The Princess Half Marathon sold out yesterday in less than 2 hours. Even Active.com crashing for a good 45 minutes at opening didn’t stop the flood of registrations. Price too high? Apparently not yet. Harumph.
Despite the concerns and discussions over the way prices keep climbing, we aren’t staying away. What’s up with that, Princesses?
We whine, we moan, we scream and yell that we are NOT going to run this race again!
Yet… it sells out. In record time. Again.
As someone who invests a lot of time and energy covering runDisney it’s fascinating to me how this plays out. The pre-registration talk (this post) is interesting, but it’s the post-registration social media fallout that blows my mind.
[Tweet “Here’s what you missed on yesterday’s episode of How the #PrincessHalf Runs”]
Total soap opera time, y’all. As seen on Facebook and Twitter:
1. I decided to register after work only to discover it’s sold out. How can it be sold out?
No offense, but do you live in a cave? Wait- even the Taliban seem to have internet access in the caves of Afghanistan. They’ve proven that even in remote locations you can get online. I’m not trying to be mean, but all signs pointed to a fast sell out. I don’t understand how this comes as a surprise.
2. Man, that was FAST.
Of course it was. People planned for this morning all year.
They blocked out time in their schedules to be online at the stroke of noon. I read reports of princesses taking the day off from work and sending their kids to day care to make sure they could focus on the first race of the Princess weekend: the race to register. Credit cards were memorized and proof of time information was ready to go. Registering takes almost as much training as the actual race!
3. But I’m usually able to register months later! I don’t understand what happened?
True enough- in 2011 I registered my sister in November. In 2012 I think she registered as late as January. But that ship has sailed, y’all.
runDisney has simply exploded in popularity not in small part due to people like yours truly. My blogging career (and those of many of my friends) started with the desire to help runners become Princesses. When searching for information on my first Princess Half I discovered there was very little online about running the Disney races. So the next year I kicked off my little blog and started hanging around social media groups hoping to share information and learn from other experiences.
I joined one group with about 400 people in it. In less than 2 years it’s grown to just over 9,000 people. All talking about runDisney.
The more we wrote, the easier information was to find, and the more people wanted to be part of the Magic.
The word is out, people. Genie is not going back in the bottle.
4. Anyone that signed up is a FOOL anyway.
Yeah, then there’s these people. The ones who decide to berate Princesses for spending so much money ($170 is pretty pricey, I’ll agree) on a race that’s crowded and crappy anyway. All we are doing is lining a corporations pockets with our hard earned cash.
You know… supporting capitalism.
I don’t understand this argument. You may not put value on this race experience, but that doesn’t mean there’s not value in it for someone else. Why must you (general you) rain on people’s hopes and dreams? Do I need to bring out the Worry About Yourself video again?
The good news? It’s over for another year. If you chose to skip the race this year the temptation is over. Mostly. There’s still charity options and travel operators to explore. And possible a 2nd chance coming via runDisney directly. Rumor has it the Active snafu also double and triple booked registrations for some Princesses. If those are reversed it might open up additional slots.
So make sure your cave is internet ready and watch social media for the news. If I hear about any additional slots opening up, I’ll be sure to post it here.
ETA: Get your t-shirt here.
What did you see discussed in the Princess Half aftermath? Any regrets on your Princess Half decision?
Patty Holliday has been running Disney since 2011. She knows just about every tip, trick, and hack there is to cover the runDisney Magical Miles at Disney World and Disneyland. She knows every mile isn’t *always* magical- but with training, tips, and a little bit of pixie dust, they can be a lot of fun! You can also find her at noguiltlife.com and noguiltfangirl.com
Deb
Sunday 27th of July 2014
Although the Disney Princess half marathon did sell out fast, it actually took a little over 5 hours. It was only the Glass Slipper Challenge that sold out in 2 hours. This will be my first RunDisney race, but thanks to people like you, I was on my computer the minute registration opened. It took my daughter and me an hour and 10 minutes to get registered, but we're in!
Lori
Thursday 17th of July 2014
I am sucked back in for PHM 2016 ! Due to scheduling conflicts I am out for 2015 but DH seems to want to do it again...and to think he begrudgingly did PHM 2013! Just going to lurk here on Patty's blog and the DIS boards and train along with everyone!
Lesley
Thursday 17th of July 2014
Even when I registered for the 2012 half, I registered right when registration opened. I didn't know how popular the race would be and I wasn't going to take a chance. Honestly all that drama is why I don't follow rD on social media anymore. All the whining and trolling was enough to make me hurl.
Jen
Wednesday 16th of July 2014
As someone who has given my share of money to Disney, I have to say the Princess Half has never even tempted me. For one thing...February. Theoretically, going from one sunny state to another sunny state should be easy, but...well...there's the airline system that places major hubs in places that get terrible weather and the entire system gets affected. Moreover, though, I can't deal with grown-ass women referring to themselves as "princesses." And I can't deal with a sub-culture encouraging it. I do have to disagree with you on the attitude that everyone should know they're going to sell out fast. I hate the snarky comments on the runDisney FB page at registration time. There are people who don't stalk running FB pages or Disney social media. So, in that respect maybe they're living under a rock. They simply hear about the race, maybe through an ad in Runner's World or through a friend who has done it in the past and decide to register. When I first did Disneyland, you could register for several months. Then a few years later, I went to register and was surprised to find it sold out. Not everyone stays on top of runDisney. Some people just think it's another race that would be fun to do. They quickly learn.
Smitha @ FauxRunner
Wednesday 16th of July 2014
lol. True. When I ran in 2011, I registered Nov/Dec I think. My friend registered for Donald and I registered for Princess.
But ... inspite of me doing Dopey, my days of runDisney may be over. Maybe when the munchkins are old enough to run with me!