I swore 8 years ago that I would never do another runDisney challenge…. but here I am having just completed my second Disney Princess Fairytale Challenge! There is something special about Walt Disney World’s Princess Weekend; there are tiaras everywhere, all while having a female-empowering vibe. Plus, you can never beat the medals and Princess-themed swag! The Fairytale Challenge includes the 10k on Saturday and then the Half Marathon on Sunday. It’s two EARLY mornings, lots of miles to run, and so much supportive female energy! PLUS, it’s runDisney, so there is also magic and fun at every turn. I had a wonderful weekend, so let’s dig into my 2024 Disney Fairytale Challenge Race Recap!
Registration
These races sell out QUICK, so I knew I had to be ready to register the moment it went on sale. Oddly enough this time the longer races didn’t sell out instantly, even the challenge. I did snag my challenge registration as soon as I could. I was very pleased that this registration process went MUCH smoother than previous runDisney races. Hopefully they are getting better at handling the huge demand at registration.
Logistics
I decided to do this race weekend SOLO! This was a practical, and a financial decision. With two early morning wake ups, I knew having the whole fam come along would be ALOT to manage. Also, we would have needed a suite so our little man could sleep soundly. The prices for resorts during Princess weekend can get high, and this year in particular the hotels were not cheap. So I was excited, and a little nervous, to plan this weekend all on my own. I did have a friend running the races and staying at the same hotel, so we were able to meet up and hang out together in the corrals and buses! Having my own room was amazing, I could go to sleep whenenever I wanted (which was 7 pm one night), and it was just relaxing to have my own space.
Expo and Bib Pickup
After dropping my bags at the hotel I went straight to get my bib. I love going to the expo and getting my bib a day after it opens. It is MUCH less hectic, and I can take my time and enjoy everything. There were no lines for my bib or at the runDisney merch area. I took some photos, grabbed some merch, and headed back to the hotel. It was a fairly quick outing, even with taking my time! Also, the merch seemed to be more stocked than it I’ve seen with other races. Only a few items were sold out when I went, but the majority of shirts, ears, and cups were still available. This is another area I think runDisney is working hard to get right!
Pre-Race
I got in Friday afternoon, checked into my room at Pop Century, got my bib, and then grabbed some food before heading into Epcot. I made this a very low-key evening since I had such an early wake-up the next morning. My friend who was also running the challenge met me for dinner at Spice Road table, which was tasty! I felt like I had a great meal without eating anything greasy that wouldn’t sit well for the 10k. After dinner, I headed back to the hotel right before it started raining.
Side Note: You really can’t beat Pop Century. It is affordable, has the Skyliner, plus the cast members are the absolute BEST (more on that later).
10k
Wake Up!
My alarm went off at 2:30 am (though I was so anxious for the race I was awake even before that). I won’t sugarcoat it for you, those early wake-ups are ROUGH. Luckily for the 10k, I was so excited and pumped to race, I didn’t feel too bad. I wore my new Rapunzel Butt Bow skirt and Crowned Athletics tank top. I ate as much as I could stomach at that hour then headed to the buses around 3:30 am.
Getting Ready
We got to the race with plenty of time to drop our bags off, use the port-a-potties, take some photos, and line up. The lines for the characters before the race were pretty long, so we decided to skip it. I like the new system they have for lining up for the races. They close off corals at a certain time, which somehow made things seem to run smoother, plus much less walking to your corral.
Race!
Now THIS is where the magic is! We took off with our corral A and navigated through the crowd before finding a rhythm. I generally stop at maybe half of the character stops (maybe a bit more). In my mind, if there are over a certain amount of people in line I just skip it. The beginning of the race was a bit crowded for character stops, so I waited to start snagging photos. When I did, I was so happy! It is so much fun jumping into a photo with a character during a race! Though, for the serious racer, this absolutely can hurt your finish time. But this is runDisney! You should probably just enjoy the experience and save that PR attempt for another race.
I felt GOOD for the 10k and ended up running a wee bit faster than I should have. The course went through Hollywood Studios and Epcot. I enjoyed the course, though I wouldn’t say the time in the parks for the 10k was very long. It is always fun running in Hollywood Studios. Running in Epcot was fun, though I like running the World Showcase more than the route we took. I finished pushing hard and feeling strong!
Post 10k
After the 10k I took the bus back to the room and tried to rest but…. I was too pumped from the race to sleep. I ended up snacking, showering, and hitting the parks pretty quickly. There, I met my friend for breakfast at Hollywood Studios and explored all of the Star Wars area. After a fun morning, I hopped to Animal Kingdom. Now THIS was my big mistake. At about 3 pm I hit a wall. Like an exhaustion wall. My body said “Nope, we are done”, and I had to head back to my hotel. I grabbed “dinner” at around 330 pm in AK, then went back to my room. I was falling asleep around 5 pm but stayed up to talk to my kiddo and husband. Then… I fell asleep at 7 pm. Now that was GLORIOUS. I 100% recommend folks running challenges to go to bed AS EARLY as possible. Amazing.
