2020 Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend cancelled and transitioned to virtual event

Jul 22, 2020 in "Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend"

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Posted: Wednesday July 22, 2020 1:18pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

runDisney has today announced that it will cancel the 2020 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World Resort and instead offer it as a virtual event.

All registered guests for the onsite event have the option of receiving a full refund for the race.

With regard to future events, runDisney has said that it plans to host the 2021 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend as scheduled and will share more details at a later date

Here is the full update:

With circumstances surrounding COVID-19 continuing to change around the globe, we continue to make timely decisions about our operations after considering guidance from local and national health authorities. As we have shared before, we are basing our decisions on the safety and well-being of our Cast Members, athletes and our Guests, since there is nothing more important than that.
With that in mind, we are transitioning the 2020 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World Resort to a virtual race. All registered Guests for the onsite event have the option of receiving a full refund for the race, and registered Guests with a U.S. mailing address may convert their existing registration to the new virtual event that can be completed from home, a local running track or favorite running trail.
Eligible runners who select to participate in the virtual race will receive a race shirt and medal for each distance they complete, in addition to the satisfaction of completing the race they’ve been training for. Registered participants will receive an email beginning July 23 with instructions on how to make their registration selection before August 5, 2020. If a selection is not made, registered Guests automatically will be refunded.
2020 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend Refund Option
Runners registered for the 2020 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World Resort who select the refund option will receive a refund back to their original form of payment for the following. If a Guest no longer has their original form of payment used when registering, they may contact runDisney by August 5, 2020 to receive a refund via check or a Disney Gift Card for the following:
Race registrations (Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, Two Course Challenge and Kids Races)
Commemorative merchandise (automatic refund - no virtual option)
ChEAR Squad (automatic refund - no virtual option)
Processing fee
Additionally, any registered participant with a shipping address outside of the U.S. will automatically receive a refund back to their original form of payment. At this time, participants without a valid U.S. shipping address are not eligible for the virtual option.
Refund timing:
Refunds from runDisney can be expected to be processed in six to eight weeks. If you haven’t received your refund after eight weeks, please visit the “contact us” section on runDisney.com.
2020 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend Virtual Race Option
All registered participants with a valid U.S. shipping address for the 2020 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World Resort who purchased their registrations on runDisney.com will have the option to participate in a virtual race. Please note this does not include PO Boxes or APO Boxes. Participants who select this option will receive the following based on their registration(s):
Race distance medal(s)
Runner long sleeve shirt(s) and kids short sleeve shirt(s)
Digital Bib and finisher certificate
Digital Toolkit including start/finish line and mile markers
Digital Goody Bag
Virtual playlist
A Disney Gift Card for select races
Guests with a U.S. mailing address who already have received a refund for their registration may still register to participate in the virtual race option by contacting runDisney by August 5, 2020.
Disney Gift Cards for select races: Eligible athletes registered for select events during the 2020 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World Resort will receive a Disney Gift Card:
Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, Two Course Challenge
Disney Gift Card timing:
Disney Gift Cards from runDisney can be expected to be processed in six to eight weeks. If you haven’t received your Disney Gift Card after eight weeks, please visit the “contact us” section on runDisney.com.
Alternate booking methods: Runners who’ve booked through a charity or tour operator should reach out directly to that organization. Runners who’ve booked through the Walt Disney Travel Company may call them at 407-939-4786 (407-939-IRUN) for available options.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida donations:
Donations made to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida will not be refunded and will be delivered to that organization as originally planned.

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Demarke10 days ago

I’m afraid that while I dug in on Fastpass+ and Rise of the Resistance virtual queue angles, I have not done the same with Genie. I have been back a couple of times for races or law conferences, it seemed to me (don’t use this as absolute affirmation), that afternoon paid lightning lanes were open for a good while into the morning. I don’t know if you can select now with the recent Genie changes, but if not, I’d just reload them both until the lightning lane return window you want turns up. I imagine that Tron is going a bit faster than Guardians, but haven’t personally done both the same day. Good luck! 😃

surfsupdon12 days ago

Calling @Demarke and all others to help. We’ve got free tix for Sat Nov 4. Park Pass for MGM. We want to Slinky Dog LL at 7a. Then ride Tower, RnRC, and Midway Mania too. All pre noon bc we will pre rope drop. That I get! We want to ILL Tron and Guardians post 2pm. Tron 1st. Guardians in the eve. But I forget how it works. When I book ILL at 7a for Tron and Guardians, do i select a roundabout time or do they give me next available time? I want Tron around 3p and Guardians around 6p. Please advise my friends.

