Marathon Weekend 2023

[jrsharp21]

SAFD: I grew up in Northern California and my family often went to Disneyland. I remember getting up in the middle of the night to start our drive down I-5 so that we would sleep most of the way down. I too also have fond memories of the sky buckets and traveling through the Matterhorn. I loved doing that and would ride them over and over. As I got older, my parents would let me make the round trip by myself. Pirates of the Caribbean was always my favorite ride (still is). I remember getting one of the cap guns that was actually made out of wood and steel. Those guns were awesome! Another memory that I have that still goes through my mind from time to time, is I went on the old motor boat cruise ride by myself and sitting in the boat was a wallet overflowing with cash. I remember taking the wallet to a CM and telling them that I had found it in the boat. I always hoped that the family that lost it had come back for it.

 

[beltwaybarry]

SAFD: Growing up I lived out west, but not close enough to visit Disneyland until 5th grade, 1962-63, when we lived in the Bay Area. We drove down to Disneyland once during that time, a dream come true for my next older brother and me. We were running all over the place, and my Dad said go ahead while he sat on a park bench and relaxed. Mom was left with trying to keep track of us boys. We later found Dad, who was still at the bench, just beaming. Out of nowhere the Vienna Boys Choir had shown up and gave a concert near him, which totally got to him. That's the first Disney magic I clearly remember, other than maybe the Nautilus, the bucket ride that took you through the Matterhorn, and a demonstration of colonial Minute Men. Now I go to WDW and run Dopey as often as I can. Maybe those memories are why.

 

[GreatLakes]

SAFD
Good Morning runDisney All-Stars! For this week‘s question I am asking you to share one of your earliest DIsney Parks memories and why this stands out in your mind.

I was hooked a year before my first trip. I went for the first time when I was 13 but my best friend went the year before. They took hours of video and bought 3 or 4 of these big picture books. When they got back we spend the next few weeks just watching the videos and reading through the books. I was hooked before I even went.

The next year when we finally got to go as a family my first park memory was riding that ferry to the MK on day one. We had a blast that vacation but of the 5 of us I was the one that caught the bug the worst. All through school and college I had the goal of being able to go to the parks again one day and I've been fortunate that life has worked out to allow me to go at least yearly now and my wife, who always like the parks, has caught the bug and is as excited as I am every time we go.

 

[HangWithMerida]

SAFD
Good Morning runDisney All-Stars! For this week‘s question I am asking you to share one of your earliest DIsney Parks memories and why this stands out in your mind.

SAFD: I didn’t go to DIsney until I was almost out of high school. We drove 22 hours in 2 cars, me in one and my dad in the other. We were supposed to stop for the night but both of us felt ok, so we drove all night. I remember the night air through open car windows that smelled salty as we were close to the ocean at one point. We ate breakfast at a McDonald’s in Orlando that was 2 stories. I can’t remember what resort we stayed in. I don’t even remember much of the parks except for the long hot line for space mountain and really liking animal kingdom. But Disney didn’t grab me then. It was my honeymoon trip that did that!

 

[PrincessV]

SAFD: Space Mountain, 1977 with my dad. We waited 2+ hours in line and it was worth every minute!

 

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD:

I vaguely remember visiting MK when I was about 4 or 5 (late 80s.) There's a picture of my on the carousel, but I don't really remember much about the trip other than being terrified of the bears at Country Bear Jamboree.

When I was 12 or 13 my cousin went with us on spring break (my siblings are quite a bit older than me) so I would have someone to play with. The weather was supposed to be AWFUL for the whole week where we were going to stay, so my parents decided to drive south until we got out of the rain. We did a bunch of stuff in Kissimmee, and we ALSO went to MGM Studios. We must have ridden Star Tours 15 times in a row, screaming our heads off every time just for the fun of it. And being that super fun/weird middle school age....my cousin and I could have passed for twins at the time. Same glasses, same hair, looked a LOT alike. And everyone would ask us, "Oh! Are you TWINS?" And we would look them dead in the eye and say "Well not exactly, she's 22 days older(or younger depending on who answered) than me." Which was true! We freaked a lot of people out when they processed what we had said.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

SAFD: I never visited Disney as a child, but the Disney World episodes of Full House made me really want to go someday. I also had a good size collection of Disney movies on VHS. I visited Disney for the first time at age 25, along with my husband, our then four year old daughter, and my younger cousin who tagged along to help with the kiddo. We've been twice since, but that first trip was pure magic. The Polynesian will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

[derekleigh]

SAFD

Good Morning runDisney All-Stars! For this week‘s question I am asking you to share one of your earliest DIsney Parks memories and why this stands out in your mind.

