A Dwarf For Every Emotion: A 2017 Dopey (Grumpy?!) Challenge Trip Report! COMPLETE

[TeeterTots]

Great photos! Love the course....well, maybe the first part looks boring. Getting excited!

 

[ZellyB]

Fantastic job on the 10K. I love all your pictures especially around the Boardwalk area. That's one reason I really want to do the 10K one year to enjoy that area while it's all lit up and still dark out.

The BB8 top made for a great race outfit.

 

[JulieODC]

Joining in! I've read all your reports, but this is the first time "live"

Great report so far as always - fun getting to hear the details of your trip, including all those expo runs! Sounds like me and my local Marshalls

I'm gearing up for the PHM - so it's also fun to see the details of the races from that perspective.

Oh, and random hairs in hotel rooms are my worst nightmare! So glad you moved on, but also gave some good feedback!

 

[rteetz]

Congrats again in the 10K! I agree that it's a great course. I stopped for the duck tales meet and no one else after that. I didn't see the t-Rex out when I went by. I did see the sign "I made a sign" I thought that was pretty funny. I agree that the medal is better in person, it was bigger and heavier than I thought it would be.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

I just wish I had known I was actually running right with you during the race...oh well. The course is funny, you spend the first four miles thinking about how boring the Epcot Parking Lot Tour is, then you spend the last two miles thinking about how awesome the course is.

 

[steph0808]

Great job on the 10k!

Is that a studio at the Boardwalk? (I'm trying to convince my husband to come with me to 2018 marathon and bring our will-be-3-year-old and trying to figure out a room type that would work best).

 

[Ariel484]

Yay 10K!!!
I have to say, based on my experience with this course ... it looks a lot less sad when it's not crazy raining. (I happen to really like the course ... despite the extended shower I experienced last year)
Also, the mile 2, 3, 5, and 6 mile markers are the same as last year. Way to recycle, Disney! (I don't know if I mean that in a good way or not)

Disney is being green! I know they use those same mile markers all weekend and just switch out the numbers but that's funny that it was in the exact same order as when you did it!

I don't know how you survived the Boardwalk portion in the rain...slippery!!!

I love that people made BB-8 related comments to you during the race. That really is an awesome shirt (sorry, I don't really do BB-8 puns)!

That's really the only BB-8 pun I have, so...

Another awesome finish picture!! That pose clearly just works for you.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right??

Great photos! Love the course....well, maybe the first part looks boring. Getting excited!

Oh, the first part is totally boring. It's sort of cool running under the tollbooths but otherwise...zzzzzzz

Fantastic job on the 10K. I love all your pictures especially around the Boardwalk area. That's one reason I really want to do the 10K one year to enjoy that area while it's all lit up and still dark out.

The BB8 top made for a great race outfit.

I do like the 10K cours! Epcot is awesome, obviously, and I love the Epcot resort area. Solid course for sure!

Joining in! I've read all your reports, but this is the first time "live"

Great report so far as always - fun getting to hear the details of your trip, including all those expo runs! Sounds like me and my local Marshalls

I swear I normally do not do that with the expos. If I hadn't have had the car there's no way I would've gone there more than once.

I'm gearing up for the PHM - so it's also fun to see the details of the races from that perspective.

Ah! I'm excited for Princess weekend!

Oh, and random hairs in hotel rooms are my worst nightmare! So glad you moved on, but also gave some good feedback!

Yeah, it was so gross! Not a fan!

Congrats again in the 10K! I agree that it's a great course. I stopped for the duck tales meet and no one else after that. I didn't see the t-Rex out when I went by. I did see the sign "I made a sign" I thought that was pretty funny. I agree that the medal is better in person, it was bigger and heavier than I thought it would be.

T-Rex was maybe on a break or busted by WDW Security by then I guess!

I agree about the medal - it just seems really solid and high-quality, and I really like the copper-y finish.

I just wish I had known I was actually running right with you during the race...oh well. The course is funny, you spend the first four miles thinking about how boring the Epcot Parking Lot Tour is, then you spend the last two miles thinking about how awesome the course is.

Ah, I know! I can't believe we were right next to one another!

I totally agree with your thoughts on the course! I'd rather have it that way than have all the good stuff at the beginning and then the "meh" stuff at the end, that's for sure.

Great job on the 10k!

Is that a studio at the Boardwalk? (I'm trying to convince my husband to come with me to 2018 marathon and bring our will-be-3-year-old and trying to figure out a room type that would work best).

