Disney Princess half marathon recap 2024

There are two types of people in this world – those who have RunDisney, and those who have not RunDisney. There are a few differences between these people, but one of the biggest ones is…

Us RunDisney peeps are (begrudingly) used to, and accepting of, waking up at 2am to run a half marathon. 

Often waking up that early multiple days in a row to run! And that has been my tradition now every February for 10 years to participate in the Princess half marathon challenge weekend. So the day after running the 10k, I was waking up early to do it again – and more than twice as far.

Jenn was running this one too, so we got ready and headed down to the bus area. Luckily my bus experience was much more positive than the previous morning (at least getting TO the race… getting back is another story, but we’ll get to that at the end!). We waited for a little bit but were on a bus in plenty of time and making our way to the start.

Jenn and I were both in corral B, but she was going to be running with the 2-hour pace group and I was not, so once we started we split up for that. It wasn’t too long before the race began and we were off!

It was slightly cooler than the day before, and I started out a little slower, knowing I needed to pace myself to tackle 13.1 miles. As a result, I actually felt better running most of this race than the 10k! So it was a good start as we headed off on the roads to Magic Kingdom.

There were quite a few characters in the beginning of the race too, though no one I was quite excited enough about to stop that early on. From what I remember I passed by Louis from The Princess and the Frog first (he may have been with Tiana and/or Naveen? I’m not sure). Tiana was the symbol of this year’s half marathon so that would have been a fun photo, but the line was quite long so I passed by.

I also saw meet and greets with Moana, Wendy from Peter Pan, Olaf, and Jester Goofy. I’ll also note that the characters I saw out may not necessarily be the same as others, since they switch them out from time to time.

The first time I did have to stop was for Mirabel and Isabella. Now that Mirabel is doing meet and greets in the parks I’ve met her a few times, but I’d never even seen Isabella before! They were on an elevated platform so you didn’t get your photo right next to them, but it’s still cool. They were also mic-ed and chatting the whole time, so it was sort of an entertainment spot than a typical character stop.

That was somewhere around mile 3 near the gates to Magic Kingdom, and from there we ran on to the TTC. That’s a fun spot because you get a pretty good crowd of spectators there, plus some bands and entertainment. There was also another raised platform with Vi and Rey from Galaxy’s Edge and no wait, so I grabbed a quick pic there too.

Then it’s off past the Contemporary and on to one of the most exciting moments of the race – entering Magic Kingdom! There’s always lots of specatators on Main Street, and it’s super encouraging even if you don’t actually know anyone there.

I didn’t think I would have anyone cheering for me specifically there, but it turns out I did! I was running the challenge as part of a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, and part of the team was there with signs and immediately saw my ACS shirt and called out my name. That was such an exciting and motivating moment and made me even happier I’d chosen to do the fundraising for this race.

I stopped by the castle for a quick selfie. Minnie Mouse was also hanging out there in a gazebo in her princess outfit, so I tried for another selfie (though she seemed to be talking to a cast member about something so maybe not the best picture).

After running up Main Street you head off to Tomorrowland, and I kept my eyes peeled for characters. I will admit it was a bit strange this Princess Half Marathon because it felt like there were so few characters actually in Magic Kingdom. No one in Tomorrowland (you sometimes see Buzz Lightyear or characters from Meet the Robinsons here), but it’s the princess race so I thought perhaps Fantasyland would have better luck.

But to my surprise, there were very few characters in any parts of Magic Kingdom. I know Jasmine and Aladdin were out behind the castle but they were the only ones I remember seeing. Even through Frontierland, nothing. It could have been bad timing I suppose, and that some of them were taking a short break while I went through, but it just seemed odd given what I’m used to.

I was hoping for a Beauty and the Beast character in that area since I was dressed as Belle, but there was nothing, so I just attempted a selfie outside of Be Our Guest (it was still too dark and I was in too much of a rush though).

Through the castle (weee!), down Liberty Square and around Frontierland, before exiting out the back by Splash Mountain. There was another character spot here – I saw Aurora and Cinderella when I ran by, but I think it was different princesses at different times.

