5 Things to Know about Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend

1. All Races Start at 5AM! That is so early – but, this has been a shift for runDisney in Disneyland this year, to get the crowds off the streets of Anaheim and the parks early.

If you are taking the ART buses remember to allow for the time you have to walk through Downtown Disney.

Disneyland Get A Ways

An unique adventure awaits you in Disneyland Resort!  From Cars to the Matterhorn to Snow White's Castle, Disneyland is a wonderful dose of Disney with a West Coast feel!

But why go to Disneyland when I love the Orlando attraction?  The answer is simple, Walt Disney World may be your favorite or the most popular, but to get to the roots of the magic, you must go to Anaheim, California:  it all started there!

Disneyland is packed with uniquely Disney things to do and see.  It's not "another Disney World" it is truly another adventure!

Now is the best time to experience Disneyland during the Magical Diamond Celebration!

Family of 4 Disneyland Vacation
4 Nights
3 Day Park Hopper
Good Neighbor Hotel - 3rd Night Free
Starting at $116 per person per night!

Ready to see the Wonderful World of Disneyland?

Contact sylvia@travelwiththemagic.com for more information

Become a Senior Wilderness Explorer at Disneyland!

“An explorer is a friend to all, be it plant or fish or tiny mole!” Russell

Our ever-determined Wilderness Explorer, Russell, from the heart-warming movie UP, is the star of Disney’s Redwood Creek Challenge Trail!

Here your children can join Russell and become Senior Wilderness Explorers, too!  Embark on an exciting adventure through the trail; meet challenges at every station, and complete quests for these awesome Wilderness Explorer badges!

·       Tracking 

·       Bravery

·       Rock Climbing

·       Wolf Howl

·       Animal Spirit

·       Puzzle Solving

Earning these badges is very exciting and ambitious; but don’t worry, Russell left you clues in a map!

There are 6 bases along the trail, each with a special challenge.  As you complete each step, you scratch off the circle on the map, reveal the badge, and become one stride closer to a Senior Wilderness Explorer!

You and your family are free to explore the trail in any order you wish!  The journey is yours! 

Walk through the towering, 35-foot Big Sir: an ancient redwood tree

 

Gain the expert skills of traverse rock climbing at Cliff Hanger Rock Climb

Find Bravery at the Sequoia Smoke Jumpers

Howl Like A Wolf in the Hoot-N-Holler Logs

Discover Tracking and Find Kevin’s Footprint

Be a Puzzle Solver and uncover the mysteries of the Statues…

Learn about Protecting our Forests from Fire

Wind your way through the Squirrel Scramble

And Uncover Secrets from 1000 years ago!

Of course, being a Senior Wilderness Explorer does have special requirements!

No matter which path you start on, your family will find history, the stories of the earth, and physical tests of endurance to add to your Disney California Adventure.  

This stop is great way to expend all that extra energy and gain knowledge at the same time!

We must learn from Russell, “The Wilderness is meant to be explored, Caww, Caww, Roaarr!”

Contact me for these and other amazing family experiences at Disneyland!

kesselrunner77@gmail.com

Disneyland Half Marathon Recap

Phineas and Ferb

September 2013:  This year's Disneyland Half Marathon was my first Disney race in California.  I had a wonderful time, loved the race, and would like to do the Tinkerbell as well!  For the most part, my runDisney experience at Disneyland was positive, and I'd like to share my thoughts with everyone!

If you stayed on site, especially at the Disneyland Hotel, your walk to the staging area was less than 10 minutes.  If you stayed off site, you need at least an additional 30 minutes to catch an Anaheim Resort Transportation (ART) bus, walk from the Bus Stop through Downtown Disney to Disneyland, and then walk to the staging area.   

Good points to note about walking through Downtown Disney in the morning:

there were nice bathrooms; 

Better Than Porta Potties!

and 2 restaurants, La Brea Bakery and Jamba Juice, were open for breakfast!

Coffee Please!

Protein Berry Smoothie Please!

Hint: Staying at the Disneyland Hotel is very convenient to all the action for any of the Disneyland Races.  The time you save from waiting for the ART bus and from walking to and from the bus stop, is well worth the money spent at the Disneyland Hotel.  You will save an extra 30 minutes worth of sleep before the race and an hour after the race getting back to your hotel.