Thanks! Yep, that's a preferred-/Boardwalk-view studio. There are standard-view rooms as well, but when I went to rent points the standard rooms were gone. I think the couch pulls out into a sofa bed and of course the Murphy bed folds down in front of the TV, so it sleeps 5.

 

[Ariel484]

DIS-Meet!

I grabbed a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich and hot chocolate from the Boardwalk Bakery and headed back to the room. After the sandwich, I took a shower and got right into bed! But not before indulging just a bit…

Hey, Grey Stuff - you ARE delicious!

I updated Mr. Ariel484 on my finish, watched a little TV...and then I was OUT. I set an alarm intending to sleep for an hour...but an hour turned into 2.5 hours!! The late nights had finally caught up to me and I was soooo Sleepy!! I just couldn’t get myself to wake up! Oops. And normally if I take a nap longer than 30 minutes to an hour I feel groggy and terrible...not today. I felt a LOT better after this siesta. I really needed that sleep.

Once I was finally able to drag myself out of bed, I primped a bit and then headed to the Boardwalk Bakery for a quick lunch. I don’t remember what this is called but it’s essentially focaccia with cheese, basil and tomato sauce and it’s toasted. Yum!

Now it was time to decide if I wanted to go to the Marathon Weekend DIS-meet at the Beach Club. I am very shy around new people (some may even say I am…*Bashful*), but this meet-up was with people I’d been chatting with on the DIS for just about a year now - some for even longer. So I decided to stop being a baby and head over!

On the way, I checked the forecast for the next day...not looking too promising!

I headed to the Beach Club and used the bathroom in the lobby and ran into @mbwhitti! Then I went to Hurricane Hanna’s to meet up with more DIS-ers! I got to chat with @FFigawi , @Keels, @girliea, @camaker, @PCFriar80, @huggybuff ...I’m sure I’m forgetting a few people, and if I forgot you, I’m sorry!! There were some faces I recognized but didn’t talk with much or at all (@MommaoffherRocker, @CheapRunnerMike - though apparently we were running right next to one another during one point of the 10K! and @DopeyBadger), but it was fun! I felt pretty comfortable talking to everyone and was glad I’d decided to go!

The big topic of conversation was the weather. While sitting there I remember feeling like I was overdressed for the warm, sunny day we were having (in my 10K shirt and capris), but the next morning was, of course, looking dicey with the thunderstorm possibility...and then temperatures were going to start dropping and continue to drop into the high-30s by Sunday morning! Crazy. We all agreed that there was an extreme possibility that there would be a delayed start to the race, and that as a result we were going to get a shortened course for the half marathon the next day - likely with the Magic Kingdom portion cut out (runDisney seems to like to get runners in and out of Magic Kingdom before the park opens - a delayed start would have runners in the park while it was operating. Not ideal in WDW’s most popular park on a crowded weekend). So I tried to start preparing myself for that scenario. It was really the only thing that made sense to me at that time.

 

[Ariel484]

Animal Kingdom/Sanaa

Eventually I decided to head out to use some fastpasses at Animal Kingdom before dinner! I said good-bye to everyone, headed back to the car and drove over. I parked in the Peacock lot and was saddened to learn that I had missed the window to meet Minnie here at Animal Kingdom! Since she is the 10K mascot, I’d wanted a picture with her and my medal, but she had stopped meeting at 5...sadness!

And sidenote: runDisney posted another weather alert just before 5PM. Again saying that they were monitoring the weather for the next morning and would have an update at 7PM. HMMM….

I love this park.

Yeah, probably my favorite park!

I stopped for a little Tree of Life photoshoot because my hair game was ON POINT that day. Here’s a question - is this a magic shot? What is that thing above the tree?!

The magic of the curling wand, you guys. And a 2.5-hour nap!

I think these frame things are kind of weird, but I went with it!

I was going to end up missing more fastpasses thanks to staying at the DIS-meet (which I don’t regret! ). But I needed a character picture, so I headed to Dinoland and hopped in line!

Pluto and Goofy were so happy to see me! On Instagram @Sailormoon2 pointed out that this was Pluto picture #3 - Pluto Streak! Please note how he is showing off his “medal!”

My favorite one from the Pluto/Goofy meet...why can’t my hair look like this every day?! Okay, I’ll stop admiring myself. Sorry about that!

Time to head out!

