If you’ve ever thought about running (or walking, or strolling, or dancing your way through) a runDisney race, here’s something nobody tells you up front: the hardest part might not be the race itself. It might be just getting a spot in it. The runDisney registration process is not for the faint of heart!
Before I dive into my own runDisney race stories, I wanted to pull back the curtain on how runDisney registration actually works — because honestly, this is the part that trips up the most people, and it’s where a lot of planning (and stress!) begins. If you’re dreaming about a future runDisney trip, here’s what you’re actually signing up for.
Signing up to participate in any runDisney race is challenging. runDisney puts on four race weekends every year at Walt Disney World. They also used to do 2 race weekends every year at Disneyland, but those have been paused for the foreseeable future due to construction projects at Disneyland and in Anaheim.
The four race weekends are: WDW Marathon Weekend in early January, Princess Half Marathon Weekend in late February/early March, Springtime Surprise Weekend in April and Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend in October. Each of these weekends features at least 3 races, and the WDW Marathon Weekend in January features 4 races.
Typically, there is a 5K (3.1 miles), a 10K (6.2 miles) and a Half Marathon (13.1 miles). WDW Marathon Weekend also includes a full Marathon (26.2 miles). Springtime Surprise Weekend includes a 10 mile race instead of the Half Marathon. Each of these weekends also features at least one “challenge” option, where you can participate in multiple races and earn an “extra” medal for completing the 2 (or 4) races in the challenge.
WDW Marathon Weekend features two challenge options: the Goofy Challenge, which is for those who want to complete the half marathon on Saturday AND the full marathon on Sunday; and the Dopey Challenge, which is for racers who want to complete all FOUR races that weekend, the 5K, the 10K, the Half Marathon and the full Marathon. The Springtime Surprise Challenge includes all three of the Springtime Surprise Weekend races, the 5K, the 10K and the 10 mile. The Wine & Dine Challenge is a two race challenge, just like the Fairy Tale Challenge for Princess Half Marathon Weekend: the 10K on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday.
When you sign up for a challenge, you will get shirts for each race in the challenge plus the challenge shirt when you pick up your bib. As you finish each race, you’ll get your medal, and then after you finish the final race in the challenge, you’ll get the challenge medal.
Registration for any of these race weekends opens up about 7 months (sometimes 8-9 months) before the actual race weekend. You must register and pay in full at the time you register for any and all races or challenges you sign up for. runDisney is super strict: once you’ve registered, there are no refunds, no transfers, no deferments. You can no show, of course, but you will not get your money back.
Most of these races include 20,000-plus participants. And all these races generally sell out on the day of registration, usually within 2 hours of registration opening up. Every registration day, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of disappointed people that tried to register and were not able to, or that were unable to get all the races they wanted to register for. Several times over the past couple of years, so many people were trying to register on registration day, the Disney servers crashed, and registration had to be rescheduled!
Registering for a runDisney event is NOT for the faint of heart! It takes commitment, a decent internet connection, and potentially a couple hours of your time, plus potentially hundreds of dollars to register for one of these race weekends. Healthy blood pressure is also recommended, haha. Registrations usually occur on a Tuesday at 10 am Eastern. The registration queue will open at that time and everyone waiting to register gets put randomly into a queue. When your time comes up, you have the opportunity to register. If the races sell out before your turn comes up, you are not able to sign up for the race(s).
If you are unable to sign up on registration day, either due to the races you wanted selling out, or because you weren’t available to sign up on registration day, you have another option: you can sign up to raise money for a charity that works with runDisney and get a race registration through the charity. Depending on the race and the distance, minimum charitable requirements can start as low as $750 (plus the race fee).
A lot of people choose to go the charity route to a) raise money for a good cause they support and b) avoid the whole registration day drama. You won’t actually have a confirmed race registration until you’ve raised the money you promised to raise, and the charity has received those funds. There will be a cutoff date where you’re required to meet the minimum; if you don’t, your registration is at risk.
On the other hand, if you have the means, and can meet the required contribution on your own, you also have the option to be the only donor and lock in your bib. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for a variety of charities over the years by runDisney event participants.
