Hello, fellow WRFD readers,

I’m back on the East Coast and still on a high from my 5 days out west. Jake and I just hung up our Disneyland 10K medals and bibs with pride! I learned a lot about the ins and outs of the Disneyland races, and I’ll be sharing some tips here as well.

Before We Left

There were two reasons why I was a little nervous about how this weekend was going to go. First of all, this was my first race ever at Disneyland, so I had to figure out where to go, when to be there, plus all the travel and park plans. Secondly, I was wary of the logistical issues that happened during the last Disneyland race weekend, the Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend in May. Tink participants reported not having any on-course characters, suffering through long security lines and parking nightmares, and issues with the new staff, who had replaced the regular volunteers. I’m happy to report that I didn’t run into any issues, and I truly can’t say enough great things about my Run Disney experience this weekend. Here’s how it all went down…

We flew from Logan Airport in Boston to LAX early on Thursday morning. We arrived at the Anaheim Marriott hotel, which looked super close to Disneyland on a map, but it was actually a bit tricky to go back and forth by car. We checked in to our room and then headed right out to the expo at the Disneyland Hotel.

Disneyland Hotel runDisney Health & Fitness Expo

I had read in a recap from last year to avoid going to the expo on Thursday because it would be extremely crowded, but it was pretty empty! The signage at the expo could have been much better, though — there were arrows pointing in different directions everywhere and no one directing traffic. I felt a bit like Alice lost in Wonderland for a moment! Plus, the bib pickup was set up inside a parking garage, which was a little curious…

TFW you first arrive at the expo…

There weren’t any people in line so we walked right up to the counter, showed our IDs and got our bibs. I recommend that you always make sure to show your ID, even if it’s not asked for, as there have been a few instances of bib thieves taking other runners’ bibs! Our bibs came with a nifty little brochure that had all the race details inside. It was really convenient to have all the details in print, and it came in handy later that day! Upstairs at the expo, we picked up our 10K shirts and did a short stroll around the booths before heading out into the blistering California heat. Did I mention there was a heatwave the entire time we were there? It was supposed to end on Wednesday, but it lasted all the way until Monday!

Pre-Race Off Property Adventures

We spent Thursday afternoon in Huntington Beach, and when we returned to our room, I decided to read through the aforementioned brochure. In the section about transportation, it said that we needed a physical pass for the race shuttle, which could only be picked up…at the expo. No one at the expo mentioned anything about these transportation passes, nor was it mentioned in the short blurb in the event guide (I just checked, and you had to click “read more” on the Transportation page in order to see it). I was pretty bummed that we would have to go back to the expo, since it was too hot to walk there and we had to take a Lyft to get to the Disneyland Hotel. Thankfully, Jake discovered that his 10K shirt was way too big, so we needed to go back anyways. I was especially glad that we picked up the passes because they ended up being valid for the entire two days we were at the park, which saved us about $40 in Lyft rides!

We spent Friday afternoon enjoying the Santa Monica Pier before heading back to the hotel and getting prepped for our 3AM wakeup call. Jake had felt a dull pain in his ankle the day we arrived, and it seemed to be getting worse. He iced it before we went to bed, but I was worried that we would end up having to walk the whole thing (or worse, I would have to run solo!). We fell asleep around 8:30, and, true to form, I woke up about three times in a panic that I had missed my alarm and the race!

Flat Livingstons!

 RACE DAY!

When 3AM did arrive, I was beyond excited. We got our costumes on and joined the big line of people already outside the hotel waiting for the first shuttle, which arrives at 3:30 AM. Once again I was thankful for the shuttle, because I couldn’t quite figure out exactly where we were supposed to go based on the maps/directions we were given (everything just said “on Disneyland Drive,” which is really vague to a newbie!). To get to the starting line from the bus stop, we had to walk through all of Downtown Disney, with the finish area waiting for us at the end. The Pizza Planet truck was there, and just around the corner, people were lining up in their corrals.

Sadly, the truck didn’t have pizza inside.

Jake’s ankle was hurting much worse now, and I was getting really worried about how we were going to make it through the race. We spoke with a cast member who was able to call a medic, and he brought us over to the medical area past the finish line (which was closed off at the time, so we got the VIP treatment!). The medic stretched Jake’s foot and asked him some questions about the injury. He taped a huge ice pack to Jake’s foot for 10 minutes and then had him try walking on it. He recommended that we take it easy and walk the course if necessary. He taped up Jake’s ankle and we went to join the others in our corral. I really appreciated the genuine concern that the first aid staff had for us, and was very impressed by how kind and considerate they were to us. Bonus points for Run Disney!

Waiting at the starting line!

Monsters Inc. is a tough theme for running costumes, so it didn’t surprise me that it seemed like maybe half of the 10K runners were in costumes, and the rest were in regular running clothes. Overwhelmingly, people were dressed as Mike and Sully, but we did see a few unique costumes, including some CDA agents who were in the full jumpsuits (with machines on their backs!), Terri and Terry from Oozma Kappa, and Squishy’s mom, who had her hair in rollers! The most impressive to me was an older man who was dressed as a Baywatch lifeguard (who said the costumes had to be Disney related?) and ran the race barefoot!

Finally, it was time for our corral to start, and we took off down Disney Way (which was on a slight downhill slope, a great way to start the race)! At the mile 1 marker, I was thrilled to hear a very familiar sound — “Gimme More” by Britney Spears was the very unexpected song to welcome us into California Adventure! We made our way into the park via Radiator Springs, which was absolutely gorgeous all lit up in the dark. It was about 5:30 AM, but 80 degrees and extremely humid, and I was already dripping with sweat. I knew we had to finish the race before the sun came up if we were going to make it out alive!

Flying through Radiator Springs!