This is kind of a 2-parter:
1) It was the very first trip Id taken to WDW (2008). Truly nothing much stands out, except a friend of my wife's was running the marathon. I thought it was cool. I also though some people were crazy to run the Goofy challenge (I wasn't really a runner at this point). But I did think I could take the half and made a commitment to do the half on our next trip. We returned in 2012 and I did my first HM. I'm eying Goofy for 2023!

2) On my second trip (2012) I finished my first HM and we ended up going to Epcot at night....I will forever love Epcot at night!

 

[accm]

Because I like getting ahead of myself, has anyone seen or ordered a runDisney/race themed cake through Disney? Since we'll (hopefully) have a decent group running the 5k, with a lot of first timers to runDisney, I thought it'd be cool to order a "We did it!" cake to celebrate.

 

[accm]

Also, the lack of announced theme is killing me. I know it's still 301 days away, but I like planning!!

 

[camaker]

Also, the lack of announced theme is killing me. I know it's still 301 days away, but I like planning!!

What exactly are you looking for as far as theme goes? It's pretty much guaranteed to be Fab 5 + Oswald. The only real wild card is that some of the race assignments MIGHT get shuffled around, but most likely not.

 

[accm]

What exactly are you looking for as far as theme goes? It's pretty much guaranteed to be Fab 5 + Oswald. The only real wild card is that some of the race assignments MIGHT get shuffled around, but most likely not.

I want to know the theme for each race so I can start thinking about ordering fabric to make outfits. I'm crazy, and like planning things early, but it also takes a while to order custom fabric and have it delivered and then sew everything. And we'll be away the month before the weekend, so I'll end up needing to sew outfits for both hot and cold weather.
But really, this all just goes back to "I'm crazy"

 

[1lilspark]

Also, the lack of announced theme is killing me. I know it's still 301 days away, but I like planning!!

Most likely
Pluto 5k
Oswald 10k
Donald and Daisy half
Mickey and Minnie full
Goofy
Dopey
It’s more a matter of just key art/medal looks but those won’t come till October or November

 

[sandam1]

Most likely
Pluto 5k
Oswald 10k
Donald and Daisy half
Mickey and Minnie full
Goofy
Dopey
It’s more a matter of just key art/medal looks but those won’t come till October or November

I don't know if I'm in the minority here, but can we please ditch Oswald? I did the first year when they introduced Oswald for the 5K and I felt soooooo bad for my friend who was only doing the 5K and got a medal and shirt with such an obscure character. Next year if she moves up to the 10K (which she would like to do), she's stuck with Oswald again.

Here's a suggestion for a SAFD - if you could retheme the Marathon Weekend races (all of them including Goofy and Dopey), what themes/characters would you like to see?

 

[GrandAdmiralStrife]

I would like to see a challenge added for 5&10k, call it 5 and Dime, Scrooge McDuck on the medal. Also, ditch Oswald and add Chip & Dale

 

[Barca33Runner]

I don't know if I'm in the minority here, but can we please ditch Oswald? I did the first year when they introduced Oswald for the 5K and I felt soooooo bad for my friend who was only doing the 5K and got a medal and shirt with such an obscure character. Next year if she moves up to the 10K (which she would like to do), she's stuck with Oswald again.

Here's a suggestion for a SAFD - if you could retheme the Marathon Weekend races (all of them including Goofy and Dopey), what themes/characters would you like to see?

 

[Naomeri]

I would like to see a challenge added for 5&10k, call it 5 and Dime, Scrooge McDuck on the medal.

I love it!!

 

[The Expert]

I love the 5 and Dime idea, but don't mess with my Oswald! #oswaldforever

 

[DisneyParrothead]

There are so many characters. Of course, being a Disney history nerd, I love Oswald. The first time I saw him at DCA I got tunnel vision and would've barreled over any kids who got in my way!

I love the idea of Chip and Dale. Anyone remember the one-and-done marathon relay? Chip and Dale were the mascots and the medal was super cute! The next year when my dad and I would've signed up, they got rid of it

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

I do think Chip and Dale is better than Oswald. I know chip and dale are my sons two fav characters.