic instead during this time. Or I’ll figure on sitting down with a cup of coffee and waiting for a couple of hours to leave to let the bulk of the leaving traffic to thin out making it easier and faster to get out.
While Disney races are one of the more expensive races I have run it is Disney and you can be sure pretty much everything is done top notch – from the shirt and packet pick up to the medal to course entertainment and aid stations to the finish line. They need to have a better expo and exit strategy for the cars but by far the most organized race I have run so far.
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Submitted by Ruth Ranalli Brajevich
January 27, 2013
Review
Although expensive, Disneyland’s races are always well organized and fun to participate in! I have run the Disneyland Half Marathon 3 times, but 2013 was the first year I ran Tinkerbell. The 5:00am start time is a challenge for locals, but we managed to make it to the start on time. Also, just FYI, Disney is very strict about corrals. I liked the course better than the other Disney Half, as you spend more time in the parks. The course support is also very strong with lots of local bands, cheer squads, etc. A few sections of the course are a little dark (CA Adventure near the White Water Raft ride), but I run in the dark alot, so not a problem for me. The course is very flat and fast, and it is a great run for a PR. The post race could be stronger with some more food options. Overall great run, love the long sleeve technical shirt and the medal is wonderful. Would be great for Disneyland Half Marathon, if they have a women’s cut shirt. For $175, they should be able to afford it!
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Submitted by NubianSpirit
January 22, 2013
Review
Tinker Bell marked half marathon #6 for me: 2 Tinks, 2 Rock-n-Rolls, 1 San Diego Wild Animal Park, and 1 Surf City.
Expo: As others have already stated, the expo is a little disappointing. Lots of skirts & other girly stuff, not a lot of standard race vendors – and surprisingly small. Last year we were able to buy Gu onsite, I didn’t notice them there this year. Course talks/race prep lectures were taking place, but we didn’t really get a chance to check them out because the one talk we were actually interested in (nutrition) was only taking place midday. In fact, each topic was only covered once – if I recall correctly, larger races will cover certain topics more than once during the course of packet pick-up so that more people have a chance to listen.
Race Day: Despite only living about 15 miles from Disneyland, my friends & I opted to stay in a hotel the night before the race since we needed to be at the start line by 4:30a!! I fully understand that they are planning to open the parks at the normal time, but since we did all of our on-stage course running in the first 10k of the race why did we need to start a full 30 minutes earlier than last year?! The start time was little rough, but once you were onto Disney property the energy level was high from both fellow racers and folks who were up so very early to support us.
The course was great. I liked that they changed it up from last year so that we were able to spend more time inside the parks. The first half of the race was almost entirely inside the parks with the majority of that being on-stage. The course through downtown Anaheim was nice too – I especially appreciated that the rising sun was almost never in my face.
My only dislike on the course was that as we entered into the parking lot/finishing area the finish line banners were straight ahead in clear view (yey, I’m almost there, so close, maybe I can sprint) – and then we had to do an attraction/ride style zig-zag line to get there (boo).
Volunteers, Bands, Cheerleaders, Dance Teams, Red Hat Ladies: So great! I especially love the Red Hat Ladies – they were out there getting set up as we were heading to the start line. Lots of words of encouragement from them – and of course they all look fabulous in their fancy hats.
Post-Race: I liked the little race-goodie boxes/bags that they were handing out. Normally I find myself juggling everything, but this made it much easier. I just dropped the water & PowerAide bottles into the reusable Peter Pan bag and hobbled my way to the Disneyland hotel for breakfast.
The Medal: Disney makes amazing medals, no doubt. As a race-bling junkie, I like collecting them & I like it when they look different year to year. That being the case, I should stop running Disney and stick with Surf City. The 2013 Tink medal was pretty much identical to the 2012 medal minus the date & the word inaugural – and the ribbon was a different color.
Overall: I’ll most likely be back next year – and I want to do the Coast-to-Coast challenge … and I’m thinking about doing the Dumbo Double Dare, so for me the little faults that I do see in the race overall are fixed by all of the things that they do right.
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Submitted by Jimmy Nguyen
January 21, 2013
Review
Nobody does it like Disney! This is my 4th half marathon, and 2nd RunDisney event (so yes.. it’s an even half Disney and half non Disney.. )
Organization of this race versus the DL Half is much different, and seemed more busy actually, but it’s less than the Fall DL half. This year had just under 12,000 people running.
Support provided by the park, the resort, the city of Anaheim’s local residents and Orange County’s high schools’ bands, cheerleaders and volunteers are all simply amazing. You can’t get this kind of support at any other race.