I had many times during this trip where I’d be driving around property and would think, “man, I am so good at driving around property!” And then about a minute later, without fail, I would make a wrong turn. This was one of those times and I managed to screw up what has to be the shortest drive you can possibly make at WDW - somehow my driving from Animal Kingdom to Kidani took, like 15 minutes. Oh, life.

This is a big, big, BIG reason why I have converted to wanting to rent alllll of the cars at WDW. I LOVE resort dining, and it’s so unattractive to make ADRs at resorts I’m not staying at when I need to take buses. It just takes so long to get from one resort to another! Having a car solves that problem...mostly. Assuming I don’t miss turns!

One of my favorite WDW restaurants!

I got a sweet table right by the windows! But it was dark out, and I couldn’t see anything. Oh well.

Started off with some booze! Three Cape Ladies, which is a wine I’d had in Jiko a few years ago. Yum! Normally I don’t drink the night before races, but I’d had wine at Be Our Guest the night before and survived the 10K, so whatever.

I started out with the Naan appetizer. I just asked for the regular Naan and for all of my dips to be roasted red pepper hummus...I know what I like!

In case you can’t tell, this is WAY too much friggin food for one person! I ate, like, 1.5 pieces of the Naan (out of 5) and part of one of the things of hummus! I took the leftovers back to the room, but guess how much of it I ended up eating later in the trip? That’s right...naan.

Jokes and jokes and jokes!

I hadn’t been to Sanaa in awhile and they had changed the menu since my last visit. Thankfully my beloved Butter Chicken was still there! I may have cried if it was gone.

The back bowl is lentils. They were good, but a little too spicy for me.

 

[Ariel484]

WUT

I ordered dessert to go (chocolate mousse) and thought it would be nice to walk over to Jambo and chill in the lobby/Victoria Falls for a bit before heading back to the Boardwalk. While waiting for the check, I opened my phone to check Facebook...and I saw THIS posted in the runDisney Facebook group I am in.

There was no official announcement from Disney yet...but DELAYED. The half marathon was delayed! There was no way we weren’t getting a shortened course now. Despite the fact that I had been preparing myself for this possibility for a few days now, it was still surprising. I couldn’t believe it!

The person who had posted the photo indicated that the sign was at, of all places, Animal Kingdom Lodge...well what do you know! I couldn’t quite bring myself to believe that this had truly happened, so I paid my bill and headed upstairs, wondering if the sign was in Kidani or Jambo. It was just about 7PM.

Heading to the front of the lobby, I saw the back of a sign on an easel and 5-6 people standing there looking at it. “Okay, here it is,” I thought. The race was actually postponed and I was about to get firsthand confirmation.

I looked at the sign...OMG.

CANCELED (is it weird that you can spell this word two different ways and technically be correct? I think it is). My jaw dropped. The race was CANCELED!! I was shocked! You could've knocked me over with a feather.

There had been no official announcement from runDisney at this point. I took the above picture and posted it to Facebook and texted it to a few people. And people on Facebook questioned me immediately! “Looks fishy!” Right, because I’m going to take time out of my Disney trip to troll all of you! (Which is funny that I was annoyed because just a few minutes before I *had* to see the postponed announcement with my own eyes to believe it!)

So I posted a follow-up picture…Kidani is dark, y’all. 7:05, still no comment from runDisney.

I headed over to sit on one of the couches in the lobby and Social Media just exploded! People were getting angry at runDisney for not announcing anything and for possibly making the cancellation call so early. During this time, a CM came and took the Kidani sign down...hmmm…either runDisney had changed their minds or this sign had gone up a little early!

A little over 10 minutes later, it was official. All events scheduled to start on Saturday were canceled.

No half marathon. No Goofy Challenge. No Dopey Challenge. (People were quick to dub this the Grumpy Challenge - 35.5 magical miles for those of us who had registered for Dopey!) I was just stunned...I couldn’t believe it. I mentioned in my original post that I have done 20ish runDisney races and have done at least that many at home...maybe more, can't remember. In 40+ races and 9 years of running, I have NEVER had a race canceled for weather. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I’d been expecting a delay and a shortened course (which also would have been a first for me), but canceled?? I don’t think anyone expected this!