Next, we ran through Cars Land and “a bug’s land,” where many of the rides were lit up and running. Flik and Atta were the first characters we spotted (we don’t stop for character photos because the lines are so long, but we definitely love seeing them as we go!). We then looped around Paradise Pier, which was one of my favorite parts of the entire race. Mickey’s Fun Wheel was so bright and colorful, and the World of Color fountains were on! By this point, I already knew that I wouldn’t ever run a more beautiful course than this.

After we passed Mickey’s Fun Wheel, we ran through Paradise Pier and by Toy Story Mania, where Mr. Potato Head was already boardwalk barking. The next stretch of the course went through the woodsy Grizzly Peak area of DCA (where Russell from Up was posing for photos), past Ariel’s Undersea Adventure (where a giant Roz was “smiling” with runners), through Carthay Circle and down Buena Vista Street, one of my favorite parts of that park. Once we reached the Hyperion Theater, we could see the Collector’s fortress, a.k.a. Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout! looming overhead. The facade looked both fun and formidable, and I was getting excited to experience the ride later that day!

The next mile, which had us exiting the park and running “backstage,” was tough. There wasn’t all that much to look at, other than some fun MU-themed projections on the gray and beige buildings around us. At this point, a lot of people around us were starting to walk. The sun was now peeking up over the trees and the humidity got worse. It felt like morale had taken a huge dip once we exited DCA, but it improved when we ran through a tunnel that had CDA agents dancing on a ledge above us!

Finally, we had passed the halfway point and the first water station, and were welcomed into Disneyland via Mickey’s Toon Town. There was a whole squad of MU cheerleaders there who were doing a choreographed routine with their coach! I should have stopped for a picture with them, but we were just too excited to be in Disneyland. We also saw Donald and Goofy!

We passed by It’s a Small World, the Matterhorn and Tomorrowland before we got our first glimpse of Sleeping Beauty’s castle! I knew we were headed there next, so we got our biggest smiles ready and cheered with the others as we ran through the iconic Disneyland landmark.

The course then took us into Frontierland and looped around the Rivers of America next to the Haunted Mansion, which was sadly closed during our visit due to the setup of the Haunted Mansion Holiday. Then, we passed by Pirates of the Caribbean, and I started to daydream about my upcoming celebratory lunch at Blue Bayou…the gumbo was calling my name!

On our way out, we saw Dory, Nemo, and Marlin with their wetsuit-clad puppeteers. They were so cute! Next, it was back to the front of the park, right down Main Street to the entrance, where there was a growing crowd cheering us on. We would need it, because I knew we were about to exit the parks for the last time.

The last stretch of this race was by far the hardest, since it’s about a mile and a half of nothingness—just a backstage section with trees blocking any view of the Anaheim streets. Run Disney did try to add some entertainment in this part of the course, including a fun group of marching band drummers and a live jazz band, but once we could hear the finish line announcers, it seemed like an endless stretch to see the end. There was a bigger crowd when we got closer to the finish line, and we could finally see other runners cheering with their medals on! That was the last push we needed to reach the end, and the cherry on top was when the announcer said, “Congratulations to the Livingstons from Massachusetts!” just before we crossed over the finish line.

Why is one of us ALWAYS cut off in the other’s pictures? Maybe we need to run closer together 😛

We Did It!

We got our medals and snack boxes and were also handed cold wet towels to go around our necks. This was much appreciated by all the runners considering the crazy heat and humidity! Next, we headed right back to the medical area so that Jake could ice his ankle again. We took a couple of short walk breaks for him during the race, but we ran almost the whole time and he was feeling it. Once he was freshly bandaged up, we grabbed a quick medal selfie before heading back to the hotel.

Here’s a medal closeup — I love that they included quotes on the back for this weekend!

We rushed to shower and get dressed so that we could be back in the parks at 9AM sharp. Since we paid $40 for MaxPass for the two days we were there, I wanted to make sure that we grabbed the FastPasses we wanted, and they can only be reserved once your ticket has been scanned at the gate. We got inside and were able to book a FastPass for Mission: Breakout! Right away! Since this was both a holiday weekend and a race weekend, I was expecting massive lines and difficulty with booking FastPasses, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. We were able to get on Radiator Springs Racers in a 15 minute standby line and never waited more than 20 minutes for any ride during the two days we were there. I absolutely loved the MaxPass system, especially because my race photos showed up right in the Disneyland app along with our on-ride photos. Speaking of race photos, I should note that there were very few on-course photographers, which seems to be a trend with Run Disney races lately. Our phones came in handy for capturing our race memories!

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To Recap My Tips:

• Be sure to show your ID at bib pickup (and never have your personal details like DOB available to the public on Facebook, that’s how waivers and bibs get stolen!)

• If you’re staying at a local hotel that isn’t part of the Disneyland Resort, pick up your transportation passes at the Transportation desk at the expo. It was located outside of the expo itself this year, which made it more difficult to find!

• Always hydrate before, during and after the race. We stopped at all three water stops and brought a bottle to share in my running belt. Even if the sun’s not up, it can still get really hot!

• Stop for a picture (or five)! You’re paying a lot of money to run these races – take a moment to soak it all in, and take a picture to remember it. Don’t count on the scarce race photographers!

• Take advantage of the Disneyland app and the MaxPass system. The app will let you book dining reservations 60 days out and view wait times and character stop locations. MaxPass lets you grab unlimited FastPasses throughout the day and download all your park and race photos — it’s well worth the $10 per person per day!

• Stay awhile and explore the area. We loved our days in Disneyland, but we also loved having sushi by the water in Huntington Beach, riding the ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier and seeing celebrity homes in Hollywood!

I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite photos from our adventures around the park. I loved this race weekend, and we’re already planning to do it again next year!

Thanks for reading and as always, Will Run for Disney!