Course ran north and south through downtown Anaheim and the neighboring streets, it was quaint and pleasant. This route was definitely a lot more… “pretty” than that of the September Half. You gotta remember that the Tink half is catered to women, as it’s the west coast “equivalent” to the WDW Princess Half. Car clubs don’t appeal to women, nor do bands playing rock music. We’re talking about a generalization of course, and naturally Disney would want something more.. soft. Going through Downtown anaheim and around the public library, the central library, the muzeo, the historic buildings and such was nice, and the route was pleasant too. Since it ran north and south, you had very little sun exposure, but since this weekend was incredibly hot/sunny fast, it did get a little intense around 9am.
Just to compare, the DL Half in September isn’t catered strictly for either gender, so making it run east/west (FACING the sun, anyone? or would you rather have the sun BEAT DOWN on your back instead? yeah I didn’t think the answer would be yes to either of those)
I like the Tinker Bell (by the way, did you know that is her actual name? First name Tinker, Last name Bell! I didn’t know either until the day of, which is why her name is on the medal as Tinker Bell and not Tinkerbell. ) Half. It was a nice and pleasant run. The abundance of fairy wings, tutus and sparkle skirts (on both women AND men!) were really cute. The absence of Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Chip & Dale remind you that this is supposed to be a Women’s race, which explains why Minnie & Daisy are at at the starting line, with Clarabelle, and that other female chipmunk in ToonTown.
Be that as it may, of course the Peter Pan theme was all over the place, with pirates galore lookin to “take your shiny necklace” and since I ran through in a green loose shirt with a Peter Pan hat & feather.. the pirates “picked on me” a lot. LOL. it was quite fun for my friends and myself to experience/witness that.
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Submitted by bkmichele
January 21, 2013
Review
This was my 2nd year running Tinkerbell, and my 4th Disney race.
The best part of this race is the organized cheering sections that Disney arranges for. Running through the parks you have the cast members out to cheer for you. They arrange for local high schools and the Red Hat Ladies to come out and line the streets of Anaheim. As I’ve run races with close to zero spectators before, this is amazing and I love that Disney takes the time to do it.
The expo is pretty lame though. As a “women’s event” it is filled with nothing but sparkle skirts and a chance to have your hair done. The two standard running vendors brought almost no nutritional offerings (had to go to 7-11 to get a protein bar), and Clif Bar’s pace team is noticeably absent. They are at all the other Disney halves I’ve done, so why is Tinkerbell any different? I also had no vendors to check out compression gear or other serious athletic attire.
The only bad thing about the course is that they insist on putting all the men in Corral C. So after a few miles you start getting passed by men running at amazing speeds. A 7 minute mile man should not have to weave through 9-11 minute mile women to just run. If Disney doesn’t want men there, just restrict entry to women only.
Post race is decent, the only negative is that the Simba lot is confusing to get out of if your hotel is on Katella.
Also, again with the comparisons to WDW, but nothing was done to acknowledge those who are “Perfectly Tink”. In Florida they change the ribbon on your medal so that you are special!
As a local, I’ll undoubtedly be signing up again. But I’m sure I will have the same complaints next year.
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Submitted by Blush
April 24, 2012
Review
I loved this race!! The expo was really fun. You were able to even go view some new TV shows. The long sleeved tech shirt was cool too. I loved that a lot of cast members were inside the park and we were able to take pictures with them. The race through the park is one of the reasons I do this race and it didn’t disappoint me. Post race was average with some food. I liked how the race started so early that when you finished, it was still early in the morning. Overall a must do race if you are a Disney fan.
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Submitted by caroltms
April 6, 2012
Review
i think its the best half so far for me. just wish the finish line would be family friendly for the non-paying family member so they can take pics of their loved ones at the finsih line.
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Submitted by crystal
February 29, 2012
Review
I have done the Disneyland Half Marathon before, so was interested to see how they would change things up for the TinkerBell. The first thing that was different was the pre/post race area, which was in the Paradise Pier Hotel parking lot vs. the Disneyland Hotel parking lot for the Disneyland half. It was a bit of a trek from the Mickey and Friends parking structure, but I had allowed myself enough time.
The corrals seemed to be much better organized than the Disneyland half corrals. There was no bottleneck at the corral entrance, and it was easy to maneuver into my corral. TV screens above the corrals allowed participants to easily see what was going on at the start line.
The TinkerBell course had been advertised as an “all new course”, which some of us met with skepticism. There are not a whole lot of options in Anaheim, so we did not know how it would compare to the Disneyland half. I have to say that the new course was actually more interesting than the Disneyland half! It felt like we spent more time running through the parks (Disneyland in the beginning, California Adventure at the end), and the run through downtown Anaheim by City Hall was quite pleasant. Just like the Disneyland half, there was plenty of entertainment along the course – bands, cheerleaders, etc. I was never bored.