The other thing that surprised me is right at the bottom of the above Facebook post...when we register for races, we agree that our registration fees are non-refundable, that the race director can cancel a race in case of inclement weather, and that if this happens, we don’t get our money back. I have been very vocal here on the DIS about not being impressed with runDisney’s Customer Service, but the way they were handling the cancellation of this race was changing my tune - they were actually offering us compensation, even though it was clearly spelled out in the terms that we shouldn’t expect any if the race didn’t happen. We had 4 options: getting the amount of race registration back as a Disney Gift card, getting 2 one-day park hopper tickets, deferring the race registration to another runDisney half marathon within the next 2 years or, for those signed up for the half not as part of a challenge, to upgrade to the marathon on Sunday. All I could think was that the expo would be a complete nightmare the next day with people coming to claim refunds and whatnot - and OMG was I going to go back to the expo AGAIN?? - but later in the evening (around 11PM) it was clarified that Goofy and Dopey runners didn’t have to attend the expo. Whew! I sent an email indicating that I wanted to choose the gift card option.

Option 4 for half marathoners - upgrading to the marathon - just seemed unfathomable to me. If I were a half runner I'm not sure I could have done the upgrade to the marathon. To go into this weekend having trained/prepared to run 13.1 and then less than 48 hours beforehand switch to 26.2...I’m pretty sure I would have had a nervous breakdown! I had a friend decide almost instantly that she would take this option...dang, girl!!

My phone battery was dying (like, it had 1% battery left) and I didn’t have an extra charge cord with me, so I headed back to the car and back to the Boardwalk. I was just in disbelief...it was weird to be totally prepared to run 13.1 miles the next morning, and suddenly, it just wasn’t happening.

The news had spread...it was all anyone was talking about. Online and in-person.

 

[Ariel484]

NOM

Since I didn’t have a half marathon to run the next morning...why not stuff my face?

This was my first visit. I couldn’t decide which flavor I wanted, so I went for the sampler!

Here are the flavors I picked:

I remember that the pretzels were soggy in the Malty Salty flavor - yuck! But overall it was good, and my favorites were PB Wins the Cup, Nonna D’s Oatmeal Lace, and Butter Pecan Brittle.

runDisney had promised an update at 10PM - and the update was...they were still working out the details! Alright then. I was surprised to see I had a message on my room phone - it was runDisney announcing the cancellation! I'm sure a lot of people fell through the cracks as far as getting notified of the cancellation, but I don't think that was for lack of trying on Disney’s part. I was notified of the cancellation on my room phone, Facebook, and via email and text message.

One thing they’d said earlier was that everyone would still get half marathon medals (as a challenge runner, I’d get mine at the finish line of the marathon). They also said Goofy and Dopey medals would be awarded and that the half would count toward Coast-to-Coast (where you do at least a half marathon in both Disneyland and WDW in the same calendar year) and Castle to Chateau (where you do a US-based half or marathon and the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon). And, I mean...people are MAD about this. There are blog posts and everything (I think people on the DIS have been pretty cool about it for the most part).

The debate about this began almost immediately, and it’s still going on. According to some, anyone with a Goofy, Dopey, or half marathon medal shouldn’t keep them because since the race was canceled, the medals were not “earned,” and that Coast-to-Coast/Castle to Chateau should be invalid for this year. Honestly, I don’t know what to think about this and it’s such a bizarre situation that I don’t even think I can word my thoughts in a coherent way. Of course...like I said, I don’t even really know what my thoughts are! <-- me since Friday night

I’m probably going to get some judgey responses/thoughts for this, but...I know a lot of people ended up running 13.1 the next day anyway to feel like they “earned” the medals. And I just didn’t feel the need to do that. I think maybe because I have run more than a few half marathons, 2 Goofys and 1 Dopey already that I guess I didn’t feel like I needed to prove to anyone, myself included, that I could do it - because I HAVE already done it. If the challenge had proceeded on as scheduled, I would have finished it. I KNOW I would have.

But if I’m being completely honest...and I hate to admit this because I know that a lot of people were upset by the race cancellation...part of me was a little relieved. A day to sleep in and a day to give my back some extra rest. I think I was more okay with this than most people...but I felt REALLY bad for anyone that had this as their first half or as their first challenge, or anyone that had this as their only race of the weekend. That would have been crazy disappointing.

Also...I really felt for the runDisney staffers and volunteers scheduled to work at the expo the next day. There's no way this was an easy decision to make, and there were people pretty angry about it. And really - angry at runDisney?? This was a safety decision - what if we did the race and people were struck by lightning? Or lightning hit a tree and a branch fell on someone or whatever? They can't take chances like that.

