What Gives With Run Disney Registration Lately? 

While the rest of the world was excited about Amazon Prime Day, Run Disney diehards were credit card ready for Princess Weekend Registration. Ladies (and a few gents) were ready to go at noon to register for those magical miles at Walt Disney World.

Many bloggers joined me in sharing tips on how to register, how to decide on which race and spreading the anticipation.

There’s tons of build up for each Run Disney race registration day and nerves are high. Runners even request off of work to register!

But, now that the dust has settled, we see that only the Princess 10k sold out. Many people took to social media to ask, “what gives?”

Some were even disappointed that the races didn’t sell out in record time. 

While I don’t have any inside scoop on Run Disney, I do have plenty of experience with their registrations. I’ve seen the patterns of what sells out and what’s not hot.

So, let me give you my opinion…

In 2013, when I started running Disney, it was the beginning of a popularity spike with their races. More of the general public was taking up running as a hobby and Run Disney prices were comparable to other races. The half marathon distance popularity grew by 6% in 2013.

By 2015, they added several multi-day “challenges”, which were a unique concept. Runners were crashing servers during registration and causing 20 minute sell out times. They even went international, with a Disneyland Paris race announcement.

Photo Credit: Run Disney

Run Disney quickly reacted to their growing customer’s requests and added more races, on both coasts, more “challenges” and new race themes.

But now, for 2017, we’re seeing the race registrations stay open and travel agents offering discounted bib packages. Once again, I’m not on Run Disney’s payroll and not an expert, but I think they are starting to turn runners off.

They’ve added more races, so some of the most popular ones, like Princess, are losing runners to other races. Can’t blame a Princess for tossing a tiara for a light saber.

They are also starting to out-price themselves. Runners who’ve been loyal since the beginning can’t stomach the increased registration prices, on top of travel expenses.

They’ve also changed their deferral policy to– well, nothing. You can only transfer (with a few exceptions). If a race is sold out, you can’t transfer. I bet people are thinking twice before throwing out money.

Rundisney.com website screen shot 7/12/16.

Lastly, runners are now holding out until “anniversary” years. Run Disney usually adds some special extra touches to anniversary years. Dopey, Glass Slipper Challenge and the WDW Marathon celebrate anniversary years in 2018. I’ve read, across social media, that people are waiting.

I’ve drunk the juice already and will keep being a Run Disney diehard fan. I have switched from challenges to “just halfs” to save some money, but I’ll always be a groupie. I keep coming back to run through my favorite place on earth with friends who bring me joy.

But everybody has their limits and it’s clearly showing on big registration days, like today. I’m sure Princess will eventually sell out, but maybe the Run Disney races have lost a little magic?

• What are your Run Disney Plans in the next few years?
• Do the changes to prices affect your plans?