Official 2016 Star Wars Half Marthon - The Dark Side Weekend

[drlaurafsu]

I am going solo for this one. DS said he would rather do 2 SWWs than the race and 1SWW. We will take him out of school for that trip plus for the SW race in DL so I think it is the right call. Looking forward to the solo trip...i can do some flower and garden fun and maybe even hit the outlets one day, which I never get to do.

Finally got in a run this morning. Too hot to run in the evening. Have a POT 10k in a couple of weeks so I need to get some miles in the next few weeks just so that isn't a disaster. Good news is it shouldn't take much to improve on my current POT which puts me in the last corral before those who don't have POT.

 

[AThrillingChase]

In my opinion for the hype that is going on everywhere,

AP & DVC sell out in 5 to 10 minutes.
General public sell out in 15 to 30 minutes.

I am in for the challenge.

I kind of think this too. Also considering with the hype being so high for the new movie right now. Also in for the challenge!

I would not be surprised to see Disney have the size of this race be as big as the Disney Half in January and thus have all resorts be host resorts.

They know this is a guaranteed sellout so why leave any money sitting on the table.

Hopefully they will also be smart enough to have plenty of merchandise available all days of the expo. If they're smart, the amount of money they could make on this race alone is probably more than any other half marathon weekend they currently have.

I also agree with this! haha. The only reason I could see it being smaller is the course itself. Courses through HS and WWOS seem like they would be harder to navigate with 20k runners. But, Active told me during W&D registration that it would have 20k runners too. So what do I know??

 

[kmchisholm]

Just found this through runDisney links this am -

The Inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon – The Dark Side will take place April 14-17, 2016 at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida. The early registration period for DVC Members will begin on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at Noon EST / 9:00 a.m. PST and remain open until 8:00 p.m. EST / 5:00 p.m. PST on Monday, September 21, 2015 or until capacity limits are reached.

 

[AThrillingChase]

Just found this through runDisney links this am -

The Inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon – The Dark Side will take place April 14-17, 2016 at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida. The early registration period for DVC Members will begin on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at Noon EST / 9:00 a.m. PST and remain open until 8:00 p.m. EST / 5:00 p.m. PST on Monday, September 21, 2015 or until capacity limits are reached.

I just found it this morning too and was coming here, you beat me I was still kind of hoping they would go with the usual 2 week head start. I knew it wasn't likely at all, but I just want to get this done with!! The anticipation is going to drive me nuts.

 

[Kermit85]

I'm guessing that to take advantage of the AP early registration you have to have the actual AP and not just the AP certificate that you trade in at the park.

 

[bcarey2k]

I'm guessing that to take advantage of the AP early registration you have to have the actual AP and not just the AP certificate that you trade in at the park.

Others will have better answers, but if you can access the AP site and see the link, you should be able to.

Just not sure since you won't have activated it.

 

[AThrillingChase]

I'm guessing that to take advantage of the AP early registration you have to have the actual AP and not just the AP certificate that you trade in at the park.

Correct, it does say on the AP rundisney page specifically that a certificate is not enough. If you can view the page online though, not sure what would stop you. You follow an AP link from MDE.

However, I have heard of rundisney cancelling registrations before. I think it was due to people not being AP holders at all and sneaking onto the link. When you get your actual AP card you have to fill out a form with name and address and phone etc. So, they can check their records. I want to say they cancelled these after regular registration, so people just plain got shut out. Your name would not yet be on record, so it is a definite risk.

A wonderful diser is very good at finding the regular registraion direct link, saving some time from havimg to click through pages and therefore avoiding some of that virtual queing wait. Maybe she will have one here. I would suggest that instead. It helped a lot of people on these boards.

 

[Kermit85]

That's what I figured. It shows I have an AP in the Disney Experience app and lets me do room reservations and ticket discounts and such for the AP but when I click the more info button for the early registration it just takes me to a page with the info about the AP benefits in general. So I assumed since I don't have the actual AP yet that's why it does that. I just wanted to make sure. I don't activate my certificate until the 28th so I'm a couple weeks late. I'll just have to try to get in there very early the day its open to the general public.

 

[swade95]

Does anyone have the registration links? We are getting our AP's this Thursday and hope to be able to signup on Tuesday.

 

[kappyfamily]

It's going to sell out fast,no doubt about that,but not that fast.I think mostly due to the lack of time to plan between the announcement/registration date and the race itself,just not enough time to plan the trip.I think they would also be smart to have at least 20,000 for the half.I predict less than an hour for AP/DVC and less than 2 hours for the regular registration.

Yep I agree with this!

 

[BriarRose59]

Does anyone have the registration links? We are getting our AP's this Thursday and hope to be able to signup on Tuesday.

The links to both the AP and DVC early entry info are available under the "Registration" tab on the race page. There will be live links to register on the AP and DVC pages at noon Eastern time on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

 

[BriarRose59]

I talked to my DD24 last night and she and I are going to try for The Dark Side Challenge! I have my first local 10K in 2 weeks. I'm going to have to push a little harder to get there but I think I can! I think I can!