Another update came in at about 11:15PM detailing the compensation options a little further (again, REALLY impressed that runDisney is doing this! I actually received my gift card from them via email on Friday!) - this is when I found out I wouldn't need to visit the expo for A FIFTH TIME THIS WEEKEND OMG and I decided that if I wasn’t going to run 13.1 miles tomorrow...why not just cruise around the parks and try to get 13.1 done?

Behold my new orange visor, from expo visit #3, and the outfit I'd planned on wearing for the 20th running of the WDW Half Marathon!

I got into bed around midnight (remembered to turn off my 3AM alarm, woohoo!) to the sound of thunderstorms...this was when I knew for sure that Disney had made the right call in canceling. A lot of the final race set-up happens overnight, with volunteers reporting in starting at 10 or 11PM. No way should anyone have been out in this weather!

Up next: an unexpected free day!

 

[rteetz]

I didn't make it to the meet up. With being in such a large group this week we just had so much going on. I hope someone plans something next year and I'll plan on going to that one.

Great pictures at AK! It's my favorite park because of all the details and just how it looks so natural.

I have yet to do Sanaa but everyone raves about it. Maybe I can finally try it next trip.

When they put out the 5PM update saying there would be another update at 7PM that's wen I started to worry a but more. Then as we got closer to 7 people were talking about the signs that said delayed and a possible cancellation. I think the Dis and Twitter are where I say the cancellation first from people posting the signs in the resorts. It was a shock. I like you thought we would get a shortened course. I also like you thought runDisney did as good as they could've handling it.

 

[ZellyB]

Love your hair in those shots, girl!! I also just love AK - never really understood why more people don't give it the love it deserves. Maybe Pandora will help with that although I confess to be a little worried that it will alter the park too much, but I gotta say looking at the construction going on there it looks impressive.

Sorry to have missed the Dis meet at Hurricane Hannah's though.

And, I mirror everything you say about the cancellation. After the shock wore off, I also ended up relieved about it. You know what a rough training season I'd had and I just felt totally unprepared for the weekend and while, like you, I know I could have done it, I was not driven to do the 13.1 on my own. The marathon ended up being a really tough race for me so I think it was the right call for me not to run it, but I sure admire those who did.

And, like you, I have only praise for how rD handled the whole thing. It was a crappy call to have to make and the decision to refund that money was above and beyond. I did a rough calculation of how much I thought the refunds amounted to and it was somewhere north of like $4.5M. That's a whole lot of money to just hand back to people especially given that they'd already spent all the money to put the race on. It was still a bummer and I do feel awful for those who were counting on doing that race for any number of reasons, but given that I was seeing lightening and hearing thunder at 7 in the morning, there's no doubt it was the right call to make.

 

[CheapRunnerMike]

Was great meeting everyone on Friday afternoon at Hurricane Hannah's...and for the record I did talk to you! I think we compared our tans or something I don't hate you sun, why do you hate me??

Animal Kingdom is my fave park too! I can ride Kilimanjaro Safari over and over and over and over...love it.

Disney dining confession...I have never eaten at Sanaa I always want to and have unfortunately never been able to convince the family. Maybe I need a better family haha

Totally bummed by the cancellation, but completely understood the why behind it. runDisney went above and beyond with the way they handled it and took care of the runners...I think I was as surprised by that as much as the fact that it was cancelled. My wife and I did run a half on our own on the Saturday (and the little guy even joined us for the first 11K), but I don't think I would have bothered if it wasn't our first Dopey.

 

[Anisum]

That ice cream looks delicious! Yum!

 

[TeeterTots]

I bet the Dis meet was fun! I too would have been bashful! Especially alone. In a group I'm chatty but alone is another story. I will not be to shy to say hello next month should i see you!

Bummer for missing Minnie! You are so photogenic! Her loss! Sad to say I've never eaten at Saana! My husband isn't an adventurous eater, but I feel like I've had the bread service in club level (or something similar at least).
I can only imagine the anticipation waiting to hear from runDisney Friday night. It was quite thrilling reading along at home, that's for sure!
I'd have to say I would've been relieved too had I been in your running shoes. You're darn right you deserved that medal because the training is the true test.

Nice idea to hit up the creamery for a treat and then to be able to sleep in! Score!

Love the half outfit!

