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Princess Half Marathon Weekend 2025
My bestie and I just completed the 2025 RunDisney Princess Fairytale Challenge at Walt Disney World and I am excited to tell you all about it!
Why on earth does anyone get up at 2 AM for multiple days in a row to run? Yes, we asked ourselves that all weekend long, but the answer is … the Disney bling of course! They can’t announce a Princess Half Marathon Weekend theme that includes your favorite princesses (who rarely get featured) and expect us to ignore it. So, we rose to the challenge and had an amazingly exhausting girls weekend at Walt Disney World!
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Princess Fairytale Challenge 2025
If you have followed my running journey over the last few years, you know I started training in 2022 to run the Princess Weekend in 2023. Unfortunately, that year I didn’t have the race I wanted; it has always nagged me, and I really wanted to redeem myself for the Fairytale Challenge. So when my BFF Sarah’s favorite princess, Sleeping Beauty, was featured for the Half Marathon, and one of mine, Snow White was featured for the Challenge medal – we had to do it.
We registered for this race in July 2024; the race weekend took place February 20-24, 2025. We signed up for the Fairytale Challenge, which consists of running a 10K on Saturday and a Half Marathon on Sunday. When you sign up for the challenge, you get the 10K Medal and race shirt, the Half Marathon Medal and race shirt, plus a Challenge medal and race shirt—Disney girl math thinks this is a steal!!!
Princess Weekend Expo
Like all race weekends, the adventure begins at the RunDisney Expo. We arrived at ESPN Wide World of Sports for packet pickup around Noon on Friday, Feb 21, the second day of the expo. Parking was simple (we drove ourselves), and lines moved quickly. There was lots of energetic music and excitement. It was chilly but the sun was out, and like always, lots of banners, photo opportunities, food, drinks, and swag awaited!
We first went to pick up our Bibs in the Field House building. They require you to know your bib number from your Run Disney account, digitally sign your waiver (which you can do on-site), and show your photo ID. Then, they give you your race bib. This is also where you find out your corral placement for the events. Each event bib is picked up separately unless you are doing the challenge, which we did. One line to pick up the Challenge bib covers the 10K and the Half Marathon.
Next, we entered the Athletic Center building next door, where the Health & Fitness Expo is held. You can pick up your race shirts at the very back of the building. It’s the same deal here—we just had to go to one line to get the 10K, Half, and Challenge shirts.
RunDisney Merchandise
After we got all the essentials, it was time to check out the vendors in the expo and do a little shopping, some photo opps, check out the special Princess weekend food and drink menu, and get our Princess Weekend RunDisney Beer Cups! These refillable cups used to be a generic RunDisney theme, but they recently started giving each weekend a special cup which has been fun to collect.
Lastly, we visited the Advent Health Arena building for the Official RunDisney Princess Weekend Merchandise. There, you can shop exclusive Run Disney merchandise that you can’t find anywhere else and that was designed specifically for this weekend. One day at the expo, sizes were sold out, and many items were gone. Princess weekend runners are shoppers and don’t mess around, so if you want something this weekend, it’s best to get there early or preorder at registration. You know I had to pick up some official weekend Minnie ears!
Pop Century Race Weekends
After walking a few miles at the Expo, it was time to check-in to my favorite race weekend Resort – Disney’s Pop Century Resort!
We could access our Preferred Room in the 60s section of the resort by 4:30 PM. It was a great location: less than a 2-minute walk to the buses and food court and less than 4 minutes to the Skyliner. It was the perfect location to cut down on extra walking and made our 2 AM wake-up calls even easier with shorter walks to transportation and food. Every saved step helps during a race weekend!
We settled in, unpacked in the room, and headed to the food court for dinner and snacks. Race-cations are very different from regular vacations. We spent the evening organizing our race gear and headed to bed by 7 PM because 2 AM after a restless night of sleep is always rough! (But worth it!)
Expo Day
Steps – 8,427
Miles – 3.71
Princess Jasmine 10K Race
10K Day aka 6.2 Miles – The alarm went off, and we groggily got ready for the Princess Jasmine-themed 10K. Florida was freezing, so we had to scramble at the last minute to add warmth to our outfits. However, we managed to Disney Bound as Jasmine and Abu!
We crossed the start line at 6 AM in the second wave of the last corral, ran 30/30 intervals for the first three miles, and walked the last 3.2 miles to save ourselves for the Half Marathon the next day. For the first time ever, we finished the race just before the balloon ladies. Take a look at that finish line photo—it was a party!!
