Back in 1999, well technically 2000, when I was a lowly intern at Walt Disney World, one of the opportunities we were assigned was to help Cast Activities with a water station for the Walt Disney World Marathon. While I will complain to this day about having to be at the water station before most of the athletes even arrived at the starting line, it truly was an incredible experience and something deep down I have always wanted to participate in. Here is one thing I do know right now.. my body was not designed to EVER run a full marathon! I have done a couple of 10K’s and those were enough… so for my runDisney bucket list, I have declared that the 1/2marathon during that weekend is challenge enough.
runDisney is an amazing experience for anyone who likes to run, who doesn’t, or if you are looking for a new 
Disney experience! I completed the NeverLand 5K and Tinkerbell 10K in May of 2017 and promised myself that the Walk Disney Marathon Weekend bucket list would move closer to the top of the list! (Primarily because my 10K time can be my qualifying time for the next few years!). As the WDW Marathon Weekend registration fills up fast, knowing what the total cost of that bucket list trip will cost before the July 19, 2018 registration day, help to determine if 2019 is my year to finally complete that dream!
So what will it cost? $4688 for 2 people, January 10-16, 2018.
The runDisney race registration is $188 (and I only budgeted one race entry!)
I priced it out to stay at the Port Orleans, which is a moderately priced resort on Disney Property. While there are a ton of advantages to always staying on property at WDW, the #1 advantage on this weekend, is they provide transportation to the starting line, and back to your room once you cross the finish line! I also included the standard Disney dining plan, which includes one quick service meal, one table service meal, 2 snacks and a refillable resort mug. What I love about this option is that I know my meals are paid for ahead of time so I do not have to include those later in my budget. Also the standard dining plan gives me some freedom for one meal on my own each day depending on how hungry I am.
I included the memory maker in my package as well. This is a great feature as all of the photos taken of you are downloaded right to your phone. You may not want that Splash Mountain Photo of you and 7 strangers, but I guarantee you want that photo of your running through Cinderella’s castle, around Epcot and most certainly crossing the finish line! Well worth the money!!!
I included a 4 Day park-hopper pass. Even though I technically have 5 full days I could spent in the parks, I went with 4 days so that I could also visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the other resort area! The park-hoppers give me the flexibility of going to 2 parks in one day if I choose, especially since there are definitely some parks I like more than others, and remember I did live at Disney World for a year, so I tend to jump around a little more than the average guest! Besides I really want to meet Anna and Elsa and this lets me follow them to wherever they maybe 🙂
One of the greatest things about booking with a travel agent that works directly with Disney is that at the time of booking you can put a deposit down, and then make monthly payments. So if I were to book my trip today, I would have to put down a $1,066.80 deposit. (This pays for your flight as they can not ticket with out your name and a deposit on the rest.) I then have until December 11, 2018 to pay the remaining balance, which is roughly $690/month. That is less of a sticker shock and a great way to make this Disney Dream come true. Lets say I decided not in include my flight at this time, the price goes down to $3,734.10 with a deposit today of $355.
Here is another great benefit for booking through a travel agent, 90 days out from your visit, you can start booking select FastPasses! Up to 3 a day! Thats right, you can start making sure that you will get to go on your favorite rides, while still making sure to have time to meet your favorite characters as well!
Check back on July 20th, to see if I actually put this plan into action! I honestly would love to run it this year… if I can focus on training these next 6 months and figure out how to pay for it! Sponsorships are welcome 🙂
Wanna take on this challenge with me? As you can see its easier than you think! The hardest part is getting into the race and then training!! But training is much more fun when you do it with a friend!!
Miles to Memories 