 

[DOOM1001]

The links to both the AP and DVC early entry info are available under the "Registration" tab on the race page. There will be live links to register on the AP and DVC pages at noon Eastern time on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

I think they may have been talking about the backdoor links that some posters usually post here a few days before registration.Hopefully someone is working on finding them as they're extremely helpful when signing up for these fast sellout races.

 

[BriarRose59]

I think they may have been talking about the backdoor links that some posters usually post here a few days before registration.Hopefully someone is working on finding them as they're extremely helpful when signing up for these fast sellout races.

Ahhhhh. I didn't know about that. I'll be sure to watch!

 

[Brina]

So excited for this - planning on getting that Kessel Run medal.

 

[princessekrus]

Super Excited!

My DH and I did the 2013 Half, 2014 Princess, Inaugural Avengers last year, and then the 2015 Half... and then we decided to take a break. Which lasted until they announced this race, which just happens to coincide with an already planned trip! We just have to extend by 1 day... SOLD! We have only done 1/2's up until now, but this time we will try the Dark Side Challenge. Super excited.

On the registration side, I have an AP, and was getting the same "you must link your AP" when I clicked on the Passholder Events page on MDE. So I called tech support. I have an AP linked, but it won't be activated until we go in October, after registration. I told him what was going on and he said that I can't see anything there because right now there is no "there." He said that once registration opens, I should be able to click on the link without a problem. Now, this is advice from the Disney side of things, not RunDisney, so I don't know how confident to feel about not getting booted after registering.

Still, I will give it a go for AP registration.

Good luck to everyone looking to register!

 

[AThrillingChase]

For everyone asking about AP registration with the certificate only:

I believe in the past people got booted for going through the early registration link, but only after regular registration was already sold out. I would hate that to happen and someone miss out completely. Also, it specifically says that a certificate must be redeemed on the pass holder registration page. So, it really is a big risk. I know not everyone can see the pass holder page yet, so I am attaching the terms and conditions.

 

[princessekrus]

For everyone asking about AP registration with the certificate only:

I believe in the past people got booted for going through the early registration link, but only after regular registration was already sold out. I would hate that to happen and someone miss out completely. Also, it specifically says that a certificate must be redeemed on the pass holder registration page. So, it really is a big risk. I know not everyone can see the pass holder page yet, so I am attaching the terms and conditions. View attachment 123059

Ok - I just confirmed this with RunDisney, and I have to say it really sucks. I guess I will take my chances with regular registration, since I don't want to get booted, but it is super frustrating. I even talked to Disney to see if there was some way I could activate my annual pass early, but you have to actually be physically present to activate it at the parks.

I wonder how they are doing verification of active passes though? Are they contacting Disney to cross-reference names/email addresses with active annual passes? What if you have multiple e-mail addresses? Or are they relying on the fact that you theoretically can't access the AP RunDisney website without an active Annual Pass? I know people are saying that "people got booted after the fact" - is there a thread where someone reported that first hand?

I will have a pass when I pick up my registration, although I don't remember ever being asked for it at registration before... but I could just not be remembering it.

 

[AThrillingChase]

Ok - I just confirmed this with RunDisney, and I have to say it really sucks. I guess I will take my chances with regular registration, since I don't want to get booted, but it is super frustrating. I even talked to Disney to see if there was some way I could activate my annual pass early, but you have to actually be physically present to activate it at the parks.

I wonder how they are doing verification of active passes though? Are they contacting Disney to cross-reference names/email addresses with active annual passes? What if you have multiple e-mail addresses? Or are they relying on the fact that you theoretically can't access the AP RunDisney website without an active Annual Pass? I know people are saying that "people got booted after the fact" - is there a thread where someone reported that first hand?

I will have a pass when I pick up my registration, although I don't remember ever being asked for it at registration before... but I could just not be remembering it.

When you register an AP you have to fill out a form that includes names, addresses, and some other information. That is why you cannot do it except in person with a photo ID. Then they can simply run your early registration through the list and make sure that individual is an activated AP holder. I am sorry you are frustrated, and also see that you would activate the AP now if you could so do not think this is directed at you, but they do it this way because it is a benefit for only the one year period the AP is good for. It would negate that benefit to holders in a way if there was a way to get around it with a certificate or unactivated pass (the one year starts ticking from the day you activate it) since there are a small number if early reg spots available to AP's. The good news is that you have a year from that activation to use it for any other rundisney early registrations.

 

[Anisum]

When you register an AP you have to fill out a form that includes names, addresses, and some other information. That is why you cannot do it except in person with a photo ID. Then they can simply run your early registration through the list and make sure that individual is an activated AP holder. I am sorry you are frustrated, and also see that you would activate the AP now if you could so do not think this is directed at you, but they do it this way because it is a benefit for only the one year period the AP is good for. It would negate that benefit to holders in a way if there was a way to get around it with a certificate or unactivated pass (the one year starts ticking from the day you activate it) since there are a small number if early reg spots available to AP's. The good news is that you have a year from that activation to use it for any other rundisney early registrations.

I think that's the most important thing to note here. I have a friend who is currently AP but is still on the fence for next year. Her pass expires just before Princess and she was able to use it for Princess, Tink, and this race. So while it may suck now it will benefit you on the other side.