Who are the balloon ladies?
The Balloon Ladies at runDisney races are unofficial pacers who walk at the required minimum pace of 16 minutes per mile. They are volunteers and not officially employed by runDisney, but they serve as a visual indicator (with balloons) for runners who need to stay ahead to avoid being swept from the course.
This course may be one of my favorite 10K courses ever. There were so many fun characters, water stops, and entertainment along the way, and it was a beautiful morning to see the Boardwalk and Epcot!
After the 10K we returned to the resort, grabbed breakfast in the food court, showered and napped – the ultimate post race morning. By early afternoon, we had some energy to burn, so we hopped on a bus to Magic Kingdom and took the Monorail to my dream resort – Disney’s Polynesian Resort. We enjoyed celebratory cocktails at Tambu Lounge, and Trader Sam’s Grogg Grotto Tiki Bar. Once again we ordered some quick service dinner and returned to the room early for another 2 AM wake up call!
10K Day
Steps – 23,758
Miles – 11.08
Sleeping Beauty Half Marathon
Half-Marathon Day, aka 13.1 miles—It was finally time for the big event! We signed up for this race weekend because Sleeping Beauty was featured on the Half-Marathon Medal. The irony that a princess who slept through her entire movie would run a half-marathon was not lost on us. Sarah bounded as Aurora and I chose Snow White colors and made our way to the start line at Epcot.
This was a new half marathon course for me, completely different from the last few I had done. It wasn’t my favorite; there were way more highway miles than time spent inside the parks. However, as always, the highlight of Princess weekend is always running down Main Street U.S.A. and through Cinderella’s castle. It’s pure magic.
I was having a fantastic race until Mile 11, in which, unfortunately, I started to have a dizzy spell and my BP plummeted. (exactly like it did in 2023, but not during any races since). Sadly, I had to slow down to a snail’s crawl and even stop on the side of the course for a while to rebound. I was doing great with my fuel, sugar, hydration, and pace, but suddenly I felt faint. Unfortunately I had to use up my buffer ahead of the balloon ladies, and slowly walked to the finish line for the last 2.1 miles. I was a little panicked, which didn’t help the situation.
Post Princess Half Marathon
Still, I am so proud of myself for finishing and breaking the curse of this race weekend by getting my challenge medal and remaining eligible for my Coast to Coast medal this September in Disneyland. Until then, I will continue training and trying to figure out why this randomly happens to me. I am nothing if not determined!
Sarah did amazing, and her determination to prove that Sleeping Beauty just wanted to sleep and would never run a half marathon showed in her photo pass photos. We got the best laughs out of her sleepy poses! It was really special to meet up after the finish line with my bestie on Princess weekend <3
After the race we returned to the resort, showered, and napped until mid-afternoon. That evening, we took the bus to Disney Springs and did some shopping, had celebratory margaritas, and had dinner at the Boathouse, one of my new favorites!
Half Marathon Day
Steps – 39,497
Miles – 18.39
Epcot Festival of the Arts
Our final day at Walt Disney World was just two besties eating and drinking our way around the world at the last day of Epcot’s Festival of the Arts. You already know this is one of my absolute favorite Epcot festivals of the year, so having it as the grand finale of our Princess girls weekend was chef’s kiss!
We had cold but great weather for all the running events. However, our Epcot day was a total wash. It rained steadily for the entire day, but I always look on the bright side, which meant the crowds were low. We had umbrellas and ponchos and made the most of it, and it ended up being such a fun day.
For me, nothing is better than showing my friends and family my love for Disney as an adult! We ended the night by being among the last guests to use the Virtual Queue for Guardians of the Galaxy, which now operates only with a standby line or lighting lanes. It was a blast, and the icing on the cake was getting my favorite song – September!
Epcot Day
Steps – 18,828
Miles – 8.11
RunDisney 2025-2026 Calendar
The hardest part of any Disney Vacation or Race Weekend is always saying goodbye and going home. My next RunDisney event is at Disneyland this September. Although we don’t have any other Race events on our calendar for the 2025-2026 season, you never know when that might change. We are taking a little break and looking to add other travel experiences to our list.
But if you or anyone you know wants to plan a RunDisney weekend, I would love to help. You have to register in advance, grab your resort and dining reservations, and then work on your training, but it is always so memorable and worth the effort. If this has inspired you, let me know if I can help!
Proud of you! Not gonna lie, I haven’t gotten past the cost and the way too early start time and the running thing and crowds to want to do a Disney run…. That and I’m out of shape and lazy. 😛