Post race was typical of Disney races. Mylar, medal, pick up your gear, powerade, water, bagels, bananas…although Luna bar was a sponsor so they had full-size Luna protein bars too, which was much appreciated. Photos, then meet up at the family reunion area.
This was a well-run, extremely fun event, especially for an inaugural race. There did not seem to be any “kinks” and it was a very enjoyable experience, I am looking forward to running it again next year.
Also, since this was a female-themed event, there were gender specific tech shirts at packet pickup. This is something that I HIGHLY appreciate. Unisex tech shirts collect dust in my closet. The women’s race shirt I will actually wear. Great job, Disney!
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Submitted by brookins88
February 26, 2012
Review
Disney races, while ridiculously pricey, are worth every penny on race day. Extremely well run and well supported, the inaugural Tinker Bell Half Marathon was no exception!
Disney knows how to manage huge crowds, move them where they need to go in a very organized manner, and get everyone safely from point A to point B with as little difficulty as possible. This is across the board, from packet pick-up to the expo to the corrals to the race. Smooth, easy, even in spite of the massive crowds.
The coral management was the best I’ve ever seen, even at a Disney race, and the route was great. No long boring stretches, great cheers, music and support along the entire route. My only issue was that there were not nearly enough porta-potties/bathrooms along the route, especially considering it was a women’s race. (This is the sole reason for my B rating.) I held out til mile 9, and there was still a 15 minute line at the porta potties, which was the shortest so far on the route. Post race was also very well managed, right into the chute with multiple queues for your finish line photo, medal collection and post-race snacks.
Aside from the mechanics of the race, there are great photo ops, terrific volunteers and all of the amazing Disney staff out on the course that make the event fun and exciting. Running behind the scenes at Disneyland is one of my favorite parts, seeing inside the beast so to speak is a special treat. If you’re a fast runner, you can stop multiple places along the course and have your picture taken with Pirates, Darth Vader, Woody and Buzz, Tinkerbell and many others. So great!
I’d recommend any Disney race for beginner or jaded old-timer alike….you just can’t miss. Highly recommend!
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Submitted by hnewton
February 10, 2012
Review
The race was great, most of the characters were available for pictures and many cast members were there to cheer us on as we ran through the parks. The course outside the parks was lined with quite a few school bands and various dance teams, which was nice. The event was very well put on — many of the volunteers weren’t dipping their fingers in the water or Powerade, which was a nice change for me as I have seen too often courses with no water available that someone hasn’t put their fingers in. The pre-race, however, left something to be desired. Parking was only free for the first half hour, so by the time I got through the maze of packet pick-up I had no time to look around at the expo. On the other hand, spreading the expo between two floors certainly seemed to ease the congestion that I see at many pre-race pick ups. The expo was not as crowded and there was plenty of room to walk around without having to elbow your way through. Like the commenter before me, I wish there had been more to the goodie bag than just the t shirt, as this race was rather expensive. But, overall this was a great experience and I would definitely recommend it.
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Submitted by laurakarel
February 6, 2012
Review
The race was fun! Most of the Disney characters were out on the route so you could stop and take pictures. There were a couple high school bands out which was nice. Even though we had o be there around 430 am it was fine because it did start to heat up early. I wish at the expo there were give a ways 🙁 All you got was the shirt and for that price they should of had SOME goodies to pass out. Overall I had a great time and look forward to next years race!
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Submitted by jollene.levid
January 30, 2012
Review
The event was well-organized, and highlights include a pre-race stage, fireworks, and the first 4 miles of the route. The first 4 miles wove through Disneyland and California Adventure, allowing you to see the park’s rides, famous attractions, and even stop to take pictures with characters in costume. However, through miles 8-10, arguably the harder miles of the race, you’re running through empty residential suburban streets with very little to see. The finish line was anti-climactic too; afterwards you’re herded into a huge parking lot trying to find an exit or any type of post-race activity. I was glad to be a part of the inaugural race, but hope another route can be woven into this half for it’s second go-around!
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Submitted by Karleen Harp
January 29, 2012
Review
This was a fun race to do as a girls weekend away. The Expo was great (though no SWAG in the bags – just the shirt). There was a good variety of vendors, and many offered freebies. Loved the chips attached to the bib!! Start line was easy & organized – I loved how they set off fireworks during National Anthem (it was still dark).
The course inside the parks was fun with characters everywhere. Plan extra time if you want to stop for pictures with them, the lines were long. Not a PR course for that reason only. The course was super flat aside from some bridges. Outside the parks, the course was pretty boring honestly. It was mostly residential neighborhoods, and not many bands (mostly cheer leading squads). I was also disappointed it didn’t go through Angels stadium like the Disneyland Half does.
The finish line was pretty anti-climactic – no live band or anything. You just kind of end up in Downtown Disney. It was a fun event to do with friends and just have fun.
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