Disney Princess half marathon recap 2026

It’s another Princess half marathon! As usual, I was doing the challenge. The Princess 10k had been the day before, so it was another early morning in a row.

I usually try to dress as a princess for at least one of the races during princess weekend, but at this point I’ve done almost all of the classic princesses. That means I need to get creative! I was toying with a Pocahontas-inspired idea (the only main princess I haven’t done yet), when Jenn asked me if I wanted to get in on an Aladdin theme.

I’d done blue Jasmine before, so why not try red Jasmine? Jenn was running as Prince Ali, and Erika was blue Jasmine. (We also had Kate & Bethany with us, who were doing a Tangled theme!). We got our costumes on and headed to the bus. Everything went smoothly from Saratoga Springs, though I always forget a bit how many more people run the half marathon vs. the 10k.

Before the race

Jenn and Erika were wearing “face glitter”. This version is just a temporary tattoo (not actual glitter), and they were trying to sell me on it. I said no at the room, but finally conceded once we were there. Jenn did a quick glitter application for me by the corrals!

Then we parted ways – Jenn to corral B, while Erika and myself headed to C. As we waited around for the race to begin, Erika told me she decided she was going to try and keep up with me for as long as she could.

Now, here’s the thing about me: I don’t mind running with people, but I’m rather particular about how I run 😂I do a run/walk/run approach, and I try to listen to my body and not what other people around me or doing. If you want to run with me, you are accepting that we will run/walk/run, and that we both have the ability to part ways if one feels the need to go faster or slower. Luckily Erika knows this about me, and was in!

Mother Gothel was an early stop, within the first mile. I would have loved to get that one, since I’ve never seen her before. But the line was one of the longest I’ve seen at a race. So we ran on by.

The course itself is not particularly interesting to start. It’s just roads, on the way to Magic Kingdom. It was nice to have company while running! We chatted at times, but were also comfortable with the silence.

We hit the 5k mark with a pace just under 11 minutes/mile, which was feeling pretty good. Then it was on to the part that makes me the most nervous. You run past the Polynesian and Grand Floridian, but there’s still a lot of construction going on in this area. It’s not particularly well lit, either. The real MVP of this race was one of the bus drivers who stood directly in a pothole and yelled to runners about it so they wouldn’t trip.

The bright side (pun intended) is that you do get to see the Electrical Water Pageant out here. That’s always fun, although the path is tight, and I worry about falling, so I don’t really get to take it in as much as I would like. But then you also know you’re almost at Magic Kingdom!

At mile 4 or so I told Erika that at the very least we had to stay together until Magic Kingdom to get some photos! And then if she wanted to go on without me (or vice versa), we could feel free.

Upon entering Adventureland you are soon at Aladdin’s Flying Carpets – and waiting for us we saw Aladdin and Jasmine! Of course we knew we had to stop. Three Jasmines at once! (Plus one Prince Ali).

We continued on, past Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and through Liberty Square and Fantasyland. We ran through the castle (yay!) and stopped for the important castle pic. You know, this might be my favorite castle picture of all time.

Right around when we were leaving Magic Kingdom we did one more character stop, with Joy and Sadness from Inside Out.

I might be a bit of an overthinker or worrier, as I probably asked her too many times if she was okay, needed to slow down, wanted to go on her own, etc. But she was doing great. There were a few times around mile 7 or 8 when I probably would have slowed down a bit more and given myself a break, but because she was keeping up with me I decided to keep pushing myself a little. It was really great. She managed to give me the push I needed without saying anything or making it feel like there was any pressure.

We made a few friends along the way, too, as we got a couple of shout-outs for our Jasmine costumes. Our favorite comment was “it’s innocent Jasmine and sexy Jasmine!” to which we replied, “we’re both sexy Jasmine!”.

On the way through the parking lot at the TTC there were a few more characters. At this point I was sometimes just slightly ahead of Erika, but she always caught up. That was working out really well, actually. I like my run/walk/run, but I tend to run pretty fast. Someone who doesn’t want to take as many walk breaks can keep running and mostly end up running with me.

She was only a tiny bit behind me, so I decided it was a good time to jump in a very short character line for the Gypsy Moth from A Bug’s Life. A new-to-me character meet!

We did the same a few miles later when Marie from the Aristocats was out.

The mile 10 mile marker was Aladdin and Jasmine, so of course we needed to stop for a quick selfie there, too!

The pace slowed a bit as we made our way to Epcot, especially around mile 11.5 when you have to go up that one ramp. But that was okay. We were still together!

At this point we also bumped into another running Jasmine. This was one of the Princess men, and he grabbed a selfie with us. I found them on instagram later!

Then we were finally heading towards the finish line. We held hands as we crossed together – sexy Jasmine and sexy Jasmine.

Official finish time was 2:36:37, which I am happy with when you factor in character stops! I also felt pretty good. It gives me hope that I can get a sub-2:30 half marathon again sometime soon. It’s been a battle with my body, and I may never be back to my 2:02 half marathon days, but I’d be happy with a little improvement.

Jenn had already finished, and Kate and Bethany were still running. We found Jenn and then went in search of the post-race beer. Once that was achieved, we just hung out for awhile enjoying our snack boxes and drinks.

When Kate and Bethany were finished we got one character photo all together, with Princess Minnie. Then it was back on the bus for a well-earned nap! (And some Gideon’s cake).

This race was pretty special for me, because I had Erika by my side the whole time. I’ve never done a half marathon with someone else before. And getting the cross the finish line with her was awesome. It was pretty amazing to be at the finish line for the full marathon in January with one of my RunDisney besties, and then be able to do it at the Princess half with another one. I am lucky to have amazing friends!

Characters at the Princess Half Marathon

I’ve done my best to put together a list of all of the characters on the course. This includes who I remember seeing (to the best of my ability!), and what I’ve heard from others. Some characters switch out with others too, so when I know that occurred I noted that below.

Mulan & Shang
Mother Gothel
Moana
Snow White & Prince
Judy Hopps
Jester Goofy
Tinkerbell
Mickey & Minnie
Aladdin & Jasmine
Jessie
Aurora & Philip or Tiana & Naveen
Elena
Joy & Sadness
Mushu
Gypsy Moth / Princess Atta
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather
Marie
Beast
Pocahontas / Merida
Raya / Asha
Mira
Vanellope

Have you ever run a Princess half marathon? Which characters would you want to stop for?