Race Day! Disneyland Half Marathon

Updated January 2016
Everyone will be required to go through security before heading to your corral.  Be prepared to add some extra time in the morning and for your running packs to be searched.  Don't forget the new regulations on costumes!
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September  2014

My day started at 3:15 when I rolled out of bed to get dressed and out the door by 3:50!  Disney had free transportation to Disneyland where we still had to walk about a mile to get to the race start.   The race went off as scheduled at 5:30, and by the time they got to my Corral, it was about 5:50am.   Disney kept their promise and had characters waiting to take pictures as we wound our way through Disneyland and California Adventure!   I stopped several times in the park just to relish in the fun and take snapshots for my memories.   Once you left the park, the streets of Anaheim were waiting as they led you to Angels Stadium.   I was totally surprised to find people in the stands cheering us all on!  It was so encouraging and at mile 9, it was just the thing you needed to get that extra spark of energy! The race was over almost as soon as it started, and before I knew it I had my medal in hand!    You would think that an exciting race would be the end to my day, and I'd sit back and relax.  But,  I still had to go to Disneyland!  My day was just beginning!

The great thing about having everything laid out the night before is that you don't have to think.

 And at 3:15 in the morning, that was essential!

DIsneyland Half Expo, Pasta Party and California Adventure

Day 2 of my Disneyland Half Adventure included California Adventure, Expo Revisited, the Pasta Party and Getting Ready for the Race!

All the rage at California Adventure is Cars Land, so I was there bright and early to get my fastpass!  And I found myself in a 20 minute wait just to get to the fastpass distribution center!  I had a 12:30 return time which was great because I had time to go back to the Expo for all the things I missed the day before!   I had to also go back to Pack Pickup and turn in my Proof-of-Time from the Rock-n-Roll New Orleans so that I could move up a Corral.  Both stops were quick turnarounds, and I was back in time to hit Radiator Springs and Cars Land!   This new area of California Adventure is just like it stepped out of the movie - I loved every bit of it!  I tried to cover all the new attractions before heading over to Disneyland for the Pasta Party.  Disney provided plenty of scrumptious food and never-ending bite-sized desserts!  I decided that after being on my feet all day, I needed to get back to the hotel, lay out my gear, and rest for the Big Race Day!

Enjoy my photo blog on the Wonderful World of My Disneyland Half Day 2!

Cars Land is so popular, you must get your fastpass before you do anything else!

I gotta have coffee - and I love Starbucks!  Bonus points for Disney!

Fastpass in hand, I left the park and went to the Expo and got the Rest of my new outfit!

I was able to find everything I needed:

shirt, shorts, socks, shoes, necklace and purse- all at the Expo!

Back at California Adventure and

Street Performers were delighting the crowd!  

And everyone got a surprise when Goofy showed up!

I had just enough time to head over to Paradise Pier and catch California Screamin

Anticipating the ride is the worst part for me!

The day hadn't really gotten started and it was hot -

that is glisten not sweat...

HAD to stop and see my favorite duo singing

"Phineas and Ferbots" and my favorite song

"Squirrels in My Pants"

Finally  made it to Cars Land!

Mater was out taking pictures - He is a lot of fun because he interacts with you.

He will even tell you to hurry up!

I was so excited to finally get to the ride!  This is my car driving up.

If you aren't familiar with the attraction, you race another car on the track - lots of fun!

Beautiful Radiator Springs - a view from the ride!

Amazing what Disney Imaginears can do!

Before headin' out of town, stop and fuel up at Flo's!

You never know when you might run into a Disney Character and I had perfect timing!

 Maestro Goofy was directing the water to music!

The Water was in perfect sync with Goofy!  Beautiful!

And then it was off to soarin'   I love this ride for the feeling that you are actually flying over California

 and for the smells they pipe in making it a "real" experience!

As part of my runDisney package, I bought the Pasta Party in Disneyland Park.

This package came with a twilight entry ticket to Disneyland at 4pm.  So, it was time to head over there!

I didn't want to miss my carb-loading!

On the way to the Pasta Party in Disneyland Park, I passed the Matterhorn and just had to ride!

I was in the fun car - can't you tell!

I actually got to the Pasta Party early and had to wait about 30 mins.

It was a blessing in disguise because I met some really interesting people that were as hungry as I was!

When it was time to go in I found a never ending buffet of pasta and chicken and garlic bread!

Yummy!  I did go back more than once : ) 

And they had Chocolate Cupcakes just for me!

The picture is deceiving:  I did have more than one!

Full and happy, I headed back to the room and laid out my outfit for the race.

After much debate, I decided that I didn't want to go as a Princess;

I chose R2D2 instead! 

Lights Out!

Next Up is the Disneyland Half Marathon and a trip to the magical Disneyland Park!