 

[roxymama]

Thoughts:
What ears are you wearing to visit Pluto in the MK? They look cute but I can't make out what is on them.
You can totally buy gingerbread flavoring...bring it in your purse via a flask wherever you go and then give people weird looks when you pour it into you coffee???? Never-mind, that's a terrible idea.
That flatbread at Contempo fed me for like three days on our last trip. I was a bit obsessed with it.
I LOVE BOG AT NIGHT! We got pummeled with rain on the way out of our dinner last year, so I want a do over this Fall.
You could totally wear that BB8 shirt with your bee skirt and then you would transform into BEE BEE 8?????!!!!
Your hair GIRL!!!!

Those are all my random thoughts. Excited to read about your marathon.

 

[RnbwSktles]

The debate about this began almost immediately, and it’s still going on. According to some, anyone with a Goofy, Dopey, or half marathon medal shouldn’t keep them because since the race was canceled, the medals were not “earned,” and that Coast-to-Coast/Castle to Chateau should be invalid for this year. Honestly, I don’t know what to think about this and it’s such a bizarre situation that I don’t even think I can word my thoughts in a coherent way. Of course...like I said, I don’t even really know what my thoughts are! <-- me since Friday night

I’m probably going to get some judgey responses/thoughts for this, but...I know a lot of people ended up running 13.1 the next day anyway to feel like they “earned” the medals. And I just didn’t feel the need to do that. I think maybe because I have run more than a few half marathons, 2 Goofys and 1 Dopey already that I guess I didn’t feel like I needed to prove to anyone, myself included, that I could do it - because I HAVE already done it. If the challenge had proceeded on as scheduled, I would have finished it. I KNOW I would have.

I flip back and forth on this also. On the one hand, you've invested a LOT of time and money into preparing for (and getting to) the Dopey Challenge, that it would be heartbreaking to be told at the 11th hour that it was all for nothing and you have to try again next year. On the other hand, there are a million other scenarios that could have had the same result (last minute illness, injury, missed flights, etc) that Disney would not (and IMO should not) have to honor.

Then of course there are the C2C, Castle to Chateau, and Castaway Cay challenges (is this still a thing?) that require even more money and travel time that might be too late to cancel. One could also definitely argue if you're planning all of these vacations just to earn a worthless medal then you are crazy and Disney owes you nothing other than refunding that small portion of your vacation money.

 

[roxymama]

I think I've figured out how I would personally feel about the medals.
If I had signed up for a last minute race that I wasn't really putting a lot of blood sweat and tears into the training and it got cancelled, I probably wouldn't go out of the way to pick up the medal if it was offered even if that race cost me $$.
If I HAD trained my booty off and the race was cancelled (I'm just mentally thinking about my last BIG non-disney race and about my upcoming disney race) then I would accept the medal because that's how much the training means to me. And I'd make up the distance at home the best I knew how to. I'd find a way to earn it on my own terms. It would hang on my medal rack with a mental asterick.
In the case of Dopey/Goofy, I think it's different...y'all did so much back to back crazy distance training, and woke up two days early already to race...you all earned that. I don't care what anyone else says. I mean, you woke up and ran that marathon after a WEIRD shift in your plans. You earned it.
Now if it feels weird hanging on your medals rack (not meaning, you @Ariel484 , meaning the universal "you")...how about this for a good solution? Take the ribbon off the half medal and turn it into an xmas ornament. Now it's a reminder of a story you had while on vacation. A momento. Or make a fridge magnet out of it? Or ironic earrings? Put it in your photo album.

I don't think we can treat this debate in the same category as the "Should someone get a medal if they didn't show up to run" because that to me is DIFFERENT. Y'all would have shown up. As far as the "Should someone get a medal if they are swept"...I'm still super on the fence on that one because the reasons for being swept are so different that I tend to just side with the "let the few bad apples get their medals so the good apples can have them too" side.

I don't know...I'll change my mind a thousand times on the topic.

 

[Ariel484]

I didn't make it to the meet up. With being in such a large group this week we just had so much going on. I hope someone plans something next year and I'll plan on going to that one.

Great pictures at AK! It's my favorite park because of all the details and just how it looks so natural.

I have yet to do Sanaa but everyone raves about it. Maybe I can finally try it next trip.

When they put out the 5PM update saying there would be another update at 7PM that's wen I started to worry a but more. Then as we got closer to 7 people were talking about the signs that said delayed and a possible cancellation. I think the Dis and Twitter are where I say the cancellation first from people posting the signs in the resorts. It was a shock. I like you thought we would get a shortened course. I also like you thought runDisney did as good as they could've handling it.