At this point you’re about 7 miles into the race and heading back to Epcot, and it can get a little boring. You’re mostly just on the roads, you’ve already done Magic Kingdom, and you’ve run 7 miles and so (if you’re me) you might be starting to feel that a bit!

However, Disney does a great job with adding lots of entertainment along the course, even during these stretches of roads. There were a good number of characters too, so it was finally time to make my first “real” character stop!

Because not only was Mulan out, but she was with Mushu AND Li Shang. I’d never seen Li Shang before, so this was a rare opportunity. And to get all 3 at once was super cool!

My other main thought here was “As much as I want Jenn to hit her 2 hour half marathon goal, if it turns out she’s not going to make that time I hope she realizes it BEFORE she hits this character stop.” And luckily (unluckily for her time goal though) she did get this photo!

I did manage to get 2 more Beauty and the Beast related photos around mile 8 as well. The Beast was out for photos so I stopped for that one, and then Belle was on the mile marker so I selfie-d that one. 

There were a number of other characters between here and Epcot, and I stopped for a few of them that struck my fancy (or were very short waits). Donald dressed a knight? Jessie from Toy Story? Sure, why not!

Though my pace was slowing down a little around mile 9-10, I was still feeling pretty good. I could feel my plantar faciitis acting up again and didn’t want to push that too hard, but otherwise I was not bad. For some reason my PF seems to be the worst during Disney races. I think it may have to do with the courses on the road and how they curve a lot, but I’m not sure.

The sun was starting to come up and we had our last uphill portion of the race before heading into Epcot briefly. Just outside of Epcot I stopped for a photo with Judy Hopps from Zootopia.

Then right before going into Epcot we had Joy and Sadness from one of my favorite movies! I almost always stop for them. If you’d like a fun comparison photo, you could take a look at my Inside Out photo and then go to Jenn’s blog and take a look at her photo with them. We may have gone different directions in poses.

We only had about a mile left of the race, so I figured I was done with character photos – but then there was another character I’d never met before!

Raya was out and I’d never seen her before, so I stopped one more time for a character before making my way through Epcot and to the finish line.

My friend Kristin had made it to Epcot to cheer for me at the finish and texted me about where she was. So I got to see her right at the end as I was finishing the race, which was another awesome feeling!

I got my medals, got my Kristin, and then went to meet up with Jenn (who was kind enough to wait for me despite being faster and finishing earlier). 

I grabbed some celebratory champagne and we decided to do a group photo with Ariel and Prince Eric.

At that point we were ready for showers (and naps for some of us), so we got on a bus back to Wilderness Lodge.

This was, approximately, the longest bus ride in the history of the world. I don’t know if it was just race traffic or something else, but it took absolutely forever. We got on the bus around 8, thinking we’d have plenty of time. I don’t think we got off at Wilderness Lodge until close to 9:30.

It was just bumper to bumper, barely moving traffic inching along most of the way. I had to pee quite badly, but there’s not much you can do. Then my phone died. It was a rough trip. I resorted to playing “spot the garbage on the side of the road.” I might have started driving my friends a little crazy with “oh look, there’s a skittles wrapper!” But you have to find some way to entertain yourself.

We eventually made it back and still squeezed in showers and naps before brunch. But I’d definitely be curious to find out if this is the typical experience at Wilderness Lodge for race weekends!

All in all though it was a successful Princess challenge, especially with 2 awesome people joining me! Stay tuned, because I’ll almost certainly be back running Princess again in 2025.

Characters at the Princess half marathon:

To the best of my ability to remember (and given that the ones I saw may vary from others), here’s the list I gathered of character meets during princess this year:

• Louis
• Moana
• Wendy
• Olaf
• Jester Goofy
• Mirabel and Isabella
• Vi and Rey
• Tink and a fairy friend
• Jasmine and Aladdin
• Aurora and Cinderella
• Mulan, Mushu, and Li Shang
• The Beast
• Knight Donald
• Pocahontas
• Jessie
• Mrs. Incredible
• Judy Hopps
• Joy and Sadness
• Raya / Esmeralda
• Asha / Elena

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