Disneyland Paris Run Weekend 2019 5K

Friday 20th of September 2019, 8PM

We were in corral A and in front of the second wave. We started at 8.04PM, and the temperature was quite pleasant, around 18C/65F. The sun was setting before we started, so it got dark pretty soon. The 5K course got us first through Disney village, where a lot of spectators were chearing us on. It's always a favorite part to run through the village!

We entered the Disneyland park next to Phantom Manor, and we saw the first character stop very soon after that. The country bears were at the entrance of Frontierland! We waited in line for them, the line wasn't too bad. One bear left when it was our turn.

We continued to run through Frontierland, it is beautifully decorated with Halloween and Coco decor. Within 500meter there was the second character stop! When we stood in line it was Mittens and Bolt, but they switched and I am very happy that they did. The last time I met Kenai and Koda was somewhere in the early 2000s! Line was pretty long and got even longer when we waited.

The line was long for this one, I think we waited about 20min. Even though we started in corral A, the 5K course is always so crowded. We get a lot of park time on the course, and that means narrow paths. Backstage the paths a bit wider so you can pass people. Race etiquette is pretty much non-existing during the 5K. I yelled "On your left" and "Excuse me, coming through" a lot, and some people even shouted back at me to slow down... I have no problem with walkers of slower runners, but it would be highly appreciated if they stayed on the sides and not walk 5 people abreast. Because we waited for 2 character stops, we got into the middle of the pack and it was so crowded. The 5K is always my least favorite race.

Next character stop was by the restaurant Colonel Haiti. It was Terk from Tarzan, and it switched with Dug and Russel from Up! We skipped that one, we wanted a little bit more room to be able to run.

We left Disneyland park and had about kilometer backstage. We entered the Studio Tram Tour and there was Thumper and Miss Bunny!

The last character stop was in La Place de Remy, and Remy and Emile were there! We wanted to wait in line, but the line was closed. We heard that they switched with the Aristocats and the line opened up again later.

After the finish they had Mickey in his running outfit! And some nice projections on the Tower of Terror with clips of The Lion King.





We finished in 1:13 and make a photo of every KM marker and did 3 character stops. It was nice to be able to start in corral A. I know a lot of people in C or D weren't able to do character stops because the lines got too long.
Like I said, the 5K is my least favorite race. All the races were sold out, but the race etiquette is just nowhere to be seen during this race. People stop dead in front of a Photopass photographer and pose. Or you got all the space and suddely a fast runner cuts you off and 'steals' your spot. It's great that they do two parks during the 5K, but I think it will be more crowd managable to do it in 1 park, so you can pass the slower pace runners more easily. This race always brings a lot of frustation, at some point I couldn't even run, because everyone was walking side by side. Luckily the medal is just gorgeous!

Tomorrow will be a better race :)

Disneyland Paris run weekend 2019: 10K

Saturday 21st of September, 7AM

We set our alarm at 5AM, previous year we went to the corrals a little later, but there was a huge line before the security check. So, after a 5,5 hour night sleep we got up and got ready to run the 10K!

We were in the first wave of corral A this time, right in the middle of it. And that was a bit nicer actually than yesterday when we were in the front of the second wave. Right after the start, there's a very sharp turn to the right and  when you blast of, it's a bit tricky to keep your balance. We started at 7:01AM.

We went through Disney Village again, Fantasia Gardens and then entered Disneyland Park through Mainstreet! Always such an amazing site, running toward the castle!

**castle photo**

First stop was an amazing location: Belle by the castle! We wanted to keep our buffer and skipped her.
No characters in Discoveryland, and for the next 2K. The character stops during the 5K were very fast after each other.
Something new this year: they has a lot of characters who were in a 'selfie spot'. They waved and cheered for us, but it was not possible to get a good photo with them. Rapunzel was on the bridge near Casey's Junior Train.

**punzie on the bridge**

Before we ran through the castle, we saw Snow White by Auberge de Cendrillon! We were dressed as Snow and Dopey, we had to get this shot!

**snow**

Another stunning spot was where Tiana was standing, nearby Molly Brown! She switched with Moana.

** tiana**

We made another loop through Frontierland and got to Adventureland through Agrabah where Jasmin was meeting runner's. She was switching with Ariel.


**Jasmine photo**

After 5,5K we left the park and got a few kilometers backstage. Which I didn't mind, because means long wide roads where we can pass people comfortably!
The only characterstop in the Studios was in the Studio Tram Tour. We got Pocahontas, and she switched with Merida.

Also something new, you weren't allowed to take photos yourself or castmember didn't take your phone. I think they think it would go faster this way, but it didn't. We did buy the Photopass, but if our photos don't show up, I wanted to have a back up. So I took as selfie as well. If they CM just took out photo as well with our phone, that would have been a lot quicker...

**poca**

Finished!

**Minnie and Daisy on stage**

We liked this race so much more than the 5K, because the crowds are better spread out on the course. You got more space to pass people without cutting them of or being cut off. It was Princess themed, not our favorite theme, but very happy to be able to meet Snow White! My favorite Princess!

It took us 1:31 to finish and we did 3 character stops and took some more photos backstage.

Disneyland Paris Run Weekend 2019: the Expo

The Expo

We arrived at Disney on Thursday, that's when the Expo opens. Because previous years the corral placement had been totally random, we wanted to be there when the Expo opened to find out which corral we were in. We had already pre ordered the Limted Edition mini medal replica pins, so we weren't in a rush to get to the merch.
The Expo is located near Disney Village, it's in walking distance within every Disney Resort hotel. It looks like a big tent. Outside there are a lot of signs to show you where to go. Outside they have the courses displayed, as well as inside.

Before you enter the expo, you can make a choice: are you a runner with completed registration, incomplete registration or are you a visitor (visitors will be guided directly to the merchandise, Incomplete registrations to Runner's relations first and the others straight to bib and tshirt pick up).

When you enter the Expo, first thing you see is Runner Relations. If there was anything wrong with your registration, you could fix that there. The right order of the package pick up is: bib, shirts and if you do a challenge, get a photo with your bib.

You see that very small booth with Castle to Chateau? That's where you get your wristband, so after the full you can pick up your C2C medal.

We were happy to see that we were both in corral A. Paris doesn't work with a Proof of Time distance, unless you can finish a HM in <1:30, you will be placed in A. But they don't have enough fast runner to fill A with, so the others are based on estimated finish time. We already saw in the Runner's guide, that corral A was the biggest one. We thought they made a mistake with that, turned out A was the biggest corral. Lots of people where in A. Lots of people complained last year that they should have been in A with their time, and runDisney France offered the solution this year to make A the biggest corral.

We got our bibs, our shirts. Checked our shirts, we always do that. Some people had Men and Women shirts mixed in their bags, or loose stitches or even cuts in them. Always check your shirts! Got our photo taken. (We haven't recieved that one just yet).

The merchandise is quite underwelming when you're used to the Expo in Walt Disney World. They don't have a lot, and there are barely any other vendors over here. They do have some nice photo opps like the wall with names of every runner and some nice backgrounds.

The Expo is all in the same building. It's busy when it opens, but if you go there on a later time or other day, the lines are pretty much non-existent. But no freebees, not a lot of merch. They finally had a jacket this year! John bought one, there were sold out within the first day. They have fleece inside, so they are quite warm. Only Men models were available.

***challenge photo need to be added**