Definitely try Sanaa! It's one of my favorite TS locations at WDW!

I think I thought Disney Magic would pull through and we'd get to do the half, but I guess not!

Love your hair in those shots, girl!! I also just love AK - never really understood why more people don't give it the love it deserves. Maybe Pandora will help with that although I confess to be a little worried that it will alter the park too much, but I gotta say looking at the construction going on there it looks impressive.

Sorry to have missed the Dis meet at Hurricane Hannah's though.

Thanks! I love AK too. So relaxing and beautiful there. I'm like you, a little worried about what Pandora will possibly do...I should probably watch Avatar before I worry though.

And, I mirror everything you say about the cancellation. After the shock wore off, I also ended up relieved about it. You know what a rough training season I'd had and I just felt totally unprepared for the weekend and while, like you, I know I could have done it, I was not driven to do the 13.1 on my own. The marathon ended up being a really tough race for me so I think it was the right call for me not to run it, but I sure admire those who did.

Yes! You and I both had rough 2016s with training...definitely mixed feelings over the cancellation, but relief was my biggest response.

And, like you, I have only praise for how rD handled the whole thing. It was a crappy call to have to make and the decision to refund that money was above and beyond. I did a rough calculation of how much I thought the refunds amounted to and it was somewhere north of like $4.5M. That's a whole lot of money to just hand back to people especially given that they'd already spent all the money to put the race on. It was still a bummer and I do feel awful for those who were counting on doing that race for any number of reasons, but given that I was seeing lightening and hearing thunder at 7 in the morning, there's no doubt it was the right call to make.

Yeah, and I guess they must've decided to call it so early to try to notify as many people as possible? What a mess this must have been for them...I'm just imagining them huddled in a conference room somewhere in Celebration all day glued to the Weather Channel or something.

I'm not mad about having a $180 giftcard though. Even though I know it was money I already spent, it feels nice to have it.

Was great meeting everyone on Friday afternoon at Hurricane Hannah's...and for the record I did talk to you! I think we compared our tans or something I don't hate you sun, why do you hate me??

Now I remember! Yes yes, our glorious tans!

Animal Kingdom is my fave park too! I can ride Kilimanjaro Safari over and over and over and over...love it.

Disney dining confession...I have never eaten at Sanaa I always want to and have unfortunately never been able to convince the family. Maybe I need a better family haha

go eat at Sanaa. Right now. You and your family can thank me later!

Totally bummed by the cancellation, but completely understood the why behind it. runDisney went above and beyond with the way they handled it and took care of the runners...I think I was as surprised by that as much as the fact that it was cancelled. My wife and I did run a half on our own on the Saturday (and the little guy even joined us for the first 11K), but I don't think I would have bothered if it wasn't our first Dopey.

I think most of us runners agree that while disappointing, the cancellation was the right call and that Disney did a nice job with notifications, refunds/tickets/deferrals, etc. It's the non-runners that seem to be the most angry about it from what I have read, which...

That ice cream looks delicious! Yum!

It WAS! Pricey but good!

I bet the Dis meet was fun! I too would have been bashful! Especially alone. In a group I'm chatty but alone is another story. I will not be to shy to say hello next month should i see you!

Everyone was so nice - thankfully a couple of people were nice enough to start conversations with me and that instantly made me more comfortable.

Bummer for missing Minnie! You are so photogenic! Her loss! Sad to say I've never eaten at Saana! My husband isn't an adventurous eater, but I feel like I've had the bread service in club level (or something similar at least).

Thanks Everyone must eat at Sanaa! It's so good!

Actually...wait, no one eat there! That way it's easier for me to get ADRs!

I can only imagine the anticipation waiting to hear from runDisney Friday night. It was quite thrilling reading along at home, that's for sure!
I'd have to say I would've been relieved too had I been in your running shoes. You're darn right you deserved that medal because the training is the true test.

It got super crazy when someone posted a picture of the "delayed" sign! From there I was just glued to my phone all night - just what you want in Disney, right?

Nice idea to hit up the creamery for a treat and then to be able to sleep in! Score!

Love the half outfit!

Thanks!

Thoughts:
What ears are you wearing to visit Pluto in the MK? They look cute but I can't make out what is on them.

They're sequined all over - black ears with a red bow that has white polka-dots. I'll take a better pic later.

You can totally buy gingerbread flavoring...bring it in your purse via a flask wherever you go and then give people weird looks when you pour it into you coffee???? Never-mind, that's a terrible idea.