Rose&Crown12 days ago

That thing is a little terrifying no? I just can’t wait for the post race party. I’m excited to find a bench somewhere in world showcase and just relaxing.

Surferboy56715 days ago

I have an opposite question. It WILL be open by Dopey, does that mean the Marathon and Half courses will be altered?

Rteetz15 days ago

We get figment tho to take medal photos with.

Rose&Crown15 days ago

So world celebration officially won’t be done by race weekend. I was looking forward to running through the new area but knew it was a long shot with how slow Disney is building this.

Surferboy56718 days ago

If it was me running a challenge, and they charged for Powerade. I think myself and many others would have a mental breakdown on the poor volunteers.

Rose&Crown18 days ago

RunDisney acting broke is wild. Between this and then no ticket to the party for the spring run included……not a good look. Excited for them to charge me for a Powerade at the finish line 😂😂

Surferboy56718 days ago

https://x.com/theleisureprof/status/1699465469768372619?s=61&t=Z7oiUO3GrXPcbPtW6UxqPw Some not so great news. Source: Professor Leisure on Twitter

RteetzAug 21, 2023

I agree. The main reason I continue to runDisney is the people. I’ve made so many friends through this avenue. Outside of that I still find the races fun and enjoyable. I always see people complaining about things like characters or medals. First, characters on course haven’t really decreased and in some cases have increased. I track this so I have the proof. Medals and themes you’re never going to make everyone happy. Now I do wish weekends were at least cohesive. 2022 Wine & Dine and now 2023 are a mess on that front. Springtime is a bit more vague so themes are whatever there. I do applaud Disney for trying different things. Does everything always work? Of course not. At least they are attempting to do different themes and medal styles. They could’ve just said we’re going with the smallest cheapest medal possible.

DemarkeAug 21, 2023

Absolutely. I’m somewhere in the middle. Medals: I really like the ones from about 15 years ago to about 4 years ago (like old school Tower of Terror to Wine and Dine Challenge and 10K medals for 2019). There were some movements and such on some, but you didn’t have to search to figure out what distance they were for. I don’t necessarily dislike the new medals (I’m a little jealous of 2024 Goofy now that I’m only doing the marathon). I do wish that at least for the Marathon they would keep the same style medal as the original and make a basic iconic design (like Boston that has had fairly limited changes) even if they go nuts with all the others. Themes: I’m A-OK with all the typical marathon themes, Princess themes are usually on brand even if it seems like they’ve been putting the classics for the 5k and new stuff for the half or challenge, when I wish it was the reverse (at least when I’ve participated). Springtime Surprise I understand, you can only promote the new Star Wars so much and a changing theme gives them flexibility (and year 5 might be ideal to do a retro Star Wars with baby Yoda). I feel like Wine and Dine has taken a turn starting 2020 taking the theme focus off of food and wine and essentially turning it into a second “Surprise” weekend with many random themes.

RteetzAug 20, 2023

To each their own.

jaxonpAug 15, 2023

Well expect little change from RD as they continue to sell out. This whole thing is so on brand for Disney these days.... less, bland, uninspiring but more money with endless consumers willing to pay out.

MoonRakerSCMAug 15, 2023

Yup, we've noticed that the medals have gone way down in quality and style. Like most things these days, they're designed by amateurs with little to no understanding of what made the brand what it was. My friends and I constantly go on about how our Dland 50th half marathon medal is downright stunning and the best Disney medal we have. They're doing the Dopey in January and downright upset at the quality of the medal. They like the Goofy one though. RunDisney is an absolute disaster. Themes are completely pointless, the runs aren't getting any better, and the registration for the events is beyond laughable. Declining by Degrees is a great fit for it.