Half Marathon
Getting Ready
Once again my alarm went off at 230 am. I was very groggy, but SO thankful for the decent amount of sleep! I put on my Anna costume that my friend had made for me (she was Elsa) and ate as much as I could. Unfortunately, with that early dinner the night before I did deal with a very hungry tummy before the race. I should have brought more snacks to the start line! We hopped on the bus at 330 am and were as ready as we could be to race!
Pre-race
We got to the race with plenty of time to potty, drop bags, stretch, potty again, and then wait in our corral. One tough thing is standing in your corral waiting to start. You tend to tense up even if you try to warm up. We had throw away mylar blankets with us since it was pretty cold for Florida! I believe it was in the 40s F. Though it felt AMAZING to race in those temps!
Race
Once the race started, I immediately felt how tight my legs were. I did not roll or stretch ANYTHING after the 10k, and boy did I feel it. I had crazy heavy legs the entire race. My body was prepared for one race (a half marathon actually), and I didn’t practice many back-to-back long or hard runs. Thus my 10k felt awesome and easy, so my half marathon felt ROUGH. That didn’t stop me though from having a fun time! It did take a lot of mental toughness to finish and keep pushing myself not to give up and walk.
The race itself was a blast. I stopped for many photos (especially since my legs were hurting), which made it all the more fun. My absolute favorite place to run is in Magic Kingdom, and this race brings you right down Main Street and through the castle. It is SO MAGICAL! I would 100% recommend it! Most of the photo stops had no line when I got to them, so I enjoyed hopping in and out of some fun photo opportunities. The castle float with the Princesses was probably my favorite.
After Magic Kingdom, there’s a long haul back to EPCOT. There are plenty of characters and movie screens to keep you entertained. This was the most difficult stretch for me since whatever energy I had early on was completely gone by then and it was my own stubborn will that kept me running. Epcot was fun, though like the day before I was still sad that we didn’t run the World Showcase. Though running by Spaceship Earth was nice. Then there’s that finish line. There is no better finish line than a runDisney one! Plus, they take just about a million pictures when you cross it, so you’re bound to get something decent. It’s a lot of fun =)
Post-Race Celebration
So, I finished and just about thought I was going to die. Partially with happiness to be done, pride in finishing, and being exhausted. My overall finishing time was probably one of the slowest half marathons I have ever run, but for how I felt I was pretty darn proud. Also, with all those stops it does have a big impact on your finish time. My friend and I finished around the same time (she stops for every photo stop!), and decided to grab a photo with Anna and Elsa before heading back to the hotel. Since the challenge theme was Frozen, it felt like the perfect ending to the race!
Time to Relax!
When we got back to Pop Century there was a full-on cheering squad welcome when we got off the bus (no seriously, Pop Century is THE BEST). Then I grabbed breakfast from the food court because it smelled amazing and I was starving. I showered and napped for a few hours before heading to Magic Kingdom.
In Magic Kingdom, I had the most relaxing afternoon. It was BUSY, so the lines were pretty long. I decided to just take my time and enjoy some attractions with shorter lines, and wait in a few lines that weren’t too bad (like Pirates). I road Tron thanks for my friend getting me a virtual queue (so much fun!), and I had a relaxing late lunch at Columbia Harbour House. Also, there may have been some treats here and there (ice cream!!). For dinner, I headed over to the Wilderness Lodge. I met my friend for a celebratory meal at Storybook Dining with Snow White and friends, and the Evil Queen. Everything was awesome, and the character interactions were perfect. It was a nice way to finish the day.
Is the Disney Fairytale Challenge Worth It?
First off, runDisney races are always a fun and wonderful time. I swore I would never do a challenge again after my first one, but the Frozen-themed challenge, plus two of my favorite Princess movies (Tangled and Princess and the Frog) were the race themes. So…. I felt compelled to sign up! Am I still anti-challenge? Not necessarily.
It was TOUGH to do those two wake-ups, plus running around the parks. The ultimate challenges that runDisney offers are the Goofy (Half Marathon & Marathon), and Dopey (ALL four races) during Marathon weekend. These are super appealing to folks who love a HARD challenge! If I ever decide to tackle one of them, I would need to skip the parks. This is hard to do when surrounded by awesome rides at your favorite place! But, I simply would need to rest much more than I did for this challenge. All in all, I am happy I did it, I love my SWAG, the medals are gorgeous (even if my half medal got a bit chipped), and I got a much-needed weekend to myself. If you choose to do the Fairytale Challenge, plan to REST and go to bed early. You will thank me! I cannot wait for my next runDisney race, just probably one race next time. 😉
Want to read about my last Walt Disney World Marathon? Check out my 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon Race Recap!
Check out a list of all my past races HERE!
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