Um - that's a GREAT idea!

That flatbread at Contempo fed me for like three days on our last trip. I was a bit obsessed with it.

OMG it was so good! Comtempo Cafe is a gem!

I LOVE BOG AT NIGHT! We got pummeled with rain on the way out of our dinner last year, so I want a do over this Fall.

Me too! It's soooo pretty!

You could totally wear that BB8 shirt with your bee skirt and then you would transform into BEE BEE 8?????!!!!

BEE BEE 8 OMG I love this!!

Your hair GIRL!!!!

It is looking nowhere near like that today, I can assure you.

Those are all my random thoughts. Excited to read about your marathon.

I flip back and forth on this also. On the one hand, you've invested a LOT of time and money into preparing for (and getting to) the Dopey Challenge, that it would be heartbreaking to be told at the 11th hour that it was all for nothing and you have to try again next year. On the other hand, there are a million other scenarios that could have had the same result (last minute illness, injury, missed flights, etc) that Disney would not (and IMO should not) have to honor.

I agree! I wasn't expecting the compensation options from them AT ALL - that was a very pleasant surprise. I was expecting them to give out the medals though - since they were already there anyway - and keeping it as part of the challenges, though. Just based on what they did for the shortened Wine & Dine half.

Then of course there are the C2C, Castle to Chateau, and Castaway Cay challenges (is this still a thing?) that require even more money and travel time that might be too late to cancel. One could also definitely argue if you're planning all of these vacations just to earn a worthless medal then you are crazy and Disney owes you nothing other than refunding that small portion of your vacation money.

Truth!!

I think my perspective on all of this is different because it's stuff I've done before - I've done this half, Goofy and Dopey before. And I still get C2C because finished the marathon...so if any of those things had been taken away due to the half being canceled, I would have been a little disappointed, but not on the level of someone who was there for their first half/Goofy/Dopey/C2C or maybe viewed this as the one and only time they would ever do the half/Goofy/Dopey/C2C. Mostly I'm just happy to get the gift card from them!

I think I've figured out how I would personally feel about the medals.
If I had signed up for a last minute race that I wasn't really putting a lot of blood sweat and tears into the training and it got cancelled, I probably wouldn't go out of the way to pick up the medal if it was offered even if that race cost me $$.
If I HAD trained my booty off and the race was cancelled (I'm just mentally thinking about my last BIG non-disney race and about my upcoming disney race) then I would accept the medal because that's how much the training means to me. And I'd make up the distance at home the best I knew how to. I'd find a way to earn it on my own terms. It would hang on my medal rack with a mental asterick.
In the case of Dopey/Goofy, I think it's different...y'all did so much back to back crazy distance training, and woke up two days early already to race...you all earned that. I don't care what anyone else says. I mean, you woke up and ran that marathon after a WEIRD shift in your plans. You earned it.
Now if it feels weird hanging on your medals rack (not meaning, you @Ariel484 , meaning the universal "you")...how about this for a good solution? Take the ribbon off the half medal and turn it into an xmas ornament. Now it's a reminder of a story you had while on vacation. A momento. Or make a fridge magnet out of it? Or ironic earrings? Put it in your photo album.

I don't think we can treat this debate in the same category as the "Should someone get a medal if they didn't show up to run" because that to me is DIFFERENT. Y'all would have shown up. As far as the "Should someone get a medal if they are swept"...I'm still super on the fence on that one because the reasons for being swept are so different that I tend to just side with the "let the few bad apples get their medals so the good apples can have them too" side.

I don't know...I'll change my mind a thousand times on the topic.

Yes to changing your mind a thousand times - I have been back and forth over it so many times. In the end, I think that the reason I am okay with it is the part of your response that I bolded - if the race had not been canceled, I would have been there. I would have finished it, and I would have finished the marathon (and MAN would that have been painful if I had run the half the previous day!). My husband's opinion is that I did what runDisney allowed me to do and they gave me the medals, so in their eyes I did the challenge and therefor earned the medals. I'm not even totally sure if I agree with that. And the sweeping that you bring up is interesting - personally I wouldn't want the medal if I started the race and then got swept - but here they canceled the race and somehow I'm okay with keeping the medals??? I just don't know. My brain hurts.

there are 3 medals from that weekend that I feel totally okay about and 3 that I feel a little weird about. But then people tell me to donate them and I don't want to do that, so maybe I don't feel as weird about it as I think.