I tell you all this because I want you to understand that making the decision to participate in a runDisney event doesn’t mean you will actually be able to participate in said event. These events are very popular and there are a lot of runDisney fans, Disney fans, runners and walkers that WANT to participate. Based on recent race registrations, about 70-80% of people that try to register are successful. So there’s a certain amount of STRESS involved in this process.
If cost is not an issue, there is Club runDisney, where runDisney enthusiasts can pay an annual fee to potentially gain access to early registration for one or more events per year, depending on their “level”. Registration for Club runDisney is very limited and also opens up 1 day a year.
Entry level is Silver ($295/year), which does NOT include any early registration benefits. Many club members join at the Silver level and upgrade in later years to higher Gold ($639/year) or Platinum ($999/year) levels, which do offer early registration benefits.
Membership for 2027 Club runDisney went on sale on May 12, 2026, and sold out completely the same day. 2027 members will be able to use their benefits during the 2027 calendar year. (So, if you signed up for a 2027 Gold membership, you wouldn’t have that early registration benefit for any races you sign up for DURING 2026, even if it’s a 2027 race.) I mention this because I have seen a lot of confusion and frustration around the way registration for the Club opens up, but isn’t effective until the next calendar year. I haven’t personally joined Club runDisney, so I can’t really tell you if it’s worth the investment for the other benefits, but I can admit that early registration benefit is VERY tempting!
So, once you’ve decided you want to participate in a runDisney event, you need to successfully navigate the registration process. Once you’re registered, you can start training for your race(s). Silly me, I thought training would be the most challenging part of participating in a runDisney event — but every year, race registration itself seems way more challenging to get through. Ok not really, but in the moment, it feels like it.
And of course, alongside your training, you also need to plan your Disney vacation. Where you will stay, flights, park tickets, food and souvenir budgets — all this adds a whole “extra” level to planning to do a race.
And as a faithful Disney fan who visits the parks at least twice a year, more often if I can, a race weekend trip is a very different animal than a regular Disney vacation.
A caveat: I know a lot of runners that are in incredible shape and for them, running in a half marathon or a full marathon is no big deal. These runners can easily treat their runDisney weekends like any other Disney vacation, with just a few hours allocated to racing. I’m not talking about those runners. I’m talking about the rest of us — runners and walkers alike.
We will need to go to bed early the night before each race so that we can get up at 1:30 or 2:30 am. Some of us will likely need to take a nap AFTER our races because our days started so early. We will also usually need to avoid walking a lot in the parks BEFORE the races are complete in an effort to protect our legs and bodies for the races themselves. (I failed to pay attention to this one year for Wine & Dine and I paid a heavy price!). We’ll need to factor in time and logistics to visit the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex to pick up our bibs and shirts and to visit the race Expo.
We will need to allocate time (and budget) for shopping at the runDisney merchandise pavilion at the Expo and at the Expo itself. (Ok you don’t HAVE to do this…but I promise, you probably will! The Disney marketing machine is POWERFUL…)
Traveling with friends or family that are NOT racing? That’s a whole OTHER consideration. Do they want to watch you in the race, or do they want to do their own thing and meet up with you later, after the race(s)? Are you going to feel like you’re missing out if you’re trying not to walk 7 miles a day in the parks before the races, but your family wants to do all the things on those days? Are they going to be able to sleep through you getting up in the middle of the night and getting ready to race?
Figuring out your food and fluids when you’re leaving your resort at 3 in the morning and none of the restaurants open until 7 am? All things to think about when planning a runDisney trip.
But once you’ve registered, you can take a deep breath. You’re in. You’re going to be racing at Disney World. Now go book your resort. And your flights. And start thinking about whether you want to wear a costume for the race.
Hopefully this gives you a realistic picture of what goes into just getting to the starting line of a runDisney race weekend — long before you ever lace up your shoes. I’ll be sharing my own race stories soon, including my 2025 Fairy Tale Challenge weekend, my 2026 Princess Half Marathon and more, so stay tuned for that.
And if reading all this has you excited (or maybe a little overwhelmed) about planning your own runDisney trip, that’s exactly what I’m here for. Reach out and let’s start mapping out your magical race weekend together!
P.S. Interested in actual runDisney race experiences? I’m publishing a series to take you along with me on each race. The story of my first runDisney Princess Half Marathon is here.
